| Rep. Connolly says Democrats already have 'smoking gun' to impeach Trump Posted: 12 Nov 2019 07:12 PM PST  A Democratic lawmaker who attended most of the closed-door depositions over the past month said that while public hearings will be instructive for Americans, President Trump has already given Congress all the evidence it needs to impeach him.
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| Sorry, Hillary: Democrats don't need a savior Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:42 AM PST  With the Iowa caucuses fast approaching, Hillary Clinton is just the latest in the colorful cast of characters who seem to have surveyed the sprawling Democratic field, sensed something lacking and decided that "something" might be them.
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| American war veteran who spent several days in ICE detention receives $190k settlement Posted: 14 Nov 2019 07:36 AM PST  A US citizen and military veteran suffering from a mental health condition will reportedly receive $190,000 (£147,988) from a Michigan city after local officials transferred him to ICE detention following an arrest last year.Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a decorated Marine veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was arrested while experiencing an episode in which he lost all recollection, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
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| GOP Rep. Steve King suggests George Soros' son is the whistleblower, which makes no sense Posted: 14 Nov 2019 11:09 AM PST ![GOP Rep. Steve King suggests George Soros' son is the whistleblower, which makes no sense]( "GOP Rep. Steve King suggests George Soros' son is the whistleblower, which makes no sense") Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is getting his conspiracy wires crossed.The congressmember is among the far-right crowd publicly speculating on the identity of the whistleblower who exposed President Trump's questionable Ukraine dealings, despite the fact that outing a whistleblower could put them in danger. Then again, King's Thursday guess of the whistleblower's identity couldn't be further from correct.In a since-deleted tweet, King cited Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who has repeatedly said he doesn't know the identity of the whistleblower. King then provided Schiff with "four strong clues" apparently revealing his perceived whistleblower with Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Except the man in all four pictures is Alexander Soros, the son of the billionaire liberal donor George Soros that Republicans detest so much.Not only does Soros have no job in the federal government nor any intelligence experience, but King fails to realize it would be very odd if Trump let one of his staunchest political enemies work for him in the White House.More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Pope taps fellow Jesuit as Vatican’s finance minister Posted: 14 Nov 2019 04:13 AM PST  Pope Francis on Thursday appointed a fellow Jesuit to be the Vatican's finance minister, filling a crucial position left vacant for more than two years after Cardinal George Pell left Rome to stand trial on sex abuse charges in his native Australia. The appointment of the Rev. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, a 60-year-old Spanish economist, came one day after Australia's Supreme Court agreed to hear Pell's appeal of his conviction for molesting two choirboys in the 1990s. Francis created the Secretariat for the Economy, and named Pell its prefect, as a key part of his financial reform plans after being elected pope in 2013.
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| Mom of Missing Florida Girl, 5, Charged With Child Neglect After Massive Search Uncovers a Child's Remains Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:14 AM PST  Taylor Rose Williams' mom was also hospitalized after 'an apparent overdose'
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| Ukrainian energy company tied to Hunter Biden supported American think tank, paid for trips Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:51 PM PST  Burisma gave more than $450,000 to the Atlantic Council, a prominent Washington think tank.
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| Immigration officer blows whistle on 'morally objectionable' Trump asylum policy Posted: 13 Nov 2019 09:09 AM PST  A new anonymous whistleblower has accused the Trump administration of requiring U.S. asylum officers to enforce an illegal and immoral policy "clearly designed to further this administration's racist agenda of keeping Hispanic and Latino populations from entering the United States."
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| 4 frat deaths this month, 2 this week alone. What's going on with fraternity hazing? Posted: 14 Nov 2019 03:37 PM PST  As a wave of young men nationally die in circumstances that appear to be related to fraternities, experts are unsure what to do next
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| Iran starts gasoline rationing, hikes prices - state TV Posted: 14 Nov 2019 02:13 PM PST ![Iran starts gasoline rationing, hikes prices - state TV]( "Iran starts gasoline rationing, hikes prices - state TV") Iran introduced gasoline rationing and price hikes on Friday with an official saying that the revenue would be used for subsidies for 18 million needy families, state television reported. Iran, which has some of the world's cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries. Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, head of the country's Plan and Budget Organization, told state TV that proceeds from the price hikes would be used to fund additional subsidies for 18 million families, or about 60 million people.
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| General rebuked after tempers flare over rebuilding Notre-Dame Posted: 14 Nov 2019 05:44 AM PST  The French army general charged with the rebuilding of Paris' fire-ravaged Notre-Dame was rebuked by the government Thursday after telling the chief architect to "shut his mouth" in a sign of tension over the cathedral's future appearance. General Jean-Louis Georgelin lost his cool with architect Philippe Villeneuve in a dispute over whether to replace the spire -- which was toppled in the April 15 blaze -- with an exact replica or mix things up with a modern twist. "As for the chief architect, I have already explained that he should shut his mouth," Georgelin said to gasps of astonishment at a meeting of the cultural affairs committee of the lower house National Assembly late Wednesday.
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| California sued again for requiring women on company boards Posted: 12 Nov 2019 06:15 PM PST  California's first-in-the-nation law requiring publicly held companies to put women on their boards of directors is facing a second legal challenge. The law requires publicly traded companies to have at least one woman on their boards by the end of this year. The Pacific Legal Foundation provided The Associated Press with the lawsuit it filed in federal court Wednesday, arguing that the law violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
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| Hyundai Santa Cruz Small Pickup Will Start Production in 2021 Posted: 13 Nov 2019 06:54 PM PST  Several years after its debut as a concept, Hyundai's first truck has officially become a reality.
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| Sanders, AOC to Introduce Over $100 Billion Plan to Make Public Housing Environmentally Friendly Posted: 14 Nov 2019 10:14 AM PST  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) plan to introduce legislation on Thursday that makes public housing more energy efficient, at a cost of over $100 billion.The plan, dubbed the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, will call for renovation of public housing units to install community gardens and organic grocery stores along with on-site childcare services, according to the Washington Post. Data for Progress, a progressive think tank, has estimated the cost of the program at between $119-$172 billion over the next decade."Importantly, the working people who have been most impacted by decades of disinvestment in public housing will be empowered to lead this effort and share in the economic prosperity that it generates for our country," Sanders said in a statement. Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation will "train and mobilize the workforce to decarbonize the public housing stock."In February of this year, Ocasio-Cortez released with Senator Ed Markey (D., Mass.) the "Green New Deal" plan to reduce carbon emissions across the U.S. to net zero within ten years and to eliminate completely the fossil fuel industry within the same time frame. The plan was widely pilloried by conservatives as well as many Democrats for being impractical."The green dream or whatever they call it," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at the time, "nobody knows what it is, but they're for it, right?""It is difficult to take this unrealistic manifesto seriously, but the economic and social devastation it would cause if it moves forward is serious and real," said Terry O'Sullivan, the president of the Laborers' International Union of North America, when the plan was released.
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| The Navy Has Spent $13 Billion On An Aircraft Carrier That Can't Deploy Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:00 PM PST  The delay could further inhibit the ability of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet to deploy carriers.
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| Turkey's Erdogan and Lindsey Graham reportedly had a spat over Syria's Kurds in the Oval Office Posted: 14 Nov 2019 05:59 AM PST ![Turkey's Erdogan and Lindsey Graham reportedly had a spat over Syria's Kurds in the Oval Office]( "Turkey's Erdogan and Lindsey Graham reportedly had a spat over Syria's Kurds in the Oval Office") President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a cordial meeting on Wednesday, with Trump going out of his way to say he's a "big fan" of Erdogan and the two are "very good friends." But there was no evident progress on the big issues dividing the NATO allies: Turkey's assault on America's Kurdish allies in Syria and its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, and America's refusal to extradite a Muslim cleric Erdogan accuses of fomenting revolt.Trump invited five Republican senators critical of Turkey to his Oval Office meeting with Erdogan, and things "took a dark turn when Erdogan pulled out his iPad and made the group watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists," Axios reports, citing three people familiar with the meeting. "Erdogan apparently thought he could sway these senators by forcing them to watch a clunky propaganda film. The senators in the meeting took turns pushing back on Erdogan, while Trump sat back and watched, intervening occasionally to play traffic cop."All of the GOP senators were upset about the S-400, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) "got into a heated back-and-forth" with Erdogan over the Syrian Kurds, Axios reports. After Erdogan's film finished, Graham asked him: "Well, do you want me to go get the Kurds to make one about what you've done?" Graham told Axios late Wednesday that he had informed Erdogan "that 10,000 SDF fighters, mostly Kurds, suffered, died, or injured in the fight against ISIS, and America will not forget that and will not abandon them."Graham also made a wry comment when Trump told Erdogan to pick a "friendly reporter" at their joint press conference.> After President Trump urges Erdogan to call on "a friendly reporter from Turkey", Lindsey Graham turns to me and says, "There aren't any others left." pic.twitter.com/VgEpYyr2PR> > -- Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) November 13, 2019If Turkey's jailing and censorship of journalists were a joke, that would be funny.More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Bolivia interim leader recognises Guaido as legitimate Venezuelan leader as balance shifts Posted: 14 Nov 2019 09:44 AM PST  Interim president Jeanine Anez moved Thursday to consolidate power in deeply polarized Bolivia, winning recognition from the United States and immediately shifting the country's foreign policy on erstwhile ally Venezuela. Anez was expected to complete her government line-up, having named new military chiefs and half of her proposed 20-member cabinet - including Defense Minister Fernando Lopez Julio - the night before. "We have come to pacify the country," Lopez Julio said in a speech at the military college in La Paz. "Above all, we will have to have faith in God," he said, highlighting the conservative Christian emphasis of the new government after Anez had set the tone by brandishing a bible when she assumed office on Tuesday. Anez swore herself in as president on Tuesday after Morales fled the country, fearing for his safety amid deadly protests. Evo Morales supporters march in La Paz on Thursday Credit: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Unrest erupted when he was accused of rigging the results of October 20 polls to gain re-election for a fourth term. Normal business resumed in the main cities after weeks of deadly protests, but schools and universities remained shut due to the continued threat of demonstrations. Many gas stations remained closed because of a lack of supplies. Nearly a month of protests have left 10 people dead and nearly 400 injured. Morales supporters launched fresh protests Thursday, marching toward government headquarters in La Paz. Riot police had clashed with hundreds of Morales supporters the night before during a demonstration against Anez, who Morales accused of carrying out a "coup." Morales has kept up attacks on the new government via Twitter from his exile in Mexico. Anez told reporters Thursday that new Foreign Minister Karen Longari would "make representations" to Mexico to insist that Morales be held to the terms of his political asylum. Morales's Movement for Socialism (MAS) party on Thursday accused her of "continuing to incite violence" in the country, which has been in turmoil since Morales's contested re-election. She wasn't helped by her Interior Minister Arturo Murillo, who announced the government would "hunt down" a former Morales minister, Juan Ramon Quintana, accused of masterminding opposition to Anez. Quintana "is an animal that feeds of blood," said Murillo, while Anez has publicly insisted there would be no persecution of Morales's inner circle. The 52-year-old interim leader gave the first indication of her government's foreign policy on Thursday, recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as his country's president, a key shift of alliance in the volatile region. The announcement removes one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's main allies as he fends off efforts to oust him amid a deadly economic and political crisis. - Break with Maduro - Anez's decision signals a significant break from socialist leader Morales's position on Maduro. Her government decided to formally recognize Guaido "from this moment on," Communications Minister Roxana Lizarraga told reporters. In Venezuela, Maduro's opponents have branded him a dictator for clinging to office as the country's crisis has worsened over recent years. Guaido has declared himself Venezuela's rightful president. He has gained the recognition of 50 countries, including the United States, but has so far failed to dislodge Maduro.
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| Saugus school shooting in California: What we know now Posted: 14 Nov 2019 04:33 PM PST  Several people are injured, including the suspect, after a shooting at a high school outside Los Angeles. Here's what we know.
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| Probe: State Department Punished Staffer Over Iranian Heritage, Politics Posted: 13 Nov 2019 03:15 PM PST  GettyA long-awaited State Department watchdog report will find that the Trump administration's point man on Iran, among other officials, retaliated against an agency employee in part because of her Iranian-American background, two knowledgeable sources told The Daily Beast.The Daily Beast has previously reported that the State Department inspector general's office was prepared to suggest disciplinary action for Brian Hook for political retaliation against employees in his policy planning office, including a career department official and Iran expert, Sahar Nowrouzzadeh. But the inspector general's report, set for release on Thursday in between the first two public hearings in the impeachment of the president, found that top State Department officials, including Hook, retaliated against Nowrouzzadeh in part because she is Iranian. Politico first reported the finding.The allegation derives from a cache of emails that show officials within Hook's policy planning office and other departments talking about Nowrouzzadeh's background ahead of the premature end of her detail to the prestigious office. Some of those emails, previously reported by The Daily Beast, described Nowrouzzadeh as being among "Obama/Clinton loyalists not at all supportive of President Trump's agenda." And one official falsely suggests that Nowrouzzadeh was born in Iran.He's Trump's Point Man on Iran—and Under InvestigationHook has vociferously denied retaliating in 2017 against Nowrouzzadeh based on her heritage. The inspector general report, released Thursday, acknowledges that it "did not identify emails or other documents in which Mr. Hook suggested that he was personally motivated to end the detail because of [Nowrouzzadeh's] perceived political opinions, perceived place of birth, or similar issues, and no witnesses made such statements." Department Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl disagreed with the inspector general's findings, writing that it "ignore[d] the compelling evidence provided by Brian Hook that his personnel decision in this matter was actually made prior to any of the non-merit factors being brought to his attention, and that the decision was made for entirely professional and lawful reasons."However, the inspector general said it did not find Hook's alternative rationales for ending Nowrouzzadeh's detail early to be "a convincing explanation." It called his "acquiescence" to the campaign to remove Nowrouzzadeh—a campaign that bought up her heritage and her perceived politics as a factor—"inappropriate." Taking action against an employee for reasons not having to do with merit, it continues as a blanket statement, strikes "at the heart" of the career service."Regardless of whether Mr. Hook personally shared the opinions and motivations expressed by Ms. Haller [Julia Haller, then the department liaison to the White House] and others, the comments about [Nowrouzzadeh] in the articles and emails circulated within the Office of the Secretary suggest that improper factors likely influenced the requests to end her detail and his acquiescence to those requests," the report concludes.After the report's release, Nowrouzzadeh commented in a statement: "It is my hope that the Inspector General's findings pertaining to my case help prompt action that will guard against any further such misconduct by members of this or any future administration. For nearly 15 years, I've been proud to serve our country, across Republican and Democratic administrations. I continue to strongly encourage Americans of all backgrounds, including those of Iranian heritage, to consider public service to our nation and to not be discouraged by these findings."The State Department IG's office has for months held onto its report for final review before sending it to Capitol Hill. Two individuals with knowledge of the report's drafting told The Daily Beast that the report was originally due for public release sometime over the summer. The IG's office picked up the investigation into Hook and other State Department officials for their perceived political retaliations after multiple whistleblowers approached lawmakers on the Hill about their experiences working on the policy planning team under Hook.The release of the report comes at a time when the State Department is under the microscope by investigators on Capitol Hill looking into how officials in Foggy Bottom worked to convince Ukraine to open up specific investigations in exchange for a presidential White House visit and the delivery of U.S. military aid. And multiple impeachment witnesses have criticized Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's treatment of career diplomats. The details provided in the inspector general's report about Hook can only serve to further undermine the department's credibility in the way it conducts foreign policy. In a different case, however, the inspector general did not find political retaliation. Ian Moss, a State Department official who served in the office for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility during the Obama administration, began the Trump administration on a detail to the White House's National Security Council. Moss' performance evaluations were consistently laudatory. By the time Moss returned to State later in 2017, he entered an atmosphere where chief deputies to then-Secretary Rex Tillerson were assessing the department's political leanings based in part on officials' association with Obama administration priorities— such as closing Guantanamo. Moss found himself reassigned to the Freedom-of-Information Act office, from which he launched a retaliation claim first reported by CNN. State IG Set to Recommend Discipline for Trump's Top Iran HandAmong the evidence the inspector general collected is an email between Kirstjen Nielsen, then the deputy White House chief of staff, discussing Moss with Tillerson's chief of staff, Margaret Peterlin. The email chain concludes with an exhortation to continue the conversation over the phone. Yet the inspector general stopped short of assessing that Moss was the victim of political reprisal. Moss, formerly a U.S. Marine, told The Daily Beast the inspector general's findings in his case are a "pathetic whitewash." "While they were targeting experienced career officials on account of their ethnicities and on account of perceived political affiliation, they were hiring C-list YouTubers and wine bloggers," Moss said. "It is hard to find evidence when you don't even bother to interview witnesses and deliberately choose not to follow glaring leads. [State Department Inspector General Steve] Linick has no honor." Moss put the saga of political retaliation at the State Department in the context of Trump's impeachment. Over a half-dozen witnesses from the State Department, NSC, and elsewhere in the government have told the House impeachment inquiry about a shadow foreign policy to Ukraine run by Rudy Giuliani, Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker, and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Those witnesses, typically career or long-experienced diplomats, have said this shadow effort was designed to benefit Trump rather than the United States and routed around those most expert in Ukraine because of their perceived disloyalty. Moss considers his and others' experience in 2017 to have been a harbinger of the apparently highly parochial shadow initiative. "This is what happens when you let nefarious behavior go unchecked," he told The Daily Beast. Over the summer the State Department hired the Iranian-American woman who publicly advocates for the ousting of the government in Tehran to work with Hook and other senior officials.Mora Namdar, an Iranian-American lawyer from Texas, is working with top department officials, including Brian Hook, the administration's special representative on Iran. She is also working on a controversial project to build a U.S. pavilion at the World's Fair in Dubai in 2020.This is the second team to take on the task of raising $60 million for the event. The first team disbanded this spring when several individuals on the board quit because of internal mismanagement and allegations of influence-peddling by leadership. One of the managers, Alan Dunn, is also the CEO of IP3, the firm attempting to push forward a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. Dunn used his position on the team to advance the interests of his firm, The Daily Beast reported in August.Namdar's law school brief from 2011 mimics that of the current Trump administration's policies on Iran, including the need for economic sanctions, increased pressure on Tehran to scale back its nuclear program, and directly targeting Iranian officials by freezing their assets. But she says the U.S. should go one step further."It is logical to ascertain that it would be in the best interest of not only the Iranian people but the United States to support regime change in Iran," Namdar wrote.Namdar went on to say that "encouraging the United States to stay out of the internal conflict with the Iranian elections… can now be seen as poor advice."The department first took notice of Namdar during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Dallas this spring, when he met with members of the Iranian-American diaspora in a roundtable session, according to two State Department officials. Namdar was pictured sitting next to Pompeo during that event.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Top Putin aide named by MH17 airliner investigators Posted: 14 Nov 2019 05:12 AM PST  An international investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on Thursday released a series of phone intercepts, including one between a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and pro-Russian rebels accused in the crash. Calls between officials in Moscow and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine mostly took place via secure telephones provided by the Russian security service, and intensified ahead of the disaster in the first half of July 2014, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said. "The indications for close ties between leaders of the DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and Russian government officials raise questions about their possible involvement in the deployment of the (missile), which brought down flight MH17 on 17 July 2014," the JIT said.
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| Lodge Cast-Iron Cookware Is Up to 63% off on Amazon Right Now Posted: 14 Nov 2019 10:01 AM PST |
| New Jersey seeks $640M from Uber for misclassifying workers Posted: 14 Nov 2019 12:47 PM PST  New Jersey is seeking more than $640 million from Uber in taxes and penalties, saying the ride-hailing company misclassified its drivers as independent contractors. The decision is the latest setback for Uber and other companies in the so-called "gig economy" that rely heavily on contract labor to deliver the services at the heart of their popular apps. New Jersey's labor department told Uber it, along with its subsidiary Rasier, owes $523 million in overdue taxes form the last four years and is also facing fines and interest of $119 million, according to letters from the department that were first reported Thursday by Bloomberg Law.
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| Pirates attacked an Italian ship off the coast of Mexico — the latest sign of a growing criminal industry Posted: 13 Nov 2019 01:25 PM PST  There's big money in stealing fuel in Mexico, and the thieves are willing to go offshore in order to find new targets.
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| Catapults, flaming arrows: Hong Kong protesters' medieval tech Posted: 14 Nov 2019 06:29 AM PST  With wooden catapults to launch petrol bombs and bows and arrows pilfered from sports departments, Hong Kong's democracy protesters are combining new tactics with medieval tech as they battle police. As a rolling strike cripples the transport system of the famously frenetic city and fuels already intense clashes with police, hardcore protesters have bolstered their arsenal of Molotovs and bricks with an unlikely array of weapons. Chairs and mattresses have been pulled from college dorms for use as barricades or shields against increasingly heavy barrages of police rubber bullets.
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| U.S. Farm Finances Worsen Despite Trump Trade War Aid Posted: 14 Nov 2019 01:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Farm finances deteriorated across a swath of agricultural states during the summer and early fall despite the Trump administration's second round of trade aid payments and slightly higher prices, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported Thursday.The report underscores the mounting economic pressure on a key Donald Trump constituency as he confronts a re-election campaign and impeachment struggle while undertaking negotiations with Beijing on a partial trade deal that could provide relief from retaliatory tariffs hitting American farmers. The trade talks have bogged down as Trump seeks assurances that Beijing will deliver on commitments on agricultural purchases.Farm income fell in the third quarter from a year ago in each of the seven rural states covered by the Kansas City Fed, according to its survey of agricultural credit conditions. The report cited the trade war, volatile crop prices and disruptions at a major beef processing facility.Bankers contacted by the Fed said the drop in farm income was sharper than they expected going into the summer. Respondents expect income to decline further and credit conditions to worsen in the coming months despite trade aid payments. The USDA started issuing payments from its 2019 trade aid program in August."Extreme weather conditions and commodity prices continue to adversely effect the financial condition of our producers," said one banker quoted in the report, identified only as located in Central Nebraska. "These conditions are potentially setting up a difficult renewal season this fall" for loans.Farmers have responded by cutting back on spending and equipment purchases to preserve cash. Even so, their working capital deteriorated "at a modest pace," according to the Fed.The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which covers five Midwestern states, also reported Thursday that farm credit conditions "slid yet again" in the third quarter. Bankers participating in the Chicago Fed regional survey also said they expected crop net cash earnings to drop in the fall and winter from levels a year earlier.Farmland values in the Chicago region declined 1% from a year earlier, the bank reported. The Kansas City Fed reported "stable" farmland values in its region.Other indicators also show rising financial stress. U.S. farm bankruptcies in the 12 months through September rose 24% from the same year-ago period to the highest since 2011, according to a report by the American Farm Bureau Federation. That report also highlighted farmers' and ranchers' growing dependence on government financial help.Almost 40% of projected farm profit this year will come from trade aid, disaster assistance, federal subsidies and insurance payments, according to the report, which is based on Department of Agriculture forecasts. That's $33 billion of a projected $88 billion in net income.(Updates with Chicago Fed report beginning in seventh paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Dorning in Washington at mdorning@bloomberg.net;Michael Hirtzer in Chicago at mhirtzer@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, James AttwoodFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Nancy Pelosi Says Finalized USMCA Deal ‘Imminent’ Posted: 14 Nov 2019 01:58 PM PST  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said during a press conference Thursday that the Trump administration's renegotiated USMCA trade deal with Mexico and Canada will pass the House imminently."I do believe that if we can get this to the place it needs to be, which is imminent, that this can be a template for future trade agreements. A good template," Pelosi remarked, saying the key issue for Democrats is "enforcement," a premier issue for labor unions."I'd like to see us get it done this year," she said. "I mean, that would be my goal."Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) accused Democrats for "heel-dragging" on USMCA in favor of impeachment."Tomorrow, I'm going to be paying attention to what we're doing in the Senate," McConnell said Tuesday. "House Democrats have enough time to continue their three-year-old obsession with impeaching the president, but they cannot find the time to pass a landmark trade deal that would create 176,000 new American jobs."Last year, Trump signed the USMCA at the G-20, saying "it's great for all of our countries."The USMCA overhauls the former North American Free Trade Agreement, and is designed to raise wages and improve working conditions for both Mexican and American auto workers by tightening regulations. But labor unions remain skeptical of weak enforcement provisions, which could allow U.S. companies to cut costs by moving operations across the border where it will be easier to skirt the new regulations.News of the imminent deal comes after months of negotiation between House Democrats and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "We want to iron out two or three bottom-line issues and present them to the USTR and then proceed from there," Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D., Mass.), who has been leading the negotiations for the Democrats, told reporters.
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| Protesters blare Christine Blasey Ford testimony and dress up as handmaids outside Kavanaugh speech Posted: 14 Nov 2019 05:21 PM PST  The scene outside the venue where Brett Kavanaugh was scheduled to give the keynote speech included protesters chanting and dressed as handmaids.
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| Forget North Korea: This Is The Nuclear Hotspot No One is Talking About Posted: 14 Nov 2019 04:39 AM PST  India and Pakistan are more primed for an exchange than any other two countries.
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| Russia blames fatal plane crash on pilots, including one who lied to get license Posted: 14 Nov 2019 03:18 AM PST  A plane crash that killed all 50 people on board at Russia's Kazan Airport in 2013 was the result of errors made by two pilots, including one who got his license using falsified documents, Russian investigators said on Thursday. The Boeing 737-500 aircraft was operated by the now-defunct Tatarstan Airlines, which later had its license revoked by Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya. The plane from Moscow had been trying to abort its landing when it nose-dived into the runway and burst into flames.
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| Death row inmate to be executed for killing convenience store worker Posted: 13 Nov 2019 09:35 AM PST  Prison officials in Georgia are preparing to execute a man who was convicted of shooting dead a convenience store worker 25 years ago. Ray Jefferson Cromartie, 52, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. ET at Jackson's Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison for the killing of Richard Slysz.
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| 'One-in-a-million' deer with three antlers spotted caught on camera Posted: 14 Nov 2019 02:23 AM PST  A day after images of a puppy with an extra tail growing from its head made headlines around the world, another animal with unusual extra headgear has been sighted - a rare three-antlered whitetail deer.The creature was pictured between the snow covered trees on Michigan's Upper Peninsula by amateur photographer and former state representative, Steve Lindberg.
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| When Hamas is not in Israel's sights Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:54 PM PST  For the first time in more than a decade, Israeli forces have bombed Gaza without targeting Hamas. Before dawn on Tuesday, Israeli forces struck an apartment in the northern Gaza Strip, killing Baha Abu al-Ata and his wife Asma, who died immediately. Ata was not a commander of Hamas, which has de facto control over the Gaza Strip, a territory of some two million people that has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.
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| Warren Says Honest Businesses Shouldn’t Worry If She Wins 2020 Posted: 14 Nov 2019 08:47 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren sought to reassure business leaders and investors they have nothing to worry about if she is elected -- as long as they obey the law."I believe in markets. Markets with rules that are consistently enforced," she said in an interview in Concord, New Hampshire. "If someone has built a business on cheating people, then they should be very worried about a Warren administration, but if that's not the case, then there's no reason for them to worry."Warren's progressive proposals for reducing inequality, including a wealth tax, breaking up big technology and agriculture companies, as well as her $21 trillion plan to replace private health insurance with a government-run system, have raised concerns on Wall Street that her policies would be ruinous and push the U.S. too far to the left.As she has gained in the polls, she's come in for criticism from Wall Street executives and billionaires, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman and Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.She attacked Cooperman in a new campaign commercial, and on Wednesday he fired back in a profanity-laced tirade on CNBC.The Massachusetts senator, who has pledged not to take big-donor money to fuel her campaign, said the criticism reminded her of the opposition she faced when she proposed establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."A lot of financial institutions were saying in effect, 'if there's a cop on the beat, that's going to destroy my business,'" Warren said. "My answer was: 'Really? What are you doing that a cop is going to catch you out and make you shut down? Do you not have a business model that works and the cop could glance over your shoulder once in a while and say yeah, that's fine.'"Warren is gaining on Democratic front-runner Joe Biden in polls with a campaign message that corporate and government wrongdoing have broken American democracy. She's presented plans to tackle corruption, including increasing oversight of lobbying and imposing restrictions and large fines on some of the largest U.S. corporations."If you're running a straight-up honest business, you want a cop on the beat, because you don't want to have to compete against the cheaters," Warren said. "That's what a Warren administration will be all about."She has vowed to make the richest Americans bear the cost of her plans through higher taxes, including levies on wealth and financial transactions. In a research note this month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said her plan to return the corporate tax rate to 26% from 18% would drive down earnings for S&P 500 companies."This country is broken and the way we will repair it is together," she said. "Not by depending on the billionaires, not by depending on corporate PACs, but by building a movement across this nation."On the campaign trail, Warren tells potential voters that while she doesn't have a "beef with billionaires," she wants to ensure that they pay their fair share.(Adds new quote in eleventh paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Washington at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Gregory MottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Young Turks Founder Cenk Uygur Files for Katie Hill’s Former Seat Posted: 14 Nov 2019 05:05 AM PST  Progressive talk show host Cenk Uygur has filed to enter the race for disgraced former congresswoman Katie Hill's congressional district, according to a Federal Election Commission database filing submitted on Wednesday.Uygur, host and creator of "The Young Turks," a leftist online news outlet, tweeted "no comment" after news broke of the filing Wednesday night.> To all reporters: No comment.> > -- Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) November 13, 2019During a show on Wednesday in which he endorsed Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) for president, Uygur hinted at "dramatic news on Thursday" and told viewers to "stay tuned."A former MSNBC commentator, Uygur has drifted further left in recent years, but in college he espoused conservative views, supporting pro-life causes and defending Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. A Turkish immigrant, he has also been the subject of controversy for his past denial of the Armenian genocide, for which he apologized in 2016.Hill left her seat on October 28, resigning after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations that Hill engaged in inappropriate sexual relationships with multiple staffers."I know that even a consensual relationship with a subordinate is inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment," Hill wrote in a letter of resignation at the time.On Wednesday night, Hill appeared to distance herself from Uygur by reinforcing her support for state assemblywoman Christy Smith, saying "A local gal is the only one who can keep it blue and the only one the community deserves."> A local gal flipped a decades-long Rep seat to win by 9 pts. A local gal is the only one who can keep it blue and the only one the community deserves. I called @ChristyforCA25 before I resigned to make sure she would run. Boys, please be gentlemen and step aside. She's got this. https://t.co/0HGzQY58Zr> > -- Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) November 13, 2019On October 29, former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos — a central figure in the 2016 Russiagate probe — announced his interest in running for Hill's seat.In 2017, Papadopoulous pleaded guilty to lying to investigators regarding his contacts with Russia and subsequently spent twelve days in prison.> I care about one endorsement: the American people. The rest is white noise.> > -- George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) October 30, 2019
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| Bill Clinton to Donald Trump on gun control inaction during impeachment: 'You got hired to do a job' Posted: 14 Nov 2019 03:03 PM PST  During an interview to react to the Saugus High School shooting, Clinton said Trump needs to work with Congress on gun control legislation during the impeachment inquiry.
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| China Needs Imperial Realism on Hong Kong Posted: 14 Nov 2019 09:18 AM PST  Hong Kong was declared in 1997 an autonomous "system" within China, but it was always more than that. A decade of threats from China since 2008 has driven the difference to grow further: from distinctive society into a distinctive nation.
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| Iconic stretch of California coastal highway faces closures Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:09 AM PST  Officials plan to temporarily close an iconic stretch of California's landslide-plagued Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast this winter when forecasts of significant rain emerge. Highway 1 is a major scenic route for tourists driving between Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as a lifeline for small communities along the rugged coast. The Monterey Herald reports the California Department of Transportation will provide two days of notice before closures for the Mud Creek or Paul's Slide areas.
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| Justice Dept. rolls out new program to combat gun violence Posted: 13 Nov 2019 10:53 AM PST  Attorney General William Barr announced a new initiative Wednesday that would better enforce the U.S. gun background check system, coordinate state and federal gun cases and ensure prosecutors quickly update databases to show when a defendant can't possess a firearm because of mental health issues. The push, known as Project Guardian, was unveiled at a news conference in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, on the same day public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump began in Washington. "Gun crime remains a pervasive problem in too many communities across America," Barr said in a statement.
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| Cows swept off island during Hurricane Dorian found after swimming for miles Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:06 AM PST  Cows missing for two months were located on North Carolina's Outer Banks after 'mini tsunami' carried wildlife awayCows are recognized as adept swimmers comfortable with covering a few hundred yards – but swimming miles of open water in a hurricane is outside their general range. Photograph: Dawn Damico/AlamyThree cows swept off an island during the raging storm of Hurricane Dorian have been located on North Carolina's Outer Banks after apparently swimming four miles during the storm.The extraordinary swimming bovines were grazing on their home of Cedar Island when the giant storm hit on 6 September, generating an 8ft "mini tsunami" that swept away wildlife, including 28 wild horses and about 17 cows from the island's herd.They were presumed dead, but Cape Lookout National Seashore staff spotted one of the cows on another barrier island a month after the storm. That sighting was followed by two more, apparently grazing peaceably. A picture of the rangy-looking trio is now on Facebook.Cows are recognized as adept swimmers comfortable with covering a few hundred yards. But swimming miles of open water in a hurricane is outside their general range of expertise.Cape Lookout Park spokesman BG Horvat said the animals were lucky not to have been swept out into the Atlantic."I'll say it's about four miles across Core Sound," Horvat told McClatchy news service. "Remember, the cows and all the horses were swept away with the water surging back. Who knows exactly, but the cows certainly have a gripping story to share."Locals are now working on a plan to recover the animals – presumably without making them swim.
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| Pelosi: What Trump did makes what Nixon did during Watergate ‘look almost small’ Posted: 14 Nov 2019 09:25 AM PST  At her weekly press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said what President Trump did with regard to Ukraine makes what President Nixon did during Watergate "look almost small."
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| Bloomberg Responded ‘Kill It’ after Employee Disclosed Her Pregnancy, 1997 Lawsuit Alleges Posted: 14 Nov 2019 08:11 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg allegedly told a female employee,"kill it!" when she told him she was pregnant, according to the former Bloomberg executive's 1997 lawsuit.The lawsuit filed in New York by Sekiko Sakai Garrison alleges Bloomberg followed up his first remark with another offensive comment, "Great! Number 16," apparently referring to the number of pregnant employees on his payroll.Sakai Garrison also claimed Bloomberg pointed out another woman to her and remarked, "If you looked like that, I would do you in a second.""Sexual harassment and sexual degredation of women at Bloomberg was pervasive," the lawsuit states.Sakai Garrison, who now lives in Seattle, achieved the number one ranking as regional sales manager at Bloomberg's company, where she worked from 1989 to 1995, when she was let go. She did not respond to a request for comment.The suit accused Bloomberg of making racist remarks as well, including calling Mexican clients "jumping beans" and telling a female employee who needed a nanny, "all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building."The billionaire businessman settled the lawsuit in 2000. Bloomberg claimed to have passed a lie detector test in 2001 denying he made the remark about Sakai Garrison's pregnancy. He said he submitted to the polygraph "because I expected that those allegations would surface in the news media as I began to explore the possibility of entering the mayor's race."Reports of the former New York City mayor's demeaning comments towards women and others have circulated for years, some documented in a book of one-liners gifted to him by work colleagues."Mike has come to see that some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong," said Bloomberg's spokesman, Stu Loeser. "He believes his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life."Bloomberg is currently battling lackluster poll numbers in the Democratic presidential primary after his late 2020 campaign announcement.
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| Turkey's Erdogan calls Macron's NATO comments 'unacceptable' Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:42 PM PST  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday slammed as "unacceptable" recent remarks on NATO by French leader Emmanuel Macron, who claimed the alliance was experiencing "brain death" and deplored Turkey's actions in Syria. Hosting his counterpart in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump said Erdogan was "very disappointed in the statement made by France" regarding NATO. "I think that bothered the president very much," Trump said.
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| FEATURE-On China's Yangtze river, giant dam's legacy blocks revival Posted: 13 Nov 2019 10:02 PM PST ![FEATURE-On China's Yangtze river, giant dam's legacy blocks revival]( "FEATURE-On China's Yangtze river, giant dam's legacy blocks revival") The 2,000 residents of Muhe, whose village was moved to higher ground a decade ago to escape the rising Yangtze River, have tried to make the most of their remaining land by planting orchards of oranges and persimmons along its banks. With just 110 hectares on the edge of Asia's longest river, Muhe lost half its territory to make way for the colossal Three Gorges Project, a 185-metre dam and 660-kilometre reservoir designed to control flooding, aid navigation and generate electricity. Beijing has allocated more than 600 billion yuan ($86 billion) since 2011 to alleviate the dam's long-term impacts on villages like Muhe and bring the region's deteriorating environment under "effective control".
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| Chicago teachers to vote on agreement that guarantees 16% raise, $35M to reduce classes Posted: 14 Nov 2019 08:23 AM PST  Chicago teachers will begin voting on a tentative contract deal that ended an 11-day strike in the nation's third-largest school district last month.
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