| Giuliani's attack on Soros shows the liberal Jewish billionaire remains a top conservative target Posted: 26 Dec 2019 02:26 PM PST  President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani upheld earlier this week what has become a conservative tradition: attacking billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
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| Should emotional support animals be allowed on planes? Posted: 26 Dec 2019 09:57 AM PST  Emotional support animals are provide comfort to anxious travelers, but can also cause serious disruptions to flights. Is it time for these animals to be banned form planes?
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| Baltimore breaks city record for killings per capita in 2019 Posted: 27 Dec 2019 01:05 PM PST  Baltimore broke its annual per capita homicide record after reaching 342 killings Friday. With just over 600,000 residents, the city hit a historically high homicide rate of about 57 per 100,000 people after recent relentless gunfire saw eight people shot — three fatally — in one day and nine others — one fatally — another day. The total is up from 309 in 2018 and matches the 342 killings tallied in 2017 and 2015, the year when the city's homicide rate suddenly spiked.
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| The 10 Biggest Math Breakthroughs of 2019 Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:51 AM PST |
| New York City Increases Police Presence in Jewish Neighborhoods After Possible Anti-Semitic Attacks. Here's What To Know Posted: 27 Dec 2019 02:42 PM PST  Some Jewish neighborhoods of New York City will see an increase in police presence after a string of recent anti-semitic attacks.
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| 'Angry' tortoise accidentally started a house fire on Christmas Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:45 AM PST !['Angry' tortoise accidentally started a house fire on Christmas]( "'Angry' tortoise accidentally started a house fire on Christmas") The 45-year-old tortoise, who lives in the city of Essex, accidentally set his family's house on fire by knocking a heat lamp on his bedding.
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| Norwegian woman told to leave India after joining citizenship law protest Posted: 27 Dec 2019 01:09 PM PST  A Norwegian woman on holiday in India's southern state of Kerala has been told to leave the country after she joined a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new citizenship law, authorities said on Friday.
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| Is Trump losing support among evangelicals? Posted: 28 Dec 2019 08:11 AM PST  A leading evangelical magazine published an editorial calling for President Trump to be removed from office. Is Trump's historically strong grip on conservative Christians starting to slip?
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| U.S. Contractor Is Killed in Rocket Attack on an Iraqi Base Posted: 27 Dec 2019 04:08 PM PST ![U.S. Contractor Is Killed in Rocket Attack on an Iraqi Base]( "U.S. Contractor Is Killed in Rocket Attack on an Iraqi Base") (Bloomberg) -- A rocket attack on an Iraqi military base killed an American contractor and wounded several U.S. and Iraqi military personnel, the Defense Department said on Friday evening.Iraqi security forces were "leading the response and investigation" following the Friday night assault on the base in Kirkuk, where coalition forces are based, the Pentagon said in a statement.The names of the contractor and the wounded Americans were not immediately released, and the statement did not provide any further details.Rocket assaults on or near Iraqi installations that host American troops and personnel have occurred since the fall, and Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have expressed increasing concern about Iranian involvement.Those attacks occurred as widespread anti-government protests intensified, eventually leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.Tensions have been rising across the region, with Iran violently putting down its own protests, and Turkey invading Kurdish territory in northern Syria after President Donald Trump announced a pullout of American forces there.Early this month, rockets were fired at two Iraqi air bases where American forces are stationed. Seven rockets struck the perimeter of the Al Asad base, and five projectiles landed inside Balad. At Al Asad, the Iraqi army later found a truck rigged to fire rockets with seven empty tubes and eight unfired projectiles.No one was hurt in those attacks, which were believed to be the work of militants with ties to Iran, according to a U.S. official.On Thursday, Iraqi President Barham Saleh offered to resign as weeks of deadly protests showed no sign of easing. Mahdi remains in office until a successor is found. Protesters rejected one nominee, and Saleh rejected the candidacy of a second.Some 500 people have died in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1, according to Iraq's independent High Commission for Human Rights. Iraqis, mostly from the Shiite majority population, are protesting against corruption, poor services, and Iran's sweeping influence in the country.\--With assistance from Khalid Al-Ansary and Tony Capaccio.To contact the reporter on this story: John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Putin Makes a Startling Claim: Russia Is the World's Leader in Hypersonic Weapons Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:07 PM PST  U.S. Air Force General: "We don't have any defense that could deny the employment of such a weapon against us."
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| Record cocaine haul worth more than $1bn seized in Uruguay after drugs found in flour containers Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:29 AM PST  A record haul of 6 tonnes of cocaine estimated to be worth more than $1bn (£765m) has been seized in Uruguay, according to the country's navy.Naval and customs officers seized 4.4 tonnes of cocaine which had been hidden in four soy flour containers destined for Lome, Togo, in Montevideo port and another 1.5 tonnes on a ranch, local reports said.
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| Vietnam ex-minister gets life sentence in bribery case Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:03 PM PST  A court in Vietnam sentenced a former communications minister to life in prison Saturday for receiving millions of dollars in bribes, as the hardline administration presses its anti-graft drive against once-powerful figures in the communist state. Nguyen Bac Son was charged alongside his then-deputy Truong Minh Tuan with receiving $3.2 million in bribes to approve the 2015 purchase of a TV firm that would have lost state-run telecommunications firm Mobifone $300 million. The two-week trial in Hanoi for the men -- once members of the powerful communist party central committee -- ended Saturday, according to state-run media Tuoi Tre.
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| A giant 'blob' of hot water more than twice the size of California threatens the survival of fish and coral near New Zealand Posted: 27 Dec 2019 03:48 PM PST  A 386,000-square-mile chunk of the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand is 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average in what could be a marine heat wave.
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| Iran shuts down internet again as government protests resume Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:04 AM PST  Iran wants to make sure what happens in its country stays there.As Iranians prepared to launch another round of anti-government protests on Thursday, the government appeared to start shutting down internet and mobile service to seemingly block protesters' messages from reaching the rest of the world. Internet monitoring service NetBlocks reported an internet outage starting at 6:30 a.m., and Reuters reported it "appear[ed] to be spreading."Iranians gathered Thursday to continue protesting rising gas prices, which influence price hikes across the economy. They also commemorated the estimated 1,500 people who had been killed in previous protests against the government. Reuters recently made that estimate via government sources, and it's about five times as high as the toll Amnesty International has predicted. In at least one case, The New York Times' Farna Fassahi reported that a family mourning the death of protester Pouya Bakhtiari was blocked from visiting his grave, and that some of his family members were arrested.> IranProtests > Pouya Bakhtiari's grave is encircled by security forces. Entrance to cemetery blocked, family ordered out & several people arrested. Helicopters hover above. His parents are in jail. pic.twitter.com/cxd5MdeHq8> > -- Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) December 26, 2019Reporter Yashar Ali, who has family in Iran, tweeted that he'd messaged several of his relatives to check in, but none of his messages were received. > Iranian authorities have shut down or slowed down internet/mobile services in certain parts of the country. > > None of the messages I've sent to relatives have gone through. > > I tried a younger relative who is always glued to their phone. Messages haven't been delivered. > > pic.twitter.com/aArT36gc6u> > -- Yashar Ali (@yashar) December 26, 2019More stories from theweek.com 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's holiday season The evangelical resistance? A more honest evangelical defense of Trump
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| Sizzling temperatures hit Australia as wildfires persist Posted: 27 Dec 2019 12:05 AM PST  A code red was issued in South Australia on Friday as temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) in the state's capital, while firefighters battling wildfires in New South Wales established containment lines in cooler conditions ahead of an expected heatwave this weekend. South Australia last week had 86 homes destroyed after wildfires flared in catastrophic conditions, as its capital Adelaide endured a heatwave peaking at a sizzling 46 C (115 F). The heatwave has prompted the South Australian government to declare a code red, which aims to ensure the homeless kept cool and hydrated.
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| 'Impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine': Biden expands on subpoena remarks Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:56 AM PST  "The subpoenas should go to witnesses with testimony to offer to Trump's shaking down the Ukraine government," former Vice President Joe Biden said.
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| Turkey Convicts Dissident Journalists on Terrorism Charges Posted: 27 Dec 2019 01:38 AM PST ![Turkey Convicts Dissident Journalists on Terrorism Charges]( "Turkey Convicts Dissident Journalists on Terrorism Charges") (Bloomberg) -- A Turkish criminal court convicted at least seven staffers at the Sozcu newspaper on terrorism-related charges, the latest such ruling targeting journalists critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his policies.The journalists, including veteran columnist Emin Colasan, were sentenced to jail terms of between two and four years on charges that they aided a secretive religious brotherhood called FETO, state media reported on Friday. The journalists have denied the charges.The Sozcu reporters join a long list of journalists and academics to face charges of aiding terrorist groups including the followers of U.S.-based imam Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of masterminding a failed coup attempt in 2016.The newspaper, known for its secular take on policy issues and critical coverage of the Turkish government, has denied any links with the Gulen network. Turkey's main opposition party CHP says the daily paper has become a target only because it refused to become a mouthpiece for the government.Turkey has put 47 reporters and editors behind bars to become the second largest jailer of journalists in 2019, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.To contact the reporter on this story: Onur Ant in Istanbul at oant@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Gregory L. White, Chris KayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Russia Has Reclassified The Tu-22 As A Heavy Bomber (And They Are Heavily Armed) Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:30 PM PST  What does this mean for the New START treaty?
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| Mexico says Bolivia blocked Spanish diplomats' cars at La Paz embassy amid deepening diplomatic row Posted: 27 Dec 2019 06:48 PM PST  Mexico's government has accused Bolivian police of blocking Spanish officials from leaving the Mexican ambassador's residence on Friday, deepening a growing diplomatic row between the two countries. Two Spanish diplomats were about to leave the Mexican ambassador's residence in La Paz when they were told their cars had been detained some minutes away and would not be allowed to re-enter the compound, Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement. Karen Longaric, Bolivia's foreign minister, complained that Spanish diplomats were accompanied by masked and armed men on a visit to the residence, calling that an abuse of Bolivia's sovereignty. She said a protest would be lodged with the European Union, United Nations and Organization of American States. Television stations broadcast images of a masked person getting out of a Spanish diplomatic vehicle and exchanging words with local police. Civilians then approached and began attacking the car, shouting that there could be an attempt to free nine officials sheltered inside. Mexico says Bolivian authorities have harassed and intimidated its diplomatic staff in a row that erupted over the Mexican government's decision to grant asylum to nine people, now housed in its diplomatic facilities in La Paz. Some of them are wanted by Bolivia's new conservative administration. Jeanine Añez, Bolivia's interim president, took power last month when long-serving socialist leader Evo Morales resigned and fled to Mexico City after a presidential election that the Organization of American States said was rigged in his favour. Mr Morales's acceptance of an offer of political asylum from the leftist Mexican government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador strained ties with Ms Añez, an opponent of Mr Morales. On Friday, Mexico's ambassador eventually made contact with Bolivia's foreign ministry, which urged the diplomats to exit the premises and walk back to their cars, but they refused to do so without their security details, the statement added. In the end, the two diplomats were collected by a car sent by the Bolivian foreign ministry over an hour later, it said. "The right to asylum has to be guaranteed," President López Obrador said on Friday. "We hope they act sensibly and they don't invade our diplomatic representation in Bolivia. Not even Pinochet did that." Ms Longaric told a news conference that the Spanish diplomats were accompanied on arrival by men with their faces covered trying to enter the residence surreptitiously. As diplomatic personnel are not allowed to conceal their identities, police stopped the masked men going in, she said. "There was an evident threat to the security of the Mexican mission," she said. The Mexican statement did not mention the masked men. Spain's embassy in Bolivia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the Bolivian government, Juan Ramon Quintana, a former senior aide to Mr Morales, is among the nine people who have taken asylum in the Mexican embassy. Bolivia's government has not named all of the nine inside. Those who have been identified, including Mr Quintana, are allies of Mr Morales wanted by the government for crimes including sedition and armed revolt. Mr Morales left Mexico this month and is now in Argentina. According to Mexico's government, Bolivia has issued arrest warrants for at least four of the people inside its embassy. On Thursday, Mexico said it was asking the International Court of Justice to mediate in the dispute.
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| Defrocked US cardinal gave money to top clerics: report Posted: 27 Dec 2019 06:54 AM PST  A US cardinal gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to powerful Catholic clerics including two popes while facing accusations of sexual harassment, The Washington Post reported on Friday. Pope Francis defrocked Theodore McCarrick in February over accusations he abused a teenager 50 years earlier. The cardinal had already been known for having sex with adult seminarians, and Francis was accused of ignoring sexual assault accusations against McCarrick for years.
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| Explosion at Kansas aircraft plant injures 15 people Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:37 AM PST  Emergency medical services took 11 people to the hospital, one of them suffering potentially serious injuries, Dr. John Gallagher, director of Sedgwick County EMS, told a news conference. Injuries were limited because only a skeleton crew was on duty during the holidays, said Deputy Chief Daniel Wegner of the Sedgwick County Fire Department. The explosion in a 3-inch liquid nitrogen gas line also damaged a storage tank, causing nitrogen gas to vent out of the building, Wegner said.
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| The Most Powerful Space Moments of the 2010s Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:39 PM PST |
| Donald Trump has violated his oath. Mitch McConnell is about to violate 2 of them. Posted: 28 Dec 2019 08:47 AM PST  Every senator has a constitutional obligation of impartiality. But Mitch McConnell's role as Senate leader makes his obligation even more important.
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| Congolese woman, 41, dies after entering US border custody Posted: 26 Dec 2019 04:14 PM PST  A 41-year-old Congolese asylum seeker died Wednesday in U.S. government custody shortly after she entered a border station in South Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday. CBP says the woman, who the agency did not identify, had arrived at an official port of entry in Laredo, Texas, early Tuesday afternoon. The woman came with paperwork that documented a "previous medical condition," CBP said.
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| In 2010, The Navy Surfaced 3 Nuclear Submarines To Scare China Posted: 28 Dec 2019 03:30 AM PST  Submarines are good for more than defense.
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| Photos show scenes of devastation after a plane carrying 98 people crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 Posted: 27 Dec 2019 03:14 AM PST  The Bek Air flight from Almaty to Nusultan plunged into a building in the village of Almerek just after take-off on Friday, amid foggy conditions.
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| Doomsday Writer’s Friend Says He Prophesied Wife’s Mysterious Death Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:56 AM PST  Idaho author Chad Daybell, who wrote a series of doomsday books for Mormon readers, confided in a friend that he had visions his first wife would die. "Angels had told him that he was going to lose Tammy," Julie Rowe told a local TV station this week.Tammy did end up dead—and now Daybell is at the center of a tangled mystery that includes the exhumation of her body, an investigation into two missing children, and questions about the deaths of his second wife's husband and brother.Daybell and wife Lori Vallow have not been seen since October. They reportedly left their Rexberg home before police showed up with a search warrant amid concern that two of Vallow's children, a 17-year-old girl and an adopted 7-year-old with special needs, were missing. In a Dec. 20 statement, police said the missing children, Tylee Ryan and Joshua Vallow, may be tied to a suspicious death investigation. They say neither was reported as missing to authorities but that their whereabouts are unknown. Lori Vallow married Daybell just weeks after his first wife Tammy Daybell died in the family's home at the age of 49. After Daybell refused to order an autopsy on his wife, which is his right, the coroner listed her cause of death as "natural." Vallow's own husband Charles Vallow was fatally shot by Lori Vallow's brother Alexander Cox during a domestic disturbance in July that is now also under investigation. Cox died on Dec. 12 of unknown causes. Vallow and Daybell were members of an organization called Preparing a People that says its goal is to "help prepare the people of this earth for the second coming of Jesus Christ." Vallow's extended family members told East Idaho News that they felt the group was a cult. "I don't want to attack anyone's beliefs," Brandon Boudreaux, a relative of Vallow's said. "But when you look at the fruit that's come from this group and its beliefs … it certainly, from my mind, doesn't come from God." Preparing a People founders Michael and Nancy James deny the group is a cult or represents a specific religion. They have removed references to the couple, both contributors, from their website. "We considered Chad Daybell a good friend, but have since learned of things we had no idea about," they wrote. "We recently learned of Chad's new marriage to Lori Vallow a couple weeks after Tammy Daybell died... We did not know Lori as well as we thought we knew Chad."Rowe was also a Preparing a People member—and a close friend of Daybell's since he published her book on a near-death experience at the publishing house he founded with his first wife. She said Daybell told her he wanted to get out of the publishing business but that Tammy did not."He said I'm ready to get out and Tammy doesn't want to get out," Daybell told Rowe, according to local media reports. "When she passes, I'm done, I can't keep doing this." Rowe, who said she is using her own visions to try to send messages to Daybell, insists the missing children are safe. "I do know the kids are safe. I can see them," she said. "I can see their energy and that they're in a bright house."Police aren't so sure. On Dec. 11, Rexberg police exhumed Tammy's remains to conduct a proper autopsy. Those results have not been released, but Daybell and Vallow denied any wrongdoing through attorney Sean Bartholick—who says he does not know where the couple or Vallow's children are, says they deny any accusations. "Chad Daybell was a loving husband and has the support of his children in this matter," Bartholick told the East Idaho News. "We look forward to addressing the allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor."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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| Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein Associate, under FBI Investigation Posted: 27 Dec 2019 08:17 AM PST  Reuters reports that the FBI has opened an investigation into several associates of late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, including his longtime friend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of being complicit in the financier's underage-sex trafficking ring.Maxwell, 58, is a former girlfriend of the wealthy financier who remained in his circle and is accused by multiple women of helping Epstein find underage girls to have sex with. The British socialite has not been criminally charged, and she has denied all allegations.One of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre, has alleged in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell lured her to the billionaire financier and forced her to have sex with Epstein as well as British Prince Andrew.The British royal family said any interview with Prince Andrew would be "a matter for the FBI."Epstein, 66, was found dead by apparent suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in August, shortly after he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking underage girls as young as 14 from 2002 to 2005. His death sparked a Justice Department investigation and came a day after court documents were unsealed detailing the allegations against billionaire. Epstein had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him before his death."Any co-conspirators should not rest easy," Attorney General William Barr said in August of the ongoing investigation.Maxwell, the daughter of late British media heavyweight Robert Maxwell, has been spotted in various locations since Epstein's death, including a Los Angeles shopping mall.
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| Hundreds in Istanbul sign petitions against Erdogan's canal project Posted: 27 Dec 2019 06:16 AM PST  Hundreds of people in Istanbul have signed petitions in the past two days opposing a massive canal project championed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, which they say will wreak environmental havoc in the city. The proposed 45-km (28-mile) Kanal Istanbul on the western fringes of Turkey's largest city would connect the Black Sea to the north and the Marmara Sea to the south. Erdogan says it will ease traffic and prevent accidents on the natural Bosphorus strait, one of the world's busiest waterways, which cuts through the city.
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| Nuclear power plant in UAE risks sparking arms race, expert warns Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:00 PM PST  Four nuclear reactors being built in the United Arab Emirates could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and leave the Persian Gulf at risk of a Chernobyl-style disaster, a leading nuclear scientist has claimed. In a report, Dr Paul Dorfman, chairman of the Nuclear Consulting Group, warned the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant lacks key safety features, poses a threat to the environment, is a potential target for terrorists and could be part of plans to develop nuclear weapons. "The motivation for building this may lie hidden in plain sight," Dr Dorfman told the Telegraph. "They are seriously considering nuclear proliferation." Dr Dorfman, who is also an honorary senior research associate at University College London's Energy Institute, has served as a nuclear adviser to the British government and led the European Environment Agency response to the Fukushima disaster. However, the UAE has stressed that it is committed to "the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation." The UAE hired the South Korean firm Korea Electric Power Corporation to build the Barakah - "Divine Blessing" in Arabic, plant in 2009. It will be the first nuclear power plant in the Arabian peninsula, and has fuelled speculation that Abu Dhabi is preparing for a nuclear arms race with the Islamic Republic. The UAE has denied allegations by the Qatari government that its power plant is a security threat to their capital of Doha and the Qatari environment, dismissing any causes for concern. Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan photographed in Germany earlier this year Credit: Reuters However, Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed they hit the Barakah nuclear power plant with a missile in 2017. The UAE denied that the rebels fired any such missile, adding that they had an air defence system to deal with such threats. Dr Dorfman said that scrambling fighter aircraft or firing surface to air missiles in time to intercept an incoming strike would be difficult. In September, Saudi air defences failed to stop a drone attack on oil processing facilities. Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for that attack, though Saudi Arabia blamed Iran. The increase in transportation of radioactive materials through the Persian Gulf when the plant goes into operation could also raise the risk of potentially fatal collisions, explosions, or equipment and material failure. Any radioactive discharge resulting from accidents could easily reach population centres on the Gulf coast and have a potentially devastating impact on delicate Gulf ecosystems, including rare mangrove swamps. The plant is also vulnerable to climate change and extreme temperatures that could affect its cooling system, Dr Dorfman's report says. The International Panel on Climate Change has said that extreme sea level events are now likely to happen more frequently, meaning coastal power plants such as Barakah could become defenseless against rising sea levels, tidal ingress and storm surges. High average sea water temperatures in the Gulf could also make it more difficult to cool the reactor using sea water. The cost of the 1986 Chernobyl accident has been recently estimated to be around $235 billion (£179 billion). The Japanese Centre for Economic Research has said the 2011 Fukushima accident cost over 81 trillion YEN(£567 billion), although the Japanese government has put the cost at YEN 22 million (£142 billion). The United Arab Emirates Foreign ministry had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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| Interior Department removes 'sexual orientation' from anti-discrimination guideline Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:35 AM PST  President Trump's Interior Department removed "sexual orientation" from a statement in the agency's ethics guide regarding workplace discrimination.
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| Trump sparked a tourism boom in Ghana when he told congresswomen to 'go back' to where they came from Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:02 AM PST  President Trump's tweets telling four freshmen congresswomen to "go back" to the "totally broken and crime infested places from which they came" had an unexpected and surprising upside: a massive tourism boom in Ghana.Akwasi Agyeman, the chief executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority, told The Washington Post that after Trump's July tweets, interest in visiting the West African nation surged: "People spoke of booking a trip, he said, as a way to strike back at Trump's words." Applications to visit Ghana this year have reportedly risen from 1,000 per week to 10,000.Trump's tweets had been directed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), all of whom are U.S. citizens. Omar, a Somali refugee and the only one in the group to have actually been born abroad, was visiting Ghana at the time of Trump's attack. She'd tweeted in response: "So grateful for the honor to return to Mother Africa."In addition to retaliation to Trump, tourists flocked to Ghana in 2019 to honor the "Year of Return," which marked 400 years since the first slave ship reached the state of Virginia; the nation expected "some 500,000 visitors this year, up from 350,000 in 2018," the Christian Science Monitor reports. Celebrity interest, including posts by Cardi B, also enticed Americans across the Atlantic. Many have even moved to Ghana permanently."When I think about going home to the States," one Boston emigrant, Pierre Delva, told the Post, "it almost makes me want to cry."More stories from theweek.com 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's holiday season The evangelical resistance? A more honest evangelical defense of Trump
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| Bosnia court sentences ex-Islamic fighter to 4 years in jail Posted: 27 Dec 2019 04:00 AM PST ![Bosnia court sentences ex-Islamic fighter to 4 years in jail]( "Bosnia court sentences ex-Islamic fighter to 4 years in jail") SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A court in Bosnia on Friday sentenced a Bosnian man to four years in prison for fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria. The Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina said that Ibro Cufurovic was guilty of organizing a terrorist group. The 24-year-old was deported to Bosnia in April after he was captured in Syria.
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| China's South China Sea Bases May Be More Trouble Than They Are Worth Posted: 28 Dec 2019 04:00 AM PST  More territory to defend.
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| A New Jersey mom bought a 'creepy' mermaid baby doll from Etsy for her 6-year-old daughter. It was filled with cocaine. Posted: 27 Dec 2019 03:43 PM PST  Elizabeth Faidley shipped the doll off to a doll hospital for some "cosmetic work." Weeks later, she got a call from the police department.
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| Thousands protest in rival demonstrations over new India law Posted: 27 Dec 2019 06:14 AM PST  Thousands protested in rival demonstrations in India Friday as tensions deepen over a citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, with authorities deploying huge numbers of riot police in the country. Twenty-seven people have died in two weeks of at times violent demonstrations after Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government made it easier for non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to be naturalised. Coupled with a mooted citizens register, it has stoked fears -- including in Washington and the UN rights office -- about the marginalisation of Muslims who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people.
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| An American Citizen Died After Being Injured in the Deadly Volcanic Eruption in New Zealand Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:23 AM PST  The latest victim is one of at least 17 casualties from the Dec. 9 volcanic eruption
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| Brazil steps up Venezuela border patrols after deserters cross Posted: 27 Dec 2019 02:22 PM PST ![Brazil steps up Venezuela border patrols after deserters cross]( "Brazil steps up Venezuela border patrols after deserters cross") Brazil's defense ministry said in a statement that the unarmed soldiers were found on Thursday on an indigenous reservation on the Brazilian side of the border. "They presented themselves as deserters and are being debriefed to see if they were involved in a recent attack on a base in Venezuela," a Brazilian military source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The source said their motive for deserting had not been established yet but he suspected they had been involved in a Dec. 22 raid on an infantry garrison in southern Venezuela.
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| Al Shabaab shoot locusts with machine guns as Somalia battles biggest swarms in 25 years Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:08 AM PST  Farmers in southern Somalia are shooting at huge swarms of locusts with heavy machine guns in a desperate attempt to save their crops, according to media affiliated to the jihadist group Al-Shabaab. According to the group's media, insects that have infested farmland around the southwestern town of Tiyeglow, an Al-Shabaab stronghold, are being shot at with a PKM rifle — a machine gun version of the Russian Kalashnikov. The news comes as the country experiences its largest locust infestation for 25 years. Since July, swarms of Desert Locusts from nearby Yemen have invaded vast swathes of the Horn of Africa. A typical swarm can contain up to 150 million insects per square kilometre. Each locust can grow up to 4.3 inches long and travel up to 95 miles a day depending on the wind. Every day, an average swarm can consume the equivalent of a year's worth of food for 2,500 people. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the locusts have already destroyed 70,000 hectares (175,000 acres) of farmland in Somalia and neighbouring Ethiopia. Somali boys attempt to fend off desert locusts as they fly across grazing land Credit: REUTERS/Feisal Omar The plague has been far more serious than experts projected it would be and has been made worse by unseasonably heavy rainfall, which has killed hundreds of people across East Africa over the last few months. According to a spokesperson from the FAO, the favourable weather conditions mean that there is a high chance that the locusts will continue breeding rapaciously for the next three months. Somalia's chaotic fighting makes spraying pesticide by aeroplane - which the FAO has called the "ideal control measure" - impossible, the agency said in a statement. The insects have compounded Somalia's dire humanitarian crisis. The east African nation of 15 million people has been struggling to recover from a severe drought that ended in 2017. In August, aid agencies said that over 2 million people were threatened with severe hunger as crop yields continue to fail. Aid agencies now say that the locusts mean that many Somali farmers will face starvation unless relief reaches them over the next few months.
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| Mexico reveals webs of corruption in contracts, trafficking Posted: 27 Dec 2019 09:31 AM PST ![Mexico reveals webs of corruption in contracts, trafficking]( "Mexico reveals webs of corruption in contracts, trafficking") Mexico's top financial investigator on Friday reported on the webs of corruption and money laundering that thieves, traffickers and political figures have used to hide their wealth. Santiago Nieto, the head of Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit, said a federal judge took bribes to rule in favor of the violent Jalisco cartel, and then used a lawyer's office to buy vehicles and send as much as $2 million to the United States. Another gang stole fuel from government pipelines and set up trucking companies to use the diesel and launder profits from sales of fuel to third parties.
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| North Korea Is Broke, But Sitting On $10 Trillion In Mineral Wealth Posted: 27 Dec 2019 02:51 AM PST  Yes, $10 trillion.
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| Marines in California took the Corps' new Amphibious Combat Vehicle out for a nighttime test in the ocean Posted: 27 Dec 2019 09:02 AM PST  The Corps has used the Amphibious Assault Vehicle since 1972. But starting in late 2020, the Amphibious Combat Vehicle will carry Marines into battle.
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| The 20 Best Apps of the 2010s Posted: 27 Dec 2019 06:37 AM PST |
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