| Democratic congressman says 'it will not end if the Senate does not convict' Posted: 10 Dec 2019 09:25 AM PST  Green subsequently introduced articles of impeachment three times for what he described as Trump's "infusion of bigotry into policy." On Dec. 4, Green sent a memo to other House members urging them to include Trump's "racism" in the articles of impeachment.
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| FBI warned six months ago about loophole Pensacola shooter used to obtain a gun Posted: 10 Dec 2019 12:56 PM PST  More than six months before the Dec. 6 shooting at a naval base in Pensacola, Fla., where a Saudi gunman used a weapon obtained using a hunting license exemption, the FBI issued a report warning about precisely this loophole.
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| Boeing removed a feature that protects its 787 planes during lightning strikes as a cost-cutting measure, even after FAA experts objected Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:13 AM PST  The FAA administrator will be questioned by Congress today over its certification of the change to the 787 Dreamliner as well as the 737 Max.
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| Turkey's Erdogan says Nobel academy rewarding human rights violations Posted: 10 Dec 2019 02:21 AM PST  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the Nobel academy on Tuesday of rewarding human rights violations by awarding the prize for literature to Peter Handke, who has been criticized for backing late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. Turkey has said it is joining Albania and Kosovo in boycotting the Nobel awards ceremony to protest the academy's choice of Austrian Handke for the prize. "Giving the Nobel Literature Prize to a racist, who denies the genocide in Bosnia and defends war criminals, on December 10, Human Rights Day, will have no meaning other than the rewarding of human rights violations," Erdogan said.
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| Deadliest Weapon After a Nuclear Bomb: Meet Russia's TOS-1 MLRS 'Buratino' Posted: 10 Dec 2019 04:56 AM PST  This thing does some real damage.
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| Nude portrait of Emiliano Zapata in high heels sparks fury in Mexico Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:00 AM PST  Campesinos storm museum to call for removal of image featuring revolutionary hero posing in pink sombreroA new portrait of Emiliano Zapata has caused a firestorm of outrage for its portrayal of the Mexican revolutionary hero striking a seductive pose – clad only in a pink sombrero and high heels.Furious campesinos stormed one of the country's most renowned art museums on Thursday to demand the removal of the painting, part of a new exhibition titled Zapata after Zapata that seeks to present alternative views of the Mexican revolution. "This isn't freedom of expression, it is debauchery! It's degrading. They can't exhibit our history that way," fumed Antonio Medrano, a spokesman for the protesters. "They can't permit this kind of mockery."The small painting by Fabián Cháirez depicts a naked Zapata, astride a white horse. His willowy frame is bound by a ribbon striped with the Mexican tricolor of red, white and green, while his lips pout under his distinctive curved moustache.Press pictures of the painting provoked strong reactions in Mexico, where Zapata has maintained an unambiguously heroic reputation since the revolution of 1910 – when he called for "reform, freedom, justice and law".Some of Zapata's heirs – with matching droopy moustaches – vowed to take legal action against the exhibition."We are not going to allow this," said Jorge Zapata Gonzalez. "For us as relatives, this denigrates the figure of our general – depicting him as gay."Apocryphal tales of a gay romances involving Zapata have been published in recent decades, but historians say there is little evidence to support the stories.Mexican politicians of all stripes have long tried to claim Zapata as their own – including the some of his supposed revolutionary allies, who later betrayed and killed him.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared 2019 – the centennial of his death – as the "year of Zapata", emblazoning the revolutionary leader's familiar image of a bushy mustache, sombrero and bandolier on government letterhead and promotional materials."He's the least controversial revolutionary strongman and the most 'leftwing' in the modern sense,'" said Harim B Gutiérrez, history professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University.But Zapata's image is also the most malleable, and it has been appropriated by a host of social causes which may not have much to do with his original struggle to secure a better deal for landless peasants."Every 20 years or so something pops up" involving Zapata's image, said Luis Vargas Santiago, the curator of the current exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.Most recently, that "something" has been gender and sexuality. The current exhibition comes at time when Mexico's LBGTQ communities have become more prominent and women have been more outspoken against the country's endemic machismo, sexual harassment, and femicides.In recent weeks, women protesting in Mexico City against sexual violence have been criticised for spraying graffiti on monuments and centuries-old buildings.Vargas Santiago said the use of Zapata to advance social agendas followed a similar logic."It's not like Zapata's image is a fixed symbol which cannot be challenged," he said. "Just like monuments are questioned, Zapata is also an image that can be subverted."Vargas Santiago said some of Zapata's descendants had expressed support for the exhibition.The family itself has also split over the use of Zapata's image – with some descendants applying for a trademark to sell Zapata-branded merchandise such as T-shirts and tequila.The core question, according to Vargas-Santiago, is: "Who does Zapata belong to? Does he belong to his family members? Does he belong to the government? Or does he belong to everyone? Our response is: he belongs to everyone who identifies with his legacy."López Obrador said on Wednesday that the painting didn't bother him, "but I'm not a member of the Zapata family." He asked the culture ministry to find a solution to family's concerns.Government spokesman Jesús Ramírez Cuevas later tweeted that the government was "committed to artistic freedom and respect for diversity." "Yes to freedom, no to censorship. Yes to respect, no to violence," he wrote.
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| U.S. Backs Leniency for Gates, Citing ‘Extraordinary’ Help Posted: 10 Dec 2019 01:21 PM PST ![U.S. Backs Leniency for Gates, Citing 'Extraordinary' Help]( "U.S. Backs Leniency for Gates, Citing 'Extraordinary' Help") (Bloomberg) -- Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates deserves leniency for his "extraordinary assistance" with offshoots of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, the government told a judge just days before his sentencing.Prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday that they don't oppose Gates's request for probation. They also said that Gates deserved praise for standing up to powerful people and weathering "intense media scrutiny." They wrote, without providing specifics, that "Gates received pressure not to cooperate with the U.S. government, including assurances of monetary assistance."Gates was a critical witness in Mueller's investigation of Russian election interference. He was the star prosecution witness in the trial of his former boss Paul Manafort, who was convicted of bank and tax fraud, and he testified against Trump ally Roger Stone and former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig. Gates met with investigators more than 50 times, prosecutors said.But prosecutors also noted Gates's many crimes."Gates did not commit crimes only with Manafort," they wrote. "On a far smaller scale, he also committed crimes on his own and for his own benefit. He failed to report more than $3 million in income on his tax returns over several years, failed to disclose his own foreign bank accounts, and stole approximately several hundred thousand dollars from Manafort's overseas accounts."Gates also engaged in mortgage fraud by overstating his income, submitted false reimbursement vouchers to employers, and participated in an investment-fraud scheme with a man charged in Manhattan, they said.Gates was Manafort's right-hand man in his political consulting firm and worked with him for a decade before joining him on President Donald Trump's campaign. Manafort is serving a 7 1/2-year prison sentence for financial fraud.Indicted in 2017 with Manafort, who was Trump's 2016 campaign chairman, Gates later pleaded guilty to conspiring with Manafort to hide their work as unregistered foreign agents and to conceal his former boss's offshore bank accounts.Gates's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to sentence him to probation in a late Monday court filing. He said he accepted responsibility "in every way possible." He will be sentenced on Dec. 17.Read MoreGates Says He Stole, Lied and Cheated But Trust Him AnywayTrump Hovers Over Stone Trial in Testimony on Clinton LeaksEx-Trump Campaign Aide Gates Testifies in Trial of Gregory Craig(Updates with prosecutors' praise of Gates in second paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in federal court in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, David S. JoachimFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'Whose side are you on?': Houston police chief tears into GOP senators over gun laws after officer killed Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:42 AM PST  "You're either here for women and children and our daughters and our sisters and our aunts, or you're here for the NRA," Acevedo said.
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| The Real Locations That Inspired 13 Famous Paintings Posted: 11 Dec 2019 02:31 PM PST |
| Oink oink, cha-ching: $3 million found in barrels of pork Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:28 AM PST  Barrels of raw pork shoulder were riding fat in a tractor trailer pulled over by North Carolina deputies. Approximately $3 million in cash was recovered from the barrels Saturday, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post Tuesday. The driver of the tractor trailer was accused of failing to maintain his lane and impeding the flow of traffic on Interstate 85.
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| Hawley: FBI ‘Effectively Meddled’ in 2016 Election Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:01 PM PST  Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said Wednesday that the FBI "effectively meddled" in the 2016 presidential election and did so with the backing of the Democratic National Committee."Which is worse? Is it worse to have a foreign government trying to meddle in our elections, or is it worse to have our own government meddling in the election?" the Missouri Republican asked Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz during the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the inspector general's report examining the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation.Horowitz's report shows that "the FBI effectively meddled in an ongoing presidential campaign," Hawley charged."You expect it from foreign governments," Hawley said. "But when our own government does it, how can the American have confidence, and what do we do?"The inspector general's report, released on Monday, found no evidence of political bias in the FBI's decision to launch the Russia probe but cited "basic and fundamental errors" and a "failure" by the whole FBI "chain of command" involved in the investigation. The report also found that the FBI omitted crucial details in its requests for warrants to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page.Hawley expressed incredulity that the Democratic National Committee solicited and paid for the Steele dossier and that afterwards the FBI cited the questionable information in the dossier to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to surveil Page."This is the untold story of the 2016 campaign," Hawley said. "I don't know who at the DNC hatched this, but I suppose they ought to maybe take a victory lap, but certainly they should be remembered for it. To get the FBI to launch, pursue surveillance of a rival presidential campaign and then into the newly elected president's term I think is just extraordinary.""I think it is an extraordinary thing when the most powerful law enforcement agency, maybe the world, is able to effectively intervene and influence a presidential election at the behest and with the cooperation of another political party," Hawley concluded.Horowitz told Hawley he is not aware of any previous instance of the FBI targeting a presidential campaign during the election cycle.
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| How did South Bend actually do under Mayor Pete Buttigieg? We pulled the numbers to find out. Posted: 10 Dec 2019 07:38 AM PST  Buttigieg was a two-term mayor of a small city. It rebounded from a severely high unemployment rate but vacant houses are a problem.
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| Panel urges the U.S. to weigh sanctions against India's home minister Posted: 10 Dec 2019 01:22 PM PST  A federal panel on religion has urged the United States to weigh sanctions against India's Home Minister Amit Shah if the South Asian nation adopts legislation to exclude Muslims from a path to citizenship for religious minorities from its neighbors.
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| What’s Worse Than World Leaders Laughing at the U.S.? Posted: 10 Dec 2019 10:00 PM PST ![What's Worse Than World Leaders Laughing at the U.S.?]( "What's Worse Than World Leaders Laughing at the U.S.?") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- That viral video of the leaders of Canada, France and the U.K. laughing about their U.S. counterpart at last week's NATO summit was vivid yet anecdotal evidence of what the rest of the world thinks of President Donald Trump. Now comes some hard data showing America's declining global reputation.Not only is the perception of the U.S. as a top ally fading, according to a new survey of 18 countries from the Pew Research Center, but more people see the U.S. as "posing the greatest threat" to them in the future. Even America's closest neighbors are losing faith in their U.S. alliance.In Canada, the percentage of those who see the U.S. as its top ally has fallen from 54% in 2007 to 46% in 2019; over the same period, the percentage of those who see the U.S. as the top threat has risen from 16% to 20%. (Keep in mind that the 2007 reading, near the end of George W. Bush's calamitous presidency, already represented one of the lowest rates of global confidence and approval.) In Mexico, the percentage of those who see the U.S. as Mexico's top ally fell from 35% to 27%; the percentage who see the U.S. as the top threat has risen from 35% to a poll-topping 56%.The results also suggest that the U.S. is losing ground in perhaps its most important diplomatic challenge: the contest for influence and power with a rising China.The Trump administration has paid lip service to the idea of growing great power competition, and to the need to offer an alternative to China in Africa and Latin America. Yet as the survey notes, "Across many of the Latin American as well as Middle East and North African countries surveyed, more name the U.S. as a top threat than say the same of China." Equally disturbing is that in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa — democracies that are also sub-Saharan Africa's three biggest economies — the share of respondents who regard China as their country's most reliable ally is about as high as those who choose the U.S. In emerging markets more broadly, "China's economic influence is seen in similar or even slightly more positive terms" than that of the U.S.It's possible, of course, to justify these findings by saying it's better to be feared than loved. You might even argue that the growing U.S. isolation in the United Nations is a sign of America's commitment to its principles. (In 2018, the U.S. voted against a higher proportion of General Assembly resolutions than any other nation; its global average voting coincidence was 31%, below the 10-year average of 36%.)That's certainly how Trump sees it. As he has repeatedly said, "We're respected like we haven't been respected in a long time." Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has doggedly defended his boss's in-your-face approach to foreign policy, declaring that "putting America First means proudly associating with nations that share our principles and are willing to defend them."That raises at least two questions: Who are these nations, and what are these principles?In a speech titled, "Trump Administration Diplomacy: The Untold Story," one example Pompeo offered was getting other nations to join the U.S. in a statement rejecting a right to abortion. Consider the other signatories: Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.Of these countries, Freedom House ranks only three as "free," while four are "partly free." The other 11 are "not free," including three (Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Libya) that have the worst aggregate scores for political rights and civil liberties. If this is what the U.S. sees as "the trajectory for nations all across the world," as Pompeo put it, then maybe those world leaders were laughing last week because the end state Trump has in mind is too horrible to contemplate.To contact the author of this story: James Gibney at jgibney5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.James Gibney writes editorials on international affairs for Bloomberg Opinion. Previously an editor at the Atlantic, the New York Times, Smithsonian, Foreign Policy and the New Republic, he was also in the U.S. Foreign Service from 1989 to 1997 in India, Japan and Washington.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Outrage after Colombia riot police force young woman into unmarked car Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:33 PM PST  * Protester freed after members of public give chase * Video of incident adds to criticism of police tacticsOutrage has erupted in Colombia after a young woman participating in anti-government protests was grabbed by riot police in body armour, forced into an unmarked vehicle and driven away.Video of the incident showed the woman sobbing and screaming "Help! The police have kidnapped me!" through the window of the black Chevrolet sedan as it drove away from the demonstration near the National University in Bogotá on Wednesday night.> Video de cómo policias del Esmad suben a la fuerza a una mujer a un carro particular Chevrolet HCI 264 > ¿Intento de secuestro? > Compartir al máximo pic.twitter.com/6vYOBlIAQE> > — ���������� ������������ (@maikybayona) December 11, 2019Two members of the public gave chase in another vehicle, and the driver can be heard in the video shouting reassurance to the detainee as they drive alongside. The pursuers eventually stopped their car in front of the officers, who then released the woman in the middle of heavy traffic.The video – and a second clip showing a young man apparently being forced into an unmarked car on Tuesday night – prompted fresh accusations of excessive force against the Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron – known by its Spanish initials, Esmad.Bogotá's chief of police said at a press conference on Wednesday that while it was not usual for police to use unmarked vehicles when detaining people, it was legal.But Gen Hoover Penilla did not specify why the two protesters were seized – nor why the woman was released if she had been suspected of wrongdoing. The whereabouts of the young man remained unclear late on Wednesday.Penilla admitted that the woman should not have been left on the road, but adopted a defiant tone, telling reporters: "We will continue to do our duty but I ask you not to question everything our police officers do."For the past three weeks, Colombia has been racked by demonstrations triggered by widespread discontent with the proposed economic reforms of the rightwing president, Iván Duque, whose approval rating has dropped to just 26% since he took office in August last year.Protesters are also angry at the lack of support for the historic 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), which formally ended five decades of civil war that killed 260,000 and forced more than 7 million to flee their homes.In a country which not long ago suffered the highest kidnapping rate in the world – and whose security forces have themselves been implicated in forced disappearances – the videos of police snatching protesters evoked disturbing memories.According to the national victims' agency more than 150,000 people were forcibly disappeared between 1986 and 2017, with up to 80,000 still missing. Combatants on all sides of the conflict engaged in the practice.While most of the demonstrations have been peaceful, some vandalism occurred when protests first broke out on 21 November.The hardline response by Esmad – who have fired teargas, flash bangs, and "less lethal" bean bag rounds at peaceful protesters – has only fanned the discontent.One 18-year-old protester, Dilan Cruz, died after he was shot in the head with a bean bag round on 23 November.Opposition politicians called a debate on Esmad on Wednesday morning, while protest organizers have called for the unit to be dismantled altogether."Esmad has been acting violently and leaving victims in their wake for years," said Mafe Carrascal, a prominent activist. "Rather than containing disturbances, they are generating them by provoking showdowns and killing people."
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| Last Impeachment Hearing Ends With a Meh Posted: 09 Dec 2019 07:27 PM PST  The House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearing on Monday was supposed to be something like each side's closing argument in the House's impeachment inquiry. Instead the meeting, which was likely the last time the House will call witnesses to discuss evidence President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, was ultimately a forgettable capstone to a process marked by major revelations, dramatic testimony and partisan fireworks. The only witnesses on Monday were two staff attorneys, one from each party, each charged with taking the witness stand to present their side's point of view. With nothing new to say, lawmakers took turns either asking questions they knew the answers to, or berating the attorneys—a process that took nearly 10 hours. 'Toxic' Mueller Impeachment Article Threatens to Split DemsNow, with all their evidence already compiled into a lengthy report, Democrats are poised to move straight into the final part of the process: drawing up, considering, and voting on articles of impeachment—all possibly by the end of this week. Reports from The Washington Post and the Associated Press Monday evening indicated that there would be two articles of impeachment focusing on abuse of power and obstruction of congressional investigation. While the impeachment hearing dragged from Monday morning into the afternoon, other activity on the Hill and beyond began to pull attention elsewhere. House Democrats—wary of GOP criticisms that they are consumed with impeachment—scheduled a vote for later in the week on their centerpiece prescription drug bill, and grew closer than ever to a deal with President Trump on a new U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement.To some Democrats, the backburner is fine, for now. The goal of Judiciary's proceedings, they say, is taking advantage of impeachment's media coverage to lay out the evidence competently and without any major unforced errors—and not necessarily with a surplus of razzle-dazzle. Members of the committee framed Monday's hearing as important due diligence in a solemn process. A member of the Judiciary panel, Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), told The Daily Beast that Monday's hearing was "a presentation of evidence and a closing argument to knit the gravity of those things together.""The point," said Dean, "is upholding our constitutional oath and holding the president accountable to his… We had to make this presentation of the uncontroverted facts to the American people, and we have to now do our job."Unlike in past impeachments, the lead investigators in the Ukraine matter weren't special prosecutors but lawmakers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA). Schiff himself did not testify to present his committee's 300-page report, despite GOP demands for him to defend what they've dubbed the "Schiff Report." The witnesses were instead Daniel Goldman, Schiff's committee counsel, and Steve Castor, counsel for the Oversight Committee GOP, both of whom played leading roles in the open hearings helmed by Schiff. Also testifying was Barry Berke, a Judiciary counsel who delivered Democrats' opening statement.The unusual sight of staff testifying—and then also asking questions after testimony—proved to be a partisan lightning rod throughout the day, and seemed to push lawmakers to take the gloves off to pursue sharper, blunter lines of questioning. Nadler made use of his gavel loudly and often, and he largely succeeded in reeling the hearing back from the brink when frequent interruptions from the GOP edged it off the rails.Several GOP lawmakers minced no words for Goldman, a former prosecutor and MSNBC analyst whom Schiff brought to Washington earlier this year to lead investigations. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) went full attack dog, questioning Goldman over his past donations to Democratic political candidates.Gaetz also needled Goldman over an old tweet—which Republicans displayed as a poster for full effect—in which Goldman said the so-called Steele Dossier was totally accurate. "Do you regret this tweet?" Gaetz asked repeatedly, but Goldman didn't take the bait, staring at Gaetz dead-eyed as the Florida congressman took over both sides of the conversation he had begun. For most of the proceedings, Democrats kept their heads down and plugged away at the evidence in Schiff's 300-page report, while Republicans poked holes in the process and slammed Democrats for tearing the country apart. Knowing the process was nearing its conclusion in the House, the GOP complained that Nadler would not schedule a hearing where they could hear from witnesses—already requested and rejected by Schiff—such as Hunter Biden. "This will be the last hearing, because there's no desire to hear anything from both sides," Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, said at the end of the day's hearing. "That is the farce called the Judiciary Committee impeachment scam."Other Republicans seemed to have already placed their hopes on the Senate. "We can only pray," said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), "that the Senate adheres to the judicial principles of our founders."Republicans weren't the only ones looking ahead. During and after Monday's procedural speed bump, Democrats frequently alluded to the "duty" they have remaining—drawing up articles of impeachment. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), a Judiciary member, argued Monday's hearing was "necessary both from a process perspective but also from the perspective of, this is the first time we've laid out the full case.""As people talk about what happened and what the what the remedy is," she said, "I think you will hear some of these things again."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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| Hong Kong police defuse bombs designed 'to kill and to maim' Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:30 PM PST  Hong Kong police said they defused two large homemade bombs packed with nails and designed "to kill and to maim people" in the latest reported seizure of weaponry during six months of anti-government protests that have shaken the city. The Wah Yan College said the bombs were found in a public area of the school and that there is no evidence linking them to any of its staff or students. In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide.
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| Representative Ted Yoho Becomes the 23rd House Republican to Announce Retirement Posted: 10 Dec 2019 10:04 AM PST  Representative Ted Yoho of Florida announced Tuesday that he will step down after completing his fourth term, joining the wave of House Republicans who have opted against running for reelection in 2020.Yoho had promised to serve no more than four terms in Congress."I ran on a pledge to serve four terms — eight years and come home," Yoho said in his announcement. "Many told me I was naive and they're probably right. I was told the district has changed three times and so the pledge isn't binding and I could rationalize that. However, I truly believe a person's word is their bond and should live up to their word."Yoho is the twenty-third House Republican to announce retirement in 2020. 26 Republicans retired in 2018, the year Democrats took back control of the House."Carolyn and I want to thank all of our awesome and loyal supporters who believed in us enough to give us the incredible honor to serve as a Member of the United States Congress, a government that represents the greatest country on earth," Yoho wrote in a letter to supporters.Yoho sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Agriculture Committees. Before running for Congress he worked as a large animal veterinarian.In November Yoho was thought to be considering retirement, but the congressman initially denied reports that he would be stepping down.The retirement wave is fueling concerns for GOP prospects in the 2020 congressional elections, although some of the affected districts are expected to remain in Republican control. Yoho's district is widely considered safe for Republicans, and the congressman is himself a staunch supporter of President Trump.
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| Turkey says will retaliate against any sanctions ahead of U.S. vote Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:50 PM PST  Turkey said on Wednesday it would retaliate against any U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian defense systems, adding that with Britain it had agreed to speed up a joint fighter jet program to meet Turkish defense needs. U.S. lawmakers will vote - and likely pass - a defense bill later on Wednesday that calls for sanctions against Turkey over Ankara's decision to procure the S-400 defenses. Turkey and the United States, NATO allies, have been at odds over the purchase.
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| Delhi rapist-murderer cites pollution in death row appeal Posted: 10 Dec 2019 07:12 AM PST  Akshay Kumar Singh was one of a group of men who gang-raped a 23-year-old woman on a bus in India's capital late at night in December seven years ago. Filed through his lawyer, the now 31-year-old said in his review petition to the Supreme Court that the air quality in New Delhi was like a "gas chamber" and its water "full of poison".
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| Chinese ambassador 'threatens to withdraw trade deal with Faroe Islands' in Huawei 5G row Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:24 AM PST  China's ambassador to Denmark threatened to scupper a trade deal with the Faroe Islands if Huawei was not given a 5G contract in the region, according to Danish newspaper Berlingske. The alleged threat by ambassador Feng Tie, made to Faroe Islands politicians including leader Bárður Nielsen, heightened concerns about the Chinese communications firm's links with the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as it seeks European expansion. The US, having sanctioned Huawei due to concerns about espionage and security, is attempting to convince allies to follow suit. The Faroe Islands, which have a population of around 50,000, is a self-governing autonomous region of Denmark. On 11 November Mr Feng allegedly told Faroe Islands government figures that China would not enter a free trade deal with them unless Huawei was given a 5G contract by Føroya Tele, a Faroe Islands telecoms operator. The threat was reported after Faroe Islands politicians were recorded by the Kringvarp Føroya TV station on 15 November, discussing the ambassador's warning. Mr Nielsen reportedly said that his government would not interfere in the awarding of the contract. A Faroe Islands judge granted an injunction against Kringvarp Føroya reporting the ambassador's alleged threat, saying it could compromise relations between the Danish Commonwealth and Beijing, before Berlingke revealed it. Huawei, which plans to roll out 5G in 2020, said it had no knowledge of the alleged meetings. Faroe Islands government spokespeople did not respond to calls and messages requesting comment. The Chinese communications giant is embroiled in controversy about its alleged closeness to the CCP, treatment of employees, data privacy and alleged sanction breaching. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested that he is likely to ban Huawei from Britain's 5G network. Luke Patey, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told The Telegraph: "China is now brandishing economic sticks of its own for when European countries do not take on Huawei for 5G networks. This was a peek into what is likely a broad effort on China's part to pressure and persuade European officials to its side. It's time for European leaders to call Beijing out on its interference." On Wednesday China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called Berlingke's report "false and ill-intentioned". She said of the alleged meeting: "Is there any difference and meaning on whether they mentioned Huawei or not? If US officials can slander China's Huawei all over the world, can't a Chinese ambassador mention the name of a Chinese company when talking about cooperation with local officials?" Tom Jensen, Berlingske's editor-in-chief, said: "We stand by the story and we have proper documentation for what we write."
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| Donald Trump Jr. killed endangered sheep in Mongolia with special permit Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:39 PM PST  On a hunting trip to Mongolia earlier this summer, the president's son Donald Trump Jr. killed a rare species of the endangered argali sheep.
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| Republicans believe white people experience same level of racism as black people, report says Posted: 10 Dec 2019 01:31 PM PST  Researchers have punctured right-wing claims that a wave of "racism against white people" has coincided with efforts to prevent discrimination against blacks.A study published in Nature Human Behaviour compared perceptions of racial discrimination in "societies that supposedly favour non-white people" and found that white people consistently experienced far less discrimination than black people, despite the influence of far-right groups and increasingly polarised political views that have argued civil rights progress has eliminated rights for others.
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| Ukrainians: Trump Just Sent Us ‘a Terrible Signal’ Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:04 PM PST  Ukrainian officials spent last weekend glued to Trump's Twitter feed. People working closely with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been in contact with Trump administration officials over the past several weeks discussing the relationship between the two presidents, according to four people with knowledge of the talks. Based on those conversations, Ukrainian officials came to expect that President Donald Trump would make a statement of support before Zelensky met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in France for peace talks. A statement might even come via Twitter, they said they were told. "Through all the signals we got, we firmly believed there would be a statement," a senior Zelensky administration official told The Daily Beast. But as Saturday and Sunday ticked by, there was only silence from the White House. Even as Ukrainian officials have publicly been loath to criticize Trump's pressure campaign on their country, frustrations with Washington have quietly percolated. And last weekend, they were especially acute. On Monday, Zelensky and Putin met in Normandy, France for face-to-face negotiations on the war in eastern Ukraine. Russia had seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014, and has ever since backed separatists in the eastern part of the country. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were on hand for the talks. Putin and Zelensky agreed to exchange "all known prisoners," according to The Washington Post. Another round of talks is expected in several months. Words of support from the United States in the lead-up to the Normandy talks could have given the Ukrainian president more leverage with Putin, according to the Zelensky administration official and two additional people close to his administration. Instead, Trump spent the weekend on Twitter tweeting about Fox News pundits, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and CNN. It was a particularly busy weekend of social media for him, with more than 100 tweets and retweets by Politico's count. But no word on Normandy.And the next week put salt in the wound. On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and made an appearance at the White House. Russia's Top Diplomat: We're Ready to Publish Our Correspondence With U.S. on Election Meddling AllegationsOne of the people close to the Zelensky administration said the silence from White House—combined with Lavrov's photo-friendly visit to Washington—sent "a terrible signal" and was "most unfortunate." According to a read-out of Trump's meeting with Lavrov, the president "urged Russia to resolve the conflict with Ukraine." The Ukrainian official called the episode "frustrating." Ukrainians say they view the coupling of Trump's pre-Normandy silence and the administration's decision to welcome Lavrov as a signal in an of itself—and not a good one. Zelensky administration officials are now reconsidering their strategy on communication with and about the Trump administration, the official said. Thus far, Zelensky administration officials have stayed in line with the Trump administration's narrative on the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine activity and the focuses of the impeachment inquiry. But they say they have little to show for it, and may take a different public relations strategy in the future. A Time interview published earlier this week captured Kyiv's willingness to publicly bolster Trump's version of events. Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky, contradicted a key assertion that European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland made in congressional testimony last month. Sondland had said he pulled Yermak aside during an event in Warsaw and urged him to have Kyiv announce Trump-friendly investigations. Yermak, meanwhile, told Time that no such conversation happened. The statement was a body blow to a key impeachment witness's testimony, though Sondland's lawyer said he stood by his description of events. In a separate interview, Zelensky said he did not speak to Trump in terms of "you give me this, I give you that." Trump tweeted out a link to the interview and thanked Zelensky for the comment. Trump's relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a key focus of Democrats' impeachment inquiry. The inquiry began after an anonymous Intelligence Committee official filed a whistleblower complaint in August alleging that Trump pressured Zelensky to announce investigations of a company linked to the Bidens and of alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. The complaint said that Trump was withholding military aid from Ukraine until those investigations were announced. Trump has vehemently denied allegations that withholding the military aid—which happened for a short time at his orders—was part of a pressure campaign. Sondland, meanwhile, told Congress that the administration was explicit that it refused to arrange a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky until Kyiv announced the two investigations. After weeks of closed-door depositions and hearings, Pelosi announced the introduction of two articles of impeachment based on Trump's pressure on Ukraine. House Democrats are expected to vote on those articles as soon as next week. If they pass—which is extremely likely—then they will be referred to the Senate for a trial. —with additional reporting by Erin BancoRead 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. 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| Mexico finds small border tunnel in Nogales, next to AZ Posted: 11 Dec 2019 10:40 AM PST ![Mexico finds small border tunnel in Nogales, next to AZ]( "Mexico finds small border tunnel in Nogales, next to AZ") Mexican authorities have located a small, clandestine border tunnel between the northern state of Sonora and the United States, officials announced Wednesday. A Mexican government statement said the discovery in Nogales, which is across from Nogales, Arizona, was the result of a search of storm drains following the recent find of another tunnel in the city.
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| Majority of Black Voters Support Biden in Poll: Campaign Update Posted: 10 Dec 2019 02:13 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- A majority of African-American Democratic voters support former Vice President Joe Biden according to a Quinnipiac University poll published Tuesday.The survey found that found Biden was supported by 51% of black voters. Senator Bernie Sanders had 13% and Senator Elizabeth Warren had 12%. Michael Bloomberg received 4%, while Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang all received 2%. No other candidate obtained more than 1%. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.Biden has long been favored among African-American voters. In South Carolina, which has a majority black Democratic electorate, Biden had 33% support of all voters, followed by Warren with 13% and Sanders with 11% in a November Quinnipiac poll of the state.Among all Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, Biden led with 29% followed by Sanders with 17%, Warren with 15%, Buttigieg with 9%, Bloomberg with 5% and Yang with 4%. Klobuchar was supported by 3% of voters and Tulsi Gabbard 2%, all other candidates received 1% or less.The poll conducted Dec. 4-9 had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.Andrew Yang Qualifies for Los Angeles Debate (4:27 p.m.)Entrepreneur Andrew Yang on Tuesday became the seventh candidate to qualify for the Democratic debate in Los Angeles on Dec. 19.Yang will join Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer. Tulsi Gabbard has met the donor threshold but lacks one national or state poll to qualify. She said Tuesday she would skip the debate even if she qualifies.Yang made the cut thanks to a 4% score in a Quinnipiac University national poll released Tuesday. To qualify for the sixth Democratic debate, candidates must receive 4% in four national polls approved by the Democratic National Committee or 6% in two polls from early voting states and have received donations from 200,000 individuals. Candidates have until Thursday night to qualify.The presence on stage of Yang, who is Asian-American, means the debate will no longer have an all white slate of candidates. Cory Booker, who is African American, and Julian Castro, who is Hispanic, have both met the donor threshold but haven't met the polling criteria, have complained about the lack of diversity among candidates on the stage. -- Emma KineryBloomberg's Ad Spending Climbs to $100 Million (3:41 p.m.)Michael Bloomberg has spent $100 million on television and digital ads since launching his presidential campaign on Nov. 24.The former New York City mayor has bought more political commercials than the four top-polling candidates combined. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have collectively spent $60.3 million on advertising.The billionaire Tom Steyer is the second biggest spender at $66 million. President Donald Trump, who doesn't face a serious primary opponent, has spent about $34 million so far.Bloomberg's latest television ad buy, which totals $36.1 million, is for a 13-day period ending Dec. 22, according to data from Advertising Analytics. He set a record in buying $33 million worth spots to air in a single week, eclipsing the previous mark of $24.9 million that former President Barack Obama's campaign set in the last week of the 2012 campaign.Bloomberg is running ads nationally and in 100 local markets across more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, with the most spending so far in the Los Angeles, New York City and Houston markets, data show. He's trying the untested strategy of skipping the first four voting states and focusing on California, Texas and the other delegate-rich states that vote in March.Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. -- Bill AllisonGabbard to Sit Out Debate Even If She Qualifies (11:46 a.m.)Tulsi Gabbard, who is one poll short of qualifying for the Dec. 19 Democratic debate, said she'll skip it even if she makes the cut at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday."For a number of reasons, I have decided not to attend the December 19th 'debate' — regardless of whether or not there are qualifying polls," the Hawaii congresswoman tweeted late Monday. "I instead choose to spend that precious time directly meeting with and hearing from the people of New Hampshire and South Carolina."Gabbard also threatened to boycott a debate in October, accusing the Democratic National Committee of "rigging" the primaries, but showed up anyway.Two other candidates who haven't qualified have also complained. Senator Cory Booker slammed the rules for allowing "elites" and "money" to decide who gets on stage, while former HUD Secretary Julián Castro argued the party shouldn't raise the threshold this close to the Iowa caucuses.Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ended her campaign after failing to qualify for the September debate, saying that "being able to have a voice on the debate stage" is "really important" but declined to criticize the rules. -- Ryan Teague BeckwithTrump's Support Mostly Unmoved by Impeachment (11:00 AM)The impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump haven't significantly changed the number of voters who think he should be re-elected, a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows.The poll, conducted from Dec. 4-8, found that 43% of registered voters support Trump's re-election, while 54% want someone else in the White House. Those numbers were essentially unchanged from a survey in November, when 42% backed re-election and 55% wanted a new president, according to the poll.In the 2020 race, the poll showed Joe Biden leading the field at 26% support among Democrats or those who lean Democratic, followed by Bernie Sanders at 21%, Elizabeth Warren at 17% and Pete Buttigieg at 8%. Michael Bloomberg, who announced his candidacy Nov. 24, came next at 5%, ahead of Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and others in the race.But Bloomberg had an unfavorable rating of 54% among all registered voters compared with 26% favorable. Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters were split in their views of the former New York mayor at 40% favorable and 39% unfavorable, with a majority negative rating among Republicans and independents, the poll found.Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. The poll of 838 registered voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. -- Mark NiquetteWarren Offers 'Blue New Deal' for Oceans (9:00 AM)Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday rolled out her environmental policy for oceans on Tuesday, proposing to fast-track offshore renewable energy permits and produce all offshore wind energy with U.S. infrastructure.She said she would eliminate aesthetic impacts as a justification to block wind energy permits, calling climate change "too urgent to let the ultra-wealthy complain about wind turbines getting in the way of their ocean views." Warren's plan calls for long-term extensions of the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy.The Democratic candidate, who's polling in the top three of the presidential field, calls it a "Blue New Deal." Her plan uses the resources of the federal government to limit activity that would negatively impact oceans and fisheries, while calling for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to simplify the process for fishermen to sell their seafood directly to American consumers. -- Sahil KapurBloomberg Says Trump Is a Climate Change Denier (6:02 a.m.)Michael Bloomberg called President Donald Trump a climate change denier and pledged, as president, to harness investment in climate change solutions.Speaking at the COP25 global climate summit in Madrid on Tuesday, Bloomberg criticized Trump's decision to abandon the Paris accord and said the next U.S. president must stop subsidizing fossil fuel-producing companies and instead invest in clean energy."I do want the world to know that Americans continue to work on climate change, even with a climate denier in the White House," he said.Bloomberg, who, like his rivals for the 2020 Democratic nomination, has said he'd rejoin the Paris pact as president, stressed the importance of promoting investment in green technology. "The capital is out there, we just need to unlock the capital," he said.Later Tuesday, Bloomberg and actor Harrison Ford will present a report analyzing progress made by cities, states and businesses in tackling climate change, a topic that's the focus of Bloomberg's campaign this week.Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, has committed $500 million to launch Beyond Carbon, a campaign aimed at closing the remaining coal-powered plants in the U.S. by 2030 and slowing the construction of new gas plants. -- Charlie DevereuxCOMING UPSanders and Biden are scheduled to take part in town hall meetings hosted by Unite Here Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas Tuesday and Wednesday.At least a half-dozen Democratic presidential candidates hold the final debate of 2019 in Los Angeles on Dec. 19.(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)\--With assistance from Charlie Devereux, Sahil Kapur, Mark Niquette, Ryan Teague Beckwith and Bill Allison.To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Kinery in Washington at ekinery@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A 29-year-old mayor is giving his city's poorest residents a basic income of $500 per month. He says the program is a success so far. Posted: 10 Dec 2019 05:07 AM PST  Preliminary results show that most participants in Stockton, California's basic-income trial used their stipends to buy groceries and pay their bills.
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| 'Suspect in Custody' at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi After Lockdown Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:18 AM PST  An incident caused the base to be put under lockdown early Wednesday
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| The Best Trimmers for Keeping Your Facial Hair Under Control Posted: 11 Dec 2019 02:47 PM PST |
| Jersey City Mayor Says Security Footage Shows Shooters Targeted Jewish Grocery Store Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:19 AM PST  Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop confirmed on Wednesday after reviewing security footage that gunmen targeted a Jewish grocery store in a deadly shooting, which left six people dead.The New York Times reported Wednesday that one of the suspects had "published anti-Semitic and anti-police posts online and investigators believe the attack was motivated by those sentiments." Investigators also found a manifesto-style note inside the shooters' van, according to officials familiar with the case."Last night after extensive review of our CCTV system it has now become clear from the cameras that these two individuals targeted the Kosher grocery location on MLK Dr," Fulop tweeted. The mayor, who is himself Jewish, praised police for their immediate response, which likely "prevented the perpetrators from leaving that location and harming any further civilians."> and prevented the perpetrators from leaving that location and harming any further civilians. At this time we have no credible further threats from this incident but out of an abundance of caution we will be increasing our police presence in the community.> > -- Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) December 11, 2019> I'm Jewish and proud to live in a community like JerseyCity that has always welcomed everyone. It is the home of EllisIsland and has always been the golden door to America. Hate and anti-semitism have never had a place here in JC and will never have a place in our city,> > -- Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) December 11, 2019The shooting began on Tuesday after two suspects — a man and a woman — shot a police officer who approached the couple's U-Haul van, which was linked to the murder of a livery driver over the weekend. Jersey City police chief Michael Kelly said the officer, Detective Joseph Seals, was killed "while trying to interdict the bad guys" and was the department's leading police officer in getting guns off of Jersey City streets.The suspects then drove the van to Jersey City Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive, where a standoff started a little after noon.Law-enforcement sources told NBC New York that video footage shows the duo shooting a Hasidic man on the street and then running into the store, where they began firing at the victims inside. The suspects were armed with long guns and plenty of ammo and had bomb-making materials inside the truck, officials said.After the ensuing gun battle with police, five people were found dead inside the store, including the two suspects. Two officers were injured outside the store.Public-safety director James Shea praised the police for its response."The police department was immediately on the scene interjecting," Shea said. "Most active shooters end when the police arrive. In this case, one of our officers gave his life immediately trying to prevent what subsequently occurred. Two more officers were shot trying to prevent it and the Jersey City Police Department continued to respond and engage those people to minimize any possible of damage."President Trump tweeted on the incident, saying, "Our thoughts & prayers are w/ the victims & their families during this very difficult & tragic time."
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| 'Total nonsense': Democrats rip McConnell on delaying USMCA vote until after impeachment trial Posted: 11 Dec 2019 09:15 AM PST  After weeks of blaming Democrats for delaying Trump's renegotiated trade deal with Canada and Mexico, McConnell said he would delay it further.
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| Pro-Trump Network OAN Tried to Get This Ukrainian Millionaire a Visa Before His Arrest Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:30 PM PST  Before catching the eye of German law enforcement, former Ukrainian parliamentarian Oleksandr Onyshchenko drew attention from the conservative TV channel One America News. Last week, German authorities arrested the multi-millionaire because of a warrant from Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutors. Before his arrest, though, the Trump-friendly media outlet tried to help him get a visa to travel to the U.S. The effort, which has not been previously reported, was part of a push by OAN to unearth information on Burisma Holdings, the energy company that retained Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President and current Trump rival Joe Biden. Onyshchenko has claimed to have dirt on the firm. Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, has boosted the channel's Burisma work. "I can confirm that One America News Network did attempt to secure a number of visas for former Ukrainian officials to travel to the United States, including Olekesandr Onyshchenko," network president Charles Herring told The Daily Beast in an email. "One America News Network made the request prior to Mr. Onyschchenko being detained. One America News investigative efforts have cost in excess of $100,000 to date."Herring added that the outlet is also "currently seeking visas" for several other former Ukrainian officials, but is no longer doing so for Onyshchenko. Herring declined to say which other ex-officials his outlet is trying to secure visas for. Efforts by media outlets to secure legal travel authorizations for their sources are in an ethical gray area, according to one expert. Especially when the source in question is accused of embezzlement. Onyshchenko's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutors allege Onyshchenko ran a scheme to steal millions from Kyiv's state-owned natural gas company. The news of OAN's effort to help him get a visa comes on the heels of Rudy Giuliani's trip to Kyiv, where Trump's personal lawyer worked with a correspondent and crew member of OAN. On the trip, Giuliani and OAN's Chanel Rion met with Viktor Shokin and Yuri Lutsenko, two former Ukrainian prosecutors who have alleged misconduct by the Bidens. Their claims—that Obama administration officials pressured the Ukrainain government to ignore wrongdoing by Burisma in a bid to protect the Bidens—are at the heart of Giuliani's search for dirt. Giuliani has said he is working with OAN on this project, and the network's segments back that up. OAN's coverage of the impeachment scandal has raised eyebrows. The channel sent a camera crew to the apartment building where they believe the whistleblower who kicked off the Ukraine scandal lives, and to the home of the suspected whistleblower's parents. And Rion's documentary series on the Bidens and Burisma has taken an odd tone. In a promotional segment for one program, she said the sources would "testify under oath" for the show. Giuliani figures prominently throughout the programming. And on Tuesday evening, Rion tweeted effusive praise of Giuliani's communications director, Christianné Allen. "An incredibly talented patriot and a breath of fresh air here in the swamp. @Christianne_L_A — here's to the adventures ahead," Rion wrote, along with a picture of herself and Allen.Onyshchenko told conservative media site CD Media that he applied for a U.S. visa earlier this year. It wasn't his first overture to American officials; in 2016, Onyshchenko met with Justice Department officials to discuss corruption in Ukraine. People familiar with the events told The Daily Beast that Onyshchenko's outreach appeared to be part of an effort to secure a U.S. visa. In recent years, OAN has tried to outpace Fox News, Fox Business, and Sinclair as the most committed Trump ally in television. Beyond traveling with Giuliani on his latest European jaunt in hopes of scoring dirt on Trump's political enemies, the network has run countless hours of explicitly pro-MAGA programming and has even taken the step of naming the alleged whistleblower whose complaint triggered the impeachment inquiry—a step that Fox brass have repeatedly instructed their own staff not to take.And Trump has noticed. The president has tweeted praise of OAN's coverage while chastising Fox News for being insufficiently supportive of him. He also privately recommends the network to total strangers at Mar-a-Lago. Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine 'Investigation' Stars Some of Kyiv's Most Dubious CharactersThe network's efforts on Onyshchenko's behalf raise ethical questions, according to journalism professor Dan Kennedy of Northeastern University. "This sounds like it's in kind of a gray area," he told The Daily Beast."If they're just helping them come over to the U.S. for a short period of time to be interviewed and participate in a story, maybe that doesn't bother me that much. But if this is some sort of long-term arrangement where the Ukrainians would be able to stay in the U.S. a long time, this is something they've been wanting to do, and OAN is making it happen for them, that would probably be going too far.""I'm not really comfortable with any of this," he added, "but as long as it's for some short-term purpose—namely, for participating in a story—I'm not going to get all outraged about it, either."Giuliani's Ukraine project is central to Democrats' impeachment inquiry targeting Trump. In a July phone call, Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to help Giuliani with the effort. Meanwhile, the administration held up military aid and refused to schedule a White House visit for Zelensky. Giuliani communicated to Ukrainian officials that Zelensky needed to announce investigations Burisma and of alleged Ukrainian interference in the U.S. 2016 election if he wanted to visit the White House, according to European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Zelensky didn't announce the probes, and the White House has yet to set a date for his visit. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Experts quit police probe in blow to Hong Kong government Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:33 AM PST  Foreign experts recruited to add legitimacy to Hong Kong's police watchdog quit Wednesday, saying the agency lacks teeth. The expert panel's decision to stand aside is likely to increase pressure on the territory's government for an independent probe of police behavior during six months of pro-democracy protests.
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| Germany contradicts Russia over Georgian murdered in Berlin Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:51 AM PST  Germany contradicted Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying it was not aware Russia had requested the extradition of a Georgian man who was murdered in Berlin in August. In an escalation in already tense relations, Germany last week expelled two employees at the Russian embassy in Berlin, saying Moscow was not cooperating sufficiently in the investigation into the murder. Putin described the victim on Monday as a "cruel and blood-thirsty person" who had fought on the side of anti-Moscow separatists in Russia's mainly Muslim north Caucasus region, and said Moscow's requests for his extradition had not been heeded.
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| Democratic Senators Running for President Keep Silent on USMCA Posted: 11 Dec 2019 09:37 AM PST ![Democratic Senators Running for President Keep Silent on USMCA]( "Democratic Senators Running for President Keep Silent on USMCA") (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. For now, the five senators running for president are staying on the sidelines of the push to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement, but they'll have to vote on the new treaty by next year.Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have long argued against President Donald Trump's proposed revision of Nafta, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, arguing it should have stronger labor and environmental protections.But in the day since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a bipartisan compromise backed by the AFL-CIO labor federation that includes some of those measures, the presidential candidates have kept quiet.So has former Vice President Joe Biden, who has taken criticism from Sanders for his support of the original free trade deal in the 1990s. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, who both called for changes to the deal earlier this year, also haven't spoken out.Only Senator Michael Bennet responded to a request for comment from Bloomberg News, noting that he has called for a "modernized trade agreement" and an end to Trump's "reckless and unstrategic approach to trade.""I look forward to reviewing the details of yesterday's announced deal," Bennet said. "I'm hopeful that this trade agreement can be a positive step in that direction."Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the Senate will vote on the trade deal after an impeachment trial is finished, sometime in early 2020.(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Teague Beckwith in New York at rbeckwith3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Gregory MottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The Soviet Union Performed a Whopping 715 Nuclear Bomb Tests Posted: 10 Dec 2019 05:39 AM PST  How is Russia not a radiated wasteland?
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| Here's What's in Elizabeth Warren's Blue New Deal Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:21 AM PST  The Democratic presidential candidate reveals her next ambitious plan.
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| The architect of Mexico's war on cartels was just arrested in Texas and accused of drug trafficking and taking bribes Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:27 AM PST  Genaro Garcia Luna, a former Mexican security official once considered "something of a wunderkind," was arrested by US federal agents on Monday.
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| Trump slams Democrats at Pennsylvania rally, claims opponents 'embarrassed' by impeachment Posted: 11 Dec 2019 03:40 AM PST  Donald Trump lashed out at Democrats at a rally in Pennsylvania that came hours after House Democrats unveiled articles of impeachment against him.
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| Beshear becomes target of lawsuit claiming abuse of power Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:29 AM PST  For nearly four years as Kentucky attorney general, Andy Beshear filed a series of lawsuits accusing then-Gov. Matt Bevin of abusing his executive powers. Now Beshear is being sued by the people he ousted from the state school board on his first day as governor. The new Democratic governor wielded his executive authority Tuesday to reorganize the Kentucky Board of Education with 11 new members, fulfilling a campaign promise he made to teachers.
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| India's Modi cleared of complicity in deadly communal riots Posted: 10 Dec 2019 04:47 PM PST  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not complicit in deadly religious riots that broke out in 2002 in one of the bloodiest episodes in independent India, according to a judge-led commission report released Wednesday. Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when nearly 1,000 people -- the majority of them Muslims -- were killed in riots triggered by a fire on a train which killed 59 Hindu activists. The riots have long dogged Modi, who was accused by human rights groups of turning a blind eye to the violence.
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| China imprisoned more journalists than any other country in 2019: CPJ Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:00 PM PST  At least 250 journalists were imprisoned worldwide this year, according to the report, which the committee compiles annually. China's total rose by one since last year. "A crackdown in Xinjiang province - where a million members of Muslim ethnic groups have been sent to internment camps - has led to the arrests of dozens of journalists, including some apparently jailed for journalistic activity years earlier," the report said.
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| Boris Johnson Is Hiding the Real Price of Brexit Posted: 09 Dec 2019 11:30 PM PST ![Boris Johnson Is Hiding the Real Price of Brexit]( "Boris Johnson Is Hiding the Real Price of Brexit") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- With only a few days left before the U.K. votes, it's unlikely many voters will be swayed by the leaked Treasury department documents Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dramatically revealed at a press conference on Friday. And yet the papers provide a glimpse of the hangover that could follow any "Brexit bounce" should the Conservatives win the parliamentary majority predicted by the polls.The 15-page internal briefing document, marked "official sensitive," examines the financial implications of various aspects of Brexit in relation to Northern Ireland. Anyone looking at the volume of trade at stake would be forgiven for thinking these are mere details, the snag-list a new homeowner goes through with a builder. Northern Ireland represents just 2% of the British economy, after all.But the Northern Ireland trade arrangements are of huge significance because of the sometimes fragile peace achieved by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It also has a bearing on the U.K.'s own increasingly fragile constitutional order. Tory leader Boris Johnson enraged his former allies in Democratic Unionist Party because his Brexit deal creates a de facto trade border between the U.K. mainland and the province; the leaked memo won't have improved their mood.QuicktakeBrexit and the Irish BorderArticle 6 of the Northern Ireland Protocol in Johnson's revised deal says "nothing in the protocol shall prevent the United Kingdom from ensuring unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom's internal market." The second page of the leaked document quotes this undertaking. But it then goes on to list the many possible interpretations of the term "unfettered access." Does it mean a "lack of restrictions on goods?" Or regulatory alignment between the mainland and Northern Ireland, or the reduction of administrative costs when transferring goods, or the elimination of physical inspections? It's unclear.Northern Ireland exports 11.4 billion pounds ($14.9 billion) of goods to England, Scotland and Wales, 53% of its total external sales. A small group of large companies, accounting for nearly 40% of export volume, will more easily absorb any new costs. But most businesses exporting from Northern Ireland are small- and medium-sized enterprises. Customs declarations and documentary checks "will be highly disruptive to the Northern Ireland economy," says the Treasury document, suggesting the government act to reduce the burden on smaller traders.The Treasury assumes that "unfettered access" will mean goods travelling from Northern Ireland to the mainland will be part of a common area for value-added tax, and that there will be no tariffs, quotas or "rules of origin" checks. But it acknowledges that there would be checks on plant and animal goods and customs declarations. There are plenty of question marks (literally indicated as such in the document) on what other trade frictions will exist in the new regime. As for east-to-west trade — from the mainland into Northern Ireland — much will depend on negotiations with the European Union, which will establish the terms of reference for assessing which goods are "at risk" of landing in the EU's single market by crossing the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.Most alarming, the leaked document says that physical checks and customs declarations going both ways "will be highly disruptive to the NI economy." The result will be higher consumer prices, which will hit retail jobs. Johnson constantly dismisses the possibility of such frictions, but the Treasury is clear about the danger of Northern Ireland without checks becoming a back door into Britain for goods that avoid import duties or don't meet origin requirements or U.K. regulatory standards. Then there are the so-called "high level" effects. The physical separation of Northern Ireland "has the potential to undermine the coherence of the U.K.'s internal market and embed a fundamental asymmetry in its functioning," the Treasury says. Johnson's best hope at avoiding the checks would be a close regulatory relationship with Europe — exactly what his his predecessor Theresa May's much-hated Chequers proposals sought. But that would lose him the support of Brexiters and the possibility of a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. And it's not just the Treasury that sees the practical flaws in Johnson's plans. The Financial Times reported this week on a document from the country's Brexit ministry, which warns that the government may not have the new Northern Ireland trade system ready to go before it concludes broader trade talks with the EU.None of this has been subject to cross-examination during the election campaign, beyond Corbyn's belated press conference. Brexit secretary Steve Barclay admitted to the new Northern Ireland trade frictions at a House of Lords hearing in October, but Johnson has denied repeatedly that his deal would lead to any such hassles, frictions or uncertainties.In some ways, Johnson's refusal to deal with reality is the bigger problem. With frank discussion and transparency, the public might be prepared for a degree of disruption. But the Tory leader is either refusing to engage honestly with his deal, or he doesn't understand it. Neither bodes well.As for Thursday's election, none of this will keep most English voters awake at night. For some time, the polls have shown that Brexit supporters would willingly see Northern Ireland or Scotland leave the union if it meant getting Brexit done.Still, the revelation underscores just how much is yet to be negotiated and what's at stake for Britain's own union. It's a reminder too of the trust issues that have always plagued Johnson. How big a problem this becomes for him depends on the size of his majority if he wins. After that, much will depend on the EU, where he'll have to negotiate the terms of those frictions he denies will exist.To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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