| Hillary Clinton says evidence for impeachment inquiry is 'dramatic and irrefutable' Posted: 01 Oct 2019 09:30 AM PDT  Hillary Clinton dismissed concerns that Democrats are overreaching in their impeachment inquiry into President Trump, calling the evidence at the center of the probe "dramatic and irrefutable."
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| PHOTOS: China marks 70 years of communism with massive show of force Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:14 AM PDT  Soldiers of People's Liberation Army (PLA) are seen in front of a sign marking the 70th founding anniversary of People's Republic of China before a military parade on its National Day in Beijing, China October 1, 2019. (Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters) China celebrated its growing power and confidence with a big display of military hardware and goose-stepping troops in Beijing on Tuesday, overseen by President Xi Jinping who pledged peaceful development on Communist China's 70th birthday. The event is the country's most important of the year as it looks to project its assurance in the face of mounting challenges, including nearly four months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong and an economy-sapping trade war with the United States. (Reuters) See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.
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| Australian teen 'deliberately' mowed down, killed 20 kangaroos Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:33 PM PDT  An Australian teenager has been charged over the deaths of 20 kangaroos, which he allegedly mowed down with his truck in a killing spree that lasted an hour. The dead kangaroos, including two joeys, were found littered over roads in Tura Beach, 450 kilometres (280 miles) south of Sydney, on Sunday morning. Police said Wednesday the man, 19, had been arrested and charged with animal cruelty offences on Tuesday.
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| 10 Fat Bears and the Machines I Think They Kinda Look Like Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:38 AM PDT |
| Missouri executes killer despite concern about painful death Posted: 01 Oct 2019 03:12 AM PDT  A Missouri inmate was executed Tuesday for killing a man in 1996 in a string of violence that included several other crimes, despite concerns that the prisoner's rare medical condition would cause a gruesome lethal injection. Russell Bucklew was put to death at the state prison in Bonne Terre. It was Missouri's first execution since January 2017.
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| Fairfax County Police Officer Suspended for Turning Individual over to ICE Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:59 AM PDT  The Fairfax County Police Department has suspended an officer for detaining and turning the driver in an accident over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday in violation of the department's policy not to assist ICE with civil enforcement.The driver lacked a Virginia driver's license, so the officer who responded to the accident ran a Department of Motor Vehicles check and discovered that ICE had issued a civil violation to the individual for failing to appear for a deportation hearing, according to Fairfax County police.The officer verified the ICE warrant and contacted the ICE agent listed as the point of contact, who came to the scene of the traffic crash. The officer gave the driver a ticket for driving without a license but continued to detain the individual until the ICE agent took over custody.Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler lamented the incident and said the officer is being disciplined."This is an unfortunate issue where the officer was confused," the police chief said, according to the Washington Post. "We have trained on this issue a lot. This is the first time we've had a lapse in judgment, and the officer is being punished."The officer has been relieved of all law-enforcement duties pending an internal investigation."Our police officer violated our longstanding policy and deprived a person of their freedom, which is unacceptable," Roessler added in a statement. "Our county is one of the most diverse counties in the nation and no one should have the perception that FCPD is acting as a civil immigration agent for ICE. This matter damages our reputation and the longstanding policy that I have stated many times that our officers shall not act as immigration agents."The police department said ICE informed them that the driver was released after three hours with an ankle monitor.
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| UPDATE 2-Vatican financial control office director, four others suspended - report Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:21 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Vatican financial control office director, four others suspended - report]( "UPDATE 2-Vatican financial control office director, four others suspended - report") Five Vatican employees, including the number two at the Vatican's Financial Information Authority (AIF) and a monsignor, have been suspended following a police raid, the Italian magazine L'Espresso reported on Tuesday. The scandal, affecting two departments at the heart of the Vatican, was the first after several years of relative calm in which reforms enacted by Pope Francis appeared to be taking root. A Vatican spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the report.
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| Trump falsely calls impeachment probe ‘a coup’ designed to strip citizens of rights in wild Twitter tirade Posted: 01 Oct 2019 04:46 PM PDT  Donald Trump has issued his most inflammatory condemnation yet of the impeachment investigation against him, labelling it "a COUP" designed to strip Americans of their freedoms.The president is being investigated over a phone call to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in which it is said he appeared to attempt to leverage military aid for personal political gain.
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| Boris Johnson to Suspend Parliament to Outline New Program Posted: 02 Oct 2019 10:46 AM PDT ![Boris Johnson to Suspend Parliament to Outline New Program]( "Boris Johnson to Suspend Parliament to Outline New Program") (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will suspend Parliament on Oct. 8 so that he can outline a new legislative program, two weeks after the country's highest court ruled that his previous attempt to stop parliament sitting was unlawful.But unlike that suspension, this one will only last six days, before Parliament returns Oct. 14 for a Queen's Speech. "The government will set out its plans for the NHS, schools, tackling crime, investing in infrastructure and building a strong economy," Johnson said in an emailed statement. "We will get Brexit done on Oct. 31 and continue delivering on these vital issues."Members of Parliament who want to tie Johnson's hands further on Brexit now have just three sitting days in order to do so before the suspension begins. Rebel Conservatives and opposition parties already teamed up last month to pass a law against the government's wishes compelling Johnson to seek to delay the divorce if he's unable to secure a deal acceptable to both the EU and Parliament by Oct. 19.The announcement comes just over a week after the Supreme Court declared Johnson's previous suspension -- which was supposed to last 5 weeks -- "unlawful," saying that "no justification for taking action with such an extreme effect" had been given to the court. A four- to six-day suspension is the norm before a Queen's speech, the court ruled.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Robert HuttonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Andrew Yang puts other Dems to shame with big cash haul Posted: 02 Oct 2019 04:17 PM PDT  Andrew Yang likes to joke about being a math guy, and right now, the numbers are on his side. The Democratic businessman announced Wednesday that over the past three months he raked in $10 million for his presidential campaign — more than a number of his rivals for the Democratic nomination and just shy of Sen. Kamala Harris, who has won three statewide elections in the nation's biggest state. Yang's $10 million haul is at least double the amount raised last quarter by 16 other presidential candidates, among them five U.S. senators who had years to build email lists and mingle with the donor class before running for president.
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| Shipwrecked Colombians clung to cocaine bales Posted: 01 Oct 2019 01:46 PM PDT  Three suspected drug smugglers survived in shark-infested Pacific waters by clinging for hours to floating bales of cocaine, Colombia's navy said Tuesday. The three Colombians are suspected of smuggling 1.2 tons of cocaine from Tumaco in Colombia when their boat was hit by a wave Saturday and capsized, Captain Jorge Maldonado of Colombia's Task Force Against Drug Trafficking told AFP. "The coastguard arrived and these three people were floating on a material that by its characteristics resembled drugs," said Maldonado.
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| Police Drone Finds Fugitive Who's Been Living in a Cave for 17 Years Posted: 02 Oct 2019 10:26 AM PDT  The man lived in the wilderness for the past 17 years.
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| Trump berates reporter, refuses to answer question about Ukraine and Biden Posted: 02 Oct 2019 12:55 PM PDT  At a press conference with the president of Finland, President Trump berated Reuters reporter Jeff Mason and refused to answer a question about what he wanted the Ukrainian president to do regarding former Vice President Joe Biden.
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| 3 charged with providing drugs that killed rapper Mac Miller Posted: 02 Oct 2019 01:31 PM PDT  Three men arrested during the investigation into rapper Mac Miller's deadly overdose last year have now been charged with providing the drugs that killed him, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday. A grand jury indictment that was unsealed in Los Angeles accuses the men of conspiring and distributing cocaine and oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that caused Miller's death in September 2018.
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| Man severely burned after falling into hot spring by Old Faithful in Yellowstone Posted: 01 Oct 2019 11:56 AM PDT  Walking off the boardwalks in Old Faithful is illegal, punishable by up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Siemers may face criminal charges.
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| Planned Parenthood to open large Illinois clinic as Missouri readies abortion ban Posted: 02 Oct 2019 08:13 AM PDT  Planned Parenthood has been secretly building the 18,000-square-foot clinic in Fairview Heights since August 2018, using shell companies to avoid attention and protests, CBS first reported. The new healthcare center will provide abortion and other health services to women in western Illinois and eastern Missouri, and is located just 13 miles from Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic.
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| Trump ally suing reporter for $75m over claims of undocumented workers on his family’s farm Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:01 AM PDT  A top ally of Donald Trump has sued a journalist for $75m (£61.3m) in damages for alleging his family's farm partially relied on undocumented workers.Devin Nunes, a California representative and former dairy farmer, filed the lawsuit in federal court against Hearst Magazines, the publisher of Esquire, and reporter Ryan Lizza.
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| More than 132,000 Sephardi Jews apply for Spanish citizenship as deadline expires Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:34 AM PDT  More than 132,000 Jews have applied for Spanish citizenship since the government offered residence to relatives of those expelled during the Inquisition more than 500 years ago. The deadline has now passed for Sephardi Jews - hailing from the Iberian peninsula - to claim rights to citizenship after the window for applications closed. Most have applied from South America. But in Britain the rules have created an unexpected opportunity for some members of the Jewish community to avoid the impact of Brexit by gaining a European passport. The total number of Jews applying to return is not far off the estimated 200,000 who are thought to have fled in the 1490 after facing the option of converting to Catholicism or being burned at the stake. The initiative in Spain has been coupled by a similar offer by the Portuguese government to atone for the persecution of Jews. Meanwhile in Austria last month the parliament ratified a law extending citizenship to descendants of Nazi victims who fled during and after Hitler's Third Reich. Figures from Spain's justice ministry show that by the end of August, one month before the September 30 deadline, 117 British Jews had applied for Spanish citizenship under the scheme introduced in 2015. It remains unclear how many more British Jews have applied in the final rush to meet the Spanish deadline that saw 72,000 applications flood in last month alone, more than in the previous four years combined. "Most of them were from citizens in Latin American countries, mainly Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela," Spain's justice ministry said. But more than 420 British Sephardic Jews have been granted Portuguese passports under that country's citizenship initiative, also launched in 2015. In 1492 the Catholic monarchs of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, ordered the country's approximately 200,000 Jews to convert to Christianity under the aegis of the Inquisition. Unknown thousands opted for exile, some entering Portugal, which also imposed compulsory conversion or exile by the end of the 15th century. "It was a pragmatic decision," Londoner Adam Perry told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency of his decision to apply for Portuguese citizenship, adding that it was "also a form of protest action against Brexit, with which I deeply disagree". "The Spanish government's law helps Sephardic Jews to close a circle, healing a wound that was opened more than five centuries ago," Marcelo Benveniste told The Telegraph about his decision to apply in 2015. All four of Mr Benveniste's grandparents moved to Argentina from the Greek island of Rhodes, where they had continued to speak Ladino, a language also known as Judaeo-Spanish. Spain asks Sephardic Jews wishing to gain citizenship to show that they can speak Spanish, as well as proving their hereditary connections.
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| Here are all the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates who will be on stage for the October primary debate Posted: 01 Oct 2019 10:02 AM PDT  The next round of debates had much more strict criteria for candidates looking to secure a spot on stage. As a result, the field is thinning out fast.
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| Hong Kong flash-mob rallies erupt as anger mounts over shot protester Posted: 02 Oct 2019 07:10 AM PDT  Flash-mob rallies broke out in Hong Kong Wednesday as anger mounted over police shooting a teenage protester who attacked officers in a dramatic escalation of the violent unrest that has engulfed the territory for months. Large crowds of demonstrators held unsanctioned marches through the commercial centre and then in multiple districts throughout the evening, when police fired brief volleys of tear gas in one neighbourhood, chanting anti-police and anti-government slogans. Hundreds of students also staged a sit-in at the school of Tsang Chi-kin, 18, who was shot in the chest by a policeman as he and a group of masked protesters assaulted officers with umbrellas and poles.
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| Will a wealth tax be crippled by avoidance schemes? Posted: 02 Oct 2019 02:55 AM PDT ![Will a wealth tax be crippled by avoidance schemes?]( "Will a wealth tax be crippled by avoidance schemes?") Wealth taxes are hot in American politics right now. Polling consistently finds that the idea of taxing the massive fortunes held by our richest citizens is broadly popular on a bipartisan basis. And the two most progressive candidates in the Democratic presidential primary -- Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) -- have dueling proposals to do just that.But wealth is a mercurial thing, and more difficult to measure than straight income. Critics contend that a wealth tax would be crippled by avoidance schemes the rich would cook up. As an idea, a wealth tax may fire people up. But would it actually work?I can't answer that question for you in a single column. But it's not just complicated because of the technicalities of tax evasion. It's hard for everyone to even agree on what a wealth tax "working" would mean.One of the arguments worth engaging with comes from Larry Summers, who's worked in previous Democratic administrations, and his co-author, Natasha Sarin, who point to the already-existing estate tax, which itself is a form of wealth tax. And revenue for the estate tax chronically comes it at much lower levels than you'd expect if you just ran the raw numbers on the tax rate and the amount of wealth it could hit. Summers and Sarin argue this is due to numerous evasion strategies: "questionable appraisals; valuation discounts for illiquidity and lack of control; establishment of trusts that enable division of assets among family members with substantial founder control; planning devices that give some income to charity while keeping the remainder for the donor and her beneficiaries; tax-advantaged lending schemes" to cite a few examples.As a crude intellectual exercise, they use the results of the estate tax to estimate Warren's wealth tax would only bring in one-eighth to three-eighths of the roughly $200 billion in annual revenue she calculates. They don't do this so much to claim their numbers are right, as to point out the enormous variances evasion can cause. (This same problem would also apply to Sanders' proposal, which is even more aggressive.)Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the economists who consulted with Warren and ran her numbers, certainly aren't unaware of this criticism. They point out that the make-up of wealth among the very rich is different than among average citizens: 80 percent of the wealth held by the top 0.1 percent is in stocks, bonds and real estate, which are actually pretty easy to measure and value. Warren has committed to keeping the definitions and language of her tax bill as clean and simple as possible, so as to avoid creating loopholes. She wants to significantly bulk up the resources available to the IRS to police tax avoidance. And Warren wants her wealth tax to apply globally, so as to cut down on efforts by the wealthy to simply move their money overseas.More broadly and ambitiously, Saez and Zucman propose ideas like a global wealth registry, built on international cooperation, to track and police wealth holdings, and to enable a more coherent international taxation regime.The underlying challenge is that dealing with tax evasion boils down to political will, influence, and discipline. Over time, either your lawmakers allow lobbyists to blow loopholes in the tax code, or they don't; either they continue giving tax authorities the resources and funding they need to crack down on avoidance, or they don't; and so on. Critics of wealth taxes such as Summers are essentially invoking a skepticism that the necessary political will can ever be mustered, while champions of wealth taxes like Warren and Sanders think these proposals can be used to muster the political will where it once was lacking.Finally, to go one more layer down, mustering the political will to impose a wealth tax inherently involves combating the political leverage and influence that mass concentrations of wealth represent. The more a wealth tax is successful, presumably, the more political force can be mustered to preserve and protect it.This gets to one other complication: Is revenue really the best measure of whether a wealth tax is working?Most everyone both in favor of and opposed to wealth taxes assumes their purpose is to raise the money that will then pay for big spending programs. But the U.S. federal government is the source of all U.S. federal currency -- it can "print" as much money as it wants. "For the federal government, taxes are not about raising revenue, taxes are about reducing consumption to prevent inflation," as economist Dean Baker recently put it. And there's a critical distinction between how much money a tax brings in and how much aggregate consumption it affects in the economy: "Do we think this additional tax bill will reduce the number of times Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos goes out to dinner," Baker asked. "Will they take fewer vacations or buy fewer cars, planes, and yachts?" The effect on consumption won't be zero, but it will be far lower than the effect of the same amount of money taken out of a broader and less wealthy group of taxpayers.Essentially, a wealth tax wouldn't really be about financing government spending or holding down inflation. It'd be about changing the structure of the economy, and ownership in particular: Are companies owned by a small number of rich shareholders, or a bigger number of rich shareholders? Do politicians need to get donations from a small number of rich people, or a larger number of less rich people? Who gets to control decision-making in the economy, and how much power do they wield?If a rich person sells one set of financial instruments and buys another somewhere else to avoid a new wealth tax, that's not necessarily a problem. If that rich person sells off a factory or a business to move their money, that presents more of a quandary. But whether that sale is good or bad depends on what happens next: Is the business ended (Along with the jobs it represents?) or does it simply change ownership? Is it sold to a more socioeconomic diverse group of owners with different prerogatives? Given the right conditions and surrounding policy changes, could it be sold to the workers themselves? Those latter results would ultimately be better for American democracy.None of this is a slam dunk argument in favor of a wealth tax. For example: Baker is also skeptical of wealth taxes, because he fears they'll encourage more people to become lawyers and accountants in the tax evasion industry, when our society could make better use of their talents elsewhere.But to decide a wealth tax's worth, these are the questions we should be asking.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
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| Former NC GOP head pleads guilty to lying in bribery case Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:15 AM PDT  The former chairman of North Carolina's Republican Party admitted Wednesday that he broke the law by lying to federal agents about his role in an alleged effort to bribe the state's top insurance regulator to help a major GOP donor. Robin Hayes, 74, pleaded guilty to making a false statement in August 2018 to FBI agents conducting the bribery investigation. Hayes, a former congressman, was initially also charged with conspiracy and bribery.
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| Former Dallas cop sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting her unarmed black neighbor to death in his own apartment Posted: 02 Oct 2019 02:21 PM PDT  Amber Guyger, 31, had faced the possibility of 99 years in prison, though the judge told the jury they could sentence her to as few as two years.
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| Putin: I don't share excitement about Greta Thunberg's U.N. speech Posted: 02 Oct 2019 05:59 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday took aim at teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, telling an energy forum he did not share the excitement about her United Nations speech last month. Putin, chairing a session at an energy forum in Moscow, said: "I may disappoint you but I don't share the common excitement about the speech by Greta Thunberg.
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| Motorists see pornographic images on Michigan highway billboard Posted: 01 Oct 2019 08:25 AM PDT ![Motorists see pornographic images on Michigan highway billboard]( "Motorists see pornographic images on Michigan highway billboard") Police say charges could be filed against the person or persons responsible for the graphic images on Interstate 75 in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
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| Blackstone Is Warned Denmark Will Act on High Apartment Rents Posted: 02 Oct 2019 03:50 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Denmark's new left-wing government pledged tough laws to control housing costs and singled out Blackstone Group Inc. for "unsustainable" rental practices.Kaare Dybvad, the Danish housing minister, said Blackstone is "challenging" local legislation "where there are holes." By taking advantage of those holes, the concern is that properties are being bought up and then rented out at prices that Danes are finding increasingly difficult to afford.Speaking in an interview in Copenhagen on Tuesday, Dybvad said that "it's clear we need to do something about this.""We're not going to legislate around an individual firm, but the way this has been going so far isn't sustainable," he said. "If Blackstone chooses to conduct itself in a different way in Denmark, in a more sustainable way here than in many other places in the world, then it's clear that they're allowed to be here on the same terms as others."Dybvad said the Social Democrat government that has ruled Denmark since June will now start formulating stricter laws to address the concerns. He has previously criticized Blackstone for "driving up prices in the Copenhagen rental market" and making it harder for low-income earners to remain in the city.The housing minister laid out his plans as Denmark's parliament met for its first session since the summer break. As the chamber reconvened, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen took the opportunity to lash out at what she described as corporate greed.The 41-year-old became Denmark's youngest ever head of government this year after promising a more equal society with increased spending on welfare. Her government's budget proposal means that Denmark will need to raise its borrowing requirement for next year by about $2.3 billion, the finance ministry estimates.Frederiksen also used her speech to lawmakers to zero in on the housing market. "An American private-equity fund is purchasing our houses," she said. And she touched on the list of financial scandals that have angered Danish voters in recent years. "Does greed know no boundaries? Apparently not," she said.Blackstone has said it's a long-term investor in the Danish market, and that it complies with all regulations. Jean Ahlefeldt-Laurvig, a spokeswoman for Blackstone-owned 360 North Property Management, said in August that "the under-supply of rental housing in Copenhagen needs to be addressed, which is why we are bringing additional units to market, while continuing to invest capital into the properties, improving sustainability and contributing to the local economy.""We intend to own these properties for decades and will ensure that they are operated to the highest standard," Ahlefeldt-Laurvig said back then. "We have always operated within the existing regulatory framework, which is one in which all leases are and will remain indefinite for the existing tenants."(Adds reference to borrowing requirement.)\--With assistance from Frances Schwartzkopff and Nick Rigillo.To contact the reporter on this story: Morten Buttler in Copenhagen at mbuttler@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net;Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Netanyahu’s legal saga reaches critical stage in Israel Posted: 02 Oct 2019 12:15 AM PDT  Prosecutors began a pre-indictment hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, opening a critical stage in a lengthy legal saga that threatens to end the career of the long-serving Israeli leader and has paralyzed the country's political system. If formal charges are filed, Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, could come under heavy pressure to step down. Mandelblit already has recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges in three cases.
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| Teacher fired for refusing to use transgender student’s pronouns launches legal action Posted: 02 Oct 2019 03:24 AM PDT  A Virginia high school teacher has filed a lawsuit after being fired for refusing to use a transgender student's pronouns, arguing he is being discriminated against for his faith.Peter Vlaming, who worked as a French teacher at West Point High School, Virginia, said he would use the student's chosen name – as well as a French equivalent they had picked out – after his parents revealed their son's transition to the school.
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| China's Air Force Has One Flaw It Could Never Fix (Until Now) Posted: 01 Oct 2019 08:05 PM PDT  Making quality jet engines.
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| New whistleblower comes forward regarding Trump’s tax audit Posted: 02 Oct 2019 07:31 AM PDT  A new whistleblower complaint alleges that "possible misconduct" occurred in an effort to influence the audit of President Trump's taxes.
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| Ukraine opens Chernobyl's infamous reactor four control room to tourists Posted: 01 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT  Ukraine has opened the control room of Chernobyl reactor four, the epicentre of the worst nuclear disaster in history, to the public as part of a tourist boom. It was in this room in April 1986 that Soviet engineers shut down cooling pumps as part of a test, causing an out-of-control reaction, explosion and fire that killed at least 54 people and exposed hundreds of thousands to harmful radiation. Now those brave or foolhardy enough to venture inside can catch a very brief glimpse of the place where this tragic history was made. An estimated 200 tonnes of radioactive fuel still remain in the increasingly unstable steel-and-concrete sarcophagus erected over reactor four by the accident "liquidators". Such is the fear of radiation leaks that a 355-foot, 36,000-tonne steel arch, the world's largest movable metal structure, was built and rolled over it in 2016 at a cost of £1.3 billion. What Chernobyl left behind: inside an abandoned city Human habitation is sharply curtailed within the 1,000-square-mile exclusion zone around the accident site. But thanks to a "green corridor" to streamline tourism announced by president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in July, fans of the Chernobyl HBO series can find a wide variety of tours. Previously, most visitors were only able to see the plant from the outside. For many the highlight was the crumbling flat blocks and ferris wheel of the nearby ghost town of Pripyat, whose 50,000 residents were abruptly evacuated. Last week, however, officials took journalists through the plant's kilometre-long corridor of gold-coloured aluminium and into the reactor four control room, which is located under the new containment arch but outside the old sarcophagus, to announce its opening as part of 21 new tourist routes. While much of the equipment was removed from the control room during an investigation after the accident, rusting panels with banks of buttons and displays can still be seen. A worker is scanned for radiation during the visit to the control room Credit: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE/REX The visit lasted only a few minutes to keep radiation exposure from reaching dangerous levels. Guests spent far more time donning respirators, helmets and protective clothing and going through scanners on the entrance and exit. Radiation levels vary widely but tend to concentrate in plants and soil. Inside the reactor four building, the biggest threat is radioactive dust. A visitor who accidentally wipes against something can get a large dose, according to maintenance workers, who spray chemicals to keep the dust down. While numbers had been increasing before the HBO programme, more than 87,000 people have already visited Chernobyl this year, compared to 72,000 last year. The government has been improving walking trails, checkpoints and mobile reception and recently approved river boat tours. Not everyone has welcomed the tourists, however. A rash of scantily clad selfies led to the producer of the HBO series to call on people to "comport yourselves with respect". Yaroslav Yemelianenko, director of the largest excursion company Chernobyl Tour, said if visitors stay on the guided route for the day, they are exposed to no more than 4 micro-sieverts, less radiation than in an hour on a transatlantic plane flight. Radioactive dust still lingers in the Chernobyl plant Credit: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE/REX But doctor Yury Bandazhevsky, who has studied Chernobyl for decades, has opposed tourism to the exclusion zone as a needless risk of radiation exposure. Campfires in particular can release large amounts of dangerous particles, he warned. "Tourists can be both a victim and source of this danger," he said. On Monday, Kiev region police said they had arrested 323 "stalkers," as explorers of abandoned places are called after a popular video game, who bypassed exclusion zone checkpoints this year.
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| The Gift Guide for the Sophisticated Geek Posted: 02 Oct 2019 02:37 PM PDT |
| Biden Gun-Control Plan Would Ban ‘Assault Weapon’ Sales but Not Force ’Buybacks’ Posted: 02 Oct 2019 06:38 AM PDT  Joe Biden's campaign released an eleven-page comprehensive gun-control plan on Wednesday morning, in which the former vice president proposes the reintroduction of an assault-weapons ban but offers only a voluntary buyback for current owners.Biden's plan also includes a universal background check for gun purchases — except for gifts between close family members — and $900 million in federal funding over eight years for anti-gun-violence programs in U.S. inner cities.The voluntary government-purchasing program distances the former vice president from other Democratic presidential candidates, including former congressman Beto O'Rourke, whose viral "hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15," comment in the third Democratic debate sparked controversy over the prospect of gun confiscation.President Trump took aim at O'Rourke in a tweet after the debate, saying "Dummy Beto made it much harder to make a deal," and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a conference call that "I don't know of any other Democrat who agrees with Beto O'Rourke." But fellow candidates Kamala Harris and Cory Booker have also expressed support for a mandatory buyback, with Booker telling Bloomberg that foreign countries have been successful in taking assault weapons "off the streets."Biden's proposal toes the line, as it lays out a ban of the manufacturing and selling of military-style assault weapons, but allows current assault-weapon owners the choice between selling to the government or registering the gun under the National Firearms Act.The Act, passed in 1934, requires individuals who own machine guns, silencers, and short-barreled rifles to undergo a background check and register those weapons with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Currently, semiautomatic weapons do not fall under the law's jurisdiction.On Wednesday, Biden is expected to attend a gun-control-advocacy forum in Las Vegas, hosted by Gabby Giffords and March for Our Lives, where he will unveil his gun-control agenda.A Biden staffer told Axios on Wednesday that despite a Republican-controlled Senate, "You have in the vice president's record two examples of him succeeding in getting legislation done and defeating the NRA before."
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| France Wants to Harvest Facebook Data to Catch Tax Fraudsters Posted: 02 Oct 2019 02:59 AM PDT ![France Wants to Harvest Facebook Data to Catch Tax Fraudsters]( "France Wants to Harvest Facebook Data to Catch Tax Fraudsters") (Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to give tax authorities the power to harvest data from Facebook, Instagram and other social media to help detect fraud.The government wants parliament to include an article in the 2020 budget law granting the new powers to officials from the tax and customs administrations. The state will also screen online market places like EBay Inc., Vinted, or Le Bon Coin as part of a trial program that is slated to run for three years."This is not about searching your personal data," Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin said on LCI television Wednesday. "This is about some people who are trying to dodge taxes."He said the government was ready to see the article amended by lawmakers but he hopes it will be maintained.Macron's administration is pushing ahead with the plan despite the objections of the national privacy regulator. The Paris-based organization said on Sept. 30 that the plan marks a step change in the government's use of personal data."This mechanism presents very particular challenges from the point of view of freedoms, given the impact of the mechanism on privacy and its possible effects on freedom of expression online," it said.France is not the first country to screen social media for tax reasons. In 2018, the U.K. authorities started to gather internet data for the same purposes.Under the French plan, data will initially remain on state servers for 30 days and will be retained for up to a year where there is a suspicion of fraud, the government said Tuesday.France's National Assembly will start reviewing the budget law on Oct. 14.To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Geraldine AmielFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Lawyer: Uber driver killed passenger in self-defense Posted: 01 Oct 2019 04:36 PM PDT  An Uber driver charged with first-degree murder in the death of a passenger shot the man in self-defense after he touched, punched and pulled his hair as he was speeding down an interstate, his lawyer told jurors Tuesday. In opening arguments in Michael Hancock's trial, Johnna Stuart said Hancock asked a driver who stopped to help to call 911 and then urged a dispatcher to send help to save Hyun (Huhn) Kim, 45, after shooting him on Interstate 25 in June 2018.
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| White US ex-cop gets 10 years in prison for killing black neighbor Posted: 02 Oct 2019 05:08 PM PDT  A former Texas police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for murdering her neighbor in 2018 when she shot him after entering the wrong apartment while off duty. The Dallas jury could have handed down a sentence between five and 99 years to Amber Guyger, 31, for killing 26-year-old Botham Jean, who worked for an accounting firm. Guyger, who is white, had claimed she thought Jean, who was black, was an intruder in her own apartment.
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| U.S. Treasury sanctions chief Mandelker leaving for private sector Posted: 02 Oct 2019 09:32 AM PDT  Sigal Mandelker, the U.S. Treasury official who oversaw the Trump administration's aggressive use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool, has resigned to return to the private sector, the U.S. Treasury secretary said on Wednesday. "She is a fierce advocate for effectively leveraging our powerful economic tools to make an impact for a safer world," Mnuchin said in a statement. As undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence since June 2017, Mandelker supervised the ramping up of sanctions against Iran, mainly aimed at strangling oil exports after the United States left the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran.
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| Mouse falls from White House ceiling into man's lap Posted: 02 Oct 2019 01:19 AM PDT  Reporters got a surprise when a mouse fell from the ceiling at the White House.The rodent fell onto the lap of NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander yesterday morning, before eventually seeking refuge amid a tangle of wires behind a shelf.
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| DANGER AHEAD: China's Six Carrier Navy Is Just Around the Corner Posted: 01 Oct 2019 09:22 PM PDT  Will it tilt the balance against local U.S. forces?
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| Record rise in homeless people dying, ONS figures show amid opioid and spice epidemic Posted: 01 Oct 2019 05:32 AM PDT  Homeless people are dying at record rates, government statistics have revealed, as experts blame the opioid and spice epidemic for deaths. Deaths of homeless people increased by 22% to 726 in 2018 - the largest rise since 2013, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures. Two in five of the deaths were related to drug poisoning - an increase of 55% on 2017 and compared to just 16% for the population as a whole. Balbir Chatrik, director of policy and communication at Centrepoint, a youth homelessness charity, said: "These figures will shock many people who will wonder how we have reached this point. "We know that homelessness, particularly street homelessness, can have hugely adverse effects on people's physical and mental health. The significant increase in drug-related deaths is a cause for serious concern. The number of people sleeping rough has risen dramatically homelessness "Spice and other synthetic drugs are cheap, easily available and highly addictive and they are the cause of many of the deaths reported today. "The fact is, we know how to reduce homelessness and prevent deaths like these from happening. We need more social housing, to ensure housing benefit covers the cost of renting privately, and proper funding for mental health and substance misuse services. "What we need now is the political will and financial resources to put these solutions into practice." Ben Humberstone, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS, said: "The deaths of 726 homeless people in England and Wales recorded in 2018 represent an increase of over a fifth on the previous year. That's the largest rise since these figures began in 2013. "A key driver of the change is the number of deaths related to drug poisoning, which are up by 55% since 2017, compared to 16% for the population as a whole." HMRC homeless tax Most of the deaths in 2018 were men - with an estimated 641 deaths - with an average age of 45 for men and 43 for women. London had the highest number of deaths, with 20% of the total, followed by the North West, with 14%. The ONS said that deaths from drugs had more than doubled over the six years it had been recording the data. Figures in 2018 showed there were an estimated 294 drug-related deaths - 40% of the total - compared to 190 deaths in 2017. The most frequently mentioned substances on the death certificates of those identified as homeless in 2018 were opiates, with heroin or morphine being the most common forms. Jon Sparkes, Crisis chief executive, said: "It is heart-breaking that hundreds of people were forced to spend the last days of their lives without the dignity of a secure home. "This is now the second year running where we have known the true scale of the human cost of homelessness, yet still the lessons from these tragic deaths go unlearnt." Mr Sparkes added: "It's crucial that governments urgently expand the safeguarding system used to investigate the deaths of vulnerable adults to include everyone who has died while street homeless so we can help prevent more people from dying needlessly. "Because in this day and age, there is no excuse for anyone dying without a safe place to call home." There are around 2,000 fatalities each year — which equate to more than five every day — as a result of overdoses from powerful opioid painkillers. This marks a 41% rise from 10 years ago, according to ONS data. A 2017 report from the National Crime Agency found that fentanyl - a powerful synthetic opioid - had recently emerged into the UK heroin street market in the north east of England. Researchers concluded that it is "likely a contributory factor in recent multiple heroin-associated deaths". Andrew Hayward is director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Inclusion Health at University College London said that the unprecedented numbers of homeless deaths constitute a "national public health emergency". "These deaths are driven by poverty and represent a failure of our society to protect the most vulnerable," he said. "Whilst drug-related deaths are important, homeless people are also much more likely than the general population to die of common treatable conditions such as respiratory disease, heart disease and cancer."
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| You can apply for FAFSA college aid money starting Oct. 1, but avoid these 3 pitfalls Posted: 01 Oct 2019 08:35 AM PDT  FAFSA rolls out Oct. 1 for students who plan to go to college in fall 2020. Experts say students should file FAFSAs as soon after Oct. 1 as possible.
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| Trump praises 'honorable' Portman for corroborating Ukraine aid story Posted: 02 Oct 2019 01:40 PM PDT ![Trump praises 'honorable' Portman for corroborating Ukraine aid story]( "Trump praises 'honorable' Portman for corroborating Ukraine aid story") In defending his decision to withhold Ukrainian aid on Wednesday, President Donald Trump brought to light a behind-the-scenes disagreement with a member of his own party: Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Whether Portman agrees with Trump that the president's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "perfect" is another matter. The Ohio lawmaker repeatedly asked the Trump administration why roughly $400 million in aid to Ukraine was delayed.
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