| Trump offers to help Mexico 'wage WAR' on cartels after deaths of Americans Posted: 05 Nov 2019 06:58 AM PST  President Trump offered to help Mexico root out violent drug cartels after a clash between gangs killed at least nine Americans.
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| New charges for ex-trooper accused of sexually assaulting 6 Posted: 04 Nov 2019 03:24 PM PST ![New charges for ex-trooper accused of sexually assaulting 6]( "New charges for ex-trooper accused of sexually assaulting 6") A former Ohio state trooper accused of sexually assaulting motorists is facing additional charges after more people have come forward. Former trooper Christopher Ward is accused of sexually assaulting five people while he was on the job and a sixth person who is a minor, according to court records. Ward, a former state trooper from Eaton, initially was charged in February over allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with an adult in 2015 and a minor in 2018.
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| Philippines VP accepts Duterte's offer of post in drugs war Posted: 05 Nov 2019 10:01 PM PST  The vice president of the Philippines on Wednesday accepted President Rodrigo Duterte's offer of a lead role in his brutal war on drugs, even though she expected her political rival's administration would try to thwart her progress.
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| Look out below: Which Democratic candidate will drop out next? Posted: 05 Nov 2019 08:18 AM PST  At first there were 26. Now there are "only" 17. Who will be the next Democratic presidential candidate to drop out?
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| US navy prepares allies to 'protect navigation' in Gulf Posted: 05 Nov 2019 04:57 PM PST  The United States is training Gulf allies to "protect navigation" in the region's troubled waterways, as it seeks to build an alliance to contain Iran. Washington's three-week International Maritime Exercise (IMX), which started on October 21, came after a number of commercial vessels were attacked in the Gulf from May, ratcheting up regional tensions. Washington and other Western powers blamed the incidents on Iran, which has denied any involvement.
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| Yes, North Korea Does Have a Nuclear Missile Submarine Posted: 05 Nov 2019 06:30 PM PST  A major step towards a second-strike capability.
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| Krispy Kreme is giving 500 boxes of doughnuts to a student after trying to shut down his business reselling them in his hometown Posted: 04 Nov 2019 02:56 PM PST  Krispy Kreme is encouraging Jayson Gonzalez to continue his business venture after initially telling him to stop all operations.
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| See Photos of the SpeedKore Dodge Charger Posted: 05 Nov 2019 12:33 PM PST |
| Roger Stone's trial could hang on a comedian's drunken texts Posted: 05 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  Randy Credico's text messages to Roger Stone are likely to be key exhibits in a federal courtroom this week when Stone, the flamboyant longtime political adviser to Donald Trump, goes on trial on charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering.
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| Trial to begin for Omoyele Sowore, a New Jersey journalist imprisoned in his native Nigeria Posted: 05 Nov 2019 04:24 PM PST  Omoyele Sowore, a journalist held in a Nigerian prison since August, is set to go on trial Wednesday as his wife and supporters anxiously await news.
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| Greece rescues tourist floating in Aegean Sea for two days Posted: 05 Nov 2019 06:06 AM PST  Greece has rescued a 47-year old woman floating in a rubber dinghy in the Aegean Sea for nearly two days, coastguard officials said on Tuesday. The woman, holidaying on a sailboat near the Greek island of Folegandros, boarded an inflatable boat around midday on Nov. 1 to get supplies. Seven coastguard vessels, three private boats, a plane, and a helicopter were involved in the search operation.
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| Kentucky's Republican Senate president says the GOP-led legislature may pick the next governor Posted: 06 Nov 2019 03:24 AM PST ![Kentucky's Republican Senate president says the GOP-led legislature may pick the next governor]( "Kentucky's Republican Senate president says the GOP-led legislature may pick the next governor") Democrat Andy Beshear declared victory in Kentucky's gubernatorial race Tuesday night, and he did get more votes than incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin (R) -- 5,189 more votes, according to the uncertified final tally, or a margin of about 0.4 percentage points.But this doesn't appear to be the end of the process. Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said her office considers Beshear the victor and doesn't believe Bevin can make up the gap. Yet Bevin refused to concede, citing unspecified "irregularities," and The Associated Press hasn't called the race.Kentucky doesn't have an automatic recount provision, though candidates can petition -- and bankroll -- a statewide recount, Joe Sonka explains at the Louisville Courier Journal. First, losing candidates typically request a recanvas of the vote in each county. The recount is the next stage, and it involves a judge counting ballots and determining the winner, subject to appeal up to the Kentucky Supreme Court.Republican Senate President Robert Stivers suggested a dicier option Tuesday night: Let the GOP state legislature decide the winner. Section 90 of the state Constitution says "contested elections for governor and lieutenant governor shall be determined by both houses of the General Assembly, according to such regulations as may be established by law." Stivers said his staff believes that might apply in this case. The last "contested" governors race was in 1899, the Courier Journal reports.Sam Marcosson, a constitutional law professor at the University of Louisville, told the Courier Journal that Republicans can't just make up a legal procedure to review the election, and warned it's a risky "proposition to suggest that the General Assembly would take vague allegations of unspecified irregularities and call into question a gubernatorial election." Joshua Douglas, a professor at the University of Kentucky Law School, explained Bevin would have to call a special session of the General Assembly, then a panel of eight House members and three senators "would hear evidence and make a final determination. And that determination would be final."The Kentucky Constitution stipulates that the next governor be sworn in Dec. 10.
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| How Cannibal Ants Escaped from a Nuclear Bunker Posted: 04 Nov 2019 01:03 PM PST  We'd see that movie.
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| Parasitic worms found in woman’s eye as scientists warn of ‘emerging’ disease Posted: 05 Nov 2019 10:38 AM PST  A parasitic worm typically found in cattle has been discovered in a woman's eye in what scientists have warned may be an "emerging zoonotic disease" in the U.S. The 68-year-old woman is the second human to have become infected by the parasite.
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| Most Russians Now Want ‘Decisive’ Change in Country, Study Shows Posted: 06 Nov 2019 02:13 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Nearly six in ten Russians want "decisive and full-scale changes" in the country amid growing discontent with the authorities over living standards, according to new research.The proportion wanting change reached 59% this year, up from 42% in 2017, the study by the Carnegie Moscow Center and the Levada Center polling organization showed. After five years of stagnating incomes in Russia, 24% said they wanted higher wages, pensions and living standards, followed by 13% who sought a "change of government, president, or authorities."The survey of 1,600 Russians conducted in July also found that 53% believed that necessary reforms were possible only through "serious changes to the political system," compared to 34% who thought they could be achieved under the existing structure.Only 4% identified democratic reforms as necessary, however, while 45% wanted power concentrated in the hands of one leader and 74% favored active government intervention in the economy to control prices."If the desire for political change continues to grow at the same rate as in the past two years, there may soon be massive demand for political freedoms and political choice," Denis Volkov and Andrei Kolesnikov, who conducted the research, wrote in the report. "The state is clearly not ready for this, it is moving in the direction of greater authoritarianism."The report emerged after Moscow witnessed the largest anti-Kremlin demonstrations in seven years this summer, when the authorities refused to allow opposition candidates to contest city council elections. Much of the disillusionment appears to have set in at the start of President Vladimir Putin's fourth term in May last year, however, when the researchers found that 57% favored major reform in a similar survey."The desire for change is always present in society," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday on a conference call, in response to a question on the study. "It's another question whether somebody wants abrupt changes or changes that are consistent, smooth, harmonious."Recent polls have shown that Putin's personal rating has stabilized after taking a hit last year over unpopular pension reforms, though it remains far below the peaks reached following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.Amid rising pressure to deliver on promises of better living standards, the government is boosting spending following years of ultra-tight monetary and fiscal policy that limited the damage from slumping oil prices and international sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. The central bank has also accelerated interest-rate cuts that may boost the sluggish economy, even as Governor Elvira Nabiullina has warned that growth will be limited without structural reforms.The study shows that "people want radical changes but are scared of the social cost," Volkov and Kolesnikov wrote.To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net;Anya Andrianova in Moscow at aandrianova@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony HalpinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Thanks to Rand Paul, Russian Media Are Naming the Alleged Whistleblower Posted: 06 Nov 2019 01:59 AM PST  PoolStanding beside an approving Donald Trump at a rally in Kentucky on Monday night, Republican Sen. Rand Paul demanded the media unmask the whistleblower whose report about the president's alleged abuse of power dealing with Ukraine sparked impeachment proceedings.American news organizations resisted the pressure, but—in a 2019 re-play of "Russia, if you're listening"—Kremlin-controlled state media promptly jumped on it.Shortly after Sen. Paul tweeted out an article that speculated in considerable detail about the identity of the whistleblower—with a photograph, a name, and details about the purported political history of a CIA professional—Russian state media followed suit. Russian Media Cheers Trump's Moves in Syria: 'Putin Won the Lottery!'As if on cue, the Kremlin-controlled heavy hitters—TASS, RT, Rossiya-1—disseminated the same information. But unlike Rand Paul, one of the Russian state media outlets didn't seem to find the source—Real Clear Investigations—to be particularly impressive, and claimed falsely that the material was published originally by The Washington Post.This was the most egregious, but certainly not the only example of Kremlin-funded media cheerleading for Trump's fight against impeachment as proceedings against him unfold with growing speed. As a chorus of talking heads on Fox News have picked up on Trump's talking points, which is predictable—they've also been echoed across the pond, albeit with a tinge of irony. "Have you lost your minds that you want to remove our Donald Ivanovych?" asked Vladimir Soloviev, the host of the television show Evening with Vladimir Soloviev. Russian experts, government officials, and prominent talking heads often deride the American president for his Twitter clangor, haphazard approach to foreign policy, clownish lack of decorum, and unfiltered stream of verbalized consciousness. But all the reasons they believe Trump "isn't a very good president" for America are precisely their reasons for thinking he is so great for Russia. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian client whose regime teetered on the brink of collapse only to be saved definitively by Trump's chaotic approach to the Middle East, recently said that "President Trump is the best type of president for a foe." The Russians heartily agree. The Trump presidency has been wildly successful for Russia, which is eagerly stepping into every vacuum created by the retreat of the United States on the world stage."They say Trump is making Russia great. That's basically accurate," pointed out Karen Shakhnazarov, CEO of Mosfilm Studio and a prominent fixture on Russian state television. "The chaos brought by Trump into the American system of government is weakening the United States. America is getting weaker and now Russia is taking its place in the Middle East. Suddenly, Russia is starting to seriously penetrate Africa... So when they say that Trump is weakening the United States—yes, he is. And that's why we love him... The more problems they have, the better it is for us."Since the current administration is proving to be beneficial for the Kremlin, the Russians are openly contemplating various strategies and conspiracy theories, designed to undermine President Trump's political opponents. Russian state TV host Dmitry Kiselyov named Joe Biden as "Trump's most dangerous rival" and urged Trump to "keep digging in Ukraine for the sweetest kompromat of all: Proving that Ukraine—not Russia—interfered in the U.S. elections."Russian conspiracy theories have been reverberating throughout the Trump administration, boosted by Konstantin Kilimnik and Paul Manafort, repeated by President Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The Russians anticipated an easy victory and the Kremlin-controlled state media pre-emptively rejoiced back in May 2019 when state TV host Evgeny Popov boisterously declared that "Trump already won" and "Ukraine buried Biden as a candidate." But what was contemplated as a winning strategy backfired spectacularly when Trump bought into that Russian theory. Through Giuliani, Trump pressured Ukraine's newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky for dirt on Biden, and—thanks to a whistleblower's initial report on a highly problematic phone call Trump made to Zelensky in July—a formal impeachment inquiry began. As the evidence of abuse of power continues to mount, the beleaguered commander in chief is reduced to attacking the messenger. Trump repeatedly demanded that lawmakers and the media reveal the identity of the whistleblower, even though congressional testimony from multiple witnesses now being made public repeatedly and consistently supports the original allegations.Russian experts and analysts are openly hoping that the impeachment proceedings will have a side effect that would greatly benefit the Kremlin: "Impeachment will turn into the hunt for Ukrainians" and cause a serious rift between Kyiv and Washington. RIA Novosti columnist Ivan Danilov writes: "Some witnesses and sources of information, on which the charges against Donald Trump are based (and for which he, in fact, faces impeachment) are 'Americans of Ukrainian descent'... At the same time, supporters of the current president are already demonstrating a clear willingness to use their background as the proof that they are 'traitors to America.' It isn't as evident now, but after several months of actively promoting the thesis 'Ukrainians are Clinton's agents and the enemies of the United States, who are trying to overthrow Trump,' a significant part of American society and the political elite will want nothing to do with Ukraine or the Ukrainian leadership, nor will they harbor any warm feelings toward the Ukrainian diaspora."Danilov quotes Fox News, Glenn Beck, and The Federalist to demonstrate that a case against Trump is ultimately going to turn into a case against Ukraine. The possibility of undermining bipartisan support for Ukraine's fledgling democracy and its ongoing fight against Russian aggression sounds like a wonderful bonus for the Kremlin, especially since—for a change—anti-Ukrainian agitprop is now being made in America. Although rattled by the prospect of Trump's impeachment, Russian state media remains optimistic. Olga Skabeeva, the host of 60 Minutes, the most popular news talk show in Russia, predicted: "A Republican majority in the Senate won't allow the president whom we elected, wonderful Donald Trump, to be sent off. It's impossible. He has 90 percent support in the Republican Party." Russian news reports are assuring their audiences that while impeachment is likely, it won't result in Trump's removal from office and will have no effect on the presidential elections in 2020. Russian media outlets are forecasting that swing states and the Electoral College will assure yet another victory for Donald Trump, which suits the Kremlin to a "T." Trump's Syria Fiasco Is Part of Putin's To-Do ListRead 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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| View Photos of 2020 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak Posted: 05 Nov 2019 04:45 PM PST |
| In last days, al-Baghdadi sought safety in shrinking domain Posted: 05 Nov 2019 09:38 AM PST  In his last months on the run, Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was agitated, fearful of traitors, sometimes disguised as a shepherd, sometimes hiding underground, always dependent on a shrinking circle of confidants. Associates paint a picture of a man obsessed with his security and well-being and trying to find safety in towns and deserts in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border as the extremists' domains crumbled. In the end, the brutal leader once hailed as "caliph" left former IS areas completely, slipping into hostile territory in Syria's northwestern Idlib province run by the radical group's al-Qaida-linked rivals.
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| Camp Fire survivor who lost home in deadly blaze bilked of thousands of dollars, police say Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:44 AM PST  Brenda Rose Asbury is accused of embezzling more than $60,000 from an elderly woman who survived the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, California
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| Republicans break with Trump and Rand on whistleblower unmasking Posted: 05 Nov 2019 10:47 AM PST  Standing next to President Trump on Monday night, Sen. Rand Paul called for the media to unmask the Ukraine whistleblower and was cheered by rallygoers in Kentucky.
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| The Trump Organization reportedly can't get anyone to fill retail space in its Chicago hotel Posted: 05 Nov 2019 02:28 PM PST ![The Trump Organization reportedly can't get anyone to fill retail space in its Chicago hotel]( "The Trump Organization reportedly can't get anyone to fill retail space in its Chicago hotel") Any takers?Apparently not for the Trump Organization, which can't seem to find anyone to fill the street-level retail space at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, The Washington Post reports.The hotel has reportedly been struggling on several fronts during Trump's presidency, with profits reportedly falling 89 percent between 2015 and 2018, but the vacant space is a stark reminder. The Post obtained documents the company filed with Cook County tax assessors showing how difficult it's been to fill the void, which is reportedly equivalent to the size of two Whole Foods stores.A firm hired by the Trump Organization to find tenants told the county it had reached out to 81 potential businesses across various industries, but no one said yes, the documents revealed.The Trump Organization had previously argued that the hotel's struggles were related to crime in Chicago, but that's probably not the case since the hotel's competitors have actually seen increases in room revenue. The Post reports that the company's lawyers told the county that they believed the hotel is "suffering from unfair political backlash" as a result of Trump's presidency. Read more at The Washington Post.
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| Why Does Russia Appear to Be Helping China Build a Nuclear Aircraft Carrier? Posted: 05 Nov 2019 03:00 PM PST  What's in it for Moscow?
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| Democrats won Virginia and are claiming victory in Kentucky. What's next? Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:18 AM PST  The latest contests point the Democrats to a path forward. Whether that road actually leads to the White House remains to be seen'On Tuesday, impeachment wasn't the vote magnet the president's minions swore that it would be.' Photograph: Steve Helber/APOn election day 2019, the Democrats swept the Virginia legislature, and appear to have won the Kentucky governor's mansion. Trends visible when Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the House speaker's gavel a year ago remain ever present.America's suburbs continues to abandon their traditional political home even as rural voters remain energized by an unpopular president. On Tuesday, impeachment wasn't the vote magnet the president's minions swore that it would be.In Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear, the state's attorney general, appears to have ousted Matt Bevin, the incumbent Republican who has refused to concede defeat. Less than half a percent separates the two candidates. Trump had triumphed in the Bluegrass State by 30 points. If not gone, his magic is not readily transferable.For the record, Beshear won the very suburban counties that had gone for Bevin four years earlier. Meanwhile, voters in Kentucky's urban precincts flocked to the polls for the Democrat. Jefferson County, home to Louisville, voted Democratic by better than two-to-one.On the Monday night immediately before the election, Trump had headlined a Maga rally for Bevin and was joined onstage by Kentucky's senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. There, Trump proclaimed: "If you lose, they are going to say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. You can't let that happen to me!" At the same gathering, Paul had urged the press corps to out the whistleblower who is the bane of Trump's existence, a reminder of libertarianism's neo-Confederate strains.Hours later, on Tuesday morning, Trump then tweeted that the "impeachment hoax had fired up voters in Kentucky". Maybe so, but not exactly the way Trump had thought.Instead, Trump's presence comes with a downside: it energizes his opposition. As to be expected, Donald Trump Jr told Fox News' viewers as the results rolled in, "This has nothing to do with Trump."To be sure, Trump and Bevin may have also been hurt by the headlines that emerged as Kentuckians went to the polls. Gordon Sondland, Trump's ambassador to the European Union, had corrected his impeachment testimony and admitted that there had been a quid pro quo involving Ukraine and Hunter Biden.Republican demands that the Democrats release transcripts have given way to Republicans announcing that they now have no intention of reading said transcripts. Ignorance is the new bliss.Meanwhile, McConnell who doubles as Senate majority leader, was signaling that while he thought the Senate would acquit Trump in an impeachment trial, bipartisan agreement would be needed for the trial to proceed. "This is not something the majority can micromanage like it can on almost any other issue," said McConnell.In Virginia, the Republicans fate was gloomier as they lost the state senate and the house of delegates. For the first time since 1992, the Democrats hold control of both legislative chambers. Adding insult to injury, Juli Briskman, the cyclist who flipped-off the presidential motorcade two years earlier, won her bid for local office in Virginia's Loudon County.Looking back, the Republicans' defeat in the 2017 gubernatorial race was a harbinger of what actually came next. Suburban Virginians again made themselves heard and stuck a thumb in the president's eye. Against this backdrop, Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger, freshman congresswomen from swing districts in Virginia must be breathing more easily.The two had publicly announced their support for the House's impeachment inquiry in a Washington Post op-ed along with five other freshman with national security credentials. They also served as catalysts for Democrats moving forward on the topic.Spanberger is a former CIA operative while Luria is an ex-navy commander. Together, they are a reminder that the House Democrats are not just about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the party's left wing, and that Democrats have found traction outside the New York and California's big cities.While Democrats have reason to smile, perspective remains essential. While Tuesday's results can be spun as a defeat for Trumpism, Kentucky is not a swing state and Bevin was an unpopular governor. A year from now, it will appear in the president's column regardless of the national results. The last time Kentucky voted Democratic was in 1996 for Bill Clinton and Ross Perot was on the ballot.Next, Beshear ran as a moderate, something that cannot be said of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The former is a self-described democratic-socialist and the latter wants to remake capitalism in her own image. By the numbers, Warren appears poised to lose to Trump as suburban voters are turned-off by her plans for redistributive economics.In that sense, the latest contests point the Democrats to a path forward. Whether that road actually leads to the White House remains to be seen.
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| Giuliani Cronies Planned ‘Fraud Guarantee’ Infomercials Starring Rudy Posted: 06 Nov 2019 01:37 AM PST  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyAs Rudy Giuliani upended U.S.-Ukraine relations with a campaign of shadow diplomacy that landed his client, President Donald Trump, on the verge of impeachment, he was also exploring a gig as a television pitchman for an anti-fraud company run by two of the men he enlisted to dig up dirt on Trump's political foes in Ukraine.The company was called Fraud Guarantee, and it was run by Lev Parnas and David Correia, who were both arrested last month and charged with criminal violations of campaign-finance law—charges to which both have pleaded not guilty. Parnas and Correia had used Fraud Guarantee to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to Giuliani, with whom they worked closely as he sought to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine and advance their own business interests in the country.According to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Parnas and Correia had plans to expand Giuliani's role with the company. As of early this year, they were looking to make him into Fraud Guarantee's spokesman and public face.Both sources described a key part of the plan: a television infomercial featuring Giuliani extolling the virtues of Fraud Guarantee and its services. Parnas and Correia wanted the ad campaign to start airing on U.S. cable-news channels shortly after Giuliani was finished representing Trump in matters pertaining to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's two-year investigation. The probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election concluded earlier this year. Indicted Giuliani Henchman Lev Parnas Raises Executive Privilege in Federal CourtGiuliani himself was read-in on the Parnas and Correia plans, and had multiple discussions with the two men about possibly signing on as their national pitchman, sources say.However, it's not clear whether any footage of those planned Fraud Guarantee infomercials was ever shot, or if any deal was ultimately officially inked. It's also not clear what purpose a prospective ad campaign would have served since Fraud Guarantee seemed to be conducting little if any actual business. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the company had "no identifiable customers." And its name—which, read literally, seems to be guaranteeing that its customers will be defrauded—appears to have been crafted to sanitize search-engine results for Parnas' name, so that people searching for, say, "Lev Parnas" and "fraud" would instead find his company.Daytime cable-TV shows are littered with infomercials featuring moderately prominent political celebrities promoting products such as gold and silver investment services, reverse mortgages, and catheters. The popular sleep line MyPillow, which is led by the president's friend and political ally Mike Lindell, is a frequent cable advertiser. Other Trumpworld luminaries have gotten into the game of late as well, including former White House official Sebastian Gorka, who can now be seen hawking fish-oil supplements in a series of infomercial spots for the company Relief Factor.Giuliani did not respond to questions Tuesday about his role in the potential Fraud Guarantee TV ads. But he has been willing to offer himself up for infomercials in the past. In 2013, he filmed a testimonial for the identity-theft protection service LifeLock.Additional details about Giuliani's relationship with the company could emerge as congressional Democrats intensify an investigation into his efforts to co-opt American foreign policy toward Ukraine to the benefit of Trump's political goals. Parnas announced this week that he is willing to testify and provide documents to impeachment investigators on the House Intelligence Committee.An attorney for Parnas and Correia also did not respond to requests for comment. Parnas met Giuliani a few years ago at a Republican fundraiser, and the two forged a personal and professional relationship as Parnas and another associate, Igor Fruman, bought their way into prominence in GOP political circles. Giuliani refers to them as his clients, and he and Parnas were frequently seen dining together at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., including on the day before Parnas, Fruman, and Correia were arrested.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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| Iraq PM sees power clipped by rivals amid pro-Iran pressure: sources Posted: 06 Nov 2019 01:33 AM PST  As anti-government protests sweep his country, Iraq's embattled premier has found his decision-making powers clipped by rivals and his entourage subject to increasing pressure from Iran, Iraqi officials told AFP. Adel Abdel Mahdi, 77, came to power last year as the product of a tenuous alliance between populist cleric Moqtada Sadr and pro-Iran paramilitary chief Hadi al-Ameri, with the required blessing of Iraq's Shiite religious leadership.
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| Erdogan: Turkey captures slain IS leader al-Baghdadi's wife Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:54 AM PST  Turkey has captured a wife of the slain leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday. Erdogan made the announcement while delivering a speech in the capital of Ankara but gave no other details. Al-Baghdadi was known to have four wives.
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| Rodney Reed: ‘Innocent man’ on death row due to be executed in days despite appeals to save him Posted: 05 Nov 2019 04:03 AM PST  A death row inmate is due to be executed within days despite new evidence suggesting he could be innocent.Rodney Reed has been on death row in Texas for the last 21 years after he was convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites.
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| Keystone pipeline spill hardens landowner opposition to proposed expansion Posted: 06 Nov 2019 04:07 AM PST  Operator TC Energy Corp is in the process of securing land easements for Keystone XL from scores of reluctant landowners in Nebraska, one of the final obstacles to a project linking Canada's oil fields to U.S. refineries that has been delayed for over a decade by environmental opposition. The roughly 9,120-barrel spill from the existing Keystone line brings the number of significant releases since the system was built a decade ago to four - much higher than the company estimated in its risk assessments before it was approved - raising worries Keystone XL will be just as problematic.
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| Chinese Government Assigning Han Men to Live and Sleep with Uighur Women Whose Husbands Have Been Detained: Report Posted: 04 Nov 2019 11:45 AM PST  The Chinese government assigns men as "relatives" to monitor the families of detained Muslim Uighur men in China's Xinjiang province in order to "promote ethnic unity," according to a report from Radio Free Asia.Titled the "Pair up and Become Family" program, the initiative involves Uighurs opening their homes for weeks at a time to Communist officials, who work, eat, and even sleep with the family."They help [the families] with their ideology, bringing new ideas. They talk to them about life, during which time they develop feelings for one another," a government source with intimate knowledge of the program told Radio Free Asia."We also try to help them to make proper [sleeping] arrangements . . . it is now considered normal for females to sleep on the same platform with their paired male 'relatives.'"In Xinjiang province, the Chinese Communist Party overtly discriminates against the Uighurs, denying them the right to worship and surveilling them with phone-tracking and face-scanning technology. Roughly one million Uighurs are held in camps that the government calls "free hospital treatment for the masses with sick thinking," from which accounts of attempted political indoctrination and torture have emerged.Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced visa restrictions on Chinese officials believed to participate in the repression of the Uighurs.U.S. corporations have been mostly silent on the treatment of the Uighurs. The NBA, which was at the center of a major controversy over U.S.-China relations last month, recently removed details from its website of an NBA development academy which is housed in Xinjiang, but has not commented publicly as to whether the site is closed.In October, Disney CEO Robert Iger told the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference that "to take a position [on China] that could harm our company in some form would be a big mistake."
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| The One Enormous Problem Tailing the Chinese Air Force Posted: 05 Nov 2019 05:00 AM PST  One word: engines.
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| Donald Trump Jr. condemned for tweeting alleged whistleblower's name despite death threats Posted: 06 Nov 2019 08:13 AM PST ![Donald Trump Jr. condemned for tweeting alleged whistleblower's name despite death threats]( "Donald Trump Jr. condemned for tweeting alleged whistleblower's name despite death threats") Donald Trump Jr. is throwing caution to the wind at someone else's expense.Credible mainstream media sources have so far refused to speculate on the name of the whistleblower who launched President Trump's Ukraine scandal, especially because the whistleblower's lawyer has warned of possibly violent consequences for their yet-unnamed client. But that didn't stop the president's son from tweeting out the name right-wing sites are circulating on Wednesday, ignoring any death threats against the whistleblower that come with it.The whistleblower's concerns originated with a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump seems to tell Zelensky he won't get U.S. aid money unless he investigates the 2016 U.S. election and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The whistleblower report eventually turned into an official impeachment inquiry into Trump, and testifying witness have since corroborated the whistleblower's outline of a quid pro quo between Trump and Zelensky.While one New York Times report did hint at the whistleblower's identity, a name has been publicized by right-wing sources, with Trump's son now even getting involved, despite whistleblower protection laws. The whistleblower's lawyer didn't acknowledge if that name was correct in a Wednesday statement, but did explicitly condemn Trump Jr. and other sources for explicitly furthering a dialogue that "will simply place that individual and their family at risk of serious harm." > Whistleblower atty @MarkSZaidEsq on a member of the president's family tweeting out a story on a pro-Trump website allegedly naming the whistleblower: "Identifying any name for the whistleblower will simply place that individual and their family at risk of serious harm....> > -- Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 6, 2019> 3/"... It most certainly will not relieve the President of the need to address the substantive allegations, all of which have been substantially proven to be true."> > -- Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 6, 2019
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| Fifteen IS jihadists killed in Tajikistan border attack Posted: 06 Nov 2019 02:42 AM PST  Fifteen jihadists were killed in Tajikistan Wednesday during an attack on a border post that officials blamed on members of the Islamic State group who crossed over from Afghanistan. It came as the country prepared to celebrate its Constitution Day on Wednesday and with long-serving President Emomali Rakhmon on a visit to Europe. The interior ministry said about 20 armed assailants attacked the Ishkobod border post some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Dushanbe at 3:23 am local time.
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| Serbia set to buy Russian missiles despite US sanctions hint Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:06 AM PST  Russia will deliver a sophisticated anti-aircraft missile system to Serbia even though the U.S. has warned of possible sanctions against the Balkan country in the event of such purchases. The U.S.'s special envoy for the Western Balkans, Matthew Palmer, warned Serbia last week that the purchase of Russian weapons "poses a risk" of U.S. sanctions. "We hope that our Serbian partners will be careful about any transactions of this kind," Palmer said in an interview with Macedonian television Alsat M.
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| John Demjanjuk: The incredible story of US autoworker accused of being Nazi death camp criminal Ivan the Terrible Posted: 05 Nov 2019 09:03 AM PST  In the tight-knit Ukrainian community of Cleveland, John Demjanjuk was known as a church-going family man.He worked hard at the city's Ford motor plant for more than 20 years and had three children. He was quiet, it was said, but friendly.
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| U.N. Palestinian refugee agency replaces boss pending misconduct inquiry Posted: 06 Nov 2019 02:02 AM PST  JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees has stepped aside until the end of an investigation into misconduct allegations, the agency said on Wednesday. Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl has been replaced until a review of "management-related matters" at the agency is completed, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement. Preliminary findings "exclude fraud or misappropriation of operational funds" by Krahenbuhl, a U.N. spokesman said separately.
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| Meet the Battleship USS Massachusetts (Destroyer of Battleships) Posted: 04 Nov 2019 02:00 PM PST  A fearsome war machine.
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| Republican Tate Reeves wins Mississippi's governor's race Posted: 05 Nov 2019 11:33 PM PST  Tate defeated Democrat Jim Hood, the state's attorney general
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| Pro-Beijing politician stabbed in Hong Kong amid escalating violence Posted: 05 Nov 2019 09:25 PM PST  A knife-wielding assailant injured a pro-Beijing lawmaker and his assistant in Hong Kong, as tensions worsen with protests nearing the start of a sixth continuous month. Lawmaker Junius Ho was wounded in his chest, while his assistant's hand was injured. The two of them, along with the alleged attacker – arrested by police – were all taken to the hospital following the assault, a police source confirmed to The Telegraph. The Hong Kong government condemned the attack, saying it wouldn't "tolerate any acts of violence," and called for the public to remain "peaceful and rational, and to respect each other when expressing their opinions," according to a statement posted online. Hong Kong is grappling with its worst political crisis since the former British colony was returned to Beijing rule in 1997. Protests kicked off over a now-withdrawn extradition proposal, but have widened over fears that Chinese Communist Party control is eroding long-enjoyed freedoms in Hong Kong. Clashes between protesters and police have become increasingly violent, polarising the city, with leading figures on both sides being physically ambushed. Read More | Hong Kong crisis Mr Ho has been targeted by protesters since July after footage circulated of him laughing and shaking hands with suspected gang members who attacked peaceful demonstrators in Yuen Long subway station on their way home. Activists desecrated his parents' graves shortly after, and calls to protest at a race course forced Mr Ho to pull his horse, Hong Kong Bet, from competing earlier this autumn. Last month, Mr Ho was also stripped of an honorary law degree by his alma mater in the UK, Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, following an investigation. "Mr Ho's conduct since he was honoured has caused increasing concern," the university said. In a video circulating online of Wednesday's attack, a man approached Mr Ho, who was campaigning in the Tuen Mun neighbourhood for upcoming local elections, and asked to take a picture together, before taking out what appeared to be a knife from his bag and stabbing the lawmaker. The man, who called Mr Ho "human scum," was quickly subdued by onlookers. Mr Ho has released online a video of himself in a hospital gown, talking about the injury and threat he faced earlier in the morning, in addition to a statement on social media that the wound he sustained wasn't life-threatening. A protester stabbed HongKong pro-police legislator Junius Ho in the chest. pic.twitter.com/5lveEsM4EI— Liam Stone石立安 (@liamstone_19) November 6, 2019 In China, a hashtag about the stabbing is already trending with 140 million mentions, with outrage that an attacker would go after a "Hong Kong patriot." "It's really outrageous that they hurt Mr Ho! It's attempted murder!," wrote one commenter. News and information is heavily censored in China, though government censors have allowed selective mention of the protests giving only part of the picture, condemning protesters and praising the police without explaining why activists are angry, and mentioning accusations of police brutality. Protests are called nearly every day now in the global financial hub, sometimes ending after police deploy tear gas and water cannon in response to protesters' petrol bombs and bricks. China's Communist Party reiterated on Tuesday that it wouldn't tolerate any "separatist behaviour" in Hong Kong, after some activists called for independence. Vice premier Han Zheng also said on Wednesday that Beijing supported taking more aggressive measures to handle the unrest in Hong Kong. As the protests have continued, concerns have grown that China might call on military reinforcements to restore order in the city, a move that would be reminiscent of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 when soldiers fired on peaceful student demonstrators, an event the Communist Party has never fully acknowledged. What started as outcry against a proposal to send suspects to China where they could face unfair trials given murky courts under Communist rule, has widened into a massive political crisis. The protests represent the most serious challenge to the rule of Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, since he took the reins in 2012. Chinese Communist leaders have decried the protests as the work of Western governments secretly fomenting unrest to destabilise China without providing any evidence. Protesters' demands have also expanded, now calling for an end to Beijing meddling in the territory, the resignation of city chief executive Carrie Lam, for universal suffrage, and an independent probe into police handling of the protests.
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| NYC ships homeless people across the country, new report claims Posted: 05 Nov 2019 08:52 AM PST  More than 12,000 homeless people in New York City were sent to live across the country in 32 states and Puerto Rico as part of a "special one-time assistance program," according to a new report.
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| ‘The disappeared’: searching for 40,000 missing victims of Mexico’s drug wars Posted: 06 Nov 2019 01:00 AM PST  José Barajas, who was snatched from his home, joins the ever-swelling ranks of thousands of desaparecidos, victims of the drug conflict that shows no sign of easingRelatives of the disappeared form a human chain to comb a suspected clandestine burial ground in the Mexican town of Ensenada last month. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/The GuardianAs he set off into the wilderness under a punishing midday sun, Jesse Barajas clutched an orange-handled machete and the dream of finding his little brother, José."He's not alive, no. They don't leave people alive," the 62-year-old said as he slalomed through the parched scrubland of tumbleweed and cacti where they had played as kids. "Once they take someone they don't let you live."series boxIt has been six months since José Barajas was snatched from his home near the US border, for reasons that remain obscure."I think he was working so hard that he forgot his own safety, you know?" Jesse said as he recounted how his 57-year-old brother was dragged from his ranch and joined the ever-swelling ranks of Mexico's desaparecidos – now estimated to number at least 40,000 people.Jesse, the eldest of seven siblings, said US-based relatives had implored José to join them north of the border as the cartels tightened their grip on a region notorious for the smuggling of drugs and people."We told him how big a monster is organised crime. It is a huge monster that nobody knows where it is hiding," he said.Jesse Barajas searches for the remains of his brother José, who was was dragged from his ranch on 8 April 2019 and has not been seen since, last month near the town of Tecate. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/The GuardianBut José – who had built a successful business making decorative concrete columns for ranches and was in the process of erecting a new house – was adamant he would abandon neither his workers nor his homeland."He was a man that believed in Mexico," said Jesse, who left Mexico as an undocumented migrant aged 14 and is now a US citizen. "He chose to stay here because he thought that he could change things, you know?"The disappeared are perhaps the dirtiest secret of Mexico's drug conflict, which has shown no sign of easing since leftist leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power last December promising a new era of peace.Calderón sends in the armyMexico's "war on drugs" began in late 2006 when the president at the time, Felipe Calderón, ordered thousands of troops onto the streets in response to an explosion of horrific violence in his native state of Michoacán.Calderón hoped to smash the drug cartels with his heavily militarized onslaught but the approach was counter-productive and exacted a catastrophic human toll. As Mexico's military went on the offensive, the body count sky-rocketed to new heights and tens of thousands were forced from their homes, disappeared or killed.Kingpin strategySimultaneously Calderón also began pursuing the so-called "kingpin strategy" by which authorities sought to decapitate the cartels by targeting their leaders.That policy resulted in some high-profile scalps – notably Arturo Beltrán Leyva who was gunned down by Mexican marines in 2009 – but also did little to bring peace. In fact, many believe such tactics served only to pulverize the world of organized crime, creating even more violence as new, less predictable factions squabbled for their piece of the pie.Under Calderón's successor, Enrique Peña Nieto, the government's rhetoric on crime softened as Mexico sought to shed its reputation as the headquarters of some the world's most murderous mafia groups.But Calderón's policies largely survived, with authorities targeting prominent cartel leaders such as Sinaloa's Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.When "El Chapo" was arrested in early 2016, Mexico's president bragged: "Mission accomplished". But the violence went on. By the time Peña Nieto left office in 2018, Mexico had suffered another record year of murders, with nearly 36,000 people slain."Hugs not bullets"The leftwing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power in December, promising a dramatic change in tactics. López Obrador, or Amlo as most call him, vowed to attack the social roots of crime, offering vocational training to more than 2.3 million disadvantaged young people at risk of being ensnared by the cartels. "It will be virtually impossible to achieve peace without justice and [social] welfare," Amlo said, promising to slash the murder rate from an average of 89 killings per day with his "hugs not bullets" doctrine.Amlo also pledged to chair daily 6am security meetings and create a 60,000 strong "National Guard". But those measures have yet to pay off, with the new security force used mostly to hunt Central American migrants.Mexico now suffers an average of about 96 murders per day, with nearly 29,000 people killed since Amlo took office.In August Mexican authorities, who after years of public pressure are beginning to demonstrate greater interest in investigating such crimes, acknowledged over 3,000 clandestine burial sites. More than 500 had been discovered since López Obrador took power.One as-yet undiscovered grave is thought to guard the remains of José Barajas. And one recent morning his family set off to find it, in the company of a government forensic team and – a heavily armed federal police escort."It just sucks not knowing where he's at," said the missing man's 28-year-old son, who is also called José and had travelled from California to join the search.Forensic experts work with police protection during a search for the body of José Barajas last month. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/The GuardianThe mission – one of the first conducted in conjunction with a newly created state search commission – began shortly before noon as searchers formed a human chain to comb a stony heath east of José's ranch.Jesse struck out ahead, pausing occasionally to skewer the ground with his machete. After puncturing the earth, he would raise the blade's tip to his nose in the hope of detecting the sickly scent that might reveal the whereabouts of his brother's corpse. Other searchers probed soft patches of soil with T-shaped steel rods.Minutes later, Jesse spotted a black bomber jacket, half buried in the soil. He quickly decided it was not his brother's but photographed the garment with his smartphone: "Maybe somebody is looking for somebody with this jacket, huh?"As Jesse marched on – shadowed by a rifle-toting police agent – the hidden perils that lay behind his brother's disappearance became clear.Pickup trucks, apparently sent by cartel bosses to monitor the search party, rattled past on the country lane down which José's abductors fled."These assholes are halcones," Jesse complained, using the Spanish slang word for lookouts.searchingUnsettled by their presence, Jesse radioed another nearby search team to request a protective roadblock."They're spying on us … watching our movements to see what we are looking for and what we are doing," the police officer said.Nerves jangled as the hawks continued to circle. "The criminals here are very bloody. They are beyond limits," Jesse murmured as the police agent trained his gun on the road.Twenty tense minutes later, reinforcements arrived. But the drama was not yet over. As Jesse clambered into the open back of a police vehicle two shiny SUVs appeared on the horizon and sped down the sun-cracked asphalt towards the group, before being forced to stop.A relative shows a photograph of José Victoriano Barajas, 57, a businessman who is feared dead. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/The GuardianAs the police car's occupants braced for a gunfight, two men descended from the first SUV and exchanged a few inaudible words with the federal agents before the second car was allowed to pass unmolested.The identity of its occupants remained a mystery. But as the vehicle raced away it left the unshakable impression that a local crime boss had been inside – and a serious confrontation narrowly avoided."We're in a hostile place – and it's not Iraq," Jesse said as the team regrouped, heaving a collective sigh of relief.After a lunch of energy drinks and granola bars, the hunt for José resumed."All we want to do is give him a proper burial, like every human," the missing man's son as a sniffer dog joined the search.José's son said relatives had not told his 92-year-old grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer's, what had happened and had yet to fully comprehend it themselves. "I guess we have to be OK with not being OK," he said.Once his father was found, José said the family would sell up and cut ties with the land his father had so loved. "It's not the same any more, you know what I mean?"Three hours later, nothing had been found but coyote bones and clothes ditched by migrants as they trekked towards the US. Back at his brother's ranch, Jesse busied himself handing out burritos and spicy nachos to the famished searchers.Fernando Ocegueda, the activist who had organized the mission, insisted searchers should keep faith. "Once we spent 15 days searching and found nothing – and on the last day we found three bodies."Jesse and Alfredo Barajas, two of the victim's brothers, and his son, José, searched an area near his ranch last month. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/The Guardian"This kind of activism is about patience, not speed," Ocegueda later added.Two days later, after a second fruitless hunt near the ranch, the Barajas family headed south to join another search, though this time not for José.Outside a police station in the coastal town of Ensenada they met dozens of mostly female searchers – members of a local "collective"hoping to find their loved ones.As the group explored its first location – a rocky wasteland behind the town's country club – terrible stories of violence, fear and grief emerged."It was my nephew. They took him 18 days ago," said one thirtysomething woman, who – like all of the collective's members – asked not to be identified for fear of the cartels."My brother," said a 15-year-old boy as he pummeled the earth with a shovel. "Three weeks."Another woman said she was seeking her son. "In December it will be six years since they disappeared him … and I've been in this fight ever since," she said.interactiveAs the minutes and hours ticked by and no bodies were found, bloodshot eyes shed tears of sorrow and there were crossed words of frustration."It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," José's son complained after a traipse through the wasteland found only swarms of bees and a poisonous snake.But as the group moved from the viper-infested wild to a reeking landfill and, finally, a junkyard police suspected had served as a torture centre and burial ground, there was also camaraderie and warmth.The bleakness of the task was tempered by shared experiences and laughter. Jokes were told. New friendships formed."We all have the same goal, which is finding our missing ones," said Ocegueda who became a campaigner after his own son was taken, in 2007, and has recovered more than 120 bodies since.Ocegueda has yet to locate his son – but he has found a calling. "This is where I like to be because it's here I've found my people," the 62-year-old said. "Along the way you make friends – and this is the most important thing."A police vehicle parked outside the unfinished home that José Barajas had been building when he was abducted in April for reasons that remain a mystery. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/The GuardianAlso present was a woman still grappling with a more recent loss: José's 49-year-old wife, Irma Bonilla Barajas.Visibly drained, Irma threw herself into the search operation, determined to bring others closure, even if she had yet to find it herself.Pausing from her digging, Irma remembered a hardworking family man whose absence was still sinking in. "He was so, so intelligent," she said. "He used to calculate all the exact measurements for the concrete and his gazebos in his head."Six months after José vanished, Irma voiced bewilderment at the "evil minds" responsible for snatching so many Mexican lives."I just can't make sense of it … If they've already killed them, why don't they leave them for us?" she wondered. "What more harm can they do to them, if they are already dead?"Additional reporting by Jordi Lebrija
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