| Donald Trump Just Granted 5 Full Pardons. Check Out to Who. Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  President Donald Trump granted five full pardons Monday to John Richard Bubala, Roy Wayne McKeever, Rodney Takumi, Michael Tedesco and Chalmer Lee Williams.The president decided each man was worthy of Executive Grants of Clemency after "a careful review of the files" of each individual, according to an official statement from the Office of the Press Secretary.John Richard BubalaBubala pled guilty to improper use of Federal Government in 1990 in an effort to transport automotive equipment from one town to another. Today, he volunteers at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center by teaching classes on the American Flag, and is serving on an honor detail for veteran funerals.Roy Wayne McKeeverMcKeever was arrested in 1989 when he was 19 years old for transporting marijuana from Mexico to Oklahoma and immediately pleaded guilty to one count of using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of a controlled substance. He has spent the last 29 years doing charity work for his community and is an active member of the Sheriffs' Association of Texas.Rodney TakumiTakumi was arrested in 1987 at an illegal gambling parlor during a law-enforcement raid and pleaded no contest. After his arrest, he worked as a tax preparer for several years and now owns a tax preparation franchise within the Navajo Nation.
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| China defends Hong Kong police, blames Western forces Posted: 29 Jul 2019 05:38 PM PDT |
| Police officer accuses McDonald's workers of taking bite out of sandwich then admits he ‘forgot he ate it’ Posted: 29 Jul 2019 06:12 AM PDT  A police officer wrongly accused McDonald's workers of taking a bite out of his sandwich after he forgot he did it himself.The officer, known only as "DJ", ordered a McChicken before starting work at Marion County Jail in Indianapolis and put it in a fridge for safekeeping during his shift.When he opened it up seven hours later he discovered the missing chunk and became convinced he had been targeted by the restaurant staff because of his job."I know I didn't eat it," he told the WTHR local TV station. "No one else was around."I said, 'You know what? I am going to the McDonald's to see if they can get that taken care of.'"I just wanted to find out who the person was and they deal with that person in an appropriate way."Managers at the branch on Morris Street checked the schedule to see who was preparing the food when he placed his order but found no evidence to back up the officer's claims.The truth was revealed more than a week later when Marion County Sheriff's Office announced that the mystery biter was its own officer, "DJ"."The investigation has determined that McDonald's restaurant staff in no way tampered with the employee's food," the agency said in a statement on Friday."The employee took a bite out of the sandwich upon starting his shift at the Marion County Jail, then placed it in the refrigerator in a break room."He returned nearly seven hours later having forgotten that he had previously bitten the sandwich."He wrongly concluded that a McDonald's restaurant employee had tampered with his food because he is a law enforcement officer." The officer formally apologised to McDonald's for his error.
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| Truck Driver Killed in Crash that Derailed Illinois Train Posted: 29 Jul 2019 09:18 AM PDT  A truck driver was killed when he apparently tried to cross the tracks in the path of an Amtrak train in Illinois.
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| The 89 Issues of Car and Driver with a Corvette on the Cover Posted: 28 Jul 2019 09:01 AM PDT |
| Israelis cleared of rape to sue British accuser in Cyprus Posted: 29 Jul 2019 10:47 AM PDT  Israeli tourists released from custody in Cyprus after having been cleared of gang rape charges plan to sue the British woman who accused them, their lawyer said Monday. Twelve Israeli youths were arrested on July 12 after a 19-year-old British tourist said she was raped in a hotel in the resort town of Ayia Napa, in southeast Cyprus. Five of the accused were released last Thursday and the other seven on Sunday, as a police source said the Briton was "facing charges of giving a false statement over an imaginary offence".
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| Another tourist injured by bison at a national park; second such incident in a week Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:44 PM PDT  Park regulations require that visitors stay at least 25 yards away from large animals such as bison, elk, deer and horses.
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| Canadian police descend on tiny Manitoba hamlet as teen murder suspects spotted Posted: 29 Jul 2019 04:33 AM PDT  The days-long manhunt for Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, which has crossed half the country, shifted to the area of York Landing, Manitoba, about 3,000 km (1,865 miles) from the crime scenes in British Columbia. "Multiple resources are being sent to York Landing, Manitoba, to investigate a tip that the two suspects are possibly in, or near, the community," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Twitter.
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| Julian Castro Is ‘Hypercritical’ Of Trump Immigration Policies He Once Praised Under Obama Posted: 28 Jul 2019 05:02 PM PDT  Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro, a fervent opponent of the Trump administration's immigration agenda, was called out for his past praise of former President Barack Obama's immigration enforcement policies."I want to ask you about immigration which you have made a part of your campaign focus," said "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan Sunday. "When you were mayor of San Antonio, you testified before Congress and you called for increased border security measures and you praised the Obama administration's actions."Brennan then played a clip of Castro speaking before a congressional hearing in February 2013. In the clip, then-San Antonio Mayor Castro is seen lauding the Obama administration's success at removing "dangerous individuals" after beefing up security along the U.S.-Mexico border."In Texas, we know firsthand that this administration has put more boots on the ground along the border than at any other time in our history which has led to unprecedented success in removing dangerous individuals with criminal records," he said during a 2013 House Judiciary committee hearing."Why did you praise that policy then but when the Trump administration adopt similar language and policies you're hypercritical of them?" Brennan asked.Castro, who went on to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration, maintained that his position has not changed, and that he's always been in favor of removing criminal illegal aliens from the U.S."I talked about people who committed serious crimes, dangerous criminals. I haven't changed at all. If there are people who have committed serious felonies in the United States who are immigrants or who come to the border … they should be deported," he said in response.
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| Trump doubles down on Cummings attacks, shares vulgar comment about Baltimore on Twitter Posted: 28 Jul 2019 01:54 PM PDT  President Trump doubled down on his attacks against House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, whose district he called a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess," by retweeting a comment from a British columnist who referred to Baltimore as a "proper sh*thole."
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| Greta Thunberg to sail across Atlantic for climate summits because she refuses to fly on planes Posted: 29 Jul 2019 07:40 AM PDT  Greta Thunberg is to sail across the Atlantic in a high-tech racing yacht to attend UN climate summits in New York and Chile as she refuses to fly on planes.The 16-year-old Swedish climate activist said she spent months deciding how to travel to the US without travelling by plane, which she shuns because of their high greenhouse gas emissions.Ms Thunbeg will set sail on her trans-Atlantic voyage in August in a boat fitted with solar panels and underwater turbines to generate zero-carbon electricity on board. The journey will take two weeks."Good news! I'll be joining the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, COP25 in Santiago and other events along the way," she tweeted on Monday."I've been offered a ride on the 60ft racing boat Malizia II. We'll be sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from the UK to NYC in mid August. UniteBehindTheScience".Ms Thunberg will be accompanied on the voyage by Malizia II's skipper Boris Hermann, her father Svante and filmmaker Nathan Grossman.The teenage climate activist told AP that she wanted to avoid travelling to the US by cruise ship because of their notoriously high emissions and she had been wary of sailing across the Atlantic in August due to the risk of hurricanes."Taking a boat to North America is basically impossible," she said. "I have had countless people helping me, trying to contact different boats."The founder of the "School Strike 4 Climate" movement said she is taking a year off school to raise awareness of the climate crisis and pressure world leaders to step up efforts to cut greenhouse emissions.Setting sail from London, Ms Thunberg will attend the UN Climate summits in New York on 23 September and in Sanitago, Chile, on 13 December.She also plans to join large-scale climate demonstrations in New York on 20 September.Ms Thunberg rose to prominence last year after she started started skipping classes to protest outside the Swedish parliament.Her protest inspired millions of other children around the world to walk out school on Fridays to demand greater action on climate change. Since emerging as the leader the school strike for climate movement, Ms Thunberg has spoken to policymakers at last year's UN climate conference in Poland she has attended the World Economic Forum in Davos and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.In April, the climate activist met party leaders in Westminster and delivered a speech to parliament.But Ms Thunberg says she was unsure how her message would be received in the US, where Donald Trump has dismissed the need to tackle climate changeMr Trump announced that the country would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and his administration has removed a quarter of all references to climate change from federal government websites since 2016.Ms Thunberg said that meeting the US president would be "just a waste of time"."He obviously doesn't listen to the science and the scientists," she said. "So why should I, a child with no proper education, be able to convince him?" Last week, The 1975 released a song featuring a speech by Ms Thunberg, with all proceeds from the song's sales going to Extinction Rebellion at her request.The teenage climate activist is also to appear on the front cover of Vogue as one of 15 women describes as "trailblazing changemakers" in a special issue of the magazine guest edited by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.Additional reporting by AP
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| Suspect Identified in Mass Shooting at Gilroy Garlic Festival. Here's What We Know So Far Posted: 28 Jul 2019 09:04 PM PDT  Four people were killed, including the suspected gunman, police say
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| Kamala Harris Uses Her New Medicare For All Plan To Go After Bernie Posted: 29 Jul 2019 06:18 AM PDT  Democratic presidential contender and California Sen. Kamala Harris released her Medicare for all plan Monday ahead of the second round of Democratic debates scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.Harris seemingly walked back her support for eliminating the entire private health insurance market after saying she misinterpreted a question at the first round of Democratic debates in June.Her Medicare for all plan is less extreme than that of her presidential rival, Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Harris is signed onto Sanders' Medicare for all plan in the Senate but used her new plan to take aim at how Sanders plans to pay for a government-run health care system."[O]ne of Senator Sanders' options is to tax households making above $29,000 an additional 4% income-based premium. I believe this hits the middle class too hard. That's why I propose that we exempt households making below $100,000, along with a higher income threshold for middle-class families living in high-cost areas. To pay for this specific change, I would tax Wall Street stock trades," Harris wrote in her plan.Harris said she could raise "well over $2 trillion over 10 years" by taxing Wall Street stock trades at 0.2 percent, bond trades at 0.1 percent and derivative transactions at 0.002 percent. She would also seek to tax offshore corporate income at the same rate as domestic corporate income.Harris' plan also includes:
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| Report alleges ethical abuses at UN agency for Palestinians Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:49 AM PDT  An internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees even as the organisation faced an unprecedented crisis after US funding cuts. The allegations included in the confidential report by the agency's ethics department are now being scrutinised by UN investigators. The agency -- the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) -- said it is cooperating fully with the investigation and that it cannot comment in detail because the probe is ongoing.
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| 'There was no clown': Cruise company, police deny reports that fight broke out because of a clown Posted: 29 Jul 2019 09:00 AM PDT  Following reports that six people were assaulted on a cruise ship in a brawl with a clown, police and P&O; Cruises are setting the record straight.
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| India boosts Hindu pilgrimage to holy cave in conflict-torn Kashmir Posted: 27 Jul 2019 10:34 PM PDT  India is hailing a Hindu pilgrimage to a holy cave high in the snow-capped mountains of contested Kashmir as an example of communal harmony, in a region where the Muslim-majority population is overwhelmingly hostile to its rule. India and arch-rival Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, and came close to a third in February after a suicide-bomb attack by Pakistan-based militants on Indian paramilitary police near the pilgrimage route. India's Hindu-nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made "pilgrimage tourism" a focus, spending huge sums on January's Kumbh Mela festival, where more than a hundred million Indians came to bathe in the holy Ganges river.
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| Executive Director of House Dems’ Campaign Arm Resigns amid Backlash over Lack of Diversity Posted: 29 Jul 2019 10:15 AM PDT  The executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) resigned Monday after Democratic lawmakers and DCCC staffers lashed out publicly at the organization's leadership over their failure to prioritize racial diversity.Allison Jaslow announced her resignation during an emergency meeting that was held on Monday morning in response to calls from staffers and lawmakers for an "immediate restructuring" of the group's senior leadership, Politico reported.Democratic representatives Vicente Gonzalez and Filemon Vela of Texas specifically called for Jaslow's resignation in a statement provided to Politico on Sunday."The DCCC is now in complete chaos," Gonzalez and Vela said in their statement. "The single most immediate action that Cheri Bustos can take to restore confidence in the organization and to promote diversity is to appoint a qualified person of color, of which there are many, as executive director at once. We find the silence of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on this issue to be deafening."Politico highlighted a longstanding rift within the DCCC last week, publishing a report that quoted staffers and lawmakers complaining about a lack of racial diversity within the group's leadership, and among the vendors hired by the group.DCCC chairwoman Cheri Bustos was forced to return to Washington on Monday to address lawmakers' and staffers' concerns after an emergency meeting on Friday, which Bustos did not attend, and a conference call on Saturday, proved insufficient.Jaslow reportedly wept while assuming blame for the lack of diversity during the Friday meeting while Bustos responded to the complaints by emphasizing her marriage to a Mexican man and her son's engagement to an African-American woman during the Saturday call. She also agreed to hold mandatory diversity training for Committee staff.
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| Freshmen House Democrats raise more money than GOP opponents Posted: 29 Jul 2019 03:59 AM PDT  Each of the 62 freshmen House Democrats has raised more money than their top opponent. The same is true for all 31 Democrats from districts President Donald Trump had won in 2016 and for all 39 Democrats who snatched Republican-held seats last November. "The more you can raise early on, the more you're going to be able to solidify your seat and show that it's not worth investments on behalf of Republicans" by GOP donors, said freshman Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif.
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| Vietnam seizes 125 kg of rhino horn worth £6m concealed in plaster shipment Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:22 AM PDT  Fifty-five pieces of rhino horn were found encased inside shipments of plaster at Hanoi international airport, the Vietnamese authorities reported on Sunday, in the latest bust against sophisticated global wildlife traffickers. The Southeast Asian nation is both an end destination and transit point for multibillion-dollar smuggling operations of animal parts, including many endangered species. The 125-kilogram haul was discovered in a suspicious shipment of plaster casts on Thursday but it took half a day to smash the blocks apart, the police told AFP. Images released to the media showed large and small pieces of rhino horns displayed on a table while police used rods to break them free. The blocks had been shipped from United Arab Emirates, in carefully disguised cargo that had that arrived on an Etihad Airways flight, the customs department said in a statement. It was not immediately clear where the shipment had originated from. Rhino horn is especially prized in China and Vietnam, the two top consumer markets, where one kilogram can fetch up to $60,000. That would make the entire haul worth $7,500,000 (£6m). According to TRAFFIC, a campaign group against wildlife trafficking, the last decade has seen an explosion of demand for rhino horns, driving unprecedented levels of poaching that has sent rhino populations into crisis despite a ban on the trade since the 1970s. Only about 29,000 rhinos are now left in the wild, down from half a million at the start of the 20th century, report conservationists. The trade has been fuelled by beliefs that when ground into a powder, the horn can cure cancer, relieve hangovers or enhance male virility. The Vietnamese operation is the latest large-scale wildlife trafficking case in Southeast Asia. Earlier this month, three men caught trying to smuggle rhino horn from Vietnam into China were sentenced to a combined total sentence of 27 years in prison. Meanwhile, Singapore recorded a record bust last week of nearly nine tonnes of elephant ivory and almost 11.9 tonnes of pangolin scales from up to 33,000 pangolins. The contraband was found in three containers disguised as timber and travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Vietnam.
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| Man accidentally shot dead by own passenger in ‘failed drive-by attempt’ Posted: 27 Jul 2019 10:11 PM PDT  A man has died after being accidentally shot by his own passenger as he attempted to fire out of a car window, police say.Matthew Gibson, 26, was pronounced dead on 22 July after being shot in the head during the incident which prosecutors portrayed as a drive-by shooting gone bad in Park Manor, Chicago.Video footage from 21 July showed Gibson pulling alongside a white SUV that was waiting to make a left turn at around 5:40am, according to reports from the Chicago Sun-Times.As the car slowed his passenger, Jake Lee, opened fire on the vehicle with a .40-caliber handgun.However Lee, 27, accidentally shot his driver in the head during the incident. Despite his injuries Gibson was able to drive two miles from the scene.A 22-year-old man was also wounded during the shooting. Prosecutors for Cook County added that there did not appear to be any sign of shots being fired from the white SUV.Gibson was found to be brain dead on Monday, and was kept alive only to have his organs harvested. His death was ruled as a homicide.His death was the 271st recorded homicide in Chicago this year, a figure that has risen to 277 since the incident. Of those deaths, 243 were killed in shootings.Lee, from the city's Englewood area, now faces a charge of aggravated battery with a firearm, and is expected to face a count of murder.He was placed on parole in April 2017 after having served an eight-year sentence for aggravated battery with a handgun, a period that was set to end in 2020.Lee was denied bail at a hearing on 23 July.
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| Europe Is Getting America's Anti-Missile Aegis Ashore System but... Posted: 28 Jul 2019 02:00 AM PDT  The Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland are land-based versions of the naval Aegis, each consisting of a powerful SPY-1 radar and twenty-four SM-3 interceptor rockets. Aegis Ashore is aimed at stopping short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Iran has built an arsenal of ballistic missiles, including intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) that could—in theory—be armed with nuclear warheads if Iran develops them.America's missile defense umbrella is supposed to protect Europe from Iranian (and perhaps Russian) ballistic missiles.But vital tests haven't been performed, and there are delays in building missile defense sites in Poland. All of which means that the anti-missile shield over Europe may be leaky.The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has conducted only seven out of eleven planned tests in 2018, or just 64 percent, according to a Government Accountability Office study. At the same time, problems with contractors have delayed construction of an anti-missile system in Poland by eighteen months.(This first appeared in early July to 2019.)Begun by the Obama administration, the U.S. missile defense effort in Europe—the European Phased Adaptive Approach—has three parts. Phase I, completed in 2012, comprises a missile defense radar in Turkey and command center in Germany, supporting U.S. Navy ships equipped with the naval version of the Aegis missile defense system. Phase II was completed in 2016, when an Aegis Ashore site in Romania became operational. The delay has been in phase III, in which an Aegis Ashore site in Poland was supposed to be ready.
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| Limbaugh: It's about time somebody pushed back against the human misery caused by Democrat leadership Posted: 29 Jul 2019 06:05 AM PDT  Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh comes to the defense of President Trump's Baltimore comments and sounds off on Democrats' collusion obsession on 'Fox & Friends.'
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| 'Pink Lady Bandit,' wanted by FBI after string of bank robberies along the East Coast Posted: 28 Jul 2019 11:50 AM PDT  The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the suspect who robbed four banks along the East Coast.
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| IS threat hovers over Syria camp, rattling authorities Posted: 29 Jul 2019 06:13 AM PDT  AL-HOL CAMP (Syria) (AFP) - Stabbing guards, stoning aid workers and flying the Islamic State group's black flag in plain sight: the wives and children of the 'caliphate' are sticking by the jihadists in a desperate Syrian camp. Months after the defeat of the jihadist proto-state, families of IS fighters are among 70,000 people crammed into the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria. Umm Suhaib, the widowed wife of a jihadist, admits that IS supporters have attacked Kurdish security forces guarding the camp.
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| Beijing says China stepping up U.S. soy imports, yet to show up in U.S. data Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:32 AM PDT  Chinese state media said on Sunday the United States has shipped several million tonnes of soybeans to China since the two countries' leaders met in June, although U.S. government data shows that the volume was much less. The U.S.-China trade war has curbed the export of U.S. crops to China, with soybean sales falling sharply after Beijing slapped tariffs of 25% on American cargoes. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data shows that just 1.02 million tonnes of soybeans were shipped to China for the period starting from the G20 meeting June 28 to the week ended July 18, the most recent date for which data is available.
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| Is Biden Really Democrats’ Best Bet? Posted: 29 Jul 2019 10:19 AM PDT  This week in Detroit, 20 Democratic candidates will face off in the party's second round of presidential-primary debates. Despite what was widely considered a shaky performance in the first debate last month, former vice president Joe Biden continues to maintain a healthy lead in the race.But is Biden really the best bet for Democrats who care much more about getting Donald Trump out of the Oval Office than they do about getting their preferred progressive into it?If you're inclined to put much stock in public-opinion polls this far out from an election, then a few recent surveys suggest he might be. A new Quinnipiac poll of Ohio — a crucial swing state where Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by a margin of about eight points in 2016 — showed Biden as the only Democratic candidate leading Trump in a head-to-head matchup, 50–42 percent. The same poll had Trump tied with California senator Kamala Harris and South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg, and running just a point ahead of Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Cory Booker of New Jersey.Among Ohio Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters, meanwhile, Biden had a significant edge on his primary competitors, with 31-percent support compared to 14 percent for Sanders and Harris and 13 percent for Warren. Biden led the field in every demographic category but one: voters describing themselves as "very liberal," 25 percent of whom prefer Harris, followed by Sanders at 21 percent, Warren at 18, and Biden at 16. His lead shrunk a bit among white voters with college degrees, who preferred him by only five points to both Harris and Warren. But he dominated among Democratic and Democratic-leaning black voters and moderates in the Buckeye State.So far this year, that has been a trend in Biden's favor across a number of state polls, most recently in South Carolina, where Monmouth found Biden crushing his competitors among black voters, with 51-percent support. The next closest candidate, Harris, came in at just 12 percent."Black Democrats tend to be more moderate than white primary voters," Monmouth polling director Patrick Murray noted when the poll was released last week. "Biden is the best known candidate currently occupying that lane."That might be the simplest way to explain not only why Biden continues to lead among African Americans — despite his competitors' efforts to portray him as worse than ineffective on race issues — but also why he leads the primary field at large in every major poll. In a sea of politicians competing to offer voters the most expansive slate of progressive policies, Biden is the only viable candidate even attempting to appear moderate.It isn't so much that Biden has offered particularly compelling policies or that he's done much to excite primary voters apart from constantly invoking President Obama's name. It's that he's the only viable candidate around to fill the "not a progressive" lane. His appeal is less about him and more about the fact that a plurality of Democratic voters either genuinely prefers moderate policies or believes a moderate candidate has the best chance of beating Trump.Coupled with the reality that early polls certainly aren't set in stone, that should make Biden nervous. "These numbers are fun, but I wouldn't put money on anything," Lydia Saad, a senior Gallup research director, told the New Yorker's Peter Slevin in a piece published Monday. "Historically, among Democrats, if you had to bet at this point, you'd do a better job betting against, [rather] than for, the front-runner.""One problem is that so little is known about so many of the Democratic candidates," Slevin notes. "Another is that so few people are paying close attention. And then there is the fact that a Presidential campaign is a bruising, billion-dollar proving ground."In the latest issue of Time magazine, Washington correspondent Philip Elliott has a piece called "Why Joe Biden's Campaign is Struggling," in which he argues that Biden "looks like the shakiest front runner in years." Elliott notes that, although Biden still leads every poll, his support has been slashed in half since he entered the race in late April, and his campaign thus far has appeared indecisive and at times even incoherent."As the Democrats debate where to take the party in the future, Biden can seem stuck in the past: while rivals expressed support for paying slavery reparations to African Americans, Biden was talking about working across ideological lines with avowed segregationists," Elliott writes. "A 76-year-old man who joined the Senate during the Nixon Administration increasingly seems out of step in a primary dominated by questions of race, gender and inequality."In short, Biden is far from a shoo-in. But the former vice president might perhaps take comfort from the example of the man he's desperate for a shot to beat. From the moment Donald Trump entered the GOP presidential primary in the summer of 2015, the businessman benefited from the fact that he had managed to consolidate a plurality of primary voters, while the majority of Republicans who opposed him consistently split their support among a variety of more-conservative options. Biden may well be benefiting from a similar phenomenon here, as a plurality of more-moderate Democrats back him and primary voters who favor more liberal policies divide unevenly among the several more-progressive candidates.Biden's rivals will use their time on the debate stage to try and consolidate support in that progressive lane. Biden should use his time to try and provide voters a rationale for his campaign beyond his being the only viable moderate in the room.
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| Venezuela Faces the Loss of Citgo -- and Desperately Needed Dollars Posted: 29 Jul 2019 11:31 AM PDT ![Venezuela Faces the Loss of Citgo -- and Desperately Needed Dollars]( "Venezuela Faces the Loss of Citgo -- and Desperately Needed Dollars") (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela could lose its largest U.S. asset after a court allowed a Canadian gold miner to seize shares of Citgo Petroleum Corp.'s parent to satisfy an arbitration award.A U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that Crystallex International Corp. may seize U.S.-based stock of Citgo's parent, which is part of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, to cover a $1.4 billion award over the nationalization of gold fields.Unless reversed on appeal or blocked by the Trump administration, the decision would allow Crystallex to auction the shares to satisfy Venezuela's unpaid debt to the Canadian company. That means the country, in the grip of its worst recession, could lose control of the refiner that processes Venezuelan crude into desperately needed hard currency.It also complicates efforts by interim President Juan Guaido to retain control of Venezuelan assets including Citgo while waging a power struggle with current leader Nicolas Maduro for leadership of the country. Guaido has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to bar creditors from seizing the country's assets.Read More: Venezuela Must Pay $1.4 Billion in PDVH Stock to Crystallex"At this stage, the only action that could stop Venezuela from losing Citgo is either a successful U.S. Supreme Court appeal, which appears unlikely, or a decision by Trump to issue an asset-protection order as Guaido has been requesting," Francisco Rodriguez, chief economist for Torino Capital, said in an interview."The UN can also help," added lawmaker Rafael Guzman, part of the opposition-led National Assembly's finance committee. "We are going to push for all of them."Guaido and Maduro are battling for control of Citgo by naming conflicting board nominees for its owner, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA. A state-court judge in Delaware will decide who has legal right to appoint directors for the state-run oil company, which owns Citgo.Guaido himself didn't immediately return calls for comment on the appeals court's ruling, nor did Jose Ignacio Hernandez, Guaido's special attorney general, who was appointed to oversee litigation worldwide. Officials of Maduro's Information Ministry didn't return calls for comment, either.Read More: Venezuela Told to Give Shares of Citgo Parent to Gold Miner"For too long Venezuela has refused to compensate Crystallex for its illegal seizure of Crystallex's assets," Bob Fung, Crystallex's CEO, said in an emailed statement. He added the court's ruling was a "crucial step in getting Venezuela finally to honor its legal obligations."Venezuela's crisis follows years of Maduro's and ex-leader Hugo Chavez's socialist economic policies and the collapse in the country's all-important oil industry. Venezuelan officials are scrambling to keep their hands on Citgo to rebuild the economy.Guaido, head of the country's National Assembly, and Maduro, who has the support of the Venezuelan Army, have held talks in Oslo, Norway, seeking to resolve the crisis. The latest round of negotiations were scheduled to take place earlier this month in Barbados.Crystallex's gold mining operations near Las Cristinas, Venezuela, were seized without compensation in 2011 when Chavez nationalized the country's gold-mining industry. The company pursued arbitration and won a $1.2 billion award plus interest in 2016.Last year, Venezuela officials handed over $425 million as partial payment of the arbitration award, but the company couldn't cut a deal to satisfy the rest of the debt. So Crystallex pushed ahead with efforts to seize shares of Citgo's parent.Crystallex officials waged a three-year battle to seize shares of PDV Holding Inc., which owns Citgo. PDVSA owns the holding company. A federal judge in Delaware concluded last year that since Venezuela controls PDVSA, shares of Citgo's parent were fair game to be seized for the debt.The Philadelphia-based appeals court upheld the trial judge's finding that PDVSA is Venezuela's alter ego in part because its run by the country's military and all profits flow to the country's coffers.|"It has the potential to be a big blow to Venezuela," Russ Dallen, managing partner of Caracas Capital, said in an interview. "The pool of creditors that can now attack and go after PDVSA is greatly expanded."Crystallex isn't the only company that has sued Venezuela over unpaid debts. Investors have sued over $65 billion in defaulted bonds while rival ConocoPhillips sued Venezuela over seizure of its oil assets in the country. The U.S. oil giant won a $2 billion arbitration award over the nationalized assets. Last year, ConocoPhillips executives got $345 million in cash and commodities in settlement after the U.S. company seized some PDVSA assets in the Caribbean.The case is Crystallex International Corp. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 18-2797, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Philadelphia).(Adds details throughout.)\--With assistance from Alex Vasquez.To contact the reporters on this story: Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware at jfeeley@bloomberg.net;Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net;Porter Wells in Washington at pwells30@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, ;Jo-El Meyer at jmeyer154@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| New York reduces penalties for marijuana possession Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  New York's governor signed a bill Monday that softens penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and allows for the expungement of some past offenses. The law changes an unlawful possession of marijuana statute into a violation that's similar to a traffic ticket, instead of a criminal charge. The law also requires that records tied to low-level marijuana cases be automatically sealed and creates a process for expungement.
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| Spy Photos of the Volkswagen I.D. Crozz Posted: 29 Jul 2019 10:00 AM PDT |
| CNN's Jake Tapper Reminds Bernie Sanders He Accused Pharmaceutical Executives of Murder Posted: 29 Jul 2019 03:09 AM PDT  Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders accused pharmaceutical executives of murder but declined to defend the comments when pressed by CNN's Jake Tapper.Tapper played a clip of Sanders comparing Pharma executives to murderers at a rally one week ago before asking the senator to defend his position on Sunday's "State of the Union" show on CNN."Pharmaceutical executives see themselves as people who help save lives and improve lives, do you really see them as murderers?" inquired Tapper. "This is a philosophical issue we have to deal with," replied Sanders, before launching into an extended discussion of the insulin market without ever defending his original characterization."You can call them whatever you want," Sanders demurred. "I will tell you that as president of the United States we are gonna take on the pharmaceutical industry … what they're doing involves corruption in my view," he continued.Sanders also promised that as president he would use anti-trust laws to break up what he believes is a medication monopoly, and appoint an attorney general specifically to prosecute drug manufacturers.
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| Leak shows Samsung’s brand new Galaxy Note 10+ isn’t even as powerful as Apple’s year-old iPhones Posted: 29 Jul 2019 05:21 AM PDT  With just over one week to go before Samsung makes its new Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ official, there's really not much left for the company to surprise us with. Why? It's not that Samsung is predictable, it's that almost every last detail has already leaked at this point. The Note 10 lineup will be Samsung's hottest new smartphone duo ever, featuring a sleek design overhaul with a new all-screen design that has a tiny hole-punch camera centered at the top. In terms of specs, we're looking at impressive devices that feature the brand new Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, up to 12GB of RAM, plenty of storage, new triple-lens cameras, and Android Pie. Needless to say, the Note 10 and Note 10+ will also include Samsung's signature S Pen stylus complete with a few new tricks.We know both phones are going to be expensive. In fact, the Galaxy Note 10+ will be so expensive that pricing is likely the main reason Samsung decided to also make an entry-level version of the phone, just like it did with the Galaxy S10e. We also know that the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ will be released on August 23rd after going up for preorder shortly after Samsung's press conference next week. There really isn't much left to be uncovered, but one more puzzle piece is now in place thanks to a leak uncovered on Monday morning.Twitter user Sudhanshu Ambhore is popping up more and more these days as a source of smartphone leaks. Sometimes he shares exclusive renders of unreleased phones, but we've already seen the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ designs about a million times, so on Monday morning, he managed to come up with something different: Geekbench benchmark test scores for the Galaxy Note 10+.With the Galaxy Note 10+'s launch just over a week away and all the phone's specs having already leaked. We knew it was going to be a powerhouse. Now, we have numbers to back up our suspicions. The single-core Geekbench score of 4532 and multi-core score of 10431 are both good enough to place the Galaxy Note 10+ among the highest-scoring Android smartphones we have ever seen. What the scores are not, however, is good enough to beat Apple's latest iPhones.Released nearly a year ago, Apple's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are still the most powerful smartphones on the market. In the same Geekbench tests, the iPhone XS Max managed a single-core score of 4798 and a multi-core score of 11216, handily beating Samsung's brand new Galaxy Note 10+. It remains remarkably impressive just how well Apple's iPhones age, and just how much more powerful iPhones are than new Android flagships even a year after they're first released.
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| Two-year-old boy missing after both parents found dead in apparent 'murder-suicide' Posted: 28 Jul 2019 01:43 PM PDT  Authorities are looking for an Oregon toddler who remains missing after his parents died in what is believed to be a murder suicide. The Medford Police Department and the FBI are searching for Aiden Salcido, aged two, whose parents Daniel Salcido and Hannah Janiak died after fleeing from police. The couple, who had felony burglary warrants for their arrest, were found dead on Wednesday in Kalispell, Montana. Shortly before, officers had stopped a car and identified Salcido and Janiak inside. However, the couple fled the scene. The police officers gave chase and spiked the car's tyres, forcing it to come to a stop. When officers approached the vehicle they found the couple dead inside. In a statement, the FBI said Janiak was found with a gunshot wound to her head and Salcido appeared to have a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Their son, Aiden, was not in the vehicle, which officers described as a 1996 GMC Jimmy with Oregon license plates.Earlier in the month, warrants had been issued for the couple after Janiak failed to show up at court. The Jackson County, Oregon, Sheriff's Office had investigated the couple for a burglary in 2018, the FBI said. Both were convicted of the charges, and Janiak was to begin serving her sentence at the Jackson County Jail on 11 June. She did not show up for her sentencing. Felony warrants were subsequently issued for the couple's arrest. The FBI said relatives were concerned for the couple and their son because they had not made contact with any friends or family.Investigators searched Janiak's financial records and found that the last activity was on 3 June and 4 June, when two purchases were made at a Walmart in Medford, the FBI said. The purchases were caught on surveillance video, which showed the parents and Aiden together. The couple purchased camping equipment, the FBI said. Along with camping gear and clothing, detectives found a receipt in the car from the Kalispell Walmart dated 25 July, the same day they died. Salcido and Janiak appeared in the surveillance video, but Aiden did not, Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino told the Flathead Beacon. The relatives described Janiak to law enforcement as a good mother who had mental health issues. Relatives also said the family was homeless and would camp along the greenway in Medford.In a statement the Kalispell Police Department said: "Investigators are greatly concerned for Aiden's welfare and are asking for the public's help in locating him safely and expeditiously."Anyone with information on his whereabouts or information on where the family had been staying during the time they were reported missing is asked to contact Medford police at (541) 774-2258.Additional reporting by AP
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| View Photos of the 2020 Subaru Outback Posted: 29 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT |
| Coalition says strike kills 5 IS jihadists in Syria Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:00 PM PDT  A US-led coalition air strike killed five jihadists in eastern Syria on Monday, a spokesman said, in the first such raid since the collapse of the Islamic State group's "caliphate". "Coalition forces conducted a strike against a Daesh cell near Busayrah", a town in Deir Ezzor province, said coalition spokesman James Rawlinson, using an Arabic acronym for IS. The five jihadists were all Syrian, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
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| Trump says Democrats 'always play the race card,' then calls Elijah Cummings 'racist' Posted: 29 Jul 2019 09:44 AM PDT  President Donald Trump went on to call Cummings a "racist" who should "focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself."
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| South African land reform panel recommends seizures without pay in certain circumstances Posted: 28 Jul 2019 05:26 AM PDT |
| Ethiopia plants more than 200 million trees in 1 day Posted: 29 Jul 2019 07:08 AM PDT |
| From Africa to Mexico: How far would you go for the American dream? Posted: 28 Jul 2019 12:07 AM PDT  Hobbling from snake bites, men and women traversing one of the world's most dangerous stretches of jungle are abandoned to their fate. Corpses float by in the brown churn of the angry river. In the heart of the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama there is no time to wait for the incapacitated, the infirm or those not strong enough to push on. "The only thing you can do is help yourself," says Tangie Sule, aged 29, shaking his head as he recalls the days and months he spent on one of the world's most extraordinary migration journeys. The route from South to North America is well trodden by those seeking a new life in the US. But this year has seen a sharp rise in migrants from an entirely different continent. Tangie, like the 50 or so people he was travelling with through the rivers, mountains and swamplands of the Darien Gap, is from Cameroon. Tangie is one of hundreds of Africans now camped at the Mexico border in a seemingly interminable queue for an asylum hearing Credit: Erin Siegal McIntyre /The Telegraph He is one of a growing cohort of refugees from war-torn Central Africa to escape to visa-friendly entry points in South America and hit the road on the long march to the US border. As Europe has tightened immigration controls, and the numbers crossing the Mediterranean fallen away precipitously, citizens of troubled African nations have started looking west across the Atlantic. And why not? Brazil and Ecuador's visa requirements allow citizens of many countries in Africa to travel there with relative ease. Tens of thousands have made the epic trek in recent years. Last year 2,958 African migrants were detained in Mexico alone, according to government figures, up from 785 in 2014. Many more go undetected. Tangie is one of hundreds of Africans now camped at the Mexico border in a seemingly interminable queue for an asylum hearing – an increasingly rare occurrence under the administration of United States President Donald Trump. Standing outside the San Isidro border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, mere meters from his final destination, he remembers the days and months he spent between here and his home town 10,000 miles away. African migration map to the US Tangie's story A former money transfer agent, Tangie fled his home in Cameroon and flew to Quito, Ecuador. From there, he travelled north across the Americas to reach Mexico and, hopefully one day, the United States. Tangie, an Anglaphone, left Cameroon after he was persecuted by police working for the dominant, French-speaking majority, he says. "I did not decide to leave but I had to leave because my life was at risk," he says. He loves his country but says he was forced out. After being arrested twice and tortured for his activism work for the Southern Cameroon National Council, which represents the English-speaking minority, the police came looking for him in his home. "My younger brother was in the house with my sister. As he saw them coming; he tried to run and they shot him. They shot him dead," he says. Tangie just starting out in the Colombian jungle, near Capurgana Tangie left his home town of Bamenda, and his wife and one-year-old child, to take a flight to Quito, now a gateway into the Americas for thousands of African migrants fleeing violence and poverty at home. From Quito he crossed over the border by land into Colombia. "I met African brothers and they told me 'we should go far, let's migrate, let's leave this place', so we started from Colombia and we went to Panama. We trekked by foot." But blocking their way was the infamous Darien Gap. The treacherous 60-mile zone of dense rainforest that separates Colombia and Panama is infested with drug traffickers as well as poisonous snakes and spiders. It is the only break in the Pan American highway, which runs from the tip of Chile to Alaska. Tangie and a group of some 50 Africans who met in Colombia entered the thick jungle through the coastal town of Capurgana, after paying for a rickety speed boat to take them across the bay at the end the Atrato River. Not everybody came out the other side. "It was a horrible experience believe me – if I had known what it was going to be like I would have remained in Colombia," says Tangie. "You find somebody dying but you cannot help that person. We were in a group of Cameroonians of more than 50, believe me – around 45 of us made it. The others died on the way – they got swept away [by] the rivers in the jungle. Snake bites. There's nothing you can do. The only thing you can do is help yourself." He continues: "We had people who could not resist the mountain. All we did was tell the person take it easy, take it slow, we will wait for you at the summit. "There are times when we got to the summit and we waited hours for people and they don't come. There are people that had snakebites and we didn't have any medication for them – we saw their legs starting to get black and all we could do was abandon them. "We had people being carried by the [river] water – you just see their corpses left by the water on the bank." African migrant route to the US - Darien Gap The Darien Gap isn't just home to the usual jungle features of poisonous wildlife, fast-flowing rivers and challenging climate conditions. Often referred to as the 'mouth of the funnel' this slice of land is where tons of cocaine from Colombia moves north, heading for the world's biggest retail market – the United States. Weapons are also trafficked through the Darien Gap to be used by criminal gangs and /or guerrilla armies operating in the region. After finally making it over the Panama border, Tangie and his companions were given shelter in makeshift camps at the northern end of the Gap. After that, he says that they were bussed through the country at the expense of the government, who he says didn't want migrants wandering around looking for help. The same happened in Costa Rica, where Tangie says that they were given a pass that gave them permission to pass through within 25 days. Migrants crossing irregularly the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Credit: Encarni Pindado /The Telegraph "We left and went to Nicaragua, Nicaragua to Honduras – who also gave us passes – and then we went to Guatemala. When we got to Guatemala we were told that if we were arrested we would be deported so we had to smuggle ourselves from Guatemala to Mexico," says Tangie. He and his fellow travellers managed to get on a bus through Guatemala to the Suchiate river that runs along part of the border with Mexico. It is the main entry point for migrants from Central and South America and its economy is almost entirely based round the flow of goods, and people. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people arrive at the final stopping point in Guatemala – Tecun Uman – and then take one of the dozens of cycle taxis up to the river's edge. From there they cross on makeshift rafts, operated by oarsman who navigate the waters high or low for the price of a dollar per person. African migration route to the US - Suchiate river People smugglers are charging migrants some $3,000 for help getting from here to the United States border, said Oswaldo Garcia, who has been working as an oarsman for the last 14 years. To get from Central American countries to as far as the city of Houston, and evade Customs and Border Patrol, it's much more expensive and costs between $9,000 to $12,000. Since the first mass caravan in October 2018, official vigilance on the river has been growing. Most recently, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) sent some 21,000 troops from the newly created National Guard to both of Mexico's borders – part of the deal he cut with President Donald Trump in June to avoid threatened tariffs. The security force is new, and was created by AMLO this year to bring down Mexico's record homicide rates – in part caused by warring drug gangs. Instead, it has been tasked with apprehending migrants, and preventing them from coming into Mexico or trying to cross its northern line into the United States illegally. Never in its modern history has Mexico sent troops to its northern border with the US to prevent migrants from crossing - historically the country has depended on the remittances sent home by Mexicans in El Norte (the North, as the U.S is referred to in Mexico). Central American migrants queue at The Mexican Comisssion for Refugees in Tapachula Credit: Encarni Pindado /The Telegraph Less than 40kms away, a 45-minute drive from the Suchiate River, lies the city of Tapachula, and this is the first hub within Mexico for migrants wanting to declare themselves to the authorities. Most want legal status in Mexico to avoid having to stay out of sight and reduce their chances of being extorted by corrupt officials or, worse, kidnapped and blackmailed by crime gangs. Outside the offices of its immigration agency, INM, hundreds of people congregate everyday to get information about refuges and boarding houses and temporary legal status in the country as they move north to the U.S border. Black bin bags, cardboard boxes, blanket rolls and disposable eating plates surround babies sleeping on blankets on the ground, clad in nothing but nappies to counter the humid heat of Mexico's most southern state, Chiapas. People here are from a spectrum of countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Cameroon, Angola, Eritrea and even India – nationalities very rarely seen seen on this migrant trail a decade ago. Some of them are asking for asylum in Mexico. Percentage of US refugee arrivals that are African Emmanuel, aged 42, a teacher from Angola, came via Brazil to Mexico. Softly spoken and traveling alone, he isn't wedded to the idea of getting to the United States. "I don't know the procedure here," he says. "But as long as I can get a visa and find a job to do, I'm in Mexico. I can't be here without working." But most, like Aginetta, aged 30, from Kinshasa, Congo, who was traveling with her daughters aged 1 and eight, had their eyes on the US. "It's difficult to be here," she says. "I don't have money to eat or sleep or drink." Much like the US, Mexico has been overwhelmed by the wave of migrants coming from the region and other continents in the last year. In Tapachula housing is at full capacity, and many migrants are sleeping in the streets. Broadly speaking, people in Mexico have been tolerant of migrants, aware of the troubles they are fleeing. But generosity has worn thin since the first mass caravans in October last year. Migrants crossing the Suchiate river, the border between Guatemala and Mexico Credit: Encarni Pindado /The Telegraph Tangi said that he and his fellow African travellers have encountered negative reactions in Mexico. "Permit me but there is a lot of racism here. Even in the bus, people take their clothes and cover their noses and it's not comfortable for them." These factors discourage many from making Mexico their final destination, and the majority end up clustering in towns along the northern border, waiting to ask for asylum in the US. Tijuana has a shabby charm in parts and American-style roads and restaurants in others. Both seedy and sophisticated, it is traditionally a popular tourist playground for Americans in cities like San Diego on the other side of the line. The crossing where Tangie and his friends are waiting, the San Ysidro, is thought to be the busiest land crossing on the border and in the world. But increasingly, tourists are staying away as they become bottlenecks for people wanting to get to the US. Migrants like Tangie are growing increasingly desperate as they wait for a way out and a change of scene. African migrants apprehended on the US-Mexico border A photo of the bodies of Oscar and Valeria Martinez, a father and his two-year-old girl from El Salvador who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande that separates the US and Mexico on parts of the border, recently sent ripples around the world. Many experts saw it as a direct result of Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy. "The US policy of metering who can request asylum at the ports of entry, which can mean weeks or months of waiting in dangerous Mexican border towns, drove this father to make the desperate decision to cross the river with his family," said Maureen Meyer, director of the Mexico and Migrant Rights program at Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA) think tank. "[The number of Africans migrating to Mexico] is a problem in a lot of senses," added Maria Dolores Paris Pombo, a professor at Mexico's Colegio de la Frontera Norte. "Mexico has no tradition of integration, not even for Central Americans.... Racism in Mexico is very strong and there is very little support – including for applying for asylum. Most people have to support themselves from within the community." Where there is desperation, corruption thrives. A number of migrants told The Telegraph said that by paying between $800 to $1,000, those waiting can advance their place in the line to speed up entry. "People are now buying their number before getting in," said Tangie. Cameroon native Tangie Sule will spend months awaiting his asylum interview in the United States from Tijuana Credit: Erin Siegal McIntyre /The Telegraph For Tangie and his friends from Cameroon the wait will be long. Trump is making most asylum applicants wait in Mexico whilst their cases are processed – the "Remain in Mexico" policy – because the US immigrant processing system is overwhelmed, some say 'broken'. In the first week of June, more than 500 people from Africa were arrested by US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) on the Del Rio part of the border in Texas, including one group of more than 100 people, according to CBP. That's more than the total of 211 African migrants detained there over the whole of 2018. The migrants from Africa, a rising number from Asia taking a similar route, and Latin America are all part of a growing tide that Trump has called an "invasion" and declared a national emergency. Last week Tangie was still at the border – having been there for more than six weeks. In his final communications with The Telegraph, he said that he was considering crossing the border illegally as the numbers in line had failed to advance. "I have been persevering," he said via a WhatsApp message. "But life in Tijuana is getting harder day after day. I have no choice but to get into the US illegally. If you don't find me online, just pray for me." 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| Witness Says Najib Note Shows He Knew Source of $10 Million in His Account Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:31 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak's 1MDB trial sheds light on his links to fugitive financier Jho Low in deals involving a former unit of the troubled state fund.A Kuala Lumpur court heard dozens of witness testimonies related to the 42 million ringgit ($10 million) found in Najib's personal accounts which allegedly came from SRC International Sdn., once a unit of 1MDB. Lawyers for Najib, who has pleaded not guilty, argued that he was misled by others, including a former CEO of SRC who's at large. The current trial revolves around seven of the total 42 charges that Najib faces for his alleged role in 1MDB.Key DevelopmentsNajib's next trial is set to begin Aug. 19 after the judge rejected Attorney-General Tommy Thomas's request for a delay until after the current proceeding is completedThe trial was interrupted on Thursday as the court house was evacuated due to a bomb threatThe 1MDB hearing for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was pushed back to Sept. 30 as the process of filing the charges was incompleteNajib sent affidavit showing knowledge of fund's source (July 29)While Najib had denied knowing the source of the 42 million ringgit, the court heard from a witness that the former premier had sent an affidavit in February 2016 showing he knew the money came through SRC units Gandingan Mentari Sdn. and Ihsan Perdana Sdn.Separately, former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu said that Jho Low was her point of contact in sorting out issues with Najib's accounts, which were assigned a code name by request from Low. Yu confirmed fund transfers to the accounts, including a $681 million from Tanore Finance Corp., of which $620 million were returned with Low's direct involvement, she said on the witness stand.Yu said that Low was the one who represented the funds as gifts or donations and provided supporting letters from the alleged senders. That was also the case for another $75 million transfer that Low described as "super sensitive" and said will be followed by a supporting letter from Saudi Arabia, she said.Low, whose whereabouts aren't known, has consistently denied any wrongdoing in response to multiple charges filed against him in Malaysia and the U.S.Further ReadingJho Low's Wharton Friend Helped With Malaysia Links: 1MDB UpdateGoldman Offered $241 Million to Settle 1MDB, Mahathir Says (1)Long List of Charges Against Najib as 1MDB Trial Kicks Off (1)To contact the reporter on this story: Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur at klnews@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at yho35@bloomberg.net, Liau Y-SingFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| British man who ‘faked death’ while facing rape charges arrested in US Posted: 28 Jul 2019 08:14 AM PDT  A British man has been arrested in the US after allegedly faking his own death while facing rape charges in Scotland.Kim Gordon, also known as Kim Vincent Avis, disappeared in February after his son reported that he had not come out of the sea after swimming at a Californian beach.But investigators said the boy's account "fell apart" and he could not say how they supposedly travelled to Monastery Beach, which is locally nicknamed Mortuary Beach because of frequent drownings.The Monterey County Sheriff's Office concluded that Mr Gordon had not entered the water after an extensive search including a helicopter, boats, divers and a drone."We continued to investigate the case and learned that Avis was out on bail for 24 felony sexual abuse charges pending in Scotland," a spokesperson said."After speaking with his ex-wife, we became suspicious of the drowning report. We reinterviewed his son and determined he was not telling the truth."Mr Gordon's son was returned to Scotland by the local child protection department, while local police, Scottish authorities and Interpol continued the investigation.Authorities said the 55-year-old was traced to Colorado Springs following a sighting and arrested on Friday morning.Mr Gordon is being held by US marshals in the city, ahead of an extradition hearing later this month.A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Police Scotland is aware of reports from the USA regarding Kim Gordon or Avis and is liaising with the relevant authorities."Scottish media reported that he was facing 24 charges, including allegations of rape, sexual and physical assault.Mr Gordon, who formerly busked and sold jewellery in Inverness, failed to attend a court hearing in Edinburgh in March.
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| California has strict gun laws. Here's how the Gilroy gunman evaded them Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:27 PM PDT  US lawmakers renew calls for federal gun reform after shooter purchased weapon legally in NevadaPolice officers escort people from Christmas Hill Park following the shooting. Photograph: Noah Berger/APCalifornia has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country, including a ban on the type of rifle that a shooter used to kill three and wound 15 at the garlic food festival in Gilroy on Sunday.But the gunman had legally purchased the "assault-type rifle", in the style of an AK-47, from the neighboring state Nevada on 9 July before carrying it illegally over state lines into California, highlighting what some gun control advocates say is a loophole in the way laws operate, state by state.The suspect, 19, opened fire in the last hours of the three-day garlic festival, a beloved annual tradition that draws thousands of attendees of all ages. He injured 15 people and killed three – a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s – before being shot dead by police officers, who rushed him within a minute of bullets being heard.> Just days ago, a California judge upheld that state's assault weapons ban. > > Yesterday, a murderer who acquired an assault weapon legally in Nevada shot more than a dozen people in Gilroy in less than one minute. THIS is why we need a national ban. NoRAhttps://t.co/CCVonmecqL> > — NoRA (@NoRA4USA) July 29, 2019The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranks California first in the nation for having the strongest gun laws.California raised the minimum age to purchase a rifle to 21 in 2018. And last week, a federal judge upheld California's ban on owning, manufacturing or selling semiautomatic rifles and so-called "bullet buttons", rifle attachments that allow shooters to reload more quickly. The state has banned semi-automatic weapons for 20 years. The bullet button ban dates from 2016.Nevada, on the other hand, is ranked 25th in the Giffords Center's ranking.Big Mikes Gun and Ammo, the Nevada store where the gunman bought his weapon, said in a statement on its Facebook page that the shooter had bought the rifle off of the store's internet page."The reach of the California law ends at our border," California's attorney general, Xavier Becerra, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "and so we cannot control what other states do, and that's what makes it so tough. We may have progressive gun laws, but if other states don't match us, we have to rely on the ability to catch" the person.Several lawmakers have pointed at Sunday's shooting to once again call for a federal law that would close this cross-state loophole."The gun used by the Gilroy shooter was an AK-47 type assault rifle. This weapon is illegal to buy or possess in California, which appears to be why the shooter crossed into Nevada to buy the gun," said Senator Dianne Feinstein in a statement. "The assault weapons ban legislation I introduced earlier this year would have prevented that sale from happening. It's time for Congress to debate this bill and vote on it."Feinstein continued: "There are other bills out there that deserve to see the light of day including bills to require comprehensive background checks, help establish extreme-risk laws, prohibit the purchase of high-capacity magazines and eliminate loopholes that allow prohibited individuals [to acquire] guns.""This loss cannot be in vain," tweeted the California congresswoman Jackie Speier early Monday.Speier is looking to close the gap, as one of 190 members of the House who co-sponsored a bill that would ban the import, sale, manufacturing or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices on the federal level.> I worked to pass the state law banning assault weapons in the 90's. We need to buy back the ones still in people's possession & throw the book at those who defy the law! We must also pass H.R. 1296, the Assault Weapons Ban, to ban military-style assault weapons across the U.S.> > — Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) July 29, 2019The California representative Eric Swalwell, who campaigned briefly for the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination and was the only one of two dozen candidates to focus his platform primarily on stronger gun control, was another one of the bill's co-sponsors.> My heart breaks for all of our Bay Area neighbors who attended the GilroyGarlicFestival. We need gun reform and we need it now. EnoughIsEnough> > — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 29, 2019Senator Kamala Harris, who represents California, has called for a renewal of a federal assault weapons ban as well. She has stated that should she be elected, she will give Congress 100 days to take legislative action on gun violence, and if lawmakers cannot reach a consensus, she will take executive action.> Simply horrific. I'm grateful to the first responders who are on the scene in Gilroy, and my thoughts are with that community tonight. Our country has a gun violence epidemic that we cannot tolerate. https://t.co/WqWNxGAQnA> > — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 29, 2019The gun laws differ so vastly from state to state that a small California city located near the Nevada and Arizona borders voted this month to ask state legislators to allow gun owners from other states to carry registered firearms in the town.> Our thoughts are with the families of those lost last night in Gilroy, CA, as well as the survivors facing a tough road ahead. But thoughts are not enough — action must be taken to EndGunViolence. Every day the Senate refuses to act is a stain on the conscience of our nation.> > — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 29, 2019
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| Follow the law, get pulled over: Why a police plan to 'ticket' drivers backfired in Arizona Posted: 29 Jul 2019 03:15 PM PDT  Tempe Police Department started a "Positive Ticketing Campaign" initiative to hand out Circle K drink coupons for following traffic laws.
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| Trump Pals Pushed Nuke Firm That Wanted to Undercut Protections Against a Saudi Bomb Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:00 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos GettyTwo of President Trump's closest advisers pushed hard for a firm trying to circumvent the safeguards meant to keep Saudi Arabia from building a nuclear weapon. That's one of the many conclusions of a year-long investigation by the House Oversight Committee, which found that Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former inaugural committee chair Tom Barrack worked to enrich themselves and their colleagues in the nuclear energy sector. A centerpiece of the effort: helping American companies land contracts in Saudi Arabia—at least in one case, without the guardrails needed to keep the Saudis from making weapons-grade nuclear fuel.Flynn and Barrack used their relationships with the White House—as well as with officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia—to advance their personal interests and the interests of executives at the nuclear firm IP3. The CEO of the firm, Admiral Mike Hewitt, began working with Flynn and Barrack in the fall of 2016 in an attempt to influence the incoming Trump administration's Saudi Arabia policy, according to the House Oversight report. The effort drew in a host of other officials in the Trump administration, including Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner."The Trump Administration has virtually obliterated the lines normally separating government policymaking from corporate and foreign interests," the report states. "Documents show the Administration's willingness to let private parties with close ties to the President wield outsized influence over U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia."Barrack is currently being scrutinized in New York for his lobbying work and investigators have asked him about his work related to the Saudi nuclear deal, according to a New York Times report from Sunday. Flynn, who left the administration in February 2017, is awaiting sentencing after being indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office and pleading guilty to charges of lying to the FBI.The committee said in its report that Trump officials and advisers, including Flynn and Barrack, attempted to help fast-track a plan whereby the U.S. and Saudi Arabia would agree to cooperate on nuclear energy and firms like IP3 could clinch contracts to develop Riyadh's reactors. IP3 and other U.S. nuclear energy companies were looking for a way to get the industry back on even ground after years of decline and it saw Saudi Arabia as their way forward. But despite IP3's connections in high places, many in the nuclear sector feared something was amiss. Industry executives with companies like Westinghouse, one of the only companies with the ability to export technology to Saudi, originally threw their support behind IP3, though they worried about the firm's "questionable reputation," calling it the "Theranos of the nuclear industry," according to the communications obtained by the House oversight committee and quoted in the report. Part of the industry's concern over IP3 derived from the firm's campaign to convince the administration to consider signing a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that did not require the country to adhere to the so-called "gold standard."The term—first coined in January 2009 when the U.S. signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates—requires a foreign government to commit to forgoing enriching and processing plutonium, which can be used to make fuel for reactors but also nuclear weapons. In his travels across the Middle East with Flynn in 2015, IP3 CEO Hewitt became aware that Saudi Arabia, in its search for tenders to build nuclear reactors, did not want to subscribe to America's "gold standard" policy. The argument from Riyadh was that the country did not want to adhere to the strictest of nuclear safeguards in perpetuity if Iran, its regional foe, would one day be able to build up its nuclear program, according to two senior administration officials who spoke to The Daily Beast.That's when Hewitt and IP3 started looking for a way to convince the Trump administration to sign a deal with Saudi Arabia that allowed Riyadh some wiggle room. "IP3 boasted of 'unique access' to President Trump and senior White House officials, disparaged growing bipartisan congressional efforts to limit the transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, and characterized the 'Gold Standard' of prohibiting Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium for weapons as an obstacle to be 'overcome,'" the report said.In April of 2017, Hewitt emailed White House and Department of Energy officials a paper that advocated against requiring Saudi Arabia to agree to the gold standard. "Gold Standard has slowly killed our leverage and cooperating with the U.S. has been diminished," Hewitt wrote in an email in April 2017, according to the report. IP3 wasn't just lobbying the American government in pursuit of a Saudi deal. The company also leaned on Flynn and Barrack to gain access to the halls of power in the Kremlin and in Riyadh. The House oversight report said that in 2015 and 2016 "Flynn informed his business partners about upcoming interactions with officials in Russia and the Middle East —including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman—and offered to use these contacts to further IP3's business." In December of 2016, just days before President Trump's inauguration, IP3 executives traveled Saudi Arabia and used their connections to Flynn to float the idea of U.S. companies transferring technology to the country and to solicit a $120 million investment from then-deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known as MBS, in exchange for a 10 percent stake in IP3. At the same time IP3 was using its relationship with Flynn to get ahead, KT McFarland, Flynn's deputy, introduced the firm to Barrack. Going forward IP3 relied heavily on the intervention of Barrack to win over the Trump administration, according to the oversight report. Barrack, for his part, pushed the IP3 plan—while also seeking "powerful positions within the Administration—including Special Envoy to the Middle East and Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates," the report said. In May 2016, before then-candidate Trump had clinched the Republican nomination, Barrack shared a draft of the candidate's first major energy speech to a middleman, businessman Rashid Al-Malik, who then passed it along to Saudi and Emirati officials to "coordinate pro-Gulf language," the report said. Following an exchange with foreign campaign officials, Barrack emailed a draft of the speech to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, saying "We should partner with our Gulf Allies to draft a comprehensive economic security strategy as well as materially assist in their diversification efforts."Neither Barrack or Al-Malik appeared as registered lobbyists in the Department of Justice's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) database, the report said.In the days leading up to Trump's inaugural, Barrack and IP3 concocted a convoluted idea—known as the Middle East Marshall Plan—that brought in Russia and Middle Eastern countries to help the U.S. build nuclear power plants in the region. Draft materials for the plan, circulated to multiple different Trump officials, included a decision memo entitled "A Marshall Plan for the Middle East" and had a signature line for "Donald J. Trump," according to the oversight report.In February 2017 Barrack sent a text to Jared Kushner about setting up a meeting so he could brief the president's son-in-law."I think this could be a great arrow in the quiver of your Middle East arrows," Barrack wrote to Kushner. Several months later, on March 14, 2017, according to correspondence obtained by the committee, Barrack and employees of his company Colony NorthStar met with President Trump about the plan. As part of that push, Barrack and IP3 put together an idea to partner with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and UAE capital to acquire Westinghouse —a company in the consortium that was, in cooperation with IP3, bidding for a contract in the country. Westinghouse is one of the only nuclear energy companies in the U.S. with the ability to export technology abroad.Barrack briefed members of the administration about the plan, including Kushner, according to the report. On August 2017, Kushner sent an email to an IP3 advisor saying: "'Met them today and am trying to gather the interagency assessment of the importance, impact and national security considerations both domestically and internationally.'"Barrack and IP3 attempted to pull in financial firms Blackstone and Apollo Global Management to help in their attempt to acquire Westinghouse, but the entire effort eventually fell apart. Brookfield Asset Management —a firm that bought the Kushner Company 666 5th Avenue building—eventually acquired the nuclear energy company.The original Middle East Marshall plan, as put forward by Barrack and IP3, eventually fell through and by early 2018, IP3 was also on the outs of the American consortium that had come together to coordinate a bid for Saudi Arabia. Westinghouse terminated its agreement with IP3, telling industry partners that the firm's "actions may create a faulty assumption that IP3 is in charge."Today, IP3 is pursuing a cooperation deal with South Korea in an attempt to find work in the Saudi nuclear industry, as first reported by The Daily Beast. According to the report, IP3 plans on partnering with Korean state-run energy firms. The IP3-Korea plan would potentially allow for Riyadh to bypass entering into a gold standard agreement, raising concerns among officials in the Trump administration that it will have little leverage in ensuring Saudi Arabia adheres to certain nuclear safeguards.It appears the other American consortium has moved forward in their attempts to clinch contracts. The Daily Beast reported that the Trump administration had signed at least seven authorizations that allowed U.S. companies to share information with Saudi Arabia about their plans to help the country develop its nuclear sector. Those authorizations, two of them doled out following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, have been held from public view.-30-Over the past year the committee has investigated the Trump administration's relationship to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. In particular, committee investigators zeroed in on and the development of a plan for American companies to help Riyadh reduce its dependence on oil and to develop its nuclear sector. The committee released an interim report in February that relied heavily on White House whistleblower testimony. In that report, the committee said IP3 had developed a proposal for Saudi Arabia that was "not a business plan" but rather "a scheme for these generals to make some money." IP3 refutes that claim."IP3 has focused for over three years on the national security importance of being the country of choice for the peaceful, safe and secure development of nuclear power," the firm told The Daily Beast in a previous statement. A Republican rebuttal to the committee's interim report, released last week, said the committee's evidence "does not show that the Trump Administration acted inappropriately in the proposed transfer of nuclear energy technology to Saudi Arabia," according to a statement by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). Since February, the oversight committee has obtained more than 60,000 pages of documents. The documents reveal new information about Flynn and Barrack's involvement in the Saudi nuclear plan, according to the committee.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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