| Leading Republican senator says impeachment witnesses not ruled out Posted: 23 Dec 2019 05:25 AM PST  U.S. senators on Monday sparred over the shape of an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, with Republican leader Mitch McConnell saying he has not ruled out hearing from witnesses as Democrats have demanded. McConnell, speaking on Fox News, stopped short of agreeing to a Democratic request for the Senate to agree ahead of time to take testimony during the trial expected to begin in early 2020.
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| Saudis sentence 5 people to death for Khashoggi's killing Posted: 23 Dec 2019 01:54 AM PST  A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced five people to death Monday for the killing of Washington Post columnist and royal family critic Jamal Khashoggi, whose grisly slaying in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul drew international condemnation and cast a cloud of suspicion over Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Three other people were found guilty by Riyadh's criminal court of covering up the crime and were sentenced to a combined 24 years in prison, according to a statement read by the Saudi attorney general's office on state TV. In all, 11 people were put on trial in Saudi Arabia over the killing.
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| I never let my daughter sit on Santa's lap. Now she's old enough to tell me that I made the right choice. Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:47 AM PST  The Santa Claus custom tells kids that it's safe to have physical contact with strangers, and that they should do it even if they don't want to.
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| How North Korea Sunk a Warship in 2010 (And Could Have Restarted the Korean War) Posted: 23 Dec 2019 09:00 PM PST  In 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean warship and 40 sailors died tragically. Tensions have risen again.
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| Iraqi protesters' ire at Iran extends to goods boycott Posted: 24 Dec 2019 01:25 AM PST  Anger over Iran's stranglehold on Baghdad's political system has helped propel an unprecedented protest movement -- and now Iraqi activists are hitting the Islamic Republic where it hurts, with a goods boycott. Tehran has held enormous sway over its neighbour since dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2003. Using the slogan "let them rot", protesters who have taken to the streets since October 1 to demand wholesale political change are now shunning everything Iranian -- from fruit to sugary drinks.
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| Merkel Coalition Partners Stuck in Doldrums After Shift to Left Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:13 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The new leftist leaders of Germany's Social Democrats have failed to give Angela Merkel's junior coalition partners a lift in the polls.The SPD were stuck on 13% in the final Insa survey of the year for Bild newspaper, the same as the previous week and down from 20.5% in the most recent general election in 2017. Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc gained one point to 28%, while the SPD again trailed the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany, stable on 21% and 15% respectively.In an attempt to revive their fortunes, the Social Democrats this month picked Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken as co-leaders, scuppering a rival bid by Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz.The new team endorsed policy demands as a condition to remain in government that would ease years of fiscal discipline under Merkel and Scholz, boost infrastructure spending, lift the minimum wage and step up efforts to tackle climate change.But the shift to the left has apparently failed to win back the voters who have abandoned the party in droves over the past decade as the Greens and AfD gained support.Insa head Hermann Binkert suggested that, as things stand, there's little point in the SPD putting forward a candidate to take over from Merkel when she finishes her term in 2021 -- if her government survives that long.\--With assistance from Chris Reiter.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Rogers in Berlin at irogers11@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman, Raymond ColittFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| British teen who died on school trip to New York City named by police Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:44 AM PST  U.S. authorities have named the British schoolgirl who died last week on a trip to New York City. The New York Police Department identified the 17-year-old student as Anastasia Uglow, according to Bristol Live.
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| President Trump says he hasn’t ‘thought’ about Roger Stone pardon Posted: 24 Dec 2019 12:01 PM PST  Roger Stone was convicted in November of lying to Congress to protect the president.
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| Arizona DHS Agents Paid to Have Sex With Alleged Sex Trafficking Victims They ‘Rescued’ Posted: 23 Dec 2019 04:29 PM PST  At a press conference in September 2018, Department of Homeland Security agents told reporters they had successfully broken up a transnational ring of illegal massage parlors forcing Asian immigrants into sex slavery. What they didn't say, however, is that two of their own agents had paid for sex with the alleged victims.As part of the two-year, $15,000 investigation into the massage parlors, two DHS agents engaged in sex acts with the alleged trafficking victims at least 10 times, according to DHS and local police department investigation reports uncovered by Today's News-Herald. Now the case against the alleged traffickers is unraveling as the federal agents refuse to testify in courts."To solve a crime of victims who were being forced to have sex, the officers decided to have sex with them," Brad Rideout, an attorney for one of the women arrested for money laundering, told The Daily Beast. "There seems to be no limits on their activities and there seems to be no boundaries."Authorities say the trafficking sting started in 2016, when local police received reports of unusual activity at several massage parlors in Lake Havasu City and Bullhead City. By April 2018, the police departments had determined that some of the employees might be victims of human trafficking. That's when they reached out to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) investigation arm for assistance.Weeks later, in a DHS investigation referred to in official documents as "Operation Asian Touch," two DHS agents were sent undercover to visit the parlors. In the investigation reports, the agents describe haggling with their masseuses over hand jobs and asking them to bare their breasts for anywhere from $40 to $120.The agents, known only as "Arturo" and "Sergio," returned to each location as many as four times, according to the investigation reports. The visits generated insights such as "the female was very skinny with small breasts," and "any time the female would say anything she would get really close and whisper." After one visit, the undercover officer reportedly testified he was "80 percent sure" that the woman he had contact with was the target of the investigation. Police raided the massage parlors in September 2018, arresting eight people on charges of sex trafficking, money laundering, and operating a house of prostitution, among other things. In a press conference, deputy special agent Lon Wiegand said the suspects were part of a transnational criminal organization that trafficked women through multiple massage parlors in the area, according to the Mohave Daily News.Wiegand described the women's working conditions as "deplorable" and "unsanitary," and said they had been forced to work seven days a week, for more than 12 hours at a time. The women's only income came from their tips for sexual services, he said, and their movements were "extremely restricted." Investigators said the ring's alleged leader, Amanda Yamauchi, transported workers directly from the Las Vegas airport to the businesses in Mohave County.But the charges against Yamauchi and her alleged partner were dropped last week after the DHS agents refused to testify in her case. The investigation, which Lake Havasu City Police Sgt. Tom Gray told Today's News-Herald took almost 200 hours, has so far resulted in only three convictions—one for prostitution, another for soliciting a prostitute, and a third for attempted pandering. "We just can't produce them," Mohave Deputy County Attorney Kellen Marlow told Today's News-Herald of the DHS agents. "Local law enforcement investigators would be readily available, but federal witnesses are not. And from what I've been told, they're not going to be available to testify any time soon."Rideout filed a motion last month asking for the agents' full names, badge numbers, and any other identifying information necessary to request information on their actions in the investigation. According to the motion, so far the state has provided only reports written by local law enforcement officers involved in the investigation. "It is unclear how an ICE officer having sexual relations with human trafficking victims in Mohave County, Arizona protects the nation from terrorist attack or secures its borders," Rideout wrote.DHS did not respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment. Bullhead City Public Information Officer Emily Fromelt told Today's News-Herald that DHS had conducted its own internal investigation into the agents' activities but did not reveal the outcome.A similar raid on massage parlors in Florida earlier this year—which made headlines after New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft patronized one of the businesses—also resulted in zero trafficking convictions. The investigation into 10 spas in southern Florida was billed by police as a rescue operation for the impoverished immigrant workers. But in April, an assistant state attorney in Palm Beach testified in court that there was "no human trafficking that arises out of this investigation." Some of the women are now being threatened with deportation.Results like these have led sex workers' rights activists to speak out against the raids, which they say do little to help the so-called victims they purport to save."Police like to get in front of TV cameras and state that they conducted a raid and rescued victims and arrested a bunch of men and closed down this sex trafficking operation," said Alex Andrews, the co-founder of sex workers' rights organization SWOP Behind Bars. "But even in these raids where they're targeting the men, they're not having any impact at all on the lives of sex workers or the lives of sex trafficking victims."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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| Ethiopian Muslims protest after several mosques burned Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:28 AM PST ![Ethiopian Muslims protest after several mosques burned]( "Ethiopian Muslims protest after several mosques burned") Several thousand Muslims across Ethiopia in recent days have protested the burning of four mosques in the Amhara region. Muslims have called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called the attacks "attempts by extremists to break down our rich history of religious tolerance and coexistence." Recent ethnic-based unrest in some parts of the country has at times taken religious form.
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| Kremlin calls Moscow shooting incident 'a manifestation of madness' Posted: 23 Dec 2019 01:36 AM PST  The Kremlin on Monday called a Moscow shooting incident last week in which two officers of Russia's FSB security service were killed by a gunman "a manifestation of madness" of the kind faced by all countries from time to time. Russian investigators on Friday named the man who opened fire on the headquarters of the FSB security service in Moscow as Yevgeny Manyurov, a 39-year-old former security guard from just outside the capital.
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| Study Finds Immigration Will Shift Electoral College in Favor of Democrats Posted: 23 Dec 2019 09:15 PM PST  As the 2020 census approaches, the Center for Immigration Studies conducted the study to predict what the Electoral College map will look like after the counting is done.
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| Cartoon Muslims in India publicity blitz after deadly protest Posted: 23 Dec 2019 11:40 AM PST  India's ruling party launched a video with animated Muslim characters on social media Monday in a publicity blitz aiming to bust "myths" around a new citizenship law that has sparked deadly protests. The law has stoked concerns that Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government wants to marginalise India's Muslim minority. Twenty-five people have died in protests so far, but demonstrations took place Monday in Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi with no violence reported.
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| Uniqlo's robots have already replaced 90% of its human workers at its flagship warehouse, now they've cracked the difficult task of folding T-shirts Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:07 AM PST  Uniqlo's parent company has partnered with a Japanese startup that develops industrial robots to create a two-armed robot.
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| Elizabeth Warren once held campaign event at restaurant with 'wine vault' Posted: 24 Dec 2019 09:49 AM PST  Is a good old fashioned winery no longer good enough for people these days?Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been a vocal critic of big money donors and fundraising in campaigns, calling out South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg for attending a fundraiser at a "wine cave." But Warren herself has a troubled past when it comes to drinking wine in elaborate places.While running for U.S. Senate, Warren reportedly held an event at a restaurant boasting a "wine vault," per The Washington Post. The restaurant also featured wine reaching the price of $3,800 a bottle.Warren went after Buttigieg in the last Democratic debate, saying the next president shouldn't be chosen by billionaires in wine caves (although she said nothing of billionaires in wine vaults). Warren's own wine-centric event took place in October 2017, per the Post, and had a $1,000 per-attendee price tag. Warren, for her part, has acknowledged she used to have a big donor program but now thinks there is a "better" way to do things.The Post's revelation does provide some good fodder for the next Democratic primary debate, though. Which came first: the wine cave or the wine vault?More stories from theweek.com How a 'legislative terrorist' conquered the Republican Party Queen Elizabeth acknowledges 2019 was a 'bumpy' year Bernie Sanders and the socialist Christmas spirit
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| Malaysia Lacking Foreign Help in Hunt for Jho Low, Kini Reports Posted: 22 Dec 2019 08:41 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's police are having trouble getting their foreign counterparts to help in the search for Jho Low, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, Malaysiakini reported.Inspector-General Abdul Hamid Bador said other countries lacked the sincerity to cooperate, and were even denying Low's presence in their jurisdictions despite Malaysian intelligence indicating otherwise, the local newspaper reported. The police are maintaining their promise to bring back the fugitive financier by year-end.Bringing in Jho Low to face criminal charges in Malaysia would be a major step in the country's renewed investigation into troubled state fund 1MDB, which saw more than $4.5 billion allegedly misappropriated.The police have declined to say where they suspect Low to be located or from which authorities they're seeking cooperation, while ruling out the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. In September, Abdul Hamid said the financier was in a jurisdiction with which Malaysia has an extradition treaty, and that he was in talks with a party they suspect of protecting him.Low recently struck a deal with the U.S. Justice Department to return almost $1 billion of assets to resolve forfeiture cases linked to him. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.To contact the reporter on this story: Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at ashukry2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Yudith Ho, Rieka RahadianaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Three members of British family die 'after drowning in swimming pool' at their Spanish hotel Posted: 24 Dec 2019 10:43 AM PST  Three members of the same British family have died at a hotel in the Costa Del Sol, according to reports. It is understood a nine-year-old girl got into difficulties in a swimming pool at Club La Costa World and her older brother and their father jumped into the water to save her. Police divers have been inspecting the pool's pump amid fears that it may have played a role in the incident. Well-placed sources described the girl and her father as British and 53-years-old but said the boy, a 16-year-old, was travelling on an American passport. The children's mother is understood to have been one of the people who raised the alarm and is thought to have been interviewed by investigators. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are offering assistance to a British woman following an incident in Spain." The sprawling holiday resort overlooks the Mediterranean and is just a short drive from Fuengirola. One insider close to the ongoing probe said: "The girl's brother and then the father jumped into the water when they saw she was in difficulties. All three have died. "An investigation is ongoing so it is too early to say what has happened but specialist Civil Guard divers were mobilised after the gravity of what had occurred became apparent and one of the things they have looked at is the pool pump." Tanya Aamer, 23, a holidaymaker from Birmingham who is staying at the resort, told the PA news agency she saw "bodies covered in white sheets" by the side of the pool, and could hear "a woman crying aloud". "The atmosphere as I was walking past is indescribable," Ms Aamer said. "Obviously we've never been in that situation before so we just began walking slowly in a slight state of confusion as to what we're witnessing and eventually when we got to the bottom it was just silent, no talking or anything." A statement from resort operator Club La Costa World said: "Management at Club La Costa World resort would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family affected by the loss of three family members on 24th December 2019. "The guests were found unresponsive in one of the resort's pools. First response teams and emergency services attended and administered first aid. "The management are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation into the deaths. "We would like to thank our first response team and the emergency services for their quick and appropriate responses, and our staff for the continuing support of the family at this difficult time." The resort where the three deaths occurred is the same one where a nine-year-old British girl died in February after suffering a severe allergic reaction to an ice-cream. Habiba Chishti, from Halifax, was staying with her family at the resort and went into anaphylactic shock there although she had eaten her treat at a nearby shopping centre. An inquest held at Halifax Town Hall in May heard she was allergic to eggs and nuts with local reports at the time saying it was believed it was the sauce on the ice-cream that contained the ingredients that killed her. The bodies of the three family members have been transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Malaga. Post-mortem examinations are expected to take place on Wednesday.
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| Russia's most advanced fighter jet crashes, pilot survives Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:08 AM PST  Russian officials say a top-of-the-line fighter jet has crashed on a training mission but that its pilot bailed out safely. Russia's United Aircraft Corporation said in a statement Tuesday that the Su-57 fighter came down during a training flight near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the country's far east. The Su-57, which made its maiden flight in 2010, is Russia's most advanced fighter plane.
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| Venezuela arrests 11 after weekend raid of military outpost: Maduro Posted: 23 Dec 2019 04:29 PM PST  Venezuela has arrested 11 people in connection with a weekend raid of a remote military outpost in southern Bolivar state, but some suspects have fled across the border to Brazil with stolen weapons, President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday. Authorities have accused Brazil, Colombia and Peru - all adversaries of socialist Maduro who recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the rightful president - of complicity with the attack, in which one Venezuelan soldier was killed.
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| Beware, Russia and China: The U.S. Military Is Testing a New Ballistic Missile Posted: 22 Dec 2019 11:53 PM PST  The Pentagon fired-off a new prototype conventionally-configured, ground-launched ballistic missile as part of a broader effort to increase medium-range attack options and further fortify deterrence efforts.
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| Violence flares in north Afghanistan as forces ready for deadly winter Posted: 24 Dec 2019 06:18 AM PST  At least seven Afghan soldiers were killed when the Taliban attacked their base Tuesday, the latest brazen assault in Afghanistan's north, where local and international forces are bracing for violent months ahead. Winter once marked a slowdown in the so-called "fighting season", with Taliban fighters returning to their villages because snow and ice made attacks more difficult to pull off. In Tuesday's incident, a joint military base in the Dawlat Abad district of Balkh province near the Uzbekistan border was attacked, the Afghan defence ministry said.
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| Christians are being persecuted around the globe. That's the real war on Christmas. Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:00 AM PST  The next time you get offended when someone wishes you "happy holidays," remember those who won't get to celebrate those holidays at all.
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| World's tallest geyser breaks eruption record, stunning Yellowstone visitors, scientists Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:39 PM PST  Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park blew past its yearly eruption record in 2019, shooting up water 47 times, indicating an active period.
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| US national security adviser warns UK about China's Huawei: 'They are just going to steal wholesale state secrets' Posted: 24 Dec 2019 08:04 AM PST  The US has urged Britain not to allow China's Huawei into its 5G telecommunications networks, claiming it would "steal wholesale state secrets".Robert O'Brien, the US national security adviser, said the the presence of the telecoms giant would represent a direct threat to Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies – MI5 and M16.
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| A desperate kangaroo snuck into a family's pool in order to escape the bushfires raging through Australia Posted: 23 Dec 2019 10:37 PM PST  The video is a stark reminder of the intensifying bushfires currently razing through Australia's nature reserves and residential areas.
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| Trump lashes out as impeachment trial stuck in limbo Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:49 AM PST  President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday as his Senate impeachment trial remains at an impasse, with Republican and Democratic leaders at odds over its format and whether witnesses should be called. Speaking at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, after a teleconference call with troops stationed across the globe, Trump singled out Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is indefinitely holding up sending the articles of impeachment the House passed last week to the Republican-controlled Senate. Trump has long seen a Senate trial, where he is almost certain to be acquitted, as an opportunity for vindication after he became the third president in the nation's history to be impeached by the House.
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| Could Russia's S-500 Air Defense System Be A Real F-35 'Silver Bullet'? Posted: 23 Dec 2019 03:13 AM PST  It was recently tested in Syria.
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| Turkey keeps businessman in jail despite European court release call Posted: 24 Dec 2019 02:19 AM PST ![Turkey keeps businessman in jail despite European court release call]( "Turkey keeps businessman in jail despite European court release call") A Turkish court ruled on Tuesday that businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala should be kept in jail despite a call for his release by the European Court of Human Rights, as a trial over his involvement in 2013 protests continued. Kavala has been in custody for more than two years, charged with attempting to overthrow the government by organizing and funding protests against then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan which started in Istanbul's Gezi Park and spread nationwide. Kavala, who faces life in jail if convicted, denies the allegations.
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| US considers pulling troops from West Africa: report Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:46 AM PST  The Pentagon is looking into reducing or even withdrawing US troops from West Africa, part of a worldwide redeployment of military forces, the New York Times reported Tuesday. There are between 6,000 and 7,000 US troops in Africa, mainly in West Africa but also in places like Somalia. The US presence includes military trainers as well as a recently built $110 million drone base in Niger, the Times said.
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| Hong Kong police fire tear gas to break up Christmas Eve protest chaos Posted: 23 Dec 2019 07:35 PM PST  Hong Kong riot police fired rounds of tear gas at thousands of protesters, many wearing masks and reindeer horns, after scuffles in shopping malls and in a prime tourist district as pro-democracy rallies escalated into Christmas Eve chaos. Protesters inside the malls threw umbrellas and other objects at police who responded by beating some demonstrators with batons, with one pointing his gun at the crowd, but not firing. Some demonstrators occupied the main roads and blocked traffic outside the malls and nearby luxury hotels in the Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district of Kowloon.
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| 6 more horses found shot and killed in Kentucky after gruesome discovery last week Posted: 23 Dec 2019 08:58 AM PST  A Kentucky animal rescue group said the horses were killed during the same shooting that killed at least 15 other horses along U.S. 23.
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| Anti-Defamation League Slams Rudy Giuliani for Claiming George Soros Is ‘Hardly a Jew’ Posted: 23 Dec 2019 01:33 PM PST  The Anti-Defamation League on Monday strongly rebuked Rudy Giuliani, calling the Trump attorney's assertion that liberal philanthropist George Soros is "hardly a Jew" a dog whistle to anti-Semites.In an interview with New York correspondent Olivia Nuzzi, the former New York mayor—just back from another Ukrainian mission to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden—claimed that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was "controlled" by Soros. "He put all four ambassadors there. And he's employing the FBI agents," Giuliani declared in remarks nearly identical to pro-Trump lawyer Joe diGenova that recently sparked backlash from Jewish organizations."Don't tell me I'm anti-Semitic if I oppose him," Giuliani later said in the booze-soaked interview. "Soros is hardly a Jew. I'm more of a Jew than Soros is.""I probably know more about—he doesn't go to church, he doesn't go to religion—synagogue. He doesn't belong to a synagogue, he doesn't support Israel, he's an enemy of Israel," he added. "He's elected eight anarchist DA's in the United States. He's a horrible human being."Giuliani's comments immediately set off a firestorm of criticism. In a statement to The Daily Beast, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said: "Mr. Giuliani's assertion that George Soros controls US Ambassadors, employs FBI agents and is 'hardly a Jew' is baffling and offensive. Let's be crystal clear: Mr. Giuliani is not the arbiter of who is Jewish and who is not, or what is anti-Semitic and what is not."For decades, George Soros' philanthropy has been used as fodder for outsized anti-Semitic conspiracy theories insisting there exists Jewish control and manipulation of countries and global events. Mr. Giuliani should apologize and retract his comments immediately, unless he seeks to dog whistle to hardcore anti-Semites and white supremacists who believe this garbage."Giuliani, meanwhile, apparently is standing by his comments. Asked by NBC News if his comments were made in jest, the ex-mayor texted back: "I'm more Jewish than half my friends."There's Been a George Soros for Every Era of Anti-Semitic PanicRead 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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| California Sees Lowest Population Growth in Over a Century as Citizens Migrate to Other States Posted: 23 Dec 2019 11:57 AM PST  In recent months, California recorded its lowest level of population growth in over a century, according to data from the state's Department of Finance.The data showed a 0.35% growth rate in the state's population from July 1, 2018 through July 1, 2019. That rate is even lower than the 0.57% growth rate recorded for the same period from 2017 to 2018, the two lowest growth rates in the state since 1900.Moreover, while growth from birth rates and legal immigration continue to swell the population, citizens are leaving the state in large numbers for other parts of the U.S."This [is] the first time since the 2010 Census that California had more people leaving the state than moving in from abroad or other states," the report read. Negative domestic migration and lower birthrates together contributed to the slow population growth. One of the most prominent factors pushing people out of the state is the high price of housing."For some years after the Great Recession housing crunch, California was losing domestic migrants — but not as much as it could have," said William Frey, a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution, in comments to the Los Angeles Times. "Now that's starting to push up again." Frey added that residents are mostly settling in Western states including Oregon, Nevada, Texas, and Arizona, seeking a lower cost of living and in some cases the absence of an income tax."The outmigration is in places where housing prices are high and therefore immigration is not being able to counter that," Frey said. California has "lost its luster a little bit…it's kind of a stunner to see that California is losing migrants. The land of dreams and the gold rush and all that, now turned the other direction."A study by the Times and UC Berkeley released in November revealed that over half of registered voters in California are considering leaving the state. Around 40 percent of those considering moving are conservative, while only 14 percent are liberal.California is struggling with a burgeoning homeless population, with over 60,000 homeless in Los Angeles county alone. In October the state saw a string of wildfires that forced utility company PG&E to institute preemptive blackouts to around two million customers, to avoid sparking fires from power lines.
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| Pelosi's impeachment endgame Posted: 23 Dec 2019 05:58 AM PST  Don't worry, America. There will be an impeachment trial for President Trump in the U.S. Senate — and it will happen sooner rather than later.Yes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is spending the holidays hoarding the articles of impeachment and refusing to formally transmit them to the Senate. She is instead using them as leverage to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) into adopting rules that gives Democrats a chance to call witnesses like acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Advisor John Bolton."As long as it takes," House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told CNN last week. "Even if he (McConnell) doesn't come around to committing to a fair trial, keep those articles here."That won't work for long, though, and Pelosi surely knows it.For one thing, McConnell is unique among politicians in resisting pressure to do anything he doesn't want to do. The man who denied a Supreme Court confirmation hearing to Merrick Garland isn't going to get stressed or offer concessions to Pelosi because Democrats try to pressure him on impeachment. The trial will be held how he wants it held, and Pelosi — who has demonstrated she knows how to use power better than just about anybody else in Washington — understands that.It's also unlikely that Pelosi herself really wants to drag out the process. Remember: She was the original architect of the quick and narrow approach to Trump's impeachment, overseeing a process that wrapped up in just a few short months, and which was restricted to just two charges against the president."How much drama can the American people handle?" she asked The Atlantic in October. "Where does the law of diminishing returns set in? Where is the value added not worth the time?"Pelosi is anything but fickle, so we can expect that logic to guide her thinking still. The holidays are a natural time to take a break from impeachment proceedings anyway — this delay isn't really a delay, because everybody in Congress is headed back to their districts — but you can expect Pelosi will allow the process to move forward shortly after Congress returns from its winter break.That isn't to say Pelosi's strategy is a failure. No, she won't get the witnesses that Democrats want, but the short delay allows her to highlight the Senate GOP's determination to acquit Trump on the impeachment charges, no matter what the evidence shows. McConnell will get the trial he wants, but Pelosi has ensured Republicans will pay a cost for doing so.That approach will result in Trump keeping the Oval Office, though — at least until the 2020 election. Once the Senate trial ends, what should Democrats in Congress do next?They can keep on investigating Trump's malfeasance — there is surely much more to be found and understood — and presenting their findings to the public. But they should understand that the impeachment of President Trump is a one-shot deal, and that there will be no second bite at the apple. If Americans cannot handle a drawn-out impeachment process, they also will not tolerate repeated impeachment attempts. This is it. Which means, as my David Faris wrote last week, that American voters will ultimately judge Trump's political fate and "decide how they wish to see the next several decades of American history unfold."Give Pelosi credit, though, for her mastery of this impeachment process. It started when she wanted it to start, and not a moment before. It has taken as long as she wanted, and not a moment longer. And even if the process does not directly product Trump's removal from office, Pelosi and House Democrats have succeeded at ensuring there is a black mark on his official record. But the time has come to move forward. Pelosi's impeachment delay won't last long.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com How a 'legislative terrorist' conquered the Republican Party Queen Elizabeth acknowledges 2019 was a 'bumpy' year Bernie Sanders and the socialist Christmas spirit
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| Russia Wants "A Sixth-Generation Strategic Bomber" By 2040 Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:39 AM PST  Moscow talks big, but will it actually come to pass?
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| Tulsi Gabbard, encouraged by Trump, may seek spoiler role Posted: 24 Dec 2019 12:34 PM PST  Tulsi Gabbard, the House member from Hawaii who is running for president, may mount a third-party White House bid that could have a major impact on the 2020 election. One person who is welcoming that prospect is President Trump.
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| Newspaper publishes secret report on former W.Va. bishop Posted: 24 Dec 2019 10:04 AM PST ![Newspaper publishes secret report on former W.Va. bishop]( "Newspaper publishes secret report on former W.Va. bishop") A newspaper has published a secret church report about a former West Virginia bishop ousted for alleged sexual and financial misconduct that details how he allegedly groomed and inappropriately touched young men. The Washington Post reports law enforcement does not have a copy of the report, which officials said could aid in their investigation into former bishop Michael Bransfield. Bransfield is also accused of spending church funds on dining out, liquor, personal travel and luxury items, as well as personal gifts to fellow bishops and cardinals in the U.S. and Vatican.
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| Boeing saved its new Starliner spaceship from disaster. Here's how the mission unfolded and what it could mean for NASA astronauts. Posted: 24 Dec 2019 12:33 PM PST  Boeing's first CST-100 Starliner mission safely landed on December 22. But a critical error cut short its mission and put the vehicle in danger.
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| Two strong quakes shake central Colombia, no damage reported Posted: 24 Dec 2019 11:34 AM PST  Two strong earthquakes, of magnitude 6.2 and magnitude 5.7, struck central Colombia on Tuesday, the Colombian Geological Service said, but there were no immediate reports of any injuries or major damage. The epicenters were located about 150 km (93 miles) south of the capital Bogota in the central province of Meta, and were very shallow, which would have amplified their effects.
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| Vietnam seizes two tonnes of ivory and pangolin scales Posted: 23 Dec 2019 11:17 PM PST  Vietnam seized more than two tonnes of ivory tusks and pangolin scales hidden inside wooden boxes shipped from Nigeria, state media reported Tuesday. The bust comes at the end of a year of big wildlife seizures destined for communist Vietnam, a hotbed of the illicit but lucrative trade in animal parts from elephants, pangolins, tigers and rhinos. Authorities in northern Hai Phong city found 330 kilograms (730 pounds) of ivory and 1.7 tonnes of pangolin scales after checking three container shipments from Nigeria, according to Hai Quan Online, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam's customs department.
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| ByteDance Weighs TikTok Stake Sale Over U.S. Concerns Posted: 23 Dec 2019 07:05 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- China's ByteDance Inc. created one of the country's rare global hits with the addictive video app TikTok. Now the U.S. government is threatening that success as officials in Washington warn the service presents a security threat.The Beijing-based company, led by Chief Executive Officer Yiming Zhang, is weighing a range of options to address those concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. Advisors are pitching everything from an aggressive legal defense and operational separation for TikTok to sale of a majority stake, said the people, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. Selling more than half the business could raise substantially more than $10 billion, one person said.ByteDance would prefer to maintain full control of the business if possible, given its soaring popularity and profit potential. It may argue that TikTok presents no security threat or that the U.S. has no legal standing over the business.ByteDance has considered selling a chunk of TikTok if necessary to protect the value of the business, the people said. The most likely sale scenario would be for the company to sell a majority stake to financial investors, one person said. Earlier investors include SoftBank Group Corp., Sequoia Capital and Susquehanna International Group.Talks about TikTok's future are preliminary and no formal decision has been made, the people said. A representative for the company said there have been no discussions about any partial or full sale of TikTok. "These rumors are completely meritless," the representative said.ByteDance has emerged as the world's most valuable startup on the explosive popularity of TikTok, where more than a billion, largely young, users share short clips of lip-syncing and dance videos. But with escalating tensions between China and the U.S., American politicians have warned the app represents a national security threat and urged an investigation. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., better known as CFIUS, has begun a review of ByteDance's 2017 purchase of the business that became TikTok, Bloomberg News reported in November."I remain deeply concerned that any platform or application that has Chinese ownership or direct links to China, such as TikTok, can be used as a tool by the Chinese Communist Party to extend its authoritarian censorship of information outside China's borders and amass data on millions of unsuspecting users," Senator Marco Rubio wrote in a letter to the Treasury Department, which chairs CFIUS.TikTok has said it strives to create a safe and positive online environment. "We are not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government; TikTok does not operate in China, nor do we have any intention of doing so in the future," the company said in October.It's not clear whether U.S. regulators have authority in the case. CFIUS historically has reviewed foreign companies' investments in the U.S., including acquisitions, for national security concerns, but Musical.ly, the app that would become TikTok, was a Shanghai-headquartered business when ByteDance purchased it two years ago for about $800 million. ByteDance didn't seek CFIUS approval at the time, perhaps because it was a deal between two Chinese companies, even though the app had a substantial following in the U.S.ByteDance may have a legal argument that the U.S. committee doesn't have legal standing to force a divestiture, like it did in the case of the gay dating app Grindr. Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. acquired the U.S. app in January 2018, but in May CFIUS required the company to sell off the service no later than June 2020 because it could give foreigners access to sensitive data. ByteDance may also be able to argue that its data is less sensitive or that all operations and data could be quarantined in a separate U.S. subsidiary. The Trump administration broadened CFIUS' powers last year.The advantage to selling a stake quickly would be to reap profits from TikTok's success now, rather than risk a deterioration in value if the U.S. takes punitive measures. ByteDance prefers financial backers rather than strategic investors, like a music or media company, to avoid conflicts in the future, one person said.Though ByteDance has become synonymous with TikTok, its business goes well beyond the music-oriented video app. Zhang founded the business in 2012 as a laboratory for the country's leading artificial intelligence engineers to come up with innovative products. His first hit was a news app called Jinri Toutiao, or Today's Headlines, which spawned dozens of copycats from rivals.In China, Zhang is the rare entrepreneur who has kept his independence from the country's twin giants, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. Indeed, he built a reputation for raiding China's established tech giants for talent, paying premium compensation of $1 million or more a year.Toutiao became a model for how ByteDance could generate profit, creating a mobile experience that's a cross between Google and Facebook for would-be advertisers. The startup reached a valuation of $75 billion last year, according to CB Insights.TikTok was one of the most popular apps in the world last year with 656 million installs, according to Sensor Tower. It's on track to surpass that total this year, the research firm said. The U.S. has had about 124 million downloads.In October, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas wrote to the acting director of National Intelligence, referring to TikTok as a "potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore." They said their concerns include the safety of data on the platform and possible foreign influence campaigns in the U.S."A company compromised by the Chinese Communist Party knows where your children are, knows what they look like, what their voices sound like, what they're watching and what they share with each other," Senator Josh Hawley said during a hearing in November. "All it takes is one knock on the door of their parent company, based in China, from a Communist Party official, for that data to be transferred to the Chinese government's hands whenever they need it."Even Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called out TikTok, citing privacy and freedom of speech concerns after the Chinese firm allegedly scrubbed its platform of politically sensitive content, such as videos of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. TikTok, which has denied those allegations, announced in October it has formed a team that includes two former U.S. lawmakers to review its content moderation policy. It also said U.S. data is beyond the reach of China's government."We store all TikTok US user data in the United States, with backup redundancy in Singapore," it said in the October post. "Our data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of our data is subject to Chinese law."ByteDance has been building TikTok's operations in the U.S., hiring hundreds and establishing American data centers to quarantine local information. It has also begun bringing on lobbyists in Washington, seeking to hire a U.S. policy chief and retaining the public affairs and lobbying firm Monument Advocacy, Bloomberg News reported last month.Zhang has hoped ByteDance would be able to retain full control of TikTok by splitting off the U.S. business operationally, one person said. But it's not clear whether that will be enough given the continued political pressure."While it tried to run its overseas operation independently from its China operation, given that the overseas operation is eventually held by the same entity that owns the China operation, it is hard to say that it is completely out of influence from the Chinese government," said Ke Yan, a Singapore-based analyst with Aequitas Research.A TikTok stake sale would likely push back any initial public offering for ByteDance. The company has considered an IPO in the U.S. or Hong Kong as soon as next year, but still needs to beef up its international operations and hire a chief financial officer. Selling equity in TikTok would provide the parent company with more cash and delay the need for a capital fundraising.Zhang and his investors would likely see benefits in buying more time for an IPO, given the U.S.-China trade war and recent stumbles by high profile startups such as WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc. SoftBank is a backer of all three companies and just engineered a bailout for WeWork.\--With assistance from Manuel Baigorri.To contact the reporters on this story: Zheping Huang in Hong Kong at zhuang245@bloomberg.net;Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at ychen447@bloomberg.net;Peter Elstrom in Tokyo at pelstrom@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Chinese pig farm attempts to block criminal drones with signal jammer, accidentally disrupts planes Posted: 23 Dec 2019 06:42 AM PST  One of China's biggest animal feed producers resorted to using a radio transmitter to block drones being used by crooks to spread African swine fever at its farms. But the plan went awry when the device jammed the navigation systems of planes flying overhead. Criminals are said to be faking outbreaks of swine fever on farms, as well as using drones to drop contaminated pork products on them, as part of a racket to profit from the health scare. The aim is to force farmers to sell the animals to them cheaply, before selling them on as healthy stock at much higher prices. African swine fever poses no risk to humans but is fatal to pigs. China - the world's top producer and consumer of pork - has seen its pig herd shrink by 40 percent over the past year as a result of the crisis. That in turn has driven pork prices up, one of the factors behind the country's recent rapid inflation growth. Drones have allegedly been used to drop contaminated meat on pig farms Credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer State-backed news website The Paper reported last week that a pig farming unit of Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group had violated civil aviation rules when the transmitter it installed to protect its farm disrupted GPS signal in the area. It was discovered after flights complained about losing signal while flying over the area. The company confirmed the incident on Friday. "To prevent external people from using drones to drop pork with African swine fever virus, [one of our units] violated regulations by using a drone control equipment set," the company said. "We broke related radio regulations, although that was unintentional," it said, adding that it had surrendered the equipment to authorities and was willing to accept a penalty. Authorities called for a crackdown on illegal suppliers of such equipment, saying it can only be used by public security departments, national security agencies and radio regulators.
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| Trump Admin Fights Bill Punishing Turkey for Its Russian Deal Posted: 23 Dec 2019 01:56 AM PST  In a detailed memo to senators, the Trump administration is fighting a bill that would punish Turkey for buying Russian missiles, arguing it would drive the countries closer together. Of note, Team Trump opposes a provision in the bill that would help Syrian Kurdish refugees immigrate to the United States. The case is laid out in a seven-page document obtained by The Daily Beast. The memo was sent by the State Department to Capitol Hill ahead of the Senate mark-up of a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) titled "Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act." That legislation, which passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee despite Team Trump's opposition, would sanction Turkey for buying Russian surface-to-air missiles and would bar the U.S. from selling Turkey F-16 or F-35 fighter jets, including parts, until the country has fully abandoned the S-400 missile defense system it purchased from Russia. Aykan Erdemir of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies argued that the administration's opposition to the bill is useful for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan."This would definitely encourage Erdogan to continue his transgressions," Erdemir said. Are Impeachment Hearings Focused on the Wrong Country?The bill to punish Turkey comes in the wake of a sanctions package that passed after Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. The "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" (CAATSA) mandated sanctions on countries that make major new purchases of Russian weapons. But despite the fact that Turkey's deal with Russia fits the bill, the administration hasn't imposed sanctions—enraging members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Aaron Stein of the Foreign Policy Research Institute said the document sheds new light on the Trump administration's opposition to the Hill's sanctions. "It's in far more detail than we've ever gotten," Stein said. "They are legitimate criticisms of the bill, but the bill is probably going to happen because Donald Trump won't take the deal. The art of the deal, the master of the deal is an effing moron. The thing to do is impose CAATSA and make this go away. It's just that simple." In the seven-page description of the Trump administration's views—published below—the administration detailed a host of problems with the legislation. The administration argued that the legislation would "effectively terminate U.S.-Turkey defense trade," which would increase Turkey's reliance on Russia or "other adversary arms providers" for weapons. The bill would also "treat Turkey as a pariah in NATO, feeding a narrative that the Russian Federation would likely seek to amplify and exploit." A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. government wants to keep the NATO relationship strong."NATO is stronger with Turkey as a member, and has been for nearly 70 years," the spokesperson said. "Turkey has been a significant contributor to NATO collective security for decades. One of Russia's key strategic goals is to drive a wedge between NATO members; we are working to maintain strong cooperation within the Alliance. We remain deeply concerned with Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile system, and stress the S-400 and F-35 cannot coexist. We will continue to urge Turkey to ensure its defense investments adhere to the commitment all Allies made to pursue NATO interoperability."The document also said the administration "opposes" a provision of the bill that would help Kurdish allies come to the U.S. as refugees more quickly. "The President has been clear on this Administration's approach to refugees as reflected in the National Security Strategy of the United States," the document says. The State Department document also raises concerns about a provision of the bill that would give Kurds access to Special Immigrant Visas—normally used to authorize travel to the U.S. for Iraqi and Afghan translators who faced retaliation because they helped American soldiers. According to the letter, the nine-month processing time for those visas is too short "to accommodate vital national security screening." Kurdish fighters under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces—which Turkey considers a terrorist group—fought side-by-side with U.S. special operations forces against ISIS in Syria and helped retake vast swaths of the country from the jihadist caliphate, including its former capital in Raqqa. But in October, Turkish forces invaded SDF-held territory in northern Syria after Trump pulled U.S. troops away from that part of the country. Human rights groups alleged that Turkish troops and allied Syrian militias committed war crimes against Kurdish civilians, leaving lawmakers furious. The Senate bill also includes sanctions against Halkbank, a Turkish bank accused of participating in a multi-billion-dollar sanctions-evasion operation on behalf of the Iranian government. Though the Trump administration already has the authority to level sanctions against Halkbank, it hasn't done so—perplexing many observers of Trump's Iran policy. The Justice Department, however, has charged Halkbank with helping Iran illegally access billions of dollars. And the chief of the DOJ's National Security Division, John Demers, called it "one of the most serious Iran sanctions violations we have seen." In just about every other instance, the Trump administration has taken an aggressive approach to enforcing Iran sanctions and targeting Tehran. The administration even declared Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be a terrorist group earlier this year, which fed into acute tensions simmering in the Gulf. So the administration's reticence on Halkbank is striking. Inside Trump's Brewing Turkey Scandal, Starring Rudy GiulianiThe president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has done legal work for Reza Zarrab, a gold trader who pleaded guilty to participating in the sanctions-dodging scheme that allegedly involved Halkbank. Giuliani worked hard to keep Zarrab from having to make that plea; he reportedly pushed the Trump administration to send Zarrab back to Turkey as part of a prisoner swap. The bid failed, and Zarrab's testimony about the sanctions-evasion scheme proved valuable to prosecutors.The Trump administration's comments to Congress only gave boilerplate language opposing Congressional sanctions on the controversial bank. "[T]he sanctions on Halkbank are unnecessary because the Department of Treasury already possesses the authority to designate Halkbank, if appropriate," the document said. "Purporting to require the President to impose sanctions on Halkbank, constrains the President's authority to conduct foreign relations." Erdemir, who helms the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' program on Turkey, said the administration's opposition to mandated sanctions on Halkbank sends a message that would please Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "This is not just Erdogan and this one bank," he said. "Overall, this would undermine U.S. sanctions because other entities and other governments would say, 'OK, if Erdogan and Turkey and Halkbank can enjoy some level of impunity, maybe we can too.'" Overall, the document reflects the administration's accommodative attitude toward Turkey. "They bet on Trump," Stein said of the Erdogan government. "Their bet is paying off in the short term."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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| North Korea: How Kim Could Start World War III (An Expert Broke It All Down) Posted: 23 Dec 2019 02:34 AM PST  Yes, this is possible. Here is how it could occur.
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