| Who's who in Joe Biden's inner circle Posted: 13 Oct 2020 09:02 AM PDT  If you're wondering what a new president is going to focus on, it's a good idea to take a look at the people who will make policy judgments on a day-to-day basis.
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| No phone, abandoned car, pleas for public help: California woman missing at Zion National Park in Utah Posted: 14 Oct 2020 06:38 AM PDT  A press conference on Tuesday afternoon led to more information released to the public on the disappearance of Holly Courtier in Zion National Park.
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| Eric Trump cancels trip to Michigan gun store after former employee allegedly plotted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer Posted: 13 Oct 2020 07:33 AM PDT  Huron Valley Guns says the employee was fired after showing up to work in 'a LOT of tactical gear'
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| Amy Coney Barrett apologizes after a Democratic senator called her out for using the 'offensive and outdated' term 'sexual preference' to refer to LGBTQ people Posted: 13 Oct 2020 03:14 PM PDT  "I certainly didn't mean and would never mean to use a term that would cause any offense in the LGBTQ community," Barrett said.
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| St. Louis couple who waved guns at protest plead not guilty Posted: 14 Oct 2020 07:27 AM PDT  A St. Louis couple celebrated in some circles and vilified in others for waving guns at protesters marching on their private street pleaded not guilty to two felony charges at a brief hearing Wednesday. Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who are both attorneys in their early 60s, were indicted by a St. Louis grand jury last week on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner originally filed the weapons charge in July.
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| Palestinian, Israeli rights groups fear for life of Palestinian hunger striker Posted: 13 Oct 2020 06:15 AM PDT |
| Alaska mayor to resign after TV news anchor posts what she says is partially nude photo of him Posted: 13 Oct 2020 08:16 PM PDT  The resignation comes after Ethan Berkowitz, who was first elected in 2015, acknowledged an "inappropriate messaging relationship."
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| Trump's new pitch to voters: Blue states are 'going to hell' Posted: 12 Oct 2020 11:39 AM PDT  Trailing badly in new polls, President Trump tried out an audacious new appeal to voters during his epic live tweeting of Supreme Court confirmation hearings fo Amy Coney Barrett.
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| 'Do you think it was a deer or something?': South Dakota officials release 911 audio from AG Jason Ravnsborg's fatal crash Posted: 13 Oct 2020 06:52 PM PDT  Gov. Kristi Noem has promised full transparency to the public, including the release of the 911 call, dash cam footage and the investigation report.
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| Pelosi calls CNN's Blitzer an 'apologist' for the GOP in heated exchange over stimulus bill Posted: 13 Oct 2020 04:05 PM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accused CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer of being "an apologist" for Republicans as the two parties seek the upper hand in negotiations over a new round of stimulus to aid Americans suffering economic hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| How the FBI uncovered Russian spies posing as suburban Americans Posted: 13 Oct 2020 11:43 AM PDT  The agents were observed secretly meeting, passing cash, and hiding encrypted messages online
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| 'On brink of disaster': shaken Europe overtakes U.S. in virus surge Posted: 14 Oct 2020 03:35 AM PDT  European nations are closing schools, cancelling operations and enlisting legions of student medics as overwhelmed authorities face the nightmare scenario of a COVID-19 resurgence at the onset of winter. With new cases hitting about 100,000 a day, Europe has by a wide margin overtaken the United States, where more than 51,000 COVID-19 infections are reported on average every day. Most European governments eased lockdowns over the summer to start reviving economies already battered by the pandemic's first wave.
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| Biggest World War Two bomb found in Poland explodes while Navy defuses it Posted: 13 Oct 2020 04:16 PM PDT  The biggest World War Two bomb ever found in Poland exploded under water on Tuesday as navy divers tried to defuse it.
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| Covid-19: Protests as Argentina's cases pass 900,000 Posted: 13 Oct 2020 04:19 AM PDT  Anger grows over the handling of the crisis and the economic effect of lockdowns.
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| Militias targeting Michigan and Virginia governors show rise of 'boogaloo' violence Posted: 14 Oct 2020 08:25 AM PDT  Recent arrests stemming from an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offer an example of the growing — and increasingly violent — antigovernment faction of the "boogaloo" movement.
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| Yahoo News/YouGov poll: As opposition to Trump's pandemic approach grows, most voters want Senate to pass stimulus before considering Amy Coney Barrett Posted: 12 Oct 2020 12:53 PM PDT  As the Senate begins confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, two-thirds of voters say Congress should focus instead on passing more COVID-19 relief for struggling workers and businesses.
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| GOP Navy vet running against Maxine Waters explains viral ad exposing her mansion Posted: 14 Oct 2020 04:21 AM PDT  Joe Collins, Republican California congressional candidate running against Maxine Waters, weighs in on viral ad.
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| Hawaii vacations become a lot easier Thursday, but are tourists really welcome? Posted: 13 Oct 2020 02:34 PM PDT  OK, so you're willing to stare down the coronavirus and travel to Hawaii, but know the restrictions and rules on the islands before you go.
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| Sweet 16 party turns ’superspreader’ event — 37 positive for COVID, NY officials say Posted: 14 Oct 2020 07:23 AM PDT  The venue was slapped with a $12,000 fine.
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| Saudi Arabia presides over G-20 interfaith forum Posted: 13 Oct 2020 09:24 AM PDT |
| Germany warns Turkey against "provocation" in eastern Mediterranean Posted: 12 Oct 2020 10:44 PM PDT  Turkey should refrain from provocation in a gas dispute in the eastern Mediterranean, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday, adding Germany stood in solidarity with Cyprus and Greece as EU partners. "Ankara must end the interplay between detente and provocation if the government is interested in talks - as it has repeatedly affirmed," Maas said in Berlin before his flight to Cyprus and Greece.
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| Wisconsin hits record number of coronavirus cases and deaths after Republicans try to overturn mask mandate Posted: 13 Oct 2020 05:38 PM PDT  Wisconsin has become a hotspot for Covid-19 cases in the US, and the new numbers are sobering
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| BTS in trouble in China over Korean War comments Posted: 12 Oct 2020 07:41 PM PDT  Chinese social media users vent anger over a speech singer RM made while accepting an award.
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| A man who lives alone in an airplane hangar in a Utah ghost town has found the ultimate escape Posted: 13 Oct 2020 12:08 PM PDT  Ivo Zdarsky has been living alone in an airplane hangar in the abandoned town of Lucin, Utah, since 2007, social distancing before that was a thing.
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| Republicans win court battles as they go after drop boxes in key states Posted: 14 Oct 2020 08:29 AM PDT  Federal judges in the last week have upheld moves by Republicans in Texas and Ohio to limit drop boxes in their states, reversing lower court rulings that would have given voters more options for returning a mail ballot in person before Election Day.
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| Megan Thee Stallion says Black women are 'expected once again to deliver' an election win for Democrats but are still 'constantly disrespected and disregarded' Posted: 13 Oct 2020 01:33 PM PDT  The rapper wrote in the NYT about being subjected to "violence" by musician Tory Lanez as well as her SNL debut criticizing Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron.
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| Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of killing 2 people during Wisconsin protests, won't face charges in Illinois, his home state Posted: 13 Oct 2020 09:31 PM PDT  Illinois police found Rittenhouse committed no crimes there. It was unclear whether someone else possessed the gun in Illinois, or where it is now.
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| Live army shooting exercise halted after migrants crossing Channel run on to firing range Posted: 14 Oct 2020 04:37 AM PDT  A Ministry of Defence shooting range was forced to suspend a live firing drill after a group of suspected migrants landed a boat inside a restricted area and ran onto the site. A reservist unit of British soldiers was shooting at Lydd Ranges, near Dungeness, when a spotter saw a powerful speedboat heading towards shore, having crossed the Channel early on Wednesday morning. A "check fire" was called, but the boat made landfall inside the designated "danger area" and a group of 16 people ran inland. Police and immigration officials were called to the scene and it is understood that all the migrants were located shortly after. Lydd Ranges have been used for military training for over 150 years with a "danger area" extending out to sea. Red flags are flown in periods of live firing and were on display on Wednesday morning. The landing will raise serious questions for Home Office officials because the boat on which the group travelled was fitted with a 300bhp engine which costs £20,000 on its own.
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| Mexico City marks Columbus Day without statue of Columbus Posted: 12 Oct 2020 01:56 PM PDT  Mexicans have never had much affection for Cristopher Columbus, and officials were being coy about why his statue was removed from the capital's main boulevard over the weekend before Monday's observances of Columbus Day, which saw protests in several Latin American nations. Unlike in other cities where monuments to the 15th century explorer have been toppled by protesters, in Mexico City the 19th century bronze statue was gently lifted off its pedestal with a crane and taken away for restoration. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said it was just a coincidence it was removed just before the anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas — known in the Spanish-speaking world as "Día de la Raza."
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| Turkey issues detention warrants for 167 over suspected Gulen links: media Posted: 12 Oct 2020 09:31 PM PDT  Turkish police detained dozens of people on Tuesday in a search for 167 suspects, many of them active duty soldiers, in a move against supporters of a Muslim preacher the government accuses of organising a failed coup in 2016, state media reported. The detentions were the latest in a four-year-old crackdown targeting the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Authorities launched an operation from the coastal province of Izmir in search of 110 suspects, including 16 pilots, colonels, and lieutenant colonels, across 26 provinces, broadcaster TRT Haber said.
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| NZ election: The people left behind in Ardern's 'kind' New Zealand Posted: 14 Oct 2020 04:46 AM PDT  Critics say Jacinda Ardern has not done enough to combat child poverty as she seeks another term.
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| The Billionaire Who Stood by Jeffrey Epstein Posted: 12 Oct 2020 11:41 AM PDT  Billionaire financier Leon Black, one of Wall Street's most powerful executives, was facing questions from clients after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested last year on federal sex trafficking charges. The two men had known each other for decades, and investors of Black's investment company, Apollo Global Management, wanted to know how close they had been.Such questions were valid, Black said, according to a transcript of a call with analysts in July 2019. He said in a letter that same day to investors that he had had a "limited relationship" with Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and had consulted him "from time to time" on personal financial matters.But their connection was deeper than Black let on: The two men often socialized and dined together, and Black was a lucrative client for Epstein over the final decade of his life.Black wired Epstein at least $50 million in the years after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with four people with knowledge of the transactions. The transfers included $10 million to a foundation started by Epstein and consulting fees that were sufficiently unusual to draw scrutiny from Deutsche Bank, where Epstein kept his accounts. Two of the people said the total amount sent by Black to Epstein could be as high as $75 million.It was not clear what kind of services Epstein provided to Black, whose $9 billion fortune can buy him access to the best lawyers and accountants in the world. Epstein, though he styled himself as a "financial doctor" to wealthy clients, was a college dropout who had worked on Wall Street for just a few years, demonstrated no great skill as an investor, and had no formal training in tax and estate planning."Mr. Black received personal trusts and estates planning advice as well as family office philanthropy and investment services from several financial and legal advisers, including Mr. Epstein, during a six-year period, between 2012 and 2017," said Stephanie Pillersdorf, a spokeswoman for Black. "The trusts and estate planning advice was vetted by leading auditors and law firms."The business relationship ended in 2018 because of a "fee dispute," and Black stopped communicating with Epstein, she said."Mr. Black continues to be appalled by the conduct that led to the criminal charges against Mr. Epstein, and he deeply regrets having any involvement with him," Pillersdorf said.She added that Epstein did not do any work for Apollo, whose investors include some of the biggest public pensions in the country, large sovereign wealth funds and private foundations.The fees from Black help explain a mystery about Epstein's wealth: how a man who left behind an estate worth more than $600 million made money in the years after his most lucrative client, billionaire retail magnate Leslie H. Wexner, cut him off.Some of the payments from Black are described in an internal report by Deutsche Bank, which served as Epstein's primary banker from 2013 into 2019. The report was provided to regulators who fined the German bank over the summer for its failure to catch numerous red flags in Epstein's financial activities.Portions of the report reviewed by The New York Times describe a payment of $22.5 million in 2017 by a company called BV70 LLC, which the bank said owned Black's yacht, to Plan D, the company that managed Epstein's Gulfstream jet. When an employee in Deutsche Bank's anti-financial-crime division inquired about the payment, she was told by another bank employee that it was a fee for consulting services provided by Southern Trust Co., one of the dozens of entities Epstein operated in the Virgin Islands. There was no explanation for why the payment went to Plan D.The Deutsche Bank report also shows that BV70 made a $10 million donation in 2015 to a charitable foundation started by Epstein, Gratitude America, which made several million dollars in grants while Epstein was casting himself as a philanthropist. BV70 also planned to make another payment of $10 million to Epstein for advisory work, according to the report, although it was unclear if that payment was ever made.And in 2014, Epstein received several million dollars in fees from Narrows Holdings, a company that Black -- the chairman of the Museum of Modern Art -- has used to purchase much of his billion-dollar art collection, according to two of the people with knowledge of the transactions. The details of the services Epstein provided in exchange for those fees are also unclear.Epstein portrayed himself as a financial guru to the wealthy, although for many years his chief client was Wexner, founder of L Brands, which owns Victoria's Secret. Epstein was first publicly accused of engaging in sex with underage girls in 2006, and Wexner said he cut ties with Epstein at the end of the following year. (Wexner said last year that Epstein had misappropriated "vast sums" from him; Epstein had returned at least $100 million to Wexner, The Times has reported.)In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to a state prostitution charge with a minor and served 13 months in a state jail as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors -- an arrangement that was kept confidential at the time. He kept a low profile for the next decade, but after an investigation by The Miami Herald drew attention to his plea deal, federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking in July 2019. His death the next month in a Manhattan jail cell was ruled a suicide.Black knew Epstein for decades -- in 1997 he made Epstein one of the original trustees of what is today called the Debra and Leon Black Foundation -- and was among the high-profile figures who maintained ties with him following his prostitution arrest. They included Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder; Lawrence Summers, the former president of Harvard; James E. Staley, now the chief executive of Barclays; and hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin and his wife, Eva.Epstein frequently hosted Black at his New York mansion, usually meeting him for breakfast or lunch, according to four people familiar with their relationship. In 2012, while on a family vacation in the Caribbean, Black traveled by yacht to attend a cookout at Epstein's private island residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands, two of the people said.In 2011, Epstein's financial advisory firm -- Financial Trust -- joined Black and members of his family in investing in a small emissions control company, Environmental Solutions Worldwide, where two of Black's sons serve as board members. The company did not respond to requests for comment.According to an archived version of one of Epstein's websites, the men visited Black's alma mater, Harvard, together. Although the university stopped accepting gifts from Epstein after his 2008 plea, according to a report by the university, Black had given at least $5 million to professors, and Epstein's staff members had "played a role in facilitating the Black donations."Business records from the Virgin Islands reviewed by The Times last year show how Epstein's business suffered following his 2008 case. The conviction coincided with the fallout from the financial crisis, which cost Financial Trust $150 million. The company took in just $200,000 in fee income from 2008 to 2012 before closing down that year, the records show.The same year, Epstein established a new business, Southern Trust Co., which he told territorial officials was primarily a DNA data-mining and genetic research provider with a "financial arm." There's little evidence the company -- which had no scientists on its nine-member staff -- ever did any research.Southern Trust collected more than $180 million in fees between 2013 and 2017. (In 2018, the year Black said he cut ties with Epstein, Southern Trust reported no fee income.)The attorney general of the Virgin Islands, Denise N. George, filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit against Epstein's estate this year, claiming that Epstein had deceived officials to get Southern Trust a lucrative tax break and used his island retreat to engage in sex trafficking. George's offices said in court filings that she intended to serve subpoenas on Black and several of his business entities. (George has said she intends to serve a subpoena on Dubin as well.)Black's representatives have been gathering documents to hand over to the attorney general's office. Black was prepared to cooperate with George's request, Pillersdorf said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Trump presses attack on Fauci in dispute over campaign ad Posted: 13 Oct 2020 07:12 AM PDT  The nation's leading expert in infectious diseases has asked for a video that takes his words out of context to be removed.
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| Apple has now officially discontinued 4 older iPhones in 2020 — here are the devices that are gone for good Posted: 13 Oct 2020 02:06 PM PDT  With the launch of the iPhone 12, two more older iPhone models have been sent to the Apple graveyard.
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| Mitch McConnell and Amy McGrath spar over Supreme Court, COVID-19 aid, police reform in Monday debate Posted: 13 Oct 2020 03:49 AM PDT  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Amy McGrath sparred over the Supreme Court and COVID-19 in a Monday debate.
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| He posted fish photos from his Keys vacation. Then he went to jail Posted: 13 Oct 2020 02:49 PM PDT  A North Florida man came to the Florida Keys in August and fished, chronicling his vacation by posting videos and photos on his Facebook page.
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| China FM calls US Indo-Pacific strategy a huge security risk Posted: 13 Oct 2020 02:25 AM PDT  The United States poses a "huge security risk" to Asia by pushing to boost engagement with the region, China's foreign minister said Tuesday during a tour of Southeast Asia, where Beijing and Washington are locked in a battle for influence. Speaking in Malaysia, Wang Yi said the U.S.'s real aim is "to build an Indo-Pacific NATO," in a strategy he said harkened back to the Cold War.
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| EU travellers could avoid quarantine under plans for COVID-19 testing regime: The Telegraph Posted: 12 Oct 2020 01:49 PM PDT  The European Commission wants testing to be the "preferred" alternative to quarantine for travellers and has commissioned health experts to develop protocols, the report https://bit.ly/3doSz0O said. Plans will also require "mutual recognition" of COVID-19 tests by countries which would enable business travellers or holiday makers arriving in a country to reduce or sidestep quarantine by presenting a medical certificate showing a negative coronavirus result, according to the newspaper.
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| Democrat Gary Peters becomes first sitting senator to share his family's abortion experience Posted: 12 Oct 2020 11:56 AM PDT  "This is a pivotal moment for reproductive freedom."
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| Trump, downplaying risk, says he's ready to 'kiss everyone' at his first campaign trail rally since COVID-19 diagnosis Posted: 12 Oct 2020 06:17 PM PDT  President Trump in his return to the campaign trail in Florida on Monday evening boasted he has recovered from COVID-19 and is impervious to the disease that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.
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| Don’t write off Big Oil: The geopolitics of energy and security Posted: 13 Oct 2020 04:28 AM PDT |
| Never talked to WH about Obamacare case: Barrett Posted: 13 Oct 2020 09:39 AM PDT 
Barrett, a conservative federal appellate judge, answered questions from senators for the first time on the second day of her Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. It gave Barrett a chance to respond to Democrats who have opposed her because of her potential as a justice to undermine the 2010 healthcare law and its protection for patients with pre-existing conditions. Barrett declined to say whether she would consider stepping aside, as Democrats have requested, from an Obamacare case due to be argued at the court a week after Election Day in which Trump and Republican-led states are seeking to invalidate the law formally called the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Barrett noted that the new case centers upon a different legal issue than two previous Supreme Court rulings that upheld Obamacare, which she had criticized. Barrett declined to say how she would approach the new case, but said, "I am not hostile to the ACA." Barrett also said the White House did not seek her assurance that she would vote to strike down the law. "Absolutely not. I was never asked - and if I had, that would have been a short conversation," Barrett said.
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| Drunken groin shooting and bar fight have nearly half a Wisconsin police force on leave Posted: 13 Oct 2020 05:25 PM PDT  A Wisconsin police department has relied on other agencies while its officers are on leave.
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