| Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart: "There is no cure" for being gay Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:53 PM PST  Seventeen years after his daughter's kidnapping and miraculous rescue, Ed Smart says there's something he has to talk about
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| Biden Says Son Hunter Will Not Engage in Foreign Business if He Wins in 2020 Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:49 AM PST  Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden said his son Hunter will not be engaged in any foreign business if the former vice president is elected in 2020."They will not be engaged in any foreign business because of what's happened in this administration," Biden told "Axios on HBO."Hunter Biden raised eyebrows when it came to light that he held a lucrative position on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was fighting corruption in Ukraine as vice president. The set-up prompted Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate the Bidens while temporarily withholding U.S. military aid, an alleged quid pro quo that became the basis for the impeachment inquiry against Trump."I don't know what he was doing. I know he was on the board. I found out he was on the board after he was on the board and that was it," Biden said.A photo from the summer of 2014 shows Biden, then vice president, and his son Hunter with Devon Archer, who, like the younger Biden, served on the board of Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company."No. Because I trust my son," Biden responded when asked whether he wanted to get to the bottom of his son's business dealings.The former vice president added that he is not worried since there is "not one single bit of evidence" and "nothing on its face that was wrong."Biden cited the business conflicts of interest of members of President Trump's family for his decision to have his family eschew foreign business opportunities, saying, "if you want to talk about problems, let's talk about Trump's family."Trump has been criticized for allegedly encouraging government spending at his luxury resorts, including floating his Miami golf resort as an ideal spot to host the 2020 G-7 summit.
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| 'An outright lie': Ohio lawmaker shown to be linked to group pushing rightwing Christian bills Posted: 09 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  Timothy Ginter, who said he had 'no knowledge' of Project Blitz, was listed as co-chair of state branch of group behind the campaignAn Ohio legislator who said he had "no knowledge" of a rightwing Christian bill mill called Project Blitz is, in fact, the co-chair of the state branch of an organization behind the campaign.The Ohio state representative Timothy Ginter sponsored a bill called the Student Religious Liberties Act. Opponents argued the bill would provide students with a religious exemption to facts, and would frighten teachers and school administrators into including religion in school functions.The Guardian revealed the bill was nearly identical to one promoted by Project Blitz, a state legislative project guided by three Christian right organizations, including the Congressional Prayer Caucus (CPC), WallBuilders and the ProFamily Legislators Conference. Project Blitz aims to promote and help pass conservative legislation across the US to fulfil its rightwing Christian agenda.When initially approached, Ginter told the Guardian in an email from a legislative aide that he had "no knowledge of 'Project Blitz' and has not been working with WallBuilders or the Congressional Prayer Caucus".However, a screenshot shows Ginter was listed as the co-chair of the Ohio Prayer Caucus, the state chapter of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, as recently as January 2019. Ginter's former chief of staff, Chris Albanese, is currently listed as the state director of the state chapter of CPC, Ohio Prayer Caucus."I would call it an outright lie," said Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst with Political Research Associates, and an expert on the Christian right. "The Prayer Caucus in the states are the action arm of Project Blitz – it is Project Blitz," he said. "When he told you, 'I've never heard of Project Blitz,' that was a lie," said Clarkson.The Guardian repeatedly called and emailed both Ginter and the the Republican Ohio house speaker, Larry Householder. Neither responded to these phone or email requests.In a statement at the time, Ginter argued the bill was necessary because, "well-funded groups" were intimidating school officials with "the thread of litigation". His bill, he argued, would clarify their responsibilities.Ginter also argued the Student Religious Liberties Bill was not a Christian bill, because it does not explicitly mention Christianity. However, the Ohio Prayer Caucus he co-chaired explicitly lays out that it support legislators "who are standing for faith, morality and Judeo-Christian principles".The Congressional Prayer Caucus also circulated an Ohio Prayer Proclamation. Among its signers are Ginter; the former representative Bill Hayes, who originally sponsored the bill; and the former House speaker Cliff Rosenberger. Rosenberger resigned in 2018 after a search warrant and subpoena revealed the FBI was investigating Rosenberger for corruption involving three payday lending representatives, according to the Dayton Daily News.Prominent defenders of religious liberties, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti-Defamation League, oppose the legislation. Republicans in the Ohio House passed the legislation with a party-line vote in November. It has not yet been taken up by the Ohio senate.
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| Booker slams Democratic debate rules as he ends Iowa tour Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:54 PM PST  Fighting to be in the next Democratic presidential debate, Cory Booker concluded a nearly 800-mile, 12-county tour of Iowa on Sunday by criticizing the Democratic party for allowing "elites" and "money" to control who gets on stage and urging voters to offer his name when pollsters call. "Iowa never lets elites decide," he told a crowd at his campaign office in Cedar Rapids on Sunday. Just six candidates are qualified for the Dec. 19 debate, and Booker is not one of them.
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| Russia plans to set up Arctic air defence 'dome' with S-400 missiles Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:57 AM PST ![Russia plans to set up Arctic air defence 'dome' with S-400 missiles]( "Russia plans to set up Arctic air defence 'dome' with S-400 missiles") Russia plans to establish an air defence "dome" across its polar region by arming all of its Northern Fleet's Arctic divisions with S-400 missile batteries, a Russian naval commander said on Monday. Russia has been stepping up its military presence in the Arctic, building new infrastructure and overhauling its ports as it vies for dominance in a region with huge untapped mineral wealth amid warmer climate cycles. In May, Washington accused Russia of aggressive behaviour in the polar region and said China's actions must be watched closely.
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| Boris Johnson Snatches Reporter’s Phone to Avoid Looking at Photo of Sick Child Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:49 AM PST  There are hundreds of ways Boris Johnson could have handled this interview—and he may well have picked the worst one.Days ahead of Thursday's general election, when the Conservative prime minister is hoping to secure a majority to be able to force through his Brexit project at the start of next year, Johnson suffered a deeply uncomfortable campaign-trail gaffe under tough questioning from a reporter.The journalist, Joe Pike from ITV News, used his short time with the prime minister to show Johnson a photograph of a boy who, sick at a hospital with suspected pneumonia, was reportedly forced to lie on a pile of coats rather than a hospital bed due to shortages. Brexit aside, the future of the country's National Health Service has been the key issue during the campaign.Instead of showing some sympathy for the child and promising to look into the situation, the prime minister looked deeply uncomfortable and repeatedly averted his gaze from Pike's phone screen. After repeated requests from the reporter to comment specifically on the photo, Johnson snatched the phone away from Pike and slipped it into his pocket."You've refused to look at the photo," said Pike to Johnson. "You've taken my phone and put it in your pocket, Prime Minister. His mother says the NHS is in crisis, what's your response to that?"Johnson, seemingly becoming aware of how dreadful the scene will look when it was shown on television, looked very flustered, removed the phone to look at the photo, and finally expressed some sympathy."I'm sorry... It's a terrible, terrible photo and I apologize, obviously, to the family and all those who have terrible experiences in the NHS. But what we are doing is supporting the NHS and, on the whole, I think patients in the NHS have a much better experience than this poor kid has had."Johnson concluded the interview: "I'm sorry for taking your phone."Johnson's Conservative Party is widely expected to win Thursday's election, although Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party has been closing the gap between them in most polling over recent weeks.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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| Barr warned Trump for months that Rudy Giuliani was becoming a liability, but the president ignored him because he loves Giuliani's fiery media appearances Posted: 09 Dec 2019 03:18 AM PST  Rudy Giuliani was a key figure in the events that sparked an impeachment probe, and his actions have long concerned Trump administration officials.
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| Cherry blossoms prompt full-blown scandal for Japan's PM Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:27 PM PST  It might be the most Japanese of political scandals: a furore over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's guest list at a party to mark the annual cherry blossom season. As scandals go, it has plenty of juicy elements -- alleged mafia guests, disappearing evidence, even gaffes by Abe, who appeared to lay blame for shredded documents on a disabled worker. It's the latest headache for Japan's longest-serving premier, who has already weathered two cronyism scandals in recent years and has faced an almost daily drubbing by opposition lawmakers since the scandal emerged in early November.
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| The United States' New 'Ninja Missile' Chops Targets to Bits (We Have Questions) Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  A game-changer or just some really cool marketing?
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| Man wearing reindeer slippers tips woman out of wheelchair on train as he tries to steal it Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:12 AM PST  A man has been arrested after a would-be thief tipped a woman out of her wheelchair on a train and attempted to steal it.CCTV footage of the incident shows a man dressed in a red jacket and reindeer slippers, who lept out of his seat and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair as the train approached a station.
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| U.S. military to shift focus to competing with China and Russia: Esper Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:37 AM PST  Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday he still plans to shift the military's focus to competing with China and Russia, even as security threats pile up in the Middle East. Esper outlined his strategic goals and priorities in a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum, an annual gathering of government, defense industry and military officials.
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| Rep. Mark Meadows Denies Trump Asked Ukraine About Biden: ‘He Didn’t Do That’ Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:42 AM PST  Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) denied on Sunday morning that President Donald Trump ever asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, contradicting President Donald Trump's own words.During an interview on CNN's State of the Union, host Dana Bash immediately noted that the central charge of the impeachment inquiry against Trump is that "the president asked a leader of a foreign country to investigate his political rival.""So, one simple question to start, is that appropriate?" Bashed wondered aloud."Well, one, he didn't do that," the North Carolina lawmaker replied. "I don't agree with your premise. He talked about investigations. If you look at the—the transcript, I think he said, will you do us a favor, based on the United States going through a lot, talking about 2016 elections."Inside the Call: How Trump Pushed Ukraine to Probe BidenBash, however, reminded Meadows that per the rough transcript of the now-infamous July 25 phone between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump specifically mentioned Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, saying "a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great.""He did ask," Bash added. "You admit that, right?"Meadows answered the CNN host with a question of his own, asking her if she was "suggesting that someone who runs for president shouldn't be investigated," adding that the Democrats "have been investigating President Trump before he was elected.""I mean, listen, it's appropriate to make sure that nothing was done wrong in Ukraine," the congressman continued. "And, indeed, that's what he was talking about."Later in the segment, after Meadows continued to insist this was really about rooting out Hunter Biden's corrupt activities in Ukraine, Bash pressed him on Republicans' lack of interest in that issue when they controlled Congress."Well, one, I didn't—I didn't know about it at the particular time," Meadows answered. "And when—when you look at things, as things come up, you would.""But it was public information," Bash countered.Following the interview and after he received some ridicule over his denial of Trump's actual words, Meadows took to Twitter to push back and defend the president."Questions like this make the false assumption that @realDonaldTrump had political motives. That's not accurate. It's not supported by the evidence," he tweeted. "This was about making sure we weren't sending taxpayer funded aid to a corrupt nation. Exactly what POTUS promised to do."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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| Once propped up by Qatari high-rollers, Saudi city prays for truce Posted: 09 Dec 2019 02:33 AM PST  Al-Ahsa (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - Jackhammers and cranes gather dust at half-built Qatari-funded hotel sites in a Saudi city hit hard by an abrupt diplomatic rupture, but signs of thawing cross-border ties are reviving economic hopes. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has downplayed the dispute with Qatar -- which led to a Riyadh-led embargo on the neighbouring emirate and shuttered their land border in mid-2017 -- as a trivial matter with limited impact on the kingdom.
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| U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Berkeley cell phone law Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:46 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a free speech challenge brought by a trade group against a regulation issued by the California city of Berkeley that requires cell phone retailers to tell customers of certain radiation risks. The justices left in place a July 2019 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to block the 2015 regulation that industry group CTIA appealed. CTIA said the regulation violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects free speech rights, because the government, without the necessary justification that supports other types of regulations, is forcing retailers to spread a message they disagree with.
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| The Russian Navy Has Some Problems Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:19 PM PST  Yes, they received 23 new ships this year. That's where the good news ends.
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| 6 arrested after off-duty fireman is killed in Germany Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:55 AM PST  Six people have been arrested after an off-duty firefighter was killed in an altercation between two couples and a group of young men in the southern German city of Augsburg, authorities said Sunday. The couples had just left a Christmas market late Friday when they ran into the seven-strong group and an argument started, according to police. Dozens of Augsburg firefighters held a vigil Sunday for their colleague and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer voiced his dismay at the killing.
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| Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act Posted: 09 Dec 2019 09:46 AM PST ![Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act]( "Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act") The twins unbuckled their booster seats, extricated themselves from the wreckage and climbed 200 feet up an embankment back to the main road.
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| One of the world's largest basic-income trials, a 2-year program in Finland, was a major flop. But experts say the test was flawed. Posted: 08 Dec 2019 05:51 AM PST  Two years after Finland launched a basic-income trial for unemployed residents, many of the recipients remained jobless.
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| Heads of U.S. Business Group in Hong Kong Denied Entry to Macau Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:13 AM PST  A U.S. bill supporting protests in Hong Kong has increased tensions with China
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| Netanyahu Calls for Direct Vote If Israel’s Coalition Talks Fail Posted: 07 Dec 2019 12:56 PM PST ![Netanyahu Calls for Direct Vote If Israel's Coalition Talks Fail]( "Netanyahu Calls for Direct Vote If Israel's Coalition Talks Fail") (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israelis should elect the next government leader directly if lawmakers fail to end the country's political impasse.Israel's parliament has until midnight Wednesday to establish a governing coalition and stave off a third election in less than a year. Caretaker governments have been in charge since December, after two inconclusive elections ended with both Netanyahu and chief rival Benny Gantz failing to garner enough support for a parliamentary majority.Polls suggest that another election would produce similar results. Israel last held a direct vote for prime minister in 2001, scrapping the system after it proved ineffective in stabilizing governments.While Netanyahu's Likud and Gantz's Blue and White bloc have enough seats to form a majority government, Netanyahu's legal troubles have complicated any power sharing between the two.Netanyahu has insisted on serving first as prime minister, for what Blue and White alleges may be an attempt to change Israeli law and obtain immunity from his three corruption cases. Gantz has argued that Netanyahu must step aside once summoned to court."Blue and White always says that it presumes to know what the country wants," Netanyahu said in video on Twitter. "So I say something simple: Let the nation decide."Polls show that Netanyahu is the most popular candidate for prime minister, though Gantz has been closing the gap. A popular mandate to lead the country would give Netanyahu an edge in coalition talks. Even then, he wouldn't have enough parliamentary seats to build a government and avoid yet another vote."We're engaged in efforts to avoid costly and unnecessary elections, and not with empty spin," a spokeswoman for Blue and White said in a statement. "Changing the election system in a blitz is only going to bring us back to exactly the same place we are in today."To contact the reporter on this story: Yaacov Benmeleh in Tel Aviv at ybenmeleh@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka, Alistair BarrFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| TV crew laugh at Ted Cruz in live interview after he endorses Trump's baseless conspiracy theory Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:53 AM PST  Ted Cruz was laughed at by a TV crew during a live interview after he endorsed Donald Trump's baseless conspiracy theory about Ukraine.The Texas senator, who challenged Mr Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2016, was mocked for saying he believed there was "considerable evidence" that Ukraine meddled in the most recent presidential election.
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| U.S. Supreme Court rejects Arizona opioid case against Purdue, Sackler family Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:51 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a novel case by Arizona seeking to recover billions of dollars that the state has said that members of the Sackler family - owners of Purdue Pharma LP - funneled out of the OxyContin maker before the company filed for bankruptcy in September. The justices declined to take the rare step of allowing Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to pursue a case directly with the Supreme Court on the role the drugmaker played in the U.S. opioid epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years. The lawsuit accused eight Sackler family members of funneling $4 billion out of Purdue from 2008 to 2016 despite being aware that the company faced massive potential liabilities over its marketing of opioid medications.
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| Trilateral Troubles: Is America Ready for China's Latest Geopolitical Tricks? Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:00 AM PST  A new trilateral exercise with South Africa may be a sign of coming attractions, but the United States should not overreact.
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| French murder suspect emerges from coma after swallowing poison Posted: 07 Dec 2019 10:39 AM PST  The suspect for the rape and murder of a young woman in northern France almost two decades ago was slowly emerging from a coma while under guard in hospital Saturday after he swallowed pesticide in an apparent suicide bid following his conviction. Willy Bardon, on trial over the murder of Elodie Kulik in 2002 in a case that has attracted strong interest in France for years, ingested the substance at the courthouse in the northern city of Amiens late on Friday. Bardon, 45, is under round-the-clock police surveillance in hospital.
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| Wisconsin Guard leader to make changes after assault probe Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:32 AM PST  The head of the Wisconsin National Guard said Monday that he intends to implement all recommendations made following an investigation into multiple reports of sexual assault and harassment. Major General Don Dunbar was briefed Saturday on the probe by the National Guard Bureau's Office of Complex Investigations. "We intend to implement all of the recommendations," Dunbar said.
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| Boeing is promising 3 fixes to the faulty autopilot behind the 737 Max crashes to let pilots stop it forcing the plane into an unstoppable nose-dive Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:12 AM PST  The faulty MCAS software, which was designed to push the plane's nose down to stabilize the jet, was a key factor in both 737 Max crashes.
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| Former Australian PM, Bob Hawke, pleaded with daughter not to report alleged rape by political ally to police Posted: 08 Dec 2019 12:50 PM PST  Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke pleaded with his daughter not to report being raped by a Labor MP fearing the case could damage his political career, it is claimed in court documents. The allegations against Mr Hawke, who died in May aged 89, have been made by his second daughter Rosslyn Dillon, 59, in a legal claim against her father's estate. Ms Dillon is seeking 4 million Australian dollars (£2 million) from her father's $18 million estate, rather than the $750,000 she was left. In a 25-page affidavit lodged at the New South Wales Supreme Court and reported by The New Daily, she claims she was raped by Bill Landeryou, a Labor MP and close ally of Mr Hawke, who died in February aged 77. Ms Dillon alleges she was sexually assaulted three times: at a Hilton hotel, in parliament and at the MP's home. "These instances of sexual assault occurred during a period when, to my knowledge, my father was preparing to challenge the current Leader of the Opposition for the role of Leader of the Australian Labor Party," she alleges in the affidavit. She confronted her father, who was soon to become Australian Prime Minister, with the allegations at the family home. Mr Hawke replied: "You can't go to the police. You can't. I can't have any controversies right now. I am sorry but I am challenging for the leadership of the Labor Party." Ms Dillon says she was "shocked and hurt" by her father's request. "He asked me to let the matter go for him and I did so for him. "I am still haunted by the sexual assaults. I feel that I may have had a chance to get over these rapes if I was able to report the incidents to police." Ms Dillon says her share of the estate is inadequate given the impact the sexual assaults had on her mental health. Her older sister, Sue Pieters-Hawke, has confirmed Ms Dillon did tell her about the assaults. Mr Hawke did succeed in securing the party leadership and led Labor to four election victories in succession.
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| Milo, the cat who went missing at Dulles airport in October, is reunited with owner Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:09 AM PST ![Milo, the cat who went missing at Dulles airport in October, is reunited with owner]( "Milo, the cat who went missing at Dulles airport in October, is reunited with owner") "Guess who's home for the holidays!" wrote Molly McFadden, who has been reunited with Milo the cat, who went missing at Dulles Airport in October.
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| U.S. planned to separate 26,000 migrant families in 2018 Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:50 PM PST  The estimate was revealed by a watchdog report, which also found the U.S. can't calculate how many families it separated due to unreliable data.
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| Pete Buttigieg asked if taking big money out of politics includes not taking money from billionaires, he responds: 'No' Posted: 09 Dec 2019 03:18 AM PST  Pete Buttigieg implied that he would take money off billionaires and closed-door fundraisers during a terse exchange with a student activist, amid growing criticism of the Democratic candidate's fundraising strategy.The 2020 presidential candidate has come under scrutiny for his decision to take money from wealthy donors after a number of Democrats have pledged to take "big money" out of politics.
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| U.S. Supreme Court rejects inmate's bid for sex reassignment surgery Posted: 09 Dec 2019 07:56 AM PST ![U.S. Supreme Court rejects inmate's bid for sex reassignment surgery]( "U.S. Supreme Court rejects inmate's bid for sex reassignment surgery") The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by a convicted murderer who filed a civil rights lawsuit because Texas prison officials denied her request to be considered for gender reassignment surgery. The justices let stand a lower court's decision to reject the claim by inmate Vanessa Lynn Gibson that denying the surgery request violated the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Gibson, 41, who is transgender and also goes by the name Scott in court papers, was assigned male at birth and has lived as a female since age 15.
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| How A Dangerous Court Ruling Could Give China The Lead In 5G Technology Posted: 07 Dec 2019 02:00 PM PST  And permanently impair U.S. security.
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| Sweden to prosecute ex-China envoy over Gui meetings Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:07 AM PST  Sweden's former envoy to Beijing is to go on trial for overstepping her duties by trying to negotiate the release of a Chinese-Swedish dissident held in China, prosecutors in Stockholm said Monday. Anna Lindstedt is accused of brokering an unauthorised meeting during her time as ambassador to get publisher Gui Minhai freed, a statement from the prosecutor's office said. Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish citizen known for publishing gossipy titles about Chinese political leaders out of a Hong Kong book shop, disappeared while vacationing in Thailand in 2015 before resurfacing in mainland China.
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| Flu season arrives early, driven by an unexpected virus Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:20 AM PST  The winter flu season is off to its earliest start in more than 15 years. An early wave of illness in the South has begun to spread more broadly, and there's a chance flu season could peak much earlier than normal, health officials say.
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| North Dakota county may become US's 1st to bar new refugees Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:53 AM PST  Reuben Panchol was forced to leave war-torn Sudan decades ago as a child, embarking on an odyssey that eventually brought him to the American Midwest and left him eternally grateful to the country that took him in. "I am an American citizen, a North Dakotan," said Panchol, a 38-year-old father of four. If they vote to bar refugees, as expected, Burleigh County — home to about 95,000 people and the capital city of Bismarck — could become the first local government to do so since President Donald Trump issued an executive order making it possible.
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| Hard Rock Hotel collapse reminds New Orleans of undocumented workers' plight Posted: 08 Dec 2019 01:01 AM PST  Undocumented workers who rebuilt the city after Hurricane Katrina remain unrecognized and have seen their home become hostileThe sight of the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel is impossible to escape on the busy Canal Street corridor downtown. Slabs of broken gray concrete form a frozen landslide 18 stories above the ground, and the arm of a massive crane stands almost upright after a botched removal effort left it embedded in the sidewalk below.Nearly three months after the deadly collapse, the bodies of two victims – José Ponce Arreola, from Mexico, and Quinnyon Wimberly, from New Orleans – still remain inside the wreckage. After Delmer Joel Ramírez Palma was deported just days after Thanksgiving, the Hard Rock ruins serve as a stunning visual reminder of the precarious situation of undocumented workers who hold a unique place in the history of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Having helped rebuild New Orleans and much of the surrounding region after the hurricane, they now face being hounded out of the place many of them call home.Ramírez Palma, an undocumented construction worker at the Hard Rock, had tried to warn supervisors of construction safety concerns but was ordered to ignore the issues, according to his lawyers and family. Two days after being seriously injured in the collapse, he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and subsequently deported to Honduras, against the protests of immigration advocates and the head of a state labor agency. He had lived in New Orleans for 18 years.For many New Orleanians, the treatment of Ramírez Palma was both a stinging rebuff to the contributions of undocumented immigrants in New Orleans over the years, and yet another example in a long history of Latinx worker abuse in the city."It's just unconscionable. It's unreal how evil sometimes their policies are," Salvador Longoria, executive director of Puentes New Orleans, said of Ice's decision to deport the Honduran father of three.Longoria co-founded Puentes, a local Latinx advocacy not-for-profit, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help support and assimilate the thousands of workers who came to New Orleans to rebuild the city after it was flooded by a massive levee failure.In the New Orleans area, undocumented families have had to change the way they live in Ice's shadow, Longoria said.He knows of families that limit their outings to work and the grocery store, and of children who have memorized a plan of action, including who to call to post bail, in case their parents do not return home after work."They're dealing with real dystopian scenarios," said Longoria. "After the raids and after the detention of so many other people, that's what they're living with every day and it really is a constant fear and tension about what could happen," he said.Within the last six months his organization received an uptick in requests for "Know Your Rights" training from undocumented communities in neighborhoods across New Orleans to help protect themselves in case of an encounter with Ice.> Latinx workers, many undocumented, were a pivotal force in the city's post-Katrina recovery.Latinx workers, many undocumented, were a pivotal force in the city's post-Katrina recovery. A 2006 academic study found about half of the reconstruction workforce was Latinx, and about half of that group was undocumented. The majority of Latinx workers relocated to New Orleans from other areas of the United States."So many of the people that were gutting the moldy buildings, and tearing walls down and doing the dirty work that has to be done in mold-infested houses were Latino workers," said Longoria. "[They] without a doubt, reconstructed and rebuilt New Orleans."In an effort to speed up construction after the storm, the federal government suspended enforcement of employee eligibility checks by employers and certain workplace protection measures.The result was widespread worker exploitation."There was wage theft, there was underpayment of wages, there was abuse of the employees," said Longoria.Reports from 2015 found day laborers were still waiting to get paid for post-Katrina work a decade after the storm.Many leading advocacy groups in the city – like the Congress of Day Laborers, an immigrant-led activism group affiliated with the New Orleans Center for Racial Justice – were created as a response to the rampant abuse of Latinx workers in the wake of the storm.Post-Katrina, the Latinx community developed a strong and growing presence in New Orleans. Since 2010, the Hispanic population has grown by 24%, outpacing 7% total growth in the metro area, according to the latest statistics from the New Orleans Data Center. Most of the area's 114,000 Latinxs reside in the suburban areas of Jefferson Parish, outside New Orleans, and Hondurans represent about a third of the Latinx population in the area.While Ice maintained a steady rate of deportations under President Obama, the current administration's increasingly aggressive crackdown on immigration and asylum seekers has cast a new level of fear among Latinxs in New Orleans, like so many other cities and towns across the US.Louisiana has also recently emerged as a new hub of migrant detention. Over the past year, Ice has expanded its network of detention centers across the state with eight new facilities, all former state prisons and local jails.As of today, 7,513 people, or 17% of the 44,538 national detainees, are being held in Ice custody in Louisiana, according to an agency official.While Louisiana's converted jails are also housing detainees from out of state, the sharp rise in detention capacity and remote locations of the new facilities has alarmed local undocumented workers and immigration advocates.Bruce Hamilton, staff attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana, said he drives up to five hours to reach clients detained in Ice facilities across the state.Remote detention centers add yet another layer of difficulty to an already complicated immigration system and has a tangible impact on the outcomes of asylum cases, lawyers and advocates say."[Asylum-seekers] are very much cut off from the resources that could help you with asylum," said Hamilton. "You don't have access to your papers, if they're in the care and custody of your family. You don't have access necessarily to an attorney. And you may have very limited access to the internet or to a law library."> Asylum-seekers are very much cut off from the resources that could help you with asylum.> > Bruce HamiltonA spate of controversial cases in Louisiana this year – including the detention and deportation of Yoel Alono Leal, a Cuban man with cancer, and the suicide of another Cuban, Roylan Hernández-Díaz, while in a private Ice detention facility – have prompted popular outcry against Ice policies.The ACLU is pushing Ice to stop the use of solitary confinement in detention centers and grant bonds and parole for asylum seekers on humanitarian grounds. Granting of parole requests has dropped precipitously among certain Ice field offices, from more than 90% in 2011-2013 to 4% in February-September 2017, according to an ACLU lawsuit.Ice officials did not respond to a question on parole denials but said in an email statement: "Bond decisions are based on an alien's flight risk, and the potential threat to public safety. Each case is reviewed individually, taking into account factors like immigration history, criminal history and community ties."While New Orleans keeps a sanctuary city policy that prevents local police from aiding Ice, in suburban municipalities – where the Latinx population is concentrated – offer no such protections for the undocumented.Still, New Orleans, which exists in the mainstream imagination along a black/white racial binary, isn't immune to anti-Latino sentiment, says Longoria.His family emigrated to New Orleans from Cuba when he was four years old, and he noted that even while most New Orleanians are accepting of the Latinx community, he still perceives a gradual shift in racial anxieties."I grew up here and I never felt a tension about my Latino identity and my assimilation in the city. But, as the years have gone on, when certain people see the number of Latinos increasing … they feel that for some reason or another their way of life is threatened."Longoria still takes the long view: "I hope that most New Orleanians realize that, you know, Latinos have actually been here since the city was founded," he said. "And it's just a new phase of that history that has always existed in New Orleans."
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| Tesla on Autopilot crashes into parked police car Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:45 AM PST  Yet another Tesla on Autopilot was involved in a crash, this time with a parked police car that was assisting a driver with a disabled vehicle.
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| Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France meet for much-anticipated talks for eastern Ukraine Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:56 AM PST  The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are meeting on Monday to discuss a peace settlement for Ukraine's war-ravaged east for the first time in more than three years. Monday's summit in Paris is also the first time that Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom many in Ukraine hold personally responsible for the hostilities in the east. Mr Zelenskiy was elected in April this year and declared putting an end to the protracted armed conflict in the Donbass region one of his priorities. Just a few months into his presidency, Mr Zelenskiy negotiated a major prisoner swap with Mr Putin, which offered hopes for a breakthrough for the long-simmering conflict. Fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's industrial heartland has claimed more than 13,000 lives and displaced over a million people since it began in April 2014 following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. French President Emmanuel Macron (R) welcomes Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy Credit: AFP Ukraine, Russia and the separatists with the mediation of Germany and France signed peace accords in 2015, committing to a cease-fire and political settlement. Although the fighting did die down, the political settlement never fully materialised and large swathes of eastern Ukraine remain under separatist control. Mr Zelenskiy, a popular comedian who won the presidential vote by a landslide, comes into the talks in a weakened position after his country was dragged into an impeachment inquiry in the United States following a whistleblower complaint that US President Donald Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure Kiev into investigating a political rival. Mr Zelenskiy in the early months of his presidency tried to secure a White House meeting ahead of talks with Mr Putin but as the impeachment inquiry has showed, US officials instead approached his administration about looking into the work of Democratic candidate Joe Biden's son in Ukraine. Mr Zelenskiy had a brief meeting with Mr Trump at the UN General Assembly in September but never had the full-format talks he had hoped for. Although opinion polls show that most Ukrainians favour a peaceful solution to the conflict in the east, many in Ukraine are worried that Mr Zelenskiy, a political novice compared to Mr Putin, would find himself making unpalatable concessions to Russia. Several thousand people rallied in the capital Kyiv on Sunday to press the president against what some fear might be tantamount to "capitulation" to Russia. Some activists pitched tents outside the presidential administration in Kyiv overnight in a warning to the Ukrainian leader ahead of the talks.
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| Passenger stung by scorpion which fell out of her trousers during United Airlines flight Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:26 AM PST  A woman was stung by a scorpion which climbed up her trouser leg during a United Airlines flight.The passenger was attacked by the eight-legged arachnid while travelling from San Francisco to Atlanta.
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| Shooting in the dark; Afghanistan's endless war pits brother against brother Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:42 AM PST ![Shooting in the dark; Afghanistan's endless war pits brother against brother]( "Shooting in the dark; Afghanistan's endless war pits brother against brother") The 19-year-old Taliban deserter is haunted by the memory of the attack on a police checkpoint in northern Afghanistan in August. Kneeling in the blood-soaked sand of the bunker as he and his comrades checked the bodies for weapons and ammunition, the young militant made a terrible discovery – one of the dead men was his elder brother. Now hiding in Kunduz district, fearing reprisals by the Taliban for deserting, the young man and his father told their harrowing story on condition of anonymity.
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| Meet the "Blue Magpie": Taiwan's New Domestically-Made Fighter? Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:40 AM PST  Here's what we know.
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| 2020 election crucial for US to catch up on climate action Posted: 09 Dec 2019 07:21 AM PST  A significant expansion of state, city, and business climate action could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by up to 37 percent by 2030 over 2005 levels even without federal support, according to projections published Monday. The figures were compiled by America's Pledge, a group founded in 2017 and financed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who last month announced he was running to be the Democratic candidate for the 2020 US presidential election. Climate change experts quoted in the report, from the University of Maryland and the Rocky Mountain Institute, estimate the US is presently set to reduce emissions by 25 percent by 2030 if sub-federal climate ambitions remain at their current levels.
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