| Republican senator 'disturbed' by McConnell's work with White House on impeachment trial Posted: 25 Dec 2019 09:57 AM PST  Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was "disturbed" by the Senate leader's approach to working with White House counsel on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, saying there should be distance between the two. The comments by the Alaska lawmaker come after Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, said during a Fox News interview earlier this month that he was working in "total coordination" with the White House on the upcoming trial. "To me it means that we have to take that step back from being hand-in-glove with the defense," Murkowski said in comments aired late on Tuesday during an interview with Alaska-based NBC news affiliate KTUU-TV.
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| Prosecutors: Deeply-in-debt Michael Avenatti sought payday Posted: 25 Dec 2019 02:55 PM PST  Prosecutors say California attorney Michael Avenatti was over $15 million in debt when he tried to extort up to $25 million from Nike, while Avenatti's lawyers say the money he legally requested to conduct an internal probe of the sportswear giant was a bargain. For Avenatti, it is the first of three scheduled trials in the next five months. Criminal charges against him in other cases include allegations in New York that he defrauded ex-client porn star Stormy Daniels out of proceeds of a book deal and charges in Los Angeles that he defrauded clients of millions of dollars.
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| Death toll in Indonesia bus plunge rises to 35 as more victims found Posted: 25 Dec 2019 09:44 PM PST  At least 35 people were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in Indonesia, officials said in a new toll Thursday, making it one of the most deadly bus accidents in recent years. A rescue team in Indonesia's island of Sumatra on Thursday continued the search for a third day to find more bodies after seven new victims were found in a river late on Wednesday. Spokesman for a local rescue team in South Sumatra Taufan, who only goes by one name like many Indonesians, said Thursday that of the 35 people killed, 16 were male and 19 female.
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| Mexican Nationals Now Comprise Majority of Asylum Seekers on Southern Border Posted: 26 Dec 2019 08:45 AM PST  The number of Mexican nationals seeking asylum in the U.S. has risen dramatically over the last year as the number of Central American asylum seekers has fallen as a result of Trump administration policies designed to stem the flow of migrants.A study released last month by researchers at the University of Texas and UC San Diego found that over half of all asylum seekers on the southern border are now Mexicans, predominantly coming from the states of Guerrero, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Zacatecas, and Veracruz.Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, many pointed to cartel violence as the primary reason to seek asylum. Others referenced the Central American caravans that made headlines for passing through Mexico on the way to the U.S. border.Since Mexicans are exempt from the "Remain in Mexico" policy that constrains the number of central American asylum seekers, U.S. authorities have adopted a policy known as "metering" which admits only a relatively small number of of Mexican asylum seekers each day. Last week, Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced that Mexican nationals seeking asylum in the United States could be moved to Guatemala rather than being allowed to wait in the United States for their asylum claims to be adjudicated.The White House has been locked in a ongoing court battle over policies to limit the amount of asylum seekers, including requiring that migrants first apply for refugee status in Mexico, or whatever country they enter after leaving home, before seeking asylum in the U.S. The remain in Mexico policy has also been met with legal challenges. The Ninth Circuit is currently hearing arguments regarding the constitutionality of the orders, after the Supreme Court ruled in September that the remain in Mexico policy can remain in effect as legal challenges progress.More than 300,000 Central Americans entered Mexico illegally last year, 80 percent of whom were headed for the U.S. border, according to Mexico's interior minister, Olga Sánchez Cordero. The southern border has been overwhelmed this year with asylum applicants though numbers have waned in recent months following highs in the spring.Former acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan said in August that border crossings declined over the summer, with apprehensions dropping 43 percent since May, when arrests between ports of entry at the southern border increased for the fourth straight month to 132,887.
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| Game-Changer? Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter Is Packing Hypersonic Missiles Posted: 25 Dec 2019 05:00 AM PST  We take a look.
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| Chinese company ByteDance denies reports that it's considering selling stake in TikTok as the company looks to repair its image in the US Posted: 24 Dec 2019 10:20 AM PST  ByteDance said that rumors of selling TikTok stake were "without merit." TikTok faces concerns in the US over possible ties to the Chinese government.
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| Texas migrant helper released from Mexico after detention Posted: 25 Dec 2019 08:04 AM PST ![Texas migrant helper released from Mexico after detention]( "Texas migrant helper released from Mexico after detention") A Texas woman who drove to Mexico to deliver Christmas gifts to a sprawling refugee camp housing people waiting for U.S. court dates said Wednesday she was detained by authorities there for two days. Anamichelle Castellano said she and another volunteer for her nonprofit group were stopped Monday at a bridge crossing from Brownsville, Texas, to Matamoros, Mexico. Mexico has strict laws against entering the country with guns or ammunition.
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| China, Russia and Iran to hold joint naval drills from Friday Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:17 AM PST ![China, Russia and Iran to hold joint naval drills from Friday]( "China, Russia and Iran to hold joint naval drills from Friday") China, Iran and Russia will hold joint naval drills starting on Friday in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, China's defense ministry said on Thursday，amid heightened tension in the region between Iran and the United States. China will send the Xining, a guided missile destroyer, to the drills, which will last until Monday and are meant to deepen cooperation between the three countries' navies, ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a monthly news briefing.
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| Durham Surprises Even Allies With Statement on FBI's Trump Case Posted: 24 Dec 2019 12:29 PM PST  WASHINGTON -- Whether investigating charges of torture by the CIA, rolling up an organized crime network or prosecuting crooked government officials, John H. Durham, the veteran federal prosecutor named by Attorney General William Barr to investigate the origins of the Russia inquiry, burnished his reputation for impartiality over the years by keeping his mouth closed about his work.At the height of the Boston mob prosecution that made his name, he not only rebuffed a local newspaper's interview request, but he also told his office not to release his resume or photo.That wall of silence cracked this month when Durham, serving in the most politically charged role of his career, released an extraordinary statement questioning one key element of an overlapping investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz.Horowitz had found that the FBI acted appropriately in opening the inquiry in 2016 into whether the Trump campaign wittingly or unwittingly helped Russia influence the election in Donald Trump's favor. In response, Durham, whose report is not expected to be complete for months, released a caveat-laden rebuttal: "Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the inspector general that we do not agree with some of the report's conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened."The statement seemed to support comments made half an hour earlier by Barr, who assailed what he called "an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign," based "on the thinnest of suspicions." Durham's decision to go public in such a politically polarized environment surprised people who have worked with him. They found it out of character for him to intervene in such a high-profile way in an open case."It's fair to characterize what John did as unusual in terms of his past practice and I don't know what the rationale was," said Kevin J. O'Connor, a former U.S. attorney for Connecticut who supervised Durham for several years in the early 2000s. "But I know John well enough to know that he did it because he -- not the AG or anyone else -- thought he had an obligation to."Others have been less willing to give Durham the benefit of the doubt, and it is clear he has placed his reputation for impartiality on the line by accepting this latest assignment.Durham's decision to speak out seemed to supply political fuel to Trump, who has repeatedly blasted the Russia inquiry as a "hoax" and a "witch hunt." At a campaign rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the day after Barr and Durham issued their statements, Trump called FBI agents involved in the Russia inquiry "scum.""I look forward to Bull Durham's report -- that's the one I look forward to," added Trump, who appointed Durham as the U.S. attorney for Connecticut in 2017.The inspector general's report makes no substantive reference to Durham's investigation. But before the report's release, Durham got into a sharp dispute with Horowitz's team over a footnote in a draft of the report that seemed to imply that Durham agreed with all of Horowitz's conclusions, which he did not, according to people familiar with the matter. The footnote did not appear in the final version of the report.A former Justice Department investigator who knows both Barr and Durham, a Republican, said that while the men were aware of each other's professional reputations, they are in no way close. Barr, who was unfamiliar with Durham's recent work, made quiet inquiries before appointing him to lead the investigation, this person said.The potential explosiveness of Durham's mission was further underscored by the disclosure that he was examining the role of John O. Brennan, the former CIA director, in how the intelligence community assessed Russia's 2016 election interference.Durham is known in New England's close-knit law enforcement community for working long days on his cases, and providing sought-after guidance on others'.Wearing gunmetal-frame glasses and a drooping goatee, he rises early and dresses in the dark, often mismatching his suit jackets and pants. His reputation for discretion, on top of a long record of successful high-profile prosecutions, are among the reasons he has been a go-to person when Washington -- under Republicans and Democrats alike -- needs someone to handle sensitive tasks.O'Connor, who was associate attorney general in 2008, was among those who recommended Durham lead an inquiry into the CIA's destruction in 2005 of videotapes depicting the torture of two operatives of al-Qaida.That investigation, started under an administration that had supported the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, continued into the Obama administration, which brought a very different agenda to the issue. After President Barack Obama took office, Durham's brief was expanded to include a criminal investigation into the CIA's role in the deaths of two detainees overseas, based on allegations of mistreatment by their interrogators.Durham completed the torture investigation in 2012. The Justice Department, under Attorney General Eric Holder, declined to prosecute anyone, saying that "the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt."John A. Rizzo, the CIA's former acting general counsel, was questioned for more than eight hours in the investigation.Durham "didn't personally question me, but he did the agency people who had contemporaneous knowledge of the plan to destroy the tapes, and he was very tough with them," Rizzo, who retired from the CIA in 2009, said in an interview.Despite the political uproar at the time, "there were no leaks and he certainly didn't issue any public statements," Rizzo recalled. "I just don't see him bending to political pressure, so I was surprised he made a statement here."Those who know him portray Durham as the consummate straight arrow who is unlikely to have bowed to pressure from Barr or anyone else in his current assignment. Durham declined to be interviewed for this article."He believes in four things: his family, his profession, his religion and the Boston Red Sox," said Hugh F. Keefe, a Connecticut defense lawyer who says Durham is so by the book, he once asked Keefe whether he had reported a free Red Sox ticket to the IRS. "If anyone thinks they can lead him like a horse to water, they're mistaken."Last year, Durham, a staunch Catholic, delivered rare public remarks at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut.The topic was his prosecution of John Connolly Jr., an FBI agent jailed for racketeering, obstruction of justice and murder stemming from his collaboration with Boston's notorious Winter Hill gang, led by James (Whitey) Bulger, an FBI informant.In a preface to his presentation, Durham said, "It is as important for the system for prosecutors to protect the secrecy of proceedings, not because we want them to be secret, but because we're not always right." He added: "Maybe accusations that are lodged against somebody are untrue. And again, we can destroy the person or persons if that information gets out."Durham was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and received his law degree at the University of Connecticut in 1975. After a stint providing free legal advice to the Crow Indian tribe as part of what is now AmeriCorps, he worked as an assistant state's attorney in Connecticut until 1982, when he began a 35-year career as an assistant U.S. attorney, serving in a range of roles leading organized crime and public corruption prosecutions.He won 119 convictions from 1983 to 1989, including against associates of the Genovese, Gambino and Patriarca crime families, and provided evidence instrumental in convicting the Gambino boss John Gotti in New York.In 1989, fishermen found the body of William (The Wild Guy) Grasso, the Patriarca state boss from New Haven, Connecticut, dead of a gunshot wound in weeds near the Connecticut River.Durham, who colleagues said "could hear grass grow" on surveillance recordings, led a prosecution that linked mobsters in Connecticut and Rhode Island, even unveiling the first recorded mob-induction ceremony. Durham secured a raft of racketeering convictions against men linked to Grasso's murder, gutting the Providence, Rhode Island, based Patriarca mob. His doggedness, even after a note with his home address on it was found in a mobster-occupied Hartford, Connecticut, jail cell, earned him the nickname "Bull."In 1999, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Durham to lead an investigation into corrupt links, rumored for years, between FBI agents and their criminal informants in Boston. Prosecutions of Bulger and his accomplice Stephen (the Rifleman) Flemmi uncovered a relationship with FBI agents, a retired Massachusetts state trooper and others, in which the mobsters exchanged cases of wine, a stolen two-carat diamond ring, and money for "the keys to the kingdom of all organized crime information in Boston," Durham told the college audience last year.In late 2000, he uncovered government memos indicating that FBI officials were involved in framing four men for the 1965 murder of a mobster, to protect a hit man who was one of the bureau's informants, a scheme likely known to the bureau's director at the time, J. Edgar Hoover. Durham alerted defense lawyers. Two of the four men had died in prison, but the surviving two were released, and the government paid a $100 million civil judgment in the case.Durham and his team worked amid speculation that the Justice Department would pull the plug on what was becoming a deeply embarrassing prosecution. In 2000, a colleague told The Boston Herald that Durham would rather "pull an Archibald Cox" and resign than submit to pressure.In a Washington Post op-ed this month, Holder cautioned Durham, whom he said he has been proud to know for at least a decade, about joining Barr in disputing the inspector general's findings. "Anyone in Durham's shoes would do well to remember that, in dealing with this administration, many reputations have been irrevocably lost," he wrote.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Russia raids offices of Kremlin critic Navalny Posted: 26 Dec 2019 05:34 AM PST  Russian security officials Thursday searched the offices of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption foundation, with his team calling the raid a new bid to disrupt their work. "What's happening is part of the coordinated campaign against the anti-corruption foundation," Navalny, 43, told reporters, adding however that authorities would not intimidate them. "This complicates our work but we will not halt it," said Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critic.
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| Iraq President Saleh Submits Resignation to Parliament, Jazeera Reports Posted: 26 Dec 2019 06:06 AM PST ![Iraq President Saleh Submits Resignation to Parliament, Jazeera Reports]( "Iraq President Saleh Submits Resignation to Parliament, Jazeera Reports") (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi President Barham Saleh offered to resign as weeks of deadly anti-government protests show no sign of abating.The president is being torn in opposite directions by politicians who want him to name a prime minister from their ranks and demonstrators who reject any establishment candidate.Adel Abdul-Mahdi stepped down as prime minister last month as protests raged over government corruption, poor services and Iran's sweeping political influence. Mahdi remains in office until a successor is found.Protesters rejected one nominee, and Saleh rejected the candidacy of a second, Assad Al-Edani of the Al-Binaa political bloc. In a letter to the Iraqi parliament speaker on Thursday, he said the new prime minister must be someone who can unify rather than divide the nation."Out of an eagerness to spare blood and preserve civil peace, I apologize for not naming Edani prime minister," the letter continued. "I am ready to submit my resignation to parliament."About 500 people have died and more than 20,000 have been wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1, according to the independent Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Michael GunnFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Huawei freaked out at The Wall Street Journal over a report that it secured its global tech dominance on the back of $75 billion in state support from China Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:27 AM PST  Huawei accused the news outlet of a pattern of bias against it, and relying on "false information", though it has so far not provided details.
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| Ukraine opens probe over Russia's railway bridge to Crimea Posted: 25 Dec 2019 04:28 AM PST ![Ukraine opens probe over Russia's railway bridge to Crimea]( "Ukraine opens probe over Russia's railway bridge to Crimea") Ukrainian officials opened a criminal probe Wednesday after a passenger train from Russia arrived in Crimea via a new Russian-built bridge, arguing that the train illegally carried people across the Ukrainian border. Earlier this week Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the railway bridge to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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| Serbs protest in Montenegro ahead of vote on religious law Posted: 26 Dec 2019 07:01 AM PST  Hundreds of backers of Montenegro's pro-Serb opposition took to the streets of the capital Podgorica on Thursday, rallying against a law they say would strip the Serbian Orthodox Church there of its property. Ahead of a vote on the draft Law on Religious Freedoms, expected later on Thursday or on Friday, Serbian Orthodox clergy and believers held a service on a packed bridge near parliament, watched by police who had sealed off city center roads and approaches to the government building. The law envisages that religious communities in the tiny Adriatic state would need to prove property ownership from before 1918, when predominantly Orthodox Christian Montenegro joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the predecessor of the now-defunct Yugoslavia.
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| America's public lands of tug of war: It's time to join the fight for conservation Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:00 AM PST  Our public wildlife lands are worth preserving. They provide something that in today's society we desperately need: an escape.
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| Nigeria frees former top official accused of graft Posted: 25 Dec 2019 01:58 AM PST  Nigeria's former national defence advisor, who was arrested in 2015 for allegedly stealing $2 billion, has been freed from jail after several court rulings ordering his release, a security official said Wednesday. Sambo Dasuki spent four years in prison despite multiple court orders to Nigeria's Department of State Services (DSS) domestic intelligence agency for his release on bail. Dasuki is accused of siphoning money earmarked for the fight against Islamic militant group Boko Haram and allegedly using it to help bankroll former president Goodluck Jonathan's failed re-election campaign in 2015.
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| 20 Dead After Christmas Storm Batters Central Philippines Posted: 26 Dec 2019 12:29 AM PST  Typhoon Phanfone made landfall on Christmas eve in the coastal province of Eastern Samar, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands
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| Iran Can Really Build Submarines? Posted: 25 Dec 2019 07:00 PM PST  What does this mean for Middle Eastern security?
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| U.S. Buckles in South Korea Troop-Funding Talks, Chosun Says Posted: 25 Dec 2019 06:09 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Days before a troop-funding deal was set to expire, the U.S. has dropped its demand that South Korea pay five times more to host its military personnel after receiving assurances Seoul would purchase more American weapons, a newspaper report said.The Trump administration also likely eased up after South Korea indicated it would step up its presence in the Strait of Hormuz, helping U.S. efforts to protect oil flows in the region, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Thursday, citing an unidentified diplomatic source. The increase now may be about 10-20% above the current level of nearly $1 billion, it said.South Korea's foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.Last month, U.S. negotiators walked out of a meeting on troop funding in Seoul after South Korea balked at the five-fold increase seen as exorbitant by many in the country. The breakdown at that time raised questions about one of the U.S.'s closest military alliances and a key piece of the Pentagon's strategy for countering North Korea and a rising China. The two sides resumed talks in December.U.S. Walks Out of Military Cost-Sharing Talks With South KoreaEven though the deal known as the Special Measures Agreement technically expires at the end of this year, both sides are likely to agree to some sort of temporary extension as they negotiate, allowing for the continued operations of the about 28,500 U.S. military personnel positioned on the peninsula.The talks with South Korea could affect other countries that host U.S. troops, as the Trump administration is seeking funding increases from other American allies.Trump Price Tag for Troops in South Korea Clouds Esper TripTrump, arguing that South Korea is rich and should pay more for U.S. protection, has demanded Seoul contribute about $5 billion for hosting U.S. troops. The price tag originated with the White House, according to people familiar with the matter, and administration officials justify it by saying it reflects the costs South Korea would incur if it takes operational control of combined U.S.-South Korean forces in the case of a conflict.The request for more money hasn't sat well in South Korea, where many in President Moon Jae-in's progressive camp and opposition conservatives have come out against the demands. Moon, facing a sagging support rate, may not want to make any major concessions that further dent his popularity ahead of an election for parliament next year.To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Gearoid ReidyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A paramedic has been charged with poisoning his wife with eye drops to collect a $250,000 life insurance payout Posted: 25 Dec 2019 08:42 AM PST  Joshua Hunsucker has been charged with first-degree murder, allegedly using eye drops to cause his wife's death.
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| Burning Man organizers sue over millions in US permit fees Posted: 25 Dec 2019 08:35 AM PST ![Burning Man organizers sue over millions in US permit fees]( "Burning Man organizers sue over millions in US permit fees") Burning Man organizers sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to recover millions of dollars they say the government has overcharged them in fees over the past seven years at the counter-culture celebration in the Nevada desert. Black Rock City LLC, the nonprofit that produces the annual Burning Man event, filed the lawsuit Dec. 13 in U.S. District Court in Washington. Organizers told the Reno Gazette Journal they're tired of waiting over the past four years for the bureau to provide justification for the nearly $3 million it charges annually for a permit to hold the 80,000-person event in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles north of Reno.
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| Russia says U.N. chief turns blind eye over U.S. visa delays Posted: 25 Dec 2019 09:20 AM PST ![Russia says U.N. chief turns blind eye over U.S. visa delays]( "Russia says U.N. chief turns blind eye over U.S. visa delays") Russia's Foreign Ministry accused the U.N. secretary general of turning a blind eye to what Moscow says is U.S. delays in issuing visas for Russian officials seeking to travel to the U.N. headquarters in New York. Moscow says Washington has deliberately delayed issuing visas to Russian officials traveling to the U.N. headquarters, a move Russia has said could further damage strained relations.
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| The world's largest river cruise ship will sail in Spring 2020 — see inside Posted: 25 Dec 2019 03:03 PM PST  The cruise will sail on China's Yangtze River and includes views of the Qutang, Wu and Xiling Gorges, as well as ancient temples and pagodas.
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| China slams US defence act over trade restrictions Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:48 AM PST  Beijing on Thursday said it "firmly opposes" trade restrictions included in a new US defence act, having already admonished the bill for interfering in China's internal affairs. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- signed into law last week -- bars the use of federal funds to buy railcars and buses from China, and slows the lifting of sanctions on tech giant Huawei. It comes as Beijing and Washington have agreed to a temporary truce in their bruising nearly two-year trade war, with a "phase-one" deal that has rolled back tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.
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| New wife, 26, charged with exploiting husband, 77, for money Posted: 25 Dec 2019 12:08 PM PST  Lin Helena Halfon was arrested earlier this month at Tampa International Airport. The Tampa Bay Times reported that when her husband, Tampa businessman Richard Rappaport, was notified by investigators about what his wife was doing, he said wanted to give his wife the benefit of the doubt, according to a warrant affidavit.
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| Public support for Trump impeachment at all-time high: Poll Posted: 26 Dec 2019 06:25 AM PST  Public support for Donald Trump's removal from office is the highest it has ever been, according to a new poll. Fifty-five percent of those asked said they were in favor of the president's conviction by the Senate, a figure that shot up from 48 percent the week before.
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| This Is How Nazi Germany Built Hitler's Private Army Posted: 25 Dec 2019 05:45 PM PST  Meet the Waffen-SS.
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| Prince Andrew, Disgraced by His Friendship With Jeffrey Epstein, Is Left Out in the Christmas Cold Posted: 25 Dec 2019 05:31 AM PST  Prince Andrew was shunned by the royal family today. The disgraced royal was stripped of most of his royal duties following a disastrous BBC interview in which he defended his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, and on Christmas Day he was ordered not to join his family for the traditional 11am service at the small parish church on the Sandringham estate.Is This Prince Andrew's Death Rattle? U.S. Epstein Document Cache Could Sink Beleaguered PrinceThe exclusion of Andrew was surprising as the palace had allowed a narrative to develop that he would be included; instead, he was obliged to attend a 9am service. He was pictured walking with his brother Prince Charles, in an unconvincing attempt to demonstrate solidarity with his brother, whose expulsion from the inner circle of the royal fold he had long sought. Indeed, although the queen also attended the 9am service (before then having to return to church for the 11am service, having effected an impressively quick costume change for a 93-year-old) the fact that she refused to be pictured entering church with Andrew was a graphic visual illustration of the ignominy into which he has been cast, and the dishonour he has brought upon the Windsor name.The Queen was not joined by her husband Philip at either service. He was released from hospital on Christmas Eve, after a 4-day stay. Harry and Meghan were also not present as they are taking a sabbatical from royal duties. They are believed to be in Canada. This year marked Prince George and Princess Charlotte's first time at the traditional Christmas Day service, arriving with their mother and father the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.Prince Louis did not attend. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| Iran fighter plane crashes near border, pilot's fate unknown Posted: 25 Dec 2019 01:38 AM PST ![Iran fighter plane crashes near border, pilot's fate unknown]( "Iran fighter plane crashes near border, pilot's fate unknown") An Iranian fighter jet went down on Wednesday in the north of the country, near the border with Azerbaijan, Iran's state television reported. The TV reported that the crash happened in the Sabalan mountainous region and that rescue teams and three search helicopters were looking for the pilot who was said to have contacted his base following the crash. The fighter jet was a recently overhauled MiG-29.
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| Ukraine to buy more U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile systems Posted: 26 Dec 2019 09:05 AM PST ![Ukraine to buy more U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile systems]( "Ukraine to buy more U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile systems") Ukraine will purchase a second consignment of U.S. Javelin anti-tank missiles and launch units, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The United States has been one of Kiev's strongest supporters since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region that has killed more than 13,000 people. Contracts for the deal were signed in the fourth quarter of 2019, the defense ministry in a statement, without giving further details.
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| Boeing saved its new Starliner spaceship from disaster. Here's how the mission unfolded and what it could mean for NASA astronauts. Posted: 24 Dec 2019 12:33 PM PST  Boeing's first CST-100 Starliner mission safely landed on December 22. But a critical error cut short its mission and put the vehicle in danger.
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| The year the world woke up to the climate emergency Posted: 25 Dec 2019 11:17 PM PST  Spurred on by Swedish wunderkind Greta Thunberg -- virtually unknown outside of her homeland a year ago but now a global star nominated for a Nobel prize -- millions of young people took part in weekly demonstrations demanding climate action. Although scientists have warned for decades about the risk to humanity and Earth posed by unfettered burning of fossil fuels, in 2019 -- set to be the second hottest year in history -- their message seems to have finally hit home. The 2015 Paris agreement saw nations commit to limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels as a way of curbing the worst impacts of global warming.
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| Armed robbery suspect shot and killed by Air Force veteran was from Merced Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:45 PM PST  Authorities have released the identity of the armed robbery suspect that was shot and killed by an Air Force veteran at Kam's Market in Bay Point store on Sunday.
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| Republican ‘disturbed’ by Trump trial comment Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:42 AM PST  A Republican senator has said she was "disturbed" to hear her party leader say there would be "total co-ordination" with the White House during Donald Trump's impeachment trial.Alaska lawmaker Lisa Murkowski made the comment after Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, said he was working in "total coordination" with the White House on the upcoming trial earlier this month.
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| The U.S. Soldiers Who Liberated Nazi Concentration Camps Could Never Forget What They Saw Posted: 25 Dec 2019 11:15 PM PST  With only weeks left before the surrender, GIs were unexpectedly coming across the concentration camps. These centers of evil and depravity, scattered across Nazi-held territory for all the Allies to discover, explained the need for the war far better than mere words ever could.
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| New Zealand suspends search for remaining two bodies believed to be on the island where a surprise volcano eruption killed 19 Posted: 24 Dec 2019 06:55 PM PST  Police on Tuesday called off a search for two missing people presumed dead after one of New Zealand's most active volcanoes erupted earlier this month.
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| Merkel plans Turkey trip to preserve migrant pact: Sueddeutsche Posted: 26 Dec 2019 09:14 AM PST ![Merkel plans Turkey trip to preserve migrant pact: Sueddeutsche]( "Merkel plans Turkey trip to preserve migrant pact: Sueddeutsche") German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Turkey next month to urge President Tayyip Erdogan to uphold the migration pact he agreed with the European Union, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, responding to fears that conflict in Syria could unleash a new refugee wave. Erdogan warned on Sunday that Turkey, which already hosts about 3.7 million Syrian refugees, would not be able to handle a new wave of migrants if Syrian-Russian attempts to retake rebel-held Idlib province sent more people fleeing.
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| We spoke to Singapore Airlines' top sommelier to see why the glitzy airline spends $30 million each year on wine and champagne Posted: 25 Dec 2019 02:44 PM PST  The airline's legendary first class is known for offering both Dom Perignon and Krug champagne. It's also stocking a third: Tattinger.
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| No Successors? For Chinese Restaurant Owners, That's a Success Posted: 26 Dec 2019 05:34 AM PST  KINGSTON, N.Y. -- More than 40 years after buying Eng's, a Chinese American restaurant in the Hudson Valley, Tom Sit is reluctantly considering retirement.For much of his life, Sit has worked here seven days a week, 12 hours a day. He cooks in the same kitchen where he worked as a young immigrant from China. He parks in the same lot where he'd take breaks and read his wife's letters, sent from Montreal while they courted by post in the late 1970s. He seats his regulars at the same tables where his three daughters did homework.Two years ago, at the insistence of his wife, Faye Lee Sit, he started taking off one day a week. Still, it's not sustainable. He's 76, and they're going to be grandparents soon. Working 80 hours a week is just too hard. But his grown daughters, who have college degrees and well-paying jobs, don't intend to take over.Across the country, owners of Chinese American restaurants like Eng's are ready to retire but have no one to pass the business to. Their children, educated and raised in America, are pursuing professional careers that do not demand the same grueling labor as food service.According to new data from the restaurant reviewing website Yelp, the share of Chinese restaurants in the top 20 metropolitan areas has been consistently falling. Five years ago, an average of 7.3% of all restaurants in these areas were Chinese, compared with 6.5% today. That reflects 1,200 fewer Chinese restaurants at a time when these 20 places added more than 15,000 restaurants overall.Even in San Francisco, home to the oldest Chinatown in the United States, the share of Chinese restaurants shrank to 8.8% from 10%.It doesn't seem that interest in the cuisine has faltered. On Yelp, the average share of page views of Chinese restaurants hasn't declined, nor has the average rating.And at the same time, the percentages of Indian, Korean and Vietnamese restaurants -- many of which were also owned and operated by immigrants from Asian countries -- are holding steady or increasing nationwide.The restaurant business has always been tough, and rising rents and delivery apps haven't helped. Tightening regulations on immigration and accounting have also made it harder for cash-based restaurants to do business.But those are not Chinese-restaurant-specific factors, and do not explain the wave of closings. Instead, a big reason seems to be the economic mobility of the second generation."It's a success that these restaurants are closing," said Jennifer 8. Lee, a former New York Times journalist who wrote of the rise of Chinese restaurants in her book "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles" and produced a documentary, "The Search for General Tso." "These people came to cook so their children wouldn't have to, and now their children don't have to."The retirements of the restaurant owners also reflect the history of Chinese immigration to the United States. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act halted what had been a steady rise in people coming from China. It was not revoked until 1943, and large-scale immigration resumed only after 1965, when other race-targeting quotas were abolished.China's Cultural Revolution, an often violent social and political upheaval that started in 1966, prompted many young people to emigrate to the United States, a country that projected an image of freedom and economic possibility.Sit left Guangzhou, in southern China, in 1968. He hiked, climbed and swam his way to Hong Kong, filling his pants with pine cones as a flotation device."There was just no future," he said. "The only way to get freedom and to get a good job was to go to Hong Kong."In 1974, he immigrated to the United States and started working at Eng's, which opened in 1927. Although he had never worked in a restaurant, the heat from the woks was much less intense than what he experienced at a Hong Kong plastics factory where he had worked.Unlike Sit, some immigrants had been chefs in China. They served Hunan and Cantonese foods to curious diners at places like Shun Lee Palace in New York."There was the golden age of Chinese cooking in America, starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s," said Ed Schoenfeld, a restaurateur and chef who has worked in Chinese restaurants since the '70s. "We started getting regional practitioners of fine regional cuisine to come to this country and do their thing."Mostly, though, the new chefs cooked quickly and cheaply. They adapted their method of cooking to American tastes, developing dishes like beef chow fun, fortune cookies and egg drop soup, often brought home in the signature takeout containers."They were not precious," Lee said. "These people did not come to be chefs; they came to be immigrants, and cooking was the way they made a living."Other immigrant groups follow a similar path. With social mobility and inclusion in more mainstream parts of the economy, the children of immigrants are less likely than their parents to own their own businesses."In some ways, the children are regaining the status of the first generation that they have lost while migrating," said Jennifer Lee, a professor of sociology at Columbia University and co-author of "The Asian American Achievement Paradox." (She is not related to Jennifer 8. Lee.) "The goal has never been to continue those businesses."When they do become entrepreneurs, these children tend to work in industries like tech or consulting, rather than in food service or nail salons.In the past decade, some members of the second generation have also chosen to take charge of family restaurants. Nom Wah Tea Parlor, a New York dim sum restaurant that opened in 1920, has stayed a family business: first run by the Choy family, then the Tangs.The owner, Wilson Tang, 41, left a career in finance to succeed his uncle in 2011. Initially, his parents balked at his move."As immigrants, it's the only thing you can do; if it's not restaurants, it's a laundromat," Tang said. "For me to choose to go back to owning a restaurant? That was tough for them to accept."Since then, Nom Wah has expanded: to another Manhattan location, to Philadelphia and to Shenzhen, China. On any given night, groups of guests wait for a table outside the Chinatown location for up to an hour, huddled in the bend of Doyers Street."I had this unique opportunity to preserve something that was from old New York," he said. "I still work extremely hard. But I also know how to use marketing tools, like the internet."In a parallel effort, the team behind Junzi Kitchen, a fast-casual Chinese restaurant chain based in New York, recently raised $5 million to research and buy places like Eng's, rebranding them with Junzi's modern take on the cuisine."They are still going to have their usual beloved Chinese takeout services, but we are providing an upgraded version of that," said Yong Zhao, the founder and chief executive.But family-run Chinese restaurants are typically not being passed to the next generation. Some may close up shop, sell their businesses to other first-generation immigrants or move on and see their former storefronts become something else entirely.Sit has not yet found the right person to run the restaurant, and has no immediate plans to close. "To take over Eng's, you have to keep the heart in Eng's," he said. "You need to have a loyalty to the business, not just someone who thinks, 'I'll make one year, two years of money, I don't care.'"Fay Lee Sit feels more ready to retire than her husband does. Normally talkative, he can be evasive whenever the family tries to bring up a successor."They'll have to work hard," she said, her eyes sparkling as she teased her husband, "like Tom Sit. Maybe then he'll let them take over."If he ever actually does hand Eng's to someone else, Sit will miss his customers, and miss running an operation.But he is proud of what he built. He is proud that his daughters, American-born educated professionals, are working jobs they have chosen, jobs they love."I hoped they have a better life than me," he said. "A good life. And they do."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| 'Special' moment for endangered species: Baby black rhino born on Christmas Eve at Michigan zoo Posted: 26 Dec 2019 08:03 AM PST  Black rhinos are critically endangered, and births in captivity are relatively rare. The species' population grew by one this Christmas Eve.
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| Iraqi protesters torch buildings, block roads over PM pick Posted: 26 Dec 2019 02:38 AM PST  Iraqi anti-government protesters blocked roads and bridges in Baghdad and the country's south Thursday after torching several buildings overnight. The demonstrators oppose the entire political class and have vented their anger against leaders who are negotiating to nominate an establishment insider as the next prime minister. "The government is hostage to corrupt parties and sectarian divisions", said one activist, Sattar Jabbar, 25, in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
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