| New Zealand could ban some criminals from being near guns Posted: 10 Nov 2019 08:56 PM PST ![New Zealand could ban some criminals from being near guns]( "New Zealand could ban some criminals from being near guns") New Zealand's government on Monday proposed legislation to ban certain criminals from being anywhere near guns even if they don't own them, a measure that politicians acknowledge has significant human rights implications. The proposed law would make it illegal for some criminals to live or visit a house where a gun is present or to travel in a car that has a gun inside. The proposal is the latest gun-control measure introduced by the government since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in March vowed to overhaul gun laws in the days after a gunman killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques.
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| UPDATE 1-Iran launches nuclear enrichment at underground Fordow plant, IAEA confirms Posted: 11 Nov 2019 08:06 AM PST ![UPDATE 1-Iran launches nuclear enrichment at underground Fordow plant, IAEA confirms]( "UPDATE 1-Iran launches nuclear enrichment at underground Fordow plant, IAEA confirms") Iran has begun enriching uranium at its underground Fordow site in the latest breach of its deal with major powers, the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed on Monday, adding that Tehran's enriched uranium stock has continued to grow. Iran is contravening the deal's limits on its nuclear activities step by step in response to Washington's withdrawal from the accord last year and its renewed sanctions on Tehran. Tehran says it can quickly undo those breaches if Washington lifts its sanctions.
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| Kavanaugh Makes Rare Public Foray for Group Vetting Trump Judges Posted: 11 Nov 2019 01:00 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has done his best to keep a low profile in the 13 months since one of the most polarizing Senate confirmation fights in U.S. history.From the bench, his questions have been evenhanded and his opinions have been measured. His public appearances have been rare.But Kavanaugh will be back in the spotlight when he gives the featured dinner speech on Thursday at the annual Washington convention of the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative legal group that helped put him on the court.The appearance, in front of an organization Kavanaugh joined in 1988 as a law student, will offer a reminder of his professional roots and help showcase the group's success in helping load the federal courts with conservative judges -- one of President Donald Trump's signature achievements.It will also provide a fresh indication of how the Supreme Court's most controversial justice will navigate the raw feelings that remain after his nomination by Trump and narrow Senate confirmation in the face of sexual assault allegations.About 2,300 people are expected to attend the Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner, a black-tie-optional event that brings legal luminaries to the cavernous Main Hall of Washington's Union Station every year. The event will be open to the media, though broadcast coverage will be prohibited.When many Americans last saw Kavanaugh, he was at his Senate confirmation hearing angrily and tearfully denying that he had assaulted Christine Blasey Ford decades ago when both were teenagers."This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election," Kavanaugh said, with rage that would later be lampooned by actor Matt Damon on "Saturday Night Live."He was confirmed on a 50-48 vote.'Gracious' JusticeThat Brett Kavanaugh bears little resemblance to the one who now sits at one end of the Supreme Court bench, seen only by the few hundred people who typically attend its camera-free argument sessions.Kavanaugh tends to politely challenge both sides during arguments, almost always without tipping his hand on his own views. He often chats amicably with Justice Elena Kagan, who sits to his right and seems to have far more to discuss with him than with Justice Samuel Alito on her other side."He seems quite comfortable," said Carter Phillips, a veteran Supreme Court lawyer at Sidley Austin. "He's very gracious, extremely well-prepared. His questions are good."Kavanaugh's written opinions have generally been measured. Though he has almost always voted with his conservative colleagues when the court splits along ideological lines, he has eschewed the sweeping rhetoric of Trump's other Supreme Court appointee, Neil Gorsuch. On occasion, Kavanaugh has written separate opinions to describe his position as a limited one."He appears more cautious and pragmatic than Gorsuch, but it's too early to tell too much," said Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.Kavanaugh's colleagues have publicly welcomed him and said they don't harbor any ill feelings."We are all human beings, we all have pasts," Justice Sonia Sotomayor told a judicial conference in September, according to the Wall Street Journal. "Now whether things occurred or didn't occur, all of that is irrelevant."Female ClerksJustice Ruth Bader Ginsburg praised Kavanaugh for hiring four women to serve as his law clerks for his first term, something no justice had done in any term.That decision is as close as Kavanaugh has come to publicly addressing the confirmation controversy since he joined the court."It was all women, and I think that was not coincidental," said Melissa Murray, a New York University law professor who testified during the confirmation hearing that she was concerned Kavanaugh would vote to overturn abortion rights. "I think it was intended to be a rebuttal to those who believe those allegations, took those allegations seriously. I think he wanted to sort of counteract the perception that might have been left after the confirmation hearing."For the public at large, Kavanaugh remains a polarizing figure -- far more so than his longer-serving colleagues. A Marquette Law School poll conducted in September found that 32% of respondents had an unfavorable view of Kavanaugh, with 26% holding a favorable view. No other justice had an unfavorable rating higher than 23%.Though he has met privately with smaller groups, the Federalist Society speech will mark only the second time Kavanaugh has spoken publicly outside the court since the White House ceremony that followed his October 2018 confirmation. Kavanaugh appeared in May with the man he succeeded, Justice Anthony Kennedy, before a conference of judges and lawyers.Standing OvationKavanaugh's reception at the Federalist Society event is all but certain to be positive, probably overwhelmingly so, though it's possible he'll face protests."I expect he'll get a very warm reception," said Adler, a Federalist Society member who plans to attend.Kavanaugh got a lengthy standing ovation when he arrived for last year's dinner, which took place less than six weeks after the Senate vote. He opted not to give a talk at that event, instead agreeing to speak this year, according to two people familiar with the planning.The Federalist Society's executive vice president, Leonard Leo, has served as a key adviser to Trump on judicial nominations. Leo declined to be interviewed about Kavanaugh's work on the court, saying he generally doesn't comment on individual justices.The dinner is part of a three-day program that features speeches by Gorsuch and Attorney General Bill Barr as well as panel discussions on a plethora of legal topics."I think it is meaningful that he's choosing to make a debut of sorts at this particular venue," Murray said.Chances are Kavanaugh's speech will steer clear of any discussion of the confirmation controversy. He probably will at least touch on the judicial philosophy that made him a Federalist Society favorite in the first place. He might show the side of himself that promised at his confirmation hearing to be part of a "team of nine" on the court."I think it will be different than it was in his last public appearance," said Phillips with a laugh. "He is by nature a gracious and even-tempered person. I expect that that's the way he will come across."To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Laurie AsséoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Joe Biden aides reportedly worry their meetings are too congratulatory Posted: 11 Nov 2019 07:22 AM PST ![Joe Biden aides reportedly worry their meetings are too congratulatory]( "Joe Biden aides reportedly worry their meetings are too congratulatory") Former Vice President Joe Biden seems to feel his 2020 run may be faltering. His campaign aides still reportedly don't want to tell him that.Biden's presidential campaign has all the trappings of a winning run: An experienced, beloved politician with a tragically heroic backstory, Edward-Isaac Dovere describes in The Atlantic. But polls and fundraising totals are showing Biden isn't thriving the way he'd hope, and his staffers are reportedly struggling to claim otherwise."Biden's campaign lives in a dual reality," in which he's simultaneously winning most polls and yet still "being written off as finished," Dovere writes. Biden aides chalk a lot of that rhetoric up to the media, making "vaguely Trumpian" complaints in which they claim reporters "cover only bad news about Biden and fail to understand what actual heartland voters want," Dovere continues.Yet behind the scenes, Biden is "aware that there are issues with the campaign, especially as it relates to money," one staffer said. His Iowa organization is smaller than Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and even South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's, and fundraising shortfalls have turned into cutbacks on TV and online ads. That fact has led some aides to "feel like they're just spinning one another in staff meetings about how well things are going," some tell The Atlantic -- and even Biden himself is reportedly "realizing with dread that the race might be slipping away."When asked about his supposedly falling campaign, Biden unequivocally defended his fundraising and organizing. Read more at The Atlantic.More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hasn't stopped blocking critics on Twitter despite settling a lawsuit charging she violated the First Amendment Posted: 09 Nov 2019 11:08 AM PST  Ocasio-Cortez recently apologized for blocking a critic on Twitter and settled a lawsuit he filed alleging she violated the First Amendment.
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| Turkey starts returning IS fighters, deports US national Posted: 11 Nov 2019 08:55 AM PST  Turkey on Monday deported citizens of the United States and Denmark who fought for the Islamic State and made plans to expel other foreign nationals as the government began a new push to send back captured foreign fighters to their home countries, a Turkish official said. The move comes just over a week after the Turkish interior minister said Turkey was not a "hotel" for IS fighters and criticized Western nations for their reluctance to take back citizens who had joined the ranks of the extremist militant group as it sought to establish a "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.
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| 2 Disney workers among 17 facing child porn charges after monthlong Florida probe Posted: 09 Nov 2019 10:46 AM PST ![2 Disney workers among 17 facing child porn charges after monthlong Florida probe]( "2 Disney workers among 17 facing child porn charges after monthlong Florida probe") Florida authorities have arrested 17 men, including two Disney workers and a former middle school principal, on child pornography charges.
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| Kremlin eyes four-way Ukraine summit this year Posted: 11 Nov 2019 05:00 AM PST ![Kremlin eyes four-way Ukraine summit this year]( "Kremlin eyes four-way Ukraine summit this year") An international summit on solving the Ukrainian crisis is likely to take place this year, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. A breakthrough at talks between Moscow and Kiev on Oct. 1 appeared to open the way for the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France to hold the first four-way summit on the conflict in three years. "I think that the summit would take place... I think this year," Ushakov said.
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| IS 'defeated' in key Afghan province: official Posted: 09 Nov 2019 04:23 PM PST  The Islamic State group's Afghan branch has been "defeated" in one of the key eastern provinces where it first sought to establish a stronghold, a top Afghan security official said Sunday. The claim comes after the jihadists first burst into Afghanistan's conflict in 2015, when they overran large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, near the Pakistan border. In the years since, they have claimed responsibility for a string of horrific bombings across Afghanistan, including at a wedding hall in Kabul, and have been continually attacked by US, Afghan and even Taliban forces.
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| Poll: Bloomberg's potential run is a flop with Democrats Posted: 10 Nov 2019 11:15 AM PST  A new poll shows Michael Bloomberg at 4 percent nationally as he considers a presidential bid, showing that he's well-known — but widely disliked — by the Democratic electorate, according to a new poll.
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| Trump Jr booed off stage by supporters of his father amid apparent split in US far right Posted: 11 Nov 2019 06:37 AM PST  Donald Trump Jr was booed off stage and forced to abandon a book tour appearance at the University of California's Los Angeles campus – due to a protest by supporters of his father.The event, organised by conservative group Turning Point USA (TPUSA), was disrupted by chants of "Q and A! Q and A!" after the audience was told the president's son would not take questions, video showed.
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| Merkel Coalition Averts Crisis With Deal on Basic Pension Posted: 10 Nov 2019 08:56 AM PST ![Merkel Coalition Averts Crisis With Deal on Basic Pension]( "Merkel Coalition Averts Crisis With Deal on Basic Pension") (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government struck a compromise deal on a basic pension, a key issue for the Social Democrats that was threatening the stability of the ruling coalition.The agreement to bolster retirement income for as many as 1.5 million long-term earners from 2021 was reached on Sunday after a meeting of senior officials from Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD in Berlin. In an effort to boost flagging economic growth, the coalition also agreed to cut unemployment insurance contributions by 0.2 percentage points to 2.4% through the end of 2022."This is a means of combating poverty in old age," CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said at a news conference. Pensioners will be subjected to a "comprehensive income assessment," she added, which was initially opposed by the SPD and was one of the main sticking points in the negotiations.Malu Dreyer, one of the SPD's three interim leaders, called the agreement a "milestone in social policy," while CSU leader Markus Soeder said the measures would cost as much as 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion).Soeder added that the deal showed there is no reason to doubt the staying power of the coalition, which has come under pressure following a series of setbacks in regional ballots.Support for Germany's traditional political heavyweights has dwindled since they agreed to end a stalemate after the 2017 election by forming another "grand coalition."The next election isn't scheduled until late 2021 and Merkel has said she won't run for a fifth term. Her Christian Democrats, and their Bavarian sister-party, the CSU, have yet to choose a chancellor candidate, while Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is attempting to position himself as the SPD's pick.The coalition also agreed to set up a fund worth 10 billion euros to promote "future technologies" linked to digitization and climate, overseen by the state-owned Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau development bank.(Updates with comments from party leaders starting in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Patrick Donahue.To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Rogers in Berlin at irogers11@bloomberg.net;Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, James AmottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Offshoot Mormon community hit in deadly attack leaves Mexico Posted: 10 Nov 2019 04:56 AM PST  The families came nearly a week after the attack Monday in which nine women and children were killed by what authorities said were hit men from drug cartels. On Saturday, families went in and out of a gas station in Douglas near the port of entry as the sun began to set, the Arizona Daily Star reported. The families had lived in two hamlets in Mexico's Sonora state: La Mora and Colonia LeBaron.
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| Missing airman identified as recovery efforts continue Posted: 10 Nov 2019 08:09 AM PST ![Missing airman identified as recovery efforts continue]( "Missing airman identified as recovery efforts continue") An airman who is presumed dead after an unplanned parachute jump from a C-130 aircraft off Florida's Panhandle has been identified. According to a military news release, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff, 29, was a special tactics combat controller with 24th Special Operations Wing, part of the Air Force Special Operations Command. Condiff is survived by his wife and their two daughters, as well as by his parents, sister and two brothers.
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| EU agrees sanctions on Turkey over Cyprus drilling, to add names later Posted: 11 Nov 2019 04:45 AM PST ![EU agrees sanctions on Turkey over Cyprus drilling, to add names later]( "EU agrees sanctions on Turkey over Cyprus drilling, to add names later") The decision, reflecting a broader deterioration in EU ties with Turkey, aims to punish Ankara for violating Cyprus' maritime economic zone by drilling off the divided island. It follows a separate decision to stop new arms sales by EU governments to Turkey over Ankara's Oct. 9 incursion into Syria. Turkey, which is a formal candidate to join the EU, says it is operating in waters on its own continental shelf or areas where Turkish Cypriots have rights.
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| China's Investments In Special Forces Are Paying Off In Deadly Ways Posted: 09 Nov 2019 07:00 PM PST  Special operations soldiers are a force multiplier.
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| Indian holy site prays for closure after court battle Posted: 10 Nov 2019 01:15 AM PST  Residents of Ayodhya scrambled for emergency food when India's Supreme Court warned it would soon hand down a final verdict on a holy site that provoked some of the country's worst sectarian violence. Saturday's ruling gave Hindus the right to build a temple in the city, on land where a five-century-old mosque had stood until religious zealots tore it down in 1992, sparking riots that killed 2,000 people -- mostly Muslims. "When the news broke on Friday night that the Supreme Court would give its verdict, no-one knew what will happen.
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| Tulsi Gabbard is demanding an apology from Hillary Clinton Posted: 11 Nov 2019 06:58 AM PST ![Tulsi Gabbard is demanding an apology from Hillary Clinton]( "Tulsi Gabbard is demanding an apology from Hillary Clinton") Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is keeping up her feud with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Gabbard's 2020 campaign released a letter from its legal counsel Monday demanding Clinton apologize and retract comments she made about her in October, The Hill reports. Clinton in a podcast on Oct. 17 called Gabbard the "favorite of the Russians," also saying she's being groomed for a third-party bid. The latter remark was initially reported widely as referring to Russians grooming Gabbard, though Clinton's spokesperson later said she meant Gabbard is being groomed by Republicans. Clinton additionally referred to Jill Stein as "also a Russian asset" after talking about Gabbard, with the "also" seeming to suggest Clinton thinks Gabbard is one as well. Gabbard's legal counsel rejected Clinton's explanation for the "grooming" comment, in the Monday letter calling the idea that she meant Republicans "spin developed only after you realized the defamatory nature of your statement, and therefore your legal liability." Clinton's comments are "actionable as defamation," the letter also says, going on to demand she "immediately hold a press conference to verbally retract -- in full -- your comments." Beyond that, Gabbard's counsel demands Clinton release a retraction on her Twitter account and distribute it to major news outlets, with an exact wording even being provided; a statement has Clinton saying she made a "grave mistake," that she apologizes, and that "I support and admire" Gabbard's work.This is Gabbard's latest escalation of her war against Clinton after tearing into her immediately after the October comments in a stunning Twitter thread, calling her "the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long." More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Bernie Sanders laughs at idea of Jeff Bezos floating Michael Bloomberg's presidential run Posted: 10 Nov 2019 11:48 AM PST  Bernie Sanders, AOC reacted with laughter at report that Amazon's Jeff Bezos asked Mike Bloomberg if he'd run for president.
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| Kenya’s Salve for Ethnic Animosity Is at Risk of Backfiring Posted: 10 Nov 2019 08:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterA plan championed by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga to end ethnic animosity may end up widening fault lines that have triggered sporadic violence in the East African nation.The two men commissioned a study on how to promote reconciliation in the wake of a disputed election in 2017 that threatened to reignite a conflict in which more than 1,100 people died a decade earlier. Their so-called Building Bridges Initiative envisions an end to a winner-take-all electoral system, watering down the executive's powers and an enhanced role for parliament, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg. The document was verified by people with knowledge of the report, who asked not to be identified because the information is still private and could be amended.While most politicians initially welcomed the rapprochement between the one-time foes and their attempts at nation-building, it's caused ructions in the ruling Jubilee Party because it could pave the way for Odinga to become president in 2022 and leave Kenyatta's deputy, William Ruto, out in the cold."Ruto is deeply suspicious of BBI because he sees it as a vehicle to create a coalition that excludes him," said Nic Cheeseman, a professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "The threat is that this then raises the political temperatures, and each side starts to prepare for the worst."Ethnic-Based CoalitionsKenyan politics have long been a minefield, with largely ethnic-based coalitions determining who wields power. The five biggest groups are Kenyatta's Kikuyu, Ruto's Kalenjin, Odinga's Luo, the Luhya and the Kamba, and whoever secures backing from at least three of them is almost assured of winning the presidency.Allegiances are consistently shifting. Ethnic violence, mainly between Kenyatta and Ruto supporters, flared up after a disputed 2007 vote and both men were indicted by the International Criminal Court for their alleged roles in the bloodshed until the cases were thrown out for lack of evidence.The two then joined forces to win elections in 2013 and 2017. While Ruto backed Kenyatta for the presidency on the understanding that he'd be next in line for the job in 2022, their relationship has soured since Odinga entered the fray."The intention from the word go is to give Raila a safe route to power," said Herman Manyora, a political analyst and lecturer at the University of Nairobi. "For as long as it destroys Ruto's presidential dream, he won't support it."Monumental ReportOdinga, 74, who leads the Orange Democratic Movement and has unsuccessfully run for office four times, has also had a fractious relationship with Kenyatta and accused him of stealing the last two elections. They reconciled in March 2018, but the terms of the deal they reached were never publicly revealed.Odinga last year said he'd continue to push for a raft of reforms including the reintroduction of the role of a prime minister -- a post he held under a power-sharing accord that helped halt the 2007-8 violence.A final version of the Building Bridges Initiative report will be presented to Kenyatta and Odinga this week, according to Martin Kimani, the secretary of a panel that's drafting the plan. He described its contents as "monumental," but declined to reveal details.Besides proposing changes to the way the government is structured, the panel will also make recommendations on how to tackle corruption and share out the nation's prosperity, according to its nine-point brief. The initiative will be subjected to a national debate and possibly a referendum before being formally adopted.Burning BridgesIf a referendum does happen, it will likely be a dress rehearsal of the 2022 vote that will pit Odinga against Ruto, according to Manyora.Ruto will back the new plan if it benefits the Kenyan people, but will oppose it if it only creates positions for a few, his spokesman David Mugonyi said by phone.Odinga's spokesman Dennis Onyango said he couldn't talk about the BBI report because he hasn't seen it, while Kenyatta's publicist Kanze Dena declined to comment.It's unclear whether the new initiative will have the desired effect, said Bobby Mkangi, a lawyer who helped draft Kenya's current constitution."In a sense, it could either be burning bridges or building bridges," he said. "We may have to engage in a trial-and-error journey in the quest of nation-building and trying to find what works best for us and mitigate exclusion."\--With assistance from Mike Cohen.To contact the reporter on this story: David Herbling in Nairobi at dherbling@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, David Malingha, Mike CohenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Iranian beauty queen wins asylum in Philippines Posted: 09 Nov 2019 11:03 AM PST  An Iranian beauty queen sought by Tehran on criminal charges has been granted political asylum in the Philippines, an official said Friday, ending a three-week standoff at Manila airport.
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| Vietnamese court finds Australian guilty of terrorism Posted: 11 Nov 2019 01:53 AM PST  A Vietnamese court on Monday sentenced a 70-year-old Australian to 12 years in jail on terrorism charges, state media reported. The Tuoi Tre newspaper said Chau Van Kham, a Sydney resident of Vietnamese origin, was found guilty of "terrorism to oppose the people's administration" in a half-day trial at Ho Chi Minh City People's Court. It said two Vietnamese men, Nguyen Van Vien and Tran Van Quyen, were also sentenced to 11 and 10 years respectively on the same charge.
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| Poland says France's Macron comments on NATO 'dangerous': FT Posted: 11 Nov 2019 01:29 AM PST  French President Emmanuel Macron's critical remarks about NATO were "dangerous", Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview published on Sunday evening by the Financial Times. Macron told The Economist last week that NATO was experiencing "brain death", citing a lack of coordination and U.S. unpredictability under President Donald Trump. NATO was "the most important alliance in the world when it comes to preserving freedom and peace" and Macron's questioning of whether its members could still be counted on to defend each other was "dangerous", Morawiecki said, according to the FT.
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| Airlines are flying tons of unneeded fuel around the world to save as little as $52 by not filling up in countries with higher prices Posted: 11 Nov 2019 06:18 AM PST  The practice, called fuel tankering, gives airlines an often tiny saving at the cost of much-larger carbon emissions, BBC's 'Panorama' said.
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| Airbnb, Chobani among companies to oppose U.S. asylum work permit slowdown Posted: 11 Nov 2019 04:00 AM PST ![Airbnb, Chobani among companies to oppose U.S. asylum work permit slowdown]( "Airbnb, Chobani among companies to oppose U.S. asylum work permit slowdown") Airbnb, Chobani, Western Union and a dozen other companies are urging the withdrawal of a Trump administration proposal to slow down the work permit approval process for asylum seekers. The companies - joined by Uniqlo, Ben & Jerry's, DoorDash and others - spoke out against a recently proposed regulation in a letter sent to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday. The proposed regulation is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on asylum seekers.
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| Saudi Arabia Gives First Permanent Residencies to Foreigners Posted: 11 Nov 2019 03:17 AM PST ![Saudi Arabia Gives First Permanent Residencies to Foreigners]( "Saudi Arabia Gives First Permanent Residencies to Foreigners") (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia granted 73 foreigners "premium" residency under a new program to attract overseas investment by enabling selected people to buy property and do business without a Saudi sponsor.The kingdom received thousands of applications after offering permanent residency for 800,000 riyals ($213,000) or a one-year renewable permit for 100,000 riyals. The first batch of recipients come from 19 countries and include investors, doctors, engineers and financiers, according to a statement Monday from the government's Premium Residency Center. It didn't detail how many were granted permanent residency.The program, approved in May, is the latest sign of how the kingdom is rethinking the role for foreigners as it works to reduce the economy's dependence on oil. It's a landmark move in a region where many overseas workers are subject to some of the world's most restrictive residency rules. The premium residencies also allow holders to switch jobs, exit the kingdom easily and sponsor visas for family members.The idea for a long-term Saudi residency was first floated in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At the time, he estimated the program would generate about $10 billion in annual revenue by 2020.While Saudi Arabia is seeking to encourage the affluent to stay, monthly fees imposed on foreign workers and their families, along with sluggish economic growth, have prompted hundreds of thousands of other expats to leave. Those levies are designed to spur private businesses to hire Saudi nationals as citizen unemployment hovers above 12%.To contact the reporter on this story: Vivian Nereim in Riyadh at vnereim@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Paul AbelskyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Chilly down to the Gulf of Mexico: What you should know about the arctic blast Posted: 09 Nov 2019 02:51 PM PST  A record-breaking cold front is expected to sweep across the U.S. from Sunday into Tuesday thanks to the Arctic blast.
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| Albanian parents smuggle children into UK drug trade Posted: 10 Nov 2019 01:59 AM PST  Parents in Albania are trafficking their teenage sons to the UK to join organised crime gangs that control large tranches of Britain's cocaine market, an investigation by The Telegraph has found. Increasing numbers of young Albanians are being illegally smuggled into the UK with the promise of earning thousands of pounds from selling and running drugs for the gangs. Court records show teenage Albanians who mostly entered the UK hidden in lorries have been prosecuted in towns across the country, from Selkirk to Bath, Dewsbury to Shrewsbury and London to Glasgow after being caught with drugs worth as much as £200,000. According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), Albania is the biggest single foreign source of people trafficking into the UK with 947 cases referred to it in 2018, a more than 50 per cent increase since 2015. "The majority of Albanian boys and young men are trafficked with the complicity of their parents and the promise of financial remuneration by the traffickers," said Steve Harvey, an international law enforcement specialist, who has presented his evidence to a Home Office inquiry into the problem. "Families are approached by traffickers and engaged with on the basis of how they will profit financially from the deal. Additionally, the family are the traffickers and the children are seen and used as resources." "The traffickers and exploiters promise them money, a lot of money, and they promise them a job or when the boys are minors, they promise them accommodation, or clothes, so things that they need to have," an anonymous source told the Home Office inquiry. The UK has no problem attracting migrants "In some cases family members were directly responsible for the recruitment and exploitation of male trafficking victims." Gangsters - notably the Hellbanianz street gang of Albanian boys in south London - promote their lifestyle to teenagers in their home country through social media. Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, an Albanian specialist at Bournemouth University, said "blingbling" is key: "Sending messages home to their peers of success featuring an abundance of money, speedy cars, women, gold necklaces and Rolex watches, branding also guns and power." However, she noted that there were also children sent by their families to have a chance of a decent education and future. It means there is lucrative trade for smuggling gangs who can charge families up to £15,000 to get their children into the UK, according to police sources. "Traffickers always have ready recruits because parents are keen for their children to go abroad and they and sending them younger and younger," said a Home Office report on a fact-finding mission to Albania. Typical is Endrit Vishaj, who entered the UK illegally aged 16 hidden on a lorry that took him to Solihull in the Midlands. Now, 18, he is serving a four year and four month jail sentence for dealing cocaine. He was caught in a Bilston car park driving a BMW in which police officers found two one kilogram blocks of high quality cocaine worth £200,000 in a carrier bag with £55,500 cash - as well as his £1,000 fee for the job. "He was used rather than the user and was waiting for further instructions after collecting the drugs in London and the money from a man who came to the vehicle in Bilston with a bag," his lawyer told Wolverhampton Crown Court. Another is Klevis Drazhi, 20, caught with 11 wraps of cocaine in Moorgate, London, and jailed for 18 months, claimed he was coerced into supplying drugs by a member of the Albania mafia after illegally entering the UK on the back of a lorry. Alfred Hamzaj, 22 and jailed for eight months for dealing in Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, after being caught with four kilogrammes of cannabis, claimed he had fallen into crime after losing his job at a hand car wash due to his illegal immigration status. The dangers are brought to life by an asylum case presented to a Parliamentary committee. Adnan, a 16 year old made homeless in his native Albania after his new stepfather threw him out, came to the UK because his parents had lived here when he was young. In his appeal for asylum, he said: "I cannot return [to Albania] as I have no one. No one was caring for me. I want to continue my education. If I return I will be left on the streets. I don't know how I will cope." He lost his appeal, however, and was told he faced deportation. "The day after his [Home Office] interview Adnan disappeared from foster care, probably on his way by foot or hitch-hiking to London," the committee was told. "Rather than living on streets of Albania, he is now an undocumented street child in the UK."
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| Romania presidential vote seen heading to Nov. 24 runoff Posted: 10 Nov 2019 02:38 PM PST  Exit polls from Sunday's balloting showed a runoff will be needed Nov. 24 to decide Romania's presidential contest. Official results are not expected before Monday, though two exit polls found center-right President Klaus Iohannis collecting nearly 40% of the votes, followed by Viorica Dancila, the recently ousted prime minister, with around 22%. "Exit polls show that millions of Romanians in the country and abroad voted for our project, for a normal Romania," said Iohannis, who is seeking a second five-year term.
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| Is North Korea’s Year-End Countdown for Real? Posted: 10 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  What happens if North Korea tests another ICBM? With Trump dealing with impeachment back home, it seems trouble is brewing on the Korean Peninsula. Is Moon Jae-in the only person who can save the day?
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| China accuses US of using UN to 'meddle' in Tibet Posted: 11 Nov 2019 01:38 AM PST  China accused the US on Monday of using the United Nations to "meddle" in Tibet, as Washington intensifies its bid to prevent Beijing from handpicking the Dalai Lama's successor. Last week, Sam Brownback, the United States' ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said the US wanted the UN to take up the succession issue of the Tibetan spiritual leader. The choice of the Dalai Lama's successor "belongs to the Tibetan Buddhists and not the Chinese government", Brownback told AFP.
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| Longtime Republican Rep. Pete King won't seek reelection Posted: 11 Nov 2019 12:03 AM PST  The New York Republican has served in Congress since 2003
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| Saldanha Steel, an Apartheid-Era Conceived Mega-Project, Closes Posted: 11 Nov 2019 04:30 AM PST ![Saldanha Steel, an Apartheid-Era Conceived Mega-Project, Closes]( "Saldanha Steel, an Apartheid-Era Conceived Mega-Project, Closes") (Bloomberg) -- The Saldanha Works steel plant has become South Africa's first state-backed industrial mega-project conceived to counter sanctions during apartheid to close, as making a profit in the open economy overrides the case for strategic industries.Like many planned projects it took years to progress and ended up opening after the country's first all-race elections in 1994, lessening the initial need for its construction. South Africa's transition to an economy integrated with the world was a slow process and state involvement in industry was significant even after apartheid ended.ArcelorMittal's South African unit today announced that the $1 billion plant, the planning of which began in the 1970s, will be closed. The 1.2 million-ton a year steel sheet mill has consistently lost money since it was opened as a joint venture between the formerly state-owned Iscor Ltd. and the government's Industrial Development Corp. in 1998.The project isn't the only dud formed from partnerships between industry and a government that feared that sanctions would deprive the South African economy of everything from oil to steel. Anglo American Plc and BHP Group Plc, then known as BHP Billiton, partnered the IDC in Columbus Stainless, a steel mill that failed to make money and is now owned by Acerinox SA.Other projects that can trace their origins back to the fear of sanctions are the coal-to-fuel and chemicals plants owned by Sasol Ltd., a company controlled by the government until 1979, and Mossgas, a troubled gas-to-fuels plant on South Africa's southern coast."The primary logic was self preservation," said David Shapiro, the deputy chairman of Sasfin Securities, who has been trading stocks in South Africa since 1972. "They had to build the projects to keep the South African economy running."To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Antony Sguazzin, Gordon BellFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Teenagers charged with murder of photographer after allegedly pushing log off cliff Posted: 10 Nov 2019 02:06 PM PST  Two teenagers are facing murder charges after a 6-foot log fell from a cliff and killed a photographer taking school pictures below.
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| Hundreds of Catalan independence protesters block highway between France and Spain Posted: 11 Nov 2019 02:38 AM PST  Catalan pro-independence protesters blocked a border point between France and Spain on Monday, stopping traffic in both directions the day after a parliamentary election in Spain. Around 500 people cut across the AP-7 highway - an important truck route between the two countries - at the La Jonquera border point, with some protesters on the French side and the rest in Spain, a Catalan police spokesman said. Traffic was being diverted to another road and protesters were setting up a stage. Catalonia has been rocked by mass protests since long prison sentences were handed down in mid-October to nine separatist leaders who spearheaded a failed independence bid in 2017. Protesters blocked the highway at the La Jonquera border point Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images The campaign for Catalan independence has been mostly peaceful for years, but some protests turned violent last month, with a minority of mostly young demonstrators torching cars and bin containers and launching petrol bombs at police. Secretive campaign group Democratic Tsunami, which has organised mass protests including at Barcelona airport last month, claimed responsibility for Monday's disruption. Anti-riot officers from the Catalan regional police were in a toll area four kilometers away from the Spain-France border protest, the police spokesman said. Secretive protest group Democratic Tsunami claimed responsibility for the action Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images Democratic Tsunami called on people to go to the blocked border point, saying on Twitter its goal was to call upon the international community "to make the Spanish state understand that the only way is to sit down to talk". The group, which says it favours peaceful civil disobedience, said last week that it would organise a three-day protest starting on Monday, which would be its "most ambitious" action. Sunday's national election, Spain's fourth in four years, produced a divided parliament, setting the stage for difficult negotiations on forming a government.
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| Klobuchar attacks Bloomberg and Buttigieg as Democrat infighting grows Posted: 10 Nov 2019 09:20 AM PST  * Polling shows voters generally satisfied with the candidates * Can Pete Buttigieg's moderate message win over purple Iowa?Senator Amy Klobuchar campaigning in Iowa on 8 November. Photograph: Jack Kurtz/ZUMA Wire/REX/ShutterstockOn a weekend of sharp infighting among Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Amy Klobuchar hit out at Michael Bloomberg."When people look at the White House and see this multi-millionaire messing up so many things," the Minnesota senator told CNN's State of the Union, "I don't think they think, 'Oh, we need someone richer.' I think you have to earn votes, not buy them."Klobuchar also criticised Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has surged in Iowa. The senator repeated her contention that a female candidate with Buttigieg's experience would not have made the debate stage.Bloomberg, 77 and a three-term mayor of New York, has an estimated personal fortune of $51.1bn. Having long flirted with a run for the Democratic nomination, on Friday he registered to enter the Alabama primary.Responding to comments by a Bloomberg adviser that the former mayor thinks none of the current contenders will be able to beat Donald Trump, Klobuchar said: "I don't think you can just waltz in and instead of saying, 'I'm good enough to be president,' your argument is that the other people aren't good enough."I'm looking forward to debating Mayor Bloomberg but not if his whole purpose is to say the rest of the field isn't good enough."A Bloomberg run is not a done deal.Advisers to the billionaire indicated earlier this week that he plans to win the nomination by skipping early voting states like New Hampshire and Iowa before making a massive ad spend in larger states.But polling of likely Democratic primary voters generally indicates satisfaction with the candidates who make up a historically large and diverse field. A Morning Consult poll conducted on 8 November found that just 4% of Democratic primary voters would make Bloomberg their choice.As Klobuchar spoke on Sunday, one news outlet reported that "sources close" to Bloomberg were already walking back the likelihood that he will enter the race, describing his move this week as a trial balloon.Axios reported that even Bloomberg's own polling data pointed to "perhaps insurmountable hurdles", especially if former vice-president Joe Biden stays in the race as the leading centrist candidate.On Saturday, news broke that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos had asked Bloomberg to enter. At a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders greeted the report with laughter.On Sunday, Klobuchar denied a reported rift between her campaign and that of Buttigieg. Confronted with a New York Times report which detailed supposed irritation with the 37-year-old's success among older candidates who have held state or national office, Klobuchar said she believed Buttigieg was qualified to be president.But she added: "I'm the one from the midwest who has actually won a state-wide race over and over again. That is not true of Mayor Pete. We should be able to have those debates about candidates without being accused of being negative."Klobuchar has qualified for the next two Democratic debates but remains way off the pace set by Warren, Biden, Sanders and Buttigieg. Referring to herself, Warren and Senator Kamala Harris of California, Klobuchar suggested a woman would not be on the debate stage if she held the same qualifications as Buttigieg."Do I think that we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that he had? No, I don't. Maybe we're held to a different standard."Klobuchar also responded to feuding between the frontrunners over Warren's "Medicare for All" plan, which would eliminate all private insurance. After Biden painted the Massachusetts senator as an out-of-touch elitist, Warren retorted that if the former vice-president was just going to repeat Republican talking points, he should run in a different primary ."I don't think Elizabeth Warren is elitist," Klobuchar said. "She's pushing for a policy I don't agree with that would kick 149 million Americans off their healthcare in four years."
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| Forget F-35 and F-22s: This Might be the Most Important Plane in the U.S. Air Force Posted: 10 Nov 2019 10:00 PM PST  A vital new plane.
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| Hong Kong police watchdog unequipped to probe protest response: experts Posted: 10 Nov 2019 12:56 AM PST  Hong Kong's police watchdog is currently unequipped to investigate the force's handling of months of pro-democracy protests, a panel of international experts appointed by the city's own government has found. The international finance hub has been upended by five months of huge and increasingly violent rallies, but Beijing has refused to give in to most of the movement's demands. One of the core demands, alongside fully free elections, is an independent inquiry into the police, who have been left to battle protesters for 24 consecutive weeks and are now loathed by large chunks of the deeply polarised population.
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| Imelda Marcos Is Here to Teach Us How Wannabe Autocrats Like Trump Really Think Posted: 11 Nov 2019 02:16 AM PST  Artur Widak/NurPhoto via GettyLONDON—At the 80th birthday party of comedian Joey Adams in the ballroom of an upmarket hotel overlooking Central Park in 1991, Donald Trump and Imelda Marcos sat side by side; two vulgar icons of '80s greed and ambition.Imelda and her husband Ferdinand Marcos had been ousted from power five years earlier by a popular uprising in the Philippines where people had grown sick of their corruption and brutality. Trump was a loud-mouthed but ultimately powerless New York real estate mogul.Fifteen years later, in 2016, Trump was elected President of the United States and Marcos' political clout was restored after a Filipino presidential election in which her son stood to be vice president and Rodrigo Duterte became the hardline president.The Marcos family are believed to have stolen more than $10 billion from the Filipino people during their 21-year reign. Ferdinand died in 1989, but in recent years, the family secretly helped to fund the rise of Duterte, a notorious homophobe and rape apologist who has bragged of executing drug-dealers in thousands of extrajudicial street killings.Trump is one of the few world leaders to have spoken warmly of Duterte and reportedly congratulated him on his approach to the drug trade.The great claim to fame of vaudevillian Joey Adams' may be his invention of the one-liner: "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"With friends like his, that's no wonder.Imelda Marcos, who is now 90, is currently trying to help her son, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., overturn defeat in the 2016 vice-presidential election (after three years, Duterte's judges are still refusing to reject his appeal). He is likely to run to succeed Duterte when his one-term limit comes to an end in 2022.If Imelda lives to see her son's election as president, it would be an extraordinary return to power for a woman who was forced into exile as one of the world's most mocked and disdained leaders, famous for collecting more than a thousand pairs of designer shoes while the angry populace was restrained under martial law.Her second rise has been expertly charted in Kingmaker by documentarian Lauren Greenfield, whose previous work includes the Sundance-feted The Queen of Versailles. Her new film offers a glimpse of the distorted inner monologue of a politician driven by autocratic tendencies.'The Kingmaker': A Scathing Portrait of the Female Donald TrumpImelda describes herself as a "mother" to the Philippines and its clear that she genuinely believes her kleptocratic rule blessed the nation. On screen we see her tutting over buildings that have been left to decay in the subsequent decades, while she passes out cash to needy citizens who squabble over the handouts. "I do think she believes her story," Greenfield told the Daily Beast in London. "And the people around her don't disabuse her of that. In a way she's got her own delusions."Greenfield spent five years filming the documentary, a period that spanned Imelda's rise from a period as a lowly congresswoman to the rebirth of her power. "As we worked over the five years it became clear that they were coming back to power. And that this wasn't a story about the past; it was a story about the present," she said.That transformation was made possible by a change in the perception of the Marcos family, who were chased out of the country in disgrace 30 years ago. An aggressive use of social media as well as campaigning to have schools change the way the history of their reign was taught have helped to reinvent their reputation."Perceptions are real, the truth is not," says Imelda in the film."She's aware of the power of the media," explained Greenfield. "She says 'The gun can kill you only till the grave, and the media can kill you to infinity and beyond.' And they've been very adept at using social media to communicate their talking points about martial law and the Marcos era. That was a really big part of how they seeded a lot of the ideas. Bongbong really went after the younger generation which didn't really remember martial law."Thus the Marcos family have succeeded in ingratiating themselves back into polite society and into the hearts of millions of voters.As the film begins, we are swept into Imelda's attractive and rarefied world. "At first I found her kind and generous, and captivating and funny, and able to laugh at herself in a way that was kind of endearing. And then as I learned of the terrible and tragic consequences of the regime that she was complicit in, my view of her and also her version of history really changed," Greenfield said.Kingmaker shows us both sides. The film's brilliance lies in allowing us to see the autocrat's delusion in still believing they speak for the common man. It's a familiar theme."Imelda talks about her friends who other people thought were monsters, but she thought were kind and generous like Saddam Hussein and Chairman Mao. It makes you think of Trump's bedfellows and who he's attracted to, like Putin and even Duterte," said Greenfield.Imelda says Mao kissed her hand and congratulated her personally for ending the Cold War. She also claims to have given him the idea for the Cultural Revolution.By joining forces with Duterte, the Marcos family is emphasizing the continuity with a new generation of strongmen. "Duterte was really the expression of the terror of dictatorship coming back, they were leaning in to what happened and trying to get back there again," said Greenfield."It's a cautionary tale for us about what happens when you don't remember history; about the fragility of democracy and the return to authoritarian regimes," the director said. "I didn't start the movie as just being about the Philippines and I am pleased that people are seeing it as a reflection also of what's going on in the U.S. and the rise of nationalism in Europe."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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| Syria's Assad: anybody will be able to run at 2021 election Posted: 10 Nov 2019 11:25 PM PST  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the Syrian presidential election in 2021 would be open to anybody who wants to run and that there would be numerous challengers for the presidency. Assad, who made the comment in an interview broadcast on Monday on Russian state-funded television channel RT, faced two challengers at the 2014 election which he won by a landslide, but which his opponents dismissed as a charade. There are going to be numerous nominees," Assad said.
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| Boris Johnson on Track for Win, With Majority on Knife Edge, Odds Say Posted: 11 Nov 2019 04:39 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.If you listen to bookmakers, the central question in the U.K. general election is not whether Boris Johnson will win, but by how much.Johnson is the overwhelming favorite to remain as prime minister after the Dec. 12 poll, according to bookmaker Paddy Power. At 3/1 on to lead the next government, punters would need to bet three pounds ($3.86) to win one pound -- effectively meaning the betting firm gives Johnson a 75% chance to keep his job.Odds also suggest he has an increasing chance of winning an overall majority in Parliament -- which he has repeatedly said he needs to end the impasse over Brexit.On Monday, Ladbrokes placed about a 60% chance on a Johnson majority, even before Nigel Farage said his Brexit Party will not contest the 317 seats won by the Conservatives in 2017."A hung parliament was the most likely scenario according to the betting last week, but the bookies are reporting a fair move towards a Tory majority by punters over the weekend," Ladbrokes said.Analysts and traders study bookmakers' odds to help predict the outcome of market-moving events, though their reliability was dealt a blow in the 2016 referendum on the U.K.'s membership of the European Union. As the campaign ended, odds implied a 90% chance of voters opting to remain in the bloc.The current election odds are backed by recent opinion polls, which give the Conservatives a 12 percentage point lead over Labour on average.The odds on Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn winning are 2/1 against, effectively a 33% chance, meaning gamblers would need to risk one pound to win two. His party has about a 5% chance of an overall majority in the House of Commons, according to Betfair.To contact the reporters on this story: Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net;Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Emma Ross-ThomasFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Greta Thunberg politely shuts down heckler during during speech in US: ‘Maybe you can do it later’ Posted: 10 Nov 2019 07:41 AM PST  Greta Thunberg politely dealt with a heckler after being interrupted during speech in the US.The activist was giving a speech at a climate change rally in North Carolina when someone started shouting over the crowd's cheers in what seemed to be the teenager's native language, Swedish.
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