| 'What the hell were you thinking?': Trump berated White House staff for not telling him Putin was trying to call him Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:06 PM PST  During a meeting with a foreign leader, Trump berated an adviser who told him that Putin had called days before. "Are you kidding me?" Trump said.
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| FBI Investigators Say McCabe Apologized for Lying about Clinton-Probe Leak Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:14 AM PST  FBI investigators claim former deputy director Andrew McCabe admitted to misleading them about his involvement in a media leak and subsequently apologized for the lie, according to newly released transcripts of McCabe's interviews with investigators.The transcripts, released by the Department of Justice Inspector General's office (OIG) — which found McCabe "lacked candor" with investigators in a scathing February 2018 report — detail how McCabe spun a false narrative that he was not responsible for leaking the information cited in a October 2016 Wall Street Journal article that detailed a new probe into Hillary Clinton's email use.Obtained via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by government-watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the documents, first reported by the Daily Beast, describe McCabe's reversal. Initially, the former deputy director told bureau investigators in May 2017 that he was "disappointed" the story "was appearing in the publication," and was not sure how it leaked to the press.McCabe also denied that he had authorized the article, which included a conversation between himself and a top Obama DOJ official, and presented himself as a "victim" to the agent interviewing him, who at the time "wasn't surprised by his response."But in a follow-up interview on August 18, 2017, after investigators received "conflicting information" in other interviews, McCabe admitted that he had in fact authorized the leak."I need to know from you did you authorize this article? Were you aware of it? Did you authorize it?" the FBI agent said he asked McCabe at the time."And as nice as could be, he said, yep. Yep I did," McCabe said, surprising the agents. "Things had suddenly changed 180 degrees with this," one of the agents present recounted to the OIG.When the agents showed McCabe the portion of his statement from the May interview which stated "I do not know the identity of the source of the information contained in the article. I gave no authority to share any information relative to my interaction with the DOJ executive with any member of the media," McCabe replied that he "didn't ever remember seeing this before.""I told him, I said we sent it to you at least three times or two times," the agent said. And an email record mentioned in the transcript shows the statement was emailed to McCabe on May 12, 2017. McCabe's explanation at the time was "there was a lot going on."In its February 2018 report, the OIG detailed how McCabe had told former FBI special counsel Lisa Page to speak to the Journal, stating that McCabe's intent was "an attempt to make himself look good" after a previous article detailed how McCabe's wife had received nearly $500,000 from a Clinton ally to run for office in Virginia.The OIG also found McCabe's explanation for the discrepancy in his statements to be "wholly unpersuasive," because it was "highly implausible" that McCabe forgot to tell the FBI of the approved leak in May."We therefore concluded that when McCabe told INSD in May that he did not know who authorized the disclosure to the WSJ, it was not due to a lack of memory. In our view, the evidence is substantial that it was done knowingly and intentionally," the OIG wrote.Following the report, McCabe was fired by former attorney general Jeff Sessions.The DOJ is currently mulling charges against McCabe, who was made a CNN analyst in August, after the OIG recommended the charges. The former FBI deputy director is suing the FBI and the DOJ over his firing and has denied intentionally making false statements about his role in the media leaks.
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| Here's how much each 2020 candidate raised in the 4th quarter Posted: 02 Jan 2020 05:25 PM PST  Bernie Sanders raised more than any of the other 2020 Democratic candidates in a single quarter — $34.5 million.
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| Nearly half a billion animals have been killed in Australia's devastating bushfires Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:29 AM PST  An estimated 480 million mammals, birds, and reptiles, are believed to have died in Australian bushfires since September.
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| Taiwan's Military Chief Among 8 Dead After a Helicopter Carrying Leaders Crashed Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:02 AM PST  Air Force General Shen Yi-ming and seven others have died after a helicopter made a crash landing in a mountainous region south of Taipei
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| Japan raid, Turkey arrests in widening Ghosn probe Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:44 AM PST  Officials on Thursday raided the Tokyo residence of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn who fled to Lebanon to avoid a Japanese trial, while Turkey detained several people as part of a widening probe into the security lapse. Ghosn, who faced multiple charges of financial misconduct that he denies, won bail in April but with strict conditions -- including a ban on overseas travel. A court in Tokyo had allowed Ghosn to keep a second French passport as he needed one to travel inside Japan, a source close to the matter told AFP Thursday.
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| Australia bushfires: Residents refuse to shake prime minister Scott Morrison's hand as mass evacuation begins Posted: 02 Jan 2020 05:24 PM PST  The Australian prime minister was heckled out of a fire-ravaged town in New South Wales on Thursday, as a mass evacuation of the region got under way ahead of worsening conditions. Video of the visit to Cobargo, on the south coast, showed Scott Morrison insist a woman shake his hand as she criticised him over the government's response to the crisis. "I am only shaking your hand if you give more funding to the RFS (Rural Fire Service)," she said as he turned away. "So many people have lost their homes. We need more help." The prime minister was soon ushered to his car by minders when other residents began shouting at him. "You won't be getting any votes down here buddy," one called out. A firefighter also refused to shake Mr Morrison's hand. Video footage showed Mr Morrison trying to grab the man's hand, who then got up and walked away, sparking an apology from the prime minister. A local fire official explained that the man had lost his house while defending others' homes. Read more | Australia's bushfire crisis Even a state politician from his own Liberal party whose seat is in the region took a swipe at the prime minister. "To be honest, the locals probably gave him the welcome he probably deserved," said New South Wales transport minister Andrew Constance. Mr Morrison said on Friday he didn't take the attacks personally. "I understand the hurt, the anger and the frustration," he said in an interview on 3AW radio. "Whether they're angry with me or they're angry about their situation, all I know is that they're hurting and it's my job to be there to try and offer some comfort and support," he said. Anger over the government's handling of the crisis has grown since the outbreak of wildfires, which have so far killed at least 17 people, including nine since Christmas Day, and destroyed 1,400 homes. In Victoria, 28 people are currently unaccounted for. In Cobargo, a 29-year-old dairy farmer and his father, 53, were killed earlier this week as fires swept through the village. Mr Morrison has overseen more than $12.9m cuts to the state's fire service in the latest budget, and has been criticised for rejecting calls to professionalise the service. New South Wales has declared a state of emergency, starting from Friday, and told tourists to leave a 155-mile stretch of the state's southern coast as temperatures were expected to reach 40 degrees celsius on Saturday. The army began evacuations in what the state's transport minister said was the "largest mass relocation of people out of the region that we've ever seen". But tens of thousands were still stranded by Thursday night as roads became gridlocked, with shops and fuel stations running out of supplies. A long queue forms at a Woolworths supermarket in Ulladulla, New South Wales The navy was called in to assist in getting people out of the town of Mallacoota, in the neighbouring state of Victoria, where 4,000 people were trapped on the beach for days after the fire devastated much of their town. Rob Rogers, NSW's Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner, said firefighters were struggling to combat the fires. "The message is we've got so much fire in that area, we have no capacity to contain these fires," he told ABC. "We just need to make sure that people are not in front of them." In addition to the loss of human life, homes and farmland, ecologists from the University of Sydney estimate almost half a billion mammals, birds and reptiles have been lost this fire season, with the toll expected to rise. At least 17 people were reported to be missing on Thursday across Victoria. The body of Mick Roberts, who had been unaccounted for since Monday, was found dead in his home in Buchan, East Gippsland, on Wednesday, his niece said. Australia fires gallery "He's not missing any more ... sorry but his body has been found in his house… Very sad day for us to (start) the year but we're a bloody tight family and we will never forget our mate and my beautiful Uncle Mick," she wrote on Facebook . Brie Kingsely, a Melbourne resident, witnessed the sheer scale of the crisis while driving from Sydney to get home. She told The Telegraph the entire six-hour journey was "smoke-ridden". "I drove from Sydney to Melbourne. At the worst of it I was 10km from an active, 100 thousand-hectare out of control fire next to the Hume Highway," she said. "It wasn't closed, but basically smoke-ridden for six hours." A tender from HMAS Choules motors through smoke haze off the coast of Mallacoota Credit: AP Mr Morrison said the crisis was likely to last for months. "It (fires) will continue to go on until we can get some decent rain that can deal with some of the fires that have been burning for many, many months," he told reporters on Thursday. Australia's capital, Canberra, recorded the worst air quality of any city in the world on Thursday, an astonishing outcome for a city of just 400,000 people. An elderly woman who arrived in the city by plane died shortly after, and family believe it was related to smoke inhalation, though that is yet to be confirmed.
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| White nationalist who ran for Senate arrested in Florida Posted: 01 Jan 2020 03:09 PM PST ![White nationalist who ran for Senate arrested in Florida]( "White nationalist who ran for Senate arrested in Florida") A white nationalist who ran for the U.S. Senate in Florida and was a featured speaker during the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was arrested on charges of kidnapping, domestic violence and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Augustus Sol Invictus, 36, was arrested Monday at a Florida mall by Brevard County Sheriff's deputies on a warrant issued out of South Carolina, the Miami Herald reported.
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| Rudy Giuliani threatens to ‘do demonstrations and lectures’ at Trump impeachment trial Posted: 01 Jan 2020 08:45 AM PST  Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has vowed to defend his client during the forthcoming impeachment trial any way he can – including by giving "lectures" and doing "demonstrations" in the Senate.Speaking at the US president's New Year's Eve party at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Mr Giuliani also suggested he could still try the case on behalf of Mr Trump.
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| The 8 Most Beautiful Castle Gardens in Europe Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST |
| Stunning images from space reveal the shocking extent of Australia's bushfire crisis Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:18 PM PST  Australia's fires have lasted for months, burned millions of acres, and belched out a smoke plume that could cover half of Europe.
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| 'The game has changed': Defense secretary warns of preemptive strikes on Iranian group Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:55 AM PST !['The game has changed': Defense secretary warns of preemptive strikes on Iranian group]( "'The game has changed': Defense secretary warns of preemptive strikes on Iranian group") Esper said Kataib Hezbollah would likely "regret" an attack.
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| 'People Do Not Like the Unknown.' Here's What To Know About The Mystery Drones Hovering Over Rural Colorado and Nebraska Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:50 AM PST  Sightings of mysterious drones have been reported over night skies in rural Colorado and Nebraska. Officials are searching for answers.
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| Family being investigated after German zoo fire Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:14 AM PST  A mother and her two daughters have turned themselves in to police over a blaze which killed dozens of monkeys at a zoo in Germany on New Year's Eve, police confirmed Thursday.
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| Libya parliament dubs Turkey military support 'high treason' Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:18 PM PST  Libya's parliament on Thursday denounced as "high treason" Turkey's prospective military intervention in support of the UN-recognised Tripoli-based government. Libya has been beset by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations in the east and the west vying for power. The elected parliament in the east is allied with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is at war with the UN recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.
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| 4.5 quake hits Puerto Rico amid rare seismic activity Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:04 PM PST ![4.5 quake hits Puerto Rico amid rare seismic activity]( "4.5 quake hits Puerto Rico amid rare seismic activity") A 4.5-magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Thursday in the latest of a rare string of quakes that has frightened many in the U.S. territory. The most recent quake occurred eight miles (12 kilometers) south of Guayanilla at a shallow depth of four miles (seven kilometers) and was felt in the capital of San Juan and elsewhere in Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The flurry of quakes began the night of Dec. 28, with a 4.7-magnitude quake followed by a 5.1-magnitude one that hit near Puerto Rico's south coast and sent dozens of panicked people into the streets.
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| U.S. consulate warns employees as gun battles rock Mexican border city Posted: 01 Jan 2020 10:39 PM PST  The United States consulate in Mexico's border city of Nuevo Laredo issued a security alert on Wednesday, warning against gun battles and urging government employees to take precautions. Gun battles have killed at least three people this week in the northern city bordering the Texas city of Laredo, media have said. It one of the Mexican cities where the U.S. government has sent asylum seekers to wait as their cases are decided.
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| 3 mountain lions killed after feeding on human remains Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:05 AM PST  Three mountain lions found feeding on human remains near a popular Tucson hiking trail have been killed, authorities said Wednesday. CBS affiliate KOLD-TV reports the animals were not suspected of killing the person, but were determined to be a danger to the public because they showed no fear of officers trying to remove the remains.
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| Trump's Nightmare: Could North Korea Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier? Posted: 01 Jan 2020 01:00 AM PST  Perhaps more of one than you think.
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| Carlos Ghosn said his family didn't help with his Houdini-like escape from Japan to Lebanon Posted: 02 Jan 2020 09:26 AM PST  Ghosn fled Japan on Sunday evening local time with the help of a private security company, Reuters reported, ultimately arriving in Lebanon.
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| John Roberts praises judges' efforts in age of "false information" Posted: 01 Jan 2020 02:25 AM PST  Chief Justice John Roberts highlighted the importance of an independent federal judiciary and credited judges with promoting civic education in his annual year-end report.
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| U.S. Embassy in Australia: Tourists should leave due to wildfires Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:59 PM PST  Tourists on Australia's South Coast of New South Wales should leave, U.S. Embassy officials warned Thursday, because of "extreme fire danger."
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| Armed, even in church: Texas shooting is about a lot more than Jack Wilson's heroism Posted: 01 Jan 2020 05:33 AM PST  Jack Wilson is a hero. But why were so many other parishioners armed? And how did the shooter get his gun, given his criminal history?
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| 2020 brings higher labor costs for small businesses Posted: 02 Jan 2020 09:28 AM PST  Small business owners have plenty of changes to deal with as 2020 begins — higher labor costs for many companies, and some owners will discover that they have to comply with new laws that aren't on the books in their own states. As of Jan. 1, there are higher minimum wages in a quarter of the states, and new federal overtime rules. Plastic bags are on their way out at stores and other businesses in a growing number of places around the country.
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| U.S. sees signs Iran or proxies may be planning more attacks: Pentagon chief Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:44 AM PST  U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday there were indications Iran or forces it backs may be planning additional attacks, warning that the "game has changed" and it was possible the United States might have to take preemptive action to protect American lives. "There are some indications out there that they may be planning additional attacks, that is nothing new ... we've seen this for two or three months now," Esper told reporters, without providing evidence or details about the U.S. assessment. Iranian-backed demonstrators hurled rocks at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad during two days of protests, then withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops.
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| Judge Recuses Himself from Hunter Biden Paternity Case Without Explanation Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:03 PM PST  Arkansas Judge Don McSpadden recused himself without explanation Tuesday from Hunter Biden's paternity case after ordering the son of former Vice President Joe Biden to hand over all income records over the past five years.McSpadden, of Independence County's circuit court, had said that the handing over of financial information was in the well-being of 1-year-old "Baby Doe," the child of Biden and Lunden Alexis Roberts, the plaintiff in the case. McSpadden also ordered that the financial information be under seal and only available to the attorneys in the case.Other individuals have attempted to use the case to get access to Biden's financials.Private investigator Dominic Casey filed a motion to intervene on December 27, claiming that access to Biden's financials show a "counterfeiting scheme" in Ukraine that accumulated a $150 million fortune. Another man, "defrauded investor" Joel Caplan, filed a different motion to intervene on behalf of other investors who were allegedly swindled by Biden in a "systemic, formulaic and Biblically-sized multi-billion dollar stock scheme" called "The China Hustle." Caplan filed 64 pages of "exhibits" on Tuesday.McSpadden recused himself before ruling on either motion.Brent Langdon, Biden's attorney, called Casey's filing "a scheme by a non-party simply to make scandalous allegations" in a motion filed Monday.Roberts said in her case filed in May that Biden fathered her child during a past relationship, which Hunter Biden initially denied and refused to submit for a paternity test. But after a DNA test proved Biden was indeed the father in November, he did not contest the paternity.Roberts has asked the court to make Biden pay the $11,000 cost of her paternity case.McSpadden's order Tuesday didn't provide a specific reason for his recusal, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported."One of the clearest indicators of a judge's integrity is when he or she recuses from a case," Roberts's attorney Clinton Lancaster said on the news. "It highlights the ethos and values that make the judiciary such a powerful, separate branch of government. Our client sincerely thanks Judge McSpadden for his time and attention to what has become a difficult and convoluted child support matter."According to Rule 2.11 of the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct, "A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."
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| Star Wars, Ranked Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:00 AM PST |
| Carlos Ghosn fled Japan using a 2nd French passport that the courts let him keep, reports say Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:39 AM PST  The former Nissan CEO abruptly appeared in Lebanon, from which he cannot be extradited, after giving authorities in Japan the slip.
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| How Long Can Nancy Pelosi Hold Back These Articles of Impeachment? Longer Than You Think Posted: 01 Jan 2020 02:23 AM PST  After what Republicans like to characterize as a rush to impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now getting grief from the GOP for slowing down the process. It's driving President Trump and his allies a bit batty trying to figure out what she's up to by holding back the articles of impeachment. Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer offered a benign explanation after the Dec. 19 House vote for the delay. He cited "housekeeping matters," explaining that once the articles are sent to the Senate, the upper house has to act. It can't do any other business until it deals with impeachment.Democrats would like the Senate to pass the USMCA trade agreement, and maybe even vote on a House-passed prescription cost containment bill before a Senate trial gets underway. Holding onto the articles is the only leverage Pelosi has on McConnell, who says he won't take up USMCA until after any impeachment trial. Schumer Joins Pelosi in Backing Plan to Sit on Impeachment Articles"This is working beautifully for her, and for the country," says Norm Ornstein, a political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "In the weeks since the House voted for Impeachment, there have been more damning emails, and there's no reason to believe we have seen the end of it." Delaying the trial allows more evidence of wrongdoing by the president and his allies to surface and potentially sway public opinion and perhaps even some Senate Republicans. After the House voted the articles, the conventional wisdom was that Democrats needed the Senate to act quickly so a trial would conclude before the 2020 primaries got underway. That thinking has now shifted. "A trial at some point is almost inevitable," says Ornstein. "But I don't see any reason to push it forward as long as Democrats have the upper hand." Pushed for a time limit, Ornstein told The Daily Beast that he thinks Pelosi can extend through February, "keeping all options open," he said. "In moments of this kind, my lodestar is whatever Pelosi does is best." Tom Mann with the Brookings Institution and co-author with Ornstein of the 2012 book about Congress, It's Even Worse Than It Looks, said in an email that he's "sure Pelosi is adjusting her cost/benefit analysis and consulting widely every day. McConnell's outrageous behavior gives her cover to stretch this out to force genuine consultations on rules and witnesses for the trial. If and when she finds the political costs are likely to outweigh the benefits, she will refer the articles to the Senate. But not until then." McConnell calls himself "the Grim Reaper," gleefully letting House-passed legislation on health care, voting rights and gun safety languish indefinitely. Yet he stands ready to act expeditiously on impeachment, working in "total coordination" with the White House to mount a sham trial to exonerate the president. Time is on Pelosi's side, for now. The latest revelations about key officials around Trump who were in the loop on Ukraine indicate that many of them knew what they were doing was wrong. "Facing disapproval, humiliation, and possible jail time, it's almost inevitable some will talk," says Ornstein. There is far more pressure now on Trump to get the exoneration he seeks from the Senate than on the Democrats to move the process along before the Iowa caucuses. Pelosi has leverage to seek concessions about rules and witnesses. "McConnell is impervious to pressure unless there's something McConnell wants," says John Lawrence, Pelosi's former chief of staff. He cites the recent year-end $1.4 trillion federal spending bill that explodes the deficit and includes more than $1 billion in special grants for Kentucky. "McConnell got billions for Kentucky, he always does," says Lawrence. "When he wants something, he makes deals." The calculation now is that Trump wants the Senate trial to be over with as quickly as possible so he can spend 2020 touting his exoneration. Dragging it out increases the risk of more potentially damaging information emerging, which in turn could prompt more people to come forward with what they know. The likelihood of a Senate conviction to remove Trump from office remains extremely low. "The question isn't whether or not a Senate trial will be held. It will, and we all know how it will turn out," says Jonah Blank, a former Senate staffer on the Democratic side. "The question is much narrower: Will a delayed time frame force swing-state Republicans into votes that will hurt them in 2020 or a future election?" There are at least two such GOP senators, and arguably as many as five or six. Pelosi is in no rush. She can wait until McConnell sends her a set of rules, and then there will be some back-and-forth as both sides claim victory. She followed the historic procedure of inviting Trump to deliver the State of the Union on Feb. 4, when he could still be in the midst of impeachment. He won't be the first president to give a SOTU while being impeached. In 1999, President Clinton focused on a sound economy and a $70 billion budget surplus. He did not mention impeachment. With Pelosi seated directly behind him in the House chamber, millions of Americans will tune in to watch the dynamics between these two political figures on what promises to be yet another historic evening for the country—and one that could set a tone for the rest of this incredibly important year.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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| A Florida woman drowned her dog in the bathtub for barking too much, police say. She faces felony animal cruelty Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:32 AM PST ![A Florida woman drowned her dog in the bathtub for barking too much, police say. She faces felony animal cruelty]( "A Florida woman drowned her dog in the bathtub for barking too much, police say. She faces felony animal cruelty") Florida woman Margaret Kinsella allegedly drowned her dog in the bathtub for excessive barking. She now faces a felony animal cruelty charge.
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| Why America's Navy Could Use A New Battleship Posted: 01 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST  Thick armor is important.
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| Australian bushfires: Military deployed to help devastated communities as death toll rises Posted: 01 Jan 2020 05:05 AM PST  Australia deployed ships and helicopters on Wednesday to help towns devastated by bushfires that have left at least 17 people dead nationwide and destroyed more than 1,200 homes. At least seven people have died this week in New South Wales as fires rage across Australia. Another two people are missing. Record high temperatures and months of drought have created catastrophic conditions, with New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria hit particularly hard. In New South Wales tens of thousands of people are without power or communications after around 120 fires ripped through electricity infrastructure, phone lines and mobile towers. In Bateman Bay at least 31,000 people have been affected. Neil Pharaoh, whose mother lives in Bateman Bay, said: "There is no power, no mobile, no internet or utilities, the town is out of fuel and food, and no open roads to get in or out." "The water catchment for the bay has all been burnt… Residents are all worried about sewerage which is expected to start overflowing shortly without the pumping stations, and running out of tap water shortly," he wrote. In Mallacoota, Victoria, four thousand people were trapped on the beach after flames encircled the town. On Wednesday, helicopters were used to fly firefighters in and out of the area for shift changes after battling around the clock to save the town, and police boats brought drinking water and other vital supplies to those stranded. Andrew Crisp, Victoria's emergency management commissioner, said the 176-metre-long HMAS Choules may be used to evacuate many of those stranded in Mallacoota, though with a capacity of 1,000 it will be insufficient alone. HMAS Choules is due to arrive on Thursday. A firefighter hoses down trees and flying embers in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales Credit: AFP Gladys Berejiklian, NSW premier, said authorities were working to restore communications with areas cut off by the fires, though she warned conditions will deteriorate again over the weekend. "Weather conditions on Saturday will be as bad as they were" on Tuesday, Ms Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. Staff at a small zoo in New South Wales defied an evacuation order so they could protect the 200 animals from harm, relocating some animals to a keeper's home. Chad Staples, director of Mogo Zoo, said on Wednesday that the situation had been "apocalyptic… (it) felt like Armageddon". "Right now in my house there's animals of all descriptions in all the different rooms, that are there safe and protected... not a single animal lost," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Bushfires rage as Australian heatwave leads to hottest ever day, in pictures Australia's capital Canberra was shrouded in thick smoke on Wednesday, reaching about 20 times hazardous levels, prompting health warnings. In Lake Macquarie, in eastern New South Wales, Luke Pearson, his partner and their three children were forced to flee their home on Wednesday. Mr Pearson told the Daily Telegraph that the family had just moved in to their house six weeks ago, but once three of the four roads in and out of the area were cut off by fire, they had no choice but to evacuate. "We have the fire app, it beeps whenever a fire gets within 25km. We looked and it said three of the four roads were already down, and we could see the smoke billowing," he said. The rubble of buildings sits on the ground after they were destroyed by fire in Cobargo, New South Wales Credit: Rex "The warning said to keep an eye out of embers and spot fires… We packed up and left… Our middle child has asthma and we have already had a few smoky days in the past couple of months," he said. The family fled to stay with relatives around 40km away. Elsewhere in the Lake Macquarie region, Miriam Basset and her family were keeping alert and prepared for the worst late on Wednesday. "We are still being vigilant. We live on the corner of a farm, surrounded by grass," she said. "We are keeping an eye out for to make sure there are no spot fires. We have smoke all around us." Smoke from Australia in Queenstown, New Zealand. Today vs yesterday. pic.twitter.com/laBw9bHJMQ— ��������var = Jason Thompson (@Agent_Jase) December 31, 2019 Ms Basset said her family had fire hoses and two generators ready, and "buckets of water around the place", and had removed as much flammable material from the house as possible. "The adrenaline pushing you along … The people fighting last night to defend their properties, I can only imagine how exhausted they are," she said. Ms Basset said a friend witnessed his neighbour having to drive her car through flames to escape her property. "She couldn't get out because burning trees fell across her driveway so she had to drive through a paddock downhill, with her lights on because of the smoke. There were flames leaping up around her car as she drove," she said. The woman was able to escape to the nearest evacuation centre. "Being surrounded by fire, the intensity of the heat, the sheer ferocity of it really struck us, it has been immense," she said.
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| Several thousand protest church bill in Montenegro Posted: 01 Jan 2020 12:25 PM PST  Several thousand people on Wednesday held protests in Montenegro against a religious property bill that is opposed by the Serbian Orthodox Church and Russia. Led by Serbian Orthodox Church priests, pro-Serb Montenegrins have been holding protest marches since last week. Peaceful religious protests were held Wednesday in the capital Podgorica and several other towns.
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| Why This Indian State Is Witnessing the Country's Most Violent Anti Citizenship-Law Protests Posted: 01 Jan 2020 06:02 AM PST  Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath, who has served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh since 2017, has overseen a brutal crackdown on protesters.
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| Mexico vows to stand firm on granting asylum in Bolivia Posted: 02 Jan 2020 05:54 AM PST  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday pledged to stick by his government's decision to give asylum to several people in Mexico's embassy in Bolivia, which has sparked a dispute with the interim administration in La Paz. "It's a matter of principle," Lopez Obrador told reporters at a regular government news conference. To hand over the people would mean abandoning what Mexico regards as a "sacred" right to grant asylum, he added.
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| 5 commercial fishermen are believed to be dead after their crabbing vessel sank on New Year's Eve Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:41 AM PST  Five commercial fishermen were believed to have died after their crabbing vessel sank on New Year's Eve in the Gulf of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said after ending a search and rescue operation amid high winds and heavy seas.
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| 'I did it alone', Ghosn says of Japan escape Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:59 AM PST  Carlos Ghosn claimed Thursday he organised his dramatic escape from bail in Japan alone as the disgraced auto tycoon enjoyed his first days of freedom in Beirut despite an Interpol arrest notice. Ghosn, who had been under house arrest in Tokyo since April, was believed to be holed up his central Beirut residence, where visitors filed in and out under the scrutiny of TV cameras. Lebanon's state news agency quoted Justice Minister Albert Sarhan as announcing that "the public prosecutor... has received what is known as a red notice from Interpol in the Carlos Ghosn case".
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| Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher has launched a lifestyle brand after Trump reversed a military court's sentence Posted: 02 Jan 2020 04:37 AM PST  Edward Gallagher, who was charged with murder and acquitted, now has a lifestyle brand with T-shirts, hoodies, and drinking accessories.
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| With nuclear weapons talks stalled, Kim Jong Un threatens 'shocking actual action' against US Posted: 01 Jan 2020 09:44 AM PST  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, frustrated with the slow pace of denuclearization negotiations, has issued a new threat.
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| Russia Is Having Trouble Building The Submarines It Needs Posted: 01 Jan 2020 06:30 PM PST  The Russian navy — already badly depleted since the collapse of the Soviet Union — can't quickly replace most of its existing nuclear submarine fleet, which is approaching the end of its collective lifespan.
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| Australia Faces Extinction but its Leaders Still Don’t Want to Know Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:38 AM PST  "The whole town is on fire! Head for the beaches!"But wait… aren't those fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge?Such are the mixed signals as Australia proves, once more, that living at the front line of climate change—i.e., half the place seems to be on fire—hasn't taught its politicians anything.In Mallacoota, a coastal resort in southeastern Australia, the fires came in the night, and 4,000 people fled for safety to the beach. Volunteer firefighters formed a last line of defense. At 8 a.m., one resident said, "It should have been daylight but it was black like midnight and we could hear the fire roaring… we were terrified for our lives." Ash was raining on the beach. At the same time the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, was fielding calls to cancel one of the city's most famous events, the New Year's Eve firework display launched from Sydney Harbour Bridge. Bush fires were ringing the city to the west, casting a pall in the sky, but she refused: The display would "give hope to people at a terrible time."A look at the current fire map shows the whole continent of Australia ringed with flame. This is the driest continent on earth, and it is now being cooked by global warming. After the driest spring on record it has had the hottest day, with average highs across the whole country above 107 degrees. As the apocalypse closed in on Mallacoota, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was AWOL: At first his office denied he was on holiday in Hawaii, but when a picture emerged of him there, drinking beer with tourists on a beach, he was forced to head back home.In New South Wales, the state that includes Sydney, nine million acres have been burned up since November and 900 homes destroyed.As well as being hot and dry, much of Australia is also largely flat. Alice Springs, a legendary town in the interior, is an exception, at 1,800 feet above sea level. Last week the temperature there reached 113 degrees. "That's pretty insane," said Dr. Andrew Watkins, head of long-range forecasting at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.Australia's politicians seem to have no learning curve. Morrison, declaring that this was no time to discuss climate policy, said, "We have been through these terrible disasters before, and we have come through the other side."Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said climate concerns were being stoked by "raving inner-city lefties."Australia remains heavily committed to coal-fired power stations and has one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas emission rates. In fact, the 2020 World Climate Change Performance Index, just released, ranks Australia last of the 57 countries it monitors for their climate policies and said that it was actually going backwards under Morrison's Conservative government. But the opposition Labour party has also been attacked for pro-coal policies. There is a bone-headed zealotry to climate denial in Australia. Morrison has even gone so far as suggesting that environmental protest groups should be outlawed if they stage demonstrations. Nonetheless there have been no Trump-style purges of scientists from government departments. Dr. Watkins, the long range forecaster, has explained that a warming of the atmosphere over Antarctica is exacerbating the Australian droughts: "There is nothing left to evaporatively cool the air."At the same time, Australia is actually planning increases in fossil fuel production that would mean that by 2030 Australia, with 0.3 percent of the global population, will be responsible for 13 percent of globally generated greenhouse gases.One of the people pushing this program is Gina Rinehart, the 65-year-old chair of a mining and extraction conglomerate with a net worth of $14.8 billion. With her coal mines producing more than 60 million tons a year, Rinehart has opposed carbon pollution taxes and has sponsored trips to Australia by climate change denier Christopher Monckton, a right wing British politician who is also an advocate for quack cures for multiple sclerosis, herpes, and flu. In 2012 Rinehart complained that Australia's workforce was not competitive enough and cited African workers as a shining example: "Africans want to work and are willing to work for less than two dollars a day. Such statistics make me worry for this country's future." Julia Gillard, who was then prime minister, responded: "It's not the Australian way to toss people two dollars and then ask them to work for a day."The magnetic physical beauty of Australia is based, literally, on its fragility. The continent lives very close to the fine line between supportable life and extinction. When you drive into the outback, as I have done, and into the endless flatness of red desert, and eventually come to a small road town, it's evident that this outpost of life can have no physical roots: It sits directly and rudely on the earth's crust.There is something gloriously defiant in the apparition, like a mirage that has suddenly become solid. A tin-roofed motel, a bar, a small school house, a few hundred people making a barely viable but happy life—and, usually, boasting one incongruous, well irrigated little piece of England, a soft, green cricket pitch.This is in miniature a diagram of how the whole country was built, from Sydney to Alice Springs—creating a fragile hold on a knowingly precarious basis. To endure, it needed a compact between the settlers and the hard face of nature. This was understood by the original inhabitants. Aboriginal culture worked out its own successful model of sustainable life.But no such compact has been made or even suggested by Australia's current political and industrial axis. There is something unique at work here, an ingrained cowboy hubris that is depressing to see—a kind of resurgent warrior philistinism in denial of irrefutable science.Nobody has better defined this species than the great Australian satirist Barry Humphries. No, not his best-known creation, the terrifying, ball-breaking matriarch Dame Edna Everage.I'm talking about the Honorable Les Patterson, the grandly titled Australian cultural attaché to the Court of St. James, whose job specification is to promote Australia as a place "with more culture than a penicillin factory" and as a "thinking organism." In this bibulous vulgarian, leering with unbridled testosterone and misogyny, Humphries identifies and impersonates a type—not a stereotype—that lives on in the country's political class.Nonetheless it would be an act of gross hypocrisy to see their behavior only as an Australian aberration. The country's obtuse political leaders set an example that other reactionary regimes in countries as varied as Brazil and Poland are all too ready to emulate as they, too, protect their fossil fuel interests. And then, of course, there is us. Our continent has far greater ecological resilience than Australia, but our stewardship of it is just as careless as theirs. Under Trump's calculated demolition of science-based regulations, America is on the same path to the apocalypse. It's simply happening a lot more slowly. 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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| 2 snowmobilers dead after avalanche in northwestern Montana Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:39 AM PST ![2 snowmobilers dead after avalanche in northwestern Montana]( "2 snowmobilers dead after avalanche in northwestern Montana") Authorities in Montana have identified two snowmobilers killed in a New Year's Day avalanche. Jade Green, 24, and Lowell Grosvold, 26, both of Anaconda, were buried under several feet of snow, Missoula County Sheriff T.J. McDermott said Thursday. The West Central Montana Avalanche Center had issued an avalanche warning Wednesday morning after a foot (30 centimeters) of heavy, wet snow fell on top of a weak snowpack Tuesday night.
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| Millions of working class Americans to get more money as 50 states and cities raise minimum wage Posted: 01 Jan 2020 12:11 PM PST  Millions of working class Americans are to receive more money after a record number of states and cities increased their minimum wages.Rises to the minimum wage went into effect on January 1 in 20 states and 26 cities and counties, most of them in California.
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| Sixteen inmates killed in Mexican prison fight, scarring troubled system Posted: 01 Jan 2020 03:16 AM PST  Sixteen inmates were killed and five wounded in a prison fight in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas, authorities said, in one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the country's penal system since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took power. The fight broke out Tuesday afternoon at the Regional Center for Social Reintegration in the town of Cieneguillas, located on the western flank of state capital Zacatecas, the state government said. In a press conference Wednesday evening, state Public Security Minister Ismael Camberos said all prison staff working during the fight and on the previous shift would be investigated.
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| The US military ran the largest stress test of its sealift fleet in years. It’s in big trouble. Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:09 AM PST  Only 40 percent of the military's organic sealift fleet is fully ready for tasking, according to a new report.
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| Delta flight attendants say their chemically treated Lands' End uniforms are giving them migraines, hair loss, and boils — and now they're suing the retailer Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:49 PM PST  In a court case filed on December 31, employees of Delta Air Lines allege their Lands' End uniforms are making them sick.
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