| For Gaetz to raise Hunter Biden's substance abuse is 'the pot calling the kettle black,' Johnson says Posted: 12 Dec 2019 10:54 AM PST  The House Judiciary Committee debate over articles of impeachment against President Trump took an ugly turn Thursday when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., brought up Hunter Biden's past drug use.
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| Nearly 20% of workers illegally fired for union activity: report Posted: 12 Dec 2019 07:43 AM PST  A new report highlights that anti-union activities are on the rise.
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| Democrats say surprise move to postpone impeachment vote was to head off GOP strategy of dragging the vote into the middle of the night Posted: 12 Dec 2019 09:10 PM PST  Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN he suspected that the GOP wanted the vote to happen in the "thick of night."
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| Democrats say they won't cross picket line over union conflict at debate host site Posted: 13 Dec 2019 03:09 PM PST  A local union at Loyola Marymount University will picket at the university ahead of Thursday's debate.
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| The 10 Best Tech Gadgets of 2019 Posted: 13 Dec 2019 11:58 AM PST |
| Chile: Plane that vanished en route to Antarctica found Posted: 12 Dec 2019 07:37 AM PST  Searchers combing Antarctic seas have recovered parts of a military transport plane and human remains belonging to some of the 38 people aboard who vanished en route to the frozen continent, Chilean officials said Thursday. Air Force Gen. Arturo Merino said at a news conference that based on the condition of the remains, he believed it would be "practically impossible" that any survivors would be pulled from the water alive. An international team of searchers continued the hunt, while officials on shore said they would use DNA analysis to identify the crash victims.
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| In 2030, What Countries Will Have the Most Power Airforces? Posted: 12 Dec 2019 06:30 PM PST  We can tell you.
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| Meghan McCain Confronts Tom Steyer: ‘You Bought Your Way’ Onto Debate Stage Posted: 13 Dec 2019 09:30 AM PST  2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer got a warm welcome from every co-host of The View except one on Friday morning. "Mr. Steyer, between you and Mayor Bloomberg, you have now spent $200 million on political ads," Meghan McCain told their guest. "It hasn't really helped you very much in the polls, but you did make it to the next debate stage. I think you bought your way there, and I don't think it's fair that you're there and Cory Booker isn't. Change my mind." After letting out an uncomfortable chuckle, Steyer skirted the question by touting his message about a "broken" government "bought by corporations." When the candidate pointed out that he has been spending time in the early primary states—unlike that other billionaire—McCain shot back, "Cory Booker has too, who doesn't have $200 million." "I'm talking about breaking a corporate stranglehold on our government that is preventing it from acting on anything," Steyer said. "And no one can say that I have been purchased, but I also have 10 years of putting together coalitions like the people in this audience to stand up for our rights and to take on unchecked corporate power that has bought our government." "But it's good you have $100 million to buy Facebook ads to get you on a debate stage," McCain said, interrupting him. "I'm completely unconvinced by this, but we can move on." Later in the segment, after Steyer vowed to help elect whoever the Democratic nominee ends up being and reminded the hosts that he started "one of the biggest grassroots organizations in the United States," McCain came back with, "That doesn't make you a good politician, with all due respect." "Mayor Bloomberg was mayor for three terms, and so if you're going to go the billionaire route," she continued, with a dramatic eye roll, "he's a lot more compelling than you are." Meghan McCain: Greta Thunberg Didn't 'Earn' Person of the YearRead 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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| Turkey adds former Palestinian politician Dahlan to most wanted list Posted: 13 Dec 2019 04:26 AM PST  Turkey has added exiled Palestinian politician Mohammed Dahlan to its "red list" of most-wanted terrorism suspects, offering a reward of up to 10 million lira ($1.75 million) for information leading to his capture, the Interior Ministry said on Friday. Arrest warrants have been issued for Dahlan on accusations of playing a role in the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey, seeking to change the constitutional order by force, and various spying-related charges, the ministry said in a statement. Dahlan has also recently been an outspoken critic of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
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| McConnell Treads Gingerly on Impeachment as Trump Demands Flash Posted: 13 Dec 2019 10:13 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's showman instincts will be running up against Mitch McConnell's cautious management of the Senate as the two men with the most important relationship in Washington negotiate the terms of a high-stakes, election-year impeachment trial.Trump is accustomed to acting as his own chief strategist and spokesman. But the Senate is McConnell's domain. As he plots out Trump's impeachment trial, the majority leader is using his leverage to nudge a president -- who typically bends the Republican Party to his will -- toward bringing the process to a swift conclusion.An impeachment trial is all but certain to open in the Senate in January. The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment Friday morning, and the full House is tentatively set to hold a historic vote next Wednesday charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.Trump has expressed a desire for a lengthy impeachment trial with multiple witnesses who could air out his own narrative about election interference, accusations of Democratic corruption and the whistle-blower who's complaint about Trump's call with Ukraine's president triggered the impeachment inquiry."I'll do long or short. I've heard Mitch, I've heard Lindsey," Trump told reporters Friday at the White House, referring to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. "I think they are very much in agreement on some concept, I'll do whatever they want to do, it doesn't matter. I wouldn't mind a long process, because I'd like to see the whistleblower, who's a fraud."Still, Trump said, "I'll do whatever I want."Graham and other Senate Republicans are increasingly warming to the idea of a short, tightly orchestrated trial without calling witnesses to avoid unleashing an unpredictable circus that could tie up the chamber for weeks or months, even though the outcome -- Trump's eventual acquittal -- isn't really in doubt.The relationship between Trump and McConnell has had rough patches, especially early on in Trump's presidency. But it has also yielded major wins for both men: a historic number of conservative judges confirmed to the federal bench, a major cut in income tax rates and -- when Trump has listened to McConnell's advice -- deals on spending."I'm going to take my cues from the president's lawyers," McConnell told Fox News host Sean Hannity Thursday night. "You could certainly make a case for making it shorter rather than longer since it's such a weak case."White House and Senate GOP officials have been in regular contact about planning for the impeachment trial.Close Communication"We're having good close communication, conversation with Senate Republicans in the event the House goes ahead and actually produces articles of impeachment," White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland said after he and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone met with McConnell on Thursday. "We're going to continue to work closely with Senate Republicans as well as other members of Congress on the questions."Cipollone will argue on behalf of Trump during the Senate trial, according to a person familiar with the matter. It's not clear if Cipollone will act as sole counsel or as part of a group of lawyers.McConnell has already played one card in a bid to get Trump on board for a shorter trial. He said that final approval of a trade deal with Mexico and Canada that is high on Trump's priority list will be delayed until the impeachment trial ends.Still, the Kentucky Republican said in the end there would be no daylight between himself and Trump."Everything I do during this, I'm coordinating with White House counsel," he said. "There will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this."McConnell, who reiterated that he sees no chance of a conviction and removal of Trump, has made clear in recent days that if the White House -- or House Democrats -- want to call witnesses, they'll need to get 51 votes to do so.That means it's not up to McConnell alone to decide how the process unfolds, another point he can bring to bear when working with the White House.Josh Holmes, a former McConnell chief of staff who advises him on election strategy, said the majority leader wants to keep Republicans united and focused. The smoother the process, he said, the more likely he can do that. He noted that McConnell presides over a conference with little appetite for free-ranging and unpredictable proceedings.While Trump may be focused now on the impeachment process in the Democrat-led House, the endgame is clear."Acquittal is the desired outcome," Holmes said. Senators see that "as something that can be achieved without a big circus."Senator John Cornyn of Texas said he asked Cipollone at the Senate Republican lunch last week if the White House was focused on acquittal or a "messaging exercise.""He said we're not going to waste any time on anything that isn't directly relevant to the charges brought by the House and the president's defense," Cornyn said. "From my perspective that would mean a pretty efficient presentation, meaning witnesses would be deposed and then excerpts presented rather than call live witnesses, which might rival the three-ring circus we've seen in the House of Representatives."51 VotesCornyn said he expects that McConnell and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer will meet to see if they can work something out. "Having said all that, if 51 senators say they want to do something, they can."Early on in the process, McConnell rebuffed speculation that the Senate might simply dismiss the articles of impeachment without any trial at all. But he has not made any commitments about how it would be conducted or how long it might go.A number of Senate Republicans like Ted Cruz of Texas and John Kennedy of Louisiana say they would back Trump's call for witnesses and a lengthy defense if he desired."I think the Senate needs to respect the process and do a much better job than the House Democrats have done in conducting a fair trial," Cruz said. "That means both sides should be allowed to present their case, and if the president wants to call witnesses in his defense the Senate should allow him to do so."It's not clear that Trump would have the 51 votes he needs to call some witnesses he might want, such former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden and the anonymous whistle-blower who sparked the impeachment inquiry over Trump's push to have Ukraine investigate the Bidens.Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a potential swing vote on procedures, said she isn't yet announcing a position on which witnesses should be called. Two other Republicans who could be wild cards, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah, likewis2qae have said little on the subject of witnesses.Cornyn said McConnell's "message to me is that there's a bipartisan interest in doing our job, but not stringing this out to the exclusion of other important work."(Updates with Trump remarks in the fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Jordan Fabian and Josh Wingrove.To contact the reporters on this story: Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net;Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| California police officer involved in two fatal shootings in one year Posted: 13 Dec 2019 12:05 PM PST  A new report has found that a California police officer was involved in two fatal shootings in just one year, highlighting the deadly results of American police policies that generally allow officers to use deadly force when they deem necessary.In both instances, according to an analysis by the Washington Post, Ceres police officer Ross Bays shot at individuals who had stumbled out of a car and began running away — and experts say that the timing of the shootings should be worrisome, even though both were ultimately ruled justified.
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| Some 1,100 car shoppers said they'd rather buy an electric pickup truck from Ford or GM than Tesla's Cybertruck — but there's a silver lining for Tesla in the survey Posted: 12 Dec 2019 09:35 AM PST  Tesla's Cybertruck may have a hard time converting Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado owners, but it might open up a new segment of the pickup market.
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| Stomach flu outbreak terrorizes school in Washington state, sickening over 100 students, staff Posted: 13 Dec 2019 04:31 AM PST  A number of schools from Seattle Public Schools and Vancouver Public Schools were forced to close to disinfect and clean because of the outbreak.
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| The 7 candidates who qualified for the December debate Posted: 13 Dec 2019 02:40 AM PST  The next 2020 debate takes place December 19 and with a smaller group.
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| Death toll in aircraft carrier fire in Russia rises to 2 Posted: 13 Dec 2019 05:35 AM PST  A crew member who went missing during a fire on Russia's only aircraft carrier was found dead Friday, raising the death toll from the blaze to two, the nation's military officials said Friday. The fire on the Admiral Kuznetsov broke out during welding work at a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk on Thursday and spread quickly through the carrier's internal compartments. The military reported two crew members dead, and authorities in Murmansk said 11 other people were injured.
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| Dems: Postponing impeachment vote was tactical Posted: 13 Dec 2019 06:37 AM PST  After a marathon session of debate, the House Judiciary Committee abruptly postponed a historic vote late Thursday on articles of impeachment against President Trump.
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| Taiwan Still Has a Giant World War II-Era Artillery Gun (Pointed at China) Posted: 13 Dec 2019 12:49 AM PST  Could it fight?
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| The Tiny, Simple Nuclear Reactor That Could Change Energy Posted: 13 Dec 2019 03:31 PM PST  The next step in nuclear power is 1/100th the size of today's reactors.
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| Jamal Khashoggi: US spy chief given deadline to name Saudi writer's killers Posted: 12 Dec 2019 11:30 PM PST  * Trump ally Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accused * Congress gives intelligence chief 30 days to assign responsibilityUS intelligence agencies will be given a month to make a formal declaration on whether the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for the murder of the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi.The annual military spending bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), was passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives on Wednesday and is expected to be approved by the Senate next week before being signed into law by Donald Trump.In negotiations before the NDAA's passage, sections stipulating that Khashoggi's murderers be subject to punitive measures were stripped from the bill, on the insistence of the White House – as were clauses that would have cut US support for the Saudi war in Yemen.According to the New York Times, the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, took a leading role in negotiations on behalf of the White House, and was insistent that the punitive clauses on Saudi Arabia should be removed.But the final version of the bill retained language requiring the director of national intelligence (DNI) to present a formal determination within 30 days on who was responsible for the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October last year.In April, the US barred entry to 16 Saudis for their role in the murder plot, including one of the crown prince's closest aides, Saud al-Qahtani. This week, the state department added the former Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Mohammed al-Otaibi.In a closed-door briefing in December 2018, the CIA director, Gina Haspel, told senators that the agency was convinced the murder had been ordered by the crown prince (colloquially known by his initials MBS)."We know that the intelligence community has assessed with high confidence that MBS bears at least some responsibility for Khashoggi's murder and the cover-up that has followed," Tom Malinowski, the Democratic congressman from New Jersey who drafted the Saudi human rights accountability legislation, told the Guardian. "So if they answer the question, honestly, MBS will be on the list."The congressional demand for a formal declaration, will be a test of the independence of the office of the DNI, since the ousting of Dan Coats from the post in the summer. His former deputy, Joseph Maguire, has been acting in the position since August."I wouldn't be surprised if the White House put some pressure on the director of national intelligence to come to a different conclusion," Malinowski said. "So we'll be watching this with great interest. We do have the advantage of knowing in advance what the intelligence community thinks because they've already told us in a classified setting. So it will be quite striking if they tell us something that is different in response to this."Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA officer and Saudi expert, said that Haspel is likely to have given the agency's assessment of Prince Mohammed's role in the Khashoggi murder in verbal form to the Senate, leaving the intelligence community enough wiggle room to hand over a list of the names of suspects the US has already named, excluding the crown prince."I'm doubtful [the CIA assessment] was conveyed in a written product. More likely it was in answer to questions," Riedel said. He added that obscuring the crown prince's involvement "is going to be a tight line to run, but no doubt this administration will run it".He said that the White House would have found it more "problematic" to convince Coats to issue a determination to Trump's liking."The acting DNI is a fine person, but he's not going to fall on his sword, nor is the director of central intelligence," Riedel said.
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| Israel bars Gaza's Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas Posted: 12 Dec 2019 11:12 AM PST ![Israel bars Gaza's Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas]( "Israel bars Gaza's Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas") JERUSALEM/GAZA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday. Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to Israel and the occupied West Bank, home to many sites holy to Christians, a spokeswoman for Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians said.
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| Republican congressman publicly identifies purported whistleblower Posted: 12 Dec 2019 02:52 PM PST  On Wednesday, Rep. Louie Gohmert publicly named a person some Republicans and allies of President Trump claim is the alleged whistleblower who first brought the Trump-Ukraine scandal to light.
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| 29 photos show how climate change has ravaged the Arctic in the past decade Posted: 13 Dec 2019 12:14 PM PST  NOAA's Arctic Report Card warns that climate change is transforming the Arctic. These photos show its dire effects on the region so far this decade.
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| 5 things Republicans tried to change in the impeachment articles against Trump Posted: 13 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  Included in the amendments proposed by Republican members of the Judiciary Committee were efforts to remove both articles of impeachment altogether.
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| The 25 Best Adventure Games Posted: 12 Dec 2019 06:00 AM PST |
| As California thins forests to limit fire risk, some resist Posted: 12 Dec 2019 10:39 PM PST  Buzzing chainsaws are interrupted by the frequent crash of breaking branches as crews fell towering trees and clear tangled brush in the densely forested Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco. With California's increasingly warm, dry and overgrown landscape, wildfire has become a perpetual danger. State lawmakers committed more than $200 million annually to fire prevention efforts and Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend even more, motivated by infernos such as one last year that killed 85 people in Paradise, California, some who died in their cars while trying to flee.
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| Stealth Drones: Iran Has More Than The U.S. Navy To Worry About Posted: 11 Dec 2019 10:00 PM PST  Tehran is in a tough spot.
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| ‘Move to Canada’ searches spike after Tories win general election Posted: 13 Dec 2019 06:08 AM PST  Online searches for 'move to Canada' surged 49-fold in the wake of the Conservative's general election victory, according to data from Google.People seemingly unhappy with the prospect of another five years of Tory rule began searching for alternative countries as soon as the exit poll results were published on Thursday evening.
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| Heavy, gusty storms to rattle Florida, Georgia into Friday night Posted: 13 Dec 2019 09:21 AM PST  While an outbreak of severe weather is not anticipated, storms capable of producing strong gusts and flash flooding will pester parts of the southeastern United States into Friday night.The thunderstorms are part of a large and strengthening storm that is producing an expanding swath of heavy rain in the eastern third of the nation. The risk is greatest from the central part of the Florida Peninsula to southeastern Georgia and the immediate coast of South Carolina. The risk also extends westward over part of the Florida Panhandle as well.People in this area should keep an eye on the weather. Heavy, gusty thunderstorms can briefly become severe with high winds, small hail and perhaps an isolated tornado. A satellite image showing precipitation over the southeastern U.S. on Friday, December 13, 2019, around midday. (AccuWeather) What adds to the threat is the likelihood of storms developing after dark Friday.By Saturday, dry air is forecast to sweep from west to east across the region and end the thunderstorm threat.Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| The dream is dead: Johnson election triumph breaks UK 'remainer' hearts Posted: 12 Dec 2019 07:53 PM PST  After all the arguments and all the mass marches, opponents of Brexit faced a stark truth on Friday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's election landslide: there will be no second referendum and divorce from Europe is inevitable. With the Conservatives set to win their largest parliamentary majority since 1987, Johnson will be able to push his divorce deal through parliament, allowing Britain to leave the EU next month. It will be Britain's most significant geopolitical move since World War Two.
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| Spokane Cop Accused of Sex Assault Finally Loses Pay After More Accusers Come Forward Posted: 13 Dec 2019 10:32 AM PST  A Washington state police officer once told a coworker he would "say exactly what's on my mind, unless I'm on body camera." This week, his boast came back to haunt him. The Spokane Police Department suspended Officer Nathan Nash without pay after a domestic violence victim accused him of assaulting her, and a police investigation found he had turned off his body camera during the event.The investigation began in October, when a domestic violence victim told the police department Nash had sexually assaulted her in a follow-up call to her house. The woman says she called Nash to ask about the location of her evidence photos, according to court documents obtained by KXLY. Nash allegedly asked her to meet in a private place to "go over the bruises on her body" and then pressed her to let him come over before her mother returned. On his way to the woman's apartment, Nash allegedly turned off both his body camera and tracking equipment, resulting in a 36-minute location gap that a police analyst later described as "peculiar." Once inside, the woman says, Nash followed her into her bedroom and directed her to take off her pants and underwear. She told investigators she was confused by the request, but complied because he was a police officer. The woman says Nash then penetrated her with his fingers for 30 seconds to a minute. She says she panicked, but thought it might be what he was supposed to do. Eventually, she says she told Nash "OK, that's enough." She later told investigators the alleged assault was the worst thing that has ever happened" to her.Before leaving, the woman says, he gave her his personal cellphone number. He did not photograph or otherwise document her bruises.When questioned by investigators, Nash blamed the incident on the domestic violence victim, suggesting that she had come on to him and become "embarrassed, mad, or upset," when he ended the sexual contact, according to court documents. He added that the police department's body camera manual was more than 100 pages and "there's no way I'm gonna know all that content." In a statement after Nash's arrest, his personal attorney Rocco Treppiedi said Nash "categorically denies the allegation of sexual assault and any criminal activity." "Ofc. Nash considered the additional evidence she provided, and immediately followed up on the information she provided," Treppiedi said. Nash's attorneys did not respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment.In the weeks after the initial report, two more women came forward with concerns about Nash. One was a second domestic violence victim, who told investigators that Nash had come on to her while he was investigating her complaint in May. During a visit to her home, the woman said, Nash made a point of turning off his bodycam, then gave her his personal cellphone number and said he would respond faster than 911. Over the following weeks, she says he friended her on Facebook and started liking photos of her in lingerie, and sending her "creepy" and "needy" messages. According to court documents, she told investigators she felt he "had a hidden agenda of starting a relationship with her."A police department volunteer also complained about Nash, claiming he had given her his personal number and sent her inappropriate texts, including a Jeopardy-themed message reading, "Things I would like to do to you for $600," and "Answer: what is a naked back rub?""I'm too old to play games, no need in beating around the bush," Nash allegedly wrote in another message. "I just say exactly what's on my mind, unless I'm on body camera."Nash was arrested on Nov. 22 and pleaded not guilty to second- and third-degree rape and official misconduct. His trial is set to begin in February.Nash was originally placed on administrative leave while the investigation progressed. This week, the police department put him on "unpaid lay-off status," meaning he will not work or be paid until the outcome of his case is determined. If he is found not guilty, he will be reinstated while the department investigates whether he violated any department policy, City spokesperson Marlene Feist told local news station KREM."The alleged conduct is completely unacceptable and in absolute conflict with the high standards of the Spokane Police Department," Chief Craig Meidl said in a press release. "Our men and women took an oath to protect and serve the community in which we live. We will not shy away from that oath and it will be upheld."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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| The US and NATO are preparing for Russia to go after troops in the field and at home Posted: 13 Dec 2019 07:43 AM PST  NATO is designed for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace operations, but on the fringes of those, hybrid activity poses a new kind of challenge.
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| 'Pot calling the kettle black': Rep. Gaetz gets scolded for bringing up Hunter Biden's substance abuse Posted: 12 Dec 2019 10:40 AM PST !['Pot calling the kettle black': Rep. Gaetz gets scolded for bringing up Hunter Biden's substance abuse]( "'Pot calling the kettle black': Rep. Gaetz gets scolded for bringing up Hunter Biden's substance abuse") The remarkable exchange occurred during the House Judiciary's markup of articles of impeachment against Trump.
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| Ocasio-Cortez condemns 'white supremacist sympathizer' Tucker Carlson Posted: 12 Dec 2019 08:04 AM PST  Top Democrat says host's Fox News show an 'hour-long production of unmitigated racism' after racist and xenophobic debateDemocratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has condemned Fox News and Tucker Carlson, calling the TV host a "white supremacist sympathizer" and saying his show represents an "hour-long production of unmitigated racism".The comments came following a segment on Carlson's show in which he and his guest, City Journal editor Seth Barron, commented on footage of an unremarkable amount of trash on the streets of Ocasio-Cortez's New York City district and blamed it on immigrants, whom Barron said had "occupied" the district and made it "one of the least American districts in the country".Carlson asked: "How can we take seriously anything she says about the environment when this is her congressional district? She should be ashamed of this."Using racist and xenophobic tropes, Barron responded that "her district is actually one of the least American districts in the country, and by that, I don't mean that it's not part of America, but it's occupied by relatively few American citizens."He went on: "The way they inhabit housing there is such that they live in a lot of illegal spaces like basements, and many people live there, so they wind up producing a lot of garbage that the landlords don't want thrown out normally. Hence, you wind up with a lot of garbage on the streets. You have illegal food vendors pouring their pig grease in the gutters."It was unclear where he was getting this information from.Carlson and his guests, much like the president, frequently imply that immigrants are making the country "poorer and dirtier".Carlson has called the idea of white supremacy in America a hoax.On Wednesday night on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez shared video of the segment and wrote: "I go back and forth on whether to go on Fox News."She said: "The main reason I haven't is squaring the fact that the ad revenue from it bankrolls a white supremacist sympathizer to broadcast an hour-long production of unmitigated racism, without any accountability whatsoever."She added: "'Immigrants are dirty' is a lazy, tired, racist trope."Barron later apologized on Twitter, saying he had not done "justice to a complicated issue" of crowded housing conditions.
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| George P. Bush says GOP can't let 'racist' episodes slide Posted: 12 Dec 2019 01:28 PM PST  Republican George P. Bush, the only member of the Bush dynasty still in public office, condemned Thursday recurring episodes of what he described as racist or hateful rhetoric within the Texas GOP, and ripped what he called false accusations fanned by his Hispanic heritage. Bush, Texas' land commissioner, first denounced a white GOP state legislator who suggested "Asian" challengers on the ballot in 2020 were motivated by race.
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| Bad News for Taiwan: China Has Russia's S-400 Missiles Posted: 12 Dec 2019 10:00 AM PST  RIP Taipei's Air Force?
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| Pompeo warns Iran of 'decisive response' if harm in Iraq Posted: 13 Dec 2019 12:58 PM PST  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday warned Iran of a "decisive" response if US interests are harmed in Iraq, after a series of rocket attacks on bases. "We must... use this opportunity to remind Iran's leaders that any attacks by them, or their proxies of any identity, that harm Americans, our allies or our interests will be answered with a decisive US response," Pompeo said in a statement. "Iran must respect the sovereignty of its neighbors and immediately cease its provision of lethal aid and support to third parties in Iraq and throughout the region," he said.
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| Small plane makes emergency landing on California interstate Posted: 12 Dec 2019 07:38 PM PST  The single-engine Cessna had two people on board when it landed on Interstate 5's center divider in Carlsbad as smoke filled the cockpit. Both were unhurt.
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| Jersey City shooter was Army veteran with a lengthy criminal history Posted: 12 Dec 2019 03:36 PM PST  David Anderson, was arrested at least five times since 2003, the year he was discharged from the Army, records show.
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| Jo Swinson resigns as Liberal Democrat leader after losing her seat in a shock general election result Posted: 13 Dec 2019 02:37 AM PST  Swinson lost her seat to the Scottish National Party in a shock general election result.
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| McDonald’s Wins High-Stakes Labor Battle With Help From White House Posted: 12 Dec 2019 02:19 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- In a television commercial that's become part of the lore surrounding Donald Trump's affinity for McDonald's Corp., he embraced a purple, lumpy denizen of the fast-food chain's "McDonaldland" and said, "Together, Grimace, we could own this town."He was talking about New York, not Washington. Yet on Thursday, some 17 years after he appeared in that spot for the "Big 'N' Tasty" sandwich, President Trump's appointees delivered a high-stakes political victory for McDonald's in one of the most important labor disputes in decades.The national board that referees union-organizing drives effectively absolved the company of liability for alleged labor-law violations in some of its franchisees' restaurants, easing a major threat to the fast-food giant's business structure. Trump's appointees overrode an agency judge and rebuffed ethical concerns raised by labor advocates to approve a group of settlements in the matter on a 2-1 decision. The deal resolves allegations of wrongdoing without holding the corporation legally liable as "joint employer" with its franchisees.The victory, which eluded McDonald's during Obama's presidency, could help the fast-food giant close a bruising chapter in its history that imperiled its valuable brand as well as the franchise structure it's built on. In an emailed statement, McDonald's Corp. said it was "pleased" that the case had been concluded, and that the decision "allows our franchisees and their employees to move forward, and resolves all matters without any admission of wrongdoing."Separately, top administration officials, including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, are pushing to enact new, more lenient rules that would help insulate McDonald's and similar chains from liability for the conduct of their franchisees. "President Trump has made deregulation a priority across the administration, which has helped unleash unprecedented economic and job growth," White House spokesman Judd Deere said.There's no sign that Trump has personally intervened in the NLRB's McDonald's case. Regardless, the case stands apart—both in terms of its history and its potential repercussions.During a messy, multi-year saga, the company became a focal point in the "Fight for $15" movement to increase pay and unionize fast-food workers, among others. As protests engulfed McDonald's restaurants, a corporate team responded by organizing a central effort to help franchisees push back against the union, according to evidence submitted in the case. Workers eventually complained to the NLRB, alleging that the tactics franchisees used amounted to illegal retaliation for engaging in federally protected union activities. In 2014, the board's general counsel found enough merit in the workers' claims to issue formal complaints against a group of franchisees, complaints that also accused McDonald's of acting as a "joint employer" with them. McDonald's and the franchisees have denied any illegal retaliation or other unfair practices. McDonald's has called the allegations baseless and argued that it can't be legally held responsible for decisions of its franchisees, who run more than 90% of McDonald's restaurants and set their own wages and hiring practices. Franchisees denied the allegations as well. In the board's ruling Thursday, two Trump appointees approved proposed settlements that provide back pay to McDonald's workers but do not hold McDonald's Corp. liable as a "joint employer." In their decision, the members wrote that the deal would "remedy every violation alleged" in the government's complaints against McDonald's."Moreover, we conclude that further litigation would impose a substantial burden on the parties, without a significant probability of prevailing on the complaint's joint-employer allegation," board members Marvin Kaplan and William Emanuel said in the ruling.Union advocates had lodged a formal petition with the board arguing that Emanuel needed to recuse from the case because he worked at a law firm that McDonald's hired to counter the Fight for $15 organizing and protest efforts.Emanuel "has considered the motion and has determined, in consultation with the Board's Designated Agency Ethics Official, not to recuse himself," according to the ruling, which noted that his firm had not been representing McDonald's or franchisees in the NLRB case itself. Last month, Board Chairman John Ring — who also came from a law firm that has worked for McDonald's — revamped ethics policies that might have made it harder for him or Emanuel to participate in the case. As it turned out, Ring was not part of the three-member panel that ruled on the McDonald's decision.In a dissent, the NLRB's sole Democrat, Lauren McFerran, said the settlements were "unreasonable," and that with McDonald's joint-employer status unaddressed, "it is likely that similar issues will arise in the future."The decision represents a setback for the Service Employees International Union, which since 2012 has backed the "Fight for $15" protests. The SEIU's president, Mary Kay Henry, pledged to appeal any adverse decision."It's going to take a lot more than a politically motivated decision on behalf of a Trump administration doing McDonald's bidding to stop the workers of the Fight for $15," Henry said in a statement.The board's vote also means that the corporation's moves to help resist the protests and unionization effort have received, more or less, tacit acceptance from federal regulators. Those tactics, which were discussed by and, at times, coordinated by regional executives of the company, included gathering intelligence from a cashier who attended a union meeting as a mole, circulating names of suspected pro-union workers and coaching a franchisee on how to avoid hiring union sympathizers, according to excerpts from thousands of previously unreported documents and internal emails. The documents, which were provided to the NLRB by McDonald's and several franchisees under a federal judge's subpoena, reveal an inside look at how McDonald's corporate staff members worked with franchisees on strategies to fight the union.McDonald's didn't respond to specific questions about several allegations, but said in a statement to Bloomberg News that the case is "incredibly complex" and that the "evidence is vast and complicated, and requires significant context to accurately and responsibly consider." The company took issue with Bloomberg's summary of that evidence, saying, "What you have highlighted are selective allegations and asserted them as facts, when there has been no judicial decision or review." Last year, as she rejected a proposed settlement in the case, an administrative judge for the NLRB found that the case contained "copious evidence pertinent to McDonald's activities in order to provide resources and support for its franchisees throughout the country in response to the Fight for $15 campaign." Specifically, Judge Lauren Esposito wrote that the case included "evidence that McDonald's response to the Fight for $15 campaign was formulated and implemented from its corporate headquarters." On Thursday, the board ordered her to accept the settlement.The joint-employer question at the heart of the NLRB case carries profound implications. In 2015, in a different case that didn't involve McDonald's, the NLRB issued a ruling that would make it easier to hold companies accountable for franchisees' mistreatment of workers. By 2017, that issue was seen as so dire—not just for McDonald's, but for franchise operations generally—that the then-chair of the International Franchise Association compared it to the 9/11 terror attacks. While fighting McDonald's at the NLRB, the union has opened other fronts too, arguing the company should share any liability for a range of alleged transgressions inside franchised stores. Recently, dozens of workers have alleged sexual harassment in the chain's restaurants in lawsuits or complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In August, McDonald's announced an "operator-led, company-supported" training initiative for 850,000 workers across the country to help ensure "safe and respectful" workplaces.Last month, amid that latest rash of allegations, the company fired Chief Executive Stephen Easterbrook for engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee, a violation of company policy. During his almost five-year tenure atop McDonald's, Easterbrook presided over a sharp rise in the company's share price—despite a decline in annual revenue to about $21 billion from $25 billion. The revenue changes stem from a "refranchising" strategy to sell corporate-owned stores to independent owners that began in 2015, according to McDonald's. Over the same period, annual profit margins surged to about 28% from 17%, a jump driven partly by new innovations such as all-day breakfast, touch-screen ordering kiosks and home delivery.But in time, overseeing the company's reversal of fortune in Washington—and preserving the liability buffer between the corporate headquarters and the franchisees—may be viewed as Easterbrook's most lasting impact. After being targeted by the Fight for $15 campaign for years, this March McDonald's announced that it would no longer fund lobbying efforts to prevent minimum wage increases. The company said in a letter that it would continue talking to lawmakers about how any increases should work, including that "all industries should be treated the same way." In its statement, the company said it has "made significant investments in our people practices to provide employees at both McDonald's corporate-owned and franchise locations with opportunities for competitive wages, education and safe and respectful workplaces."Average starting pay at its corporate-owned restaurants is $10 an hour, the company said—well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour but well below the fought-for $15. The average starting wage equates to $20,800 over a year's worth of 40-hour weeks. "While franchisees control wages in their restaurants, we believe they are similar and competitive," the company said.Most people remember Ray Kroc, who took McDonald's from a small, California-based chain to a global fast-food empire, for innovations in franchising, but he also pioneered the low-wage fast-food job. As he oversaw the chain's proliferation nationwide, the new restaurants staffed up with low-wage workers, many of them teenagers. Today, teens are a declining share of the food-service workforce; 18% of restaurant workers are aged 16 to 19, down from 20% in 2008, according to the National Restaurant Association, which projects additional declines by 2026. About 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are franchises, a structure that keeps the company relatively asset-light and low-risk. The Trump administration is working on new rules that would reduce legal exposure for corporate franchisers. The proposals would make it harder, for example, to hold McDonald's Corp. liable, along with franchisees, if kitchen managers are accused of sexual harassment or workers claim they weren't paid overtime. The structure also makes it nearly impossible for workers at franchised restaurants to win the right to bargain collectively with McDonald's executives—unless the NLRB determines that the corporation is indeed the workers' "joint employer." Without that, or a negotiated deal between the company and the union, any organizing effort would have to take place in pieces, franchise by franchise. The risk that the corporation could simply drop any unionized franchise would make that even harder to accomplish.Over the years, the company has weathered its share of public relations challenges. French anti-globalization radicals bombed its restaurants. Animal-rights extremists distributed "Unhappy Meals" with a plastic chicken covered in fake blood. The 2001 book Fast Food Nation tied McDonald's to the obesity epidemic. But the Fight for $15 movement took place on a scale the company hadn't seen before.Beginning in 2012, in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, a union-backed drive immersed McDonald's restaurants in street protests that eventually spread globally. Protesters jammed drive-thrus, chanted in restaurants, banged on windows and stood atop tables. Corporate executives monitored developments as managers helped orchestrate a years-long anti-union response across the U.S., according to an analysis of thousands of pages of documents filed in the national labor board's case. In 2014, the NLRB's Obama-era general counsel alleged that the company's subsidiary, McDonald's USA LLC, was liable as a joint employer for a nationwide pattern of anti-union activity that included franchisees making threats, conducting surveillance, cutting work hours and firing workers who sought better pay and working conditions.Signs of unionizing efforts began emerging in October 2012, as reflected in a memo about organizing activity that circulated via McDonald's internal email. "Seems to be affiliation with Occupy Wall Street movement," said the document, which was in an email from a senior director of human resources. Soon, notes about the union showed up on an internal McDonald's "activity log." Said one entry: "White male talking to employees about affordable housing and asking questions about pay. Repeatedly in restaurant."After word of an upcoming union meeting surfaced, a cashier at one New York City McDonald's acted as a mole for the company, records show. She attended the meeting in Harlem, and by the next day, she shared her findings: About a dozen workers signed up to be union leaders, a report on the incident said."They said McD makes $Billions + only pay minimum wage," the worker reported. "… Focus seems to be on young, attractive female cashiers that speak English well …."On Nov. 29, 2012, the Fight for $15 campaign made its first public splash with protests at fast-food restaurants across New York City as workers at McDonald's and other chains went on strike for the day. From there, protests spread nationwide, fueled by old-school organizing and social-media messaging. At the time, McDonald's had only a sparse social-media team and had yet to match the union in that capacity, according to two people familiar with the company's operations.The company created fast, effective communications channels with franchisees to discuss the union's activities. In emails and text messages, its managers made plans to combat "the opposition" and emphasized that some messages needed to be secret."There is a sense of urgency regarding the gathering of this intel so that we can plan and prep the operators …," said one email from a human resources director. "As a tip, you can text your operators regarding this message, however you have to instruct them to ERASE the message and response back to you, and you will need to do the same." McDonald's didn't respond to questions about why recipients were advised to erase messages.In addition to a cadre of labor lawyers and several public relations firms, McDonald's worked with "union avoidance" strategists, records show. In one case, a regional executive shared with a franchisee strategies on how to identify and avoid "salts," or people who try to get hired in order to help organize a workplace. Federal law restricts the organized avoidance of such hires.Corporate employees circulated names of workers thought to be supporting the union. Once, in 2013, the company dispatched a "mobile security detail" to several Manhattan franchisees' restaurants after receiving what an internal email described as "intel" about a possible Fight for $15 rally. The company told Bloomberg News that at times "security may be necessary on-site at restaurants for the safety of our property, customers and/or employees."More than once, a regional McDonald's executive organized gatherings in downtown Chicago for franchisees to discuss the situation, internal emails show. Their choice of venue? A Ronald McDonald House, part of the nonprofit foundation whose stated mission is to "improve the health and well-being of children and their families."Since the unionization drive began, dozens of workers have filed complaints with the NLRB alleging elements of an anti-union culture in McDonald's restaurants. Emmanuel Flores, 28, told Bloomberg he saw just such a culture firsthand at a company-owned restaurant in Monterey Park, California.Flores said he endured months of lewd comments, sexual overtures and groping from supervisors and co-workers. Early this year, on the advice of a union organizer, he told his store manager about it.The next day, Flores said, his shift hours were cut. Days later, during an informal staff meeting with him and other workers, the manager compared union activists to "leeches" and said "that even if we got paid $15 an hour, it wouldn't matter because she would cut our hours," Flores said. Flores filed complaints with California officials and the EEOC, and he was named as a witness in a retaliation complaint that the union filed with the NLRB. Trump's fondness for McDonald's is no secret. During his 2016 campaign, it was part of his standard fare; one order consisted of "two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted,'' wrote his former campaign aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie in their 2017 book, Let Trump Be Trump.McDonald's soon met with senior members of the new administration. In July 2017, Trump's first labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, sat down for dinner at The Smith, a popular restaurant near Capitol Hill, with Easterbrook and Sam Tatevosyan, the company's top lobbyist, according to the official Department of Labor calendar. The next day, Acosta and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin spoke at a McDonald's lobbying summit, records show. Acosta declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mnuchin.McDonald's said it hosts both Democrats and Republicans for such Washington meetings. "The company traditionally invites officials from the current administration to discuss topics relevant to the business—and did the same during the Obama administration," the company said. Once Trump's appointees began taking office, McDonald's sought to end its long struggle at the NLRB. In December 2017, a lawyer for the company emailed a letter to the board's new general counsel, Peter Robb. Robb prosecuted a landmark case against the American air traffic controllers' union during President Ronald Reagan's administration. The union was found to have engaged in an illegal strike, and Reagan fired more than 11,000 workers, a lasting blow to the American labor movement."Our request is straightforward," said the McDonald's letter, a copy of which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. "We ask that you use your prosecutorial discretion to end this waste of taxpayer resources and consider what your predecessor would not consider—a global resolution of the underlying unfair labor practice allegations." The lawyer asked for a resolution that would not designate McDonald's a "joint employer."Within a few months, the company got what it asked for: Robb's office offered to settle the case with no joint-employer finding. The proposed settlement would have provided back pay to about 20 workers, in amounts ranging from about $30 to $50,000, and it required no admission of any wrongdoing. But the administrative judge overseeing the case, Esposito, rejected the settlement, calling it too lenient on the company.The White House in effect aided McDonald's in other ways. According to people who've worked in the administration, Acosta drew Mulvaney's ire for dragging his feet on Labor Department rule changes, including making the agency's "joint employer" standard more lenient. Colleagues thought Acosta was too concerned about provoking congressional Democrats, according to two people familiar with the situation. Trump's aides repeatedly pressed Acosta's staff during White House meetings about the status of the rules—and Mulvaney largely replaced Acosta in the process, taking final say over the new rules' content and timing, the people said. Mulvaney tends to get more involved in policy than previous chiefs of staff because of his dual role as White House budget director, according to a White House official who spoke on background. When his Office of Management and Budget pushes back on an agency's work, it's for good reasons, the official said.At the NLRB, Trump appointees have attempted to defang the joint-employer threat, despite encountering ethical snags. The Board tried in 2017 to overturn an Obama-era precedent on the issue, but then had to quickly invalidate that change after the agency's ethics officer found that one of Trump's appointees, Emanuel, had wrongly failed to recuse himself. The board is now trying to change the standard using its rulemaking authority instead.Meanwhile, Robb has asked board members to overturn the judge's rejection of his proposed McDonald's settlement. Union advocates lodged a formal petition with the board, arguing that two of Trump's appointees must recuse themselves from the case because they worked at law firms that McDonald's hired to counter the Fight for $15 organizing and protest efforts.On Nov. 19, the board's Trump-appointed chairman, John Ring, released what he called a "first of its kind" internal ethics review, which clears a path for the board to set aside such objections. Ring is one of the two board members who've been urged to recuse; while he came to the board from a law firm that worked for McDonald's, there's no evidence that he personally worked for the company.Ring's unusual "ethics recusal report" last month concluded that each NLRB member can "insist on participating" in cases even if federal ethics officials say otherwise. While the ethics officials' decisions may be binding, they're not "self-enforcing," the report found. So NLRB board members can overrule them simply by disagreeing with their legal conclusions, Ring wrote. He didn't respond to a request for comment.The McDonald's case has generated 21,000 pages of trial transcript, with testimony from more than 100 witnesses. Judge Esposito called it "the largest case ever adjudicated by this agency." The union's pledge to appeal Thursday's decision suggests that it could go on for years to come.For now, at least, the company has friends in the White House. In April, Mulvaney spoke at McDonald's latest lobbying event, where the joint-employer issue was a key topic. He wore a tie the color of the golden arches.—With assistance from Leslie Patton and Ben Penn. (Updates throughout with labor board's decision. An earlier version of this story was updated with additional comment from McDonald's on refranchising strategy)To contact the authors of this story: Lauren Etter in Los Angeles at letter1@bloomberg.netJosh Eidelson in Palo Alto at jeidelson@bloomberg.netHassan Kanu in Arlington at hkanu2@bloomberg.netMichael Smith in Miami at mssmith@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: John Voskuhl at jvoskuhl@bloomberg.net, Flynn McRobertsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Man dresses as mother to take driving test after she failed three times Posted: 13 Dec 2019 03:23 AM PST  A man has been arrested for attempting to take a driving test on his mother's behalf – by dressing like her in a bold attempt to fool examiners.Heitor Márcio Schiave, 43, wore a stuffed bra, floral top, long skirt, earrings, and a handbag to impersonate his mother at the State Department of Traffic in Novo Mutum Parana, in the Brazilian Amazon.
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| Catholic dioceses spar over Archbishop Sheen sainthood Posted: 12 Dec 2019 12:34 PM PST  In an unusual public spat, the Roman Catholic diocese of Peoria, Illinois, is accusing the Rochester, New York, diocese of trying to "sabotage" the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Sheen, who before his death in 1979 was famous for his radio and TV preaching, had been scheduled to be beatified — the last step before sainthood — in a ceremony in Peoria on Dec. 21.
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| US warnings over spate of Iranian-backed rocket attacks on its bases in Iraq Posted: 12 Dec 2019 07:02 AM PST  Attacks on bases hosting US-led coalition forces by Iranian-armed militias are heading towards a red line for the coalition, who would respond with such force that "no one would like the outcome," a senior US official warned on Wednesday. Just hours later a further two rockets hit near the military section of Baghdad airport. The attack is the tenth of its type since October, targeting joint US-Iraqi military facilities that host forces from the US-led coalition to defeat Isil. Speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, the US official reportedly said that while there were no claims of responsibility for the attacks, intelligence and forensic analyses indicated Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia groups are behind them. The Iraqi paramilitary groups and the US are trading blame on the series of attacks. "We're waiting for full evidence...If past is prologue, I'd say there's a good chance it was Iran that's behind it," David Schenker, the US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters last Friday. Two further attacks have happened since. The rocket attacks come amid US accusations that Iran has capitalised on the continued unrest in Iraq to secretly move short-range ballistic missiles into the country. The Trump administration hit Iran with fresh sanctions on Wednesday in an effort to intensify their "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. The sanctions target several transportation firms in the Islamic Republic, including the state-shipping line, as well as a China-based company that has been involved in delivering missile parts to Iran. Piling economic sanctions and ramped up rhetoric have been a pillar of the "maximum pressure" campaign since Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018. Iran has since taken several major steps away from the deal amid fears of a war with the US, further exacerbating tensions. An attack on Monday saw four Katyusha rockets hit a base near Baghdad airport, wounding five members of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service. A larger 240-millimetre rocket was used in a similar attack near the airport on Friday, which is thought to have not been used in Iraq since 2011.
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| GOP lawmaker fires back after being accused of downplaying Ukrainian deaths Posted: 13 Dec 2019 04:57 AM PST  Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, fired back at a Democratic colleague in one of the more testy exchanges in the 14 hours of debate during Thursday's impeachment hearing.
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| Spain pledges funds for asylum seekers as Latin American arrivals spike Posted: 13 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST ![Spain pledges funds for asylum seekers as Latin American arrivals spike]( "Spain pledges funds for asylum seekers as Latin American arrivals spike") The Spanish government on Friday authorized nearly 150 million euros ($165 million) in subsidies to ease the strain on its migrant-processing system after a recent spike in arrivals from Latin America overwhelmed its social services. Government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa, who announced the measure at a weekly briefing, said the subsidies will be complemented by 25 million euros from European funds. Provoked by national crises in Spanish-speaking countries like Venezuela and Colombia, the number of people seeking asylum in Spain has skyrocketed.
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| Rashida Tlaib Blames Black Nationalist’s Jersey City Killing Spree on ‘White Supremacy’ Posted: 12 Dec 2019 09:22 AM PST  Democratic Representative Rashida Tlai on Wednesday blamed "white supremacy" for Tuesday's deadly shooting in Jersey City perpetrated by a couple with suspected ties to a black supremacist group."This is heartbreaking. White supremacy kills," the Michigan Democrat wrote in a since-deleted tweet addressing the shooting. Tlaib deleted her tweet later on Thursday.A man and woman exited a stolen van Tuesday afternoon and fired gunshots into a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, killing a police detective and three others. Investigators believe the couple were former members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group known to have antipathy towards white and Jewish people. The couple were shot and killed on the scene.Authorities said the male shooter had previously posted anti-Semitic content online and had targeted the kosher grocery store. Law enforcement investigating Tuesday's shooting also discovered a pipe bomb in the stolen vehicle the couple drove. The male suspect, 47, was an Army veteran previously incarcerated for a weapons offense, and the female suspect, 50, was his girlfriend."From our standpoint, there is no question that this is a hate crime," Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop said.Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim congresswomen, has been vocal in calling out others she believes are engaging in racism, including President Trump."This President targeted people solely based on their ethic background, their faith, disability, sexual orientation and even source of income," the congresswoman charged on Tuesday.
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| Israel hails Johnson win as defeat for anti-Semitism Posted: 13 Dec 2019 06:39 AM PST  Israel Friday hailed the election defeat of Britain's Labour Party as a "milestone in the fight against hatred" after its leadership was accused of inaction against anti-Semitism in its ranks. "The spectre of anti-Semitism loomed large over this campaign, and the British public overwhelmingly voted against it," Katz said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added his plaudits.
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| US soldiers and airmen helped clean up Venice after the historic city was hit by the worst flooding in 53 years Posted: 12 Dec 2019 01:15 PM PST  Fifteen airmen, 14 soldiers, and three military family members and civilians helped Venetians clean up after the flood.
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