| Navy SEAL slams Trump for pardoning Eddie Gallagher: 'Shooting civilians and executing prisoners shouldn't be' political Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:30 AM PST  "When you look at politicians getting involved in military justice ... with their involvement, it isn't justice," the SEAL said.
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| At least 90 reportedly killed in blast in Somalia Posted: 28 Dec 2019 05:09 AM PST  A truck filled with explosives blew up in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday reportedly killing at least 90 people and wounding dozens more in the Somali capital.An international organization, which did not wish to be named, reported the death toll was more than 90, and a Somali MP also tweeted that he had been told the same. Police officers, students, and two Turkish nationals were reportedly among the victims, Reuters reports.The blast was the latest in a series of deadly events in the country this year, and while the Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al-Shabaab regularly carries out attacks to undermine the government, no terrorist organization immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday's bombing. In the past, though, al-Shabaab has refrained from claiming responsibility for larger attacks that result in major public backlash, Reuters reports.Somali Prime Minister Hassan Khayre said he appointed a national committee to respond to the victims and assist in the evacuation of those seeking medical care abroad. Read more at Reuters and The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com The 2010s were an economic disaster The secret to perfect pancakes The evangelical resistance?
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| Iran blasts France for 'interference' over jailed academic Posted: 29 Dec 2019 04:49 AM PST  Tehran accused Paris on Sunday of "interference" in the case of an Iranian-French academic held in the Islamic republic, saying she is considered an Iranian national and faces security charges. France said on Friday it summoned Iran's ambassador to protest the imprisonment of Fariba Adelkhah and another academic, Roland Marchal of France, saying their detention was "intolerable". Their imprisonment has added to distrust between Tehran and Paris at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to play a leading role in defusing tensions between Iran and its arch-foe the United States. "The statement by France's foreign ministry regarding an Iranian national is an act of interference and we see their request to have no legal basis," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement. "The individual in question (Adelkhah) is an Iranian national and has been arrested over 'acts of espionage'," he said, adding that her lawyer had knowledge about the details of the case which is being investigated. Iran does not recognise dual nationality and has repeatedly rebuffed calls from foreign governments for consular access to those it has detained during legal proceedings. France's President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to play a leading role in defusing tensions between Iran and the US Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP In its statement on Friday, the French foreign ministry reiterated its call for the release of Adelkhah and Marshal. It also reaffirmed France's demand for consular access. In response, Mousavi said Marshal was detained for "conspiring against national security", that he has had "consular access multiple times" and that his lawyer was in touch with the judiciary. A specialist in Shiite Islam and a research director at Sciences Po University in Paris, Adelkhah's arrest for suspected "espionage" was confirmed in July. Her colleague Marchal was arrested while visiting Adelkhah, according to his lawyer. A judge had decided to release the two on bail this month, as they had been entitled to it after six months in detention, their lawyer said. But this was opposed by the prosecution, and as a result the case was referred to Iran's Revolutionary Court to settle the dispute, Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported. The Revolutionary Court typically handles high-profile cases in Iran, including those involving espionage. The university and supporters said this week that Adelkhah and another detained academic, British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert, had started an indefinite hunger strike just before Christmas. British-Australian national, Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, has gone on indefinite hunger strike in Iranian prison Credit: Nicholas Razzell The French statement said the ministry had made clear to the ambassador "our grave concern over the situation of Mrs Fariba Adelkhah, who has stopped taking food". "Creating hype cannot stop Iran's judiciary from handling the case, especially considering the security charges the two face," Mousavi said. Mousavi had previously dismissed similar calls from France, saying it should remember that "Iran is sovereign and independent" and interference in its affairs is "unacceptable". The latest tensions come after Xiyue Wang, an American scholar who had been serving 10 years on espionage charges, was released by Iran this month in exchange for Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian who had been held in the US for allegedly breaching sanctions. Iran has said it is open to more such prisoner swaps with the United States. Tehran is still holding several other foreign nationals in high profile cases, including British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Mohammad Bagher Namazi. US-Iran tensions have soared since Washington pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran last year and reimposed crippling sanctions.
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| Ivory Coast leader says Soro must face full force of the law Posted: 28 Dec 2019 11:19 AM PST  Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara on Saturday said former rebel leader and presidential candidate Guillaume Soro was not above the law and would face justice for allegedly seeking to destabilize the country. Soro this week canceled plans to return to Ivory Coast after the authorities issued a warrant for his arrest as part of an investigation into an alleged coup plot that has seen more than 15 people close to him detained. In his first comments on the case, Ouattara said at a news conference in Abidjan that anyone "involved in destabilizing the country, must face the full force of the law".
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| Sydney New Year's fireworks to go ahead despite wildfires Posted: 28 Dec 2019 08:06 PM PST  Sydney's iconic New Year's Eve fireworks will go ahead despite the wildfire crisis to show the world Australia's resiliency, the prime minister said, while authorities on Sunday braced for conditions to deteriorate with high temperatures. Prime Minister Scott Morrison also announced financial support for some volunteer firefighters in New South Wales, the state worst hit by wildfires ravaging the nation. "The world looks at Sydney every single year and they look at our vibrancy, they look at our passion, they look at our success," he said.
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| Mother who injected feces into son with cancer's IV during chemo sentenced to 7 years Posted: 28 Dec 2019 12:53 PM PST ![Mother who injected feces into son with cancer's IV during chemo sentenced to 7 years]( "Mother who injected feces into son with cancer's IV during chemo sentenced to 7 years") Tiffany Alberts of Wolcott, Indiana said she did it to get him moved to a different floor at the hospital so he would get better treatment.
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| Navy SEAL cleared by Trump called 'freaking evil' by comrades Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:11 PM PST  A Navy SEAL platoon leader controversially pardoned of war crimes by US President Donald Trump was described as "toxic" and "freaking evil" by veterans who served with him in Iraq, The New York Times reported Friday. Video testimony provided to war crimes investigators and published by the newspaper showed former members of Eddie Gallagher's elite commando unit accusing him of shooting at a 12-year-old and discussing the accusations that Gallagher targeted civilians. "The guy is freaking evil," special operator first class Craig Miller, one of the most experienced members of Alpha Platoon's SEAL Team 7, told the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
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| Hanukkah stabbing that injured five called 'domestic terrorism' by New York governor Posted: 29 Dec 2019 09:19 AM PST  A stabbing at the house of a Hasidic rabbi in New York which left five injured has been condemned as "domestic terrorism" by the state's governor. Andrew Cuomo said the attack during a gathering to celebrate Hanukkah was evidence of a "cancer" spreading in America as he warned of a surge in "hatred". Police named the suspect arrested as Grafton E. Thomas, 37. He will face five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. The attack happened around 10pm on Saturday in Monsey, an area with a large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews which is about 35 miles north of the city of New York. Witnesses described a man bursting into the home of the rabbi, Chaim Rottenberg, where dozens of people had gathered on the seventh night of Hanukkah. The assailant's face was said to have been partially covered by a scarf and he brandished a large knife. Guests reportedly fought back by throwing tables and chairs. Police said the stabbings happened at around 10 p.m. Credit: REUTERS The exact status of the victims was unclear on Sunday evening but one person was said to have been very seriously wounded. The rabbi's son was among those injured. Aron Kohn, 65, who witnessed the attack told The New York Times: "I was praying for my life. He started attacking people right away as soon as he came in the door. We didn't have time to react at all." "We saw him pull a knife out of a case. It was about the size of a broomstick." The attacker later attempted to enter a synagogue next door before fleeing the area. A witness noted the assailant's license plate number and alerted the police, with a suspect later being arrested in Harlem. Extra police patrols were organised for three areas of Brooklyn, a New York borough with a large Jewish population, in the wake of the stabbing. In Britain, the chief constable of West Midlands Police said he would provide reassurance to local Jewish communities. Investigators cordoned off the large home on Forshay Road yellow crime scene tape Credit: Seth Harrison/The Journal News via AP Mr Cuomo, who has been New York governor since 2011, said: "It is domestic terrorism. These are people who intend to create mass harm, mass violence, and generate fear based on race, colour, creed. That is the definition of terrorism. "Just because they don't come from another country doesn't mean they are not terrorists. They should be prosecuted as domestic terrorists." "We are not going to let this poison spread. No one else can defeat this county, but this country can defeat itself." The stabbing is the latest in a string of brutal attacks that have alarmed the Jewish community, leading to renewed concerns about anti-Semitisim in America. Earlier this month a shooting in a Jersey City kosher market saw three people inside the store and a police officer killed. The two attackers also died in a standoff with police. In October 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history. Mr Coumo, speaking outside the rabbi's house on Sunday, said: "This is an intolerant time in our country. We see anger, we see hatred exploding." He added: "It is an American cancer on the body politic." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country "unequivocally condemns" the "vicious attack". He pledged to "cooperate in every way" with the local authorities to help stamp out anti-Semitism. It is not known how the suspect will plead. Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser and daughter of the US president, issued a call for more political action to tackle anti-Semitism in the wake of the attack. She tweeted: "The increasing frequency of anti-Semitic violence in New York (and around the country) receives far too little local governmental action and national press attention."
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| Secrets Revealed: America Almost Stockpiled Nuclear Weapons In Iceland Posted: 29 Dec 2019 12:02 AM PST  Why didn't it happen?
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| Palestinians in Gaza will scale back protests along the fortified border with Israel Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:08 AM PST  Palestinians in Gaza will scale back protests along the fortified border with Israel, factions in the strip said on Thursday, in a sign of a lasting détente between Israel and Gaza's Islamist rulers, Hamas, along the volatile frontier.
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| Scuffles break out in Paris as pensions protesters, 'yellow vests' march Posted: 28 Dec 2019 09:08 AM PST  Protesters marching against the French government's planned pension reform clashed with the police in Paris on Saturday as police fired tear gas to disperse some groups of demonstrators. French trade unions have spearheaded nationwide strikes since early December in an outcry over President Emmanuel Macron's pensions overhaul, disrupting schools, railways and roads, while lending support to regular protests. On Saturday "yellow vests" - an anti-government movement that sprung up a year ago as a backlash against the high cost of living - joined a rally of several thousand people against the pensions shake-up.
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| "I was taken": 7-year-old torn from dad at U.S. border Posted: 28 Dec 2019 11:28 PM PST  CBS News documentary "The Faces of Family Separation" follows the harrowing journey of four migrant families fleeing violence in Central America, only to be split apart after arriving in the U.S.
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| Iraq beefs up security around air base in country's west Posted: 29 Dec 2019 03:09 AM PST ![Iraq beefs up security around air base in country's west]( "Iraq beefs up security around air base in country's west") AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) — An Iraqi general said Sunday that security has been beefed up around the Ain al-Asad air base, a sprawling complex in the western Anbar desert that hosts U.S. forces, following a series of attacks. Maj. Gen. Raad Mahmoud told The Associated Press that investigations were still underway to determine who was behind the unclaimed attacks on bases across Iraq, including one earlier this month in which five rockets landed inside Ain al-Asad. A U.S. defense contractor was killed Friday in a rocket attack at a different Iraqi military compound near Kirkuk where U.S. service members are based.
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| Survivors tell of France's 'dirty war' in Cameroon independence Posted: 27 Dec 2019 07:46 PM PST  Ekité (Cameroon) (AFP) - It was a "dirty war" waged by French colonial troops but it never made headlines and even today goes untold in school history books. The brutal conflict unfolded in Cameroon, which on January 1 marks its 60th anniversary of independence -- the first of 17 African countries that became free from their colonial masters in 1960. "My life was overturned," Odile Mbouma, 72, said in the southwestern town of Ekite.
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| Municipal police chief arrested over Mexican Mormon massacre Posted: 28 Dec 2019 06:22 AM PST  Mexican authorities have arrested a municipal police chief for his suspected links to the killing of three women and six children of U.S.-Mexican origin in northern Mexico last month, local media and an official said on Friday. Suspected drug cartel hitmen shot dead the nine women and children from families of Mormon origin in Sonora state on Nov. 4, sparking outrage in Mexico and the United States. Several Mexican media outlets reported that law enforcement agents arrested Fidel Alejandro Villegas, police chief of the municipality of Janos, which lies in the neighboring state of Chihuahua, on suspicion of involvement in the crime.
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| Islamic State says it beheaded Christian captives in Nigeria Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:36 AM PST  The Islamic State group released a video purporting to show its militants beheading 10 Christian men in Nigeria, saying it was part of a campaign to avenge the deaths of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and its spokesman.
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| How Did Britain Plan To Stop A Surprise Russian Invasion? Nuke Their Path Posted: 28 Dec 2019 04:00 PM PST  A crazy plan.
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| A survivor of the Kazakhstan plane crash that killed at least 12 said the aircraft was crushed 'like a tin can' Posted: 28 Dec 2019 01:24 AM PST  Aslan Nazaraliyev told Sky News that the Bek Air plane started "swaying" and "vibrating" seconds after taking off from Almaty.
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| Missile attack kills 10 at military parade in Yemen's south Posted: 29 Dec 2019 02:43 AM PST  A ballistic missile ripped through a military parade for a Yemeni southern separatist group that's backed by the United Arab Emirates, killing at least six troops and four children, a spokesman said Sunday. Maged al-Shoebi, a spokesman for the group, blamed Houthi rebels for the attack. The explosion took place while the separatists, known as the Resistance Forces, were finishing a parade for new recruits at a soccer field in the capital of Dhale province, al-Shoebi told The Associated Press.
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| Five stabbed at New York rabbi's home in 'terrorist' attack Posted: 29 Dec 2019 07:04 AM PST  An intruder stabbed and wounded five people at a rabbi's house in a New York suburb late Saturday, in an incident the state governor said was "an act of terrorism" after a spate of attacks on Jewish targets. Local media reported that a man with a machete entered the rabbi's property in Monsey, Rockland County, during celebrations for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, knifing several people before fleeing.
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| 'The Issue Is Not What I Did.' Joe Biden Says He Would Not Comply With Subpoena to Testify in Trump Impeachment Trial Posted: 28 Dec 2019 11:42 AM PST  "The reason I wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with Trump doing what he's done his whole life: trying to take the focus off him," Joe Biden said.
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| Saudi Arabia sentences Riyadh concert stabber to death: state TV Posted: 29 Dec 2019 03:01 AM PST ![Saudi Arabia sentences Riyadh concert stabber to death: state TV]( "Saudi Arabia sentences Riyadh concert stabber to death: state TV") A Saudi Arabian court on Sunday sentenced to death a man accused of stabbing three performers at a live show in the capital Riyadh in November, state television said. The Nov. 11 attack occurred at King Abdullah Park, one of several venues hosting a months-long entertainment festival as part of government efforts to open up Saudi society and diversify its economy away from oil. Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015 against the Iran-aligned Houthis.
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| 2020 will likely be a groundbreaking year in space. Here's a calendar of the biggest rocket launches, meteor showers, eclipses, and more. Posted: 28 Dec 2019 05:47 AM PST  If all goes well next year, SpaceX and Boeing will launch their first astronauts for NASA, and Mars will gain three new rovers.
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| Teen fatally crashed ATV after cop used stun gun; family wins $12 million settlement Posted: 28 Dec 2019 12:49 PM PST ![Teen fatally crashed ATV after cop used stun gun; family wins $12 million settlement]( "Teen fatally crashed ATV after cop used stun gun; family wins $12 million settlement") The settlement will go to the family of 15-year-old Damon Grimes, who was driving his ATV in August 2017 when the fatal incident occurred.
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| New York Times Columnist Bret Stephens Cites White Nationalist in ‘Jewish Genius’ Column Posted: 28 Dec 2019 02:44 PM PST  New York Times columnist Bret Stephens is once again stirring outrage—this time with a piece entitled "The Secrets of Jewish Genius" that cites a paper co-authored by an academic labeled an "extremist" eugenicist and celebrated by white supremacists.Stephens' op-ed on Ashkenazi Jews was denounced all over social media as an example of race science bunk."How is it that a people who never amounted even to one-third of 1 percent of the world's population contributed so seminally to so many of its most pathbreaking ideas and innovations?" Stephens wrote.He said that Jews "are, or tend to be, smart" and cited the 2005 paper "Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence" by Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy, and Henry Harpending, which declares that Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average I.Q. of any ethnic group. Stephens' take? "Ashkenazi Jews might have a marginal advantage over their gentile peers when it comes to thinking better. Where their advantage more often lies is in thinking different," he wrote.As Stephens began trending on Twitter and the New York Times' tweet of his column was ratioed, the study he cited and its authors drew new scrutiny. Nieman Lab director Joshua Benton noted that the Times itself had published an op-ed last year by a Harvard geneticist, David Reich, in which he denounced Harpending's work.A 2005 Times article about the paper cited by Stephens quoted a Cornell University geneticist as saying Harpending and company "make pretty much all the classic mistakes in interpreting heritability," though also quoted scientists with a less critical view.The Southern Poverty Law Center has Harpending, who died in 2016, on its list of extremists and lists his ideology as "white nationalist." "Harpending has given talks on these ideas at white supremacist conferences, and is widely celebrated among white supremacists on forums like Stormfront and the Vanguard News Network, who see a champion for their cause behind his academic rhetoric," the center said.Benton also pointed out in a Twitter thread that the lead author on the 2005 paper, Gregory Cochran, has a history of homophobia.In the paper "An Evolutionary Look at Human Homosexuality," Cochran wrote that homosexuality, from a biological perspective, is "surely a disease." "So it's a bug," Cochran wrote. "Somehow, the brain has been damaged, but in a limited and focused way."The Times and Stephens did not respond to requests for comment.The uproar over Stephens' latest column follows the controversy that ensued in August after George Washington University professor David Karpf referred to him as a bedbug—prompting Stephens to complain to the school provost.NY Times Columnist to Twitter Critic: 'Come to My Home' and 'Call Me a Bedbug to My Face'"I'm often amazed about the things supposedly decent people are prepared to say about other people—people they've never met—on Twitter. I think you've set a new standard," Stephens wrote in the email, which Karpf later tweeted. "I would welcome the opportunity for you to come to my home, meet my wife and kids, talk to us for a few minutes, and then call me a 'bedbug' to my face. That would take some genuine courage and intellectual integrity on your part."Stephens deactivated his Twitter account in response, and wrote a column about Nazis and bedbugs just a few days later.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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| Australia's heat wave is so bad a dehydrated koala flagged down a cyclist for water Posted: 27 Dec 2019 01:39 PM PST  Cyclist Anna Heuseler filmed a koala drinking her water just outside Adelaide in southern Australia while the country faces an extreme heat wave.
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| Dallas dismissed from lawsuit over police shooting Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:05 AM PST  A federal judge has ruled the city of Dallas is not liable for an off-duty police officer fatally shooting a man in his own apartment last year. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn dismissed the city from civil lawsuit that the family of Botham Jean brought after the 26-year-old was killed by Amber Guyger. The ruling leaves the 31-year-old former officer as the sole defendant in the suit, which argues she used excessive force and that better police training could have prevented Jean's death.
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| Scores in Turkey protest Russia over Idlib assault Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:41 AM PST  Several hundred Turkish and Syrian protesters held an anti-Russia demonstration in Istanbul on Saturday against intensified Russian and regime bombardment in Syria's rebel bastion of Idlib. The protesters -- mostly Syrians living in Turkey -- gathered close to the Russian consulate in Istanbul, shouting "Murderer Putin, get out of Syria!", referring to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since mid-December, regime forces and their Russian allies have heightened bombardment on the southern edge of the final major opposition-held pocket of Syria, eight years into the country's devastating war.
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| Two men shot dead in eastern Saudi city were driving car bomb, SPA says Posted: 29 Dec 2019 05:11 AM PST ![Two men shot dead in eastern Saudi city were driving car bomb, SPA says]( "Two men shot dead in eastern Saudi city were driving car bomb, SPA says") Two Saudi men shot dead last week in the eastern city of Dammam were driving a car loaded with explosives and were planning an "imminent terrorist operation", the SPA state news agency said on Sunday, citing security forces. The two were found with explosive paste in the car, SPA said.
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| 2019 saw most mass killings on record, US database reveals Posted: 28 Dec 2019 09:00 AM PST  Thirty-three of 41 incidents involved firearms, research shows, even as overall number of homicides fellThis year saw the highest number of mass killings on record, database records show, with 41 incidents claiming 211 lives in 2019 even as the overall US homicide rated dropped.According to the database complied by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, 33 of the incidents, defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator, involved firearms.The 41 mass killings were the most in a single year since the database began tracking such events back in 2006. Other research going back to the 1970s shows no other year with as many mass killings. The second-most was 38 in 2006.Following deadly rampages in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in May; in the Texas cities of Odessa and El Paso, and Dayton, Ohio, in August; and in Jersey City, New Jersey, this month, the brutal yearly tally comes as the debate over gun-control and efforts to reduce access to 4m assault weapons in circulation appear stalled.On Saturday, the 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden renewed his calls for curbs on the military-style weapons, telling supporters in a funding email: "The American people may be running out of tears, but we cannot run out of strength and resolve to get something done."But Biden remains an exception to the leading Democratic candidates in refusing to support some form of federal gun licensing.With some variations in detail, all, including Biden, have called for imposing stricter background checks and a federal ban on assault-style weapons. But only the former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has made gun control central to his policy platform, calling for a national gun licensing system, stricter background checks, as well as federal laws allowing courts to confiscate firearms from people considered dangerous.Those efforts come after a troubled year for the country's most vociferous and powerful gun advocate, the National Rifle Association. Beset by executive infighting, the lobbying group faces a New York state investigation into claims that thousands of dollars were diverted to its board members.In terms of the number of fatalities, the 211 people killed in this year is still eclipsed by the 224 victims in 2017, when the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history took place at a concert in Las Vegas.California, with some of the strictest gun laws in the country, registered eight mass killings, the most in the country. Nearly half of US states experienced a mass killing.According to the database, most mass killings fail to make national news unless they spill into public spaces. The majority involve people who knew each other, family disputes, drug or gang violence or people with beefs that directed their anger at co-workers or relatives.According to the database, the first mass killing of the year occurred 19 days into the new year when a 42-year-old man took an ax and stabbed to death his mother, stepfather, girlfriend and 9-month-old daughter in Clackamas county, Oregon. The attack ended when police shot and killed the assailant.In many cases, what triggered the perpetrator remains a mystery, the database shows. The incident in Oregon was one of 18 mass killings where family members were killed, and one of six that didn't involve a gun. Other weapons included knives, axes and arson. Nine mass shootings occurred in public spaces; others were in homes, workplaces or bars."What makes this even more exceptional is that mass killings are going up at a time when general homicides, overall homicides, are going down," James Densley, a criminologist and professor at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, told the Associated Press. "This seems to be the age of mass shootings," Densley said, expressing worry over a "contagion effect" spreading mass killings."What fuels contagion is fear," explained James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern. "These are still rare events. Clearly the risk is low but the fear is high."The Associated Press contributed reporting
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| Winter storm threatens heavy snow, blizzards from Rockies to Upper Midwest, weather service warns travelers 'consider changing plans' Posted: 27 Dec 2019 12:56 PM PST  The storm created traffic snarls in California as it moved northeast after dumping snow in Arizona.
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| China Might Have Stolen The Secrets To Israel's Iron Dome Missile Defense Posted: 27 Dec 2019 12:22 PM PST  And that has implications for America.
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| Does the Army have its European weapons stocks right? Defender Europe 2020 will tell Posted: 27 Dec 2019 01:48 PM PST  The Army's prepositioned stock in Europe will be put to the test during Defender 2020 as will the service's entire supply chain and ability to rapidly move soldiers and equipment from the U.S. into and throughout the continent.
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| Disney World character actors for Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck reported getting touched inappropriately by visitors Posted: 27 Dec 2019 04:49 PM PST  The Mickey Mouse costume wearer had to go to the hospital and the Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck actors say they were groped by park guests.
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| Ukraine, Rebels Complete Prisoner Swap Under Deal With Putin Posted: 29 Dec 2019 07:56 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Ukraine and two breakaway regions supported by the Kremlin exchanged prisoners on Sunday under an agreement reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month as the former allies seek an end to more than five years of war in the Donbas area.Ukraine received 76 captives from the Russian-backed rebels, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said Sunday when announcing the completion of the swap. Ukraine returned 127 captives to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics, Ukrainian Hromadske TV reported, citing Serhiy Sivokho, adviser to the head of the National Security and Defense Council.Zelenskiy and Putin met with the leaders of France and Germany in the first week of December in an effort to resume the peace process, which has become a main point of division between Russia and the West. The U.S. and European Union accuse the Kremlin of stoking the conflict and responded with economic sanctions that are still in place.Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "gave a positive assessment" of the swap, the Kremlin said Sunday after the leaders spoke by phone. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on his Twitter feed that the "all for all" formula for exchanging verified prisoners will discussed as a priority at the next Normandy format meeting with Germany, France and Russia.The deadly conflict in Ukraine's east erupted soon after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists has claimed more than 13,000 lives since it began, and negotiators have struggled to make a ceasefire stick along the 500-kilometer (310-mile) contact line.In September, Ukraine and Russia had exchanged 35 prisoners each The Ukrainians who were freed included a filmmaker and 24 sailors while the authorities in Kyiv handed over militants captured during the fighting in Donbas.(Updates with the number of prisoners in the 2nd paragraph, reaction from Putin, Merkel, Ukraine Foreign Minister in fourth.)To contact the reporter on this story: Volodymyr Verbyany in Kiev at vverbyany1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Andrew ReiersonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Man, 60, dies after beating in $1 Christmas Eve mugging Posted: 29 Dec 2019 03:28 AM PST  A 60-year-old man who was kicked and punched while defending his partner during a $1 mugging on Christmas Eve has died. Juan Fresnada died Friday afternoon at the Bronx hospital where he was taken in critical condition after the mugging early Tuesday, the New York Police Department said Saturday.
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| Islamic State group says it beheaded Christian prisoners in Nigeria Posted: 28 Dec 2019 10:55 AM PST  The Islamic State group released a video purporting to show its militants beheading 10 Christian men in Nigeria, saying it was part of a campaign to avenge the deaths of its former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and its spokesman.
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| India's protests: why now? Posted: 27 Dec 2019 07:45 PM PST  Mumbai-based copywriter Sarah Syed says she was long alarmed by the Hindu nationalist direction of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi but felt powerless to stop it -- until now. Like many others taking part in the current wave of protests, the final straw was Modi's new citizenship law and then the images of students being tear-gassed when they demonstrated against it. "Now though it feels criminal to sit out the protests and say nothing," the 27-year-old told AFP.
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| Joe Biden indicates he would testify in Donald Trump impeachment trial if subpoenaed Posted: 29 Dec 2019 07:31 AM PST  Joe Biden, the US presidential hopeful, has indicated he would comply with a subpoena demanding his testimony in Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial, reversing a previous insistence he would dismiss any such request. Mr Biden, the former US vice president seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 election, tweeted that during four decades in both Congress and the White House he had "always complied with a lawful order". He went a step further while out campaigning in the state of Iowa, telling the audience at a town hall event on Saturday: "I would obey any subpoena that was sent to me". The new position contradicts the stance Mr Biden, the Democratic primary front-runner, had taken just a day before, when he insisted he would reject any demand to give evidence in the impeachment trial. "The reason I wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with Trump doing what he's done his whole life: trying to take the focus off him," Mr Biden had told the editorial board of The Des Moines Register on Friday. A trial over whether to remove Donald Trump from office is expect to be held by the US Senate in January Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP That original position risked a backlash, given it was Mr Trump's refusal to comply with subpoenas - legally binding demands for evidence or documents - issued by Congressional committees which fuelled the impeachment drive. The changing position reflects the difficult Mr Biden faces over impeachment. It was Mr Trump seeking an investigation from Ukraine into Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who once worked for a Ukrainian natural gas company, which triggered the impeachment inquiry. Mr Biden has made clear his frustration at being asked questions about his behaviour, seeing it as an attempt by the White House to harm his candidacy and distract from Mr Trump's actions in office. Joe Biden and his son Hunter at a basketball game in 2010 Credit: AP Photo/Nick Wass Mr Trump, the US president, has been impeached by the House of Representatives, one half of the US Congress. The Senate, the other half, is expected to hold a trial in January over whether to remove him from office. Given the Republicans hold a majority of seats in the Senate they can decide which witnesses are called, if no senators rebel. Some want both Bidens to give evidence. Both Bidens have always denied any wrongdoing in Ukraine. Mr Biden tweeted: "In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests. "But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial." He added: "This impeachment is about Trump's conduct, not mine."
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| Residents, vacationers urged to leave Australian region as fire conditions worsen Posted: 28 Dec 2019 03:20 PM PST  Residents and vacationers in part of the Australian state of Victoria were urged to leave on Sunday ahead of what is expected to be a day of extreme fire danger. State Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp told both residents and tens of thousands of vacationers in the East Gippsland region to leave no later than Monday morning. "What we are saying now, based on the conditions that will be confronting us tomorrow across the state, but in particular in East Gippsland, is that if you're holidaying in that part of the state, it's time that you left," Crisp said at a media conference on Sunday.
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