| McConnell reaffirms he has 'no choice': Senate will take up impeachment if it passes House Posted: 30 Sep 2019 09:32 AM PDT  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that if the House impeaches President Trump he will "have no choice" but to hold a trial in the Senate and a vote on removing the president from office.
|
| '2020 Vision' Monday: Kate McKinnon is running again on 'SNL' — this time as Elizabeth Warren. How the new season's cast could shape the primary Posted: 30 Sep 2019 12:26 PM PDT  "Saturday Night Live" returned this weekend for its 45th season, renewing a tradition of lampooning presidents (and would-be presidents) that stretches back to the show's earliest days.
|
| China’s new missiles could reach U.S. in 30 minutes Posted: 01 Oct 2019 04:12 AM PDT  Military planners in Washington and elsewhere will be taking note of new missile technology displayed by China, particularly a hypersonic ballistic nuclear missile believed capable of breaching all existing anti-missile shields deployed by the U.S. and its allies.
|
| Lebanese prime minister paid $16 million to South African bikini model over Seychelles 'affair' Posted: 01 Oct 2019 10:39 AM PDT  Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri gave a South African bikini model nearly $16 million US dollars after meeting her on holiday, it emerged on Monday, as Lebanon faces violent protests over a burgeoning economic crisis. Candice van der Merwe met Mr Hariri at a private resort in the Seychelles in 2013 when she was 20. The married father-of-three, who is Lebanon's most powerful Sunni politician, was 43. When asked why Mr Hariri gave her the money, she responded that they had begun a romantic relationship. "I have also been told I have a very engaging personality," she said, in court documents obtained by The New York Times. The gift would have remained secret were it not for South African tax authorities, who froze Ms van der Merwe's assets, asking her to explain the change in her fortunes. She filed suit against them for $65 million in damages, alleging that the hold on her accounts forced her to sell the property she had bought with Mr Hariri's gift, while the related publicity severed her connection with the Prime Minister. Candice van der Merwe said she had an "engaging personality", according to court documents The court records filed as a result put the details into the public domain. As Mr Hariri gave Ms van der Merwe the money between his two terms as Prime Minister, while not in office, he does not appear to have broken any Lebanese or South African laws. There are no allegations that the money was linked to public funds, and Mr Hariri, whose personal wealth was estimated at $1.5bn US by Forbes magazine in 2018, is clearly wealthy enough to have sent the transactions from his private accounts. Staff at Hariri-owned English-language newspaper The Daily Star say they have not been paid their salaries in nearly four months. Several have left as a result, leaving the publication severely understaffed. The news of Mr Hariri's gift came as Moody's credit rating agency announced it has placed Lebanon's already low credit rating "under review for a downgrade." On Sunday protests against the failing economy and inadequate infrastructure turned violent in the capital Beirut, as protesters blocked roads and set fire to tires. Mr Hariri has not responded to the reports.
|
| This brewery in Maine gifts its employees with a free trip to Belgium on their 5 year work anniversary Posted: 01 Oct 2019 12:37 PM PDT  Allagash Brewing Company was voted Best Place to Work in Maine for 7 years running according to Outside Magazine — and has the best work perks.
|
| A 30-year-old man was gored by a bison at a Utah state park, then brought his 22-year-old date there and she was gored too Posted: 01 Oct 2019 03:17 PM PDT  Kyler Bourgeous says he probably won't return to the same park again, because he has "this weird feeling that the bison there really don't like me."
|
| Trump's 'Civil War' threat is 'beyond repugnant,' says GOP Rep. Kinzinger Posted: 30 Sep 2019 06:57 AM PDT  Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, criticized the president for quoting an evangelical pastor who warned that a "Civil War like fracture" would occur if Trump is removed from office.
|
| Killer with rare condition facing 'one of most gruesome executions' in US history Posted: 01 Oct 2019 11:46 AM PDT  A killer due to be executed in Missouri could get a last minute reprieve because of a rare condition that would cause him a "gruesome" death.Russell "Rusty" Bucklew was due to be put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday evening for crimes including murder, kidnapping and rape.
|
| Slain Saudi writer's fiancee says prince must give answers Posted: 01 Oct 2019 10:16 AM PDT  The fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said Tuesday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has a duty to answer questions now that he has accepted responsibility for the killing inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year. Hatice Cengiz told The Associated Press she is apprehensive about returning to the site Wednesday for a ceremony marking the anniversary of Khashoggi's death, but takes strength knowing she won't be alone this time. Cengiz waited outside the consulate last year on Oct. 2 as Khashoggi entered to collect documents needed to marry her.
|
| Arizona boy dead after man attempted exorcism to get 'demon' out of him, officials say Posted: 01 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT ![Arizona boy dead after man attempted exorcism to get 'demon' out of him, officials say]( "Arizona boy dead after man attempted exorcism to get 'demon' out of him, officials say") Pablo Martinez told police and the FBI that within the last week, he had noticed that "his son … had a demon inside of him."
|
| Meghan Markle stuns in Banana Republic trench dress while on royal tour Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:52 AM PDT  Meghan Markle stepped out solo Tuesday morning on the second to last day of the royals' South African tour.
|
| Australian government says prosecutors must seek approval before charging journalists Posted: 30 Sep 2019 01:06 AM PDT ![Australian government says prosecutors must seek approval before charging journalists]( "Australian government says prosecutors must seek approval before charging journalists") Australian prosecutors need government permission before they can file charges against local journalists, Attorney General Christian Porter said on Monday. Australian police in June raided the head office of the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) in Sydney and the home of a News Corp editor on suspicion of receiving national secrets. The raids, which involved police examination of about 9,000 computer files at the ABC, and sifting through the female News Corp editor's underwear drawer, according to media reports, have drawn criticism from around the world.
|
| Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine is a problem, but not just for Democrats Posted: 30 Sep 2019 02:10 PM PDT  The former vice president's son sat on the board of directors of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings. Does that matter?
|
| Eurasian Showdown: Are China's or Russia's Infantry Fighting Vehicles Superior? Posted: 30 Sep 2019 12:00 PM PDT  We rank these bad boys.
|
| Goldman’s 1MDB Case in Malaysia to Be Moved to Higher Court Posted: 29 Sep 2019 08:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia is seeking to move the 1MDB-linked case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to a higher court.Authorities will apply to transfer the case to the High Court, from a magistrate court currently, on Oct. 22, prosecutor Aaron Paul Chelliah said Monday. The order came from the Attorney-General's Chambers, which didn't specify its reasons, he said, adding that such a move is usually due to the seriousness of the case.Units of the U.S. bank face criminal charges of misleading investors when arranging $6.5 billion of bond sales for state fund 1MDB while allegedly knowing that the funds would be misused. Malaysia is seeking fines in excess of the $2.7 billion allegedly misappropriated and the return of $600 million that Goldman made from the bond deal.The case involves Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, Goldman Sachs International (UK) and Goldman Sachs (Singapore).The case has progressed slowly as Malaysia had struggled to serve criminal charges against the U.S. bank's units overseas. Prosecutors said in June that they had completed serving the charges, while Goldman said the charges were incomplete. The matter wasn't discussed in court on Monday, the bank's lawyer Hisyam Teh said.In a separate case, Malaysia has announced charges against 17 current and former Goldman executives around the world. They were directors of the three Goldman units involved in the bond sales.Goldman is seeking to resolve its entanglement with the 1MDB scandal and "get the Malaysian people the money that they deserve," the bank's President and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron said in a Bloomberg Television interview last week."We're focused on getting it behind us and resolving it in an appropriate manner," Waldron said.\--With assistance from Hadi Azmi and Chanyaporn Chanjaroen.To contact the reporter on this story: Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at ashukry2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at yho35@bloomberg.net, Russell WardFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| 10 Home Prep Tips Before Going on Vacation Posted: 01 Oct 2019 03:28 PM PDT |
| Japan says Nigerian died of starvation after immigration hunger strike Posted: 01 Oct 2019 03:20 AM PDT  Japanese immigration authorities said Tuesday a Nigerian man who died in detention in June starved to death while on hunger strike, in the first officially acknowledged case of its kind. "An autopsy has found the man died of starvation," an official at the Immigration Services Agency told AFP. The man in his forties, whose name has been withheld, died on June 24 after falling unconscious at Omura Immigration Center and being taken to a hospital in southern Japan.
|
| Four 'extremely dangerous' prisoners escape after overpowering guards Posted: 30 Sep 2019 01:07 AM PDT  Four prisoners who are considered "extremely dangerous" escaped from a county jail in Ohio early Sunday morning after overpowering two guards, authorities said.The inmates used a homemade weapon known as a shank and stole the keys to a corrections officer's vehicle, which was used in the first part of their escape from Gallia County Jail, Sheriff Matt Champlin said at a news conference.
|
| UPDATE 2-Saudi Arabia has sent messages to Iran's president - Iran gov't Posted: 30 Sep 2019 03:35 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Saudi Arabia has sent messages to Iran's president - Iran gov't]( "UPDATE 2-Saudi Arabia has sent messages to Iran's president - Iran gov't") Saudi Arabia has sent messages to Iran's president through the leaders of other countries, an Iranian government spokesman said on Monday, at a time of heightened tensions between the regional rivals. "Messages from the Saudis were presented to (Iran's President) Hassan Rouhani from the leaders of some countries," spokesman Ali Rabiei said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency. Saudi Arabia's crown prince warned in an interview broadcast on Sunday that oil prices could spike to "unimaginably high numbers" if the world doesn't come together to deter Iran, but said he preferred a political solution to a military one.
|
| NASA lander captures marsquakes, other Martian sounds Posted: 01 Oct 2019 12:51 PM PDT  NASA's InSight lander on Mars has captured the low rumble of marsquakes and a symphony of other otherworldly sounds. InSight's seismometer has detected more than 100 events, but only 21 are considered strong marsquake candidates. The French seismometer is so sensitive it can hear the Martian wind as well as movements by the lander's robot arm and other mechanical "dinks and donks " as the team calls them.
|
| Late-day bombshells erupt as Trump impeachment inquiry gets underway Posted: 30 Sep 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Within the span of just over an hour, a slew of news dropped that could affect the chances President Trump will be impeached.
|
| More store closings coming: An estimated 12,000 shops could close by the end of 2019 Posted: 01 Oct 2019 04:58 PM PDT ![More store closings coming: An estimated 12,000 shops could close by the end of 2019]( "More store closings coming: An estimated 12,000 shops could close by the end of 2019") Nine months into the year, more than 8,200 stores already are slated to close, which is 40% higher than all of 2018 store closures.
|
| After 70 Years, Communist China Is Weaker Than It Appears Posted: 30 Sep 2019 12:33 PM PDT  The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 after 69 years of tyranny and aggression. On October 1, the People's Republic of China will officially turn 70. The brutal regime of Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping has made China the world's longest surviving Communist country, and unlike the Kremlin of old, Beijing seems stronger than ever.The contrast between China today and the Soviet Union at its death could hardly be more stark. In the early 1990s, Russia's military was swiftly losing ground to American investment and innovation, forcing a global retreat of influence and power. Today, the People's Liberation Army is quickly closing the gap with the U.S. armed forces and is projecting its newfound power from the Arctic to Africa to Australasia.Communist China is also sprinting economically. It overtook Japan as the world's second-largest economy in 2011, and its GDP has nearly tripled since then. Many forecasters say it's a matter of when, not if, China overtakes the U.S. By comparison, the Soviet Union struggled to keep its economy even half as large as America's.Finally, China is markedly more oppressive than the Soviet Union at a similar age. Where the latter was weakening its control over people through perestroika and glasnost, the former has imprisoned millions of Muslim Uighurs, initiated a new crackdown on Christian worshipers, and instituted a draconian social-credit system that monitors the Chinese people's daily lives and ranks them accordingly. It even seems willing to initiate a Tiananmen Square–style crackdown on the escalating protest movement in Hong Kong.Has Communist China discovered a fountain of youth? Yes, and it's exactly where Ponce de Leon said it would be: in America.Whereas the Soviet Union largely walled itself off from its greatest adversary, literally and figuratively, China's leaders have sought to exploit America across the board for decades. China profits from U.S. financial markets; purchases cutting-edge U.S. firms; pilfers trade secrets and technology from U.S. companies, including defense contractors; and promotes a massive misinformation campaign on U.S. soil to sway policy and public opinion in its favor. Yet far from being a source of strength, Communist China's dependence on America is one of its primary weakness.Like the Soviet Union before it, China's tyranny stifles the creativity of its people. While Beijing grants some few a small amount of economic autonomy, it refuses to let the average Chinese citizen fully pursue her dreams, apply her talents, or realize her potential, preventing untold advances across every field of endeavor. There's a reason Chinese parents send their children to American universities and their cash to Western banks. China's seemingly inexorable rise requires continued access to America and the fruits of our system of free enterprise and the rule of law.This reality is coming into focus under President Trump. The administration has started to disentangle Communist China from America's economy and institutions. China's stock markets are suffering and its economy is growing at the slowest rate in nearly three decades. Additional unraveling of U.S.–China ties will likely further demonstrate the bankruptcy of the Communist economic model, and its need for external support.Beijing knows this, hence its relentless focus on tamping down trade tensions, but not national security or human-rights issues. It also benefits from the widespread belief that Communist China is here to stay, so we might as well deal with it rather than hope for a better, more democratic regime. In our organization's discussions with government leaders, prominent academics, and corporations, we have found an overwhelming belief that a change in China's government would be catastrophic. They prefer to work with the devil they know, not hope for a devil they don't.Yet the lessons of history are worth remembering. The fall of the Soviet Union ushered in a new era of freedom, prosperity, and peace in its former lands, and far beyond. A collapse of red rule in China will surely be more complicated, given its greater interaction with the world, but it stands to reason that the Communist party's loss will be the Chinese people's gain. Many others, America included, will benefit, too.Communist China is weaker than it appears. However, it's unlikely to fall unless the United States, and the rest of the free world, continue to ratchet up the pressure. The Communist ideology is a parasite that cannot survive for long on its own. This 70th anniversary is a time to realize that Communist China should never have gotten this far.
|
| Former 'Top Gear' host told Greta Thunberg to 'be a good girl' and 'shut up' Posted: 01 Oct 2019 01:05 PM PDT  The former "Top Gear" presenter Jeremy Clarkson criticize climate activist Greta Thunberg in an op-ed article, following the 16-year-old's address at the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
|
| Outcry as Pakistan appoints new envoy to UN Posted: 01 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  A decision by Pakistan to appoint a former diplomat as its ambassador to the United Nations has sparked criticism over his alleged involvement in a domestic violence dispute in 2002. Munir Akram "has been appointed as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York, in place of Dr. Maleeha Lodhi," the country's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement late Monday. Akram served a previous stint in the post from 2002 to 2008.
|
| R Kelly complains about not being able to see more than one girlfriend at a time in jail Posted: 01 Oct 2019 01:38 AM PDT  R Kelly has apparently included not being able to see more than one girlfriend at a time as one of the reasons he should be granted bail.According to the Chicago Tribune, Kelly's lawyers have asked the judge in the singer's New York federal case to reconsider after he was refused bail in July.
|
| Russians drinking less, living longer, WHO says Posted: 01 Oct 2019 02:27 AM PDT ![Russians drinking less, living longer, WHO says]( "Russians drinking less, living longer, WHO says") Russia remains a nation of heavy drinkers, but alcohol consumption has fallen 43 percent from 2003 to 2016, a key factor in the country's rapid rise in life expectancy, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday. Russians consume the equivalent of 11-12 litres worth of pure ethanol a year, among the world's highest consumption levels, but the reduction since 2003 has substantially reduced mortality, the WHO said in a report.
|
| The Latest: San Francisco disputes NRA victory declaration Posted: 01 Oct 2019 04:02 PM PDT ![The Latest: San Francisco disputes NRA victory declaration]( "The Latest: San Francisco disputes NRA victory declaration") San Francisco Mayor London Breed told department heads in a Sept. 23 memo that the resolution does not direct the city to investigate ties between its contractors and the NRA. The NRA seized upon her memo Tuesday as evidence that the mayor is backing down and said the memo was a "clear concession" in response to its lawsuit over the resolution.
|
| 'Pure insanity': Intelligence veterans are floored by Barr's 'off the books' overtures to foreign officials about the Russia probe Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:41 AM PDT  "I have not heard of so much involvement by the attorney general in this sort of investigation," a former CIA lawyer said.
|
| View Photos of the 2020 BMW X5 M and X6 M Posted: 01 Oct 2019 03:01 PM PDT |
| Catering truck goes berserk, almost slams into plane at Chicago O'Hare in shocking video Posted: 30 Sep 2019 07:59 PM PDT  Check out the unbelievable way this airport employee stopped a berserk vehicle from crashing into a plane.
|
| What the Next Democratic President Has in Store for Us, with or without Congress Posted: 01 Oct 2019 08:14 AM PDT  The betting market PredictIt gives the Democrats about a 60 percent chance of capturing the presidency next year. Their odds of winning the Senate are only about one in three, however — meaning that in the event of a Trump loss, conservatives could feel the relief of sweet, sweet gridlock as Congress simply refuses to pass Medicare for All and zillion-dollar handouts to college grads.But there is good reason to temper your optimism about such a scenario: Congress has handed over to the executive branch a frighteningly broad ability to make laws by itself. The campaign has given us some previews of this — Kamala Harris wants to go after guns and Elizabeth Warren would target fracking, whether Congress likes it or not — though the candidates have mostly been focused on their biggest and most expensive pieces of proposed legislation.Last week, however, the liberal American Prospect rolled out a series of articles proposing a meaty "Day One Agenda" for the next Democrat in charge of the White House. This president could roll back Trump's deregulatory efforts, bring backed stalled Obama initiatives, and launch government giveaways and major assaults on business, all without the legislative branch's help. Read it and weep.Think it would take a vote in Congress to cancel "almost all" student debt? Think again, says Marcia Brown. Citing a forthcoming law-review article by Luke Herrine, Brown notes a provision of federal law giving the Department of Education the authority to "compromise, waive, or release" claims against student borrowers. While other actors in the executive branch (the attorney general and the Office of Management and Budget) might have to sign off, the department could in theory use this authority to simply stop collecting student debt.Think Trump got us out of Obama's Clean Power Plan for good? You shouldn't, Ben Adler says. The next president could take us back down that path. And since carbon emissions are far lower today than anyone expected — thanks to fracking and other technological improvements — the next president could "go further and increase the rule's ambition."Think the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a done deal, so long as Democrats don't have enough votes in Congress to undermine it? Nope, writes Victor Fleischer. The IRS can't repeal the law, but it can aggressively reinterpret many of its provisions, not to mention provisions in the rest of our enormous tax code, in ways that affect the taxation of huge sums of money.There's lots more: A Democratic president could go after drug companies by threatening to let generics manufacturers make patented drugs, create "postal banking" by executive fiat, bring back aggressive antitrust enforcement against the biggest and most successful companies, and make pot "effectively legal."Okay, that last one I'm fine with. But how do we stop the rest?One way would have been for Republicans to rein in the executive branch in the two years they controlled Congress, albeit without a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate, but that didn't happen. Another would be to hold the White House, or at least luck into a moderate Democrat not eager to test the limits of executive power. Once a Democratic president actually starts trying this stuff, though, the issue will fall to the courts. (There's yet another article about that!)The easiest way to argue against an abuse of executive power is to say that the relevant statute passed by Congress doesn't actually authorize it. Though courts have typically given executive agencies broad deference when it comes to interpreting laws, many conservative judges have shown signs that they want to reverse this trend. Some of the actions outlined above do fall well within the discretion Congress has handed over to the executive branch, but the more aggressive ones go far beyond anything Congress anticipated when passing the laws in question.In some situations, such as when the president simply refuses to enforce a law, it can also be argued that the president is violating the Constitution's command that he "take care" to faithfully execute the laws. But there's very little precedent for such cases, and it can be difficult to find someone harmed by the action with standing to sue, or to distinguish a failure to "take care" from normal discretion regarding how laws are executed.Then there's the big kahuna: The "nondelegation doctrine," which holds that Congress can't delegate its constitutional lawmaking authority to the president, at least not when it comes to key policy decisions as opposed to filling in minor details. This doctrine has sat dormant for decades, but the Supreme Court's conservatives are interested in reviving it. The question is how far they would be willing to take it, and to what degree they would treat new expansions of executive power differently from old ones.In an opinion this year, liberal justice Elena Kagan remarked that if the conservatives on the Court were right and the delegation of power at issue in the case was unconstitutional, then "most of Government" would be unconstitutional. (The conservatives lost the case 5–3, but Brett Kavanaugh recused himself, and Samuel Alito voted with the liberals despite wanting to reconsider the nondelegation doctrine in a different case, presumably one where Kavanaugh could create a five-conservative majority.) Kagan's fears are music to my ears, but I bet at least one conservative justice flakes before they are anywhere close to realized, not least because the conservative dissent to the opinion in which she voiced them takes pains to specify that even under the nondelegation doctrine, Congress may, for example, "authorize executive-branch officials to fill in even a large number of details."Still, conservatives could find themselves relying on the judicial branch a whole lot in the years ahead. In the event that a liberal Democrat takes the White House and pushes executive power past the limit, we could be saying "but Gorsuch and Kavanaugh!" for far longer than anyone thought.
|
| Canada, US seek to reduce dependency on China for rare earth minerals Posted: 30 Sep 2019 11:18 AM PDT  Canada is in talks with the United States to seek ways for both to reduce their dependance on China for rare earth elements, key minerals for high-tech products, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.
|
| 'King of dad jokes': Colorado man goes viral after taking over his town's community center sign Posted: 01 Oct 2019 10:06 AM PDT  It takes confidence to call yourself "the king" of anything — but when it comes to dad jokes, Vince Rozmiarek makes a pretty strong case for himself.
|
| Zimbabwe Rejects U.S. Claim That Diamond Mine Uses Forced Labor Posted: 01 Oct 2019 11:07 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe accused the U.S. of ignorance after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced it's blocking rough diamond imports from the Marange fields because they were produced with forced labor. "It's unfortunate that the U.S. authorities have been misinformed or misled to believe that Zimbabwe is mining diamonds through forced labor," government spokesman Nick Mangwana said Tuesday by text message. "As a government we have a very strong revulsion towards any form of slavery or servitude. To even suggest that Zimbabwe has some form of corporate forced labor is either mischievous or simply ignorant."Imports from Zimbabwe are not the only ones targeted by the ban. The U.S. agency listed a range of products earlier Tuesday, from garments from China to gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo. To contact the reporter on this story: Ray Ndlovu in Johannesburg at rndlovu1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Rene VollgraaffFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Egypt gets back looted gold coffin displayed in New York Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:37 AM PDT  Egypt exhibited on Tuesday the golden coffin of an ancient Egyptian priest that was returned by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art following the discovery that it had been looted and illegally sold. The coffin had been buried in Egypt for 2,000 years before it was stolen from the country's Minya region in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising that toppled veteran leader Hosni Mubarak. Officials say it was smuggled through several countries by an international trafficking ring before being sold to an unwitting Metropolitan Museum two years ago for $4 million.
|
| Mom sentenced in deaths of 2 girls banished by doomsday cult Posted: 01 Oct 2019 01:05 PM PDT ![Mom sentenced in deaths of 2 girls banished by doomsday cult]( "Mom sentenced in deaths of 2 girls banished by doomsday cult") A Colorado woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for killing her two daughters after she and other members of a doomsday religious group banished them to a car without food or water because the girls were thought to have been impure. Nashika Bramble was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday in the deaths of Makayla Roberts, 10, and Hannah Marshall, 8. The sisters' bodies were found in September 2017 in a car parked on a farm near Norwood, a town of about 500 people 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of the Telluride ski resort.
|
| ‘We’ve been taken hostage’: African migrants stranded in Mexico after Trump's crackdown Posted: 30 Sep 2019 12:00 AM PDT  Hundreds of migrants from Africa are stuck in Tapachula because of Mexico's willingness to bow to Trump and stem the flow of migrants African migrants protest outside the Siglo XXI migrants detention center, demanding Mexican authorities to speed up visas that would enable them to cross Mexico to the US. Photograph: Isaac Guzman/AFP/Getty ImagesNeh knew she was taking a risk when she got involved with English-language activists in mostly-Francophone Cameroon.She had no way of know that her decision would eventually force her to flee her country, fly halfway across the world and then set out on a 4,000-mile trek through dense jungle and across seven borders – only to leave her stranded in southern Mexico, where her hopes of finding safety in the US were blocked by the Mexican government's efforts to placate Donald Trump's anti-migrant rage."It is just too much," sobbed Neh,at a protest camp set up by migrants from across Africa outside the main immigration offices in the sweltering southern city of Tapachula. "We thought our suffering was almost over. And now we're stuck here, treated like the lowest citizens on earth."Not that long ago, Neh worked as a microfinance officer and lived with her husband and three children in a small town in the West of Cameroon. Earlier this year, she joined a group campaigning for anglophone independence. She insists her activism was peaceful and that she never supported rebel groups, but amid spiralling violence, she was arrested, beaten, and raped by soldiers. One night, an officer took her from her cell and told her to start running. She imagined she was about to die – but instead she ran into the arms of her husband who had paid a bribe for her freedom.Hustled into hiding, Neh was then put on a plane to Quito where she joined the growing number of migrants from around the world using Ecuador as the jumping off point for the passage north. mapThe harrowing journey requires crossing the the lawless jungles of Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, where migrants risk wild animals, raging rivers and predatory robbers .For seven days, the 37-year-old hauled herself up and down mountain slopes, hanging on tree roots. Crossing a river, she was almost swept away by the current; an insect bite paralyzed her arm. And each day, her group passed the bloated and half-eaten corpses of others who had died on the same trail.The next stage of her odyssey was more straightforward. With the help of bribes and official paperwork, Neh travelled by bus across Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. She began to dream of a new life in the US, reunited with the three children she had left behind.And then, in Mexico, everything ground to an halt. She joined hundreds of migrants from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Eritrea, Mauritania, and a smattering of other African countries who are stuck in Tapachula because of Mexico's willingness to bow to Trump and stem the flow of migrants.Until recently, African migrants were waved through Mexico by immigration officials who had no interest in stopping them. Photograph: Isaac Guzman/AFP/Getty ImagesTrump's main target has always Central Americans who account for most of the migrant flow through Mexico. But the crackdown has caught up travelers from all around the world.Their situation has only been exacerbated by US policies. Earlier this month the US supreme court ruled that the US authorities could deny asylum to anybody who passed through another country to get there.Meanwhile, US officials have pressured Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to accept asylum seekers from third countries, even though they are among the most dangerous countries in the world. "We have been taken hostage. We want our freedom," said José Pelé Messa, a TV presenter who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010 – first for Angola, and then Brazil, which he had left earlier this year when the security situation there made life untenable.Around him, the inhabitants of the protest camp were gearing up for another day of boredom, under the watchful eye of a group of National Guard officers in riot gear.Railings were draped with blankets and clothes sodden in the previous night's downpour. Migrants – grouped by nationality or language – pored over documents in Spanish that they couldn't read or scanned their phones for news from home. A pregnant woman prepared soup on a small wooden burner outside her tent. A couple of toddlers were using discarded plastic bottles as drums.Pelé gestured at the desultory scene: "I took my children through the jungle for this? I'm a corpse. I just haven't started rotting yet."Until recently, African migrants were waved through Mexico by immigration officials who had no interest in stopping them.But after Trump's threat of trade tariffs in May, Mexico's government scrambled to clamp down: flooding the south of the country with law enforcement, and stepping up cooperation with the US policy of sending asylum seekers back into northern Mexico while their cases are processed.For migrants from countries in Africa, who are much harder to repatriate, it has meant being kept in limbo. Photograph: Isaac Guzman/AFP/Getty ImagesFor Central Americans trying to get through southern Mexico the crackdown has brought more raids, record numbers of deportations, and greater vulnerability to criminal attacks as they are pushed into less visible routes.For migrants from countries in Africa, who are much harder to repatriate, it has meant being kept in limbo.Previously, Mexican immigration authorities had typically issued African migrants with documents ordering them to sort out their status or leave the country within 21 days. Now these documents, which had previously served as de facto transit visas, order them to leave by the southern border. "Mexico is using us as an instrument of politics to please Donald Trump," said Serge, 21, who also fled the conflict in Cameroon. "This is creating a lot of anger among us."Frustration in the camp has bubbled over several times, leading to some scuffles with the authorities. This weekend a small group of desperate Africa temporarily blocked a car carrying Filippo Grandi, the head of UNHCR who was visiting Tapachula. One pregnant woman threw herself in front of the car's wheels crying and pleading for help.Migrants are particularly angered by the perception that they are being coerced into applying for asylum in Mexico – where few feel safe and almost none want to stay."Mexico is playing games with us," said a 36-year-old engineer from Eritrea who identified himself as Mr Testahiwet. "This is the way to get to America and we want to go to America. Mexico is the wrong place to ask for asylum."Some are so desperate they have begun looking for ways to get through Mexico undetected – though their skin colour and their lack of Spanish makes this hard to do.One recent dawn, at a major crossing point on the Suchiate river, not far from Tapachula, around 10 Cameroonians clambered onto a raft made of huge inner tubes and headed towards the Guatemalan side. The migrants sat in a glum and nervous silence as they were punted across, and then piled into cars with blackened windows, presumably driven by people smugglers who had promised to get them through Mexico by another route.Back at the camp, Kelly, another English-speaking refugee from Cameroon, said she hadn't been able to speak to her children for weeks. Back home, she had been a physics teacher, but she fled her job and her home when the rebels enforced a school boycott on pain of death."You leave when you can't take it anymore. You start running, and you keep running until you can stop," she said. "We are not looking for greener pastures – we are looking for safety."
|
| Ukrainian orphan accused of being an adult found with another family in Indiana Posted: 01 Oct 2019 07:56 AM PDT  Following the controversy and mixed accounts surrounding Natalia, a Ukrainian orphan at the center of an adoption scandal, she has reportedly been living with a family in the same state where she was left by a family who moved to Canada.
|
| The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claim to have killed 500 Saudi-led coalition troops and captured thousands more in major victory Posted: 30 Sep 2019 08:45 AM PDT  If true, the Houthi victory would mark another major setback for Saudi Arabia in the wake of the recent drone and missile attacks on its oil sites.
|
| Police shoot Hong Kong protester as China celebrates 70th birthday Posted: 01 Oct 2019 10:24 AM PDT  Hong Kong police shot and wounded a pro-democracy protester on Tuesday during the city's worst unrest of the year, hours after China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule with a massive military parade. It was the first such shooting in nearly four months of increasingly violent protests and threatened to strip the spotlight from China's carefully choreographed birthday party, designed to underscore its status as a global superpower. While President Xi Jinping took salutes from about 15,000 troops in the capital, pro-democracy protesters in semi-autonomous Hong Kong threw eggs at his portrait, with tens of thousands of people defying police orders to disperse.
|
