| Amid Heroism in London, Gnawing Fear of a Simmering Terrorism Threat Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:48 AM PST  LONDON -- It was midafternoon when Mike Finnerty, who sells cheese at his Borough Market shop just south of London Bridge, realized that something was wrong. An unusual flow of people had suddenly gathered in front of his stall, he said, and they seemed "alarmed."What he did not know was that a man dressed in black and armed with knives had gone on a murderous rampage in a grand meeting venue called Fishmongers' Hall on the opposite side of the bridge, just north of the Thames River. But Finnerty sensed the danger Friday, he would later tell the BBC and write on Twitter.So he and another employee rushed some customers -- a couple from Vancouver and a young American man -- into a cheese refrigerator and locked the door. Then he called the police.The "operator said it was an attack and not to move," he wrote. He said he could hear shouting outside the door, but he and the group huddled together in "pretty close quarters."Susan Vinn, 57, was smoking outside her office adjacent to Fishmongers' Hall about 2 p.m., when she saw people running over the bridge. And Craig Heathcote, a filmmaker, was walking there when, he told the British broadcaster Sky News, someone said:"Get out of the way. Someone's got a knife."Saturday, Britain grappled with the aftermath of another terrorist attack in the heart of London just as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Two people were killed and at least three were wounded in Friday's attack.In a statement, the Islamic State group said the assailant had carried out the attack in its name and added that he had done so "in response to calls to target coalition countries." The phrasing indicates that the attacker was inspired by group's ideology and refers to a speech by a former spokesman, who urged followers to carry out attacks in any way they could, including stabbing.This attack, police said, had been carried out by a man wearing a fake bomb vest, a former prisoner who had been convicted of terrorism offenses in 2012. Authorities identified the suspect as Usman Khan, 28, of Stafford, England, who was released from prison last year, apparently after agreeing to wear an electronic tag.He was part of a gang that plotted in 2010 to plant explosives in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange, authorities said, and possibly attack other British landmarks and prominent figures like Boris Johnson, then the mayor of London.The rampage Friday, near the same bridge where a terrorist attack by a group men in June 2017 left eight people dead and dozens injured, raised questions about the efficacy of Britain's prison rehabilitation system and about the release from prison of Khan, despite warnings from the judge at his trial about the threats he still posed.In his judgment, Lord Justice Brian Leveson said there was "no doubt that anyone convicted of this type of offense could legitimately be considered dangerous."In February 2012, Khan was given an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum term of eight years, but the Court of Appeal replaced it in 2013 with a 16-year fixed-term sentence. He was released in half the time.The attack occurred two weeks before a pivotal general election, and Johnson, now prime minister, is under pressure. He told reporters Saturday that he wanted to "toughen up" sentences."I have long argued that it is a mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early," Johnson said.Saturday, the Parole Board, which carries out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released, said in a statement that it had not reviewed his case. Khan appeared to have been released automatically, "on license" -- meaning under certain conditions -- "without ever being referred to the board," it said.On Sunday, the Ministry of Justice said it had began an urgent review of the license conditions of convicted terrorists released from prison.Along with questions about the case came praise for the bystanders who had charged the suspect as he made his way along the bridge. One man wielded a fire extinguisher, video footage on social media showed. Another brandished an ornamental whale tusk that had been torn from the wall of Fishmongers' Hall, according to local reports.The assailant was wrestled to the ground in the street outside the grand hall. A man wearing a suit and tie can be seen removing a knife and walking away from the suspect. He was later identified as an off-duty member of the transport police.Thomas Gray, a tour company manager, told reporters that he saw one of the knives taped to Khan's hands."I stamped on his left wrist while someone else smacked his hand on the ground and then kicked one of the knives away," Gray told Sky News. "I went to pick up the knife when I heard a cop say, 'He has got a bomb.'"The bomb turned out to be fake. Footage showed officers, guns drawn, pulling bystanders off Khan. Then, Khan was shot and killed by the police.The trauma of the encounter, which played out as workers looked down from huge office windows and as onlookers shared video of the chaos, led Vinn to ask: "Why London Bridge anyway? It's horrible, I don't get it."She said that for a country that has experienced terrorist attack after terrorist attack since 2017: "It's become ambient. It makes you worried about your safety on a day-to-day basis, especially here, around London Bridge."Mayor Sadiq Khan of London praised the bravery of bystanders. "What's remarkable about the images we've seen," he said, "is the breathtaking heroism of members of the public who literally ran toward danger, not knowing what confronted them."The assault threw into stark relief the risks in attempting to rehabilitate those convicted or suspected of terrorism.Saturday, Chris Phillips, a former head of the country's National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said Britain was releasing people while they were still radicalized."We're playing Russian roulette with people's lives, letting convicted, known, radicalized jihadi criminals walk about our streets," he told the Press Association news agency.David Videcette, a former anti-terrorism detective and author, added that Britain must "look at sentencing and rehabilitation, as we have a huge problem with terrorist prisoners that are being released, and with those that want to come back from Syria."Khan was attending an event for former prisoners and their mentors in a prison education program, Learning Together, set up by Cambridge University. He was believed to have been invited to share his experiences as a former prisoner."We believe that the attack began inside before he left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge," said Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.One of those who rushed to aid victims, according to news reports, was a man convicted of murder who had been on day release.Among those killed, according to BBC and news site Cambridge Live, was a Cambridge graduate, Jack Merritt, the course coordinator of Learning Together. The police did not immediately confirm his identity. But a man who said he was Merritt's father, David, posted the news on Twitter before deleting it."My son, Jack, who was killed in this attack, would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily," the post read. "R.I.P. Jack: you were a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog."Saturday, three people remained hospitalized, and one person who been critically wounded was in stable condition, the National Health Service said in a statement.The attack came only weeks after the British government lowered its terror threat warning level to substantial from severe as Britons had begun growing cautiously accustomed to a life less frequently disrupted by deadly episodes.In 2017, when London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market were the subject of an attack, there was also a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena, an attack on Westminster Bridge and at the gates of Parliament and an assault at a north London mosque.For a government seeking reelection in two weeks' time, the issue is sensitive. Before the 2017 general election, the opposition Labour Party had linked terror attacks to police cuts made by a Conservative-led government.On Saturday, Brandon Lewis, the security minister, did not say whether he considered the attack to be a failure by the authorities, but he sought to rebut suggestions that cuts to the police had played a role. He told Sky News that both funding and the number of officers devoted to counterterrorism had "consistently increased since 2015."Videcette, the former anti-terrorism detective, said that many lower-level offenders were now up for release and to monitor them, the authorities had to keep close watch on those with whom they associate. The problem, he said, was "if they don't reconnect with the individuals we expect them to" and opt instead for a low-tech, lone attack."There is a real danger," he said, "with those who have not reached the pinnacle of what they are going to be but aspire to be a well-known terrorist, or perhaps aspire to be martyred by a police officer in a terror attack."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Morales victim of 'coup,' says AMLO during first-term celebration Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:28 PM PST  The leftist president, nicknamed AMLO, celebrated his first year in office with a speech to throngs of supporters in Mexico City. While detailing budget and tax policies, and the ongoing fight against corruption, Lopez Obrador touched on Mexico's foreign policy by recalling his government's decision to accept Morales as an asylum seeker.
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| Prosecution in Israel lines up over 300 witnesses in Netanyahu case Posted: 02 Dec 2019 08:14 AM PST ![Prosecution in Israel lines up over 300 witnesses in Netanyahu case]( "Prosecution in Israel lines up over 300 witnesses in Netanyahu case") An indictment submitted to Israel's parliament on Monday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu names more than 300 prosecution witnesses, including wealthy friends and former aides, in three graft cases against him. By formally sending the indictment to the legislature, after announcing charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud on Nov. 21, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit set the clock ticking on a 30-day period in which Netanyahu can seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
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| Detained Huawei executive spends Canada bail reading and painting as two Canadians denied lawyer in China Posted: 02 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  Meng Wangzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese phone company Huawei currently on bail in Canada as the US seeks to extradite her, has revealed that she spends her days reading, talking to colleagues and painting. US prosecutors say Ms Meng is linked to fraud that allowed Huawei to evade sanctions against Iran, and are attempting to have her moved to the US to face trial. She was arrested in Vancouver on 1 December 2018, one year before she published a 'thank you' message to supporters on Huawei's website on Sunday. Ms Meng wrote that life on bail passed "so slow that I have enough time to read a book from cover to cover. "I can take the time to discuss minutiae with my colleagues or to carefully complete an oil painting." The Huawei executive, whose detainment sparked a diplomatic row between Canada and China, is able to travel around Vancouver relatively freely outside her 11pm-6am curfew. She has been living in a £3.5 million, six-bedroom house, one of multiple properties she owns in the city. "While my personal freedoms have been limited, my soul still seeks to be free," she wrote. "Amidst these setbacks, I've found light in the life around me… if a busy life has eaten away at my time, then hardship has in turn drawn it back out." Business consultant Michael Spavor is one of two Canadians arrested by China after Ms Meng was detained Credit: WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images Ms Meng's lifestyle is in sharp contrast to that of two Canadians who were detained in China shortly after her arrest, in a move many saw as hostage diplomacy-style retaliation by Beijing. Michael Spavor, a consultant specialising in North Korea relations, and Michael Kovrig, an NGO worker and former diplomat, have been in a Chinese detention centre for a year. Last May they were charged with spying. The two men, who Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, said were being held in "arbitrary detention" for "political goals", have reportedly been interrogated and held in rooms lit by artificial lighting 24 hours a day. They have reportedly been prevented from meeting with lawyers and family, and not allowed to go outdoors. In July Mr Kovrig's reading glasses were allegedly confiscated by officials keeping watch over him. Ms Meng suggested that she enjoyed a more positive relationship with her guards. "After a whole night of heavy snow, the security company's staff were so considerate that they shoveled a path for my elderly mother, filling our hearts with warmth in this cold winter," she wrote.
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| Airlines waive flight change fees amid 921 cancellations, 7,700 delays in Thanksgiving storm Posted: 02 Dec 2019 06:37 AM PST  American Airlines, Delta and JetBlue are among the airlines offering waivers to travelers to change their flights ahead of a powerful winter storm
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| Pot never should have been illegal in the first place Posted: 01 Dec 2019 10:39 AM PST  On reefer, states lead the way with legalization, writes Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project
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| Prosecutors say Russia let MH17 suspect leave the country Posted: 02 Dec 2019 03:53 AM PST ![Prosecutors say Russia let MH17 suspect leave the country]( "Prosecutors say Russia let MH17 suspect leave the country") Russia deliberately allowed a suspect in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to leave the country, Dutch prosecutors said Monday, calling it a breach of a European extradition treaty. Prosecutors announced that Volodymyr Tsemakh is considered a suspect in the shooting down of the passenger plane and deaths of all 298 passengers and crew. The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Buk missile on July 17, 2014, over territory in eastern Ukraine that was controlled at the time by pro-Moscow rebels.
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| Why Joe Biden might be taking it easy on Pete Buttigieg Posted: 01 Dec 2019 11:39 AM PST  The most famous unspoken Democratic presidential candidate alliance is probably the one between Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). But there might be one brewing between former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, as well -- at least on Biden's end.Biden and Buttigieg aren't old friends like Warren and Sanders, but there are some logical strategic reasons for why that might be the case. Biden hasn't really gone after the 37-year-old mayor very much since the primaries began, despite their ideological overlap and the fact that many of the other candidates really seem to find the political upstart a tad annoying.When asked about Buttigieg during a bust tour in Iowa on Sunday, Biden skirted the question because he didn't want anyone to twist his words into criticism. He called Buttigieg "a talented guy" and said he has no negative feelings toward him. One explanation might be that Biden wouldn't want to alienate Buttigieg's more moderate base in the hopes that they could come over to him if the mayor falters.But their voters actually appear to be quite different, some observers note, despite some similar policy stances. Instead, Biden might view Buttigieg as someone who could help take down Warren, which is actually happening in some recent polls, and boost the former vice president's candidacy in the long run. > Biden and his team have notably not really attacked Pete despite their ideological overlap. B/c the demographic of their support are different, Biden may see Pete as a way to help take down Warren in Iowa rather than a threat for the nomination. https://t.co/yRbr7miLXo> > -- Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) December 1, 2019More stories from theweek.com The Democratic primary's generational divide What the Moomins can tell us about fighting climate despair We know that we will die. Why do we struggle to really believe it?
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| Why Donald Trump Should Fear Iran's Deadly Missile Arsenal Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:51 AM PST  Tehran can't get the best military equipment. So they went asymetric.
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| CORRECTED-Poor nations pay price as millions flee 'climate chaos', Oxfam says Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:00 PM PST ![CORRECTED-Poor nations pay price as millions flee 'climate chaos', Oxfam says]( "CORRECTED-Poor nations pay price as millions flee 'climate chaos', Oxfam says") Fiercer weather and worsening wildfires drove more than 20 million people a year from their homes over the last decade - a problem set to worsen unless leaders act swiftly to head off surging climate threats, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday. Much of the displacement caused by cyclones, floods and fires appeared temporary and in some cases due to better efforts to evacuate people ahead of danger, Oxfam researchers said.
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| Video of boys beating deer and ripping its antlers off prompts investigation Posted: 02 Dec 2019 08:59 AM PST  A viral video of two boys beating an injured deer that had been shot has prompted an investigation by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.In the video, which was reportedly filmed in Brookville, Pennsylvania, the boys can be seen kicking the buck in the face, ripping off its antlers and stepping on its throat, all while the animal is alive.
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| 14 killed in Burkina Faso church attack: regional govt Posted: 01 Dec 2019 01:00 PM PST  Fourteen people were killed in an attack Sunday on a church in eastern Burkina Faso where places of worship have suffered a string of Islamist assaults this year, the regional government said. "Unidentified armed men" carried out the attack during a Sunday service at a Protestant church in the town of Hantoukoura near the border with Niger, the government statement said. Burkina Faso's population is around two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian.
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| Former FBI lawyer who Trump mocked speaks out against him Posted: 02 Dec 2019 07:19 AM PST  Lisa Page — former FBI lawyer, and one-time colleague and romantic partner of fired agent Peter Strzok— has lashed out at President Trump and his attacks against her in an interview with the Daily Beast.
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| New wave of abuse suits could hit church like never before Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:47 PM PST  A wave of new laws in 15 states that allow people to make claims of sexual abuse going back decades could bring a deluge of lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church that could surpass anything seen so far in its clergy abuse crisis. It's a financial reckoning playing out in such populous Catholic strongholds as New York, California and New Jersey, among the eight states that go the furthest with "lookback windows" that allow sex abuse claims no matter how old.
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| American flight bound for Miami diverted after woman fakes medical condition, police say Posted: 02 Dec 2019 06:10 AM PST  An American Airlines flight had to be diverted on Friday after a passenger attempted to fake a medical condition to get a bigger seat on the flight.
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| 11 People Injured After a Shooting Near New Orleans' French Quarter Posted: 01 Dec 2019 07:16 AM PST  At least two victims are in critical condition and one person has been detained
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| Democrats haven't made case for impeachment. They should censure Trump instead: Fleischer Posted: 02 Dec 2019 12:15 AM PST  Democrats could get Republican votes if they censured Trump for his attempts to link political investigations to Ukraine aid and an Oval Office visit.
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| Mexico warns it will not allow U.S. military operations against cartels Posted: 30 Nov 2019 12:37 PM PST  Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warned Friday he would not allow the United States to conduct cross-border armed operations, after President Trump promised to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups.
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| Indians demand swift action against rapists as protests spread after woman's murder Posted: 02 Dec 2019 04:33 AM PST  Protests over the alleged rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinary doctor spread to cities across India on Monday as people demanded tough and swift punishments, including public lynchings, to stop crimes against women. The woman was raped, asphyxiated and her dead body then set alight on Nov 27 on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad, according to police. Protesters and lawmakers said they wanted authorities to ensure that rape cases were speedily processed and those convicted punished instantly, similar to demands that were raised after the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi in 2012 that had caused outrage and international condemnation.
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| Australia slams China's 'unacceptable' treatment of jailed writer Posted: 02 Dec 2019 12:41 AM PST  Australia's foreign minister on Monday said the treatment of a writer detained in China was "unacceptable", as his lawyer reported he was being shackled and subjected to daily interrogation. Yang Hengjun, an Australian citizen, has been detained in China since January and was recently charged with spying, which could bring a lengthy prison sentence. Letters were also being withheld "to cut off the conduit of information from Dr Yang to the outside world, and from the outside world to Dr Yang", she said.
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| There have been more mass shootings than days in 2019 Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:38 AM PST  Before the year has even ended, 2019 has already surpassed a previous record for mass shootings in one year
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| Legal reckoning: New abuse suits could cost church over $4B Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:37 PM PST  At the end of another long day trying to sign up new clients accusing the Roman Catholic Church of sexual abuse, lawyer Adam Slater gazes out the window of his high-rise Manhattan office at one of the great symbols of the church, St. Patrick's Cathedral. Across the country, attorneys like Slater are scrambling to file a new wave of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, thanks to rules enacted in 15 states that extend or suspend the statute of limitations to allow claims stretching back decades. Associated Press reporting found the deluge of suits could surpass anything the nation's clergy sexual abuse crisis has seen before, with potentially more than 5,000 new cases and payouts topping $4 billion.
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| Former 'DWTS' dancer says a Utah teacher berated the son he's adopting over having 2 dads Posted: 02 Dec 2019 05:44 AM PST  Former 'DWTS' dancer says family was hurt by a Utah teacher who said "men living together is a sin" after his son said he's grateful to be adopted.
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| Billionaire Says Companies Fear Criticizing India Government Posted: 01 Dec 2019 07:35 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Indian businesses are worried about repercussions should they criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, billionaire Rahul Bajaj said in a rare display of a corporate leader expressing reservations about the government publicly."None of our industrial friends will speak about it, but I'll say that openly," Bajaj told an audience in Mumbai on Saturday that included one of Modi's most-trusted aides, Amit Shah. "You're doing a good job, but despite that, we're not confident you'll appreciate if we openly criticize you."Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was reported as saying on Friday that there is "profound fear and distrust among our various economic participants" ranging from industrialists to policy makers and bankers. Some have said that Modi's government, which came to power in 2014, poses a threat to India's traditions of tolerance and public debateBajaj, 81, is chairman of Bajaj Auto Ltd., the world's largest maker of three-wheelers. He attended Harvard Business School and also owns stakes in an investment company and an insurance firm. His grandfather, Jamnalal Bajaj, an Indian independence fighter and Mahatma Gandhi confidant, founded the group in 1926.Hours later Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, head of Indian drug-maker Biocon Ltd. spoke out too."Hope the govt reaches out to India inc for working out solutions to revive consumption n growth," Shaw tweeted responding to a news story about Bajaj's comments. "So far we are all pariahs n govt does not want to hear any criticism of our economy."Shah, who is home minister, pushed back against Bajaj's remarks at the event organized by the Economic Times newspaper."I don't think anyone will believe people are scared after you asked this question," said Shah, who holds what's considered India's second-most important job. "The government has been run in the most transparent way, and we're not afraid of any sort of opposition."India is saddled with the slowest economic growth in more than six years as consumers curb spending, businesses hold back on investments and export demand slumps.Gross domestic product rose 4.5% in the September quarter from a year ago, down from 5% in the previous quarter, data releases on Friday showed.(Updates with comments from Biocon co-founder in sixth paragraph.)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, Will DaviesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Fact: The Horrific Iran-Iraq War Cost $350 Billion (And 1 Million Dead) Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:29 AM PST  Here is a quick history of what happened.
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| Trump impeachment: What to expect from hearings this week Posted: 02 Dec 2019 07:48 AM PST  The next phase of Donald Trump's impeachment hearings begins this week, when members of Congress will discuss whether the president's alleged abuses of power constitute "high crimes and misdemeanours".The phrase, as outlined in the US Constitution, has primed the debate between Democrats leading the investigation and the Republicans who argue that despite several witness testimonies corroborating Mr Trump's pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in exchange for receiving military aid, none of it resembles either a high crime or a misdemeanour.
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| Cameroon separatists fire on passenger jet in northwest Posted: 01 Dec 2019 08:49 AM PST ![Cameroon separatists fire on passenger jet in northwest]( "Cameroon separatists fire on passenger jet in northwest") Separatist rebels fired on a Cameroon Airlines passenger jet as it approached Bamenda airport in the northwest of the country on Sunday morning, their leader told Reuters. The scheduled flight from Douala landed safely and there were no casualties, Cameroon Airlines said in a statement confirming the attack. The English-speaking west of Cameroon has been a battleground since 2017 between the army and rebels seeking to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia.
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| Government shutdown in Samoa amid 'cruel' measles outbreak Posted: 01 Dec 2019 11:14 PM PST  Samoa ordered a government shutdown to help combat a devastating measles outbreak Monday, as five more children succumbed to the virus, lifting the death toll in the tiny Pacific nation to 53. The government said almost 200 new measles cases had been recorded since Sunday, with the rate of infection showing no sign of slowing despite a compulsory mass vaccination programme. The scheme has so far focussed on children but Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said it was time to immunise everyone in the 200,000 population aged under 60.
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| Joe Biden mocked for 'no malarkey' campaign pledge Posted: 01 Dec 2019 10:03 AM PST  Joe Biden was mocked this weekend after launching a campaign slogan - "no malarkey" - that did little to dispel fears the front-runner in the Democrat presidential nomination is behind the times. The phrase, emblazoned on the bus he is using to travel around the key state of Iowa, dates back to the 1920s. Mr Biden, who would be the oldest first-term president to be sworn in at 78, said the term was intended to highlight his truthfulness when compared to Donald Trump. "What we're referring here [is] my Irish ancestry, when my grandfather would really think something is full of you know what, he'd say, 'that's a lot of malarkey,'" he explained to supporters on Sunday. "So we're on a No Malarkey tour, meaning we're telling the truth." Mr Biden often harks back to his role as vice-president to Barack Obama and he notably used the phrase to dismiss Paul Ryan in a 2012 Vice Presidential debate, emphasising his reputation as straight-talking 'Uncle Joe'. Political analyst Nate Silver suggested that the slogan was Mr Biden being self-deprecating - which would appeal to his loyal supporters. However, the campaign slogan has left some people baffled while others suggested it showed that Mr Biden was out of touch with younger voters. One Twitter user wrote: "I'm voting for Biden so he can finally fix the four big problems facing society: jibber-jabber, hogwash, tommyrot, and flapdoodle." A second suggested that the arcane language showed Mr Biden was "tired and old." "It's sort of poking fun at himself," he said. Mr Biden's age has emerged as an issue on the campaign trail especially after some faltering performances in a series of televised debates. If you're going to sound out of date anyway, why not go for the elegance of NoRodomontade? https://t.co/g2yAHAH9JP— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 30, 2019 He has also had to fend off questions about his son, Hunter, who took a seat on the board of the Ukrainian oil company Burisma, despite having no experience in the energy sector. Despite leading in the national polls for the Democrat nomination, Mr Biden has fallen behind in the first two states to vote, Iowa and New Hampshire. South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg has built up a seven-point lead in Iowa, where Mr Biden now languishes in fourth place. In New Hampshire, Mr Biden is also in fourth place where the race is being led by Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders, who is four points ahead of Mr Buttigieg. That was the in slang back in 1960 Leave it to Beaver time. He's lost it. In Iowa his was wife was talking and he sticks his face to her right hand bites her finger. Who does that? Creepy Uncle Joe. I heard Dr Neurology say they way Biden acts and says weird stuff is medical— Eric Moorman (@blueknight193) December 1, 2019 A poor performance in both states could suck out any momentum that Mr Biden was hoping to generate in the early stages of the race, leaving him facing an uphill battle to win the nomination. Mr Biden enlarged on his "no malarkey" theme when asked to explain how his experience made him more qualified for the Oval Office than younger rivals like Mr Buttigieg and New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker, a former mayor of Newark, New Jersey. "I've dealt with every one of the major world leaders that are out there right now and they know me, I know them. And as time goes a pun here, no malarkey, I know them and they know I know them." Mr Biden gave a further demonstration of his occasionally eccentric campaigning style when he playfully bit his wife Jill's finger as she waved her arm in front of him during her introductory remarks.
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| How an Unsolved Murder Got Legal Weed Lobbyist Eapen Thampy Indicted on Drug Charges Posted: 01 Dec 2019 02:06 AM PST  Photo Illustration by The Daily BeastOn the evening of Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, residents of a country-club neighborhood in Columbia, Missouri, went to bed unaware that one of their neighbors had nearly 1,000 pounds of high-grade Oregon marijuana parked in the driveway outside his home. The home was being rented by 28-year-old Augustus "Gus" Roberts, the son of a circuit court judge. Under the cover of darkness, several suspects forced their way inside, murdered him, and made off with the weed-filled U-Haul.The killers didn't go far, abandoning the U-Haul at the end of the neighborhood's cul-de-sac. Police arrived to find Roberts outside, near his driveway, dead of an apparent gunshot wound. They also found 94 pounds of weed and 3,000 THC oil pens used for vaping in the trailer and in Roberts' bedroom closet. In the year and a half since, nine people have been arrested as a result of the homicide investigation—though none of them has been charged with committing that crime. Instead, law enforcement officials have rounded up a collection of Roberts' alleged co-conspirators on drug-related counts.The highest-profile bust was Eapen Thampy, a well-known lobbyist around the state Capitol whose chief issue has been marijuana legalization and criminal justice reform—and who is now accused of being part of a network that distributed more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana over three years. The charges—which stem from the Roberts investigation, according to a DEA agent's affidavit—could put Thampy in prison for life.It's not lost on supporters of marijuana policy reform that Roberts' death was precisely the type of violence that they believe legalization would prevent. "Once you have organized crime you have people taking matters into their own hands," says Steve Fox, president of VS Strategies and a longtime D.C.-based marijuana policy reform advocate. "The same issues you had associated with alcohol prohibition in the early part of the last century, with organized crime and violence—those things largely, if not entirely, go away once the substance in question is legal and regulated."In 2015, at the age of 31, Thampy founded Heartland Priorities, an organization that lobbies for marijuana legalization. He occupied a distinctive niche in the effort by arguing for reform from a right-wing and Libertarian perspective to a state legislature controlled by a Republican super-majority. He regularly appeared on talk radio throughout the state and beat the drum for individual liberty as a basis for legal weed and for criminal justice and sentencing reform. He's been photographed with Sens. Rand Paul and Roy Blunt, as well as a former governor and current state attorney general."It breaks my heart that this is happening to him," says Tom Mundell, a Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient who focuses on marijuana reform from a veterans and PTSD perspective. "He was doing a lot to give people who had never had a break in their life the opportunity to have generational wealth through the hemp industry."But authorities allege that Thampy had a side hustle to his political work. They claim in the indictment that between January 2015 and September 2018, he was part of a drug distribution network connected to Roberts.According to a DEA agent's affidavit, before Roberts' death, he was receiving marijuana from Oregon via a middleman who had been a DEA informant in the past and who supplied Roberts "with 280 to 350 pounds of marijuana every three to four weeks" for about nine months up until his death. After Roberts was killed, the middleman began cooperating with the feds again and arranged for an especially large shipment of marijuana to be sent from Oregon to Missouri, according to a DEA agent's affidavit. Authorities intercepted some 1,800 pounds of high-grade weed from a commercial trailer in Wyoming and arrested Craig Smith of Oregon, Roberts' alleged supplier. Among other things, the indictment charges in a separate count that Smith and Thampy sought to sell a smaller amount of marijuana in February of last year.Authorities have charged seven others, including a Columbia mother and son who allegedly used drug-dealing proceeds to purchase, among other things, a flamethrower. Court documents allege one of the defendants donated $1,000 in drug money to Better Way Missouri, a political action committee represented by Thampy. Thampy, who is free pending trial next year, declined to comment for this article, and calls to his attorney were not returned. Even before his arrest, Thampy was a controversial figure for some.New Approach Missouri is the organization most responsible for getting medical marijuana legalized via a statewide vote last year, and multiple people affiliated with that organization say Thampy ran interference on them and sought to tank the amendment until right before the election, when polling clearly showed it would pass. They believe Thampy viewed the effort as a threat to his career lobbying the state legislature. One of Thampy's key issues was curbing civil asset forfeiture, a process in which law enforcement confiscates property it believes was used to facilitate criminal activities. "I don't know anyone who knows the laws around asset forfeiture the way he does," Mundell says.In an ironic twist, the government has now launched a forfeiture action in the case stemming from Roberts' death. The feds are looking to seize an industrial building in White City, Oregon; a gated estate in Central Point; a parcel of land adjacent to an airstrip in Cave Junction; $100,000 of confiscated cash and a Columbia house worth roughly $250,000.Dan Russo, the attorney representing Smith, told the Columbia Daily Tribune he believes the case is an example of law enforcement making a "last-ditch attempt to empty the pockets for anyone involved with marijuana on any level" before what many see as the drug's inevitable legalization at the national level. Meanwhile, as Thampy, Smith and the others face an uncertain fate, one thing is for sure: For now, at least, someone has gotten away with the murder of Gus Roberts.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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| Sri Lanka wants to query Swiss Embassy worker over threat Posted: 02 Dec 2019 12:21 AM PST ![Sri Lanka wants to query Swiss Embassy worker over threat]( "Sri Lanka wants to query Swiss Embassy worker over threat") Sri Lankan authorities have told the Swiss Embassy in Colombo that they want to question an embassy worker who was allegedly forced into a car and threatened to establish the veracity of her claims. The embassy has said the employee, who allegedly was ordered by her abductors to produce embassy information, is unable to speak with police due to a deteriorating health condition. The Swiss foreign ministry called the Nov. 25 incident a "very serious and unacceptable attack" and summoned Sri Lanka's ambassador to demand an investigation.
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| 50 million people under winter storm watches, advisories as 'bomb cyclone' storm hits Northeast Posted: 02 Dec 2019 10:04 AM PST  More than 50 million people remained under winter storm advisories or warnings a week after the historic bomb cyclone smashed the Pacific Coast.
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| Meet the Titan: The Army's New Anti-Tank Robot? Posted: 02 Dec 2019 01:25 AM PST  It is in the works.
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| Taken to Brink by Trump, Gulf States Are Backpedaling on Iran Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- An expanded soccer tournament, a direct flight, clandestine meetings and a pledge to release prisoners of war; diplomacy is breaking out as Gulf Arab nations back away from a Donald Trump-inspired confrontation with Iran. And the signs are everywhere.Last week, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain played their first games of the 2019 Arabian Gulf Cup in Qatar after a last-minute decision to take part -- an apparent breakthrough in a 30-month feud that saw them halt trade and flights over Qatar's links with Iran and support for Islamist groups.Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition that's fought Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015 began releasing jailed Houthis, as efforts to end the conflict gather momentum. Oman is quietly hosting high-level meetings, according to people familiar with the matter, and even Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has hinted at direct channels with the U.A.E.Spooked by the prospect of a catastrophic war with Iran and its proxy militias across the region, Gulf monarchies are in the midst of a strategic rethink. The U.A.E., whose economic model relies in large part on its international links, quickly realized it had most to lose from a military escalation. It had removed most of its troops from Yemen by the end of a turbulent summer that saw oil tankers targeted and a U.S. drone downed in the Gulf without significant American response.While the humanitarian catastrophe unleashed by the Yemen war trained an unwelcome spotlight on Saudi Arabia, it took a brazen strike on Saudi oil installations -- which knocked out half the country's crude production -- to ram home the risks and prove that Trump was not about to ride to his allies' rescue."The attacks shattered any illusion of this magical U.S. security umbrella," said David Roberts, an assistant professor at King's College London who studies the Gulf. "It burst the bubble and showed that Iran had the willingness to both do something astonishing like the attack on Aramco facilities and the capability to carry it out."Iran denies U.S. and Saudi assertions it carried out the Sept. 14 strikes, pointing to Houthi claims of responsibility. But people familiar with investigations into the attacks say they were almost certainly launched from southwestern Iran -- an explosive escalation in Tehran's pushback against an economic offensive unleashed by Trump and enthusiastically backed by the Saudis.The Trump administration withdrew last year from the 2015 deal meant to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, and reimposed sanctions that have crippled its oil exports. But the "maximum pressure" policy is designed to coax Tehran into more concessions not to drag the U.S. into a new Middle East war just as it draws down troops in Syria.Rolling back Shiite Muslim Iran's power remains a priority for the Sunni Gulf Arab leadership. There's an increasing recognition, however, that no one stands to gain from a military escalation in the world's top oil-exporting region.Saudi Arabia's Center for International Communication didn't respond to an email seeking comment. The U.A.E. declined to comment. But in a Nov. 10 speech, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said he saw "a path to a deal with Iran that all parties might soon" be ready to embark on if Tehran demonstrated commitment.War to 'Cold Peace'In search of a breakthrough, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricketer elected with the backing of a powerful army that provides extensive support for the Saudi military, shuttled between Tehran and Riyadh in October. He met Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Rouhani, as well as Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, describing talks as "encouraging."Khan said he traveled at the request of Trump and Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said the diplomacy wasn't prompted by the kingdom. But deepening unease in the Gulf catalyzed the effort.Turning these overtures into lasting peace between countries that have grown further apart since the 1979 Iranian revolution remains far off.The Gulf states resent Iran's deep reach into Arab nations. While ongoing protests in Iraq and Lebanon suggest Iran has reached the limit of its regional influence, they are unlikely to reverse political and military advances decades in the making."Cold peace is possible but we are certainly far from a grand bargain," said Afshin Molavi, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins. "For that, both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi would have to accept a role for Iran in Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen."As they explore ways forward, Gulf states are moving at different speeds.The U.A.E. broke with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia by not naming Iran as the culprit behind attacks in May and June on oil tankers as they sailed toward the Strait of Hormuz, the world's foremost oil shipping chokepoint.It sent coast guard officials to Iran for the first time in six years and Rouhani hinted at other meetings with senior U.A.E. officials. "We're moving toward improved relations," he said Oct. 14. Saudi Arabia is catching up.Washington built a multilateral naval operation to protect shipping in the Gulf after the attacks and sent more troops to Saudi Arabia. Both actions resulted in a "down tick" in Iranian actions," U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Nov. 13. "The Iranians should not mistake our restraint for weakness."Where the U.S. holds back, however, others are crowding in. Besides his role in saving Bashar al-Assad's regime, Russian President Vladimir Putin has forged a partnership with Iran, created an oil alliance with Saudi Arabia and built ties with Egypt's Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who was warned by the U.S. last month against plans to purchase Russian jets.Putin traveled to Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. in October after visits by the Saudi king and the U.A.E.'s de-facto leader Mohammad bin Zayed to Moscow. The two Gulf countries and Russia have signed deals valued at billions of dollars.For Iran's Rouhani, the case for regional engagement is obvious."Don't you know that Iran is going to stay here and we will remain neighbors throughout history?" he has said, referring to Iran's Arab neighbors. "Trump will only be around for a few years and will go back to whatever it was he was doing."\--With assistance from Golnar Motevalli and Glen Carey.To contact the reporter on this story: Zainab Fattah in Dubai at zfattah@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Mark WilliamsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Chicago Mayor Lightfoot fires police chief for lying about Oct. 17 incident: mayor's office Posted: 02 Dec 2019 09:19 AM PST  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday fired the city's police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, accusing him of lying to her about an incident on the night of Oct. 17 when he was found asleep in his car. Johnson initially said he had fallen asleep due to blood pressure medication, but local media later reported that he told Lightfoot he had a "couple of drinks" before driving. Lightfoot in a statement said it became clear that Johnson "engaged in a series of ethical lapses that are intolerable" after a review of the city's ongoing investigation by the inspector general.
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| Stock markets sour on US data, Trump's new tariffs Posted: 02 Dec 2019 09:05 AM PST  European and US stock markets swooned into the red Monday on downbeat US economic data and news of fresh US tariffs against Argentina and Brazil.
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| Zimbabwe opposition party complains of unprecedented persecution as state cracks down Posted: 02 Dec 2019 06:30 AM PST  Zimbabwe's opposition party says it is suffering unprecedented persecution and state-sanctioned violence and claims it is unable to function as a political party as most of its rallies are banned. The MDC Alliance says the Zanu-PF government effectively prevented more than 200 planned rallies in the last few weeks, breaking some up with police raids. On Sunday, when Nelson Chamisa, the MDC leader, attended a tree planting ceremony 45 miles south east of Harare, police released tear gas and there were reports of gunfire. With inflation soaring at more than 400 per cent, the state appears terrified of rising civil protests. Scores of MDC members, including high level officials, such as party organisers, have been arrested, beaten up or charged through the courts this year - more than at any time in the last ten years of former president Robert Mugabe's rule. Professor Eldred Masunungure, senior political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe, said: "This wave of terror by the state is the most vicious that the MDC has experienced and endured in the last decade. An anti-riot police man in Zimbabwe beats a man in late November Credit: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP via Getty Images "The regime is determined and has the capacity to damage the MDC in the same way it did during its reign of terror in 2008." About 200 MDC supporters and voters were killed during 2008 elections. Charlton Hwende, recently elected Secretary-General of the MDC Alliance told The Daily Telegraph: "We have never had it as bad as this. We just can't operate." He said: "They are trying to ban us. Last week I was at our headquarters when about 200 policemen came to the street because we tried to hold a meeting. So police beat up anyone they could. People queue to withdraw money in Harare after Zimbabwe introduced a new currency Credit: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo "We believe some were soldiers in police uniform and others were Zanu-PF youth members in police uniform." Mr Hwende said the MDC had only been able to hold about 11 national rallies in the last year because of state interference. Brian Raftopoulos, Mellon Senior Research Mentor at the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape, said the state and the police fear civil unrest as food prices spiral and the economic crisis deepens. "This is a continuation of how the government responds to protests," he said. A supporter of the opposition MDC Alliance gestures the party's symbol from inside of a prison truck Credit: ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP/Getty Images "Zanu-PF knows the economy is in ever deeper crisis and they can see no way of fixing it, so they are not prepared to tolerate any dissent." Mr Hwende said he lost his long-established cross-border trucking business earlier this year when he was arrested and charged with treason. He describes the charges laid against him so far as "laughable" More than 20 people, mostly people connected to or members of the MDC Alliance, have been charged with treason in the last 18 months. Mr Mugabe was ousted from power by Emmerson Mnangagwa two years ago and died in September. Mr Mnangagwa narrowly won presidential elections last year, a victory the MDC Alliance, without evidence, continues to claim is illegitimate. Doug Coltart says he was attacked by police while attending to a client Credit: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo Doug Coltart, 29, a lawyer who regularly attends to victims of political violence, claims he was brutally assaulted by police at Harare Central Police Station last week while attending to a client. "I was in the comptroller's office making a complaint to a uniformed officer as I was denied access to my client. "Police officers grabbed me in front of members of the public, and dragged me out," he says. "They injured me… blood was spurting across my shirt." Senior government personnel and the police regulatory authority which issues or denies permits for political rallies did not respond to requests for comment.
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| Teens admit to threatening lesbian couple in London Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:25 PM PST  A judge ruled that the May attack was motivated by homophobia.
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| Powerful typhoon nears Philippines, forcing evacuations Posted: 01 Dec 2019 11:26 PM PST  A powerful typhoon drew closer to the Philippines on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of villagers to flee to safety, knocking out power in entire provinces and prompting authorities to plan the closure of Manila's international airport. Typhoon Kammuri was forecast to slam into the country's eastern coast Monday night to early Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers (96 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 190 kph (118 mph), government forecasters said. In Albay, Sorsogon and Catanduanes provinces, where the typhoon is expected to blow ashore, pounding rain and wind started to rattle tin roofs and block visibility by nightfall.
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| A man sculpted a Tesla Cybertruck out of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, and the internet loves it Posted: 02 Dec 2019 06:30 AM PST  Greg Milano carved a Tesla Cybertruck from mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. The internet approves: The video has nearly 4 million views and counting.
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| Does France Really Need an Aircraft Carrier? Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:00 AM PST  It only has one--and it will need to be replaced.
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| Joe Biden nibbled on his wife's finger in a bizarre campaign stop moment Posted: 30 Nov 2019 07:27 PM PST  While Jill Biden's arm was outstretched, her husband leaned forward and bit down on the tip of her index finger for some reason.
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| Iran still selling oil despite U.S. sanctions - TV Posted: 02 Dec 2019 06:41 AM PST  Iran is still selling its oil despite U.S. sanctions on Tehran's exports, the country's Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri was quoted on Monday as saying by state TV, adding that Washington's "maximum pressure" on Tehran had failed. "Despite America's pressure ... and its imposed sanctions on our oil exports, we still continue to sell our oil by using other means ... when even friendly countries have stopped purchasing our crude fearing America's penalties," Jahangiri said.
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| Putin, Xi launch 'historic' Russian gas pipeline to China Posted: 02 Dec 2019 03:55 AM PST  Russia and China on Monday launched a giant gas pipeline linking the countries for the first time, one of three major projects aimed at cementing Moscow's role as the world's top gas exporter. Presiding by video link-up over an elaborate televised ceremony, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping hailed the "Power of Siberia" pipeline as a symbol of cooperation. "Today is remarkable, a truly historic event not only for the global energy market, but first of all for us and for you, for Russia and China," Putin said.
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