| Hillary Clinton to Trump on a 2020 rerun: 'Don't tempt me. Do your job.' Posted: 08 Oct 2019 02:51 PM PDT  Responding to President Trump's sarcastic suggestion that Hillary Clinton should run for president again in 2020, Clinton tweeted back: "Don't tempt me. Do your job."
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| Evidence from ex-Dallas cop's murder trial fuels mistrust Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:04 PM PDT  Evidence from the trial of a former Dallas police officer convicted of killing her neighbor has fueled new questions about whether accused officers are treated differently than other suspects, including testimony that a camera in the cruiser where the officer sat after the shooting was flipped off and that her sexual text messages with her partner were deleted. It also has led Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall to announce the internal affairs department would look into the deleted texts and deactivated camera. The Dallas County District Attorney's Office declined to comment Wednesday on whether it is also investigating.
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| A family found more than half a million dollars in cocaine on the beach during their vacation Posted: 08 Oct 2019 07:55 PM PDT  A man and his family discovered 20 bricks of cocaine while on vacation in South Carolina, estimated to be worth $600,000.
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| 10 Cheapest New Cars for 2020 Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:05 PM PDT |
| Francis Currey, one of the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipients, dies at 94 Posted: 08 Oct 2019 10:09 PM PDT ![Francis Currey, one of the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipients, dies at 94]( "Francis Currey, one of the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipients, dies at 94") Francis Currey, one of three living World War II Medal of Honor recipients, died on Tuesday, NEWS10 reports. He was 94.Currey, from Selkirk, New York, joined the U.S. Army at 17, and was a technical sergeant. He was in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, and because he wasn't given proper winter gear, was suffering from frostbite. On Dec. 21, 1944, German tanks approached Currey and his company while they were guarding a bridge crossing. A rifleman, Currey exposed himself to enemy fire as he shot and killed several Germans. During the intense fighting, he also used anti-tank grenades and a bazooka against the Germans, and was able to rescue five Americans who were taking fire inside a building.Currey received the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Medal of Honor, the highest decoration of valor. In 1998, his likeness was used to create the Medal of Honor G.I. Joe.
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| No, Betsy DeVos is not going to jail Posted: 08 Oct 2019 09:28 PM PDT  A judge said to Betsy DeVos' department: "I am not sending anyone to jail yet, but it's good to know that I have that ability." The internet exploded.
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| Xinjiang: The making of China's far west police state Posted: 08 Oct 2019 11:14 PM PDT  China's all-encompassing security crackdown in Xinjiang has turned the northwest region -- home to most of the country's ethnic Uighur population -- into a place activists describe as an open air prison. Upwards of one million mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in the region are held in re-education camps, according to estimates cited by a UN panel in 2018. The United States blacklisted 28 Chinese entities this week over their alleged roles in rights violations in Xinjiang and said it would also curb visas for officials involved in "detention or abuse" of minorities.
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| Victor the eagle's bird's eye view of the Alps raises climate change awareness Posted: 09 Oct 2019 07:13 AM PDT  Victor, a nine-year old white-tailed eagle, set off this week on a mission to raise awareness of climate change in the Alps, which have already been hard hit by the rise in global temperatures. Equipped with a 360-degree camera mounted on his back, Victor soared above Mont Blanc and was set to take in five countries in five days, filming some of the world's most spectacular scenery. Victor is part of the Alpine Eagle Race project, which aims to raise awareness of melting glaciers and other effects of global warming through the combined eyes of the eagle, a photographer and a scientist.
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| Minneapolis mayor responds to Trump: I don't have time to be 'tweeting garbage out' Posted: 08 Oct 2019 02:27 PM PDT  Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey hit back at President Trump regarding the use of the Target Center for a Thursday campaign rally.
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| California eases mandatory sentences, restricts body cameras Posted: 08 Oct 2019 10:12 PM PDT ![California eases mandatory sentences, restricts body cameras]( "California eases mandatory sentences, restricts body cameras") California will soon end some mandatory sentences, make it easier to expunge old criminal records, bar charging inmates for medical care and ban police from using facial recognition software on body cameras under more than two dozen criminal justice bills that freshman Gov. Gavin Newsom announced signing into law late Tuesday. The measures continue the state's march away from get-tough measures that once clogged California prisons, prompting a federal court-ordered population cap. Among the measures are two that remove mandatory sentences.
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| US meth lab strikes in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians says UN Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:36 AM PDT  An American blitz on dozens of Taliban drug factories in Western Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians and may have left dozens more dead, a United Nations report has found. United States aircraft struck more than 60 methamphetamine labs earlier this year during a one-day onslaught to deny Taliban insurgents income from the lucrative drug trade. The raids killed at least 30 civilians according to a UN investigation and may have killed a further 30. The UN also said the raids broke international law because drugs workers are not considered a legitimate military target. American forces in Afghanistan immediately disputed the reports findings, saying they disagreed with the UN's methods, analysis and "narrow definition" of legitimate targets. A spokesman said the labs had been under lengthy surveillance before they were struck and "extraordinary measures" had been taken to avoid killing civilians. Col Sonny Leggett said he was "deeply concerned" by the UN's methods and findings. Taliban insurgents have long been accused of obtaining huge sums from the country's extensive opium trade, as militants tax production and levy protection money. Methamphetamine production has recently been added to the country's drugs business, with UN officials earlier this year warning seizures were growing exponentially. The May 5 raids in Farah and Nimroz province were carried out after "comprehensive intelligence confirmed that all personnel inside of the laboratories were Taliban combatants", the US told investigators. Investigators verified 30 civilians killed and nine injured, including 14 children, but said they were investigating "reliable and credible information" another 30 civilians were also killed, the UN said. The UN in its report contended the drug facilities were owned and operated by criminal groups, so "did not meet the definition of legitimate military objectives under international law." The factories and workers inside "may not be lawfully made the target of attack based on their possible economic or financial contribution to the war effort of a party to a conflict," it concluded. The US, however, insisted the labs were run and owned by the Taliban, who used revenue to "fund ongoing indiscriminate violence against innocent Afghans".
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| Chevy Colorado Will Look a Little Cooler for 2021 Posted: 08 Oct 2019 03:45 PM PDT  All Colorados get different badging and a tweaked front end, and the ZR2 and Z71 off-road models benefit from a new color.
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| Details emerge about people taken to hospital after Disney World Skyliner incident Posted: 08 Oct 2019 01:43 PM PDT  After Walt Disney World Resort's new aerial cable car system, the Skyliner, stranded passengers for hours on Saturday, Disney is testing the service.
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| German Interior Minister: Yom Kippur Shooting was Anti-Semitic Attack Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:41 PM PDT  German officials called a live-streamed shooting at a synagogue Wednesday in the city of Halle an anti-Semitic attack after the gunman denied the Holocaust and denounced Jews on the stream before embarking. Two people have been killed and another two are seriously injured, according to Reuters, and a suspect is in custody. The gunman attempted to force his way into the synagogue, but was unsuccessful after finding the gates shut. The man then went on a shooting spree, killing a woman outside and a man in a nearby kabob shop.Max Privorozki, Halle's Jewish community chairman, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper that approximately 75 people were in the synagogue observing Yom Kippur, known as the Day of Atonement which is the holiest day of the Jewish year and is marked by fasting and solemn prayer."We saw via the camera system at our synagogue that a heavily armed perpetrator with a steel helmet and a gun tried to shoot open our doors," he said. "We barricaded the doors from inside and waited for the police."The attack was streamed on Twitch, an online streaming service popular with gamers and a subsidiary of Amazon's. An Amazon spokeswoman said that the platform "worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act."In the aftermath of the attack, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a Berlin synagogue where a vigil was being held outside. Merkel's spokesman tweeted: "We must oppose any form of anti-Semitism."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted condolences to families of the victims and called on Germany to fight anti-Semitism."The terrorist attack against the community in Halle in Germany on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our nation, is yet another expression that anti-Semitism is growing in Europe," he said.
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| Hong Kong 'won't rule out' Chinese help over protests: leader Posted: 08 Oct 2019 11:43 AM PDT  Hong Kong's under-fire leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said China intervening to end months of pro-democracy protests is an option following a particularly violent week of unrest that paralysed the city. Hong Kong was virtually locked down over the three-day holiday weekend, with the majority of subway stops closed. It is also the position of the central government (in Beijing) that Hong Kong should tackle the problem on her own.
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| Yes, America Probably Has Secret Stealth Drones Around Iran Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT  So much spying.
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| 'I'm Spartacus': Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani performs bizarre impression of Cory Booker live on Fox News Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:23 AM PDT  Rudy Giuliani launched a peculiar attack on New Jersey mayor Cory Booker during a televised interview, in his latest bizarre contribution to Fox News following the move by Democrats to impeach the president.Mr Giuliani has become increasingly embroiled in scandal surrounding Donald Trump over his dealings with Ukraine, after he was found to have been involved in interactions between Kiev and Washington despite not holding a diplomatic role in the president's administration.
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| California governor signs law capping rent increases Posted: 08 Oct 2019 04:56 PM PDT  California will limit rent increases for some people over the next decade after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Tuesday aimed at combating a housing crisis in the nation's most populous state. Newsom signed the bill at an event in Oakland, an area where a recent report documented a 43% increase in homelessness over two years. Sudden rent increases are a contributing cause of the state's homeless problem, which has drawn national attention and the ire of Republican President Donald Trump.
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| Ex-Trump aide Manafort not shielded by earlier conviction for similar crimes: N.Y. prosecutors Posted: 09 Oct 2019 10:20 AM PDT  Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort must face mortgage fraud charges against him in New York, even though he is already serving a prison sentence after being convicted of similar federal crimes, New York state prosecutors said on Wednesday. Manafort's lawyers had sought to dismiss the state charges in September, arguing that they subjected him to illegal double jeopardy, or prosecution of a person twice for the same offense. "We continue to believe that the indictment should be dismissed in its entirety for the reasons stated in our motion," said Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Manafort.
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| EPA: Our goal is to improve California’s air quality Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:14 PM PDT  'If the EPA disapproves ... that triggers statutory clocks for highway funding sanctions. ... We request a response from (California) by Oct. 10'
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| The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes than You Posted: 08 Oct 2019 12:24 PM PDT  Almost a decade ago, Warren Buffett made a claim that would become famous. He said that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary, thanks to the many loopholes and deductions that benefit the wealthy.His claim sparked a debate about the fairness of the tax system. In the end, the expert consensus was that, whatever Buffett's specific situation, most wealthy Americans did not actually pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. "Is it the norm?" fact-checking outfit PolitiFact asked. "No."Time for an update: It's the norm now.For the first time on record, the 400 wealthiest Americans last year paid a lower total tax rate -- spanning federal, state and local taxes -- than any other income group, according to newly released data.The overall tax rate on the richest 400 households last year was only 23%, meaning that their combined tax payments equaled less than one quarter of their total income. That was down from 70% in 1950 and 47% in 1980.For middle-class and poor families, the picture is different. Federal income taxes have also declined modestly, but these families haven't benefited much, if at all, from the decline in the corporate tax or estate tax. And they now pay more in payroll taxes (which finance Medicare and Social Security) than in the past. Overall, their taxes have remained fairly flat.The combined result is that over the last 75 years the U.S. tax system has become radically less progressive.The data here come from the most important book on government policy that I've read in a long time -- called "The Triumph of Injustice," to be released next week. The authors are Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, both professors at the University of California, Berkeley, who have done pathbreaking work on taxes. Saez has won the award that goes to the top academic economist under age 40, and Zucman was recently profiled on the cover of BusinessWeek magazine as "the wealth detective."They have constructed a historical database that shows how much households at different points along the income spectrum have paid in taxes going back to 1913, when the federal income tax began. The story they tell is maddening -- and yet ultimately energizing."Many people have the view that nothing can be done," Zucman told me. "Our case is, 'No, that's wrong. Look at history.' " As they write in the book: "Societies can choose whatever level of tax progressivity they want." When the United States has raised tax rates on the wealthy and made rigorous efforts to collect taxes, it has succeeded in doing so. And it can succeed again.Saez and Zucman portray the history of U.S. taxes as a struggle between people who want to tax the rich and those who want to protect the fortunes of the rich. The story starts in the 17th century, when northern colonies created more progressive tax systems than Europe had. Massachusetts even enacted a wealth tax, which covered land, ships, jewelry livestock and more.The southern colonies, by contrast, were hostile to taxation. Southern plantation owners worried that taxes could undermine slavery, as historian Robin Einhorn has explained, and made sure to keep tax rates low and tax collection ineffective. (The hostility to taxes ultimately hampered the Confederacy's ability to raise money and fight the Civil War.)By the middle of the 20th century, the high-tax advocates had prevailed. The United States had arguably the world's most progressive tax code, with a top income-tax rate of 91% and a corporate tax rate above 50%.But the second half of the 20th century was mostly a victory for the low-tax side. Companies found ways to take more deductions and dodge taxes. Politicians cut every tax that fell mostly on the wealthy: high-end income taxes, investment taxes, the estate tax and the corporate tax. The justification for doing so was usually that the economy as a whole would benefit.The justification turned out to be wrong. The U.S. economy has not fared better when tax rates are lower. Lower taxes on the wealthy instead end up benefiting the wealthy, not society as a whole. The great decline in high-end taxation has happened over the same period that economic growth has been disappointing and middle-class income growth even worse.That's the maddening part of the story. The energizing part are the solutions that Saez and Zucman propose. They call for a set of policies that would raise the overall tax rate on the wealthiest Americans to about 60% (still not as high as in 1950). Doing so would bring in about $750 billion a year, or 4% of GDP, enough to pay for universal pre-K, an infrastructure program, medical research, clean energy and more. Those are the kinds of policies that really do lift economic growth.One crucial part of the agenda is a minimum global corporate tax of at least 25%. A company would have to pay the tax on its U.S. operations even if it set up headquarters in Ireland or Bermuda. Saez and Zucman also favor a wealth tax; Elizabeth Warren's version is based on their work. And they call for the creation of a Public Protection Bureau, to help the IRS crack down on tax dodging.I already know what the critics will say about these arguments -- that the rich will always figure out a way to avoid taxes. That's simply not the case. True, they will always be able to avoid some taxes. But history shows that serious attempts to collect more taxes usually succeed.Ask yourself this: If efforts to tax the superrich were really doomed to fail, why would so many of the superrich be fighting so hard to defeat those efforts?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| View Photos of the 2020 Dodge Charger Widebody Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:12 AM PDT |
| Florida man accused of giving beer to an alligator Posted: 08 Oct 2019 05:06 PM PDT  Timothy Kepke and Noah Osborne were arrested Oct. 3. Each was charged with unlawfully taking an alligator, a felony.
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| Expert: America Could Defeat China's Anti-Ship Missiles Posted: 08 Oct 2019 08:00 PM PDT  America's carriers would ultimately win out.
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| U.S. arrested nearly 1 million migrants at border in past 12 months Posted: 08 Oct 2019 06:35 PM PDT  In fiscal year 2019, which ended last week, U.S. immigration authorities apprehended or turned away more than 977,000 migrants along the southern border
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| Politician charged in human trafficking adoption scheme Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:26 PM PDT  An Arizona elected official ran a human smuggling scheme that promised pregnant women thousands of dollars to lure them from a Pacific Island nation to the U.S., where they were crammed into houses to wait to give birth, sometimes with little to no prenatal care, prosecutors allege. Paul Petersen, the Republican assessor of Arizona's most populous county, was charged in Utah, Arizona and Arkansas with counts including human smuggling, sale of a child, fraud, forgery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Investigators also found eight pregnant women from the Marshall Islands in raids of his properties outside Phoenix, and several more are waiting to give birth in Utah, authorities said.
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| Shooting in Germany was anti-Semitic attack - interior minister Posted: 09 Oct 2019 10:00 AM PDT ![Shooting in Germany was anti-Semitic attack - interior minister]( "Shooting in Germany was anti-Semitic attack - interior minister") German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Wednesday that a shooting in eastern Germany was anti-Semitic, adding that federal prosecutors who have taken on the investigation thought there were signs that it could be a right-wing extremist attack. According to the federal prosecutors' office, there are enough indications that it was possibly a right-wing extremist motive.
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| Mayor in Mexico tied to a truck and dragged through streets for ‘failing to fulfill campaign promises’ Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:28 AM PDT  Angry farmers in Mexico abducted the mayor of their village and dragged him through the streets after claiming he went back on key campaign promises.Police intervened to free Jorge Luis Escandón Hernández, who suffered no major injuries after the ordeal.
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| New book says Homeland Security acting head Kevin McAleenan pushed family separation policy for migrants Posted: 08 Oct 2019 04:33 PM PDT  Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan was one of the drivers of the Trump administration's now abandoned policy of separating migrant families at the southern border — a position he has since disavowed as "not worth" the ensuing public relations disaster — according to a new book on the Trump administration's immigration policies.
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| Almost 2 million Californians will be without power through Thursday in shutdown to reduce wildfire risk Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:02 PM PDT  Californians were in the dark during a multiday power outage aimed at curbing wildfire risks amid high winds.
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| During the Vietnam War, Commandos Sunk a U.S. Aircraft Carrier Posted: 09 Oct 2019 12:05 AM PDT  It was a huge blow.
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| Trump Gives Swing-District Democrats New Cause to Back Inquiry Posted: 08 Oct 2019 05:01 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump has erased any lingering doubts among the swing-district Democrats who galvanized the House impeachment move two weeks ago despite the risks to their re-election chances in 2020.The decision by seven first-term Democrats elected in Trump-leaning districts to back an impeachment inquiry after months of resisting the idea tipped the balance in the House and helped spark Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to announce the investigation.Now they are back home during a congressional break, facing voters as well as a concerted effort by Republicans to make them pay. At town halls and in interviews, members of the group express no regrets."I did the right thing, and I will be able to look in the mirror 30 years from now and say I was on the right side of history," Virginia Representative Elaine Luria told a packed town hall in her coastal district last week that's home to Naval Station Norfolk.Luria and the six other freshmen lawmakers who announced their support for an impeachment inquiry in a Sept. 23 opinion essay in the Washington Post are crucial to Democrats' chances of holding the House in 2020 and to the party's hopes of making inroads in former Republican strongholds in the presidential election. They won in 2018 by playing up their military or national security backgrounds and offering a moderate counter-balance to the Democratic Party's liberal wing.Backing an impeachment inquiry gives Republicans an opening to tie them to the progressive Democrats who've been calling for Trump's impeachment for months."Make no mistake about it: backing impeachment will cost the Democrats their majority in 2020," Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer, head of the House GOP's campaign arm, said in a statement.Counter AttackThe campaign against them has already begun. Vice President Mike Pence in planning trips in the coming weeks to the districts of four Democratic freshmen who defeated Republican incumbents.Since swinging to support an impeachment inquiry, several of the vulnerable Democrats said at meetings with voters and in interviews that the events since then have only solidified their decision. Those include the White House releasing a rough transcript of Trump's call with Ukraine's president, a whistle-blower's complaint and the president himself publicly calling on Ukraine and China to investigate a Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden."There is a national security threat in addition to the illegality of a president of the United States allegedly asking for election assistance from a foreign government," said Virginia Representative Abigail Spanberger, one of the Democrats being targeted by Pence."If calling that out is wrong and gets me into political trouble, then why am I here if I'm not here to stand up for the Constitution? Why am I in this role if I am not supposed to call out things that are endanger us and are a threat to our country?" she said.Luria also said she wasn't deterred by political threats.'The Right Thing'"I have to tell you I did not do it in regard to any political consequences. I did it knowing that in the past the district I represent has been held by a Republicans and people may say 'why would you do that? You might not be re-elected.' I don't care because I did the right thing," said Luria, a Naval Academy graduate who spent 20 years in the service.The line earned Luria a standing ovation and a smattering of boos, reflecting the political divide in her district, which she won last year with 51% of the vote against Republican incumbent Scott Taylor.Luria said of the 420 calls she's received from constituents on impeachment in the last week and a half, about two-thirds were supportive. At her town hall last Thursday, those who spoke were more evenly divided."There is no evidence so far as I'm concerned, in my option, that warrants it. They have been trying to impeach this president from Day Two," said Jim Tarr, 65, a federal geologist, echoing other Trump supporters in the audience.Many attendees interviewed said that they respected Luria's judgment, as a former naval officer, about whether Trump may have imperiled national security by withholding aid to Ukraine."I think she is a taking a political risk but I like that she said she is not worried about her re-election," Conrad Schwab, who was among the crowd, said."I just think it is a waste of their time. Our health care needs to be fixed," said Marsha Spain, a self-described independent.Plea to ChinaLuria told the Virginia Beach crowd that she "didn't go to Washington to impeach the president," but that Trump's public suggestion earlier that day that China investigate Biden and his son Hunter reinforced her decision."It was even more brazen this morning when he stood on the White House lawn and an asked China to meddle in our election," she said.Trump's decision late Sunday to abandon U.S.'s Kurdish allies in Syria -- from which he is backpedaling -- also bolstering the view by Democrats that his foreign policy presents a national security risk.Spanberger, a former CIA operative, said that while the decision is itself not impeachable, there are similarities between the Ukraine call, the televised plea to China and the Syria decision."They show a president who doesn't understand foreign policy whatsoever, who doesn't understand the lines between what is appropriate and what is not," she said.Other Democrats who flipped last month in favor of impeachment also suggested parallels, including first-term Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips.At a Friday town hall event in Rochester, Michigan, an affluent town in a GOP-leaning District, Representative Elissa Slotkin defended her support of an impeachment inquiry.She told a mostly supportive crowd that she changed her mind when Trump acknowledged that he asked for information from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy about Biden. While most of the audience clapped in approval, Slotkin was subject to frequent heckling from about a dozen Trump supporters in the crowd."I did not take this decision lightly," she said. "It's not something I wanted to do."Slotkin was asked if she thought Trump was doing his duty by investigating the accusation that Biden helped his son avoid investigation in Ukraine."You go to the American FBI," the former CIA analyst said. When the Trump supporters responded with boos, she said, "You can boo the FBI. I will not boo the FBI. You do not go to a foreign leader if you're concerned about corruption, especially to ask about a political rival."Colorado Democrat Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who also signed the essay with Slotkin, Spanberger and Luria, spent the last week on a delegation to Afghanistan and the Jordan-Syria border. He said in an interview Monday that he has no second thoughts."Our concerns continue to be re-confirmed," he said. "More and more information is emerging about his fast and loose approach to American foreign policy and his abuse of presidential authority."Crow said that he has found support in his community for his decision but that it was important that the inquiry stay focused and proceed efficiently."I think the process is really important here," he said. "You don't make conclusions until you have reviewed the evidence."Speaking on MSNBC Tuesday, Crow said Trump's actions represent a national security risk and have damaged U.S. credibility abroad. He declined to say whether he thinks the House will ultimately impeach Trump, adding that's it's "inappropriate" to prejudge the end result."That's why we're making sure we're following the steps right now," Crow said. "We have to make sure we're doing it the right way."(Updates with lawmaker quote beginning in the 35th paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net;David Welch in Southfield at dwelch12@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Anna Edgerton, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Egypt denounces Ethiopia for moving ahead with Nile dam amid water: shortage fears Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:04 AM PDT  Egypt denounced Ethiopia on Wednesday for moving forward with building and operating a hyropower dam on the Nile, which Cairo worries will threaten already scarce water supplies. Ethiopia, the source of the Blue Nile which joins the White Nile in Khartoum and runs on to Egypt, says the dam will not disrupt the river's flow and hopes the project will transform it into a power hub for the electricity-hungry region. Egypt relies on the Nile for up to 90% of its fresh water, and fears the dam, which is being built in Ethiopia close to the border with Sudan, will restrict already scarce supplies.
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| 11 elephants died in plunge from waterfall while trying to save drowned calf Posted: 08 Oct 2019 11:43 AM PDT  Elephant carcasses were found at Haew Narok waterfall in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.
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| Justice Department investigating potentially serious allegations against Robert Mueller Posted: 08 Oct 2019 03:09 PM PDT  Fox News has learned that Mueller was not accurate when he told Congress that he was not interviewing for the position of FBI director when he met President Trump in the Oval Office in May 2017; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump misfires on economy, Syria, impeachment Posted: 08 Oct 2019 01:59 PM PDT  Battling an impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump is misrepresenting facts as he blasts his investigators and seeks to highlight the administration's efforts to fulfill campaign pledges on the economy and war in the Middle East . In tweets and public remarks, the president minimized the risk of withdrawing U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, suggesting that most of the foreign fighters captured in the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State group and being held by the Kurds are from European countries that can reclaim them. Trump made a groundless assertion that the Democratic leaders heading the impeachment inquiry , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, should be impeached, not him.
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| Defeat: In 1979, Vietnam Gave China's Army a Beating Posted: 09 Oct 2019 12:27 AM PDT  It wasn't pretty.
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| Wealthy couple gets prison terms for U.S. college admissions scam Posted: 08 Oct 2019 01:56 PM PDT  The founder of a food and beverage packaging company and his wife were each sentenced to one month in prison on Tuesday for their roles in what prosecutors say is the largest college admissions scam uncovered in the United States. Gregory and Marcia Abbott received lighter sentences than the eight-month terms sought by federal prosecutors in Boston after they admitted to paying $125,000 to have a corrupt test proctor secretly correct their daughter's answers on college entrance exams. The couple's sentence by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani also includes a requirement that they each pay a $45,000 fine.
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| 'We good now, China? South Park 'apologises' after being banned by Communist Party Posted: 08 Oct 2019 01:37 AM PDT  The creators of South Park have issued an irreverent mock apology to the Chinese government after reports that the show has been censored on Chinese streaming services and social media. The statement from Trey Parker and Matt Stone made fun of censorship of comparisons of Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, with Winnie the Pooh, and called out the National Basketball Association (NBA) for apologising over the support expressed by one of its officials for the Hong Kong protest movement. "Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts. We too love money more than freedom and democracy. Xi doesn't look just like Winnie the Pooh at all," read a statement issued by the South Park Twitter account. "Tune into our 300th episode this Wednesday at 10! Long live the Great Communist Party of China! May this autumn's sorghum harvest be bountiful! We good now China?" The American satirical animation series, famed for taking swipes at global events and society without fear or favour, reportedly incurred the wrath of China's fierce censors over a recent episode "Band in China" which critiques the way Hollywood allegedly tries to mould its content to avoid offending Beijing. The NBA backs "freedom of expression," its commissioner Adam Silver insisted earlier this week Credit: GLYN KIRK/AFP The plot of the episode sees three of the characters forming a metal band which is so popular that a film is made about it. However, the script keeps changing so that it can be safely distributed in China. "Now I know how Hollywood writers feel," says Stan, a band member, as he rejigs his work under the careful eye of a Chinese guard. The episode also features a story line where South Park dad, Randy Marsh, gets caught trying to sell weed in China and is sent to a work camp, similar to the mass internment camps in Xinjiang, where an estimated one million people, including Uighur Muslims, are being held. The South Park row comes as China's state broadcaster said on Tuesday that it would stop showing NBA games as a backlash intensified against the league over a tweet that expressed support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters. Houston Rockets' manager Daryl Morey ignited controversy on Friday by re-tweeting an image which was captioned: "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong," in reference to the pro-democracy protests that have rocked the global financial hub for four months. Basketball is hugely popular in China, and Mr Morey's tweet caused outrage on Chinese social media even after he deleted it. The Chinese Basketball Association said it was suspending cooperation with the team, and the Chinese consulate in Houston issued a statement expressing anger. The Chinese market is highly profitable for the NBA, the sport's governing body, and on Sunday night, the NBA described Mr Morey's statement as "regrettable" in having "deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China." Adam Silver, the NBA's commissioner, said on Monday that the league backs "freedom of expression". "There is no doubt, the economic impact is already clear," Mr Silver told Japan's Kyodo News agency ahead of an NBA London Game 2019 basketball match between Washington Wizards and New York Knicks at the O2 Arena in London.
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