| John Brennan Claims FISA Abuses were Committed by ‘Overly Aggressive’ FBI Agents ‘Doing Their Level Best’ Posted: 18 Dec 2019 09:40 AM PST  Former CIA director John Brennan on Tuesday defended the FBI agents who committed errors in applications for warrants to surveil Trump-campaign associate Carter Page and pushed back on the allegation that they were motivated by partisanship, but admitted that "there were mistakes made.""Well clearly, there were mistakes made based on the inspector general's report," Brennan told MSNBC's Chris Hayes. "And I know a lot of people attribute it either to incompetence or politicization. Well, I just might attribute it to, these were FBI agents who were doing their level best to try to prevent Russia interference in the election."In a report on the FBI's Russia probe released earlier this month, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded that the bureau omitted crucial details in its requests for warrants to surveil the Trump campaign. The FBI failed to inform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the controversial Steele dossier, which played a "central and essential" role in the application to spy on Page, contained unreliable information and was indirectly commissioned by the Clinton campaign.Inspector General Michael Horowitz also found that an FBI lawyer doctored an email used in the warrant application to conceal the fact that Page served as a source for the CIA, a potential crime prosecutors are now investigating.However, Horowitz nevertheless concluded that no political bias tainted the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation."They were probably overly aggressive, they didn't pay careful enough attention to some of the details, they may have ignored some aspects of the work that was uncovered," the former CIA director said. "But I think the IG was very clear that politicization did not seem to creep into any aspect of their work either at the initiation of the investigation or throughout."Brennan emphasized, however, that the concerns with the FISA court "really need to be addressed" given the court's "tremendous authority" to allow the FBI to surveil U.S. citizens.The former CIA chief also said he sees partisanship on both sides among the lawmakers responsible for Congress's oversight responsibilities."The Republicans are not the only ones that engaged in this partisan activity. I experienced some of it on the Democratic side when I was director of CIA and at the White House," Brennan said.
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| 43 photos show how extreme weather and natural disasters have gotten more intense over the last decade Posted: 19 Dec 2019 12:39 PM PST  Extreme weather, from snow squalls and bomb cyclones to wildfires and guerilla rain, increased in frequency and intensity over the last decade.
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| Pakistan seeks to remove judge after bizarre 'hang corpse in the street' order for Musharraf Posted: 19 Dec 2019 06:54 AM PST  Pakistan's government is seeking to remove the leader of a three-judge panel that sentenced former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to death on charges of treason and added a rider about his corpse, Law Minister Farogh Naseem said on Thursday. The judge, Waqar Ahmad Seth, had violated judicial conduct by issuing the bizarre order that Musharraf's body should hang in public if he dies before his execution. The federal government had decided to approach the Supreme Judicial council.
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| Russian security officer dies in shootout at Federal Security Service in Moscow Posted: 19 Dec 2019 12:50 PM PST  The gunfight erupted around 7 p.m. in the reception room of the FSB, about eight blocks from the Kremlin in Moscow.
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| Grandfather offered plea deal in girl's cruise ship death Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:40 PM PST  Puerto Rican defense attorney Jose Perez said Anello doesn't want to plead guilty and would rather clear his name at trial.
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| Impeaching Donald Trump is not enough. The case for conviction Posted: 19 Dec 2019 08:41 AM PST  The US Senate must show America, and the world, that there are consequences for presidents who abuse their powerDonald Trump has been impeached. For the sake of American democracy and national security, the Senate must convict and remove him from office.The articles of impeachment make a powerful and clear case: The president abused his power, extorting Ukraine to help Trump's campaign by fabricating smears about his potential political opponent and withholding US assistance from Ukraine until the campaign help was received. Then, when the House of Representatives began investigating the president's actions, the president engaged in obstruction of Congress by ordering the executive branch not to comply with congressional subpoenas.The facts – as made clear by the record of the call between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, witness testimony, and the evidence compiled by the House intelligence and judiciary committees – indisputably back up the accusations made in the articles.And while the impeachment is focused on Trump's actions on Ukraine, the reasons why he must be convicted and removed from office go far beyond this incident. As the articles of impeachment state: "President Trump … has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office …" Ukraine was not Trump's first attempt to get foreign help for his campaign; it was "consistent with President Trump's previous invitations of foreign interference in United States elections."> Trump's scheme is to get foreign countries to help his re-election campaign, and if he gets away with it, he will undermine the upcoming electionFirst was Russia. Let's recall: Trump aided the efforts of a foreign power – Russia – to attack and undermine America's 2016 election in order to help himself win; Trump publicly asked Russia to hack the emails of his campaign opponent, which Russia did later that very day; Trump's campaign met with Russian representatives to receive dirt on Hillary Clinton; and then Trump repeatedly obstructed the investigation into the collusion. Special counsel Robert Mueller outlined it all in his report.While Mueller was finalizing his investigation, Trump and his associates were in the midst of an effort to extort Ukraine into smearing Trump's potential political rival, former vice-president Joe Biden. The day after Mueller testified before Congress, Trump asked Zelenskiy for a "favor" to smear Biden and resuscitate a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. Trump enlisted US government officials to pressure Ukraine by withholding US military assistance and a White House meeting with the new Ukrainian president until Ukraine announced an investigation that would help Trump.Then, in the midst of the Ukraine scandal, Trump asked China to help his campaign by investigating Biden. Turns out Trump may have been asking China for this help for a while, with one report stating that Trump discussed Biden with Chinese president Xi Jinping and an informal Trump adviseor on China claiming that he discussed the issue with Chinese officials. You heard that right: the president of the United States also asked perhaps America's greatest geopolitical competitor to help his re-election campaign.While asking for campaign help from foreigners is against the law – and a grave abuse of power – it is part of Trump's playbook. If the Senate does not convict and remove him from office, he is likely to continue doing it, just as he has continued doing it during the impeachment process – Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, visited Ukraine again this month to continue the attempt to get foreign campaign help for Trump.This impeachment process is not just about Trump's abuse of power – it's also about preserving the integrity of the 2020 election. Trump's scheme is to get foreign countries to help his re-election campaign, and if he gets away with it, he will undermine the upcoming election. The House judiciary committee's impeachment report makes clear that Trump's actions undercut the very fundamentals of American democracy: "Foreign interference in the American political system was among the gravest dangers feared by the founders of our Nation and the Framers of our Constitution." And if Trump gets away with this, what will stop other politicians from soliciting foreign help?Not convicting Trump would be devastating for our national security. More than once Trump has sold out America for personal gain and shown that he is willing to keep doing it. Trump's actions are an open invitation to America's adversaries to attempt to erode US national security for the price of advancing Trump's personal interests.Key members of the congressional GOP seem to have made their decision to stick by Trump no matter how great his sins. And perhaps the outcome of a trial is a foregone conclusion. But even if the trial does not end in conviction, it can achieve many things: it can make clear to the American people how dangerous Trump's actions are; it can reveal further information about Trump's misdeeds by demanding testimony from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security adviser John Bolton, or information about the involvement of two indicted individuals, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, in the Ukraine scandal; and it can force senators to decide whether they are loyal to a single man or to the constitution and the public interest.Most of all, a Senate trial will show that there are consequences for presidents who abuse their power. Even if he is not removed from office, a trial can help instill some faith that the foundations of our democracy are not completely broken and send a signal to the world that America is fighting back against those who would undermine it from within.
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| Canada to US: Don't sign China deal until Canadians released Posted: 19 Dec 2019 11:00 AM PST ![Canada to US: Don't sign China deal until Canadians released]( "Canada to US: Don't sign China deal until Canadians released") Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he has asked the United States to hold off on any final trade agreement with China until two Canadians detained in China have been released. Beijing detained former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor last December in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei.
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| Why Russia's Tu-22M3 Bomber Terrifies the World Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:30 PM PST  And it's everywhere.
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| 'Wait for Mother Nature': Last 2 victims of New Zealand's volcano eruption may never be found Posted: 18 Dec 2019 06:51 AM PST  Winona Langford and Hayden Marshall-Inman, missing since the White Island Volcano erupted, were apparently washed out to sea and may never be found.
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| 2 North Koreans Tried to Defect. Did Seoul Send Them to Their Deaths? Posted: 18 Dec 2019 12:14 PM PST  SEOUL, South Korea -- In early November, two North Korean fishermen captured in South Korean waters were escorted to the inter-Korean border, blindfolded and their bodies tied with ropes. There, they were handed over to North Korean authorities.South Korea often reveals the seizure of North Korean fishermen in its waters once it happens. This time, the episode was kept secret -- until an army officer on the border sent a text message reporting the handover to a senior presidential aide and a photographer captured the message on the aide's smartphone.Revelation after shocking revelation has since followed, leaving human rights advocates and groups that include South Korea's bar association agape with outrage.As legislators looked into the matter, officials admitted that the two fishermen, ages 22 and 23, submitted hand-written statements in which they said they hoped to defect to South Korea. But after a few days of interrogation, South Korea concluded that they were not refugees needing protection but "heinous criminals" who butchered the captain and 15 other crewmen on their boat.The two were denied access to lawyers, a court hearing or a chance to appeal the government's decision to repatriate them. Until their blindfolds were taken off at the border, they did not know where they were being taken. When they finally realized it, one of them collapsed, according to lawmakers briefed by officials.For the two men, their return to North Korea could mean their likely execution.Tens of thousands of North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Until now, the South had accepted all defectors, regardless of their criminal records, because North Koreans technically qualified as South Korean citizens under the South's Constitution.For years, the United Nations has lamented widespread lack of due process in North Korea, reporting torture, starvation, murder and other crimes against humanity perpetrated against criminal suspects, especially those forcibly repatriated from abroad. "Forcibly repatriating them was an act against humanity that violated international law," Won Yoo-chul, an opposition lawmaker, told a highly emotional parliamentary hearing last month. "Their repatriation constitutes a murder through willful negligence because South Korea sent them to the North, fully aware that they would be executed there."The case of the two fishermen was also unusual because it marked the first in which South Korea rejected North Korean defectors because of their alleged crimes in the North or because their intent to defect was considered disingenuous.In a joint statement this week, Human Rights Watch and 66 other rights groups accused South Korea of failing in its obligation under international treaties to "protect anyone who would be at substantial risk of torture or other serious human rights violations after repatriation."Few personal details have been revealed about the two North Koreans, except that one was the boatswain and the other a deck hand. But their fateful journey began Aug. 15, when their 17-ton wooden boat with 19 men on board cast off from Kimchaek on the east coast of North Korea, South Korean officials said.The two, together with the ship's chief engineer, mutinied against the captain's abuse on a late October night, killing him with hammers and axes. They then went on a killing spree to hide their crime. They awakened their colleagues two at a time, lured them outside and butchered them, throwing their bodies overboard.They steered their ship back to Kimchaek, hoping to sell the squid and flee inland. When the engineer was arrested by Kimchaek police, the other two fled back to the sea.By the time their boat approached the inter-Korean sea border on Oct. 31, South Korean authorities said they had picked up intelligence that North Korea was looking for them. South Korean patrol boats fired warning shots and broadcast warnings, a standard procedure when a North Korean fishing boat crosses the border without signaling that those on the boat are defecting.The boat repeatedly crossed back and forth across the maritime border for two days, until South Korean navy commandos finally seized it on Nov. 2. Both men quickly confessed to mass murder, providing identical details of the crime during separate interrogations, South Korean officials said. They then said they wanted to defect to the South."We decided to expel them because they were atrocious criminals who could threaten the lives and safety of our people if accepted into our society," said the South Korean unification minister, Kim Yeon-chul, who added that the two "lacked sincerity when they said they wanted to defect."Few matters are that simple on the divided Korean Peninsula, however.Although the South's Constitution claims North Korea as part of its territory, both sides in reality have also recognized each other's territorial sovereignty. They joined the United Nations at the same time, and have held summit meetings and signed agreements to bolster economic and other forms of cooperation. In the past decade, South Korea has returned 185 North Korean fishermen adrift in its waters who wanted to return home. In the same period, North Korea sent home 16 South Koreans who entered the North illegally.In previously holding to its policy of never returning any North Koreans who said they wanted to defect, the South had welcomed people with tainted pasts. At least 270 North Korean defectors living in the South were found to have committed crimes serious enough to disqualify them from government subsidies, including nine who had committed murder or other serious offenses, according to government data."I am just flabbergasted," wrote Joo Sung-ha, a defector-turned-journalist in Seoul, referring to the South's refusal to believe the two North Koreans' stated intention to defect. "If they defected to the South, they had a chance to live, and if they returned to the North, it was 100% certain that they would die. Under such circumstances, wasn't it natural for them to want to defect?"Rights advocates were especially disappointed because the office of President Moon Jae-in coordinated the repatriation. Before winning the presidency, Moon had been a famed human rights lawyer who once defended six Korean-Chinese men who murdered 11 crewmen, including seven South Koreans, on a tuna fishing boat in 1996."President Moon Jae-in and his government are ignoring North Korea's grave human rights abuses in a misguided effort to mollify Kim Jong Un and improve relations with Pyongyang," said Phil Robertson, the Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch.Instead of hurrying to repatriate the two North Koreans, South Korea should have thoroughly investigated the case, including "whether 'the brutal criminals' were in reality not the abusers but victims of the harsh circumstance of North Korea," Ra Jong-yil, the former deputy director of the South's National Intelligence Service, wrote in the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper.But under its legal system, South Korea could not have prosecuted the two men because the criminal evidence was in the North, officials and other lawmakers said. They feared that letting the two North Korean fishermen stay free in the South would have been a betrayal of the victims of their alleged crime, and might help turn South Korea into a safe haven for criminals on the run from the North."This is one of the best things the Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Service have done recently," said Lee Seok-hyun, a governing party lawmaker, referring to the agencies involved in the repatriation.Conspicuously absent from the debate, however, are the voices of the two North Koreans who were sent back to their homeland. Since they were returned, North Korea has not spoken a word about their fate.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| A 17-year-old girl was arrested after allegedly stealing a $2 million plane and driving it into an airport building in California Posted: 19 Dec 2019 02:53 AM PST  Officials at Fresno Yosemite International Airport said they are unsure how the suspect could have got inside the plane.
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| Barr: ‘Simply Not True’ Comey was Hands-Off During Crossfire Hurricane Investigation Posted: 19 Dec 2019 11:01 AM PST  William Barr pushed back Wednesday on James Comey's assertion that he had no knowledge of the "particulars" of the FBI's infamous Crossfire Hurricane probe, in which the bureau was found to have made 17 "significant errors" in pursuing FISA warrants to surveil members of the 2016 Trump campaign.During an interview Sunday with Fox News' Chris Wallace, Comey attributed the FBI's errors in the FISA process detailed by DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz's report to "sloppiness," and said that he "didn't know the particulars of the investigation" as director."As a director sitting on top of an organization with 38,000 people, you can't run an investigation that's seven layers below you," he said. "You have to leave it to the career professionals to do . . . If a director tries to run an investigation, it can get mucked up in other kinds of ways given his or her responsibilities and the impossibility of reaching the work being done at the lower levels."But speaking Wednesday with Fox News' Martha McCallum, Barr disagreed with Comey's characterizations, especially the former FBI director's claim that he was "seven layers" above the investigation."One of the problems with what happened was precisely that they pulled the investigation up to the executive floors, and it was run and birddogged by a very small group of very high-level officials," Barr said. "The idea that this was seven layers below him is simply not true."In his interview with Wallace, Comey also claimed the attorney general had made "an irresponsible statement" when he said last week that the errors laid out in the IG report allow "the possibility that there was bad faith."Barr "does not have a factual basis as the Attorney General of the United States to be speculating that agents acted in bad faith," Comey said. In an op-ed published December 9, he stated "Attorney General William P. Barr owes . . . the American people, an acknowledgment of the truth."In the Wednesday interview, Barr said it is "nonsense" that he is "somehow attacking the FBI" for wanting to investigate the origins of the bureau's probe into the 2016 Trump campaign."We're criticizing and concerned about misconduct by a few actors at the top of the FBI, and they should be criticized if they engaged in serious misconduct," Barr said.The attorney general also confirmed that U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was tapped by Barr to lead an investigation into the original probe, was broadening his scope to look at other intelligence agencies."He's not just looking at the FBI, he's looking at other agencies, and departments, and also private actors, so it's a much broader investigation," Barr said. "Also, it's not just looking at the FISA aspect of it, he is looking at all the conduct both before & after the election"Following the release of Horowitz's report, Durham caused waves by saying his team did "not agree" that the FBI had an "authorized purpose" for opening its investigation.
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| Turkey's protection of Hamas is a huge blow to peace in the Middle East Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:01 AM PST  The latest reports that Turkey is now permitting senior Hamas commanders to order attacks against Israel from Istanbul is not surprising. It is however highly disappointing and represents a huge setback in the quest of the US, the UK, and their western allies to bring about a more peaceful Middle East. It might be recalled that in mid-2014, three Israeli teenagers were abducted by Hamas operatives in the West Bank and subsequently murdered. The mastermind of the attacks was Salah al-Arouri, who moved to Turkey after residing in Syria, and issued orders to Hamas from Turkish soil. He shifted his residence multiple times, moving to Qatar and Beirut, but ultimately he would come back to Turkey where he engaged in dispatching Palestinians in the field. According to its own charter, Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928, but later expanded to many countries. Geopolitically, the movement backed the recovery of lost Islamic territories from Spain (what they still call Andalus) to the Balkans. Its leader in 1966 was assassinated in an Egyptian prison, at which point some of its most important leaders moved to Saudi Arabia, where they became active in founding what was to become al-Qaeda. Turkish Islamists have been known to speak about a need to take revenge for the Ottoman defeat at the Gates of Vienna in 1683. Hamas is an organisation with shifting loyalties. During the early 1990s, it took money from Saudi Arabia and after the 9/11 attacks Iran became its main benefactor, and to a lesser extent Qatar. A poster found by the Israel Defense Forces around 2003 in educational institutions in the West Bank pictured the founder of Hamas alongside Chechen commanders like Khattab and Shamil Basayev, as well as the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. President Putin cannot derive any comfort from these associations, as Russia draws closer to the Turkish leadership. In the last few years, while the West crushed Isil in Syria and Iraq, it still persists organisationally in Northern Sinai where it is involved in an insurgency war with the Egyptian Army. Sometimes Hamas competes with Isil, but they also cooperate. All this suggests that analysts of the trends in Turkey should be pessimistic about the future. The main centre of Hamas overseas operations cannot be a member of Nato. Yet there is a greater threat to the entire Middle East emerging in Iran. The Iranians, who pretend to be allies of a more radical Turkey, remain its main adversary. In recent years, Tehran has been infiltrating Turkey, seeking to convert whole villages in the eastern parts of the country to Shiism - a practice the Iranians followed in Morocco, Sudan and in Egypt. Israel recalls Ottoman policies of protecting Jewish refugees who were oppressed in Western Europe, especially after the Spanish Inquisition. Turkey does not need to put itself on a collision course with Israel. It needs to look back to its own rich history and rid itself of the likes of Hamas in order to take its place in the world order that will emerge in the remainder of the present century. Ambassador Gold served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations and as the Director-General of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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| GOP Rep. Mark Meadows won't seek re-election, is in talks to officially work for Trump Posted: 19 Dec 2019 04:13 AM PST  Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), co-founder of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and one of President Trump's most stalwart defenders and congressional advisers, announced early Thursday that he isn't seeking re-election in 2020 and may not finish out his term. Meadows told Politico he is in talks for an unspecified job with Trump, possibly on his re-election campaign. Trump has also suggested he might hire Meadows as White House chief of staff, Axios reports, and his name has come up again recently as Trump butted heads with acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.Jared Kushner, Trump adviser and son-in-law, told Politico that "Meadows has been a warrior for the president and a champion of his agenda" and he had "no doubt that Mark will play an important role going into 2020."The filing deadline in North Carolina is Friday, and a source close to Meadows told Axios that Friday's deadline and Wednesday's impeachment vote determined the timing of his announcement. "He wanted to announce it post-impeachment to minimize any appearance of it having to do with the vote," the source said. Meadows told Politico he plans to stay in Congress "until it's decided that I can best serve the president and the American people in a different capacity. And so while there's no immediate plans, there's certainly discussions that have occurred and potentially could occur in the future."Meadows, first elected in 2012, was one of the most powerful members of Congress when Republicans were in the majority. He and Freedom Caucus wingman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) "essentially had veto power over anything that came to the House floor," Politico reports. He is currently the top Republican on the House Oversight and Transportation committees. Meadows is the 24th House Republican to announce his retirement, further complicating the GOP's hopes of retaking control of the House.More stories from theweek.com Trump accidentally says Democrats will receive an impeachment 'backlash at the box office' The Trump drama is about to get a whole lot weirder House overwhelmingly passes USMCA in bipartisan vote
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| Suit: Police barged into Kansas home, beat man for no reason Posted: 19 Dec 2019 06:24 AM PST ![Suit: Police barged into Kansas home, beat man for no reason]( "Suit: Police barged into Kansas home, beat man for no reason") A federal lawsuit alleges that Kansas City, Kansas, police broke into a man's home in the middle of the night and beat him before having him charged with battery of a law enforcement officer. Joseph Harter, 43, claims in the lawsuit filed last week in federal court that he was temporarily blinded by blood in his eyes and went to a hospital after the October 2018 beating, The Kansas City Star reported. The police department and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County declined to comment Wednesday on the pending litigation, which alleges that Harter was the victim of illegal entry, battery, false imprisonment and excessive force.
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| How America Could Catch China Preparing for a War Posted: 19 Dec 2019 01:08 AM PST  The U.S. Navy needs better surveillance and reconnaissance systems if it's to have any chance of detecting a Chinese build-up in the Western Pacific in the weeks or days preceding a possible major war.
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| Steve Bannon: Republicans are the 'working-class party;' needs to 'find our AOCs' Posted: 17 Dec 2019 07:26 PM PST  Steve Bannon says the Republican Party is representative of "working-class" voters and urged party leaders to "find our AOCs" for upcoming elections.
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| Every McDonald's in Peru closes over deaths of two employees Posted: 18 Dec 2019 08:06 PM PST  The teenage workers were electrocuted during the job, police said, according to BBC News.
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| Breast cancer survivors face other health risks after treatment Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:28 PM PST  Based on U.S. data for more than 750,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer and followed for an average of 15 years, researchers found that breast cancer and other cancers are the most common cause of death for the first decade, followed by heart disease and stroke. After 10 years, the risk of death from heart diseases remains high and is elevated compared to women in the general population, the researchers report in the journal Cancer. Breast cancer is the most common primary cancer and second most common cause of cancer-related death among women in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute.
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| Samantha Bee Breaks Down Why Impeaching Trump Is Far From ‘Pointless’ Posted: 18 Dec 2019 08:12 PM PST  After a cold open parody of A Christmas Carol that found Samantha Bee as Ebenezer Scrooge waking up from her Trump nightmare to celebrate Impeachment Day, the Full Frontal host wished her viewers a very "Merry Impeach-mas." "Look, we should all take a moment to feel excited that Trump is finally facing a consequence," Bee said before cutting off her audience's cheers with, "OK, moment's over, time for people to ruin it." With that she cut to a series of clips of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) throwing cold water on any excitement by vowing to let Trump off the hook during his Senate trial."The really galling thing about the GOP firewall around Trump is that he's still openly doing the same crimes they're protecting him for," the host said, pointing to "nightmare before Christmas" Rudy Giuliani, who was back in Ukraine just last week continuing to search for dirt on Joe Biden and his son Hunter. "Rudy is still doing the stuff that got the president impeached today and he doesn't seem worried at all that there are going to be any consequences," Bee said, playing a clip of Giuliani telling Fox he's not "afraid" of being indicted himself. "Excuse me, but the only time Rudy Giuliani feels fear is when he gets too close to a very crisp apple," Bee joked. "One bite and those teeth fly out of his face." Looking ahead, Bee predicted that come January "this whole process is going to get even uglier," with Graham showing off his "best Kavanaugh-confirming sneer" and McConnell trying to "rush the impeachment trial through in 15 minutes." "This whole process is already excruciating and it's going to get worse," Bee said. "It might even feel like impeaching Trump was pointless. But it's not. In a world where old rich white dudes seem to increasingly operate with impunity, today Trump faces the tiniest bit of 'punity' and that is magic." The opening segment ended with David Alan Grier's Santa Claus bringing Bee the one gift she's always wanted: the approved articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.For more, listen to Samantha Bee on The Last Laugh podcast below: 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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| Putin Calls Trump Impeachment Grounds ‘Spurious’: Russia Update Posted: 19 Dec 2019 03:53 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his annual press conference with more than 1,000 reporters from around the country and the world.Key Developments:Putin denounced the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump as "spurious" but said it won't lead to conviction in the Senate.Putin questioned the causes of climate change, but said not doing anything about global warming isn't an option.The Russian leader said he was "alarmed" by recent suggestions from Ukraine that the Minsk agreements on the conflict in the Donbas region should be changed, but said he's hopeful a deal on gas trade can be reached.In a break from tradition, Putin launched straight into a Q&A with journalists instead of delivering his usual opening remarks about the Russian economy.Europe Allows 'Terrorists' to Walk the Streets Freely, Putin says (2:15 p.m.)Putin fired back against criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has accused Russia of failing to cooperate in the investigation of a murder of a Georgian citizen in Berlin that prosecutors there suspect was linked to Moscow.The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, an ethnic Chechen, in broad daylight last August. But Putin denounced him as a "killer," accusing him of murdering 98 people and links to a deadly bombing in the Moscow subway in 2010. Germany refused numerous requests from Russian security services to hand him over, allowing a "terrorist" to walk free in a European capital, Putin said.Berlin expelled two Russian diplomats in early December over the case and the Kremlin responded in kind, kicking out two German embassy staffers last week.Constitutional Changes Possible, Could Limit Presidential Terms: Putin (1:45 p.m.)Putin remained coy about the possibility of changing the constitution to allow him to remain in power beyond 2024, when his current term ends and he is legally bound to step down.Putin said he was aware of proposals to increase the powers of parliament and adjust those held by the traditionally strong president and weaker prime minister. "I understand the logic of those who are suggesting these things," he said. "But all this can only be done after serious preparations and a wide discussion within society, and it should be done very carefully."Putin has been in power since 2000, and is in his fourth term as president. Between his second and third terms, he ceded the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev and served as Prime Minister for four years.Putin did suggest that he supported calls for changing the constitution to prevent future presidents from doing what he did by making the limit two terms total, not two consecutive terms, as the current version holds.Trump Impeachment 'Spurious,' Won't Succeed, Putin Says (1:25 p.m.)The impeachment of U.S. President Trump is based on "spurious" arguments, Putin says, adding that a political maneuver by his partisan opponents that won't lead to conviction in the Republican-controlled Senate.Trump's presidency is far from over as Republican lawmakers "are unlikely to want to drive out of power a representative of their own party," Putin says.The Russian leader called the Democratic push for impeachment "part of the ongoing domestic political battle" in the U.S.Russia wants to improve ties with the U.S. irrespective of who is president, Putin said. He expressed disappointment at the refusal so far of the Trump administration to extend the New START nuclear treaty, which expires in 2021. If there's no new arms control agreement, "there won't be anything to halt the arms race," he warned.Putin Sides With Stalin Over Lenin on Structure of Soviet Union (1:10 p.m.)Putin sided with Joseph Stalin's geopolitical vision over Vladimir Lenin's, saying Russia is still paying the price for the Bolshevik leader's decision to organize the USSR as a confederation of nationalities, a move that Stalin opposed.Lenin's decision opened the country up to territorial disputes and as a result there are currently 2,000 potential hotspots within Russia that the Kremlin needs to contend with, Putin said. Despite the criticism, Putin doesn't think it's time to remove the body of the leader of the Russian Revolution from his mausoleum on Red Square because too many people see him as an important historic figure.Putin 'Alarmed' at Ukraine Wish to Review Peace Deal (12:50 p.m.)Putin said any bid to re-open so-called Minsk peace accord with Ukraine struck in 2015 will mean "we end up in a total dead-end" and that he's "alarmed" at Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy's recent comments about this possibility.The Russian president also said he's hopeful Moscow and Kyiv will reach a deal on gas supplies and transit, but said differences on terms remain.At a meeting in Paris earlier this month, Zelenskiy made he clear he wants Ukraine to regain control of its eastern border before a vote is held in the disputed Donbas region. Putin said Russia insists on sticking to the Minsk deal, under which the border would be handed over only after the elections are held.At the same time, the Russian leader pointed to "positive" developments, including the extension of a temporary autonomous status for Donbas and the pull-back of forces in certain areas on the conflict line. Putin denied the presence of any foreign troops in Donbas, but conceded that heavy weapons including tanks and artillery may have been provided to the separatists by states "that sympathize with them." Those weapons now belong to the separatists, he said. Ukraine and Western powers accused Russia of backing the Ukrainian rebels militarily.'No-One Really Knows' Cause of Global Warming (12:00 p.m.)Putin questioned whether human activity is the real cause of climate change as Moscow experiences the highest December temperatures for 133 years. Putin said it's very difficult, if not impossible, to calculate how humanity is affecting climate change, and it "might arise from planetary processes." The vast majority of climate scientists have concluded that global warming is caused by human activity.Still, he acknowledged that the climate is changing and said that Russia needs to maximize efforts to fight it. Russia, which relies on oil and gas exports for about half of budget revenues, is the world's fourth-largest carbon emitter. The country ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement on cutting global emissions in September.READ: The Kremlin Dismisses Climate Change as the World Heats Up\--With assistance from Natasha Doff and Henry Meyer.To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net;Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Natasha DoffFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Report: German spy agency releases Himmler daughter files Posted: 19 Dec 2019 06:26 AM PST  Germany's foreign intelligence agency has declassified documents regarding its employment of the daughter of top Nazi Heinrich Himmler as a secretary in the early 1960s, the country's top-selling newspaper reported Thursday. The BND agency declassified the documents on Gudrun Burwitz-Himmler at the Bild newspaper's request. The paper previously confirmed the intelligence agency employed Burwitz-Himmler from 1961 to 1963.
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| Aircraft Theft: Why China's J-11 Fighter Looks Like Russia's Su-27 'Flanker' Posted: 19 Dec 2019 04:00 AM PST  China continues to reverse-engineer foreign military hardware.
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| Meth boom adds to Afghanistan's opium and heroin woes Posted: 18 Dec 2019 09:15 PM PST  At a sprawling rehabilitation centre on the outskirts of Kabul, dozens of dazed-looking drug addicts clamber out of police buses and shuffle toward the facility. Almost unheard of in Afghanistan until a few years ago, meth's sudden appearance has blindsided authorities in a country already suffering from a crisis in opium and heroin addiction. "My life has been ruined by addiction," said 25-year-old Sulaiman, one of the 40 or so men arriving at the treatment centre.
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| "I could have been killed": Man body-slammed by cop speaks out Posted: 18 Dec 2019 05:15 PM PST  CBS Chicago has obtained new surveillance footage of the incident last month that shows moments leading up to the violent arrest.
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| 'Spouting Russian propaganda': Nadler calls out Gohmert Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:20 PM PST  Chairman Nadler accused Rep. Louie Gohmert of "spouting Russian propaganda on the floor of the House" ahead of the impeachment vote on Wednesday.
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| Philippine massacre masterminds jailed for life over 57 murders Posted: 18 Dec 2019 07:34 PM PST  A Philippine court found the bosses of an influential political clan guilty on Thursday of masterminding a 2009 massacre of 57 people, a ruling cheered as a partial victory for justice and a challenge to the country's notorious culture of impunity. Eight members of the powerful Ampatuan family were among 28 people sentenced to life imprisonment over their roles in a ambush on an election motorcade in Maguindanao province, and the gunning-down of all who witnessed it. Among the victims of the "Maguindanao Massacre" were 32 journalists in what was one of the world's single biggest attacks on media.
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| 30 Ceramic Table Lamps to Elevate Your Space Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:13 AM PST |
| Trump impeachment: More stonewalling likely as White House says Senate can’t subpoena senior advisers Posted: 18 Dec 2019 05:28 PM PST  Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has already rejected Democrats' call to hear from several witnesses at Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial, but it may not matter if Democrats can find enough Republican votes to allow witness testimony.Even in the event that the Senate decides to hear from the witnesses requested by Democrats - including White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, office of management and budget official Michael Duffey, Mulvaney aide Robert Blair, and former national security advisor John Bolton - the White House intends to continue blocking them from testifying.
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| Congress slashes funding for the Navy’s LCS sensors — again Posted: 19 Dec 2019 12:33 PM PST  Appropriators are set to slice 77 percent from the Navy's mine countermeasures module, shuffling part of it to another section of the budget.
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| The Military Is Getting Ready to Fight China and Russia at the Same Time Posted: 19 Dec 2019 09:00 AM PST  Just in case?
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| House Democrat calls on McConnell to recuse himself and threatens mistrial Posted: 18 Dec 2019 10:24 AM PST  Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., has called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to recuse himself from the impending impeachment trial over his admission that he would not be an "impartial juror" and his claim that a trial would be politically motivated.
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| Georgia purge removes nearly 309,000 voter registrations Posted: 18 Dec 2019 01:32 PM PST  Georgia election officials purged nearly 309,000 voter registrations from the state's voting rolls this week, according to a list of cancelled registrations released by the secretary of state's office on Wednesday. A federal judge is set to hear arguments Thursday about whether some of those registrations should be reinstated. The hearing comes after Fair Fight Action, a voting rights advocacy group founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams, filed an emergency motion earlier this week asking the court to stop part of the purge.
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| The US Army wants to outfit dogs with tiny cameras and other advanced gear to make them even more effective in combat Posted: 19 Dec 2019 08:41 AM PST  Dogs been fighting on battlefields for centuries, but the modern military dog is more sophisticated than his predecessor with more advanced gear.
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| Italian Cops Tried to Take Revenge on U.S. Kids Who Killed One of Their Own Posted: 19 Dec 2019 08:04 AM PST  ROME–The criminal case against two American teens from California's Bay Area who are accused of fatally stabbing an Italian police officer here in July has just taken a truly Italian twist. On Wednesday, Italian police concluded their own internal investigation into three police officers who are now facing charges that could jeopardize the case against 19-year-old Finnegan Elder and 18-year-old Gabe Natale Hjorth. Elder allegedly confessed to stabbing the officer, Mario Rega Cerciello. But he says he did so in self defense because neither Cerciello nor his partner that night identified themselves as police officers by showing weapons or badges. Hjorth also says he was manhandled during the interrogation, as shown by a photo of him blindfolded in custody. Officer Fabio Manganaro is accused of using excessive measures and abuse of office for blindfolding Natale Hjorth when he was in custody being questioned about the murder. Officer Silvio Pellegrino is accused of circulating the photo of the blindfolded American, which was disseminated widely in the press. Police say Pellegrino circulated the images on "at least two WhatsApp chats," causing what they say was "unjust damage" to the case against Natale Hjorth. Pellegrini is also accused of abuse of office for relaying information to the press and other police officers about the Americans allegedly searching for cocaine, which, they say, compromised the investigation. It is unclear what Pellegrini's motive might have been in making a move that undermines the investigation by Italian police into the murder of one of their own officers. Another officer, Sandro Ottaviani, is accused of forgery for falsifying an official document to make it appear Cerciello and Varriale were carrying weapons. Ottaviani allegedly told his superiors that the officers had their government-issue weapons the night of the murder, when, in fact, they did not. American Teen Plunged 7-Inch Knife Deep Into Italian Cop According to Leaked Autopsy ReportCerciello was killed when he and his police partner met the Americans to retrieve a backpack they allegedly stole from a many who had lined them up with a pusher. They had expected to buy cocaine, and had spent about $80, only to discover they'd been sold crushed aspirin instead. So they stole the go-between's bag, with a phone still in it. According to police, he called the phone, and the Americans set up a meeting to exchange the bag for the money they'd spent and for some real cocaine. But when the Americans went to the rendezvous they were met by Cerciello and his partner. That these cops stepped in to help a drug pusher and his shill over an $80 drug deal has raised eyebrows across Italy, with the general consensus that one or both were police informants. Neither the go-between nor the pusher has been arrested for selling or abetting the sale of drugs. When the police officers met the Americans to retrieve the bag, a fight ensued and Cerciello was stabbed with a 7-inch military grade knife that Elder had brought from the U.S., according to a police report seen by The Daily Beast. Elder allegedly confessed to the stabbing, which he said was in self defense after Cerciello grabbed his neck. Hjorth has said through his attorney that he did not know Elder was armed, despite the fact that police say his fingerprints were found on Elder's hotel room ceiling panel under which the weapon used in the murder was found. The twist in the investigation will surely give the American defense team hope that they can question the police work as part of their defense. In November, police leaked details from what is purported to be a secret taping of Elder and his father and American lawyer in the prison visiting room during which Elder is supposed to have said that, indeed, he did know Cerciello was a police officer. Elder's lawyers told The Daily Beast they strongly deny the content of the leaked police transcript of the tape. They continue to insist that Elder did not know he and Hjorth were faced with police officers that fatal night. "When they quickly flashed their cards or whatever ...," Elder allegedly said before being interrupted by his lawyer, Craig Peterson, during their prison conversation. Peterson then is supposed to have whispered to his client, "Stay calm, stick to your statement, review it point by point, remember it. Your statement shouldn't worry us during the interrogation," Peterson reportedly said, then added, "You did not see anything." Peterson adamantly denied to The Daily Beast that such a conversation ever happened. Italian lawyers for Elder told The Daily Beast on Thursday that they were still weighing the significance of the investigation into the police officers, but that it certainly underscored the flaws in the case. Lawyers for Hjorth declined to comment, but have previously asked that their client, who is a dual American-Italian citizen, be placed under house arrest. The young Americans are in separate prisons in Rome accused of aggravated homicide and other charges awaiting a Feb. 26 trial date. They have separate defense teams but will be tried together. They face life in prison if convicted. 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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| China's Xi celebrates 'loving' Macau's anniversary with expected policy rewards Posted: 19 Dec 2019 03:17 PM PST  Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to preside over a lavish ceremony in Macau on Friday marking the 20th anniversary of its hand-over to Chinese rule, and the swearing in of another Beijing-backed city government. Xi is also due to announce policies aimed at diversifying the former Portuguese colony's casino-dependent economy, in what is being seen as a reward for its loyalty, in contrast to nearby Hong Kong and its months of anti-government turmoil. The measures are expected to include a new yuan-denominated stock exchange and policies to further integrate Macau with the mainland.
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| The Trump administration is reportedly trying to block Lindsey Graham's proposed Russia sanctions Posted: 18 Dec 2019 02:30 PM PST  The Trump administration reportedly wants to throw the so-called "sanctions from hell" back where they came from, The Daily Beast reports.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who — despite generally aligning with President Trump on domestic matters — has been known to stray when it comes to foreign policy, introduced legislation earlier this year that would place new, heavier sanctions on Russian individuals and companies as punishment for Moscow targeting Ukraine, attacking dissidents, and interfering in the 2016 U.S. election, as well its activities in Syria. But the White House has joined various business groups in arguing the proposal goes too far. In a 22-page letter, a State Department official reportedly said the administration "strongly opposes" the bill because it "risks crippling the global energy, commodities, financial, and other markets." Additionally, the White House believes it could hit closer to home and harm American banks and asset managers operating in Russia. The sanctions also would require the intelligence community to report to Congress every 90 days about whether the Kremlin is meddling in U.S. elections, which the Trump administration reportedly considers "impossible" to certify. The bill passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, and now awaits a vote on the Senate floor, though it's unclear if or when that will take place. Graham said he's willing to work with his fellow senators to make some changes to the bill so that it becomes more palatable, but it still "must be strong to be meaningful." Read more at The Daily Beast.More stories from theweek.com Trump accidentally says Democrats will receive an impeachment 'backlash at the box office' The Trump drama is about to get a whole lot weirder House overwhelmingly passes USMCA in bipartisan vote
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| Russia 'shouldn't touch' Lenin's body in mausoleum: Putin Posted: 18 Dec 2019 04:13 PM PST  The body of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin should stay in its mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow, so long as Russians retain personal memories of the Soviet period, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Asked at his annual press conference whether the embalmed body of the first Soviet leader, who died in 1924, should be removed, Putin said his position had not changed but also criticised the way Lenin set up the USSR. Liberals regularly raise the question of removing Lenin's body for burial and more than 60 percent of Russians support this according to a 2017 survey by VTsIOM state pollster.
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| Old F-35s Won't Be Turned Into 'Enemy' F-35s For Training Purposes (For Now) Posted: 18 Dec 2019 11:56 PM PST  Federal lawmakers have delayed the U.S. Air Force's plan to establish an aggressor unit flying early-model F-35 stealth fighters. Aggressors portray the enemy in aerial war games.
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| Atmospheric river expected to slam West Coast Posted: 19 Dec 2019 12:29 AM PST  For most, dreams of a white Christmas will remain just that.
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| Uber, Lyft to stop Phoenix airport trips over higher fees Posted: 19 Dec 2019 12:14 PM PST  Uber and Lyft said they will make good on their threats to stop taking customers to and from the airport in the nation's fifth-largest city, creating confusion next year for travelers used to opening a phone app to catch a ride after Phoenix decided to raise fees on ride-hailing companies. Both companies confirmed late Wednesday that they would stop curbside service at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after the City Council voted to raise fees for pickups and drop-offs at one of the largest commercial U.S. airports, serving some 44 million passengers annually. Neither provided an exact date for stopping airport operations.
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