| Trump loyalist accused of being president’s ‘eyes and ears’ after crashing closed-door impeachment hearing Posted: 14 Oct 2019 06:09 PM PDT  A loyal supporter of Donald Trump has been removed from a closed-door impeachment hearing after House officials ruled he had no right to be there.Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman from Florida, had attempted to crash a meeting put together by the House intelligence, foreign affairs and oversight committees — the official congressional panels spearheading an impeachment inquiry into the president.
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| British paedophile who operated in Malaysia, Cambodia found dead in prison Posted: 14 Oct 2019 05:29 AM PDT  One of Britain's most prolific child sex offenders, Richard Huckle, has died three years into a life sentence for abusing Malaysian and Cambodian children, Britain's Ministry of Justice said on Monday, with media saying he had been stabbed to death. Huckle, 33, who abused children and babies during a nine year period, was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to 71 offences. Dubbed the country's worst paedophile by Britain's media, he was found stabbed to death in prison on Sunday after being attacked with a makeshift knife, the BBC reported.
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| 'It's got to stop': Superintendent condemns teacher's racist rant in school parking lot Posted: 14 Oct 2019 07:19 AM PDT  A teacher at Drexel Hill Middle School in Pennsylvania has been placed on administrative leave after she used racial slurs in a viral Facebook video.
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| Family ends search for missing CEO after a body is found Posted: 13 Oct 2019 01:13 PM PDT  The family of a missing Utah tech executive has called off a search for her after police reported that a body was found inside a parked car in the San Francisco Bay Area. Police in San Jose said the body was discovered Saturday in an area where Erin Valenti's family had been searching. "While we were praying for a different outcome, we are so appreciative for the help and support you have given," according to a Facebook post by the group Help Find Erin Valenti.
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| Russia denies US news report it bombed 4 Syria hospitals in 12 hours Posted: 14 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT  Russia on Monday denied a US newspaper report that its warplanes bombed four hospitals in rebel-held territory in Syria over a period of 12 hours this year. The Russian defence ministry rubbished the claim in a report by The New York Times, saying "the alleged 'evidence' provided by the NYT is not worth even the paper it was printed on". The May strikes -- which the newspaper tied to Moscow through Russian radio recordings, plane spotter logs and accounts by witnesses -- are part of a larger pattern of medical facilities targeted by forces supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's devastating civil war.
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| Climate change researchers recommend banning all frequent flyer reward programs to cut carbon emissions by targeting jet-setters Posted: 14 Oct 2019 04:20 AM PDT  A report commissioned by the Committee on Climate Change says that just 15% of the entire British population take 70% of all flights from the country.
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| View Photos of Our Sports Sedan Battle Between the Dodge Charger and Kia Stinger GT Posted: 14 Oct 2019 04:59 AM PDT |
| Soldier wounded during search for Bowe Bergdahl dies of his injuries Posted: 14 Oct 2019 03:40 PM PDT  A US soldier shot in the head during the 2009 search for army deserter Bowe Bergdahl has died from his injuries. Army Master Sgt. Mark Allen died on Saturday at the age of 46, 10 years after being injured in the hunt for his missing comrade. He spent 21 years in the army and national guard, and retired in 2013 on receiving the Purple Heart. He had been unable to walk or speak since a sniper shot him in the head in July 2009 while he was looking for Bergdahl, who had walked off his base in Afghanistan and was held by the Taliban for five years. At Bergdahl's trial, Allen's wife Shannon testified that it would take up to 90 minutes each morning to get her husband out of bed, showered, and dressed. She had to use a pulley system attached to the ceiling to move him. Shannon Allen, who testified during the trial of Bowe Bergdahl Mrs Allen did not learn about the circumstances surrounding her husband's injuries until 2014, after former president Barack Obama negotiated Bergdahl's release in a swap for five Taliban members detained at Guantanamo Bay. The Idaho-born soldier, now 33, was sentenced in January 2016 for desertion. During the trial he apologised to those injured. "I would like everyone who searched for me to know it was never my intention for anyone to be hurt, and I never expected that to happen," he said. He was reduced in rank from sergeant to private, ordered to forfeit $1,000 in pay for 10 months, and given a dishonorable discharge. He did not serve any prison time. Mrs Allen broke the news on Facebook on Sunday. "I'm heartbroken to let you all know that my husband passed away peacefully yesterday morning, with his family by his side," she said. "Over ten years ago, he sustained a severe head injury while serving in Afghanistan, which caused him lifelong health problems. "These past few months, he has faced some significant illnesses, and his body was finally ready to rest."
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| Son of sheriff who called immigrants ‘drunks’ at White House event arrested for public intoxication Posted: 14 Oct 2019 05:04 AM PDT  The son of a Texas sheriff who used a White House press conference to describe immigrant offenders as "drunks" likely to repeatedly break the law has been arrested for public intoxication.Sergei Waybourn, 24, faces a count of indecent exposure as well as public drunkenness just days after his father, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, was criticised for the comments.
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| Pope's bodyguard resigns over new financial leaks scandal Posted: 14 Oct 2019 02:43 PM PDT  The Vatican's latest scandal claimed its first victim Monday as Pope Francis' chief bodyguard resigned over the leak of a Vatican police flyer identifying five employees who were suspended as part of a financial investigation. The Vatican said its police chief, Domenico Giani, bore no responsibility for the leaked flyer but resigned to avoid disrupting the investigation and "out of love for the church and faithfulness" to the pope. Giani, a 20-year veteran of the Vatican's security services, has stood by Francis' side and jogged alongside his popemobile during hundreds of public appearances and foreign trips.
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| When police misconduct occurs, records often stay secret. One mom's fight to change that. Posted: 14 Oct 2019 05:27 PM PDT  A police officer is accused of playing with her dead son's body after he was shot. An angry California mother wants secret cop records to go public.
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| Anthony Scaramucci is desperately trying to recruit Mitt Romney for a 2020 run Posted: 14 Oct 2019 09:02 AM PDT  Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is running for president again -- at least in Anthony Scaramucci's dreams.The famously short-lived White House communications director has since turned on the president who appointed him, and has publicly said he's trying to knock President Trump off the 2020 ticket. Now, it seems Scaramucci has decided on his dream candidate, and has launched a website and line of T-shirts to persuade him to run.Scaramucci started making his support for Romney known earlier this month, tweeting a poll that showed the 2012 GOP nominee beating the presumptive 2020 nominee in a hypothetical primary. He then revealed last week he'd launched Mitt2020.org, and on Sunday night, showed off that the site was offering "commit to Mitt" campaign T-shirts. They are being sold at $20.20 each to "test demand," and so far Scaramucci has seen an "overwhelming" response, he told ABC News.> You may be proud of your "Where's Hunter?" T-shirt...but we're really proud of ours...You see, we know where Mitt is...he's listening, he's hearing, he's seeing, he's reading and he's coming.... https://t.co/sCUTWW6IHA committomitt mitt2020 @MittRomney MittRomney pic.twitter.com/gpgTdL33UY> > -- Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) October 12, 2019While Romney hasn't even hinted at granting Scaramucci's wishes, the "Mitt Happens" shirt is sure to be a collector's item in a few years.
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| Attempts to split China risk 'smashed' bodies: Xi Posted: 13 Oct 2019 09:10 PM PDT  President Xi Jinping has warned that any attempts to split China would result in "bodies smashed and bones ground to powder", amid four months of anti-Beijing unrest in Hong Kong. Xi issued the dire message during a weekend visit to Nepal, according to a foreign ministry statement released on Sunday. "Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder," Xi said, according to the ministry.
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| California becomes first state to ban fur Posted: 14 Oct 2019 07:20 AM PDT  California has become the first U.S. state to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products. On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law to prohibit residents from making or selling items such as clothing, shoes or handbags made of fur.
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| In 1986, a Russian Submarine with 27 Nuclear Missiles Sank (And Exploded) Posted: 13 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT  "Seawater combined with missile fuel to produce heat and toxic gases. Despite a crewman venting the tube, an explosion erupted in the silo, ejecting the missile and its warheads into the sea."
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| Trump suggested the Kurds were releasing ISIS prisoners, but US officials say Turkish-backed forces are actually doing this Posted: 14 Oct 2019 02:30 PM PDT  Trump had no evidence to back up the suggestion the Kurds released ISIS detainees, and US officials said it was actually Turkish-backed forces.
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| Man Convicted in Murder of Law Professor Locked in Family Feud Posted: 13 Oct 2019 09:02 AM PDT  MIAMI -- The killing shook Florida's capital and stunned the international legal community: A prominent law professor locked in a rancorous battle with his ex-wife and in-laws was gunned down in his garage, in what prosecutors depicted as a murder-for-hire plot.State prosecutors charged three people with the murder of the professor, Dan Markel, hoping to pressure them into revealing whoever may have financed the murder.Two of the accused, Sigfredo Garcia and Katherine Magbanua, maintained their innocence and went to trial late last month, five years after the professor's death. Over 11 days, the case played out inside a courtroom in Tallahassee, the state capital, revealing a web of tumultuous relationships around Markel's murder.On Friday, a jury found Garcia, 37, guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and not guilty of solicitation of murder. He faces the death penalty, and sentencing will begin Monday.After more than 11 hours of deliberation, jurors told Judge James C. Hankinson that they were unable to reach a verdict on the same charges against Magbanua, 35. Hankinson declared a mistrial.The other man charged with the murder, Luis Rivera, a close friend of Garcia and a former leader of the North Miami Latin Kings gang, cooperated with law enforcement. In exchange for testifying against Garcia and Magbanua, Rivera, 36, was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and avoid the death penalty. He received a 19-year sentence instead, and is concurrently serving a 12-year sentence in an unrelated federal racketeering case.After a contentious divorce in 2013, Markel, 41, a professor at the Florida State University College of Law who had helped build a network of online legal scholarship, and his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, were given joint custody of their two young sons.Prosecutors argued that Markel was murdered because a court order prevented Adelson from relocating to South Florida with the children. They said her brother and mother then got involved, and arranged for Magbanua, Garcia and Rivera to carry out the murder for $100,000."What enemy or enemies had Mr. Markel made that set into motion such a brutal act?" Georgia Cappleman, the lead prosecutor in the case, asked during closing arguments Thursday. "The answer: his own family."Markel was shot twice in the head on the morning of July 18, 2014, shortly after he pulled his car into the garage -- his keys were still in the ignition. A neighbor thought he heard a gunshot and saw a light-colored Toyota Prius drive away.From cellphone records and surveillance footage, investigators determined that a light green Prius had followed Markel the morning he was killed. They found that Rivera had rented the Prius in Miami. On the rental contract, Rivera listed cellphone numbers for himself and Garcia, his best friend since childhood.Toll transponder data showed the Prius making the 450-mile-plus trip from Miami to Tallahassee and returning after the murder. That night, the men stopped at a drive-through ATM in South Florida, where they were photographed with Rivera behind the wheel and Garcia in the passenger seat.Finding Rivera and then Garcia led investigators to Magbanua, with whom Garcia has two children and an on-again-off-again relationship. At the time of the murder, the couple was broken up, and Magbanua was dating Charles Adelson, Adelson's brother and Markel's former brother-in-law.Magbanua did part-time clerical work at a Miami Beach dental office where she met Adelson, 42, a periodontist.Her finances improved considerably after Markel's murder. Bank records showed she began receiving regular checks from a different dental practice, owned by Adelson's parents in Broward County. The checks were handwritten and signed by Adelson's mother, Donna Adelson.Two assistants who worked at the practice testified that they did not know Magbanua to be an employee. A few months after the murder, Magbanua paid a plastic surgeon $4,000 in cash for breast implant surgery.In April 2016, police tapped the cellphones of Garcia, Magbanua, Charles Adelson and Donna Adelson. To get them to talk to one another, an undercover FBI agent posed as a member of the Latin Kings gang and asked Donna Adelson for more compensation for the family of Rivera, who was in prison. Garcia was arrested the following month, and Magbanua some months later.None of the Adelsons have been charged. For years, as Markel's sensational murder has been dissected in news articles, blog posts, a popular true-crime podcast and episodes of "Dateline" and "20/20," lawyers for the Adelsons have maintained their innocence.Donna Adelson, 69, had figured prominently in her daughter's divorce. About a year before the murder, she suggested that her daughter pretend the couple's sons had converted to Catholicism -- Markel was an observant Jew -- to pressure Markel to agree to the children's relocation. Donna Adelson also floated offering Markel $1 million to allow the move.The day of the shooting, the police brought in Wendi Adelson, 40, a former clinical law professor at Florida State, to tell her what had happened to her ex-husband. She cried and buried her face in her hands, according to police video of the interview. She also mentioned that her brother, after buying her a television as a divorce present, had joked, "I looked into a hiring a hit man and it was cheaper to get you this TV.""But he would never," Adelson added. "It's such a horrible thing to say."Wendi Adelson testified at the trial that she had no knowledge of the murder. She moved her sons to South Florida a few days after Markel was killed.Magbanua took the rare step of testifying in her own defense. She said she began receiving the checks from the Adelsons after she asked Charles Adelson to hire her as his assistant -- a favor so she could qualify for state health insurance for her children. The money for her surgery, she added, had been saved up from cash tips she made working in nightclubs.Magbanua denied any part in the murder but said she believed that Charles Adelson was involved. Her defense lawyers suggested that Garcia, the father of her children, agreed to kill Markel in exchange for Adelson to stop dating her. Garcia briefly confronted Adelson 17 days before the murder."The only thing she's guilty of is terrible taste in men," Tara Kawass, one of Magbanua's lawyers, said during opening arguments.Rivera testified that Magbanua had served as the conduit for the murder plot, and that Garcia had pulled the trigger.Garcia's defense posited a different theory: that Rivera must have been the shooter because Garcia disliked Adelson too much to kill someone for him. Saam Zangeneh, Garcia's lawyer, argued that Adelson had bought drugs from Rivera and hired him directly to commit the murder."I don't think that you can believe anything that he says out of his mouth," Zangeneh told jurors of Rivera. "Do you think he would have gotten the deal that he got if he admitted to being the shooter?"Investigators found no direct link between Adelson and either Rivera or Garcia. David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Charles Adelson, said the mistrial against Magbanua showed why prosecutors have never charged the Adelson family."The case simply isn't there," Markus said in a statement. "Professional prosecutors rightfully understood that they couldn't prove a case against Charlie before this trial. After the hung jury, their prospects have gone down, not up."Lawyers for Markel's parents said they expect a new trial against Magbanua."After waiting five long years, we are relieved that at least one of the people responsible for Danny's murder was convicted today," their statement said. "Yet justice was only partially served."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| In Jamal Khashoggi's death, Saudi money is talking louder than murder Posted: 14 Oct 2019 02:35 PM PDT  Donald Trump praises Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Jared Kushner is among those flocking to the Saudi 'Davos in the Desert': Our view
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| Disney Skyliner reopens with modified hours after stranding passengers last week Posted: 14 Oct 2019 07:39 AM PDT  Disney's Skyliner is back in action after the new aerial cable car system stranded passengers for hours the night of Oct. 5.
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| Japan storm victims felt worst had passed, then floods came Posted: 14 Oct 2019 06:06 PM PDT  After the worst of Typhoon Hagibis passed over this town north of Tokyo, Kazuo Saito made sure there was no water outside his house and went to bed. The storm, which made landfall in the Tokyo region late Saturday, had dumped record amounts of rain that caused rivers to overflow their banks, some of them damaged. It turned many neighborhoods in Kawagoe into swamps.
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| California becomes first US state to ban fur products Posted: 14 Oct 2019 04:38 AM PDT  California has become the first US state to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products.On Saturday, California's governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law to prohibit residents from making or selling items such as clothing, shoes or handbags made of fur.
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| The U.S. Army’s Robot Tanks Could Arrive Years Early Posted: 14 Oct 2019 12:50 PM PDT  The U.S. Army future robotic army is taking shape faster, and better, than some officials expected.
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| Turkish-backed rebels accused of killing unarmed Kurdish civilians Posted: 13 Oct 2019 03:20 AM PDT  Turkey's Syrian rebels allies have been accused of killing a prominent female Kurdish politician and at least eight other unarmed civilians as they advance into northeastern Syria, raising fears of further atrocities to come. Kurdish forces also said 785 family members of Islamic State (Isil) fighters had escaped from a camp amid the chaos and warned the West that resurgent jihadists "will come knocking on your doors" if the Turkish offensive is not stopped. Kurdish officials said rebel fighters intercepted a car carrying Hevrin Khalaf, a Kurdish political leader with Future Syria Party, and murdered her along with her driver and an aide. "She was taken out of her car during a Turkish-backed attack and executed by Turkish-backed mercenary factions," the Syrian Democratic Council said in a statement. The Syrian rebels, known as the National Army, denied they were responsible for the killing and insisted their forces had not yet reached the area where Ms Khalaf was killed. The car carrying Ms Khalaf was riddled with bullets But video footage appears to show National Army fighters surrounding her black SUV, which is riddled with bullet holes. The Arabic-speaking fighters step over a male body on the ground but there is no sign of Ms Khalaf in the video. The footage suggests the fighters attacked the car from the outside, rather than stopping it and dragging out its occupants. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said the rebels had killed at least eight other civilians as they advanced towards the strategic M4 motorway with the support of Turkish airpower. Another video appears to show several Arabic-speaking fighters shooting an unarmed man on the side of a road. "God is great," cries one man in the video, before urging a comrade to film him shooting the corpse with a sniper rifle. The Syrian rebels take arms and directions from Turkey Credit: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Western-backed Kurdish fighters who led the fight against Isil, have repeatedly warned that Turkey's rebel allies are "jihadists" whose share the ideology of al-Qaeda-linked groups in northwest Syria. In social media posts, National Army fighters sometimes use the language of Islamist extremists, referring to themselves as "soldiers of the caliph" and promising to fight "Gods' enemies, atheists, and those filthy Arab infidels beside them". The National Army committed a spree of murders and looting when they seized control of the border town of Afrin from Kurdish forces last year, according to human rights groups. Turkey says the Syrian rebel forces will be at the forefront of its operations against Isil once the campaign the SDF is completed. But in social media videos, the fighters express more appetite for fighting the Kurds and the Assad regime than the jihadists. Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters walk together near the border town of Tel Abyad, Syria Credit: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said not all the Syrian rebels held extremist ideology and many were motivated by Turkish financial incentives. "The main ideology they hold is sectarian: they anti-Kurdish and they are Arab chauvinists," she said. She added they were unlikely to be effective at combating Isil in northern Syria. "If we look at the way these factions rule northern Aleppo we can see they are an ineffective counter-terrorism force because of their poor discipline and organisation. "They do what they are told to by Turkey but they do it very poorly." The SDF also said 785 people from the families of some Isil fighters had escaped from the Ain Issa camp in northern Syria as it was forced to divert troops to face the Turks. The SDF said the women and children had managed to get free from the camp, where thousands of Isil family members are being held, and warned the international community there would be more escapes if the Turkish-offensive was not stopped. "We call on all of you to shoulder your responsibilities and to intervene quickly to prevent a catastrophe that will not only affect Syria, but will come knocking on your doors when things get out of hand," Kurdish authorities said in a statement. The Syrian Observatory said it was "anarchy" inside the camp. There have been uprisings by Isil prisoners and their families at a number of Kurdish facilities in recent days.
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| The Fastest Sedans in Lightning Lap History Posted: 14 Oct 2019 11:07 AM PDT |
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faces backlash over haircut Posted: 14 Oct 2019 09:46 AM PDT  This week, the Washington Times published a story saying that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had spent $80 on a haircut and $180 on color at a Washington, D.C., salon, a choice the newspaper presented as hypocritical, given she "regularly rails against the rich and complains about the cost of living inside the Beltway."
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| Special Report: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo Posted: 14 Oct 2019 04:59 AM PDT  He is Asia's most-wanted man. Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian national born in China, is suspected of leading a vast multinational drug trafficking syndicate formed out of an alliance of five of Asia's triad groups, according to law enforcement officials. The syndicate, law enforcers believe, is funneling tonnes of methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine to at least a dozen countries from Japan in North Asia to New Zealand in the South Pacific.
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| States are cutting university budgets. Taxpayers aren't interested in funding campus kooks Posted: 14 Oct 2019 09:22 AM PDT  University campuses have abandoned their central mission in their pursuit of utopia. The American public has had enough.
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| Booker Scolds Buttigieg for Referring to Gun ‘Buybacks’ as ‘Confiscation’: ‘Doing the NRA’s Work for Them’ Posted: 14 Oct 2019 11:05 AM PDT  Senator Cory Booker (D., N.J.) admonished fellow presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Monday for referring to a mandatory gun buyback proposal as "confiscation" on the grounds that doing so propagates a right-wing talking point."Calling buyback programs 'confiscation' is doing the NRA's work for them," wrote Booker on Twitter, "and they don't need our help."Buttigieg insisted on referring to buybacks as "confiscation" in an interview on the Snapchat show Good Luck America. Previously, the South Bend, Indiana Mayor shied away from such comparisons."As a policy, it's had mixed results," said Buttigieg during an October 2 interview. "It's a healthy debate to have, but we've got to do something now."O'Rourke subsequently condemned Buttigieg's comments, saying Buttigieg was "afraid of doing the right thing" by supporting mandatory buybacks."[O'Rourke] needs to pick a fight in order to stay relevant," Buttigieg commented on Good Luck America.O'Rourke has previously pushed the issue of mandatory gun buybacks and outright confiscation, declaring at the third Democratic primary debate in September that he supports taking away certain semi-automatic rifles from their legal owners."Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore," O'Rourke said at the time.Buttigieg is currently polling at five percent while O'Rourke stands at just 1.8 percent. The former Texas congressman has struggled to gain more than two percent of the vote, but has captured attention for radical policy proposals on gun rights and issues of church and state.During a CNN Townhall on October 11, O'Rourke called for institutions that don't support same sex marriage, such as churches, religious schools and charities, to be stripped of their tax-exempt status.
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| Trump orders Turkey sanctions; US scrambles for Syria exit Posted: 14 Oct 2019 05:13 PM PDT  Targeting Turkey's economy, President Donald Trump announced sanctions Monday aimed at restraining the Turks' assault against Kurdish fighters and civilians in Syria — an assault Turkey began after Trump announced he was moving U.S. troops out of the way. The United States also called on Turkey to stop the invasion and declare a ceasefire, and Trump is sending Vice President Mike Pence and national security adviser Robert O'Brien to Ankara as soon as possible in an attempt to begin negotiations.
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| Boris Johnson’s Brexit Deal On Knife Edge as EU Needs More Time Posted: 14 Oct 2019 03:43 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal was hanging in the balance Tuesday, after the European Union Presidency said more time was needed before a summit of its leaders this week.Antti Rinne, premier of Finland -- which currently has the rotating presidency of the EU -- said negotiations may need to continue after the EU Council summit that starts Thursday."I think there is no time in a practical way and in a legal base to reach an agreement before the Council meeting, I think we need to have more time," Rinne told reporters in Helsinki.With 17 days before the U.K. is due to leave the EU, Johnson repeatedly pledged to "get Brexit done," as he spoke in Parliament on Monday following a Queen's Speech that laid the ground for a general election. He's refused to ask for a delay to Brexit, even though the Benn Act says he must do so if he hasn't finalized a deal with both the EU and U.K. Parliament by Oct. 19.The EU plans to decide Wednesday whether there will be a deal for leaders to sign during the Oct. 17-18 summit and has ruled out negotiating during the actual meeting of leaders.Johnson postponed a meeting of his political cabinet to Wednesday, when it may become clearer whether a Brexit deal will be done this week, and the government will then be able to decide whether to call MPs in for a sitting on Saturday.Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid also announced Nov. 6 as the date for his annual Budget, but that will only take place if the government gets a Brexit deal.Pound Shaken Up by Positioning in Fear of Swift and Brutal MoveWith the clock ticking down, Johnson's Brexit opponents in the U.K. met Monday to discuss their next move. They concluded any deal Johnson brings back would probably be incomplete, meaning he'd likely have to delay Brexit anyway, according to two people familiar with the discussions.The group, which consists of some Labour MPs, the Liberal Democrats, Wales' Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and Greens — alongside some former Conservatives — said they'd wait and see how the next 48 hours pans out.If Johnson gets a deal they would then decide whether to seek a confirmatory public vote on it as a price for allowing it to pass Parliament, the people said.But Johnson once again ruled out another referendum on Brexit on Monday."If there could be one thing more divisive more toxic than the first referendum, it would be a second referendum," he said.\--With assistance from Kitty Donaldson and Kati Pohjanpalo.To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Meet the Massive Ordnance Penetrator: The Air Force's Newest Bunker Buster Bomb Posted: 13 Oct 2019 07:00 PM PDT  Huge and very powerful.
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| British experts in Iran to upgrade Arak reactor: embassy Posted: 14 Oct 2019 02:20 AM PDT  A team of British experts arrived in Iran on Monday to begin work to upgrade the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, the UK embassy in Tehran said. Iran removed the core of the Arak facility and filled part of it with cement as part of a 2015 deal that gave the country relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Located southwest of Tehran, the reactor is to be modernised with the help of foreign experts under the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
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| China Built a Flying Saucer Posted: 14 Oct 2019 06:55 AM PDT  The UFO is still on the ground—for now.
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| When Elizabeth Warren ducked and dodged on Medicare for All Posted: 14 Oct 2019 04:48 AM PDT  Seven years before Elizabeth Warren said "I'm with Bernie on Medicare for All," she was campaigning for the Senate and didn't want to talk about single-payer health care. Running a tough race against Republican incumbent Scott Brown, the first-time candidate repeatedly distanced herself from the idea. In one interview, she was grilled by New England Cable News host Jim Braude: He wanted to know if she'd support single-payer if she were "the tsarina" — in other words, if politics weren't an obstacle.
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| Ex-Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean charged with murder after shooting Atatiana Jefferson in her home Posted: 14 Oct 2019 06:26 PM PDT  Fort Worth officer Aaron Dean was charged with murder Monday after fatally shooting Atatiana Jefferson while she played video games in her home.
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| Malaysia to study impact of India's planned trade action Posted: 13 Oct 2019 07:13 PM PDT ![Malaysia to study impact of India's planned trade action]( "Malaysia to study impact of India's planned trade action") Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said his government will monitor the trade situation with India, which is reported to be considering trade curbs on the Southeast Asian nation over his criticism of actions in Kashmir, news wire Bernama reported. Government and industry sources told Reuters last week that New Delhi is looking for ways to limit palm oil imports and other goods from Malaysia, in retaliation for Mahathir's speech at the United Nations in September when he said India had "invaded and occupied" Jammu and Kashmir. Malaysia had said it did not receive "anything official" from India.
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| Russia's submarines are getting harder to find, and the Navy is sending more people to keep an eye on them Posted: 14 Oct 2019 10:51 AM PDT  Russian naval activity around Europe is a growing concern, and the US Navy is reactivating command units to help manage its own forces in the region.
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| Woman, 33, escaping police custody struck by car in Maple Shade, New Jersey Posted: 12 Oct 2019 07:27 PM PDT  A 33-year-old woman trying to escape from police custody was struck by a car in Burlington County, New Jersey, authorities said.
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| Will Trump's withdrawal from Syria make Republicans back impeachment? Posted: 14 Oct 2019 10:58 AM PDT  America's foreign policy establishment has been revolting against Donald Trump's latest move in Syria. Senior members of his own party has been publicly slamming him for abandoning America's Kurdish allies to be attacked by Turkey's forces.This raises the question of whether this is a tipping point for the GOP to no longer shy away from criticising Trump or worry about its political consequences. And now that Republicans have gathered the courage to push back against their president on one issue, they may continue to do so and potentially even join the impeachment crowd down the line.
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| Dropping Bombs: These Are the Best Bombers To Ever Fly Posted: 14 Oct 2019 10:00 AM PDT  What do you think? What does history tells us?
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| Russia, Saudi Arabia seal key oil deal Posted: 14 Oct 2019 01:04 PM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a key deal Monday with Saudi Arabia during a key visit for an OPEC+ grouping aimed at stabilising global oil prices and seeking to calm regional tensions with Iran. Putin's visit follows attacks on Saudi oil installations that Saudi Arabia and the United States have blamed on Iran, an ally of Moscow. Following talks between Putin and Saudi King Salman, the two countries signed some 20 agreements and contracts worth billions of dollars on aerospace, culture, health, advanced technology and agriculture.
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| A Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein That Bill Gates Now 'Regrets' Posted: 13 Oct 2019 08:58 AM PDT  Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who committed suicide in jail, managed to lure an astonishing array of rich, powerful and famous men into his orbit.There were billionaires (Leslie Wexner and Leon Black), politicians (Bill Clinton and Bill Richardson), Nobel laureates (Murray Gell-Mann and Frank Wilczek) and even royals (Prince Andrew).Few, though, compared in prestige and power to the world's second-richest person, a brilliant and intensely private luminary: Bill Gates. And unlike many others, Gates started the relationship after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, whose $100 billion-plus fortune has endowed the world's largest charitable organization, has done his best to minimize his connections to Epstein. "I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him," he told The Wall Street Journal last month.In fact, beginning in 2011, Gates met with Epstein on numerous occasions -- including at least three times at Epstein's palatial Manhattan town house, and at least once staying late into the night, according to interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the relationship, as well as documents reviewed by The New York Times.Employees of Gates' foundation also paid multiple visits to Epstein's mansion. And Epstein spoke with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and JPMorgan Chase about a proposed multibillion-dollar charitable fund -- an arrangement that had the potential to generate enormous fees for Epstein."His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me," Gates emailed colleagues in 2011, after his first get-together with Epstein.Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Gates, said he "was referring only to the unique decor of the Epstein residence -- and Epstein's habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.""It was in no way meant to convey a sense of interest or approval," she said.Over and over, Epstein managed to cultivate close relationships with some of the world's most powerful men. He lured them with the whiff of money and the proximity to other powerful, famous or wealthy people -- so much so that many looked past his reputation for sexual misconduct. And the more people he drew into his circle, the easier it was for him to attract others.Gates and the $51 billion Gates Foundation have championed the well-being of young girls. By the time Gates and Epstein first met, Epstein had served jail time for soliciting prostitution from a minor and was required to register as a sex offender.Arnold said that "high-profile people" had introduced Gates and Epstein and that they had met multiple times to discuss philanthropy."Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so," Arnold said. "Gates recognizes that entertaining Epstein's ideas related to philanthropy gave Epstein an undeserved platform that was at odds with Gates' personal values and the values of his foundation."The First MeetingTwo members of Gates' inner circle -- Boris Nikolic and Melanie Walker -- were close to Epstein and at times functioned as intermediaries between the two men.Walker met Epstein in 1992, six months after graduating from the University of Texas. Epstein, who was an adviser to Wexner, the owner of Victoria's Secret, told Walker that he could land her an audition for a modeling job there, according to Walker. She later moved to New York and stayed in a Manhattan apartment building that Epstein owned. After she graduated from medical school, she said, Epstein hired her as a science adviser in 1998.Walker later met Steven Sinofsky, a senior executive at Microsoft who became president of its Windows division, and moved to Seattle to be with him. In 2006, she joined the Gates Foundation with the title of senior program officer.At the foundation, Walker met and befriended Nikolic, a native of what is now Croatia and a former fellow at Harvard Medical School who was the foundation's science adviser. Nikolic and Gates frequently traveled and socialized together.Walker, who had remained in close touch with Epstein, introduced him to Nikolic, and the men became friendly.Epstein and Gates first met face to face on the evening of Jan. 31, 2011, at Epstein's town house on the Upper East Side. They were joined by Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a former Miss Sweden whom Epstein had once dated, and her 15-year-old daughter. (Andersson-Dubin's husband, hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin, was a friend and business associate of Epstein's. The Dubins declined to comment.)The gathering started at 8 p.m. and lasted several hours, according to Arnold, Gates' spokeswoman. Epstein subsequently boasted about the meeting in emails to friends and associates. "Bill's great," he wrote in one, reviewed by the Times.Gates, in turn, praised Epstein's charm and intelligence. Emailing colleagues the next day, he said: "A very attractive Swedish woman and her daughter dropped by and I ended up staying there quite late."Gates soon saw Epstein again. At a TED conference in Long Beach, California, attendees spotted the two men engaged in private conversation.Later that spring, on May 3, 2011, Gates again visited Epstein at his New York mansion, according to emails about the meeting and a photograph reviewed by the Times.The photo, taken in Epstein's marble-clad entrance hall, shows a beaming Epstein -- in blue-and-gold slippers and a fleece decorated with an American flag -- flanked by luminaries. On his right: James Staley, at the time a senior JPMorgan executive, and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. On his left: Nikolic and Gates, smiling and wearing gray slacks and a navy sweater.A Vast Charitable FundAround that time, the Gates Foundation and JPMorgan were teaming up to create the Global Health Investment Fund. Its goal was to provide "individual and institutional investors the opportunity to finance late-stage global health technologies that have the potential to save millions of lives in low-income countries."As the details of the fund were being hammered out, Staley told his JPMorgan colleagues that Epstein wanted to be brought into the discussions, according to two people familiar with the talks. Epstein was an important JPMorgan customer, holding millions of dollars in accounts at the bank and referring a procession of wealthy individuals to become clients of the company.Epstein pitched an idea for a separate charitable fund to JPMorgan officials, including Staley, and to Gates' adviser Nikolic. He envisioned a vast fund, seeded with the Gates Foundation's money, that would focus on health projects around the world, according to five people involved in or briefed on the talks, including current and former Gates Foundation and JPMorgan employees. In addition to the Gates money, Epstein planned to round up donations from his wealthy friends and, hopefully, from JPMorgan's richest clients.Epstein thought he could personally benefit. He circulated a four-page proposal that included a suggestion that he be paid 0.3% of whatever money he raised, according to one person who saw the proposal. If Epstein had raised $10 billion, for example, that would have amounted to $30 million in fees.Arnold said Gates and the foundation had been unaware that Epstein had been seeking any fee. She said Epstein "did propose to Bill Gates and then foundation officials ideas that he promised would unleash hundreds of billions for global health-related work."In late 2011, at Gates' instruction, the foundation sent a team to Epstein's town house to have a preliminary talk about philanthropic fundraising, according to three people who were there. Epstein told his guests that if they searched his name on the internet they might conclude he was a bad person but that what he had done -- soliciting prostitution from an underage girl -- was no worse than "stealing a bagel," two of the people said.Some of the Gates Foundation employees said they had been unaware of Epstein's criminal record and had been shocked to learn that the foundation was working with a sex offender. They worried that it could seriously damage the foundation's reputation.In early 2012, another Gates Foundation team met Epstein at his mansion. He claimed that he had access to trillions of dollars of his clients' money that he could put in the proposed charitable fund -- a figure so preposterous that it left his visitors doubting Epstein's credibility.Flying to FloridaGates and Epstein kept seeing each other. Arnold would not say how many times the two had met.In March 2013, Gates flew on Epstein's Gulfstream plane from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, according to a flight manifest. Arnold said Gates -- who has his own $40 million jet -- hadn't been aware it was Epstein's plane.Six months later, Nikolic and Gates were in New York for a meeting related to Schrodinger, a pharmaceutical software company in which Gates had a large investment. On that trip, Epstein and Gates met for dinner and discussed the Gates Foundation and philanthropy, Arnold said.In October 2014, Gates donated $2 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. University officials described the gift in internal emails as having been "directed" by Epstein. Arnold said, "There was no intention, nor explicit ask, for the funding to be controlled in any manner by Epstein."Soon after, the relationship between Epstein and Gates appears to have cooled. The charitable fund that had been discussed with the Gates Foundation never materialized. Epstein complained to an acquaintance at the end of 2014 that Gates had stopped talking to him, according to a person familiar with the discussion.The relationship, however, wasn't entirely severed. At least two senior Gates Foundation officials maintained contacts with Epstein until late 2017, according to former foundation employees. Arnold said the foundation was not aware of any such contact."Over time, Gates and his team realized Epstein's capabilities and ideas were not legitimate and all contact with Epstein was discontinued," she said.Days before Epstein hanged himself in a Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10, he amended his will and named Nikolic as a fallback executor in the event that one of the two primary executors was unable to serve. (Nikolic has declined in court proceedings to serve as executor.)Nikolic, who is now running a venture capital firm with Gates as one of his investors, said he was "shocked" to be named in Epstein's will. He said in a statement to the Times: "I deeply regret ever meeting Mr. Epstein."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| China's Huawei says open to 'no backdoor' agreement with India Posted: 14 Oct 2019 10:12 AM PDT  China's Huawei Technologies is ready to enter into a "no backdoor" agreement with India to allay security concerns, the telecom group's local head said on Monday, as the giant South Asian country prepares to launch next generation 5G networks. India, the world's second-biggest wireless market by users, will hold an airwaves auction for 5G services before March, according to the country's Telecoms Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. It has yet to begin 5G trials and has not taken a decision on allowing or banning Huawei from the test runs amid a U.S.-led push to shut out the Chinese tech and telecoms group, saying its gear contained "back doors" that would enable China to spy on other countries.
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