| Newsweek 'fires' journalist who reported Trump was golfing for Thanksgiving before he secretly travelled to Afghanistan Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:24 AM PST  A Newsweek reporter who wrote that Donald Trump would spend Thanksgiving 'tweeting, golfing, and more' - hours before he touched down in a surprise visit to US troops in Afghanistan - has reportedly been fired.The visit was kept highly secret for the president's safety, and his public schedule said he would be at his Mar-a-Lago hotel in Florida on the holiday, where he would make calls to selected military members.
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| 2 children dead, 1 missing in Arizona creek flooding; search continues Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:21 AM PST  Two adults and four other children were rescued near Tonto National Forest in Arizona. Two of three missing children were found dead Saturday.
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| Islamic State detainee arrested on her return to Ireland from Turkey Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:47 AM PST ![Islamic State detainee arrested on her return to Ireland from Turkey]( "Islamic State detainee arrested on her return to Ireland from Turkey") An Irish citizen aligned to Islamic State deported from Turkey along with her two-year-old daughter was arrested on her return to Dublin on Sunday on suspicion of terrorist offenses, Irish police said. Ireland agreed to repatriate Lisa Smith, 38, and her two-year-old daughter after Ankara began deporting foreign citizens linked to Islamic State earlier this month.
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| N. Korea blasts Japan's Abe, warns of 'real ballistic missile' Posted: 29 Nov 2019 11:31 PM PST  North Korea on Saturday warned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he could soon see a "real ballistic missile" while excoriating him as the "most stupid man ever known in history". The colourful condemnation comes two days after the isolated state tested what it called a "super-large multiple launch rocket system", with South Korea reporting that two projectiles came down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. In the wake of the launch, which was supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Abe termed the fired weapons "ballistic missiles" that violated UN resolutions.
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| Saying ‘OK Boomer’ At Work Is Considered Age Discrimination – but Millennial Put-Downs are OK? Posted: 30 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  The Politics of Insulting Your Colleagues
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| London Attack by Convicted Terrorist Disrupts U.K. Campaign Posted: 30 Nov 2019 03:17 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The man suspected of stabbing two people to death near London Bridge had been released early from jail after a terrorism conviction, allowing an attack in the heart of the city that is disrupting the U.K.'s general election campaign two weeks before the vote.Officers shot and killed the 28-year-old attacker, who was wearing a fake suicide vest after members of the public wrestled him to the ground on London Bridge, on the edge of the city's financial district. He was tackled by passersby moments after carrying out the attack at about 2 p.m. on Friday.Boris Johnson broke away from campaigning on Friday for the Dec. 12 election to rush back to Downing Street for a security briefing on the attack. Speaking afterward, he praised the civilians who tried to stop the suspected terrorist before police arrived, and declared that "Britain will not be cowed" by the incident.On Saturday, Johnson met with police at the site of the attack and used the opportunity to criticize the U.K.'s criminal justice system, which routinely allows for jail sentences, even for criminals committing violent crimes or acts of terrorism, to be reduced."The practice of automatic early release, when you cut a sentence in half and let serious and violent offenders out, is not working," he told the BBC after his meeting with police.Click Here for the Day's Events as They HappenedThe suspect, identified by police as Usman Khan, was released from prison on parole in December 2018, the police said in a statement. Khan was one of nine people convicted in 2012 for offenses ranging from a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange to planning a terrorist training camp. Khan originally received an indeterminate sentence, which was changed on appeal in 2013 to 16 years, the BBC reported.Johnson also praised the men who fought the attacker and pinned him to the ground on London Bridge until the police arrived. Khan began the attack while attending a conference on prisoner rehabilitation at a building called Fishmongers' Hall next to the bridge.A Polish chef grabbed an ornamental narwhal tusk off a wall and used it to confront the attacker, while another chased Khan with a fire extinguisher, Sky News reported. A third man who aided the victims and tried to fend Khan off was a convicted murderer who was close to completing his sentence, the Telegraph reported, while another man stopped his car and helped the others force Khan to release the two knives he was carrying."I want to pay tribute to the sheer bravery of the members of the public who went to deal with and put their own lives at risk," Johnson said.The first victim of the attack was identified as Jack Merritt, 25, a University of Cambridge graduate who was a coordinator of the conference that Khan attended, the BBC reported.With voters set to go to the polls on Dec. 12, the impact of such a potentially disruptive event is unclear. But the revelation that the attacker was a former convicted terrorist is likely to put pressure on the ruling Conservatives -- who traditionally view crime prevention as one of their stronger cards -- to explain why the person was allowed out of jail.Johnson also told the BBC that his government would review sentencing policies in the wake of the attack.Campaigning in the U.K.'s last election in 2017 was thrown off course by two terrorist attacks, including one in the same area of London just five days before the vote. In that incident, eight people were killed and 48 injured.In the aftermath of the 2017 attack, U.S. President Donald Trump triggered a diplomatic row when he criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his response, and their spat has continued ever since. The U.S. president arrives in the U.K. next week for a NATO summit, which Johnson hopes will be a low-key visit.Trump spoke to Johnson on Saturday and expressed his condolences following the attack, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. On Friday, Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke by phone and each suspended their election campaigns in the capital for the rest of the day. Johnson's team said he would also cancel his events on Saturday so he can focus on the security response.But speaking to television reporters just before a meeting of the government's 'Cobra' crisis committee on Friday evening, Johnson highlighted his election pledge to hire extra police officers.'Hunted Down'"Anybody involved in this crime and these attacks will be hunted down and will be brought to justice," he said. "This country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack and our British values will prevail."After the alarm was raised on Friday lunchtime, armed police cleared cafes and shops in the London Bridge area. Officers burst into restaurants in the popular Borough Market area on the other side of the river, urging diners to leave immediately. They shouted "Out, out, out," to people at the Black and Blue bar, and ordered customers to walk away with their hands on their heads. Nearby, police shouted to pedestrians to "run."The police asked people to avoid the area. Mayor Sadiq Khan said Saturday on BBC's Radio 4 that while there will be "more high visibility police officers present in London" through the weekend "there's no reason to believe there is an increased threat" from terrorism. The bridge will remain closed for some time, he said from the site on Saturday afternoon.(Updates with Trump-Johnson phone call from 15th paragraph.)\--With assistance from Tim Ross.To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.net;Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Andrew DavisFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Australian Taliban captive says guards were 'lovely people' Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:39 AM PST  An Australian lecturer held hostage by the Taliban has said some of his guards were "lovely people" as he disclosed American special forces launched six unsuccessful rescue bids to free him. Timothy Weeks spent more than three years locked up, often in the dark and underground, after he and his colleague Kevin King were seized in Kabul. In his first public appearance since he was freed in a prisoner swap, the 50-year-old said he believed US Navy SEAL teams had launched repeated rescue missions, sometimes missing their targets only by hours. In one incident, he was bundled into a tunnel beneath his prison as fighting erupted above. His captors told him they were under attack by Islamic State group, but he said he now believes it was a US raid. "I believe they were right outside our door," he told a press conference. "The moment that we got into the tunnels, we were 1 or 2 meters underground and there was a huge bang at the front door. And our guards went up and there was a lot of machine-gun fire. They pushed me over the top into the tunnels and I fell backwards and rolled and knocked myself unconscious." Timothy Weeks, top, and American Kevin King, appeared in a June 2017 hostage video Mr Weeks and Mr King were freed in return for three senior Taliban commanders last month. While he thanked Donald Trump and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison for his release, he praised the compassion of some of his captors. "I don't hate them at all," he said. "And some of them, I have great respect for, and great love for, almost. Some of them were so compassionate and such lovely, lovely people. And it really led me to think about ... how did they end up like this?" He added: "I know a lot of people don't admit this, but for me, they were soldiers. And soldiers obey the commands of their commanders. (They) don't get a choice." Mr Weeks, from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales had been working at the American University of Afghanistan for only three weeks when he was taken in August 2016. Mr King remained in hospital, Mr Weeks said. The 63-year-old had appeared dangerously frail in hostage videos. The two men were frequently moved and were held captive in both Afghanistan and Pakistan he said. He learned pashto, the language of southern Afghanistan, during his captivity so he could talk to his guards. His ordeal had had "a profound and unimaginable effect on me," he told reporters. He had always had hope that he would be freed, but at the same time, there were occasions when he felt his death was close, he said. "At times I felt as if my death was imminent and that I would never return to see those that I love again but by the will of God I am here, I am alive and I am safe and I am free." The sight of two US Black Hawk helicopters at the site of the hostage handover had been an enormous relief. "From the moment I sighted both Black Hawk helicopters and was placed in the hands of special forces, I knew my long and tortuous ordeal had come to an end," he said. The two captives were swapped for senior Taliban commanders held by the Afghan government in an exchange designed to build trust and revive talks to find a political settlement to the country's conflict. Mr Trump last week visited Afghanistan to spend Thanksgiving with US troops and said talks were back on.
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| The Best Video Game the Year You Were Born Posted: 30 Nov 2019 02:00 PM PST |
| Since 1992, Earth is 1 degree hotter, trillions of tons of ice gone Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:09 AM PST  Since leaders first started talking about tackling climate change, the world has released more heat-trapping gases, gotten hotter and suffered hundreds of extreme weather disasters. Since the first United Nations diplomatic conference to tackle climate change was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, many things have changed.
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| Man shot dead by his own booby trap on Thanksgiving Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:50 AM PST  A 65-year-old man was shot dead on Thanksgiving by a booby trap he set up to protect his home from intruders.Ronald Cyr triggered the homemade device which fired a handgun at anyone attempting to enter through the door.
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| Inmate wanted by ICE released on bail. He was arrested weeks later for attempted murder Posted: 29 Nov 2019 04:01 PM PST  A 2019 Colorado law bars law enforcement officials in the state from holding a person based only on a request from ICE.
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| N.Korea warns Japan's Abe may soon see real ballistic missile launch Posted: 29 Nov 2019 02:44 PM PST ![N.Korea warns Japan's Abe may soon see real ballistic missile launch]( "N.Korea warns Japan's Abe may soon see real ballistic missile launch") North Korea's state media on Saturday lashed out at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as an "imbecile and political dwarf" for calling Pyongyang's latest test of a large multiple-rocket launcher a ballistic missile launch and warned he may see a real one in the near future. North Korea fired two short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast on Thursday in a fourth test of its new "super-large multiple-rocker launcher," with its North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressing "great satisfaction" over the latest test. In the wake of Pyongyang's firing, Abe said on Thursday that North Korea's missile launch was a threat to Japan and the international community, and that Tokyo would monitor the situation with its partners.
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| US says will 'protect its interests' at climate conference Posted: 30 Nov 2019 09:26 AM PST  The United States will send a diplomatic team but no senior members of Donald Trump's administration to a global climate-change conference starting in Spain on Monday, according to a statement. The US, at Trump's direction, is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, which set a goal of limiting global temperature rises to well within two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels.
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| Mexican voices: 1 year into the López Obrador presidency Posted: 30 Nov 2019 09:10 PM PST  Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been president of Mexico for a year, after a landslide 2018 vote. "He offered that the poor and the indigenous would be first, and it turns out that's not the case," she says.
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| Faith Salie on the cheeky putdown "OK, Boomer" Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:22 AM PST  For young people who have inherited from oldsters a world full of rising waters, disappearing species, crippling debt and crumbling democracies, an irreverent retaliatory phrase is more than warranted
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| 'Crucial witness' in Hard Rock Hotel collapse is deported by ICE Posted: 30 Nov 2019 01:15 PM PST  A metal worker considered a "crucial witness" in the collapse at the Hard Rock Hotel construction site in New Orleans last month was deported Friday to his native Honduras.Lawyers for Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma said the 38-year-old may have been targeted for deportation because he voiced concerns about the project - a claim immigration officials have denied.
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| Iraq protesters burn shrine entrance in holy city, PM quitting 'not enough' Posted: 30 Nov 2019 01:28 AM PST  Iraqi protesters set fire to the entrance of a shrine in the southern holy city of Najaf on Saturday and security forces fired tear gas to disperse them, police and a demonstrator at the scene said, risking more bloodshed after a rare day of calm. The demonstrator sent a video to Reuters of a doorway to the Hakim shrine blazing as protesters cheered and filmed it on their mobile phones. The incident took place during one of the bloodiest weeks of Iraq's anti-government unrest, which erupted last month.
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| Saudi Arabia takes over G20 presidency from Japan Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:33 AM PST  Saudi Arabia became the first Arab nation Sunday to take over the G20 presidency as it seeks to bounce back onto the world stage following global uproar over its human rights record. The oil-rich kingdom has promoted a liberalisation drive, including granting greater rights to women, but faced strong criticism over a crackdown on dissent and the murder last year of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The G20 presidency, which Saudi Arabia takes over from Japan, will see it host world leaders for a global summit in its capital next November 21-22.
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| 300 homes in Queens flooded with waste after massive sewage spill Posted: 01 Dec 2019 09:22 AM PST  Three hundred homes in Queens are flooded with waste after a massive underground sewage spill.
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| Chuck Todd to GOP Senator: You’re Selling the Same Argument as Putin! Posted: 01 Dec 2019 07:45 AM PST  A week after claiming that he didn't know whether Russia or Ukraine was responsible for hacking the DNC server during the 2016 election, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) left Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd astounded when he accused the former president of Ukraine of working for Hillary Clinton's campaign.At the top of their interview on Sunday, Todd brought up Kennedy's eventual walk-back of his DNC remarks, asking the Louisiana lawmaker why he backtracked."Well, Chris Wallace was interviewing me and he asked me a question. I answered it. I thought he had asked me if Ukraine had meddled in the 2016 election," the Republican senator replied, reiterating previous excuses he had given. "He didn't, he asked me if Ukraine was responsible for hacking the DNC computer, which is, of course, a form of meddling. I went back and looked at the transcript and I realized Chris was right and I was wrong so I said I was wrong."The NBC News host went on to note that the main criticism Kennedy has faced in recent days is that he is conflating what Russia and Ukraine did during the 2016 election, stating that Kennedy appears to be doing President Trump's "dirty work" for him.Kennedy, meanwhile, insisted that there was sufficient evidence that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election on behalf of Clinton, citing a handful of articles to claim that a number of Ukrainian officials "meddled in the election on social media and otherwise." "In fact, in December of 2018, a Ukrainian court ruled that Ukrainian officials had violated Ukrainian law by meddling in our election and that was reported in The New York Times," Kennedy added, referencing a court ruling that the leaking of the so-called "black ledger" on ex-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort was against the law. (The court has since canceled that ruling.)Todd would eventually confront Kennedy on the U.S. intelligence community recently briefing lawmakers that attempts to frame Ukraine for Russian election meddling was actually "a Russian intelligence propaganda campaign in order to get people like you to say these things about Ukraine," a briefing Kennedy claimed he didn't attend."When does opinion become fact?" Todd wondered aloud. "Does 17 intelligence services saying it, does every western intelligence ally saying Russia did this—I get sort of confused at what point is it no longer an opinion for you?"After once again noting that a Ukrainian court "smacked down several Ukrainian officials for meddling in our elections," Kennedy then made a claim that gobsmacked the Meet the Press host."Russia was very aggressive and they're much more sophisticated," the conservative senator declared. "But the fact that Russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that President Poroshenko actively worked for Secretary Clinton.""Actively worked for Secretary Clinton?! My goodness, wait a minute, Senator Kennedy," Todd shot back. "You now have the president of Ukraine saying he worked for the Democratic nominee for president. C'mon. You realize the only other person selling this argument outside the United States is this man, Vladimir Putin!"The NBC host then highlighted the Russian president recently boasting that "nobody is accusing us anymore of interfering in U.S. election" but instead blaming Ukraine.Todd further pushed back on Kennedy's assertion, asking him if he believed that Ukrainian officials criticizing Trump during the election over his endorsement of Russia's annexation of Crimea was equivalent to Russia's hacking.Kennedy, for his part, said that there would be no harm allowing President Trump to "introduce evidence" that could support these assertions since Trump "has a demonstrated record fighting foreign corruption."Fox News Host Hits Trump for Attacking Chris Wallace: You're 'Not Entitled to Praise'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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| Suit claims Boy Scouts overlooked leader’s alleged abuse Posted: 30 Nov 2019 01:19 PM PST ![Suit claims Boy Scouts overlooked leader's alleged abuse]( "Suit claims Boy Scouts overlooked leader's alleged abuse") The Boy Scouts of America is facing another lawsuit in a wave of litigation over decades-old allegations of sexual abuse. The men claim they were sexually abused on scouting trips in Arkansas in 1979 and 1980, when they were between 9 and 11, by a leader who the Boy Scouts had deemed "ineligible" to volunteer with boys following accusation of sexually abuse in Georgia two years earlier. The suit claims the Boy Scouts did not report the leader to police in either state.
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| The Wrong Response to Gun Violence: Are Lockdown Drills a Bad Idea? Posted: 30 Nov 2019 08:00 AM PST  Are we teaching our kids to fear school?
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| 'Nobody should have died': fear and anger in Minneapolis after public housing fire Posted: 30 Nov 2019 08:56 AM PST  A blaze that killed five in a 25-storey building with few sprinklers has prompted comparisons to London's Grenfell fireThe Minneapolis city councilman Abdi Warsame addresses the media outside the building. Photograph: Aaron Lavinsky/APWarsame Omar lives on the 15th floor of Minneapolis's Cedar High apartments, exactly one floor above where a fire started early on Wednesday morning. He woke to find his room full of thick black smoke. The elderly Somali man ran outside to the stairwell, where he vomited. He remembers a black substance coming out of his mouth and nose.Omar managed to escape alive, but others in the 25-floor public housing complex located in the heart of Minneapolis's Somali community did not. The fire killed five people, injured at least four more and has sparked an argument in the city about its dilapidated public housing.In a debate with echoes of Britain's Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 in 2017, the conversation has centered on whether the city has failed to make safe the housing it provides to its poor and vulnerable, essentially putting their lives at risk as it seeks to save money and maintain a system long underfunded by the federal government.Omar was taken to an emergency room where, he said, doctors removed black smoke from his lungs. Now, many of his belongings and clothing in his home are covered in soot, and he's worried about how what happened could affect his health."I'm not trying to complain but I need help. I need help," he told the Guardian with the help of a volunteer translator, clutching a report from this ER visit in his hand as he spoke.Investigators have not determined what caused the fire, which happened during the year's first major snow storm, though the Minneapolis fire chief, John Fruetel, said he believed it was an accident.Public attention has begun to center around what Fruetel has acknowledged could have contributed to the rapid spread of the flames: the high rise did not have sprinkler systems above the two lowest floors.City officials have said that because of the age of the building, which was constructed in 1969, it was not required by city code to have a sprinkler system – but that, some say, is exactly the problem."Nobody should have died. A small fire should not have resulted in the death of five people. Because if you're having such dense housing, there should be a sprinkler system in an apartment building. Even though that may not be required by code, that should be required because Minneapolis public housing authority has a responsibility to provide safe and secure housing to all of its residents," said Kaaha Kaahiye, a resident of public housing and organizer with Defend Glendale, an advocacy group long critical of the public housing authority (MPHA).Warsame Omar survived the Cedar High fire. Photograph: Courtesy Jared GoyetteAs first reported by Minneapolis Public Radio, the MPHA had identified the need to retrofit its older high rises with sprinkler system in its annual plan, approved in September, which also noted limiting funding and a need for "major reinvestment".MPHA did not ask for additional funds from the city for sprinkler systems in its last budget request, according to the office of the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey."The federal government is the primary funder of public housing, but funds have been short for decades. With respect to local funding authority, the city of Minneapolis can only approve requests submitted by MPHA," said the mayor's spokesperson, Mychal Vlatkovich.Like many cities across the country, Minneapolis is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, with high demand for urban housing driving a surge in the development of new luxury condos.The Hennepin county commissioner, Angela Conley, whose district includes the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, where the apartments are located, pointed to what she sees as a problematic discrepancy: new buildings with high rents are required to have sprinkler systems, while older high rises, historically home to immigrants and lower-income populations, have no such requirement."So does that tell us that the lives of seniors and vulnerable people and disabled people and people who are lower income in high-rises, are their lives more expendable than people who can afford to live in more expensive, newer condos? Absolutely not. But that's the message that we get when we know that certain buildings take priority over others," Conley said.Shanta Russ, 22, kisses her daughter, Siya Freeman, four, after being allowed back up to her father's 15th floor apartment. Photograph: Aaron Lavinsky/APOn Friday, organizers with Defend Glendale met with residents and collected stories. They plan to push MPHA and the mayor to do more to help residents whose apartments were damaged, and to improve fire safety standards at other buildings."Black and black Muslims and low-income and disabled people are invisible in a city that says that [it is] anti-Trump and therefore progressive," says the group's founder, Ladan Yusuf. "It's important to know that this could happen anywhere else. And it's already happened. It happened in Grenfell in England. It's happening here because politicians and political officials have to be held accountable. It's important to know that we are one community and that we have to come together to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
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| London Bridge victim's father said his death shouldn't be used to justify 'draconian sentences,' as Conservatives call for tougher punishment Posted: 01 Dec 2019 07:27 AM PST  Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was questioned about Tory plans to toughen sentencing after David Merritt criticised "detaining people unnecessarily."
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| The Jeffrey Epstein scandal nearly affected the latest Israeli election Posted: 30 Nov 2019 12:08 PM PST ![The Jeffrey Epstein scandal nearly affected the latest Israeli election]( "The Jeffrey Epstein scandal nearly affected the latest Israeli election") Two lawyers pursuing influential men connected to the late millionaire financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting federal trial, almost attempted to sway the most recent Israeli elections as part of their endeavors, The New York Times reports.Lawyers David Boies and John Pottinger were approached by a man going by the name Patrick Kessler who claimed to have a vast archive of Epstein's data stored on encrypted servers. The servers allegedly contained footage from hidden cameras that showed wealthy and powerful men, including constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in compromising sexual situations, per The Times. Kessler's claims would seemingly have boosted the theory that Epstein was blackmailing power people.Boies and Pottinger thought they would be able to use the data to reach deals with the men and let that money flow into a charity focused on helping victims of sexual assault. One of their supposed plans was to share a compromising photo of someone Kessler purported to be Barak -- who was challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli election -- with Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate in Las Vegas. Adelson founded one of Israel's largest newspapers and is reportedly a big booster for Netanyahu. The trio thought by doing so they could prevent Barak, who called the accusation a "total lie with no basis in reality," from making any progress with his bid.Ultimately, the Times and the lawyers concluded that there was no way to validate any of the images or videos Kessler brought to the table, and he has been dismissed as a fraud by the lawyers. Similarly, Boies said the plan to share the Barak photo was never actually put into action. But the Times' report shows the potential global reach of the Epstein scandal. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com God's gift to America? 5 scathingly funny cartoons about the Trump-ified GOP The Democratic primary's generational divide
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| Rescued tigers leave Poland for Spain Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:02 AM PST  Five of nine tigers that narrowly survived a gruelling journey across Europe set off on Saturday for their new home at a Spanish animal refuge after weeks of recovery at a Polish zoo. Chodyla said there was a brief scare, as two of the tigers did not want to sleep, despite the sedatives they were given. In late October, Polish border authorities found 10 emaciated and dehydrated big cats in the back of a truck taking them from Italy to a zoo in Russia's Dagestan Republic.
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| Parliament approves Iraqi prime minister's resignation Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:13 AM PST ![Parliament approves Iraqi prime minister's resignation]( "Parliament approves Iraqi prime minister's resignation") Iraq's parliament voted on Sunday to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, following weeks of violent anti-government protests that have rocked the country. Abdul Mahdi's decision to quit on Friday came after a call by Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for parliament to consider withdrawing its support for Abdul Mahdi's government to stem the violence. "The Iraqi parliament will ask the president of state to nominate a new prime minister," a statement from parliament's media office said.
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| Trump's antics leaving Republicans 'disgusted and exhausted', says former GOP congressman Posted: 29 Nov 2019 12:14 PM PST  A former Republican congressman said he would "probably vote to impeach" Donald Trump if he were still serving in the US House of Representatives while suggesting the president's scandals are "infuriating" current GOP House members.Charlie Dent, a frequent critic of Mr Trump who resigned from Congress last year, said he has heard from several of his former Republican colleagues who are "absolutely disgusted and exhausted by the president's behaviour".
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| Relic thought to be from Jesus’ manger arrives in Bethlehem Posted: 30 Nov 2019 04:47 AM PST  A tiny wooden relic that some Christians believe to be part of Jesus' manger arrived Saturday in its permanent home in the biblical city of Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the pope. Cheerful crowds greeted the ornately encased relic with much fanfare before it entered the Franciscan Church of St. Catherine next to the Church of the Nativity, the West Bank holy site where tradition says Jesus was born. Troubled Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is preparing for the occasion, where pilgrims from around the world flock to the city.
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| Ilhan Omar GOP challenger banned from Twitter after saying she should be "tried for treason and hanged” Posted: 30 Nov 2019 09:31 AM PST  Danielle Stella campaign account also tweeted a picture of a stick figure being hanged with a link to a blog post about her comments.
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| Nuclear Nightmare? Russia’s Avangard Hypersonic Missile Is About to Go Operational. Posted: 29 Nov 2019 10:00 PM PST  Russia's Avangard hypersonic boost-glide missile is about to operational.
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| Sri Lanka Tells Richer Nations to Step Up to Counter China FDI Posted: 01 Dec 2019 03:47 AM PST ![Sri Lanka Tells Richer Nations to Step Up to Counter China FDI]( "Sri Lanka Tells Richer Nations to Step Up to Counter China FDI") (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Bigger and richer economies should invest in smaller Asian ones if they want to counter China's expanding Belt and Road Initiative, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said."I want to tell India, Japan, Singapore and Australia and other countries to also come and invest in us," Rajapaksa said in an interview with the Hindu newspaper. "They should tell their companies to invest in Sri Lanka and help us grow, because if they do not, then not only Sri Lanka, but countries all over Asia will have the same (problem)."China's Belt and Road Initiative has resulted in an estimated $575 billion worth of energy plants, railways, roads, ports and other projects. But President Xi Jinping's signature effort has also come in for criticism, including accusations that China is luring poor countries into debt traps for its own political and strategic gain.Sri Lanka's new government led by Rajapaksa is trying to undo the previous regime's move to lease the southern port of Hambantota to a Chinese venture, citing national interest. There were concerns in India about its geopolitical rival using a port close to its southern coastline for future military uses.The local government must have control of all strategically important projects like Hambantota, Rajapaksa told the Hindu paper. While Sri Lanka has come under scrutiny for its ties with China, its agreements were "purely commercial," he said.A port deal similar to Hambantota under the Belt and Road program in Myanmar was drastically scaled back to $1.3 billion from $7.5 billion, while in Malaysia the government canceled $3 billion worth of pipelines and renegotiated a rail project in 2019, cutting that one's cost by a third to $11 billion."The main issues India could have with us would be on (our relations) with China or Pakistan, but if we don't do anything that creates suspicions amongst Indian authorities, there will not be any problem," Rajapaksa said. "The Chinese will take the Belt and Road Initiative all over unless other countries provide an alternative."To contact the reporter on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Sara MarleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why the Cybertruck is a breakthrough for Tesla and designer Franz von Holzhausen Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:13 AM PST  Tesla's Cybertruck has provoked polarizing reaction to its design. But it signals artistic growth for designer Franz von Holzhausen.
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| China makes face scanning compulsory for mobile phone owners Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:12 AM PST  China has made it a legal requirement for people signing up to new mobile phone and data plans to have their faces scanned, in a major growth of the surveillance state. The new rules, outlined by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), came into effect on Sunday. They require new phone plan users to submit face scans alongside their national identification card information, ensuring their devices are linked to their real identities. The MIIT said the move was made "to safeguard the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace", and would help protect phone users from fraud. With Chinese authorities cracking down hard on online dissent and arresting government critics, there are concerns that the regulations mark the next step in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s construction of the world's most draconian surveillance regime. Debate about the government's intent with regard to the new requirement was sparked on Chinese social media sites, such as Weibo. China's President Xi Jinping Credit: AFP One commenter pointed out that real-name registration of phone plans with ID cards had been a requirement in China for years already. "Scam and sales phone calls still have not been stopped!" they wrote in a post translated by Quartz. "Gathering citizen's information excessively like this is a violation of people's civic rights." The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) heavily censors the internet in China, which has over 850 million mobile internet users. Many news and social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are blocked by what has come to be known as 'The Great Firewall'. Chinese authorities have invested heavily in face recognition technology recently, as part of measures to keep close tabs on the population. There are reportedly 200 million surveillance cameras operating in the country. The government is also developing a social credit system that will rate citizens on factors including loyalty to the CCP. The system, scheduled to be fully implemented by 2020, results in punishments such as transport restrictions for citizens with low scores.
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| Six European countries join barter system for Iran trade Posted: 30 Nov 2019 06:25 PM PST  Paris, London and Berlin on Saturday welcomed six new European countries to the INSTEX barter mechanism, which is designed to circumvent US sanctions against trade with Iran by avoiding use of the dollar. "As founding shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), France, Germany and the United Kingdom warmly welcome the decision taken by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, to join INSTEX as shareholders," the three said in a joint statement. The Paris-based INSTEX functions as a clearing house allowing Iran to continue to sell oil and import other products or services in exchange.
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| American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Chicago diverted after possible odor reported Posted: 30 Nov 2019 08:35 PM PST  Some travelers heading from Phoenix to Chicago are seeing serious delays Saturday after their American Airlines flight was diverted to New Mexico.
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| UPDATE 4-Hong Kong police fire tear gas as thousands take to the streets in fresh protests Posted: 30 Nov 2019 10:09 PM PST ![UPDATE 4-Hong Kong police fire tear gas as thousands take to the streets in fresh protests]( "UPDATE 4-Hong Kong police fire tear gas as thousands take to the streets in fresh protests") Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong on Sunday, ending a rare lull in violence, as residents took to the streets chanting "revolution of our time" and "liberate Hong Kong". The protest in the busy shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui followed a march by hundreds of people to the U.S. consulate to show "gratitude" for U.S. support for the demonstrations that have agitated the Chinese-ruled city for six months.
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| Maldives opposition slams guilty verdict on former president Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:44 AM PST ![Maldives opposition slams guilty verdict on former president]( "Maldives opposition slams guilty verdict on former president") Two opposition parties in the Maldives say the trial in which former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom was convicted of money laundering was politically motivated. Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty on Thursday.
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| Russia’s Formidable Tunguska Air Defense System is Getting a Stealth Upgrade Posted: 29 Nov 2019 11:00 PM PST  The Tunguska, a tracked armored vehicle armed with both short-range anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft cannon, will get passive thermal and optical sensors that will enable it to detect aircraft and drones without disclosing its position by emitting radar beams.
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| Johnson Distances Himself From Tory Record on Crime: U.K. Votes Posted: 01 Dec 2019 03:43 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to review Britain's security, defense and foreign policy in the wake of a terror attack on Friday, which killed two civilians, and ahead of a NATO summit that begins in London on Monday.The attack has already interrupted this weekend's campaigning for the Dec. 12 election and could influence the final result as voters turn their attention away from Brexit to issues of security. Johnson's opponent, Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he didn't agree that convicted terrorists always should serve out their full prison terms. He also accused governments of worsening the threat of such attacks and said the "war on terror has manifestly failed."Must Read: The Tories Secretly Fear Trump Could Wreck Johnson's ElectionFor more on the election visit ELEC.Key Developments:Johnson pledges Conservative government will make sure convicted terrorists serve their full prison sentencesJohnson plans a review of Britain's security, defense and foreign policyLabour narrows Tory lead in four of five new opinion pollsSecurity Minister Says Hung Parliament Disrupted Tory Terror Policy (11:19 a.m.)Security minister Brandon Lewis said the government would have already started the process of stopping the early release of convicted terrorists if it wasn't for the U.K.'s hung parliament.Speaking on BBC Radio's "Pienaar's Politics," Lewis said "we'd already started making steps in that direction" but that "one of the problems with parliament being utterly frozen over Brexit" is that this kind of legislation is unable to pass.The Conservative party won a majority in parliament in 2015, before losing it in 2017 and ruling in a minority government with support from the DUP. A number of resignations and expulsions over Brexit in 2019 further hampered the party's ability to pass its legislation further.Johnson Refuses to Take Blame for Previous Tory Policies (9:55 a.m.)Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to distance himself from decisions made by previous Conservative governments as he appeared on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.When pushed on the record of the Tories on law and order and spending since 2010, Johnson repeatedly said he's only been prime minister since the summer, and that previous governments had to implement "prudent" management of public finances.Johnson also said a government under him would invest more in the criminal justice system. He said about 74 convicted terrorists have been released early, and that they were now being "properly invigilated" in light of Friday's attack.Umunna Says Terror Attack Shouldn't Be Politicized (9:32 a.m.)Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Chuka Umunna criticized the two main parties for turning the terrorist attack into a "political football," saying instead the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats should all accept at least some blame for creating the current justice system because they have all been in government over the last two decades.Umunna, who quit Labour to join the Lib Dems this year, said the focus should be "on properly funding the parole board and the probation service."Raab Says He Takes Nothing for Granted (9:25 a.m.)Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who may be facing a tight race to maintain his seat in Parliament, said he's taking nothing for granted before the Dec. 12 vote.Speaking on Sky's "Sophy Ridge on Sunday," Raab said the closeness of the polls in his constituency shows the risk of a hung Parliament, and that voting Conservative was the only way to avoid such an outcome.Former Adviser Says Ministers Ignored Warnings (8:50 a.m.)A prison expert said he warned in 2016 that the parole system couldn't cope with terrorists, but the government ignored his findings.Writing in the Sunday Times, Ian Acheson, who was hired to advise ministers on the dangers of Islamic extremists in prisons, said he sent then-Justice Secretary Michael Gove a list of 69 recommendations, of which 68 were accepted. However, when the government's report was published, under a new minister Liz Truss, it was weakened so only a fraction of the recommendations remained, including none of those about the probation service.Corbyn Declines to Say How He'd Vote in 2nd Referendum (8:40 a.m.)In the Sky interview, Corbyn avoided saying how he would vote in the second Brexit referendum that he's promised if Labour wins the election.Corbyn also said the party apologized and regretted any antisemitism anyone's suffered and that he wished "our party had acted on it more rapidly." Earlier in the week, Corbyn had repeatedly declined to apologize to Jewish people for the behavior of some in his party.Corbyn Won't Rule Out Early Release for Terrorists (8:30 a.m)Corbyn said convicted terrorists should not necessarily serve out their full prison terms and pledged to increase spending on the prison service. On Friday, a convicted terrorist who was released early from prison killed two people and injured three others in an attack near London Bridge. Usman Khan had been a guest at a conference on prisoner rehabilitation when he started attacking other delegates."It depends on the circumstances; it depends on the sentence, but crucially it depends on what they've done in prison," he said in an interview on Sky's "Sophy Ridge on Sunday." He said he understood that the Parole Board was not involved in Khan's early release and there was no probation service involvement in monitoring him.While Johnson pledged that a Conservative government would ensure convicted terrorists weren't eligible for early release, Corbyn said he wanted to instead focus on increasing spending for the prison service and ensure anyone up for early release has a psychological assessment to see if they are a threat."Our probation service was half privatized, is not up to scratch, is not able to deal with the number of cases they have to deal with and a lot of prisoners are simply put on a tag, or ex-prisoners rather, put on a tag which if they breach clearly the police are alerted.Corbyn Says Foreign Policy Has Worsened Terror Risk (Earlier)In a speech in York later Sunday, Corbyn will say the "war on terror has manifestly failed," and that actions by governments have worsened the threat of attacks.The Labour leader will praise the response of police officers, and say they were right to use lethal force on Friday and say nothing can "absolve terrorists of blame for their murderous action,". But he'll also warn that for too long the U.K.'s "leaders have made the wrong calls on our security.""The threat of terrorism cannot and should not be reduced to questions of foreign policy alone," he will add, according to extracts released by the Labour Party. "But too often the actions of successive governments have fueled, not reduced that threat."To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Helen RobertsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| California bar to reopen after 2018 mass shooting Posted: 30 Nov 2019 01:33 AM PST  "It's gonna take a little while," said one of the co-owners in a video posted on Facebook.
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| Europe becomes cocaine exporter as countries overflow with drug Posted: 30 Nov 2019 06:31 AM PST  European countries have become so saturated with cocaine that the region has now become a hub for exporting the drug to markets such as Australia, Turkey and Russia, according to new data. Record levels of production of the drug in South America and new smuggling routes opening up into the continent means that Europe is now a transit area for the export of cocaine. The phenomenon is outlined in a new Europol analysis of the drug market, and comes after Spain seized a submarine carrying cocaine from Colombia in a European first this week. New trafficking routes are also being developed through war-torn west African states. Les Fiander, one of the authors of the 2019 Drugs Market Report, said there were a number of reasons why South American production has soared in recent years. "Organised crime groups have been able to expand their production, because authorities in source countries are not able to use anymore pesticides to fight it." Spanish officials seized the submarine earlier this week Credit: LALO R. VILLAR/AFP He added that the ongoing peace process in Colombia is another factor, as the vacuum left by the Farc has been rapidly filled by coca farmers looking to make quick money. According to the report, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain remain main entry points and distribution hubs for cocaine in the EU. Smuggling operations are becoming more sophisticated and harder to detect. The European Union's law enforcement agency's 2019 Drugs Market Report, shows that the value of the drugs trade in Europe is roughly €30 billion. Cannabis, accounting for 39% of the total market, is the most consumed illicit drug followed by cocaine at 31%. It is estimated that four million European citizens used cocaine this year. Last week's submarine was carrying three tonnes of cocaine valued at €100 million when it was detained off the north-west coast of Spain. The submarine had travelled from South America and it is believed the cocaine was destined for the British market. West and North Africa appears to be emerging as a more significant transit point for both air and maritime shipments of cocaine destined for the European and possibly other markets. The report found that heroin production, mainly in Afghanistan, is also on the rise and consequently there is likely to be a much greater availability of the drug in Europe over the coming years. The use of heroin and other opioids still accounts for the largest share of drug-related harms. The retail value of the heroin market in 2017 was estimated to be at least €7.4 billion. The report also highlighted how the illicit drug industry in Europe is increasingly contaminating river water, drinking water and wastewater. The adverse effects of leaking acidic chemicals are now more widespread and no longer an issue limited to local governments, the report found. Compounding the problem is the array of chemical substances that can be used to produce synthetic drugs, meaning that the amount abandoned and dumped often varies greatly.
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