| The Latest: Bolton has 'relevant' info in impeachment probe Posted: 08 Nov 2019 12:19 PM PST  Former national security adviser John Bolton has information about "many relevant meetings and conversations" related to Ukraine that House impeachment investigators have not yet heard testimony about. In the letter, Cooper says there's a tall barrier to forcing Bolton and his former deputy, Charles Kupperman, to testify because any testimony that they would give would implicate sensitive matters of national security and foreign affairs.
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| Iranian beauty queen wins asylum in Philippines Posted: 08 Nov 2019 06:19 AM PST  An Iranian beauty queen sought by Tehran on criminal charges has been granted political asylum in the Philippines, an official said Friday, ending a three-week standoff at Manila airport. Bahareh Zare Bahari, based in the Philippines since 2014, was denied entry into the Southeast Asian nation on October 17 when she returned from Dubai, with Philippine authorities citing an Iranian warrant for her arrest. Claiming Tehran wanted to punish her for opposition to Iran's theocratic regime, Bahari then sought refugee status, holed up in a room at Manila's international airport and using social media to rally support from the international community -- including a plea to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
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| Spain court agrees to extradite Venezuelan ex-intelligence chief to USA: EFE Posted: 08 Nov 2019 11:16 AM PST  Spain's High Court has agreed to extradite former Venezuelan intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal to the United States, reversing a previous ruling to deny the extradition request, EFE news agency reported on Friday, citing judicial sources. Carvajal's lawyer told Reuters she had not been notified of any court decision. The former general was arrested by Spanish police in April at the request of U.S. authorities, but Spain's High Court then ruled in September that he should be released and his extradition request denied.
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| Hundreds of bones found in world's first mammoth trap, set by humans 14,000 years ago Posted: 08 Nov 2019 01:42 AM PST  Archaeologists say they have made the largest-ever discovery of mammoth remains: a trove of 800 bones from at least 14 of the extinct giants found in central Mexico. Moreover, they believe they have made the first-ever find of a mammoth trap set by humans, who would have used it to capture the huge herbivores more than 14,000 years ago, said Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). "This is the largest find of its kind ever made," the institute said in a statement. The skeletal remains were found in Tultepec, near the site where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government is building a new airport for Mexico City. Some bore signs that the animals had been hunted, leading experts to conclude that they had found "the world's first mammoth trap," it said. The bones of at least 14 mammoths were discovered Credit: INAH/AFP via Getty Images "Mammoths lived here for thousands of years. The herds grew, reproduced, died, were hunted... They lived alongside other species, including horses and camels," archaeologist Luis Cordoba told journalists. Researchers said at least five mammoth herds lived in the area of the find. Mexico has been the scene of surprising mammoth discoveries before. In the 1970s, workers building the Mexico City subway found a mammoth skeleton while digging on the capital's north side. Scientists take 'significant step' towards bringing the woolly mammoth back to life
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| Woman almost dies from allergic reaction after sex with husband Posted: 08 Nov 2019 08:26 AM PST  A woman nearly died from an allergic reaction after having sex with her husband,The 46-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, suffered an anaphylactic reaction to a medication her husband was taking through exposure to her husband's semen, according to the case report in the American Journal of Medicine.
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| 1000-HP Dodge Challenger Was Stolen and Crashed but Still Made It to SEMA Posted: 07 Nov 2019 07:44 AM PST  Not even a police chase could stop this Challenger from making it to the show.
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| Photos from space reveal what climate change looks like, from melting Arctic ice to rampant California fires Posted: 07 Nov 2019 11:53 AM PST  Extreme weather events like hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires are linked to climate change. Such phenomena can be seen from space.
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| Fiona Hill Details Relationship with Christopher Steele, Disparages Steele Dossier Posted: 08 Nov 2019 02:05 PM PST  During her testimony, former National Security Council staffer Fiona Hill revealed that she had a three-year working relationship with Christopher Steele, the former British spy contracted by opposition-research firm Fusion GPS to produce the infamous Steele Dossier, but doubted the accuracy of his dossier, according to a transcript published Friday."He was my counterpart when I was the director, the national intelligence officer," Hill told Representative Jim Jordan (R., Ohio). "When I had to do liaison meetings with the U.K., he was the person I had to meet with." Hill said she worked directly with Steele from 2006 to 2009.Hill's comments confirmed a Politico profile on Hill from September 30, which described her relationship with Steele. "She had a high opinion of Steele, and thought he was very smart," a foreign-policy veteran, and one of Hill's close friends, told Politico.Hill confirmed that she had met with Steele during the 2016 election, which was include in the Politico story."That was prior to the time that I had any knowledge about the dossier," she stated. "He was constantly trying to drum up business, and he had contacted me because he wanted to see if I could give him a contact to some other individual, who actually I don't even recall now, who he could approach about some business issues."Hill also discussed Steele's dossier in the testimony, saying that upon reading it, she had had "misgivings and concern that [Steele] could have been played," because "the Russians would have an ax to grind against him given the job that he had previously.""I don't believe it's appropriate for him to have been hired to do this," Hill said of Steele's contract with Fusion GPS. "I almost fell over when I discovered that he was doing this report."
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| Trump launches black outreach effort for 2020 Posted: 08 Nov 2019 02:30 PM PST  Trump offered that same message Friday as he launched a black voters coalition in Atlanta, Georgia. While Trump's campaign had said his message would focus on his record and gains for black Americans under his watch, Trump instead spent most of his time demonizing Democrats and appearing to try to pit minority voters against immigrants. "The Democrats have let you down," Trump told the crowd of several hundred supporters, including several who wore red "BLACK LIVES MAGA" hats.
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| Remains of five more victims of Mexican Mormon killings are buried Posted: 08 Nov 2019 11:15 AM PST  Rancho La Mora (México) (AFP) - The remains of a Mormon woman and her four children murdered in northern Mexico were taken by road Friday from their home village to be buried in a family plot in Chihuahua state. A convoy of vehicles bearing the coffins of Rhonita Miller and her children left Rancho la Mora, in the border area between Mexico's violent northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua, for the family's burial plot in the LeBaron neighborhood in nearby Galeana. Miller and her children died with four other people in a hail of bullets Monday on a rural road in the lawless region.
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| Former LA top cop Beck named Chicago's interim police superintendent Posted: 08 Nov 2019 08:19 AM PST  Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck was made Chicago's interim police superintendent on Friday, taking the temporary challenge of leading the second-largest force in the United States. Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised Beck's track record of reaching out to minority communities in Los Angeles, and said she fully expected he would do the same as the interim top cop in Chicago. Beck - who when pressed by reporters said he had no desire to be named as the permanent Chicago superintendent - said he spent most of his career in South Los Angeles and made working with the black community a priority.
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| Some Kentucky Republicans warn against election challenge Posted: 08 Nov 2019 07:44 AM PST  Some Kentucky Republicans are warning Gov. Matt Bevin against challenging the election results in his reelection bid unless he finds evidence of massive fraud.
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| A white restaurant manager was sentenced to 10 years for enslaving and beating a black man Posted: 08 Nov 2019 07:27 AM PST ![A white restaurant manager was sentenced to 10 years for enslaving and beating a black man]( "A white restaurant manager was sentenced to 10 years for enslaving and beating a black man") A white restaurant manager in South Carolina was sentenced to 10 years in prison for enslaving and torturing an African American cook
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| 11 Ways To Hang Anything on a Wall Posted: 08 Nov 2019 02:00 PM PST |
| Don't Sleep on North Korea's Large (But Really) Old Submarine Fleet Posted: 07 Nov 2019 05:42 AM PST  It only takes one torpedo to kill a lot of people.
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| Vietnam to Check Huawei, Xiaomi Phones for Disputed Map: Report Posted: 07 Nov 2019 06:39 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Vietnam will inspect all phones imported from China, such as Huawei and Xiaomi models, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reports citing Nguyen Hung Anh, head of Vietnam Customs' anti-smuggling and investigation department.At issue is whether the Chinese-made phones come with preinstalled navigation apps that use maps reflecting Chinese territorial claims rejected by Hanoi, such as the expansive nine-dash line claims in the South China Sea that overlap resource-rich maritime areas Vietnam says are within in its exclusive economic waters. The U.S. has said the area under dispute could contain oil and gas reserves worth $2.5 trillion.Vietnam has been the most aggressive Southeast Asian nation pushing back on Chinese maritime claims. Its ships directly confront Chinese vessels off its coast in disputed territorial waters and the government bans and removes products that reference China's controversial claims to large swaths of the South China Sea, from T-shirts worn by tourists to Hollywood movies.Vietnam last week seized all seven car models from China's Hanteng Autos for using the China's disputed map, the newspaper reported yesterday, citing Vietnam Customs Head Nguyen Van Can. Earlier, Vietnam said it would penalize Volkswagen AG's local distributor and an importer for displaying a Touareg CR745J car at a motor show last month that featured the nine-dash line in the navigation map.The country also recently blocked screening of a Dreamworks Animation movie "Abominable," co-produced with a Chinese company, that included a scene showing the nine-dash line.Vietnam Customs will send instructions to its local branches soon, the newspaper said. The agency, which typically responds only to formal requests made on paper, did not immediately respond to a request for comment via phone.(Updates with additional details of Vietnamese response, starting in third paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Mai Ngoc Chau in Ho Chi Minh City at cmai9@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chua Baizhen at bchua14@bloomberg.net, Derek Wallbank, John BoudreauFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| If Boris Isn’t Careful, Brexit Could Disappear in a Winter Snap Posted: 08 Nov 2019 09:02 AM PST  British politics are seeming eerily familiar these days: Just as in 2017, the Tories, looking at favorable polls that show them crushing Labour and Jeremy Corbyn, have called for a snap election in order to give their new PM a mandate to complete an orderly Brexit. Just as in 2017, the Tories have begun projecting that they'll win a majority of 40, 60, or maybe even more. Just as in 2017, the electorate very clearly wants to get Brexit done, and that desire is very clearly a driving force behind the Tories' standing in the polls.And just as in 2017, the campaign has begun with the Tories immediately changing the subject from Brexit.Boris Johnson opened the campaign with an op-ed comparing Corbyn to Josef Stalin in a big banner headline in the Daily Telegraph. Then, as in 2017, came an unforced error that made the Tories look "out of touch." In 2017, it was the May government's proposal that those who needed in-home nursing care toward the end of life would see their estates sold to the government after death, and their families' inheritances reduced to nothing more than £100,000 — the so-called dementia tax. This time, it seems, dementia struck Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Bertie Wooster character who became Leader of the House of Commons in July. In a Monday radio interview on the subject of the awful 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people, Rees-Mogg seemed to suggest that he and his host would have had the "common sense" to ignore the fatal instruction from the fire brigades to stay in the burning building, which may have cost over 50 Britons their lives.Now, as in 2017, such a misstep can't help, but it might not prove a death knell for the Conservatives. The whole Tory theory of the snap election is that the party must begin winning seats in constituencies that traditionally go to Labour but are pro-Brexit. By withdrawing the whip from members who opposed his Brexit plans, Johnson shifted the party in a more populist direction in anticipation of such a strategy. Tories will argue that if voters don't give them a majority, a Corbyn-led coalition government of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and Scottish nationalists will inflict on the country more Brexit negotiations, another referendum on membership in the EU, and another Scottish independence referendum. It's a good argument — Britons clearly dread the effects on their society and politics that these conflicts continue to have. But it's also funny when you think about it: The Tories are arguing that the alternative to voting for them in 2019 is a replay of what Tory governments brought the country from 2014–2019.The United Kingdom and the United States have both experienced a political realignment recently seen in many of the big western democracies: A party that was once heavily identified with organized labor and the working classes — Labour in the U.K., the Democrats in the U.S. — began in the 1990s to drift toward the rich, educated, urban elite. In response, some number of the party's cultural and social conservatives have drifted slowly to the right.Republicans in the U.S. have found it relatively easy to absorb disaffected Democratic exiles and reshape their party as something more populist than it is traditionally thought to be. Tories in the U.K. have had a harder time shaking off their reputation as the party of the establishment. For one thing, Labour is now led by an unreconstructed socialist who resisted the party's Blairite turn to the center in the 1990s. For another, the Tory party is still dominated by people who went to the top schools and joined the top clubs.This could yet prove a huge problem in the upcoming campaign, not least because the Labourite "Leave" districts that Johnson needs to begin winning to take a majority are precisely those that have traditionally had the most intense and tribal hatred of the Tories, whom they saw as active class enemies. Nigel Farage's Brexit party, like his UKIP before, polls well in all of them, and its presence means that there's a clear "anti-EU" alternative to the Tories' toffs and top boys.It's difficult to teach an old dog new tricks, but if Tories want to win new districts, they have to break out of old habits of thinking. Calling Jeremy Corbyn a socialist over and over in 2017 seemed to help Corbyn more than hurt him. Instead of making the same mistake now, Johnson should go after Corbyn as a waffler on Brexit and an ineffective leader who indulges the many anti-Semites in his party. Johnson has tried to emphasize that he leads a different Tory party, one that is reversing the policies of austerity his predecessors felt necessary during the downturn. He needs to go further. Brexit has radically transformed the politics of the United Kingdom. The Tories must show that it's transformed them, too.
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| No coalition troops hurt in rocket attack at Iraq base Posted: 08 Nov 2019 04:57 PM PST  A barrage of Katyusha rockets targeted an Iraqi air base that houses American troops south of the city of Mosul on Friday, officials said. The rocket fire appears to have originated in Mosul and struck the Iraqi army base in Qayyara, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Mosul, where coalition forces are helping the Iraqis battle remnants of the Islamic State group, Iraqi security officials said. Iraqi officials did not immediately say whether there were any casualties, though a coalition spokeswoman later said no coalition troops had been injured.
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| Trump claims 'I don't know' Gordon Sondland. Here's how ridiculous that is. Posted: 08 Nov 2019 08:24 AM PST ![Trump claims 'I don't know' Gordon Sondland. Here's how ridiculous that is.]( "Trump claims 'I don't know' Gordon Sondland. Here's how ridiculous that is.") Gordon Sondland, meet bus.Sondland serves as President Trump's ambassador to the EU, a role he got after donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration. But Trump doesn't really remember that massive donation or even Sondland himself, he claimed to reporters on Friday.Sondland testified for House impeachment investigators last month, with reports suggesting his testimony wasn't very consequential. But a transcript of Sondland's hearing released Tuesday showed Sondland had amended his statement since he had first spoken. His additional four pages of sworn testimony revealed he did have knowledge of a possible quid pro quo between the United States and Ukraine, which he previously denied.Before Sondland testified for House impeachment investigators last month, the president called him a "really good man and great American." But when asked about the additional testimony Friday, Trump dug out his usual amnesiac defense, saying "I hardly know the gentleman."More stories from theweek.com The Crown's Olivia Colman had an awkward run-in with Prince William Kentucky GOP to Gov. Bevin: Show proof of voter fraud or 'let it go' and concede Disney submits Avengers: Endgame for 13 acting Oscars
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| Las Vegas bans homeless people from sleeping rough if shelter beds available Posted: 08 Nov 2019 11:33 AM PST  Las Vegas has passed a law banning sleeping on the street if there are places in homeless shelters available. To combat the growing number of homeless people in the city, the new law will impose punishments of a $1,000 fine and six months in prison. The ordinance - the latest in a series of measures by US cities to grapple with rising vagrancy - comes into force on Sunday, but its criminal provisions will not be applied until February. Sleeping on the streets of the gambling hub will only be illegal in downtown Las Vegas and residential areas - not the famous casino "Strip," which comes under a different jurisdiction. It will not apply when homeless shelters are full. Opponents of the law focused their anger on Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman before and during the vote late Wednesday. Protesters outside Las Vegas City Hall say housing shortages should be tackled before making 'surviving illegal' for the homeless Credit: Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal Demonstrators outside City Hall chanted "Housing, not handcuffs" and held signs proclaiming "Poverty is not a crime," local media reported. Ms Goodman said the law is necessary for a city that is highly dependent on tourism revenues and to protect "the health and safety of the entire community." The law is not intended to punish the homeless but to help with their reintegration into society, she said, according to NPR radio. It has been backed by Las Vegas's Chamber of Commerce. According to the latest census, 5,500 people sleep on the streets of southern Nevada each night. Only 2,000 beds are available through municipal services and charities. --
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| The Vietnamese victims of UK truck tragedy Posted: 08 Nov 2019 09:16 AM PST  AFP spoke last month to several families of Vietnamese nationals feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in southeast England last month. On October 21, two days before the truck was found, he wrote to his family asking them to get $13,000 to pay to smugglers for his trip to the UK, the last they heard from him. With his sights set on the UK, Hung got a falsified passport last year and took off without telling his parents.
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| Many attacks at public schools could be prevented: U.S. Secret Service Posted: 07 Nov 2019 03:48 PM PST  The study, which focused not only on mass shootings but other acts of targeted violence such as knifings, bolstered previous research on the warning signs students often exhibit before committing deadly violence at their school. The Secret Service, which is primarily tasked with protecting the U.S. president and other elected officials, has analyzed school violence since the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. The report did not include the deadliest shooting at a high school in U.S. history, the killing of 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that a lone gunman carried out on Feb. 14, 2018.
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| Look Out America: Russia's Is Claiming To Have Smarter "Smart Bombs" Posted: 08 Nov 2019 04:48 AM PST  Is it true?
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| Hillary Clinton slams Sanders's and Warren's wealth-tax plans as 'incredibly disruptive' and 'unworkable' Posted: 07 Nov 2019 11:38 AM PST  Hillary Clinton called the wealth taxes proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren "unworkable" and said they would be "incredibly disruptive" if enforced.
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| Highlights of the 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas Posted: 08 Nov 2019 04:28 PM PST |
| China hands Japanese politician life in prison in drug case Posted: 08 Nov 2019 01:50 AM PST  A court in southern China sentenced an elderly former Japanese politician to life in prison Friday for smuggling drugs in shoes packed inside a suitcase he was trying to take to his home country. A man from Mali was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and a Guinean received a life sentence for packing and delivering the suitcase, according to the Guangzhou City First Intermediate Court. Takuma Sakuragi, 76, pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal, said his Guangzhou-based lawyer, Chen Weixiong, who argued there was insufficient evidence to prove Sakuragi was knowingly carrying the drugs.
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| US wants UN to take up Dalai Lama succession: envoy Posted: 08 Nov 2019 12:08 PM PST  The United States wants the United Nations to take up the Dalai Lama's succession in an intensifying bid to stop China from trying to handpick his successor, an envoy said after meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader. Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said he spoke at length about the succession issue with the 84-year-old Dalai Lama last week in the monk's home-in-exile of Dharamsala, India. "I would hope that the UN would take the issue up," Brownback told AFP after returning to Washington.
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| 'Prepare to die' Trump adviser Stone texted witness, trial jury hears Posted: 07 Nov 2019 10:37 AM PST !['Prepare to die' Trump adviser Stone texted witness, trial jury hears]( "'Prepare to die' Trump adviser Stone texted witness, trial jury hears") Prosecutors on Thursday unveiled threatening text messages by U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser Roger Stone to radio host Randy Credico in which Stone urged Credico not to testify about their communications over Stone's efforts in 2016 to learn when WikiLeaks might release more damaging emails about Trump's rival Hillary Clinton. "Prepare to die ..." Stone wrote in one profanity-laced text to Credico. In text messages, shown as exhibits during Stone's criminal trial in federal court in Washington, Credico confronted Stone about his September 2017 testimony to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
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| South Korea deports North Koreans who fled after killing 16 Posted: 07 Nov 2019 05:32 PM PST  In an extremely unusual case, South Korea deported two North Korean fishermen on Thursday after determining they had killed 16 other crew members on their boat and then fled to South Korean waters, Seoul officials said. South Korea has a policy of accepting North Koreans who want to resettle in the South to avoid political oppression and poverty at home. This week's deportations were the first South Korea has carried out of any North Korean who came to the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korean affairs.
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| This Secret About America's B-29 Bomber Might Surprise You (Russia Flew It Too) Posted: 08 Nov 2019 06:15 AM PST  Really. The same plane.
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| Fox News's Sean Hannity furiously demands 'ALL OF YOU STOP LYING ABOUT ME' after Ukraine claims emerge Posted: 08 Nov 2019 02:49 AM PST  Fox news host Sean Hannity has demanded people "stop lying" about him after it was revealed he had been mentioned by two separate officials in their testimonies to the impeachment committee as it seeks evidence to remove Donald Trump from office.Hannity was mentioned in the investigation into the president by both the former Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and George Kent, a State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary who oversees the eastern-European country.
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| Latest: Nurse charged in cognitively impaired woman's death Posted: 08 Nov 2019 02:14 PM PST  A criminal complaint says a cognitively impaired Illinois woman whose body was dumped in southeastern Wisconsin in 1999 suffered burns, abrasions, lacerations and broken bones at the hands of a nurse who employed her as a nanny and housekeeper. The victim's identity had been a mystery since her body was found in a Racine County cornfield, but officials on Friday identified her as 23-year-old Peggy Lynn Johnson. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said Friday that Johnson met La Roche when she went to a medical clinic in McHenry, Illinois, seeking help after her mother died.
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| UN experts call Morsi's death in Egypt 'arbitrary killing' Posted: 08 Nov 2019 09:20 AM PST  An independent panel of United Nations experts said Friday the death of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in June could amount to "a state-sanctioned arbitrary killing". "Morsi was held in conditions that can only be described as brutal, particularly during his five-year detention in the Tora prison complex," a statement said. Egypt's first democratically elected civilian president Morsi died in June after collapsing in a Cairo courtroom while on trial.
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| China jails nine for selling fentanyl into US Posted: 07 Nov 2019 07:06 AM PST  China on Thursday jailed nine people for selling fentanyl to Americans, the result of a landmark joint probe, and pledged further co-operation following President Donald Trump's fury at Beijing's perceived inaction against Chinese suppliers fuelling the deadly US opioid crisis. Despite Trump's criticism earlier this year that Beijing had reneged on its promise to crack down on the production of the drug, China said it was "willing to conduct sincere and concrete anti-drug cooperation" with the US to tackle fentanyl trafficking. The court in northern Hebei province described the case as the first successful joint US-Chinese probe related to fentanyl smuggling, and US officials also hailed the verdict.
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| Families come from across U.S. to grieve relatives slain in Mexico Posted: 06 Nov 2019 10:06 PM PST  An American man whose grandchildren were slain in a massacre in Mexico demanded justice on Thursday for other victims of the country's drug war, as relatives gathered from across the United States for a funeral guarded by heavily armed military. Kenneth Miller lost his daughter-in-law and four grandchildren, all dual citizens, in an ambush on Monday in the northern border state of Sonora that killed three mothers and six children. The attack on members of breakaway Mormon communities who settled in Mexico decades ago prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to urge Mexico and the United States to "wage war" together on drug cartels.
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| America Needs More F-35s—And Fast Posted: 07 Nov 2019 03:00 PM PST  Chinese and Russian air defenses won't wait.
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| Bloodhound aims to be world's fastest car in South Africa Posted: 08 Nov 2019 11:51 AM PST  An earthbound jet known as the Bloodhound became one of the world's 10 fastest cars this week, on target for its goal to set a new land speed record. "The feeling in this car is fantastic," driver Andy Green told The Associated Press on Friday, days after the Bloodhound hit 501 mph (806 kph) in South Africa's northern desert. Bloodhound's next goal is to reach 550 mph (885 kph), possibly in the coming week.
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| Dr. Phil on Ukrainian adoption scandal: 'Are you a 33-year-old scam artist?' Posted: 07 Nov 2019 09:02 AM PST  Natalia Grace's former adoptive parents are accusing her of being older than she claimed to be. She gives her side of the story on 'Dr. Phil.'
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| What the Sanders or Warren Wealth Tax Means for Inequality in the U.S. Posted: 07 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST ![What the Sanders or Warren Wealth Tax Means for Inequality in the U.S.]( "What the Sanders or Warren Wealth Tax Means for Inequality in the U.S.") (Bloomberg) -- Subscribe to Stephanomics on Apple PodcastsSubscribe to Stephanomics on Pocket CastsSubscribe to Stephanomics on SpotifyThe 2020 U.S. presidential election may be a year away but one policy idea is already stirring fierce debate: a big-time tax on the richest Americans. Katia Dmitrieva reports on why Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren want to implement a wealth tax, and how it might work. Many economists have also been warming to the idea of taxing wealth. But you can't help noticing that most of the European countries that have tried wealth taxes have later junked them. Host Stephanie Flanders talks with Bloomberg economists Johanna Jeansson and Maeva Cousin about the death of wealth taxes in Sweden and France and the possible lessons for the US. Then Stephanie talks with Frankfurt-based economy editor Jana Randow about two major milestones in the region: Christine Lagarde taking over as president of the European Central Bank and the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Randow -- the co-author of a recent book about outgoing ECB head Mario Draghi -- explains how Lagarde is likely to differ from her predecessor. She then shares her personal memories of November 1989 from the standpoint of a child growing up in East Germany. To contact the authors of this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.netStephanie Flanders in London at flanders@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Magnus Henriksson at mhenriksso10@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Inside the Private Messages of Neo-Nazi Group Atomwaffen Division Posted: 07 Nov 2019 05:22 PM PST  via TwitterBefore it gained recognition as a homicidal neo-Nazi terrorist organization, Atomwaffen Division found its biggest fans among underage American boys and active-duty U.S. military personnel, leaked messages reveal. Atomwaffen is a violent white supremacist group, with at least five murders attributed to its members. The group formed in 2015 on the now-defunct fascist forum Iron March. This week, a trove of years' worth of Iron March logs, including private messages, appeared online in spreadsheet form, posted anonymously by a user dubbed "antifa-data." The logs contain potentially identifying information about forum participants, as well as a look into Atomwaffen's origins.They go back to June 2015, when a Florida teenager asked for help making a meme. "Hey can you make an [ X INTENSIFIES] gif with this image?" Brandon Russell asked another Iron March user in a private message included in the leaks. "I want it to say [ATOMWAFFEN INTENSIFIES] please."The request appears to have been the first private message referencing Atomwaffen on Iron March. At the time, Atomwaffen had few members, most or all of them based out of Florida. But the group was quietly testing out recruitment material—in Russell's case, the memes that would later give rise to Atomwaffen's recognizable propaganda materials.Much of the group's early recruitment efforts focused on Iron March, where it found a community of open fascists and extremists. Founded in 2011 by someone claiming to be a fascist from Eastern Europe, the forum attracted a small but vocal crowd of extremists. Although most Iron March users went by pseudonyms, this week's leak of the site's internal records includes email addresses and IP addresses, which might be used to identify members, The Guardian reported.FBI Crackdown on Atomwaffen Division Heats Up With New ArrestsIron March and Atomwaffen appealed to young men. Russell started posting on Iron March as "Odin" in 2014 when he was 19, the Southern Poverty Law Center previously reported. His best friend, Devon Arthurs, started posting as "TheWeissewolfe" in 2015, when he was 15. The two would soon become Atomwaffen's earliest members.Some of Atomwaffen's early membership drives involved borderline-spam messages to other Iron March members. "We are practically a militia," Russell told another Iron March user in a July 2015 private message. "We are called the 'Atomwaffen Division.'"In truth, the group was small. In a September private message that year, Arthurs told a potential recruit that Atomwaffen consisted of him "and about 15+ other folks [...] mainly based in Florida."But many of the group's recruitment messages landed in the Iron March inboxes of high schoolers eager to join. In a November 2015 private message, a would-be Atomwaffen member told recruiters that he'd join but he was still "picking a college" and didn't know if his school would be in an area with an Atomwaffen chapter.In another message, a potential Atomwaffen recruit from Oregon apologized for a delay in his messages because "I had to do some school work."In a May 2016 private message, a Massachusetts user who said he was 16 asked to join the group after "one of your members in the area contacted me a while ago." In a later private message, another user mentioned that the FBI had visited the teenager's family's home.In July 2016, an Iron March user mentioned in a private message that he'd been invited to join Atomwaffen, but didn't want to join a group before graduating college. Besides, he noted, the group's Florida members were "all a few years younger than me I'll be 23 in October."A different would-be Atomwaffen recruit wrote that he would "gladly join the organization" but that "because of my young age and strict parents I am dependent on basically everything." He added that many of his weeknights were occupied with practice for his school's air rifle team.Another: "I am also 16. Turning 17 in September 5. I have a job and a vehicle for transportation. I am ready for action."A third: "Just to tell you, I'm 16, so I hope I'm not too young to join."But Atomwaffen appealed to more than just high schoolers. By the time the group moved into more real-world paramilitary actions, 29-year-old Michael Hubsky led its Nevada cell and organized "hate camps" in the desert, ProPublica previously reported. A security guard who planned on obtaining a firearms manufacturing license, Hubsky suggested acting as a gun maker for Atomwaffen. (Some early private messages included in the Iron March leak also reference having a gunsmith in their ranks.) Like other Atomwaffen members, Hubsky advocated terror tactics and attacks on public infrastructure, even boasting of having a map of California's electrical grid, ProPublica reported.Other early Iron March messages suggest Atomwaffen appealed to active-duty military. "I'm in Marine NROTC [Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps] at the moment so I could bring that training to the table and moreso in the future, if I earn a commission," one prospective Atomwaffen member wrote in private messages. "I go to OCS [Officer Candidate School] next year."In a private chat between two apparent non-members of Atomwaffen, one Iron March member referenced "a friend in AtomWaffen who's at Ft. Hood with the Army Engineers at the moment. He was in OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom]."The Iron March user went on to note that "the only Fascists I role [roll] with are ex-Military."Satanism Drama Is Tearing Apart the Murderous Neo-Nazi Group AtomwaffenAlready, the Iron March leaks have surfaced a number of people claiming military ties. An ongoing investigation by Bellingcat has revealed a number of potential U.S. service members involved in the forum.Russell's own military ties came up often in Iron March messages. Russell was a member of the Florida Army National Guard, and temporarily passed leadership to Arthurs while attending National Guard training.But even before Iron March went offline in 2017, Russell and Arthurs would become involved in two of Atomwaffen's first murders. Over a year of private Iron March messages, fascists expressed concern that Arthurs had converted to Islam. While he reportedly remained an ardent fascist (and began expressing admiration for ISIS), Arthurs' religious conversion drove a wedge between him and other neo-Nazis. In May 2017, Arthurs allegedly shot and killed two of his roommates: an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old, at least one of whom was also an Iron March user. Arthurs later told investigators the roommates had mocked his religion.Russell, who also lived with Arthurs, was arrested after investigators searched the home and found explosives he'd built. When police first arrived at the apartment, Russell was reportedly wearing his National Guard uniform and crying. He was 21.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China Issues Death Penalty for Shipping Opioid to U.S. Posted: 08 Nov 2019 05:28 AM PST  XINGTAI, China -- A court in China convicted and sentenced to death Thursday a man accused of trafficking fentanyl to the United States after a joint investigation with U.S. law enforcement agencies.The case, involving nine defendants, was a rare example of cooperation against a surge in fentanyl-related deaths that American officials, including President Donald Trump, have blamed directly on China's lax enforcement and even complicity in fueling a drug epidemic on U.S. streets.The man sentenced to death, Liu Yong, led an illicit network of labs that produced and shipped packages of fentanyl to American users who placed orders online through a dealer simply known as "Diana," according to the Chinese and American officials.A judge in Xingtai, a city in Hebei province about 220 miles south of Beijing, sentenced Liu to death after detailing a broad conspiracy to manufacture and smuggle fentanyl that evaded China's strict controls on pharmaceutical production.Liu's death sentence was suspended for two years, leaving open the possibility that it could be commuted to life in prison. Eight other co-defendants were also sentenced, including distributors and online sellers. They received sentences ranging from six months in prison to life.The case started with an arrest by the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Orleans in August 2017, leading to an international investigation into a sprawling underground production network that prosecutors said Liu orchestrated.The network included one lab and two distribution centers in Shanghai and the neighboring province, Jiangsu. They were shut down, and 12 kilograms, or about 26 pounds, of fentanyl was seized as part of the investigation, according to the officials and the court's ruling."The successful outcome of this case, especially the heavy sentences to the main criminals and others, fully demonstrates the position and determination of the Chinese government to severely punish fentanyl-related crimes," Yu Haibin, deputy director of China's National Narcotics Control Commission, said at a news conference in Xingtai after the court's sentencing hearing.He was joined by diplomats from the U.S. Embassy, underscoring China's eagerness to show it was cooperating with U.S. law enforcement to combat the fentanyl scourge. Many officials in the United States have accused China of abetting the trade.Austin Moore, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official working in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, attended the sentencing along with other American diplomats and afterward welcomed the Chinese cooperation in the case, which he said had also resulted in arrests and indictments in New York and Oregon."I have one more thing to say to those who make it their business to spread illegal narcotics," he said at the news conference. "We make it our business to find you, arrest you and hold you accountable for your crimes."Moore said the United States looked forward to greater collaboration as the Chinese government enforces a decision to classify all variants of fentanyl as controlled substances subject to strict enforcement.That legal change, which China's leader, Xi Jinping, promised to Trump last year, closed a loophole in the country's laws that allowed manufacturers here to make precursors or slight variations of fentanyl that were not explicitly banned in China.As anger rose in the United States over Chinese complicity in the epidemic, the Chinese have complained that they have been unfairly blamed for a problem that stems from pervasive drug abuse.Yu, sitting beside Moore in a hotel ballroom, reiterated that view Thursday. He noted that overdose deaths in the United States had continued to rise even as China intensified its cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies and tightened its own export controls.He cited U.S. statistics showing that customs officials had seized 536 kilograms of fentanyl since October 2018 but that only 5.87 kilograms of that came from China."This data does not support that China is the main source of fentanyl substances in the United States," he said.The sentencing Thursday comes as aides to Xi and Trump try to finalize an interim deal in the trade war. The cooperation on display could help smooth the way.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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