| Trump signed off on GOP crashing impeachment testimony, Bloomberg says Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:37 AM PDT  Members of the conservative Freedom Caucus stormed the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities and blasted Democrats for conducting closed-door interviews in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump.
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| 'A sad day': Louisiana deputy and his school teacher wife face 60 counts of child porn and child rape accusations Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:15 PM PDT  Sheriff's deputy Dennis Perkins and his wife Cynthia Thompson Perkins, a teacher, were arrested on child pornography and rape charges in Louisiana.
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| China detains journalist who covered Hong Kong protests: sources Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:57 AM PDT  A Chinese journalist who covered democracy protests in Hong Kong has been detained after returning to the mainland, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told AFP on Thursday. Huang Xueqin, who became known for her support of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment in China last year, had travelled to Hong Kong this summer. When Huang returned to the mainland, authorities in the southeastern city of Guangzhou summoned her to a meeting and confiscated her travel documents, the sources said.
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| Mountain skeleton may be man from Japanese internment camp Posted: 23 Oct 2019 06:02 PM PDT  In the closing days of World War II, a Japanese American set out with other men from the infamous internment camp at Manzanar on a trip to the mountains, where he went off on his own to paint a watercolor and got caught in a freak summer snowstorm. A hiker found Giichi Matsumura's body weeks later amid a jumble of boulders, and he was laid to rest in a spot marked only by a small stack of granite slabs. Over the years, as the little-known story faded along with memories, the location of Matsumura's burial in the remote and forbidding alpine landscape was lost to time, and he became a sort of ghost of Manzanar, the subject of searches, rumors and legends.
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| See Photos of the New Honda Fit Posted: 22 Oct 2019 06:04 PM PDT |
| An Easy Way To Start World War III: Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:00 PM PDT  Just asking for it.
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| Rep. Katie Hill admits relationship with campaign staffer Posted: 24 Oct 2019 07:23 AM PDT  The House Ethics Committee announced on Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into Rep. Katie Hill over allegations that she had an improper relationship with a congressional staffer, which would be an ethics violation.
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| Kurds attacked by Turkish-backed fighters day after Trump boasts of 'permanent' ceasefire Posted: 24 Oct 2019 09:13 AM PDT  Kurdish forces yesterday accused Turkish-backed fighters of violating the ceasefire in northeast Syria with a "vast" new ground offensive and pleaded with the US "to intervene immediately" to stop the assault. Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump boasted of establishing a "permanent" peaceful settlement in the area, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they were under assault from Turkish-backed Syrian rebels. "The SDF…holds the Turkish side responsible for the deterioration of the ceasefire process and calls on the American guarantor to intervene immediately to stop this aggression against our people," a spokesman said. Turkey said five of its soldiers were injured when Kurdish forces attacked near the border town of Ras al-Ain with mortars and drones. A car bomb also exploded in the Turkish-controlled town of Tal Abyad, wounding several people. The renewed fighting undercut Mr Trump's claim of "a major breakthrough" in northeast Syria and raised questions about his decision to retract sanctions on Turkey because it had halted its offensive. Mr Trump boasted of a 'permanent' ceasefire in northern Syria Credit: SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/REX While Mr Trump said the US had "a very good relationship" with Turkey, several of his senior officials lashed out in frustration at Ankara. "Turkey put us all in a very terrible situation," said Mark Esper, the US defence secretary, calling the Turkish military operation in Syria an "unwarranted invasion". Mr Trump's special envoy for Syria went further in his criticism, saying the US had seen evidence of war crimes committed by Turkish-backed rebels, and had demanded an explanation from Ankara. "Many people fled because they're very concerned about these Turkish-supported Syrian opposition forces, as we are. We've seen several incidents which we consider war crimes," James Jeffrey, special representative for Syria, told a House of Representatives hearing. The Syrian rebels, known as the National Army, have been accused of human rights abuses since the first days of the Turkish offensive. Footage has circulated in the last two weeks of Syrian rebels fighting alongside the Turkish military executing civilians at the side of the road, including Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf. Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have been accused of war crimes Credit: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi An autopsy indicated that her legs and her jaw had been broken and that she was dragged by her hair until the skin of her scalp came out, before being repeatedly shot. The National Army said it was investigating the allegations. In recent days, footage has appeared which seems to show rebels mutilating the corpse of a female Kurdish fighter. The SDF appeared to be complying with the terms of a Russian-Turkish agreement and were withdrawing their forces 20 miles from the border, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's president, said his forces would "crush" Kurdish fighters if they did not fully withdraw. Despite the fighting around Ras al-Ain, Russia said it believed the ceasefire deal signed by Vladimir Putin and Mr Erdoğan was holding. "We note with satisfaction that the agreements reached in Sochi are being implemented," said Sergei Vershinin, Russia's deputy foreign minister. Mr Erdoğan also mocked European fears over an influx of Syrian refugees from Turkey. "When we say we will open the gates, they are up in arms," he said. "The gates will be opened when the time comes." Turkey currently hosts more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees and Mr Erdoğan said he would send some of them to "safe zones" in northern Syria. It is not clear if refugees would go willingly to the area now that Assad's forces control much of the nearby territory.
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| Medieval man's face reconstructed from 600-year-old skull Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:46 AM PDT ![Medieval man's face reconstructed from 600-year-old skull]( "Medieval man's face reconstructed from 600-year-old skull") Researchers found that Skeleton 125 was over the age of 46 years old and shorter than the average medieval man. He was around 5'2" or 5'3".
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| Ex-U.S. Marine accused of spying in Russia says guard threatened him with gun: Ifax Posted: 24 Oct 2019 12:19 AM PDT  A former U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying told a court on Thursday that a prison guard had forced him to his knees in custody and that he had been threatened with a gun, the Interfax news agency reported. Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in December and accused of espionage. At a hearing on Thursday, the court ordered Whelan held in custody until Dec. 29.
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| U.S. Security Bloc to Keep China in ‘Proper Place,’ Pompeo Says Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:24 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has said efforts to revive the Indo-Pacific security grouping known as the Quad will help the Washington contain China's rise."We've reconvened 'the Quad' -- the security talks between Japan, Australia, India and the United States that had been dormant for nine years," Pompeo said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation research group on Tuesday. "This will prove very important in the efforts ahead, ensuring that China retains only its proper place in the world."His remarks came in a speech where he also said U.S. President Donald Trump "has changed the global conversation on China" and that Beijing "is a strategic competitor at best that uses coercion and corruption as its tools of statecraft."The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue involving four democracies is seen as a counter to China's growing influence in Asia as it spends billions on infrastructure, builds artificial structures in the South China Sea and expands its military power. However, some of the group's members -- particularly India -- have occasionally tried to downplay the significance of the group to avoid angering Beijing or alienating countries in Southeast Asia.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has mocked the idea of a unified Indo-Pacific strategy as a "headline-grabbing idea" that will dissipate "like the sea foam in the Pacific or Indian Ocean.""The four countries' official position is that it targets no one," Wang said in March. "I hope they mean what they say and their action will match their rhetoric. Nowadays, stoking a new Cold War is out of sync with the times and inciting bloc confrontation will find no market."In late September, the talks were upgraded from officials to the ministerial level, with Pompeo meeting the four foreign ministers of the Quad nations, including Australia's Marise Payne, Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi and India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Chris KayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The 6 questions from AOC that stumped Mark Zuckerberg Posted: 24 Oct 2019 07:41 AM PDT  Mark Zuckerberg was repeatedly stumped during Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's questioning of him at the House financial services committee on Wednesday afternoon, appearing unable to answer even basic questions about one of his company's largest scandals.The 35-year-old Facebook CEO appeared before the committee as his company seeks approval to launch its proprietary cryptocurrency project, Libra.
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| Wind-whipped fires rage across California as lights go dark Posted: 24 Oct 2019 05:23 PM PDT  Fast-growing fires throughout California forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes Thursday as dry winds and high heat fed both the flames and fears in a state still jittery from devastating wildfires in the last two years. Officials said they did not yet know how many homes had burned and that no immediate injuries were reported. In Northern California wine country, authorities ordered 2,000 people to evacuate as a wildfire exploded to more than 15 square miles (39 square kilometers), whipped up by the strong winds that prompted utilities statewide to impose blackouts to prevent such fires from igniting.
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| Ilhan Omar Misquotes Article, Falsely Claims Child ‘Died’ Due to Dropped Medicaid Coverage Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted a link to a New York Times article Thursday morning and falsely claimed a child "died as a direct result of Trump's cuts to Medicaid and CHIP," even though the article makes no such claim.After critics pointed out Omar's inaccuracy on Twitter, her account tweeted an addendum saying the child had "almost died."> almost died*> > -- Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) October 24, 2019The Times' article paints a fearful account of rising uninsurance rates among eligible Medicaid families due to amended paperwork requirements and deportation fears, and implies shifts in policy under the Trump administration are behind the decreasing enrollment. But HHS Administration for Children and Families spokesman told the paper that recent rises are due to factors in individual states."I went to the E.R. thinking he had insurance. If the receptionist had not seen him turning blue, she might have just said, 'He's not covered, so we can't see him today.' I do think about that.," Karen Johnson, the boy's mother, told The Times. The nine-month old was taken to the intensive care unit for a respiratory virus, treated successfully, and later released.The rest of the story also undercuts Omar's initial tweet, as the Times reports that "Trump administration officials have not explicitly tried to limit children's Medicaid coverage." After an appointment with an enrollment counselor, it was revealed that Johnson had missed a window to provide proof of income to re-enroll her three children.The Johnson's are now re-enrolled successfully, and Karen is counting on Medicaid to cover the hospital bills retroactively.Medicaid retroactively covers eligible patients up to three months after the month of application.
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| The Army Wants to Bring the "Linebacker" Bradley Back from the Grave Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:00 PM PDT  A good idea?
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| Ford Electric Crossover Will Be Unveiled on November 17 Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:00 AM PDT  Most likely called the Mach E, the electric crossover will have 300 miles of driving range.
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| Trump Announces New Syria Plan: Blood for Oil Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:29 AM PDT  REUTERSPresident Donald Trump announced Wednesday he's keeping a small U.S. force in northeastern Syria, even as he declaimed responsibility for fighting the so-called Islamic State there."Let someone else fight over this long bloodstained sand," Trump said from the Oval Office, in what sounded like a victory speech over an outcome negotiated between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ratifying the Turkish invasion that began Oct. 9 and has displaced what UNICEF estimates as 80,000 children, Trump announced he will permanently lift "all sanctions imposed" on Turkey. The decision ensures Erdoğan will face no consequences for its invasion of northeastern Syrian areas previously held by Kurdish forces fighting alongside the United States. The U.S. military command, which has been taken by surprise by a wrenching month of withdrawal decisions, did not immediately comment. But a U.S. official familiar with Syria planning, who was not authorized to speak to reporters, said that servicemembers will stay at bases near the Deir az-Zour oil fields, where they have been partnered with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The other enduring U.S. base in the war-torn country, known as al-Tanf, is in the southeastern Syrian desert, far from the oil fields and pipelines that Trump claimed as the residual mission for the U.S. in Syria. The official said the residual force is likely to be fewer than 400 U.S. troops, spread between Deir az-Zour and al-Tanf, down from the 1000 there at the beginning of the month. But U.S. planners are racing to keep up with a torrid pace of presidential announcements that they must translate into policy. "We will be deciding what to do with [the oil] in the future," Trump declared. Using U.S. forces to claim another nation's oil is likely to prompt backlash, though it is unclear whether Trump's pronouncements, an echo of his campaign rhetoric, will translate to actual American policy.After Trump gave Erdoğan a green light to invade on Oct. 6, the administration, facing substantial political opposition, has attempted after the fact to portray itself as opposing the incursion. Last week, Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials in Ankara announced a ceasefire that ratified all of Turkey's military goals: clearing the Kurds out of a 20-mile-deep area away from the Turkish border. The vice president said that while the ceasefire held, the Turks would enjoy a reprieve from the sanctions the U.S. placed on Turkey post-invasion. Trump claimed victory out of the five-day durability of the ceasefire, something that resulted from a deal reached Tuesday by Erdoğan and Putin for joint Turkish-Russian patrols in an area that effectively redraws the Turkish-Syrian border. Yet Trump presented this fait accompli as "an outcome created by us, the United States, and no other nation." He praised Erdoğan as "a man I have gotten to know very well" and referenced an invitation to the White House that he first extended to his Turkish counterpart days before the offensive began. It was not the only unreality in Trump's brief speech. He claimed all ISIS fighters had been recaptured, said the U.S. has been in Syria for "almost ten years" instead of the four years it has been there, portrayed the conflict between Kurds and Turks as ancient instead of political and glossed over the horrific scenes of violence against Kurds that resulted from the Turkish invasion. Trump's posture on Wednesday was to wash his hands of whatever ISIS resurgence results. "Now Turkey, Syria and others in the region must work to make sure ISIS doesn't regain any territory," he said. "It's their neighborhood."Even though he made no effort to explain when the new, plunder-driven goals of the U.S. in Syria will be satisfied, permitting an actual withdrawal, Trump contended that he had reoriented the U.S. military out of a generation of conflict in the Middle East that has agonizingly produced neither peace nor victory.With "a clear objective, a plan for victory and a path out of conflict," Trump said, the U.S. will now "only win—our whole basis has to be the right plan, we will win, no one can beat us." Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| 'White terror': Hong Kong's China critics beaten in targeted attacks Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:17 PM PDT  The men jumped Stanley Ho without warning, smashing both his hands with metal rods -- one of multiple recent attacks against prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures that activists have dubbed a "white terror". Since late August, eight well-known pro-democracy figures have been beaten by unknown assailants as fear swirls that some "triad" crime networks have flocked to Beijing's cause after five months of protests. "The cause of the attack may be related to two things -- the upcoming district council election and the ongoing movement," Ho told AFP, referring to the protests.
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| The World’s Most Beautifully Designed Ocean-Fed Pools Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:34 PM PDT |
| South Carolina police find remains of 5-year-old girl missing since August in landfill Posted: 22 Oct 2019 07:18 PM PDT  The Sumter Police Department on Tuesday announced the remains of Nevaeh Lashy Adams were found after a search that began in August.
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| UPDATE 1-Kremlin says U.S. betrayed Kurds in Syria, tells Kurds to withdraw or be mauled Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:19 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Kremlin says U.S. betrayed Kurds in Syria, tells Kurds to withdraw or be mauled]( "UPDATE 1-Kremlin says U.S. betrayed Kurds in Syria, tells Kurds to withdraw or be mauled") The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the United States had betrayed and abandoned the Syrian Kurds and advised the Kurds to withdraw from the Syrian border as per a deal between Moscow and Ankara or be mauled by the Turkish army. The comments by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to Russian news agencies followed a deal agreed on Tuesday between Russia and Turkey that will see Syrian and Russian forces deploy to northeast Syria to remove Kurdish YPG fighters and their weapons from the border with Turkey. Peskov, who was reported to be reacting to comments by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey, complained that it appeared that the United States was encouraging the Kurds to stay close to the Syrian border and fight the Turkish army.
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| Americans Are Unhappy at Work After Years of Economic Gains Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:52 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Pocket Cast or iTunes.The economy has added millions of jobs and pay gains have accelerated in recent years, but Americans aren't crazy about their work.A poll released Wednesday showed just 40% of employed Americans say they're in good jobs, versus 44% in mediocre jobs and 16% in bad jobs. How respondents ranked the quality of their job had a strong correlation with their quality of life: Seventy-nine percent of workers in good jobs report a high quality of life, versus only a third of those in bad jobs.The Gallup survey of 6,633 working adults to assess their current job on 10 dimensions of job quality such as benefits, pay and job security. More important aspects, as ranked by the respondent, were weighted more heavily in the final five-point score. A good job is a score of 4 or above. A bad job reflects a score at or below 3.About two-thirds of those making $143,000 or more a year -- in the top 10% of incomes -- categorized their job as "good," while less than a third of those making less than $24,000 said the same. Overall, just about half of workers are satisfied with their current pay, but this differs greatly by income. Eighty-nine percent of those in the top 10% income bracket were satisfied with their level of pay. That compares to less than half of that for those with incomes in the bottom half.Fewer than two-thirds of respondents said their pay has increased in the last five years, further underscoring how the record-long expansion has been uneven across income levels. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has emphasized the need to sustain the economy's growth so "that the strong job market reaches more of those left behind."As the labor market has tightened, companies have complained about a lack of qualified workers, and job postings currently exceed the number of unemployed Americans.Yet no more than 37% saw an improvement in any single aspect of work besides pay over the last five years, according to the report, which was funded by the Lumina Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Omidyar Network.About a fourth of Americans saw an improvement in their employee benefits, while only a third were enjoying their day-to-day work more.Looking across demographics, the study found race, ethnicity and gender to be strongly correlated with job quality.Black women were most likely to say they work in bad jobs, at 31%. White non-Hispanic men, followed by white non-Hispanic women, were least likely to be disappointed by job quality. Hispanic men and black women were the most likely to be disappointed. Asian workers, who had higher levels of income and education than white Americans, expressed lower job quality than white respondents.The survey was conducted via mail from Feb. 8 to April 1. The main results have a margin of error of 1.9 percentage point."We cannot rely on the unemployment rate alone to tell us what is happening with work in America," Jonathan Rothwell, Gallup principal economist, said in a statement released with the poll. "This survey offers a detailed look at what people value in their jobs and how they feel about their working lives, and it shows that people want more than just a job."(Updates to add economist quote in last paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Reade Pickert in Washington at epickert@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Jeff KearnsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| As teachers strike, Chicago mayor touts $838M deficit fix Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:54 AM PDT  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who's still trying to settle a nearly week-old teacher's strike, proposed a combination of debt refinancing, tax and fee hikes and assistance from the state Legislature on Wednesday to close a massive $838 million budget deficit.
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| Joe Biden forced to apologise for 1998 claim that impeaching Bill Clinton could be seen as ‘partisan lynching’ Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:11 AM PDT  Joe Biden has been forced to apologise for suggesting the impeachment of Bill Clinton could be seen as "a partisan lynching".The Democrat presidential frontrunner's 1998 comments resurfaced after he attacked Donald Trump for making a similar claim.
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| Drug lord delivers blunt Lebanon protest support Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:27 AM PDT  A week into daily demonstrations that have gone on into the early hours, the Lebanese may be in need of a pick me up -- and the country's most famous drug dealer offered just that Thursday. Nouh Zaiter, a hashish dealer on the run from Lebanese authorities, delivered a blunt message in support of anti-corruption protests that have crippled the country. The self-styled Lebanese Robin Hood released a video on a local news site calling on protesters in the eastern Baalbek region to demonstrate on Thursday evening.
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| Why Iran's Navy Wouldn't Fare Well in a War Against America Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:00 PM PDT  Tehran has no chance.
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| Phoenix police officer involved in viral video stop of couple fired Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:00 AM PDT  Phoenix Chief Jeri Williams announced that the officer involved in a viral video stop of Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper has been fired.
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| UPDATE 1-Chinese ship leaves Vietnam's waters after disputed South China Sea surveys Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:28 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Chinese ship leaves Vietnam's waters after disputed South China Sea surveys]( "UPDATE 1-Chinese ship leaves Vietnam's waters after disputed South China Sea surveys") A Chinese oil survey vessel that has been embroiled in a tense standoff with Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea left Vietnamese-controlled waters on Thursday after more than three months, marine data showed. The Chinese vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, was speeding away from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone towards China on Thursday under the escort of at least two Chinese ships, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels. China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea but neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mark Zuckerberg how big a lie she could buy on Facebook Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:55 AM PDT ![Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mark Zuckerberg how big a lie she could buy on Facebook]( "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mark Zuckerberg how big a lie she could buy on Facebook") The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing Wednesday ostensibly about Facebook's cryptocurrency, Libra, but lawmakers weren't going to waste their chance to question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on some Bitcoin knockoff. Here's how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) made her pivot: "In order for us to make decisions about Libra, I think we need to kind of dig into your past behavior and Facebook's past behavior with respect to our democracy."Ocasio-Cortez grilled Zuckerberg on the Cambridge Analytica election-data-manipulation scandal -- Zuckerberg said he learned of the breach "around" March 2018, even though correspondence unearthed in a lawsuit this year showed executives knew about potential improper data harvesting as early as September 2015 -- and then she turned to Facebook's "official policy" of allowing "politicians to pay to spread disinformation in 2020 elections and in the future. So I just want to know how far I can push this in the next year," she said.Zuckerberg said Ocasio-Cortez couldn't buy an add targeting black voters with the wrong election date, but when she asked if she could "run advertisements on Facebook targeting Republicans in primaries, saying that they voted for the Green New Deal," Zuckerberg said yes, probably. "Do you see a potential problem here with a complete lack of fact-checking on political advertisements?" Ocasio-Cortez asked, and Zuckerberg said he thinks "lying is bad, and I think if you were to run an ad that had a lie in it, that would be bad," and voters should know if she or any other politician is a liar."Facebook doesn't need to run political ads; they're not a significant portion of its business," Vox notes. "But the company appears determined to leave its policy unchanged. So prepare for some your-Republican-congressman-supports-the-Green-New-Deal ads from Democrats in 2020. Maybe."
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| The Latest: Hong Kong protesters rally at British Consulate Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:09 AM PDT  Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters have formed a human chain at the British Consulate in Hong Kong to rally support for their cause from the city's former colonial ruler. The event was organized in support of a debate on Thursday in Britain's Parliament on whether to offer British citizenship to Hong Kongers in light of the unrest that has gripped the city since early June. People born in Hong Kong before July 1997, when China took back control of the city, were eligible for British National Overseas passports, which don't provide British citizenship.
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| Former ICE Head Slams L.A. Police for Releasing Illegal Immigrants Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:16 PM PDT  The former head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Tom Homan slammed the Los Angeles police department on Tuesday after an ICE spokesman testified to Congress that L.A. police were releasing as many as 100 illegal immigrants from custody per day.The L.A. police chief "has taken a political stance," Homan asserted during an interview on Fox and Friends. "He forgot the oath he's taken; he stopped being a cop and became a politician."During a Monday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "sanctuary jurisdictions," ICE official Timothy Robbins stated that the L.A. police department was releasing captured illegal immigrants at a high rate, up to 100 per day, in accordance with a policy implemented by chief Michel Moore."Cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies is critical to the agency's efforts to identify and arrest removable aliens, and to protect the nation's security," Robbins said. "Unfortunately, we are seeing more jurisdictions that refuse to work with our officers, or directly impede our public safety efforts.""Are you saying that local law enforcement, if they knew they had a violent offender in custody, that they would release those persons?" asked Senator Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) during the hearing."Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Robbins responded.A 2017 California law signed by former governor Jerry Brown greatly restricts the ability of local law enforcement agencies to work with the ICE to capture illegal immigrants. The legislation in effect turns California into a "sanctuary state."However, Homan said during the Tuesday interview that California police generally opposed the legislation.California is home to roughly 2.5 million illegal immigrants comprising about one tenth of the state's workforce, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-profit think tank.
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| White House Press Secretary: Those ‘Against’ Trump Deserve to Be Called ‘Human Scum’ Posted: 24 Oct 2019 08:03 AM PDT  White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Thursday doubled down on her boss' "human scum" attack on so-called "Never Trump" Republicans and seemingly expanded it to include anyone who has worked against President Donald Trump's agenda."The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats," Trump tweeted on Wednesday afternoon."Watch out for them, they are human scum!"The president's tweet set off a firestorm about the his rhetoric—in this case about a notably small subset of Republicans, some of whom are likely to vote for him anyhow—and so Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade asked the top White House flack, "Does he regret that?""No, no, he shouldn't," Grisham replied. "The people who are against him, and who have been against him, and have been working against him since the day they took office are just that."She continued: "It is horrible that people are working against a president who's delivering results for this country and has been since day one. And the fact that people continue to try to negate anything he is doing and take away from the good work he is doing on behalf of the American people, they deserve strong language like that."Judge Napolitano Schools 'Fox & Friends' on Impeachment: Schiff Just 'Following the Rules' Written by GOPRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| 'It's the jungle': Bosnian migrant camp in crisis Posted: 24 Oct 2019 01:07 AM PDT  No running water, putrid portable toilets and surrounding woods littered with land mines -- these are the bleak conditions of a camp where hundreds of migrants brace for winter in Bosnia. "It's the jungle," says Mohammad Nawaz, a 30-year-old Pakistani living in the tent-city built on a former garbage landfill in the northwest village of Vucjak. The camp was set up outside the city of Bihac in June after inhabitants became frustrated with the growing migrant presence.
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| United Nations expert calls for ban on Israeli products from settlements Posted: 23 Oct 2019 04:55 PM PDT  The U.N. independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories called Wednesday for an international ban on all products made in Israeli settlements as a step to potentially end Israel's 52-year "illegal occupation."
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| RPT-FEATURE-In Mexico, El Chapo’s sons add brash new chapter to crime family Posted: 23 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT ![RPT-FEATURE-In Mexico, El Chapo's sons add brash new chapter to crime family]( "RPT-FEATURE-In Mexico, El Chapo's sons add brash new chapter to crime family") The mug shot-style photo of Ovidio Guzman that appeared as he was apprehended oozed defiance. Chin jutting out, eyes trained on the camera, the handsome youth bore a strong resemblance to his infamous father, jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. In response to his capture in an upscale neighborhood, hundreds of heavily-armed Sinaloa Cartel henchmen, guns blazing, were pouring into Culiacan, briefly taking the modern city of about a million people near Mexico's Pacific coast hostage.
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| AOC's reelection campaign says it refunded two mysterious $500 donations from former Facebook exec and Trump supporter Palmer Luckey Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:03 AM PDT  Oculus founder Palmer Luckey regularly donates to far-right causes, but he donated to AOC without explanation.
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| Taiwanese Opposition to Political Union With China Surges Posted: 24 Oct 2019 05:01 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The number of Taiwanese opposed to a Hong Kong-style political union with China has surged this year as ongoing violent protests in the former British colony raise concerns about Beijing's rule across the region.Nearly 90% of Taiwan's public opposes unification with China under the "one country, two systems" model adopted by Hong Kong when it returned to Beijing's rule in 1997, according to a survey published by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Thursday. That's an increase of 13.9% percentage points since January to 89.3%.The months-long protests in the city not only raised concerns among Taiwanese people about Hong Kong-style rule, but also gave Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen a noticeable boost in public support. Tsai, who is seeking a second term in January, refuses to endorse Beijing's bottom line that both sides belong to "one China."Before the pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong, Tsai still lagged challenger Han Kuo-yu of the pro-China opposition Kuomintang by double digits in most opinion polls. Since August, she began leading.Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council conducted the survey about Hong Kong-style rule between Oct. 17-21. It involved 1,073 Taiwan citizens aged 20 years or older, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.99%. The same question was asked in surveys in January, March, May and July this year.\--With assistance from Miaojung Lin.To contact the reporter on this story: Chinmei Sung in Taipei at csung4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Samson Ellis at sellis29@bloomberg.net, Ryan Lovdahl, Denise WeeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| NYPD officer fired in chokehold death sues to get job back Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:04 PM PDT  The officer who was fired in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner is suing the New York Police Department and the police commissioner to be reinstated. Video of the confrontation between Garner, a black man, and the officers trying to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes drew outrage and was viewed millions of times online.
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| Top Republican senator expresses disquiet over Ukraine scandal after bombshell testimony Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:42 PM PDT  The second most senior Republican in the US Senate has expressed disquiet about new bombshell testimony that Donald Trump made aid to Ukraine conditional on the launch of an investigation into his political rival, Joe Biden. John Thune, who holds the position of Senate Republican whip, told reporters that the picture which was painted by America's top Ukraine diplomat before the impeachment inquiry was "not a good one". The testimony in question, given by US diplomat William Taylor on Tuesday, had left Democrats declaring a "sea change" in their impeachment investigation and put Republicans on the back foot. Mr Taylor, who was made 'charge d'affaires' in the Ukrainian embassy in July, delivered an explosive opening statement that contradicted Mr Trump's claim there was no "quid pro quo" between pausing almost $400 million in aid to Ukraine and demanding the country launch politically helpful probes. Mr Taylor said that he had been told "everything" was dependent on the Ukrainians announcing the investigations which Mr Trump was seeking, including the release of the military aid. One probe would have been into the company Burisma, which had employed Mr Biden's son Hunter Biden, and the other was into Ukraine's alleged meddling in the 2016 US election. John Thune, the Senate Republican whip, watches as as Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, speaks on Tuesday Credit: REUTERS/Tom Brenner Mr Taylor testified that Gordon Sondland, America's EU ambassador and a former Trump donor, had told him Mr Trump wanted the Ukrainian president to personally announce the investigations so that he was "in a public box". Mr Taylor said Mr Sondland explained the stance by noting Mr Trump's corporate past. "When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check," Mr Taylor recalled. Some Democrats dubbed the testimony the "most damning" yet of the impeachment inquiry into the Ukraine scandal, which has only been running a month. Mr Taylor spoke behind closed doors but his 15-page opening statement was obtained by numerous US media outlets. On Wednesday, with the White House on the back foot, Republicans on Capitol Hill who have largely stayed silent on the substance of the inquiry intensified their criticism of the process. The House is expected to vote on articles of impeachment before Christmas, though no date has been announced. If passed then it moves to the Senate. Sixty-seven of the 100 senators would need to vote to remove Mr Trump for him to be deposed. There are 47 Democrats and two independents, meaning at least 20 Republicans would need to rebel. Number of Senators needed to back inquiry The investigation is being led by three committees in the US House of Representatives which are sat on by members of both parties but the Democrats are calling the shots, because they hold the majority. Around two dozen Republican congressmen tried to storm a secure room where the committees leading the impeachment inquiry were due to hear another witness. Republicans accused the Democrats of pursuing a "Soviet-style impeachment process" and carrying out a "political hit job on the president", with some chanting: "Let us in! Let us in!" The chaotic scenes saw some Republicans make it into the room with mobile phones, which are banned. It meant the witness, Laura Cooper, a Defence Department official who oversees Ukraine policy, had still not spoken by noon. The move appeared to be a deliberate attempt to force focus back on the way the Democrats are handling the impeachment inquiry – one of the few areas where Republicans are unified in criticism. Joe Biden with his son Hunter at a baseball game in 2010 Credit: AP Photo/Nick Wass Mr Trump, the White House and Republicans have expressed anger that no vote was ever taken in the House to begin the inquiry and that the interviews are taking place behind closed doors. Mr Thune, the Republican who expressed discomfort with Mr Taylor's testimony, told reporters: "The picture coming out of it based on the reporting we've seen is, yeah, I would say it's not a good one." He went on to also express criticism about the process, saying that until there was "full transparency" it was "pretty hard to come to hard and fast conclusions". Even as the Republicans protested, more reports were emerging that proved unhelpful to Mr Trump's attempts to wave away any criticism of how he behaved towards Ukraine. Mr Trump has not denied he urged Ukraine to investigate Mr Biden, who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and Hunter Biden. However he has denied holding back Ukrainian military aid to secure the probe. William Taylor, the 'charge d'affaires' at America's ambassador at Ukraine, arriving to give testimony to the impeachment inquiry on Tuesday Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite The Associated Press reported that three people said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had expressed concern in a meeting on May 7 about Mr Trump pushing for Biden investigations. That is more than two months before Mr Trump is known to have asked Mr Zelenskiy for the probes during a call on July 25. Meanwhile The New York Times reported that Ukrainian officials were aware that Mr Trump had pause military assistance as early as the first week of August. That undermines claims by Trump allies that there could not have been a "quid pro quo" because Ukraine did not know the aid had been held back. It is not known how Mr Sondland, whose alleged comments were quoted by Mr Taylor, responded to the testimony. He may be called back to the inquiry to answer more questions. Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said: "President Trump has done nothing wrong - this is a coordinated smear campaign from far-left lawmakers and radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the Constitution. There was no quid pro quo."
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| Women to be banned from seeking abortions in South Carolina even in cases of rape or incest Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:51 PM PDT  Republicans in South Carolina have voted to proceed on a measure that would strip abortion exemptions in cases of rape or incest, and criminalise the procedure almost entirely as soon as a foetal heartbeat is detected.The proposed bill is the latest attack on abortion rights throughout the United States, in an effort by conservatives keen on bringing the issue before the Supreme Court. There, they hope, they may finally be able to make good on a long held dream of repealing some or all of the landmark Roe v Wade decision largely legalising abortion in the country.
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| Texas Gov. Announces Investigation Into Custody Battle Over Boy’s Gender Transition Posted: 24 Oct 2019 06:30 AM PDT  Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday night that the Texas Attorney General's Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services are looking into a case involving a custody battle over a seven-year-old boy who is said to be transgender by his mother.> FYI the matter of 7 year old James Younger is being looked into by the Texas Attorney General's Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. JamesYounger> > -- Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 23, 2019On Tuesday, a Texas jury ruled against James's father, Jeff Younger, and awarded sole conservatorship to his mother, who has been encouraging James's "social transition" against his father's wishes.James's mother, Dr. Anne Georgulas, who is a pediatrician, separated from Younger several years ago after James and his brother were born, and was given exclusive rights and duties, while Younger's custody rights were limited.Georgulas has said that seven-year-old James began to show signs of identifying as a girl when he asked for a girls' toy from McDonald's, began imitating the female characters from Disney's "Frozen," and started asking to wear dresses.After being referred to a LGBT family therapist, Georgulas was advised to begin "affirming" James by calling him "Luna," as well as "socially transitioning" him at school. Medical records presented by the boy's pediatrician list James as "Luna Younger, female," and included a recommendation to visit GENecis clinic at Children's Hospital Center, which offers "hormone therapy" and "puberty suppression."Georgulas' legal team has brought several therapists and counselors as witnesses, all of whom testified that James told them that he was a girl and wanted to be called "Luna."Younger has contended in court that James is happy to present as a boy when they are together, referring to himself as "James" and wearing male clothing.He has also argued that the situation violates one of the two requirements for "gender dysphoria" in the DSM-V, the current manual used by the American Psychiatric Association. In addition to displaying characteristics related to gender expression, such as clothes, pronouns, etc., the patient must "display distress." Witnesses who testified in the case — including those who diagnosed James with gender dysphoria — said that he has not displayed any such distress, according to the Texan.Conservatives, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, voiced their concerns about the case on Twitter ahead of Abbott's announcement.> This is horrifying & tragic. For a parent to subject such a young child to life-altering hormone blockers to medically transition their sex is nothing less than child abuse.https://t.co/sl8VcBgfTD via @nypost> > -- Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 24, 2019Georgulas' legal representation told the Daily Caller in a statement Wednesday that a "completely distorted and untrue version of events in this case has been circling the media . . . The pleadings in this case are available online, including, but not limited to, the Court's prior annulment proceedings and the numerous findings of fraud that the Court made in this case against Mr. Younger."The lawyers said that Georgulas' case "is being viciously attacked and threatened by complete strangers based on false and untrue statements."The judge presiding over the case is expected to read the final ruling and order on Thursday, which may force Younger to call his son "Luna," and attend classes on transgenderism. He could also be barred from taking his son outside the home dressed as a boy.
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| Is the Army Getting Ready to Give Up on the A-10 Warthog? Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:00 PM PDT  It is all about the F-35 now.
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| Suspected gang members found dead amid surge of violence in Mexico Posted: 24 Oct 2019 01:35 PM PDT ![Suspected gang members found dead amid surge of violence in Mexico]( "Suspected gang members found dead amid surge of violence in Mexico") Nine men allegedly linked to organized crime were shot dead in southern Mexico during a confrontation with other armed civilians, state authorities said, as the country grapples with a wave of violence. The bodies were found Wednesday night in the remote village of Zitlala, according to the prosecutor's office in the state of Guerrero, one of the country's poorest and hardest-hit by Mexico's long-running drug war. In recent weeks, Mexico has been shaken especially hard by several outbursts of violence linked to organized crime.
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