| After Sondland bombshell, Democrats look to expand Trump probe to Pompeo, others Posted: 21 Nov 2019 01:12 PM PST  House Democrats, emboldened after Ambassador Gordon Sondland provided stunning testimony Wednesday, are debating whether to expand the investigation to other Trump administration officials.
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| Exclusive: Acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf makes unannounced visit to privately funded border wall Posted: 21 Nov 2019 02:38 PM PST  Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf made an unpublicized visit Wednesday to the site of a privately constructed border wall during his first official trip to the southern border, Yahoo News has confirmed.
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| A man in India dressed up as a pilot and used his disguise to skip lines and get free upgrades, police say Posted: 22 Nov 2019 04:40 PM PST  The police detained Rajan Mahbubani as he tried to board an AirAsia plane flying from Delhi to Kolkata. They say he impersonated a Lufthansa pilot.
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| Daughter's 911 call for pizza was actually a domestic violence report. The dispatcher knew Posted: 22 Nov 2019 12:51 PM PST  An Ohio dispatcher detected that a woman calling 911 ordering a pizza was in need of police help.
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| Federal Judge Rules Covington Student’s $275M Libel Lawsuit against NBC May Proceed Posted: 22 Nov 2019 02:36 PM PST  Federal judge William Bertelsman on Thursday allowed Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann's $275 million libel lawsuit against NBCUniversal to move forward, rejecting the media company's attempt to have the suit dismissed in full even as he threw out parts of it.Sandmann, 16, sued NBC and other major news outlets in the aftermath of their coverage of a controversial interaction he and several of his classmates had with Native American activist Nathan Phillips near the Lincoln Memorial on January 18. Viral video of the incident showed Sandmann and Phillips standing face to face as Phillips loudly beat on a drum and Sandmann smirked from time to time. NBC asserted that Sandmann "blocked" Phillips and "did not allow him to retreat" during their interaction. Longer versions of the video showed that Phillips approached Sandmann, who stood mostly still during the incident.Sandmann and his classmates wore "Make America Great Again" caps and were attending the annual anti-abortion March for Life, while Phillips was participating in the Indigenous Peoples March.Phillips has claimed Sandmann "just blocked my way and wouldn't allow me to retreat."Sandmann's lawsuit against NBC will now continue to discovery, according to his, attorney, L. Lin Wood, who called it a "huge win" for his client."As predicted, today Judge Bertelsman entered an order allowing the Nicholas Sandmann case against NBCUniversal to proceed to discovery just as he had earlier ruled with respect to WaPo & CNN cases. Huge, huge win!" Wood wrote on Twitter.
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| Ninth family member dies after Israeli strike: ministry Posted: 22 Nov 2019 06:24 AM PST  A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli strike that killed eight members of his family has died, the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip said on Friday. Mohammed Abu Malhous al-Sawarka, 40, succumbed after being wounded in "the massacre in which eight members of a family died when they were targeted in their homes," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement. It said he was the brother of Rasmi Abu Malhous who was killed when his home was hit by an air strike on November 14.
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| Attorney general unveils plan on missing Native Americans Posted: 21 Nov 2019 09:54 PM PST  Attorney General William Barr announced a nationwide plan Friday to address the crisis of missing and slain Native American women as concerns mount over the level of violence they face. Barr announced the plan, known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Initiative, during a visit with tribal leaders and law enforcement officials on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Native American women experience some of the nation's highest rates of murder, sexual violence and domestic abuse.
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| Rep. Devin Nunes got help from indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas for 2018 Europe trip Posted: 20 Nov 2019 10:51 PM PST ![Rep. Devin Nunes got help from indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas for 2018 Europe trip]( "Rep. Devin Nunes got help from indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas for 2018 Europe trip") Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) traveled to Europe with three aides from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2018, on a $63,000 taxpayer-funded investigative trip, and Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani arrested last month on federal campaign finance and conspiracy charges, helped arrange meetings and calls for his trip, The Daily Beast reports, citing Parnas lawyer Ed MacMahaon and congressional records. Nunes aide Derek Harvey was involved in the Parnas meeting, and he accompanied Nunes to Europe along with fellow aides Scott Glabe and George Pappas.At the time of the trip, Nunes was outgoing chairman of the House Intelligence Committee -- he is now the committee's top Republican and lead voice in the public impeachment hearings. Nunes was visiting Europe as part of his investigation into the origins of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia and President Trump's campaign. During the period Nunes was in Europe, Giuliani was in the middle of his ultimately successful campaign to oust U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Maria Yovanovitch, a plot Parnas and partner Igor Fruman were also involved in, according to the federal indictment.Parnas "believed that what he was doing was furtherance of the president's and thus our national interests," said Joseph Bondy, a member of Parnas' legal team. "President Trump's recent and regrettable disavowal of Mr. Parnas has caused him to rethink his involvement and the true reasons for his having been recruited to participate in the President's activities. Mr. Parnas is prepared to testify completely and accurately about his involvement in the President and Rudy Giuliani's quid pro quo demands of Ukraine." Read more at The Daily Beast.More stories from theweek.com Ivanka Trump tries to defend father with awkwardly fake Tocqueville impeachment quote Watch Kamala Harris learn from Stephen Colbert that Lindsey Graham is investigating Joe Biden and Ukraine Republicans are throwing Rudy Giuliani under the bus
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| Booker and Harris warn Dems: Electability doesn't just mean appealing to white voters Posted: 21 Nov 2019 01:18 PM PST  Electability is the biggest buzzword of the 2020 cycle. It's what Democrats say they prize above all else: a nominee who can defeat Donald Trump. But it's also a code word. It tends to mask a racialized assumption about which Americans a candidate needs to win over in order to qualify as "electable": that is, white voters who don't live in big coastal cities.
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| Alabama cop who chased, beat and shot black man after stop-and-frisk guilty of manslaughter Posted: 22 Nov 2019 01:01 PM PST  Prosecutors argued Aaron C. Smith escalated a consensual stop to deadly force, killing Greg Gunn feet away from the home he lived in with his mother.
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| Ex-CIA officer gets 19 years in China spy conspiracy Posted: 21 Nov 2019 07:13 PM PST  A former CIA case agent was sentenced to 19 years in prison Friday for an espionage conspiracy in which prosecutors say he received more than $840,000 from China to divulge the names of human sources and his knowledge of spycraft. The sentence imposed on Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 55, was significantly longer than the 10-years sought by defense attorneys. Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage, but prosecutors and defense lawyers disagreed about whether there was proof Lee carried out any actual espionage.
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| Putin honours 'hero' pilots for Russian corn field landing Posted: 21 Nov 2019 08:27 AM PST  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday bestowed the country's top state honour on two pilots who safely landed a plane carrying more than 230 people in a corn field after a bird strike. At a ceremony in the Kremlin, Putin handed pilot Damir Yusupov and co-pilot Georgy Murzin the Hero of Russia awards, praising the crew's courage and professionalism. "They were able to land the plane literally in an empty field and saved dozens of lives," Putin said.
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| Iran says 'world war' against it foiled; blames U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel Posted: 22 Nov 2019 12:24 PM PST  Iran's Basij militia said unrest sparked by fuel price hikes amounted to a "world war" against Tehran that was thwarted, and blamed the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
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| Pelosi, White House Fail to Seal USMCA Deal in Crucial Meeting Posted: 21 Nov 2019 11:37 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made progress on but failed to seal a deal Thursday on the stalled U.S. Mexico Canada free trade agreement, increasing the likelihood the deal won't get a vote in Congress this year.Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, the top negotiator on the pact, said he will continue talks with Lighthizer through next week when the House is in recess to maintain momentum on the final changes Democrats are seeking. He said it is still possible to vote on the deal this year."The conversation was spirited and it was candid," Neal told reporters after the meeting. "The toughest issues in bargaining are always the last ones." Neal said of five remaining disagreements, progress was made on three.Pelosi before the meeting cautioned that even once a deal is reached, it will still take time to write the necessary legislation and go through the steps required for a vote. She was noncommittal when asked about holding a House vote before the end of the year."We've made progress," Pelosi said as she left the meeting with Lighthizer. "I think we are narrowing our differences."Passing the trade deal is President Donald Trump's top legislative priority and would deliver to him a much-needed political win as he faces an impeachment inquiry in the House and heads into a re-election campaign next year. At the same time, it would allow Democrats to show they are capable of legislating even as they are investigating the Trump administration.Political PressureDemocrats from rural swing districts are especially eager to have the deal done. Farmers have faced steep economic losses this year due to Trump's trade war with China, although the president claims that those headwinds are in fact due to the stalled USMCA.All House members will be up for re-election in 2020, and Democrats who won Republican-leaning districts are under pressure to deliver legislation with enough bipartisan support to become law. Pelosi is keenly aware that preserving her majority depends on these members.Pelosi before the meeting said she is "eager to get this done," although she said she won't agree to a superficial deal without stronger enforcement. She said approving a deal with no mechanism to back it up, would just be "NAFTA with sugar on top."Pelosi said that even if the administration agrees to changes sought by Democrats, the House may not have enough time to write and vote on the legislation before the end of December. Neal said a vote is still possible this year.Any verbal agreement would still need to be drafted into legislation, evaluated for its budget impact and considered in committee, she said. Changes in the text of the agreement would also need to approved by Mexico and Canada.Republicans and the business community have increased pressure on Pelosi as they grow more concerned that pushing the vote into an election year will make it less likely to happen."She's always close to allowing a vote. Her conference is always almost there," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of Pelosi on the Senate floor Wednesday. "But we've been almost there for months and months with no outcome in sight. Lots of talk; zero results."To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Convicted agent Butina accepts Russia job offer: TASS Posted: 22 Nov 2019 08:24 AM PST  A Russian agent briefly jailed in the United States and then deported back to Moscow has accepted a state job to defend Russians imprisoned abroad, TASS news agency reported on Friday. Maria Butina, 31, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court last December to one count of conspiring to act as a foreign agent for Russia by infiltrating a gun rights group and influencing conservative activists and Republicans. Moscow slammed her conviction as ridiculous and accused Washington of forcing Butina to confess.
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| Arrest made at Syracuse, chancellor bows to student demands as racist hate incidents continue Posted: 21 Nov 2019 10:54 AM PST  Syracuse Chancellor Ken Syverud agreed to the demands of students protesting a two-week run of almost daily racist or anti-Semitic incidents.
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| Mexico arrests judge linked by US to notorious cartel Posted: 22 Nov 2019 03:28 PM PST ![Mexico arrests judge linked by US to notorious cartel]( "Mexico arrests judge linked by US to notorious cartel") A Mexico judge whom the U.S. Treasury Department accuses of ties to Jalisco New Generation, one of the country's bloodiest drug cartels, was arrested in the city of Guadalajara on Friday, judicial authorities said. Earlier that month the U.S. Treasury Department designated and sanctioned Avelar Gutiérrez under the Kingpin Act "because of his actions on behalf" of Jalisco New Generation and an allied group known as Los Cuinis.
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| Would President Trump Ever Bring Back the Battleships? Posted: 21 Nov 2019 08:30 PM PST  The U.S. Navy will never again be a dreadnought fleet of big-gun battleships. But it is time to reexamine the role of armor in naval architecture. Even the most forward-leaning offensive operation needs a few tough linesmen who can take a beating and stay in the game. A future battleship would give the Navy— and by extension the president—warfighting options other than the total annihilation of the enemy.
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| US judge orders Iran pay $180 mn to reporter over detention Posted: 22 Nov 2019 02:24 PM PST  A US court on Friday ordered the government of Iran to pay nearly $180 million in damages to an Iranian-American journalist who was jailed by Tehran on espionage charges in 2014. A US District Court judge ordered the damages be paid to Jason Rezaian and his family in compensation for pain and suffering as well as economic loss for the 18-month detention, when he was physically abused, deprived of sleep and medical care and threatened with execution. Iran did not answer the lawsuit, according to Rezaian's employer The Washington Post, and the Islamic republic is not expected to pay the damages.
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| A transgender woman says she was forced to remove her makeup with hand sanitizer for a DMV photo Posted: 22 Nov 2019 10:36 AM PST  Jaydee Dolinar told Glamour that a DMV worker handed her hand sanitizer and said she wouldn't be granted a new photo ID unless she removed her makeup.
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| Pennsylvania Governor Vetoes Bill Banning Down-Syndrome Abortion Posted: 22 Nov 2019 10:02 AM PST  Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have prohibited women from choosing abortion because of a Down-syndrome diagnosis."This legislation is a restriction on women and medical professionals and interferes with women's health care and the crucial decision-making between patients and their physicians," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "Physicians and their patients must be able to make choices about medical procedures based on best practices and standards of care."Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason except the gender of the fetus. The bill, which passed the Republican-controlled legislature a day earlier, aimed to protect against abortions over a prenatal Down-syndrome diagnosis as well, although it included exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies.Wold argued that the bill was unconstitutional and "not consistent with the fundamental rights" protected by the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the right to privacy."Further, I am not aware of a single disability-rights group that supports this bill," Wolf continued. "I support continuing the bipartisan work that's been done to help people with disabilities. I also believe there is much more Pennsylvania could do to help women and families facing complex pregnancies. However, this bill does not aid in either of these efforts."Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates also objected to the bill, saying it is unconstitutional and nearly impossible to enforce.According to the National Down Syndrome Society, one in 700 babies in the U.S., about 6,000 a year, is born with Down syndrome, a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome and marked by developmental and physical growth delays.Wolf's decision jives with a federal-appeals court's October ruling that Ohio may not enforce a law barring doctors from performing abortions on mothers who want the procedure because of a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome.The governor is a vocal abortion rights supporter and also rejected a measure in 2017 that would have banned elective abortions after 20 weeks, a week earlier than the youngest premature baby has survived. In August, Wolf's administration also announced plans to close two state centers for the intellectually and developmentally disabled, including some with Down syndrome. A previous closure of a similar facility in Pennsylvania resulted in the deaths of eleven of the 85 former residents.
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| Another Party Pops Up in Italy to Fight Salvini, a Shared Enemy Posted: 21 Nov 2019 05:13 AM PST ![Another Party Pops Up in Italy to Fight Salvini, a Shared Enemy]( "Another Party Pops Up in Italy to Fight Salvini, a Shared Enemy") (Bloomberg) -- Italy's political landscape just got a little more crowded.The newcomer is a tiny centrist party selling itself as an alternative to populists of all stripes. The group called Action is led by Carlo Calenda, a 46-year-old former minister who once served as envoy to the European Union.Calenda wants to appeal to voters who are "sick of having to choose the lesser of two evils:" the right-wing nationalism of Matteo Salvini's League and the anti-establishment stance of Luigi Di Maio's Five Star Movement.The biggest problem for Italy's ruling class is how to counter Salvini's unstoppable surge in opinion polls.The firebrand has been out of government since his attempted coup over the summer failed to trigger the elections he hoped would allow him to lead without Five Star. He's now dangerous, campaigning up and down the country to big crowds. In the meantime, his former partners are flailing and paired up instead with the center-left Democratic Party (PD).The League polls at 34.2%, compared with the PD at 19% and Five Star 16.3%.As the government limps on, Salvini scored a win in traditionally left-leaning Umbria and plans to repeat that success in Emilia-Romagna, another left-wing stronghold. That prospect alarmed four friends-turned-activists enough to create a grassroots movement called Sardines that aims to pack city squares with anti-Salvini supporters.Meanwhile, there's the risk of the proliferation of small parties that carry little weight.Calenda's group was credited with only 1% of the vote before its launch, according to an EMG opinion poll for Rai3 television on Nov. 7. A former manager at Ferrari NV, he served as minister in the governments led by Matteo Renzi and his successor Paolo Gentiloni, both of the PD. He quit the party in August after it joined forces with Five Star.Renzi himself left the PD back in September to launch his own party called Italy Alive.\--With assistance from Jerrold Colten.To contact the reporter on this story: John Follain in Rome at jfollain2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson, Caroline AlexanderFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Israel's Netanyahu faces calls to quit but is defiant in crisis Posted: 22 Nov 2019 06:26 AM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced calls to resign over a corruption scandal on Friday, as senior government colleagues publicly declared support after some signs of cracks in party loyalty. Netanyahu said he would not step down after he was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust by Israel's attorney-general on Thursday night. The 70-year-old conservative Likud party leader denies all wrongdoing and denounced the indictment - the first against a sitting Israeli prime minister - as an "attempted coup".
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| Military: 2 airmen killed in crash at Oklahoma base during training Posted: 21 Nov 2019 04:59 PM PST  Two airmen were killed Thursday in an accident involving two jets during the landing phase of a training exercise at a U.S. Air Force base in northwestern Oklahoma, a military official said.
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| What’s next in impeachment: A busy December, and on to 2020 Posted: 22 Nov 2019 01:08 PM PST  After two weeks of public hearings, Democrats could soon turn the impeachment process over to the House Judiciary Committee. At some point in the coming weeks, the House intelligence panel will submit a report to the Judiciary panel, and then Democrats will consider drafting articles of impeachment on President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine and the administration's attempts to block the investigation. There could be several steps along the way, including a Judiciary committee vote, a House floor vote and, finally, a Senate trial.
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| Vatican accused of harbouring bishop wanted for alleged sexual abuse of young priests Posted: 22 Nov 2019 07:57 AM PST  The Vatican has been accused of harbouring a bishop wanted for alleged sex abuse offences, as Pope Francis railed against the evils of sexual exploitation on a visit to Thailand. Prosecutors in Argentina have issued an international arrest warrant for Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who is accused of sexually abusing young trainee priests, known as seminarians. He denies the charges. Bishop Zanchetta, 55, who is close to his fellow Argentine Pope Francis, lives in the Vatican. Not only that, he reportedly resides in Casa Santa Marta, an accommodation block in the shadow of St Peter's Basilica where Francis has lived ever since his election six years ago. Bishop Zanchetta is believed to be living in the Vatican Credit: AFP Argentinian prosecutors have complained that the bishop has failed to respond to repeated emails and telephone calls about the abuse allegations, which were made last year by two young seminarians. The trainee priests also accused him of mismanagement of the diocese's finances and abuse of power. If convicted, the bishop would face up to 10 years in prison, but there is no extradition treaty between Argentina and the Vatican and for now he seems to be safely ensconced in Rome. The stand-off emerged as Pope Francis made an impassioned speech in Bangkok on behalf of victims of sex trafficking, prompting accusations of a double standard in the Catholic Church's stance on sex crimes. "Despite being suspended from ministry, the Vatican has argued that Zanchetta's 'daily work' requires him to be in Rome instead of facing trial in Argentina. This decision is at best questionable and at worst a Vatican-sponsored opportunity for Zanchetta to flee from justice," said Zach Hiner, the executive director of victims' pressure group SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "If Pope Francis was serious about his "all-out battle" against cases of clergy abuse, he would order Zanchetta to return to Argentina and face the allegations against him." Anne Barrett Doyle, of BishopAccountability.org, which documents the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, said: "It's vital that Pope Francis ensures Zanchetta's full cooperation with Argentine civil authorities. To do otherwise would put the Pope in violation of his own decree forbidding conduct by bishops that interferes with civil investigations. "Francis must begin to set an example - especially because his protectiveness toward Zanchetta to date already raises disturbing questions about his commitment to ending complicity by Church officials. "Francis should not have given Zanchetta safe harbour in the first place, given the bishop's reported wrongdoing in Argentina." During an open air Mass in Bangkok on Thursday, he urged greater efforts in combating what he called the "humiliation" of women and children forced into prostitution. Earlier, in a speech delivered at the office of the Thai prime minister, the Pope called for greater international commitment to protect women and children "who are violated and exposed to every form of exploitation, enslavement, violence and abuse." Pope Francis exits a youth Mass at Assumption Cathedral on November 22, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand Credit: Getty In 2017, Zanchetta resigned as bishop of the city of Oran, in the north of Argentina, citing "health reasons". The Pope called him to Rome and gave him a job in Apsa, the Vatican agency that manages the Church's huge property portfolio. In January, he was suspended from that role with the Vatican acknowledging he was under investigation. Argentinian prosecutors complain that they cannot get in touch with Zanchetta and that he refuses to respond to their communications. The Vatican did not respond to questions about Zanchetta's whereabouts or whether he intended to reply to prosecutors in Argentina. In a Mexican television interview earlier this year, the Pope said he had asked Zanchetta about the accusations, which involved nude selfies on the bishop's mobile phone. Francis said he gave his friend the benefit of the doubt after he claimed his phone had been hacked. A representative for the bishop in Rome insisted that Zanchetta had always cooperated with investigators. "He is the first one to be interested in clarifying the truth, so that his reputation can be restored. For this reason he will continue to actively cooperate with the justice system," Javier Iniesta told Reuters. Pope Francis has been accused of failing to act against the scourge of clerical sex abuse by campaign groups representing victims. Scandals have erupted in Argentina and neighbouring Chile, as well as other countries such as Ireland, Australia and Germany.
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| Why All of America's Enemies Should Still Fear the B-1 Bomber Posted: 21 Nov 2019 10:00 PM PST  A new age, a new role.
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| AR-15 rifle, target list, school map seized in Los Angeles student threat, cops say Posted: 22 Nov 2019 11:25 AM PST  A Los Angeles County school shooting threat was foiled after deputies seized a student's AR-15 rifle, target list and more, Southern California authorities said on Friday.
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| IRS Says Millionaires Can Keep Estate Tax Benefits After 2025 Posted: 22 Nov 2019 02:49 PM PST ![IRS Says Millionaires Can Keep Estate Tax Benefits After 2025]( "IRS Says Millionaires Can Keep Estate Tax Benefits After 2025") (Bloomberg) -- Taxpayers can benefit from higher thresholds for U.S. estate and gift taxes even if they don't die until after the tax overhaul expires in 2026, the Internal Revenue Service said.The 2017 Republican tax law approximately doubled the estate and gift tax exemption. That means individuals this year can pass on, tax-free, $11.4 million from their estate and gifts they gave before their death. Couples can pass on $22.8 million. The higher levels expire in 2026, but individuals who make large gifts while the exemption is higher and die after it goes back down won't see the estate tax benefit eroded, the IRS said in regulations announced Friday."As a result, individuals planning to make large gifts between 2018 and 2025 can do so without concern that they will lose the tax benefit of the higher exclusion level once it decreases after 2025," the agency said in a press release.The exemption increase was a priority for Republicans in the 2017 tax overhaul. It cut the number of individuals who would be subject to the 40% estate tax by about two-thirds. The exemption was $5.5 million before the law change.Democrats, however, are eyeing a reversal of those changes if they sweep the House, Senate and White House in 2020. Almost every Democratic presidential candidate has called for the estate tax to apply to a larger number of wealthy families.Senator Bernie Sanders has called for the estate tax to kick in on fortunes worth at least $3.5 million, and has proposed rates as high as 77%.To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Davison in Washington at ldavison4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump Admin Warns Sanctuary States against Barring ICE Courthouse Arrests in Letter Posted: 22 Nov 2019 08:32 AM PST  State supreme courts in Washington and Oregon received a letter from Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Friday warning them to reconsider "dangerous and unlawful" directives that prohibit immigration officials from detaining illegal immigrants in and around state courthouses.Last week, Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters banned ICE from courthouse arrests "to maintain the integrity of our courts and provide access to justice," unless the agency has a criminal judicial warrant. Washington is considering adopting a similar measure.In response to Walters's ruling, ICE said it "will continue to carry out its mission to uphold public safety and enforce immigration law.""It is ironic that elected officials want to see policies in place to keep ICE out of courthouses, while caring little for laws enacted by Congress to keep criminal aliens out of our country," an ICE statement read.Barr and Wolf's letter, obtained exclusively by Fox News, disparages a claim that Walters makes in requiring a judicial warrant for ICE to make its arrests — an often-peddled sanctuary city policy that obfuscates the reality of immigration law."Put simply, an administrative arrest warrant is all that Congress requires for authorities to make an arrest of an alien inside the United States for violations of federal immigration laws subject to the exceptions specifically delineated by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act for immigration officers to make warrantless arrests. Administrative arrest warrants —while civil in nature —are issued based on probable cause, carry the full authority of the United States, and should be honored by any state or local jurisdiction," the letter explains."We will further note that ICE and CBP officers are not subject to state rules that purport to restrict ICE and CBP from making administrative arrests on property that is otherwise open to the public and other law enforcement officers," the letter continues. "Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, such rules cannot and will not govern the conduct of federal officers acting pursuant to duly-enacted laws passed by Congress when those laws provide the authority to make administrative arrests of removable aliens inside the United States."In concluding, Barr and Wolf urge the courts that "we should all agree that public safety should be of paramount concern.""Court rules that would purport to further restrict the lawful operations of federal law enforcement officials only serve to exacerbate sanctuary laws and policies that continue to place our communities at unacceptable risk," the letter ends.
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| Protests after snake kills Indian schoolgirl in class Posted: 22 Nov 2019 05:55 AM PST  Angry students at an Indian school protested Friday after a 10-year-old pupil died after being bitten by a venomous snake lurking in a hole under her desk. Shehala Sherin was only taken to hospital from the school an hour after being bitten and once her leg turned blue, media reports said. Around 50,000 people are killed by snakes every year in India, mostly in rural areas, with high mortality rates blamed on a deficiency of health care centres and insufficient stocks of anti-venom.
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| Fox pushed to correct guest who seemed to call Vindman a spy Posted: 21 Nov 2019 11:58 AM PST  Fox News has given no indication that it plans to address on the air a segment that ran on Laura Ingraham's show where a guest appeared to question whether Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was a spy. Vindman, who's assigned to the National Security Council in the White House, testified Tuesday in the House impeachment inquiry. 29. John Yoo, a law professor and former federal prosecutor, appeared on Ingraham's prime-time show to address Vindman's role in working at the White House on a U.S. aid package to Ukraine.
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| Former Boston College student charged over boyfriend's suicide pleads not guilty Posted: 22 Nov 2019 07:23 AM PST  A former Boston College student pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from what prosecutors said was her role in encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide. A lawyer for Inyoung You, 21, entered the plea on her behalf during a hearing in Suffolk County Superior Court after she returned from South Korea to face charges brought last month over the May 20 suicide of her college boyfriend, who leaped to his death from a parking garage hours before his graduation. "These text messages demonstrate the power dynamic of the relationship," Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Grasso said in court.
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| Christian group wrote legislation eerily similar to Ohio religious liberty bill Posted: 22 Nov 2019 03:30 AM PST  Critics suspect hand of Project Blitz in draft passed by Ohio house which they fear could let students' religious beliefs trump scienceThe draft law says a teacher 'shall not penalize or reward a student based on the religious content of a student's work' – language strikingly similar to Project Blitz's model legislation. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPAAn Ohio state bill which could allow students' religious beliefs to trump science-based facts is almost identical to model legislation backed by an evangelical, anti-gay Christian group.The Student Religious Liberties Act, which passed the Ohio house last week, instructs schools to neither "penalize or reward" students on the basis of their religious speech. It also stipulates schools must provide opportunities for religious expression "in the same manner and to the same extent" as secular speech. Critics argue the bill would provide protect students from bad grades based on religion.The bill's backers deny it is connected to the group, called Project Blitz but the bill has nearly identical language to the model legislation backed by Project Blitz in their 2018-19 "playbook".While student religious liberties bills existed before Project Blitz, its inclusion in a playbook by groups whose goal is to inject religion into law shows the priority they place on the matter. When contacted by the Guardian, Steven W Fitschen, president of the National Legal Foundation, said "We are, of course, delighted that legislators in Ohio drafted a bill so similar to our model bill since we believe its provisions are constitutional and beneficial to students of faith in Ohio, without impinging on anyone else's rights."By contrast, many mainstream civil rights groups have lined up against the bill.Project Blitz model legislation says: "A student may not be penalized or rewarded based on the religious content of his or her work." The Ohio Student Religious Liberties Act says teachers "shall not penalize or reward a student based on the religious content of a student's work.""This bill is under the guise of religious freedom for students, but it's really designed to encourage students to pray and proselytize in public schools," said Maggie Garrett, the vice-president of policy for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "It adds more confusion than clarity, and of course current law already protects the rights of students," she said.The law's predicted effects have divided critics and supporters. Opponents have said the bill will cause controversy-averse teachers and school administrators to hedge against correcting students who might cite religious beliefs in classwork.Backers argue school officials are intimidated by "well funded groups" who are "biased against Ohio students' religious freedom". The most likely impact, groups such as the Anti-Defamation League said, is potential lawsuits against school districts.Student religious liberty bills have spread across the US south and midwest for more than a decade with roots in a 1995 set of guidelines from the Clinton administration, according to a University of California, Davis law review article.In 2007, Texas reincarnated the guidelines in a form which "intentionally lacks" some of the caveats the Clinton administration included, such as a prohibition on having a "captive audience" in school, the article said."This bill has been around since before the Project Blitz campaign, but the bill is part of the Project Blitz playbook," said Garrett, the vice-president for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "We will be seeing more of these bills in the future, because we're certainly seeing an increase in other Project Blitz bills."In another example of their similarities, Project Blitz's model legislation reads, "A student may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, and other religious gatherings before, during, and after the school day in the same manner and to the same extent that a student is permitted to organize secular activities and groups."Ohio's bill said students could attend "religious gatherings, including but not limited to prayer groups, religious clubs, 'see you at the pole' gatherings, or other religious gatherings" and "may engage in religious expression before, during, and after school hours in the same manner and to the same extent that a student is permitted to engage in secular activities or expression before, during, and after school hours."Even though backers deny the bill has been designed to promote Christian values, others disagree. "It is negligent and reckless of our colleagues to push an agenda this way and act as if it is not based on this one religious tenet," said Emilia Strong Sykes, the Democratic Ohio house minority leader and a Christian. "It is anti-American," she said.Long-term Republican control of Ohio state politics through gerrymandering – a process of drawing district lines to benefit one party – has turned Ohio into a proving ground for conservative legislation. Including 2019, Republicans have held all three levers of Ohio state government for 21 of the last 27 years, according to Ballotpedia.Ohio was the first of several states to pass a six-week ban on abortion last summer. The same legislators introduced a bill to ban abortion outright last week, including new criminal penalties for "abortion murder". Courts stopped Ohio's six-week ban from going into effect. Abortion is legal in all 50 US states."My personal feeling, quite frankly, is this is disgraceful," said Paul Beck, an Ohio State University political science professor and an expert on gerrymandering, about the Student Religious Liberties Act. "One of the products of gerrymandering and Republican domination we have in the Ohio general assembly is these are not necessarily reasonable people making our laws," he said."Here you have legislation that is not only not needed, but will – at minimum – cause confusion," said Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. The ACLU often sues on behalf of those who suffer religious discrimination, and opposes the bill.Project Blitz is organized by the Congressional Prayer Caucus, the National Legal Foundation and the WallBuilders ProFamily Legislators Conference. Other Blitz proposals include proclamations to establish, "Christian heritage week" and a "public policy resolution favoring sexual intercourse only between a married man and woman".The privately run Congressional Prayer Caucus works to "preserve America's Judeo-Christian heritage and promote prayer", according to its website. WallBuilders is led by a widely criticized revisionist historian who claims the US was founded on Christian ideals. The not-for-profit National Legal Foundation aims to "create and implement" public policy "to support and facilitate God's purpose for [America] … in such a way as to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ".When contacted by the Guardian, Steven W Fitschen, president of the National Legal Foundation, said "We are, of course, delighted that legislators in Ohio drafted a bill so similar to our model bill since we believe its provisions are constitutional and beneficial to students of faith in Ohio, without impinging on anyone else's rights."Representative Timothy Ginter, the bill's sponsor and a pastor, said he had "no knowledge" of Project Blitz. He declined further requests for an interview.The Guardian contacted 11 co-sponsors of the legislation. None responded. The Guardian also contacted the legislator who originally introduced the legislation in 2016, former representative Bill Hayes. He did not respond to a request for comment.In a statement, Ginter argued the bill is necessary, "Because of increased pressure on our schools from groups who are biased against Ohio students' religious freedoms, many school officials are confused, and frankly intimidated by the threat of litigation from these well-funded groups." He also denied the bill is meant to promote Christianity. "Nowhere in the language of the bill is a specific religion mentioned," Ginter said.The Republican-backed Ohio house passed the bill last week with a party-line vote. Only two Democrats voted in favor. The bill must be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and the Republican governor, Mike DeWine, to become law. He did not respond to a Guardian request for comment.
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| You Get What You Pay for with China's CH-4 Drones Posted: 21 Nov 2019 01:48 AM PST  Cheap price, cheap quality.
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| Trump says Hong Kong would be ‘obliterated in 14 minutes’ without him Posted: 22 Nov 2019 09:04 AM PST  President Trump said Friday he had saved Hong Kong from being destroyed by persuading Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold off on sending in troops to crush the pro-democracy movement there.
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| Vietnam to Extend Retirement Age by 2 Years for Men, 5 Years for Women Posted: 20 Nov 2019 09:41 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.Vietnam will gradually extend the retirement age for men by two years and for women by five years over the next decade as part of the government's amendment to its Labor Code.Men can work until 62 by 2028 and women until 60 by 2035 from the current retirement age of 60 for males and 55 for females, the government said on its website.Under the amendments approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday, the retirement age will increase by 3 months annually for men and by 4 months each year for women starting 2021. The changes were made as Vietnam's population is maturing at a faster pace than some of its peers.The nation's elderly citizens are expected to double to 14% of the population in about 17 years and the country could become an aged society in 2035, according to a statement of the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank in August. It took Singapore 22 years and Thailand 20 years to reach the threshold for a country's population to be considered aged.The number of people joining Vietnam's work force has dropped by more than half to about 400,000 each year from an average of 1 million in the past, local newspaper Tuoi Tre reported citing Bui Sy Loi from the committee on social affairs of the National Assembly.\--With assistance from Thuy Ong.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: Clarissa Batino at cbatino@bloomberg.net, Ruth PollardFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Otto Warmbier’s Parents Will Work to Have North Korean Assets Seized Posted: 22 Nov 2019 05:48 AM PST  The parents of former U.S. hostage Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 after being released from North Korea in a coma, have announced they will attempt to seize North Korean business assets around the world to punish the country's government over its human-rights abuses.Otto Warmbier was convicted in a North Korean court after he tried to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel. He was released to the U.S. in a vegetative state a year later.Otto's parents have alleged he was tortured. North Korea has denied the allegations, asserting it was the "biggest victim" in Otto's death and, without evidence, attributing Warmbier's death to botulism."My mission would be to hold North Korea responsible, to recover and discover their assets around the world," Fred Warmbier said at a Friday press conference in Seoul, South Korea, according to the Associated Press. Fred and his wife Cindy had been invited to speak at a forum for a group representing South Korean families whose members were abducted by North Korea over the course of the 1950-53 Korean War."We feel that if you force North Korea to engage the world in a legal standpoint, then they will have to ultimately have a dialogue," he continued. "They are not going to come and have a dialogue with us any other way."The Warmbiers plan to pressure European governments to close hostels run by North Korea. They are already pursuing legal action against a hostel on the grounds of North Korea's embassy in Berlin."We cannot give up, we can't give them a pass. We have to fight with all of our power," Cindy Warmbier said at the conference.President Trump has repeatedly sought to negotiate the removal of nuclear weapons from North Korea, and became the first American president to meet with a North Korean leader during negotiations. Those negotiations are currently stalled.
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| JFK files: CIA spy in Cuba ‘befriended’ Castro, Che; played key role amid nuclear-war fears Posted: 22 Nov 2019 07:43 AM PST  Fifty-six years after John F. Kennedy's murder, unsealed government files detail dangerous intrigues about Cuba. This CIA spy was deeply involved.
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| After campaign by young activists, Miami declares ‘climate emergency.’ It’s symbolic, for now. Posted: 22 Nov 2019 03:00 AM PST  Miami is officially in a state of emergency over climate change, delighting local youth activists that have been pushing the city to declare a "climate emergency" for months.
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| 50 Great Gadget and Gear Gifts for the Holidays Posted: 22 Nov 2019 11:03 AM PST |
