| Williamson lays off entire campaign staff, Castro exits race Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:34 PM PST  Former housing secretary and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro dropped out of the Democratic race for president Thursday and spiritualist author Marianne Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff amid rumors she was close to ending her campaign.
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| Police: Psychic said girl was possessed, scammed mom of $70K Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:39 AM PST  Tracy Milanovich, 37, of Somerset, is charged with obtaining property by trick, along with larceny and witness intimidation, Somerset police said in a statement Thursday. Police started investigating Dec. 17 when the alleged victim reported that she was tricked by Milanovich into handing over large sums of cash along with household items, including towels and bedding, to battle the demon. The allegations date to Nov. 15, when the woman first went to Milanovich's business, Tracy's Psychic Palm Reader, for a tarot card reading, police said in their report.
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| Iran vows to avenge Soleimani death in 'right place and time' Posted: 03 Jan 2020 08:10 AM PST  Iran's top security body vowed to retaliate in the "right place and time" after the United States killed Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday. "America should know that its criminal attack on General Soleimani has been the country's biggest mistake in west Asia, and America will not avoid the consequences of this wrong calculation easily," the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement. "These criminals will face severe vengeance... in the right place and time," it added after holding an extraordinary meeting following Soleimani's death.
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| China seeks to identify cause of mystery pneumonia infecting 44 Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:04 AM PST ![China seeks to identify cause of mystery pneumonia infecting 44]( "China seeks to identify cause of mystery pneumonia infecting 44") Chinese health authorities are trying to identify what is causing an outbreak of pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan, officials said on Friday, as the tally of cases rose to 44 and Singapore said it would screen arrivals on flights from there. The World Health Organization said it was aware of the reports, is monitoring the situation and is in contact with the Chinese government about it. Chinese municipal health officials in Wuhan said in a statement on their website on Friday that they had ruled out common respiratory diseases, such as influenza, bird flu and adenovirus infection, as the cause.
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| Florida Poised to Surpass New York in Congressional Seats Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:58 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Florida is expected to control more seats in the U.S. Congress than New York after April's decennial census, according to a study by Election Data Services Inc.New York and California are projected to each lose a U.S. congressional seat due to population declines, while Texas and Florida, which are attracting more residents, will be among the biggest winners.Since the census is just four months away, "we are now at a place where the rubber meets the road," said Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services Inc., a political consulting firm specializing in redistricting and analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Population projections could still change which states are affected by the estimates, he added.In all, 15 states may be affected by the once-a-decade congressional reapportionment, according to the estimates, which are based on newly available U.S. Census population data and projected forward to 2020. Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon are each expected to gain a single seat while Florida would gain two and Texas three.The loss of a seat in California would be the first since statehood in 1850. It will still be the most populous U.S. state and remain the largest delegation with 52 congressional districts.After the 2020 congressional apportionment, Florida is projected to have a larger delegation than New York, with 29 seats compared to New York's 26. They each now have 27.New York peaked at 45 seats after the 1940 census. The Empire State, which was 577,000 more populous than Florida as of the 2010 census, is now more than 2 million people behind the Sunshine State.Among states with a diminished role, California and New York will be joined by Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia which are each projected to lose one seat.The number of House seats is capped at 435. Each state has two U.S. senators and at least one House seat, regardless of population.After the 2010 census, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia all gained seats. Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts lost seats.The U.S. Census Bureau projected the U.S. population at 330,222,422 on Jan. 1, 2020. This represents an increase of 21,476,884 or 7% since the last decennial count in 2010.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah McGregor at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net, Anita Sharpe, Jeff KearnsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A F-22 Raptor Snuck Right Underneath an Iranian Fighter Jet Posted: 03 Jan 2020 10:00 AM PST  In a war, Iran won't know what hit them.
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| Trump’s Biggest Fox News Boosters Suddenly Stop Railing Against ‘Deep State’ Intelligence Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:41 PM PST  Suddenly, it appears the U.S. intelligence community is back in good standing over at Fox News.Since Trump's election, an inescapably common refrain of the president and his biggest boosters in conservative media has been to rail against the "deep state." The Russian election interference probe, they've repeatedly said, was nothing more than a coup or disinformation campaign perpetrated by the anti-Trump intelligence community.Over the past 24 hours, however, incessant Fox griping over "deep state" suddenly went quiet, replaced by sober pleas that—when it comes to the info allegedly justifying Trump's ordered airstrike killing Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani—the U.S. intelligence community's findings should be heeded and taken seriously as unimpeachably correct information.Immediately after the Pentagon confirmed U.S. responsibility for the strike, claiming it "was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans," Fox News host Sean Hannity—perhaps the most well-known "deep state" critic in media—heaped praise upon the intelligence community."The ability of the military, our intelligence community, the State Department, and the president making the call, very quickly, you know, understood that the Iranian forces on the ground bore a direct threat to the American people," said Hannity, calling into his own show on Thursday night. "Once the intelligence was confirmed, once the understanding that they were there to sow the discord and discontent, the president acted as quickly as possible, taking out this top general.""But I will say the big headline is, this is a huge victory for American intelligence, a huge victory for our military, a huge victory for the State Department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the president," the primetime host, who has spent more than two years and countless on-air segments railing against shadowy "deep state" intelligence, concluded.By Friday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went even further than the Pentagon, saying that it was necessary to take out Soleimani as it disrupted an "imminent attack," adding that "the risk doing nothing was enormous" and the "intelligence community made that assessment and President Trump acted decisively last night."Following Pompeo's assertions, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade—who last month chastised a Daily Beast writer for not asking Lisa Page about a deep-state conspiracy theory—openly defended and applauded the intelligence community.After Fox News star Geraldo Rivera sarcastically noted the "U.S. intelligence has been excellent since 2003 when we invaded Iraq, disrupted the entire region, for no real reason," he told Kilmeade not to "start cheering this on" while claiming his colleague "never met a war you didn't like.""I will cheer it on. I am elated," Kilmeade exclaimed, adding that it's "not true" that he loves war.During a later appearance on Fox News' The Daily Briefing, host Dana Perino—a former Bush White House press secretary—repeatedly claimed an attack was "imminent," asking Kilmeade what the consequences would have been if Trump didn't act."What everyone is missing, it's not our choice," the Fox & Friends host replied. "These things are happening. It's how we react to what is happening."Kilmeade—no longer skeptical of intelligence officials—also insisted that the president didn't need to brief Congress before killing the Iranian leader because he needed to act quickly due to the information obtained."But if you want him to get congressional approval over a strike that is time sensitive when an attack is imminent and he landed at the airport? Are you kidding me?" Kilmeade huffed.During Friday's broadcast of Fox Business Network's Varney and Co., anchor Stuart Varney also seemed a bit amnesiac over his previous missives against the intelligence community. Despite claiming in the past that the "deep state" was trying to undermine Trump's presidency, the pro-Trump host credulously touted Pompeo's "imminent attack" claim throughout his show."That's what Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, told Fox News earlier this morning, that there was an imminent attack and the president ordered the killing to stop that imminent attack," Varney proclaimed at one point. "Good cause to do it."In a later segment, Fox & Friends Weekend host and unofficial Trump adviser Pete Hegseth—who once noted that the "American people didn't vote for the Deep State"—also found newfound praise for the intel community, adding that Trump likely waited until the "intelligence lined up."A Fox News guest, however, seemed to reveal one of the biggest self-contradictions.Former Trump adviser Christian Whiton lamented Friday on Fox News' Outnumbered Overtime that it is "really sad" that Democrats "aren't willing to give our president and our military the benefit of the doubt in a crisis." A few weeks ago, though, Whiton gave no such benefit of the doubt to a member of both the military and intelligence community. During an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, Whiton called former National Security Council member and impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman a "deep state crybaby" who "poured himself into an Army outfit to go and frankly speak contemptuous things against the commander-in-chief."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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| 'I had nowhere to go': Mississippi hunter battles rattlesnake in deer stand Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:38 AM PST  Hunting in December, a Mississippi man found a rattlesnake only inches away in a hunting blind. He was in a real predicament.
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| Texas 'affluenza teen’ to be released; drug test questioned Posted: 03 Jan 2020 12:36 PM PST  A man who became known as the "affluenza teen" for his unusual defense at a 2013 manslaughter trial was set to be released from a Texas jail after prosecutors raised questions Friday about a drug test that triggered an alleged probation violation. Ethan Couch, 22, avoided prison following his initial conviction for killing four people while driving drunk. Couch was arrested Thursday after probation officers reported that a drug monitoring patch he wears returned a "weak positive" result for THC, the psychoactive substance found in marijuana, District Attorney Sharen Wilson said in a statement.
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| Search for driver after video emerges of car speeding off California cliff Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:11 AM PST  Dramatic video captured by a motorist appears to show a vehicle plunging off of a cliff in California this week — but authorities have yet to find the SUV or the driver.In the video, a dark SUV can be seen speeding off of the road at a curve.
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| Iraqi troops secure U.S. Embassy following attack Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:15 AM PST  Elite Iraqi troops were deployed to secure the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to it on Tuesday in dramatic scenes that overshadowed months of antigovernment grassroots protests.
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| Terrifying video shows a 'fire tornado' ripping through the Australian countryside as devastating fires ravage the country Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:44 AM PST  Australia's third-largest island is ravaged by two fires as firefighters battle huge blazes destroying homes, lives, and wildlife across the country.
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| Last year the British Army wanted 'snowflakes' — now it wants binge-drinkers and nervous Nellies Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:30 AM PST  The British Army is pushing forward with its unconventional recruitment approach in hopes of encouraging more millennials into the ranks.
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| Biden Says Trump Must Explain Baghdad Killing: Campaign Update Posted: 02 Jan 2020 09:02 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Former Vice President Joe Biden warned that President Donald Trump "just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox" by ordering the killing of a powerful Iranian general in Baghdad."No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani's passing. He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region," Biden said in a statement. But he added that Trump "owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests, both here at home and abroad, and our partners throughout the region and beyond."Biden, who has made his foreign policy experience in the Senate and the Obama administration the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, said "I'm not privy to the intelligence and much remains unknown, but Iran will surely respond. We could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East."In the hours after the attack in Baghdad, Republicans in Congress largely praised the president, while some of their Democratic counterparts said there could be consequences.On Twitter, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, another Democratic presidential candidate, called the killing "reckless" and a move that "increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict."Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a rival of Warren and Biden, said in a statement that "Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one."Marianne Williamson Lays Off Her Campaign Staff (4 p.m.)Author Marianne Williamson has laid off her entire presidential campaign staff, according to her campaign manager Patricia Ewing.Ewing, who was dismissed along with the rest of the team, said Williamson is "still figuring out what she's going to do" at this time.Williamson, a spiritual guru who ran on a message of promoting peace, has lagged in the polls since she entered the race and is currently polling in last place at 0.2% in the Real Clear Politics average. -- Emma KineryBiden Improves Fundraising, But Lags Key Rivals (2:28 p.m.)Joe Biden had his strongest fundraising quarter yet during the final three months of 2019 but still took in less than at least of his two key opponents.The former vice president's campaign raised $22.7 million in the fourth quarter, he announced in a web video Thursday. That puts his haul behind Bernie Sanders's $34.5 million and Pete Buttigieg's $24.7 million. Elizabeth Warren hasn't reported her fourth-quarter total.Biden's campaign said it doubled online fundraising from the third to fourth quarters. The average online contribution was $23 and the overall average contribution was $41 during the quarter.Biden raised $21.5 million during the second quarter and $15.2 million in the third. The drop between quarters was a wake-up call for some Biden backers, who pushed more aggressively to raise money during 2019's final three months.In October, Biden's worries about his campaign resources led him to reverse his previous opposition to the creation of a super-PAC supporting his candidacy as a group of allies and former aides launched Unite the Nation. The group had spent $2.2 million on advertising in Iowa as of Dec. 30, according to a memo from its staff. -- Jennifer EpsteinMichael Bloomberg to Skip Nevada Caucuses (2:02 p.m.)The Nevada State Democratic Party says Michael Bloomberg will not appear on the preference cards for the state's Feb. 22 caucuses, in keeping with his plans to skip the early nominating contests.The former New York mayor wasn't among 13 candidates, including Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, who met a Jan. 1 filing deadline to appear on the preference card, the party said Thursday. The Nevada contest follows the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3 and the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 11.Bloomberg, who announced his candidacy on Nov. 24, has said he joined the race too late to compete effectively in the February caucuses and primaries. Instead, he's focusing on California, Texas, North Carolina and other states voting March 3 on so-called Super Tuesday and in contests later in March, when more than 60% of the pledged delegates needed for the party's nomination are awarded.Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. -- Mark NiquetteWarren Would End Delays for Disability Benefits (11:03 a.m.)Warren proposes to eliminate waiting periods to make it easier for disabled people to access benefits under Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare.Current law imposes delays before obtaining benefits of up to five months for Social Security and 12 months for Medicare. In a proposal released Thursday, she says that she'd get rid of them.Warren's plan also calls for phasing out — rather than immediately halting — Social Security disability benefits once the beneficiary returns to work, reducing them by $1 for every $2 earned above an inflation-indexed threshold of $2,110. Her plan would additionally expand the program's maximum Supplemental Security Income benefit to the federal poverty level.Her plan includes various other measures including protecting disabled people in prison by requiring jails to build accommodations.According to a campaign official, Warren sought advice from various disability advocates, including former Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who was an original sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act. -- Sahil KapurYang Raised $16.5 Million in Fourth Quarter (8:57 a.m.)Democrat Andrew Yang raised $16.5 million in the final three months of 2019, his best-showing so-far but well-behind Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, according to figures released by his campaign.The entrepreneur has received in total more than 1 million contributions from 400,000 donors, the campaign said. The average was $30. Yang's fourth-quarter haul is $6.5 million more than the $10 million he raised in the third quarter, according to data from his campaign.Yang's total is less than half the $34.5 million Sanders' campaign reported and short of the $24.7 million that South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Buttigieg's campaign touted for the same period.Yang's campaign chief Nick Ryan said the total shows the candidate continues to "exceed expectations, whether it's in terms of grassroots fund raising, making the debates, early state polling, or the ability to draw big crowds." -- Kathleen MillerBiden Is First to Win Iowa Congress Endorsement (8:25 a.m.)Biden has secured the first endorsement from a member of Iowa's congressional delegation, gaining the support Thursday of Abby Finkenauer.The first-term congresswoman represents Iowa's 1st Congressional District, which voted for Donald Trump in 2016 after going for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. The district covers northeastern Iowa, the area where Biden is concentrating his time during a five-day state trip that begins Thursday. Finkenauer will join Biden for several of his Iowa stops, his campaign said."Joe Biden's character, record, and commitment to rebuilding the backbone of the country — the middle class — is what Iowa and this country needs," Finkenauer said in announcing her support of Biden.The congresswoman's ties to Biden date back more than a decade. In 2007 and 2008, she was volunteer coordinator for Biden's unsuccessful presidential bid, which ended after the Iowa caucus. And she has a personal connection to another campaign — she's engaged to Elizabeth Warren's Iowa political director, Daniel Wasta.Finkenauer, 31, is the first of Iowa's three House Democrats to endorse a presidential candidate and just the second member of Congress from one of four early-decision states to make an announcement. Nevada Representative Dina Titus is also backing Biden. -- Jennifer EpsteinTrump Gets $46 Million in Fourth Quarter (7:55 a.m.)Trump's campaign said it had raised $46 million in the last three months of 2019, saying that it was the candidate's best fund-raising quarter in the 2020 election cycle.Trump's campaign ended the year with $102.7 million in cash on hand, it said. Trump raised $143 million in 2019 and the campaign said it banked $83.4 million. It began the year with $19.3 million cash on hand.In recent months, the president's campaign has sought to use the House impeachment investigation as part of its fundraising effort, urging potential donors to give as a way to rebuke Democrats. -- Mario ParkerSanders Raised $34.5 Million in Quarter (6 a.m.)Sanders's presidential campaign raised $34.5 million in the fourth quarter, it said in a statement, likely giving him the largest war chest of any Democratic nominee entering the party's first nominating contests in February.The campaign said on Thursday that since February, it had raised more than $96 million from more than 5 million individual donations. The average contribution was $18 and almost none of Sanders's donors had reached the $2,800 federal contribution limit, meaning they could donate again."Bernie Sanders is closing the year with the most donations of any candidate in history at this point in a presidential campaign," his campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in the statement. "He is proving each and every day that working class Americans are ready and willing to fully fund a campaign that stands up for them and takes on the biggest corporations and the wealthy."Sanders had raised about $73.7 million through the quarter that ended Sept. 30, the most among Democratic candidates, and had about $33.7 million on hand, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His campaign did not say in its statement on Thursday how much Sanders had on hand.On Wednesday, Sanders said in an email to supporters that his campaign had more donors than Trump's, and predicted that he would raise more than $1 billion if he's the Democratic nominee to challenge the president's re-election this year.Sanders trails only South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg in polls of Iowa Democratic voters, according to a RealClearPolitics average, and narrowly leads in New Hampshire. Iowa will hold the nation's first caucuses on Feb. 3, while New Hampshire will follow on Feb. 11.Buttigieg announced Wednesday that he raised about $24.7 million in the fourth quarter. -- Laura Litvan and Bill AllisonCOMING UP:Five Democratic candidates -- Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders, Warren and Senator Amy Klobuchar -- have qualified for the next debate, on Jan. 14 in Iowa.Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Milwaukee on the same night as the debate, as well as a rally in Toledo on Jan. 9.The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will be held Feb. 3.(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 Mark Niquette, Laura Litvan, Bill Allison, Mario Parker, Kathleen Miller, Sahil Kapur, Jennifer Epstein and Emma Kinery.To contact the reporter on this story: John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kentucky attorney general asks FBI to investigate ex-Gov. Matt Bevin's pardons Posted: 02 Jan 2020 03:04 PM PST  Former Gov. Matt Bevin has received criticism for pardoning or commuting the sentences of more than 650 people following his failed re-election bid.
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| As Jewish enclaves spring up around NYC, so does intolerance Posted: 01 Jan 2020 10:03 PM PST  For years, ultra-Orthodox Jewish families priced out of increasingly expensive Brooklyn neighborhoods have been turning to the suburbs, where they have taken advantage of open space and cheaper housing to establish modern-day versions of the European shtetls where their ancestors lived for centuries before the Holocaust. The expansion of Hasidic communities in New York's Hudson Valley, the Catskills and northern New Jersey been accompanied by flare-ups of rhetoric aimed at new development that some say is cloaked anti-Semitism. Now, a pair of violent attacks on such communities, just weeks apart, worry many that intolerance is boiling over.
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| Argentine president expresses doubt over mysterious prosecutor death Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:28 PM PST  Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said on Thursday he doubts that a prosecutor who died two days after accusing former president Cristina Kirchner of a cover up in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center committed suicide. Nisman was appointed special prosecutor into the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) headquarters, which left 85 dead and 300 wounded. The timing and circumstances of his death were suspicious: it came just days after he directly accused then-president Kirchner and some of her top aides of covering up Iran's alleged involvement in the bombing.
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| More Than Mines: Iran Is Ready To Harass And Destroy The U.S. Navy Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:25 AM PST  Iran has been preparing for this.
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| Lebanon receives Interpol arrest warrant for ex-Nissan boss Ghosn Posted: 01 Jan 2020 09:25 PM PST  BEIRUT/TOKYO (Reuters) - Lebanon received an Interpol arrest warrant on Thursday for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, while Turkey launched an investigation into his daring escape from Japan via Istanbul. Ghosn has become an international fugitive after he revealed on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape what he called a "rigged" justice system in Japan, where he faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes. Sources close to Ghosn said a delay to a trial and a strict ban on communicating with his wife motivated him to go ahead with a plan to use a private security company to smuggle him out of Japan via private jet.
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| Pentagon: Anyone who tries to overrun the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will 'run into a buzz saw' after violent protests Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:43 PM PST  The Pentagon warned on Thursday morning that anyone who tries to breach the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad would face a "buzz saw."
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| Lawmakers ask Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:07 PM PST  207 members of Congress signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court arguing that the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade is unworkable.
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| Climate deniers are cooking themselves — and everyone else Posted: 03 Jan 2020 02:50 AM PST  The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that climate change is something only hippies should care about. By this view, commonly expressed by conservative politicians, fixing climate change is only for bleeding-hearts who care more about hugging trees than making money.But this is completely wrong. Climate change will wreck the environment, and in the process it will wreck human society as well — causing many deaths and billions of dollars in damage, as we're seeing now as Australia is battered by the worst wildfires in its history. People who deny or downplay climate change are broiling themselves and everyone else alive.Some extreme weather events have a complex array of causes, and it is hard to tie them definitively to climate change. Hurricane formation, for instance, involves winds, ocean temperatures and the difference between atmospheric temperatures, the spin of the earth, and many other factors, so it is a tricky business to pin worse storms on global warming. (Nevertheless, a growing body of research does indeed point to climate change as a key cause of increasing hurricane severity.)But that is not true at all of the Australian bushfires. Fires get worse when things are hot, dry, and windy, and climate change has provided all of those conditions in abundance. The continent has warmed by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (a bit over 1 degree Celsius) since the 1970s, and in keeping with the predictions of climate models, Australia has experienced steadily worse droughts and heat waves over the last 30 years. The current drought may end up being the worst in history — this spring was the driest ever recorded on the continent, and back on December 18 it set a new record for the hottest day ever measured with an average temperature across the entire country of 105.6 degrees.So far this Australian fire season, almost 15 million acres have been burned, at least 18 people have died, a further 17 are missing, and over 1,200 homes have burned down. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, and thousands more are still trapped in hazardous locations. Australia's largest cities have repeatedly suffocated under smoke plumes — on December 11, Sydney recorded particulate pollution 11 times worse than the "hazardous" level, and at time of writing capital city Canberra had the second-worst air in the world. Meanwhile, the ongoing drought has devastated Australian farmers.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (from the Liberal Party, which is politically conservative) has been wrong-footed by the crisis — residents of fire-stricken towns yelled at him during a tour of the damage, and his record of boosting fossil fuels has become a major focus of news coverage of the events.Morrison insists that he has taken a measured approach to climate, but this is nonsense — on the contrary, Australia is one of the major climate villains in the world. Morrison has long been in the pocket of Big Carbon, and has consistently boosted fossil fuel development as prime minister. Indeed, before he was head of the Liberals he brought a chunk of coal onto the floor of parliament and accused the opposition party of "coalphobia." As recently as November, his deputy prime minister was calling climate activists "inner-city raving lunatics."As a result, Australia's domestic emissions have increased steadily since 2013, when the Liberals took power and immediately repealed the carbon tax passed under the previous Labor Party government. More importantly, Australia is the second-largest coal exporter in the world (only recently passed up by Indonesia, despite increased Australian production), and thanks to the Liberal government, it has recently soared to become the second-largest exporter of liquid natural gas as well, and may take first place next year. Most of that fuel goes to Japan, China, India, and Korea. All this makes Australia the third-largest exporter of carbon dioxide emissions, just behind Russia and Saudi Arabia.To be fair, the opposition party isn't much better, despite the modest carbon tax mentioned above. Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese backs coal exports despite criticizing Morrison's abysmal climate record.Of course, Australia's natural environment is getting pummeled as well by the drought and fires. As Nerilie Abram writes at Scientific American, "early estimates suggest that around 500 million animals have died so far, including 30 percent of the koala population in their main habitat."But it is worth emphasizing that the koalas aren't the only ones suffering. If adorable animals being slaughtered by the millions doesn't tug one's heartstrings, then perhaps consider self-interest, as Australians hide in lakes to keep from being burned alive. A few more years of fat coal profits aren't worth making Mad Max into a documentary.In short, Australia, like many countries (very much including the United States) is pathologically addicted to fossil fuels, and is roasting itself and the world in the process. Without strong international climate policy, there will be future droughts, fires, and other disasters that make the current crisis seem like a friendly daydream.More stories from theweek.com Mike Pence crams 3 inaccuracies about 9/11 into 1 tweet while trying to justify Soleimani strike America is guilty of everything we accuse Iran of doing 4 reasons to beware Trump's decision to kill Soleimani
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| Tennessee's Roe becomes 26th House Republican to retire in 2020 Posted: 03 Jan 2020 09:25 AM PST  The departure is not a surprise, and his district is certain to remain in Republican control.
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| Johannesburg Drive-by Killings Highlight Pervasive Crime Problem Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:57 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Shootings in Johannesburg early Wednesday left two people dead and 16 injured, marring the city's New Year celebrations and highlighting a crime problem that's one of the government's biggest challenges.Two people died and six were injured when the occupants of a car fired on Poppy's restaurant in the relatively affluent northern Johannesburg suburb of Melville."A terrible tragedy happened in my neighborhood in the early hours of this morning," said a blog posted from Melville. "A drive-by shooting. Two young women, dead. A car guard, shot in the head and critical."Two hours later, at 3 a.m. local time, 11 people were injured by gunshots that police believe were fired from a highway overpass into a crowd at a public celebration at Mary Fitzgerald Square in the city center.While the first attack may have been sparked by an earlier fight, according to eye witnesses, the motive for the second is unclear. No arrests have been made.While gun violence in South Africa's biggest city is common, with five people killed in a single attack at a tavern in Soweto township in December, the location of the latest shootings has illustrated just how prevalent the problem is, with coverage dominating local news services.South Africa has the continent's highest murder rate, with an average of more than 50 people killed each day.According to Gun Free South Africa, a non-governmental organization, there are 4.5 million licensed firearms in the country, almost 10,000 are reported lost or stolen every year and 23 people are murdered daily with guns.(Adds gun prevalence in last paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net;Pauline Bax in Johannesburg at pbax@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Mike Cohen, John ViljoenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why It Seems Like Nothing Can Stop the A-10 Warthog Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:00 PM PST  Is it still viable?
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| Wisconsin teacher admits to defecating in park for 2 years Posted: 02 Jan 2020 11:28 AM PST ![Wisconsin teacher admits to defecating in park for 2 years]( "Wisconsin teacher admits to defecating in park for 2 years") A retiring Wisconsin English teacher cited for defecating in a public park for two years told authorities he was "being an idiot" and that he did it for convenience and to be disrespectful. Jeffrey S. Churchwell, who is retiring from Milton School District later this month, will have to pay $365 in fines plus $5,705 in restitution to the Public Works Department, which cleaned up after him. The Janesville Gazette reported Tuesday it found out about the case through an open records request of sheriff's office reports.
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| Fleet commander directs US Navy’s surface force to develop concepts for unmanned ships Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:31 AM PST  The U.S. Navy is making moves to develop concepts for the integration of unmanned surface vessels into its surface fleet.
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| US killing of Soleimani: what we know Posted: 03 Jan 2020 04:38 PM PST  The American raid that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday opens a period of uncertainty for both the Middle East and the US. A US defense official told AFP that the strike targeting Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, was carried out by a drone. The mission was conducted "at the direction of" President Donald Trump, the Pentagon said.
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| An oxygen leak forced Lufthansa passengers heading to Brazil to take an 8-hour flight from Frankfurt to Frankfurt Posted: 03 Jan 2020 02:21 AM PST  Lufthansa Flight 500 to Rio de Janeiro turned back to Frankfurt while off the coast of West Africa, with passengers in the air for over eight hours.
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| The Impeachment Article for Obstructing Congress Is Frivolous Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:30 AM PST  Honor a congressional subpoena to appear at President Trump's (presumably eventual) Senate impeachment trial? Joe Biden, still the odds-on favorite to be the Democrats' standard-bearer in the 2020 election, scoffed at the very idea — No way!The former vice president's knee-jerk obstinacy illuminates — we should say, provides even more illumination of — the patent farce that is the second article of impeachment passed by the House on a strict party-line vote: the accusation that the president has obstructed Congress. As we saw in a committee hearing, featuring the spectacle of staffers questioning staffers with no actual fact witnesses in sight, Democrats have no problem when Democrats blow off congressional demands for information. "Obstruction" is a one-way street.Trump regards the impeachment inquiry as a partisan witch hunt, just the latest phase of the Democrats' project to remove him, which began even before his term started. He certainly has a point . . . although that is not a good reason to give his opponents fuel for the project, as he did by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden. That is the allegation in the first article of impeachment. Under the circumstances, I believe it falls well short of the egregious misconduct for which impeachment should be reserved; it was, nevertheless, a foolish thing for the president to do.Let's focus, though, on the second impeachment article, obstruction of Congress.The president directed his underlings and executive branch components not to comply with congressional demands for information. To be clear, Congress has undeniable constitutional authority, broad in scope, to conduct oversight of the executive branch. The president, with all the authority of a peer branch of government, has extensive privileges of confidentiality, rooted in Article II, particularly when it comes to communications with his staff and high executive officials. Congress, however, is empowered to probe, especially when its concern is presidential malfeasance, or the activities of executive branch agencies Congress has created — such agencies, after all, are led by officers subject to Senate confirmation, and Congress both underwrites them with taxpayer funds and limits their operations by statute.Consequently, President Trump has legitimate authority to defy congressional demands for information, but that authority is not limitless.Notice that, to this point, we have not mentioned the courts. Squabbles between the political branches are, naturally, political in nature. The Framers did not intend that they be resolved by the courts. They are resolved by compromise, accommodation, and reprisals by the elected officials who answer to the public and thus have a powerful motivation to act reasonably.Democratic-controlled congressional committees used information demands coupled with public political pressure (intensified by their media allies) in an effort to induce administration compliance. The president, however, had a strong counterpoint: Congress was claiming to conduct an impeachment inquiry while refusing to vote to authorize such an inquiry — a nakedly political strategy to attempt to protect nearly three dozen Democrats who hold seats in Trump-friendly districts where impeachment is unpopular (those seats being vital to maintaining the majority).Democrats were deceptively branding their investigation an "impeachment inquiry" while actually conducting it under the ordinary oversight authority of six committees (led by the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees). While his responsive rhetoric bristled with Trumpian overkill, the president's strategy was sensible: Deny cooperation at least until Democrats took a vote to approve the impeachment inquiry they claimed to be conducting. The Democrats finally voted at the end of October. Trump, however, continued to be defiant when the resolution approving the inquiry failed to provide him basic due-process protections that had been extended in prior presidential impeachments, and when the committees held palpably partisan hearings in which he was effectively denied the right to present a defense.In sum, this was political wrangling. High profile, to be sure, this being only the fourth substantial effort to impeach a president in American history, but political nonetheless, and thus unfit for judicial intervention. The Constitution arms both political branches with arsenals to battle it out, so prudent judges often demur when asked to intervene. In modern times, though, our litigious society has lost sight of the fact that the principal check on the political branches is supposed to be we the people, through the ballot box, not the unaccountable courts. Both Congress and presidents have become quicker to resort to the judges when they think doing so may sway the court of public opinion, and many judges are all too willing to jump into the political fray.That's what has happened. On Friday, in fact, the D.C. Circuit court of appeals is scheduled to hear a pair of resulting cases: one triggered by the House Judiciary Committee's demand that the administration disclose grand jury material from the Mueller probe, said to be vital to the impeachment inquiry; the other by the same committee's attempt to compel testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.Meantime, several weeks ago, the House issued a subpoena for Charles Kupperman, Trump's former deputy national security adviser. Kupperman filed a lawsuit to block the subpoena but said he would testify if the court ruled that Congress's demand for his information overcame any privilege claims. John Bolton, formerly Trump's national security adviser and Kupperman's boss, signaled that he would take the same position. So did Mick Mulvaney, the president's acting chief of staff and budget director.In a transparently tactical counter-measure, the House vacated the Kupperman subpoena and persuaded another judge to dismiss his case as moot. In effect, Democrats calculated that it was not worth risking an embarrassing loss in court or a drawn-out litigation that would extend the House inquiry into the 2020 campaign season. Instead, they could stomp their feet about Trump's obstruction and summarily impeach him over it. So suddenly, the testimony of top presidential aides, which we were previously told was critical, turned out not to be so critical — just as Democrats once claimed the so-called whistleblower's testimony was critical, but now accuse the president and his supporters of endangering the man's life by seeking his testimony (the fact of the whistleblower's coordination with Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff's staff having inconveniently surfaced in the interim).With that obstruction charge in mind, though, consider this amazing fact:The court challenges involving the Mueller grand jury materials and McGahn's testimony were brought by the House. The same House that impeached President Trump when current and former administration officials sought to litigate non-disclosure and executive privilege issues, has itself gone to court to litigate non-disclosure and executive privilege issues. That is, when House Democrats seek judicial intervention, we're supposed to see that as vindication of the rule of law. When the Trump administration seeks judicial intervention, that's to be seen as an impeachable offense.The hypocrisy is breathtaking, but even worse is the Democrats' reckless trivialization of impeachment.The Framers were very worried about potential abuses of executive power. They were also quite concerned, though, about what Hamilton described (in Federalist No. 73) as "the propensity of the legislative department to intrude upon the rights, and to absorb the powers, of the other departments." They agitated over the possibility that the impeachment power would be abused for partisan ends, invoked for frivolous reasons.The Democrat-controlled House's impeachment for obstruction is both partisan and frivolous. Of course a president should not thwart legitimate congressional inquiries. Neither, however, should Congress trample on the president's legitimate confidentiality privileges — just as the executive branch's sweeping investigative powers must not be exploited to intrude on lawmakers' communications with their staffers. If the government is to function well, each political branch must respect the other's need for frank consultations. The built-in tension between the imperatives of accountability and confidentiality is obvious . . . which is why inter-branch disputes are common, and why they nearly always get worked out in negotiations.On this score, it must be noted that the Trump administration has not typically been stingy. White House counsel McGahn and numerous other administration officials were made available to Special Counsel Mueller, even though the president could have claimed privilege. When Mueller's report was completed, Attorney General Bill Barr made nearly all of it available to Congress and the public, even though redactions based on privilege claims could have been justified. (The Justice Department's withholding of a small amount of grand jury materials is driven by D.C. Circuit precedent, which makes disclosure outside the governing rule illegal — a rule prescribed by Congress, which House Democrats, tellingly, did not even attempt to amend before seeking court intervention.)Impeachment is our system's nuclear option. We want our presidents to be elected democratically and to serve out their terms, with impeachment reserved for outrageous abuses of power that threaten our constitutional framework or our security. Could a president's outright refusal to cooperate with Congress reach that level of malfeasance? Sure it could. But there are many intermediate steps before that happens.Congress could have negotiated in good faith. If the administration had remained obstinate, it could have held officials who defied subpoenas in contempt. If officials had sought to litigate executive privilege, Congress could have opposed them in court. While it is true that the Article I branch has its own powers for securing the Article II branch's compliance and need not resort to the Article III branch for help, it is a ridiculous overreaction for Congress to impeach over the executive branch's attempt to litigate — especially when Congress is simultaneously filing its own lawsuits against the administration. If Congress had litigated and won, the public would have been more supportive of threats to impeach over noncompliance; the president would have looked like he was hiding corruption rather than protecting executive privilege. And if the administration had then remained obstinate, Congress might have considered impeaching one or more non-elected executive officials who continued to defy subpoenas — commencing such actions would have demonstrated that Congress was being diligent yet refraining from the drastic step of impeaching a president until reasonable alternatives were exhausted.To the contrary, Democrats said reasonable alternatives be damned. The House made the reckless partisan leap from a routine inter-branch kerfuffle to all-out war — impeachment of a duly elected president, with only about ten months to go before voters could otherwise decide President Trump's fate for themselves. In the short term, the House has bolstered the president's claim that impeachment is a political stunt, even though the House may well be entitled to at least some of the information being withheld. In the long term, the trivialization of impeachment will do lasting damage to American governance.
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| Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day Posted: 01 Jan 2020 10:21 PM PST ![Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day]( "Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day") (Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on what's moving European markets in your inbox every morning? Sign up here.Good morning. China is taking action to shore up its economy, the U.K. is hoping to move on and Carlos Ghosn already moved. Here's what's moving markets.Chinese ActionThe first phase of a U.S-China trade deal is due to be signed on Jan. 15 and while more phases will have to follow, the focus will now turn to the health and outlook for the Chinese economy. Authorities there have pledged to remain flexible on monetary policy and they continue to make moves to ease funding conditions for local companies in order to spur investment. Keep in mind Hong Kong too, where pro-democracy protests continued apace over the New Year celebrations, as any further escalation here could continue to hit companies exposed to the market.Ghosn Until the corporate and macroeconomic newsflow starts to heat up again, Carlos Ghosn is likely to remain on the tips of tongues everywhere. Having enlivened New Year's Eve for business reporters the world over, now the fallout of his escape from Japan to Lebanon will begin in earnest. Japan is seeking a meeting with Lebanon to discuss the issue and the questions on exactly how he managed to abscond from Japanese authorities and whether he did so in a musical instrument case will continue.Next PhaseWith a Conservative government holding a strong-enough majority to at least add some degree of near-term certainty on Brexit, U.K. politics will now be in a process of retooling itself for its next phase, most pertinently who will lead an opposition Labour Party that was battered in the polls. Still true in 2020, however, is that Britain doesn't have a monopoly on political turmoil. France's Emmanuel Macron plans to push ahead with his full pension reform program despite the protests crippling the country, while Spain's Pedro Sanchez is making another attempt at forming a government, but is awaiting the sign off from his prospective Catalan partners, and Austria will get a new coalition government between the conservatives and greens.Embassy AttackThe year begins with another geopolitical battle for U.S. President Donald Trump to contend with after the U.S. Embassy in Iraqi capital Baghdad was attacked by an Iran-backed militia. The group broke up its encampment outside the embassy on New Year's Day but it creates an early headache for the president to tackle as the U.S. continues to be the focus of ire for its tactics designed to reduce the influence Iran has over the region. And none of this takes into account North Korea, which has pledged to debut a "new strategic weapon." And all in an election year to boot.Coming Up…The moves by China's central bank to shore up the local economy gave stocks a lift in Asia and European and U.S. futures are also pointing to a positive open. The demand outlook for copper has also brightened, which may give miners the world over a boost given the importance of China to that industry. Other assets that closed out strong performances for 2019 may also be in focus. Crude oil had its best year since 2016 and gold ultimately ended with its biggest advance since 2010, though there are doubts as to whether that can be repeated.What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past few days. Will 2047 be the end of Hong Kong as we know it? What $10,000 would have returned in 2019. Bitcoin believers think a rally is coming in 2020. Netflix really wants an Oscar. Behavioral scientist, data analyst will be top jobs in the next decade. Private equity is starting the new decade flush with cash. The rise of emerging-market assets and China's ascension.Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more.To contact the author of this story: Sam Unsted in London at sunsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Cyprus rape case: Teenager begs Boris Johnson to bring her home and end 'waking nightmare' Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:50 PM PST  A British teenager found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus has pleaded with Boris Johnson to "bring me home". The 19-year-old alleged she was raped by up to 12 Israeli tourists in a hotel room in the Ayia Napa on July 17, but she has said Cypriot police forced her to sign a retraction statement which led to her being convicted of public mischief at Famagusta District Court, in Paralimni. "Every second of this ordeal has been a waking nightmare," the woman said. "I'm 19 and all I want to do is clear my name and come home to my family," she added in quotes reported by The Sun. "I would say to both the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, both of whom are fathers, please support me with your actions, not just with your words." The paper also reported that the Foreign Office had on Thursday contacted the teenager's family for the first time since she was convicted. Protesters claim the woman is a victim of Cyprus's "rape culture" Credit: IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP via Getty Images A Foreign Office spokeswoman told PA that the UK was "seriously concerned" about the "fair trial guarantees in this deeply distressing case and we will be raising the issue with Cypriot authorities". Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said on Monday that he would raise the case with the Cypriot authorities. The woman's legal team said that regardless of the sentence passed by the court, they would appeal against the conviction, even if she was given a suspended sentence - which would still mean a criminal record. "Appealing against the conviction is the most important thing for a young person," Michael Polak, director of the campaigning group Justice Abroad, said. An online crowdfunding appeal to raise money for legal support for the woman's daughter has passed £120,000, exceeding its £105,000 goal. The "help teen victim get justice in Cyprus" GoFundMe page was set up by British lawyer John Hobbs in August to raise cash for the 19-year-old's legal representation. The woman has been on bail since the end of August, after spending a month in prison, and could face up to a year in jail and a 1,700 euro (£1,500) fine when she is sentenced on January 7. A number of prominent legal figures in Cyprus have also written to Costas Clerides, the attorney-general, urging him to intervene in the case. The group includes former justice minister Kypros Chrysostomides, who told the BBC the woman involved had "already suffered a lot" and he expected her sentence would be "very lenient". "She has already been in detention for four-and-a-half weeks and she has been prevented from travelling for about five months already," he said. But the government of Cyprus has said it has "full confidence in the justice system and the courts". Meanwhile, the teenager's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has backed calls for a tourism boycott of the country. "The place isn't safe - it is absolutely not safe. And if you go and report something that's happened to you, you're either laughed at, as far as I can tell, or, in the worst case, something like what's happened to my daughter may happen," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The woman said her daughter was experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hallucinations, and is sleeping for up to 20 hours a day because of a condition called hypersomnia. "She needs to get back to the UK to get that treated - that's my absolute primary focus. She can't be treated here because hearing foreign men speaking loudly will trigger an episode," she said. "It needs resolving otherwise she's going to carry on having this for the rest of her life."
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| What's behind the recent rash of anti-Semitic attacks? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 01:36 AM PST  There were more than 1,300 anti-Semitic incidents in 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League, including a stabbing at a rabbi's home Saturday. Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl and professor Ibram Kendi joined "CBS This Morning" to discuss the rash of hate.
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| Montana coal power plant closing two units built in 1970s Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:33 PM PST  One of the largest coal-fired power plants in the western U.S. will close two of its four units in coming days as the Montana facility edges toward an eventual total shutdown. Colstrip Units 1 and 2 — built in the 1970s when massive strip mines were being developed across Montana and Wyoming — will close by Jan. 5 or as soon as they run out of coal to burn, Talen Energy spokeswoman Taryne Williams said Thursday. The plant employs about 300 people and is the main driver of the economy for the surrounding town of Colstrip, which has about 2,300 people.
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| Revealed: Iran Secretly Built A New Corvette Loaded With Missiles Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:07 AM PST  The two-year effort underscores Iran's effort to build up its ship-construction capabilities -- and could weigh on Tehran's ambitious plan to develop a new class of destroyer.
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| Qasem Soleimani's Assassination Opens a Pandora's Box in the Middle East Posted: 03 Jan 2020 09:42 AM PST  The assassination of Iran's Quds force commander is a game changer in the U.S.-Iran standoff
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| Carnival Elation spills 'gray water' at Florida port due to valve problem Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:43 AM PST  The Carnival Elation spilled "gray water" from its plumbing and shower systems while docked at Port Canaveral in Florida on Thursday.
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| Giant new rallies slam Indian government's citizenship law Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST  Tens of thousands of people protested across India on Friday against a citizenship law passed by the Hindu nationalist government that critics say discriminates against Muslims. Some 30,000 marched in the southern city of Bangalore, more than 20,000 in Siliguri and thousands in Chennai, while big rallies were also held in New Delhi, Guwahati and other cities. Demonstrators shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
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| Mexico president says "El Chapo" had same power as then president Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:31 PM PST  Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador closed out 2019 with a parting shot at his predecessors, saying imprisoned drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán had had the same power as the country's president.
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| Trump Says Trade Signing Set For Jan. 15; China Silent Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:20 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, sealing an agreement that sees the Asian nation raising purchases of American farm goods in exchange for lower tariffs on some of its products. The date has yet to be confirmed by the Chinese side."The ceremony will take place at the White House," Trump said on his Twitter account Tuesday, adding he will be going to Beijing, where talks will begin on the second phase of the deal.Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang on Thursday referred a question on the signing to the Ministry of Commerce. The commerce ministry did not respond to an earlier fax seeking comment.Despite the lack of clarity on the signing date, Beijing is still indicating it also wants the deal. A commentary on the front page of People's Daily on Tuesday said, "it is every one's wish that China and the U.S. will sign the phase one agreement."The deal, announced Dec. 13, sees the U.S. suspending plans for new tariffs on $160 billion of Chinese imports including smart-phones and toys and reducing some existing levies. China agreed to increase its purchases of American agricultural products and has made new commitments on intellectual property protections, forced technology transfers by U.S. companies and currency practices. The move at least temporarily calms fears of an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies.The precise terms of the 86-page agreement have not been revealed. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Dec. 13 he expected to sign the accord together with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, in early January in Washington, and that it would be released publicly then.(Corrects Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs comment in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Miao Han and April Ma.To contact the reporter on this story: Ana Monteiro in Johannesburg at amonteiro4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Jeffrey Black, Jiyeun LeeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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