| Stefanik embraces spotlight at impeachment hearings Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:55 PM PST  The second day of the impeachment inquiry's public hearings, on Friday, began the same way as the first: with an attempt by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, to interrupt proceedings with a procedural objection.
|
| Suspect in ‘Potomac River Rapist’ cold case arrested Posted: 15 Nov 2019 04:12 AM PST  Genealogy websites and a cheek swab enabled U.S. Marshals to arrest a man suspected of being the "Potomac River Rapist," who terrorized the nation's capital in the 1990s. News outlets report 60-year-old Giles Daniel Warrick is now awaiting extradition from Horry County, South Carolina. Authorities said DNA evidence matched family profiles in genealogy services, enabling investigators to narrow their search after interviewing Warrick's relatives.
|
| Man caught at Houston airport with 35 pounds of liquid cocaine in shampoo bottles Posted: 15 Nov 2019 09:15 AM PST  The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol says an arriving passenger tried to smuggle 35 pounds worth of liquid cocaine in shampoo bottles into the country.
|
| Protest graffiti fills Beirut's posh downtown Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:04 AM PST  A majestic phoenix spreads its wings as Hayat Nazer adds a splash of colour to a Beirut wall. As Lebanon's uprising enters its second month, graffiti has enveloped the capital's posh downtown. Since October 17, the chanting of tens of thousands of Lebanese denouncing the political elite have shaken the normally staid district around two Beirut squares -- Martyrs' and Riad Al Solh.
|
| Republicans Thought Yovanovitch Would Be a Pushover. She Beat Them Up Instead Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:21 PM PST  Nicholas Kamm / AFP/ Getty ImagesBefore Marie Yovanovitch even spoke on Friday, President Donald Trump's surrogates in Congress and conservative media expected her to cry on command for the impeachment-hearing cameras. As Yovanovitch began testifying about the smear campaign that forced her from her ambassadorship in Ukraine, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted that impeachment wasn't about her feelings. But for over five hours, the 33-year veteran diplomat left no doubt why she was there and what she endured, even as the president himself weighed in on Twitter, seeming to intimidate her as she sat in front of the congressional panel. The president's attack wasn't the only one she brushed aside. Yovanovitch methodically outplayed a series of Republican efforts to cast her firing as normal, the president's behavior as unremarkable, and the harm she suffered as negligible—rather than the prelude to a shadow diplomatic effort to coerce Ukraine into aiding Trump's re-election. Instead, she made it clear that she would have been an obstacle to the president's pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had she remained in Kyiv. At one point, she told Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) that she would have opposed the summer 2019 suspension of $400 million in U.S. military aid and would never have asked Zelensky to pursue the conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election. Asked to affirm that Trump was legitimately concerned about Ukraine corruption, she shot back, "That's what he says."Not much of Friday's hearing, the second in the House impeachment inquiry, went the GOP's way. The exception was Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), who, knowing that Yovanovitch was fired before the pressure campaign on Zelensky proceeded, got her to concede she had no knowledge of criminal wrongdoing by Trump.Most of their attempts to discredit or dismiss her either fell flat or ended in retreat. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican, asked Yovanovitch to affirm that presidents get to select their ambassadors. In perhaps the most powerful line of the hearing, Yovanovitch replied, "I obviously don't dispute the president has the right to withdraw an ambassador at any time for any reason, but what I do wonder is why it was necessary to smear my reputation."Wenstrup quickly replied that wasn't his question, pressed the sound on his mic off and sat back in his chair. When the Republicans' counsel for impeachment, Steve Castor, put forward a series of public statements from 2016 from Ukrainians upset with candidate Trump, Yovanovitch frustrated a line of questioning meant to establish what Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the top Intelligence Committee Republican, called "Ukrainian election meddling.""Those elements you've recited don't seem to be a plan or plot of the Ukrainian government to work against President Trump. Those are isolated incidents," she said. "I've come to learn public life can be quite critical. I'd remind, again, that our own U.S. intelligence community has conclusively determined" that Russia, not Ukraine, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.Castor also walked into a trap by asking if Trump might have been justified in feeling Ukraine was against him based on internet-borne comments. Yovanovitch, whom Trump had just disparaged in a tweet, icily replied, "Well, sometimes that happens on social media."Stewart, who called impeachment "nonsense," implied it was appropriate for Trump to seek a Ukrainian investigation of Burisma, the national-gas firm that put Joe Biden's son on its board. Yovanovitch responded that "we have a process for that" that Trump did not follow, one involving communication between the Justice Department and its Ukrainian counterpart under a mutual legal-assistance treaty. Stewart reiterated the question "regardless of the process," although corruption by definition routes around official channels in pursuit of private agendas. Similarly, when John Ratcliffe (R-TX) asked if it was a potential "conflict of interest" for Joe Biden to seek the firing of a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor in 2016—a central Republican defense of Trump—Yovanovitch rejected his premise. "I actually don't," she said. "I think the view was that Mr. [Viktor] Shokin was not a good prosecutor-general fighting corruption. I don't think it had to do with the Burisma case."Republicans attempted to approach Yovanovitch respectfully. They praised her service—even as they defended Trump for ending it prematurely—and gave prominence to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) so as to avoid the optics of men attacking a woman. Yet they were at times dismissive of what Yovanovitch had described as a nightmare. Rep. Michael Conaway (R-TX), asked her basic questions about her post-ambassadorship gig at Georgetown University—how many classes does she teach? How many students does she have?—and the regard her diplomatic colleagues have for her, suggesting that she suffered no real harm after the president capped an assassination of her character by firing her.Later, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) had the room laughing when he spelled out the upshot of that inquiry. "It's like a Hallmark movie," he said from the dais. "You ended up at Georgetown. This is all OK!"The ultimate sabotage to the GOP's attempt to treat Yovanovitch as an impeachment sideshow was committed by Trump himself. With a series of tweets slamming Yovanovitch as she testified, the president did plenty of work to make her appearance even more relevant to the impeachment inquiry. The ambassador—and Democratic lawmakers—said Trump's broadside was intended to intimidate not only her but future impeachment witnesses. It fueled talk of a whole new article of impeachment.Few Republicans felt compelled to justify the president's tweets. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), a reliable ally of the president, said Trump is allowed to defend himself and that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Democratic floor general on impeachment, had cherry-picked tweets about the ambassador to read from the dais. As the hearing wrapped, Republicans maintained that Stewart's line of questioning was the punch that would linger from the hearing. "This witness can't shed any light on what Dems claim are their impeachable offenses, and can't advance their narrative," said a senior House GOP aide.But Democrats left with the impression they got even more than they'd wanted—that a witness initially pitched as someone who could flesh out the human impact of Trump's Ukraine designs served many more purposes."You know, it's funny," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), "the more the day went on, I personally thought she became more and more enlightening for purposes of our inquiry." The ambassador's appearance met a rare ending for the staid hearing rooms of Capitol Hill. Schiff closed with a thundering statement, and before Yovanovitch could even rise from her chair, the crowd in the gallery erupted in a standing ovation.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.
|
| Israel strikes Hamas targets after 2 rockets fired from Gaza Posted: 15 Nov 2019 04:45 PM PST  Israel said its aircraft hit military sites for Gaza's Hamas rulers early Saturday after two rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave. This was Israel's first strike against Hamas since the start of this week's cross-border fighting with another Gaza militant group, the Iran-backed Islamic jihad. The worst bout of fighting in months began Tuesday after Israel's targeted killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander in an airstrike.
|
| Scientists Are Fighting Over One of the Hottest Places on Earth Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:30 AM PST  Some say life can exist there. Others say no way.
|
| American Airlines flight attendants have literally begged not to work on the Boeing 737 Max when it returns, union boss says (BA) Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:43 AM PST  Lori Bassani heads the union for 28,000 American Airlines flight attendants, and she warned of genuine fear among staff over returning to the 737 Max.
|
| The Army Plans To Use These 6 Weapons In A War Against Russia Or China Posted: 15 Nov 2019 05:00 AM PST  The Army is transitioning away from fighting terrorism.
|
| China envoy threatens Sweden over award to detained writer Gui Minhai Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:51 AM PST ![China envoy threatens Sweden over award to detained writer Gui Minhai]( "China envoy threatens Sweden over award to detained writer Gui Minhai") China threatened Sweden with unspecified "counter measures" if its culture minister attends a literary award ceremony on Friday for Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen who was abducted in Thailand in 2015 and is now in detention in China. The case of Chinese-born Gui Minhai, who studied in Sweden in the 1980s and was based in Hong Kong when he published books critical of China's leaders, has soured relations between Sweden and China.
|
| Off-duty officers were the first responders to the California high school shooting — because they were dropping off their own family members for school Posted: 14 Nov 2019 09:37 PM PST  The first responders reported to the scene at approximately 7:40 a.m., shortly after the first shots rang out, and began treating the gunshot victims.
|
| Authorities are searching for a woman after finding her husband's corpse in a bedroom freezer Posted: 14 Nov 2019 12:57 PM PST  Authorities are searching for a woman after finding her husband's corpse in a freezer in a bedroom inside her Missouri home, where it may have been stored for nearly a year. Barbara Watters of Joplin, Mo., was charged Wednesday with abandonment of a corpse, a felony that is punishable by up to four years in prison.
|
| Trump tweet attacks former ambassador during her impeachment testimony Posted: 15 Nov 2019 07:55 AM PST  As Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee, President Trump attacked her on Twitter.
|
| Marine deserter’s mother names him in fatal shooting Posted: 15 Nov 2019 12:15 PM PST  The mother of a wanted Marine told investigators that she saw her son kill her boyfriend, according to a federal criminal complaint. The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Virginia, on Wednesday shows Vanessa Hanson told a U.S. Marshal that she witnessed Michael Alexander Brown, 22, fatally shoot her boyfriend, Rodney Wilfred Brown, last Saturday at a home in Hardy. The vehicle was later found near Clarendon County, South Carolina, about four hours southwest of Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, where he had been stationed as a U.S. Marine until leaving his post last month.
|
| From 'Anonymous,' key excerpts from inside Trump White House on Putin, Hillary Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:10 AM PST  Key excerpts from "A Warning," a book by an anonymous senior administration official about President Trump and his administration.
|
| Look Out, Israel: China May Have Stolen The Iron Dome Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:00 AM PST  Chinese hackers, that is.
|
| Teenager Who Killed His Father and a 6-Year-Old Is Sentenced to Life Without Parole Posted: 15 Nov 2019 05:14 AM PST  A South Carolina teenager who in 2016, at age 14, killed his father before driving to an elementary school and fatally shooting a 6-year-old boy and injuring two other people was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole.After a judge decided that the gunman, Jesse Dewitt Osborne, now 17, should be tried as an adult, he pleaded guilty in December 2018 to two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge R. Lawton McIntosh in Anderson County, South Carolina, handed down the sentence after three days of special hearings during which mental health professionals and family members, including Osborne's grandfather and half brother, spoke to Osborne's age and maturity at the time of the crimes, his home and family life, his psychological state, his awareness of legal rights and the chance for rehabilitation."One of the great concerns to me is that you lack remorse," the judge said to Osborne.Moments before, Osborne told the judge: "I wish this would have never happened. I don't know how I did this." He acknowledged that he needed help, and told the judge, "I'll do whatever you say."Osborne's lawyer, Frank L. Eppes, told reporters after the sentencing that the case would be appealed.Eppes declined to say what he hoped McIntosh would have decided Thursday. But he said that "the issue of giving juveniles life sentences is a very complicated issue.""Hopefully at this point, many of the people who have been devastated by this tragedy will be able to get beyond it, and it will make their lives better that this part of Jesse Osborne's story has come to its conclusion," he said.The prosecutor in the case, David Wagner, said in an interview that prosecutors had sought a sentence of life without parole because "you don't get much worse than going and shooting elementary school kids on a playground.""He did a horrible thing and he's a horrible person," Wagner said.The hearings, which were livestreamed by local news outlets, were required by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling intended to prevent juveniles who commit severe crimes from receiving mandatory or arbitrary life sentences without consideration for their circumstances and maturity.What emerged were two opposing portraits of Osborne. Some described him as an isolated schoolboy who had been bullied but who could be treated. Others depicted him as a dangerous criminal who chillingly planned gruesome events and who would have little hope for rehabilitation.On Sept. 28, 2016, Osborne fatally shot his 47-year-old father, Jeffrey Osborne, with a gun his father kept at his bedside. He then stole his father's truck and drove 3 miles to the elementary school he once attended. Osborne walked onto the playground at Townville Elementary School and shot two boys and a teacher with his father's handgun, killing 6-year-old Jacob Hall.Prosecutors seeking a life sentence for the boy, who turned 14 just days before the killings, presented hundreds of videos and social media messages showing that the shooting was premeditated.Osborne had been part of online communities devoted to the discussion of mass murderers, and had researched other school shootings, including Columbine in Colorado and Sandy Hook in Connecticut, according to the testimony of Detective McKindra Bibb, of the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.Osborne also kept a collage of several of the 20 first graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary on his cellphone, Bibb testified.In one video showed at the hearing, Osborne combed his hair on the day of the attack, saying you "got to have your hair straight when you're going to shoot up a place. Got to look fabulous."Family members, including Osborne's half brother, Ryan Brock, 22, described a tumultuous home life, in which Jeffrey Osborne drank heavily and abused Jesse Osborne.The father and son "were very constantly at each other's throats," Brock said. "I could hear the screams all the way throughout the house." On Wednesday, Jesse Osborne's grandfather, Tommy Osborne, testified that his grandson spent 13 to 14 hours a day alone in his basement room after being expelled from school for bringing a hatchet.On Thursday, school administrators, a teacher who was shot and relatives of Jacob Hall, described the terror they experienced.The school's principal, Denise Fredericks, said justice would be served if Osborne spent the rest of his life in prison."This day forever changed every person in the Anderson school district," said the district's superintendent, Joanne Avery.Jacob Hall's mother, Renae Hall, organized a superhero-themed funeral for her son, which drew about 1,000 mourners dressed as Superman, Ninja Turtles and Batman.On Thursday, Hall said that she had struggled with drug addiction since his death, but that she forgave Osborne."I pray for peace and that justice is served today," she said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
|
| An expert in fraternity hazing deaths says coddling parents are part of the problem Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:32 AM PST  Hank Nuwer, a journalist who keeps a database on fraternity deaths, thinks parents aren't teaching their children "self-restraint."
|
| Amid attacks from Trump, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine testifies to influence from 'foreign corrupt interests' Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:16 AM PST  A former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine testified Friday, amid real-time attacks by President Trump himself, that she was the victim of a dishonest smear campaign in which one of the president's personal lawyers worked with corrupt Ukrainian officials to remove her from her position earlier this year.
|
| The Latest: Stone convicted in 7 count indictment Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:23 PM PST  President Donald Trump is reacting to news that his longtime friend and confidant Roger Stone was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering. The president tweeted Friday, just minutes after the jury handed down its verdict in federal court in Washington.
|
| Heavy snow snarls traffic, shuts schools in Iran capital Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:02 AM PST  Heavy snowfall blanketed the streets of north Tehran on Saturday, causing traffic chaos and forcing the closure of schools, authorities in the Iranian capital said. Crews of municipal workers were battling to clear roads and pavements in parts of the capital, where snow began falling at the start of the morning rush hour and continued through the day. "Snow started at a time when there is usually high traffic and now as you can imagine that snow has intensified this traffic," Hamid Mousavi, mayor of Tehran's first district, told the ISNA news agency.
|
| 'He doesn't seem like the kind of kid to do this': Classmates, neighbors surprised by suspected Santa Clarita shooter's identity Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:33 AM PST  The 16-year-old who fatally shot two students and wounded three others at Saugus High School in California was an unlikely shooter, classmates said.
|
| 70-Year-Old Man Dies in Hong Kong Protests as Xi Jinping Calls for an End to the Unrest Posted: 14 Nov 2019 07:33 PM PST  China's leader, issued his toughest comments yet about the ongoing protests
|
| Maps show 500 suspected 're-education' camps and prisons where China is locking up and torturing its Muslim minority Posted: 16 Nov 2019 01:37 AM PST  Former detainees have spoken of torture and medical experiments in Xinjiang camps and prisons. China insists they are "free vocational training."
|
| Nicaraguan judge sentences man to 30 years in NY killing Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:13 AM PST  A Nicaraguan judge sentenced a man to 30 years behind bars in the killing of a young nursing student in upstate New York, a district attorney in the state said Friday. The trial of Orlando Tercero in the 2018 killing of Haley Anderson marked an exceedingly rare legal proceeding in which the defendant was prosecuted under Nicaragua's legal system for a slaying that happened on American soil. Tercero is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nicaragua.
|
| 20 Great Gifts for Boys Who Love to Tinker Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:13 PM PST |
| Russia Wants Its Tu-22M3 Bombers To Control The Black Sea Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:00 PM PST  And Ukraine is on notice.
|
| Despite House rules against it, Stefanik tries to question impeachment hearing witness Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:47 AM PST  During open hearings in the House impeachment inquiry, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik tried to address Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch when Committee Chairman Adam Schiff stopped her. "Under the house resolute 660, you are not allowed to yield time except to minority counsel."
|
| Trump asked Tokyo for $8 bln to keep U.S. troops in Japan - Foreign Policy Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:54 PM PST ![Trump asked Tokyo for $8 bln to keep U.S. troops in Japan - Foreign Policy]( "Trump asked Tokyo for $8 bln to keep U.S. troops in Japan - Foreign Policy") U.S. President Donald Trump has asked Japan to quadruple its payments for U.S. forces stationed there, Foreign Policy reported, citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials, as Washington presses long-standing allies to increase their defence spending. Washington wants Tokyo to increase annual payments for the 54,000 U.S. troops in Japan to around $8 billion from about $2 billion, Foreign Policy said, citing three unnamed former defence officials.
|
| Black South Carolina Leaders Distance Themselves from Buttigieg Campaign’s ‘Douglass Plan’ Posted: 15 Nov 2019 06:58 AM PST  Several black leaders in South Carolina who were listed as supporters of the Buttigieg campaign's "Douglass Plan" distanced themselves from the proposal and the campaign when pressed for comment, saying that the campaign was "intentionally vague" in asking for their endorsements.According to a report from The Intercept, three South Carolina black leaders — Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Devine, Rehoboth Baptist pastor and state Representative Ivory Thigpen, and Johnnie Cordero, chair of the state party's Black Caucus — all expressed misgivings over the way that the Buttigieg campaign featured their names prominently in an open letter published in the the HBCU Times touting the plan's details."We are over 400 South Carolinians, including business owners, pastors, community leaders, and students. Together, we endorse his Douglass Plan for Black America, the most comprehensive roadmap for tackling systemic racism offered by a 2020 presidential candidate," the letter reads.Buttigieg, who polled at zero percent among black voters in South Carolina earlier this year, recently called his plan "the most comprehensive vision put forward by a 2020 candidate on the question of how we're going to tackle systemic racism in this country."When reached for comment, Devine, Thigpen, and Cordero all denied that they intended their correspondence with the Buttigieg campaign over the plan to be read as an endorsement of the candidate."Clearly from the number of calls I received about my endorsement, I think the way they put it out there wasn't clear, that it was an endorsement of the plan, and that may have been intentionally vague. I'm political, I know how that works," Devine said. "I do think they probably put it out there thinking people wouldn't read the fine print or wouldn't look at the details or even contact the people and say, 'Hey, you're endorsing Mayor Pete?'""How it was rolled out was not an accurate representation of where I stand," Thigpen added. "I didn't know about its rolling out. Somebody brought it to my attention, and it was alarming to me, because even though I had had conversations with the campaign, it was clear to me, or at least I thought I made it clear to them, that I was a strong Bernie Sanders supporter — actually co-chair of the state, and I was not seeking to endorse their candidate or the plan."Cordero, who has since been removed as a public supporter, said he did not know "how my name got on there," and was simply emailed the plan by the campaign and asked for feedback."What I was talking back and forth with them about was, who drafted the plan? I know Pete didn't draft the plan. I'm sure he had his advisers do it. But I wanna know who was involved in this plan such that you can claim that you speak for black America," Cordero said. "The long and the short of it was they never sufficiently answered my questions, so I never actually endorsed the plan. They went ahead and used my name."In a statement to National Review, the Buttigieg campaign said that "we never gave the impression publicly that these people were endorsing Pete, only that they supported the plan.""After they indicated their support, we reached out to people multiple times giving them the opportunity to review the language of the op-ed and the option to opt-out. We did hear from people who weren't comfortable being listed and we removed them," the statement said.A source with knowledge of the situation said that the campaign reached out to Devine on Thursday night, who remained supportive of the plan. It is unclear whether the campaign also reached out to Thigpen.
|
| Chicago teachers approve 'historic' contract that ended 11-day strike Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:20 AM PST  The Chicago Teachers Union voted Friday to accept a contract deal that ended an 11-day strike in the third-largest school district last month.
|
| Bolivia interim leader threatens Morales with charges Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:02 PM PST  Bolivia's interim leader Jeanine Anez said Friday that exiled ex-president Evo Morales would have to "answer to justice" if he returns, as five of his supporters were killed in fierce clashes with security forces. Morales resigned and fled to Mexico after losing the support of Bolivia's security forces following weeks of protests over his disputed re-election that has seen 15 people killed and more than 400 wounded. The former president has said he was willing to return to bring peace to Bolivia.
|
| Authorities find malnourished girl after online teacher tip Posted: 14 Nov 2019 10:01 PM PST  A teacher administering an online test who heard an 11-year-old student say she was hungry and only allowed to eat a small plate of rice each day alerted investigators in Ohio that something was amiss. Authorities found the girl was severely malnourished, living in filth and had been isolated for years. The girl weighed just 47 pounds (21.3 kilograms) when she was found in September — roughly 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) under the average weight for a girl her age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
|
| Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are the 2020 progressive standard-bearers. Here's where they disagree on policy Posted: 16 Nov 2019 05:58 AM PST  The two progressive presidential candidates have a lot in common, but diverge in several key policy areas.
|
| Russia's Su-57: A Terrifying Stealth Fighter or Junk? China Has Thoughts. Posted: 15 Nov 2019 12:30 AM PST  China plans to learn from it.
|
| Jackie Speier erupts at reporter for The Hill Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:07 PM PST  Angered by the testimony of ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, California Rep. Jackie Speier upbraided a reporter for The Hill and ripped the outlet's publication of columns by John Solomon, the conservative journalist whose work is at the center of what Yovanovitch described as a "smear campaign" against her. "I just find it reprehensible that any newspaper would just be willing to put that kind of crap out that is not — has no veracity whatsoever, and not check to see if it had any veracity," said Speier, a Democrat serving in her seventh term in the House, according to audio of the exchange reviewed by POLITICO. Speier launched into her critique of The Hill after fielding a question from its senior staff writer Scott Wong about who her dream witness would be at the impeachment proceedings.
|
| Gang violence hits Mexican leader's ratings, U.S. warns of 'parallel government' Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:11 AM PST  Support for Mexico's president has fallen some ten percentage points during a surge in gang-related violence, a poll showed on Friday, just as the U.S. ambassador voiced concern about "parallel government" by cartels in parts of the country. The Nov. 6-11 survey of 1,000 Mexicans for newspaper El Universal showed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had an approval rating of 58.7%, down from 68.7% in late August. The poll had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
|
| Pro-Life Investigators Found Guilty in Lawsuit After Filming Planned Parenthood Execs Discussing Sale of Fetal Body Parts Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:33 PM PST  A San Fransisco district court on Friday found pro-life activists guilty in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood after the activists surreptitiously filmed executives of the abortion group discussing the sale of fetal body parts.A ten person federal jury convicted activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, breach of contract and trespass and violation of state and federal recording laws in Maryland, California and Florida. Planned Parenthood will be awarded $870,000 in punitive damages.Daleiden and Merritt released videos in 2015 of Planned Parenthood executives as well as footage from the 2014 National Abortion Federation conference, which they obtained while posing as researchers for a fake fetal tissue research company they called Biomax.In the videos, abortion industry players could be seen admitting to illegally altering abortion procedures in order to provide fresher, more intact fetal parts, as well as haggling with the investigators over prices. The investigators have also accused Planned Parenthood of illegally profiting off the sale of fetal tissue for medical research, using their footage as evidence.The verdict set "a dangerous precedent for citizen journalism and First Amendment civil rights across the country, sending a message that speaking truth and facts to criticize the powerful is no longer protected by our institutions," read a statement from CMP.Planned Parenthood has consistently denied any activities portrayed in the videos were illegal, and have accused CMP of deceptively editing the footage."The jury has spoken loud and clear," said Planned Parenthood attorney Rhonda Trotter after the verdict. "Those who violate the law in an effort to limit access to reproductive rights and health care will be held accountable."The trial made headlines in September when California obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Forrest Smith, who has administered thousands of abortions, testified on behalf of the CMP activists."There's no question in my mind that at least some of these fetuses were live births," Smith told the court while describing the abortion procedures elaborated by Planned Parenthood executives in the CMP footage.
|
| Ohio GOP lawmakers want to ban all abortions, charge doctors who perform them with murder Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:38 AM PST  Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives signed onto a bill that would ban all abortions in Ohio and charge doctors who perform them with murder.
|
| Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on streets of Hong Kong for clean-up operation Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:13 AM PST  China's People's Liberation Army troops appeared on the streets of Hong Kong yesterday as part of a clean-up mission that risked a backlash from pro-democracy protesters who have brought the city to a standstill in recent months. The appearance of the PLA soldiers outside their barracks - even dressed in shorts and t-shirts - to help clear away barricades and debris from another night of protests could be seen as an incremental raising of the political stakes from Beijing. Demosistō, a pro-democracy organisation, said the clean-up operation could set a "grave precedent" if the city's government invites the military to deal with internal problems. A member of Chinas People's Liberation Army (PLA) stands guard inside Osborn Barracks in Kowloon Tong in Hong Kong on November 16, 2019. - China's President Xi Jinping warned on November 14 that protests in Hong Kong threaten the "one country, two systems" principle governing the semi-autonomous city that has tipped into worsening violence with two dead in a week. Credit: AFP Hong Kong's city government clarified that it did not request assistance from PLA forces which have remained in their barracks during five months of protests, issuing a statement describing the deployment as a "voluntary community activity" by the military. Foreign envoys and security analysts estimate up to 12,000 troops are now based across Hong Kong - more than double the usual garrison number following an additional deployment last August. Chinese troops have appeared on streets only once since the 1997 handover to help clear up after a typhoon in 2018. It was not clear how many were involved yesterday, but by late afternoon, the PLA soldiers had left the streets outside Baptist University beside their barracks in Kowloon Tong. An anti-government protesters stands at a blocked outlet of the Cross Harbour Tunnel near the Polytechnic University in Hong Kong Credit: Reuters The PLA garrison in Hong Kong said that when some residents began cleaning, some troops "helped clear the road in front of the garrison gate". Clashes between protesters and police have become increasingly violent, with China warning that any attempt at independence for Hong Kong will be crushed. Chinese state media has repeatedly broadcast comments made on Thursday by President Xi Jinping, in which he denounced the unrest and said "stopping violence and controlling chaos while restoring order is currently Hong Kong's most urgent task". Read More | Hong Kong crisis The clean-up followed some of the worst violence seen this year, after a police operation against protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday. The authorities have since largely stayed away from at least five university campuses that had been barricaded by thousands of students and activists who stockpiled petrol bombs, catapults, bows and arrows and other weapons.
|
| Haiti to investigate alleged rapes of 10 female inmates Posted: 15 Nov 2019 05:34 PM PST ![Haiti to investigate alleged rapes of 10 female inmates]( "Haiti to investigate alleged rapes of 10 female inmates") PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Authorities in Haiti said late Friday they are investigating allegations that a group of male inmates raped 10 women in a makeshift jail in the northern city of Gonaives. Prosecutor Sérard Gazius told The Associated Press that more than 50 men broke out of their cells last week and overpowered police officers guarding inmates, adding that an unknown number of them are suspected of raping 10 of 12 women being held in the same facility but in separate cells.
|
| The new seal for the Navy's next aircraft carrier contains a hint about big changes coming to naval aviation Posted: 15 Nov 2019 09:11 AM PST  The recently unveiled seal for the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy features its best-known aircraft, along with a future addition.
|
| The U.S. Air Force’s Next Big Thing: Arsenal Planes With Hypersonic Missiles Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:00 PM PST  The "arsenal plane" that U.S. Air Force is developing in order to carry large numbers of munitions into battle might also carry new hypersonic weapons.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment