| Romney speculates Turkey called Trump's bluff: 'Are we so weak and inept?' Posted: 17 Oct 2019 03:20 PM PDT  The Utah senator delivers an impassioned speech on the Senate floor that accuses the president of betraying American values.
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| The Latest: Mayor: Chief drank before falling ill in car Posted: 18 Oct 2019 02:21 PM PDT  Chicago's mayor says that the police superintendent told her that he had a couple of drinks with dinner the night he later pulled over his vehicle because he felt lightheaded and fell asleep. Mayor Lori Lightfoot tells the Chicago Sun-Times that Superintendent Eddie Johnson also told her what he told the media about that he had recently changed medications and felt ill while driving home early Thursday and pulled over. Lightfoot says she has "no reason to doubt" Johnson's account of what happened, saying that she knows about various medical issues including high blood pressure that Johnson is dealing with.
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| Suspect in Case Behind Unrest to Surrender: Hong Kong Update Posted: 18 Oct 2019 09:10 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong protesters flooded the city's streets again on Friday and police banned a large pro-democracy march planned for Sunday, as the Asian financial hub prepared for yet another weekend of unrest. Meanwhile, the suspect in a Taiwan murder case that sparked Hong Kong's crisis agreed to surrender himself.Protesters are seeking to keep the pressure on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam with a 20th-straight weekend of demonstrations. Earlier this week, Lam was twice shouted down in the city's legislature by opposition lawmakers as she discussed her annual policy address.The protests began in opposition to Lam's since-scrapped bill allowing extraditions to mainland China and have since expanded to include calls for greater democracy and an independent inquiry. The unrest has turned increasingly violent, with frequent clashes between protesters and police, including an attack Wednesday on the organizer of Sunday's march by several men wielding hammers.Here's the latest (all times local):Homicide suspect to surrender himself to Taiwan (11:28 p.m.)Hong Kong's Chief Executive received a letter Friday from Chan Tong-kai, a Hong Kong man who's been accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend during a Valentine's Day trip to Taiwan, saying that he'd decided to surrender himself to Taiwan, according to a statement on the website of Hong Kong's government.Chan, who's currently serving a prison sentence for money laundering in a Hong Kong jail, "requested the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to assist him in making the relevant arrangement," according to the statement.Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao Daily reported earlier on Friday, citing a person it didn't identify, that Chan made the decision after consulting with a pastor.Protesters march across city (1 p.m.)Demonstrators marched in the Central financial district on Hong Kong Island, temporarily blocking traffic, as well as in the Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok neighborhoods of Kowloon. Some carried a banner calling on the Hong Kong government to agree to their five demands, which include an independent inquiry into police violence, an amnesty for arrested protesters and greater democratic freedoms.Police deny weekend permit (12:30 p.m.)Hong Kong police denied a protest permit for the Civil Human Rights Front's planned march in Kowloon on Sunday. The group -- whose organizer Jimmy Sham was hospitalized this week -- has been behind some of the largest protests during the last five months, including a few that have drawn over one million people. In many cases, protesters have continued to show up at events that lack police permits, with some devolving into violent clashes with police.Suspect may surrender (11:50 a.m.)The Hong Kong suspect in a Taiwan murder case that sparked Hong Kong's biggest political crisis in decades was willing to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities, the Sing Tao Daily reported on Friday. Chan Tong-kai, who has been accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend during a Valentine's Day trip to Taiwan, is ready to return to the island and surrender after his release from a Hong Kong jail on a related money-laundering charge, the newspaper said.\--With assistance from Dominic Lau.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Colin Keatinge, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Atatiana Jefferson's death highlights a long history of police violence in Fort Worth, and the community says it's time for a 'reckoning' Posted: 18 Oct 2019 08:07 AM PDT  Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed by Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean. Her death was the sixth fatal police shooting in the city since June.
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| New ICE Program Exposes Hundreds of Fraudulent ‘Family Units’ Trying to Cross The Border Posted: 18 Oct 2019 05:41 AM PDT  U.S. immigration authorities have discovered hundreds of instances at the border of "family unit fraud," or unrelated individuals posing as families, over the last six months thanks to a new investigative initiative.Authorities exposed 238 fraudulent families presenting 329 false documents, according to the results of an investigation run by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit in El Paso, Texas, the results of which were announced Thursday.More than 350 of those individuals are facing federal prosecution for crimes including human smuggling, making false statements, conspiracy, and illegal re-entry after removal. Authorities have referred 19 children to U.S. Health and Human Services as a result of this investigation. Another 50 migrants fraudulently claimed to be unaccompanied minors."Some of the most disturbing cases identified involve transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and individuals who are increasingly exploiting innocent children to further their criminal activity," ICE said in a statement.In some cases, criminal organizations made deals with the children's biological parents to transfer children as young as 4 months old to the U.S. and pose as a family unit either for human smuggling purposes or to fraudulently obtain immigration benefits, ICE said."These are examples of the dark side of this humanitarian crisis that our Border Patrol and HSI agents are working tirelessly to identify," said El Paso Sector Interim Chief Gloria Chavez. "We will pursue the highest of judicial consequences for those who commit fraud and exploit innocent children."The Trump administration has attempted to end the "catch and release" policy for migrant family units, which provides migrant families an expedited release into the U.S. as their asylum cases are being processed.Then–acting Homeland Security secretary Kevin McAleenan said last month that the vast majority of migrant families who enter the country illegally will no longer be eligible for "catch and release" due to the implementation of stricter policies. One such policy, the Migrant Protection Protocols, requires that migrants wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are being adjudicated.
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| UPDATE 2-Global watchdog keeps Pakistan on terrorism financing "grey list" Posted: 18 Oct 2019 04:07 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Global watchdog keeps Pakistan on terrorism financing "grey list"]( "UPDATE 2-Global watchdog keeps Pakistan on terrorism financing \"grey list\"") A global finance watchdog kept Pakistan off its terrorism financing blacklist on Friday but warned Islamabad it only had until February to improve or face international action. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, which tackles money laundering, said it was concerned that Pakistan had failed to complete the action plan first by a January deadline, then a May deadline and now October. "The FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2020," it said in a statement.
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| Proposed GM contract lifts wages, closes 4 plants Posted: 17 Oct 2019 10:44 AM PDT  General Motors' proposed agreement to end a labor strike includes a wage increase and faster transition to fulltime status for temporary workers but permanently shuts four plants, according to a union summary released Thursday. The United Auto Workers said they achieved "key gains" during negotiations held during a strike launched on September 26, according to a 19-page summary released by the union, while UAW leadership met with local chapters to discuss the deal. The UAW announced Wednesday it had reached a preliminary bargain but said the strike would continue until its national council approved the agreement and the stoppage could be extended until the full membership votes.
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| Moms Demand Action founder says advocacy group is not anti-gun Posted: 17 Oct 2019 07:08 PM PDT  Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts spoke with CBS News' Major Garrett for this week's episode of "The Takeout"
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| Pressure Builds on President Trump As New Revelations Emerge About His Dealings with Ukraine Posted: 17 Oct 2019 05:35 PM PDT  It's not yet clear how Trump's mounting troubles will affect the impeachment proceedings in Congress.
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| Volvo launches very first fully electric vehicle: the XC40 Recharge Posted: 17 Oct 2019 08:13 AM PDT  Volvo has officially launched its very first EV line and its very first EV: The XC40 small SUV is the first member of the Recharge family. To add to the firsts surrounding this launch, the XC40 small SUV is also the first of the brand equipped with an Android-powered infotainment system -- it's better late than never. This premiere has been coupled with an announcement by the company about their plans to launch a fully electric car every year "with the rest hybrids." Recharge will be the name encapsulating all the brand's electrified vehicles.
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| Macron Says U.K. Shouldn’t Get New Delay If Johnson Loses Vote Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:59 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron heaped pressure on the British Parliament to back Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, saying the U.K.'s departure from the European Union shouldn't be delayed a moment longer.With Parliament due to vote on the revised agreement on Saturday, Macron's remarks echoed the message Johnson himself has been sending to reticent MPs: it's now or never. "I don't think a new extension should be granted," Macron told reporters after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, where the deal had been rubber stamped. "The Oct. 31 deadline must be met."Macron's stance increases the risk that the U.K. will crash out of the EU without a deal on Oct. 31. But the reality is more nuanced, according to EU diplomats who doubt the bloc will ever throw the U.K. off a cliff without a safety net. The pound dipped on the comments, and then recovered.Selling the DealAfter sealing a revised deal with the EU on Thursday, Johnson is spending Friday frantically talking to politicians from his own and other parties as he tries to rustle up a majority. The prime minister needs to add 61 votes to the tally his predecessor Theresa May managed when her version of the Brexit deal was defeated for a third and final time in March.The new agreement differs from May's agreement because only Northern Ireland rather than the whole U.K. will continue to apply the EU's customs rules. That's upset the province's Democratic Unionist Party whose MPs say they won't back Johnson's deal on Saturday.If Johnson loses the vote, he's obliged by law to request from the EU another extension by the end of the day. But any postponement must be approved unanimously by the EU's 27 leaders so Macron would have a veto.EU officials were expecting such an intervention by Macron, who made similar noises before approving a Brexit delay in April, but they said that it's very unlikely that he or any other leader would prevent another one, particularly if the U.K. was headed for a general election. While the bloc is just as keen to get Britain's departure over the line as Johnson, it considers a no-deal exit in two weeks a far worse prospect than another postponement.Envoys from the 27 remaining countries and the European Commission are due to meet on Sunday to discuss next steps should Johnson's deal fall.The French have consistently taken a hard line in Brexit negotiations and Macron argues that the tight deadline he insisted on the last time the process was extended helped force Johnson into concessions. Several EU governments privately now regret delaying Brexit from April until October, acknowledging that it took the pressure of the U.K. to pass a deal."I was alone and I don't think I was wrong," Macron said, referring to the decision six months ago.Other leaders were more circumspect on the issue, with Leo Varadkar, the prime minister of Ireland, which stands to be affected most by a no-deal Brexit, saying a delay isn't guaranteed and Luxembourg premier Xavier Bettel insisting the ball was now in the U.K. Parliament's court."We have done our job," he said. "There's a plan A, but there's no plan B."(Updates with context throughout.)\--With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni.To contact the reporters on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net;Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Clever-Approved Travel Gear That Looks Good and Works Even Better Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:34 PM PDT |
| Rep. Nunes tries to use Steele dossier to defend Trump during closed-door hearing Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:18 PM PDT  During a closed-door impeachment meeting on Capitol Hill, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) brought up a topic that surprised some attendees: the Steele dossier. The context, according to three sources familiar with the episode, was his effort to explain why President Trump might be "upset" about Ukraine.
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| Clinton email probe finds no deliberate mishandling of classified information Posted: 18 Oct 2019 05:09 PM PDT  A U.S. State Department investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state has found no evidence of deliberate mishandling of classified information by department employees. The investigation, the results of which were released on Friday by Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley's office, centered on whether Clinton, who served as the top U.S. diplomat from 2009 to 2013, jeopardized classified information by using a private email server rather than a government one.
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| Mystery traders 'made $1.8bn from stock bet' placed hours before Trump tweeted talks with China were ‘back on track’ Posted: 18 Oct 2019 01:16 PM PDT  */Unknown actors may have made billions from the turmoil Donald Trump has created in the markets through erratic tweets, shoot-from-the-hip foreign policy, and the trade war with China, according to a new report.
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| View 2020 Chevrolet Corvette vs. Porsche 718 Cayman Cargo Comparison Photos Posted: 17 Oct 2019 07:26 AM PDT |
| One year on, migrant caravan leaves unexpected legacy Posted: 18 Oct 2019 06:25 PM PDT  A year ago, thousands of Central American men, women and children chasing the American dream arrived in Mexico in a massive caravan that has left a lasting legacy -- just not the one people generally thought it would. Fleeing chronic poverty and brutal gang violence at home, they banded together in hopes of finding safety in numbers against the dangers of the journey, including criminal gangs that regularly extort, kidnap and kill migrants. The images made an impact around the world: carrying their meager belongings on their backs, many migrants pressed small children to their chests or held them by the hand.
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| Asylum-seeking Mexicans are more prominent at US border Posted: 18 Oct 2019 05:46 PM PDT ![Asylum-seeking Mexicans are more prominent at US border]( "Asylum-seeking Mexicans are more prominent at US border") Lizbeth Garcia tended to her 3-year-old son outside a tent pitched on a sidewalk, their temporary home while they wait for their number to be called to claim asylum in the United States. The 33-year-old fled Mexico's western state of Michoacan a few weeks ago with her husband and five children — ages 3 to 12 — when her husband, a truck driver, couldn't pay fees that criminal gangs demanded for each trailer load. "I'd like to say it's unusual, but it's very common," Garcia said Thursday in Juarez, where asylum seekers gather to wait their turn to seek protection at a U.S. border crossing in El Paso, Texas.
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| Anti-Trump businesswomen are nervous about Warren, and the Democratic debate didn't help Posted: 17 Oct 2019 08:00 AM PDT  In her fight against corporate America, Warren is turning off a key group of voters who want to oust Donald Trump: the liberal women who work there.
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| U.S. Air Force F-35s Are Knocking on Russia’s Back Door Posted: 17 Oct 2019 10:30 PM PDT  The U.S. Air Force has stood up a fighter squadron to operate F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters in Alaska. It might not be long before F-35s join Alaska-based F-22s in intercepting Russian bombers and other warplanes that frequently probe American defenses.
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| Former concentration camp guard, 93, goes on trial in Germany Posted: 17 Oct 2019 11:50 AM PDT  A 93-year-old former concentration camp guard arrived in court in a wheelchair on Thursday, in what could be one of Germany's last trials of Nazi war crimes. Bruno D., whose surname cannot be given for legal reasons, is accused of being an accessory to 5,230 murders in the final months of World War Two.
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| Sen. McConnell warns Republicans that Trump's impeachment trial could start as soon as November Posted: 17 Oct 2019 10:16 AM PDT  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his fellow Republicans that a Senate impeachment trial could begin as early as Thanksgiving, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday.
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| Here's the Deadline Countdown for Every Trump Impeachment Subpoena Issued So Far Posted: 18 Oct 2019 11:22 AM PDT We're updating this live as more subpoenas are issued
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| Kurdish General Said to Reject Turkish Occupation: Syria Update Posted: 18 Oct 2019 01:28 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outlined his understanding of the Turkish-patrolled "safe zone" in northern Syria, saying the U.S. and Russia should also play a role in maintaining a corridor that he wants to stretch along a vast section of Turkey's border.A deal reached with a top U.S. delegation on Thursday -- which secured a 120-hour cease-fire -- required Kurdish fighters to withdraw from an area 444 km long and 32 km deep, the president told foreign reporters in Istanbul on Friday. "This is what we call the safe zone. The safe zone is not just the area between Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad which is yet to be cleared."But Erdogan's view clashes with that of the Kurdish YPG, a U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State. It's unclear how American officials interpret Thursday's pact when it comes to defining the area from which the militia must withdraw.Erdogan denied that fighting took place between Turkish troops and Kurdish forces on Friday. However, Syrian state-run Sana news agency said five people were killed in a Turkish airstrike in the Ras Al-Ayn area.Here is a rundown of major events in Turkish local time:Key DevelopmentsTurkish markets rally a day after the U.S.-Turkey deal. Borsa Istanbul-100 index is up 3.7%, most since June 7, as of 5:31 p.m. Two-year government bond yields fell 137 basis points, most since August 2018, to 14.29%. The lira appreciated 1.6% against the dollar in the past two daysU.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Erdogan announced cease-fire deal in Ankara after marathon talks on ThursdayTrump faces Congressional rebuke for Syria pulloutKurdish General Said to Reject Turkish Occupation (11:27 p.m.)In a phone call with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, Syrian Democratic Forces commander General Mazloum Abdi said Kurdish fighters are concerned about the cease-fire holding and will not stand by if "hundreds of thousands" of Kurds are pushed out of the so-called safe zone in northern Syria, according to a statement by Graham after the call. "I hope we can find a win-win situation, but I share General Mazloum's concerns," Graham, a key Republican foreign policy hawk who strongly criticized Trump's decision to begin withdrawing troops, said. "I also told him that Congress will stay very involved and is extremely sympathetic to the plight of the Kurds."Earlier, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo secured the blessing of NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg for the cease-fire deal, amid criticism by France about the U.S. decision to withdraw forces from the region."I welcome that two NATO allies, the United States and Turkey, have agreed on a way forward," Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, said at a briefing with Pompeo as the top U.S. diplomat made a brief stop in Brussels. "We all know and understand that the situation in northeast Syria is fragile, difficult, but I believe this statement can help to deescalate the situation."Trump Says Cease-Fire is 'Working Out' So Far (9:22 p.m.)President Donald Trump defended the agreement reached with Turkey for a 120-hour pause in hostilities in northern Syria, saying the "Kurds are very happy about it" then adding, cryptically, "we've taken control of the oil that everybody was worried about." It wasn't clear what the president meant with that statement.Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued a statement emphasizing that no U.S. ground troops will take part in enforcing the so-called safe zone in northern Syria. Esper added that he'll be traveling to the Middle East on Saturday to visit troops and international partners before heading to a NATO meeting in Brussels.U.S. Official Says Most Fighting Has Stopped (6:35 p.m.)Most of the fighting in northeast Syria has stopped, a U.S. official said, asking not to be identified. It will take time for things to completely quiet down, which is usually the case in situations like this, the official said.Death Toll in Syria Rises, SOHR Says (6:16 p.m.)The number of people killed in northeast Syria in a day of sporadic clashes, strikes by airplanes and Turkish shelling increased to 14, according to SOHR, a monitoring groupErdogan Speaks on Trump, Graham and Syria (5:26 p.m. Friday)Erdogan said he understands Donald Trump is "under pressure," but added that he won't forget the Oct. 9 letter in which the U.S. president warned him not to be a "fool." Erdogan also accused Senator Lindsey Graham of flip-flopping on whether the Kurdish militants are "terrorists."The president said the YPG had freed 750 Islamic State detainees, including 150 Turks, during the Turkish offensive. A total of 195 militants have been recaptured, and they should be tried in their respective countries, he said.EU Leaders Stop Short of Punishing Turkey (5:10 p.m.)Erdogan's actions were discussed at a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels. The EU has called for Turkey to show restraint against the Kurds, but stopped short of threatening major punitive action against a NATO ally.German Chancellor Angela Merkel downplayed any link between Erdogan's Syria operation and the threat of fresh migrants coming to Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron said he saw recent events as "a heavy mistake" by the West and NATO. "I found out via a tweet that the U.S. decided to withdraw their troops and free the zone," he said.Turkey Halts Offensive But Skirmishes Underway (9:30 a.m. Friday)Turkey has halted its offensive but occasional skirmishes took place overnight, prompting Turkish artillery units to open fire on targets in the west of the town of Ras al-Ayn, Turkey's IHA news agency reported Friday. The Rojava Information Center, which is aligned with the Kurdish-led forces, said fighting was continuing in the area and there was no sign yet of Kurdish fighters withdrawing.Safe Zone Definition Contradicts Turkey Aspiration (11:59 p.m. Thursday)Jim Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for the Syria conflict who was with Pence in Ankara, said: "We talk about the safe zone here, and the Turks talk about an aspirational safe zone based upon what we had done with them back in August, where the safe zone was from the Euphrates to the Iraqi border and we had various levels of Turkish observation or movement or whatever down to 30 kilometers, with the withdrawal of the YPG from some of them.""What we have now is a different situation where the Turks have pushed down to that 30-kilometer level in a central part of the northeast and they're still fighting in there, and that's the focus of our attention now because that's the area that we define as the Turkish-controlled safe zone."Turkey Says 'It's a Temporary Pause' Not Cease-Fire (9:02 p.m.)Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the one-page accord wasn't a cease-fire, but a pause, and boasted that Turkey had gotten what it wanted from the U.S. Top of their demands was that Turkish armed forces will be oversee a 20-mile "safe zone" inside Syria. Cavusoglu said Turkey was aiming to create a safe zone that would stretch for 444 kilometers along the frontier and 30 kilometers deep in Syria.Turkey Agrees to Cease-Fire in Syria, Pence Says (8:40 p.m.)Pence said the U.S. and Turkey have agreed to end hostilities in Syria. Turkey would cease operations permanently once the Kurdish forces withdraw and work on detention centers in the affected areas would be coordinated with Turkey, Pence said. Once a permanent cessation of hostilities is in place, the U.S. will lift all sanctions slapped on Turkey earlier, he said.\--With assistance from Nick Wadhams, Saleha Mohsin, Rosalind Mathieson, Selcan Hacaoglu, David Wainer, Taylan Bilgic, Justin Sink, Tony Capaccio and Steven T. Dennis.To contact the reporter on this story: Onur Ant in Istanbul at oant@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Bill Faries, Larry LiebertFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Return of Argentine Peronism throws shadow over Falklands Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:15 AM PDT  Argentina is going to the polls on October 27 with a Peronist politician backed by former president Cristina Kirchner expected to win an outright majority, something that has got Falkland Islanders worried. The Falklands have been in British hands since 1833 but Argentina has waged a diplomatic battle -- that spilled into economic and then actual warfare -- since the 1960s to try to gain control of the archipelago. Argentine troops invaded the windswept islands for 74 days in 1982, before Britain swiftly defeated them.
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| Judges grapple with misconduct claims in Jodi Arias case Posted: 17 Oct 2019 03:03 PM PDT  Appellate judges who will decide whether to reverse Jodi Arias' murder conviction in the gruesome 2008 killing of her former boyfriend grappled Thursday with who was responsible for whipping up publicity during the salacious trial and whether alleged misconduct by a prosecutor should cause the verdict to be tossed. A lawyer for Arias told the Arizona Court of Appeals that prosecutor Juan Martinez improperly questioned witnesses, ignored rulings on evidence, courted publicity and made an unfounded accusation that an expert on her defense team had an inappropriate relationship with Arias. Terry Crist, a lawyer for the Arizona attorney general's office, told the judges that he believes Martinez may have occasionally violated court rules, but none of his actions should lead to a reversal of the conviction.
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| U.S. Diplomat Suggested Biden Had a Conflict of Interest in Ukraine In 2015 Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:17 AM PDT  A U.S. State Department official told impeachment investigators on Tuesday that he raised concerns about Hunter Biden's involvement in a Ukrainian natural gas company in 2015, telling one of then vice president Joe Biden's staffers that the arrangement may constitute a conflict of interest, the Washington Post reported Friday.Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent testified that he worried Ukrainian officials would use Hunter Biden's position at the company, Burisma Holdings, as an opportunity to influence his father. Kent said he tried to convey his opinion to Joe Biden's office, but that a staffer told him the vice president didn't have the "bandwidth" to address the issue because his other son, Beau, was battling cancer.This is the first known instance in which a career diplomat tried to raise concerns regarding Hunter Biden's business holdings in Ukraine. Several of Joe Biden's former advisers also reportedly had discussions about whether his son's business dealings could be seen as a conflict of interest.A former senior Biden national-security aide dismissed the issue in comments to the Post."Did it have any effect on US policies, either on what we were doing or what the Ukrainians were doing? It didn't," the former aide said. "In the aggregate it didn't have any discernible effect."President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have repeatedly urged Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens.However, Trump is currently the subject of an impeachment inquiry by House Democrats into whether Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to conduct the investigations.On Thursday, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney appeared to confirm that the administration withheld aid to pressure Ukraine to look into interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Mulvaney quickly walked back his comments, denying there was a quid pro quo involved.
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| Plane collides with pickup truck while landing, pilot killed Posted: 18 Oct 2019 04:07 PM PDT  Witnesses reported the airplane was at an altitude of just 5 feet as it crossed a county road near the airstrip and struck a pickup truck.
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| Meet the Nanchang Q-5: China's Nuclear Bomber Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:36 AM PDT  Beijing's got deterrence.
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| Turkish-Mexican national arrested in Cambodia amid alleged Gulen links Posted: 18 Oct 2019 01:38 AM PDT ![Turkish-Mexican national arrested in Cambodia amid alleged Gulen links]( "Turkish-Mexican national arrested in Cambodia amid alleged Gulen links") Cambodian police have arrested the Turkish-Mexican former director of a school run by the movement of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara blames for a failed 2016 coup, his wife said on Friday. Osman Karaca, former director of Zaman International School, was arrested by eight policemen while he was at a bank on Oct. 14 in the capital Phnom Penh, said his wife Grace Karaca, who fears he will be deported to Turkey. "That's the last we have heard of him," Karaca told Reuters on Friday from Mexico, where she is living with her son.
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| Americans becoming less Christian as over a quarter follow no religion Posted: 17 Oct 2019 08:48 AM PDT  * Self-identified Christians fall by 12 percentage points in a decade * Fewer than half of millennials are Christians, survey findsAs many millennials say they never attend religious services (22%) as those who say they go at least once a week. Photograph: Alamy Stock PhotoThe United States is becoming a less Christian country, and the decline in religious affiliation is particularly rapid among younger Americans, new figures show.The proportion of US adults who describe themselves as Christian has fallen to two-thirds, a drop of 12 percentage points over the past decade, according to data from the Pew Research Center.Over the same period, the proportion of those describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" has risen by 17 percentage points to more than a quarter of the adult population.Although churches and faith movements continue to exert strong political influence on the Trump administration and at the state level, the proportion of American adults attending religious services has declined.The proportion of US adults who are white born-again or evangelical Protestants – the religious group which strives hardest to see its political agenda adopted – is now 16%, down from 19% a decade ago.The number going to church at least once or twice a month has fallen by seven percentage points over the past decade. More Americans now say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than say they attend at least monthly (45%).The fall in religious identification and activity has affected both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. According to Pew, 43% of adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And 20% are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009.Fewer than half of millennials (49%) describe themselves as Christians; four in 10 are religious "nones", and 9% identify with non-Christian faiths.As many millennials say they never attend religious services (22%) as those who say they go at least once a week.Pew's report, released on Thursday, says the decline of Christian communities is continuing at a rapid pace."Religious 'nones' have grown across multiple demographic groups: white people, black people and Hispanics; men and women; all regions of the country; and among college graduates and those with lower levels of educational attainment."Religious 'nones' are growing faster among Democrats than Republicans, though their ranks are swelling in both partisan coalitions. And although the religiously unaffiliated are on the rise among younger people and most groups of older adults, their growth is most pronounced among young adults," the report said.The share of US adults who identify with non-Christian faiths has increased from 5% in 2009 to 7% in 2019. Two percent of Americans are Jewish, 1% are Muslim, 1% are Buddhist, 1% are Hindu, and 3% who identify with other faiths, including people who say they abide by their own personal religious beliefs and people who describe themselves as "spiritual".Pew's data is based on telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019.
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| Parents of Dead Teen Compare Trump Cronies to ‘Henchmen’ at Meeting Britain Denies Asking For Posted: 17 Oct 2019 07:07 AM PDT  Carlo Allegri/ReutersThe grieving family of 19-year-old Harry Dunn have spoken out about their ill-fated meeting with Donald Trump at the White House in a new interview. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn told CNN on Thursday morning that the president "doesn't understand" how the accident that killed their son has "broken" their family. Dunn was killed when 42-year-old American Anne Sacoolas, who is married to an intelligence officer who was working at a spy base in Croughton, England, hit his motorcycle head-on while driving down the wrong side of the road on Aug. 27. Sacoolas initially cooperated with authorities, but then left the country under diplomatic-immunity protections in early September before authorities could formally investigate her or charge her with a crime. Dunn's parents had only hoped to convince Trump to send Sacoolas back to the U.K. for justice, not to meet her in person. Radd Seiger, the family spokesman, who appeared on CNN with the family, added that during the visit, new National Security Adviser Robert C. O'Brien "snarled" at him and jeered that Sacoolas "would never return" to the U.K. "I used to look up to that institution," Seiger told CNN. "But it's a bunch of henchmen trying to make him look good."During the White House meeting, Trump surprised Dunn's parents with the announcement that Sacoolas, who they had made clear they would only meet on U.K. soil if she returned to assist the investigation, was behind a door waiting. Grieving Parents 'Ambushed' by Trump, Who Had Teen's Killer Waiting at White HouseIn an email to The Daily Beast on Thursday, Seiger shot down White House denials that photographers were present for the supposed meetup. "We do not know who the photographer(s) were or which organization they were from," the family spokesman said. "But they were there and had cameras and were clearly poised to grab that "poster picture shot" in the event that the president's callous plan had come off."Seiger continued: "Further, if President Trump really had Harry's best interests at heart and really only wanted to comfort them he would have a) given advance notice of his intention to convene such a meeting with Mrs Sacoolas b) sought consent from us instead of springing it on us c) arranged for it to take place in a neutral and controlled environment with mediators and therapists around and out of the glare of the media spotlight [and] d) called off his attack dog Robert O'Brien who snapped, snarled and intimated his way through the meeting within feet of grieving people."On Wednesday, Trump said he arranged the meeting at the request of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been very vocal about Sacoolas returning to England. Johnson had earlier insisted Sacoolas return and promised he would take the matter up personally with the president.But on Thursday, Downing Street denied it had asked for such a meeting between Sacoolas and Dunn's parents to take place and had not been informed or involved in the planning. "The P.M. and the president spoke last Wednesday and the P.M. asked the president to do all he could to resolve the issue," a spokeswoman for the prime minister's office told The Guardian. "During the conversation, the president raised a possibility of a meeting with Anne Sacoolas at the White House, but at that stage we weren't aware of any plans for the family to go [to the U.S.], so it wasn't discussed further."The Sacoolas family, who have assembled a team of lawyers versed in international diplomacy and extradition, are expected to return to the U.K. this weekend. 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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| Netanyahu's Latest Call for Unity Government Is Quickly Rejected Posted: 17 Oct 2019 07:37 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival turned down the Israeli prime minister's renewed call to set aside political differences and join a national unity governmentNetanyahu has until late next week to form a ruling coalition or risk the country's president handing the mandate to former military chief Benny Gantz. Short of a majority in parliament, the premier's efforts to coax Gantz's Blue and White bloc, the largest in the legislature, into a power-sharing agreement have so far failed."All of Israel's citizens look around and see how the Middle East is changing for the worse in front of our eyes," Netanyahu said Thursday in a tweet. "Those who need to know, know that the security challenges are growing, and they are not waiting for us."The prime minister didn't specify the threats facing Israel. But his statement follows the decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria as he seeks to end America's presence in long-running Middle Eastern conflicts.The U-turn has boosted Israel's main regional foe, Iran, which is a key supporter of the government in Damascus, and stoked speculation in Israel over the future reliability of the country's superpower patron.Gantz quickly rejected Netanyahu's offer."I received a proposal today that one must refuse,'' Gantz said in a tweet. "We will wait for the President's mandate and begin serious negotiations for the establishment of a liberal unity government that will lead to change and restore hope to the citizens of Israel."\--With assistance from Ivan Levingston.To contact the reporter on this story: Yaacov Benmeleh in Tel Aviv at ybenmeleh@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Paul AbelskyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Cathay woes pile up as passenger figures dip again in September Posted: 17 Oct 2019 11:44 PM PDT  Cathay Pacific cut its economic outlook on Friday following a second successive drop in monthly passenger traffic after the airline faced a backlash from Beijing over Hong Kong's heated pro-democracy protests. The marquee brand has had a torrid few months, coming under fire from Chinese state media and authorities because some of its 27,000 employees took part in -- or were sympathetic to -- the anti-government demonstrations. Overall passenger traffic fell 7.1 percent in September, the airline said, with inbound traffic into its Hong Kong hub plunging 38 percent for the second month running.
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| Chicago principal who watched boy's forced ejection retires Posted: 17 Oct 2019 04:20 PM PDT ![Chicago principal who watched boy's forced ejection retires]( "Chicago principal who watched boy's forced ejection retires") A Chicago elementary school principal who looked on as a security guard physically forced a fourth-grader out of the building on a cold day has retired. Cynthia Miller retired from her job at Fiske Elementary School on Friday. In a letter to parents, she wrote that leaving wasn't easy but was the right thing to do, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
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| See This Plane? It Was Suppose to Turn Aircraft Carriers into Scrap Metal Posted: 18 Oct 2019 01:23 AM PDT  As in make them obsolete--but the carrier remains. Here is what happened.
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| Kremlin wants information from Turkey about Syria deal with U.S. - RIA Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:15 AM PDT ![Kremlin wants information from Turkey about Syria deal with U.S. - RIA]( "Kremlin wants information from Turkey about Syria deal with U.S. - RIA") The Kremlin said late on Thursday it expected to receive information from Turkey after Ankara agreed a deal with the United States to halt its offensive in Syria for five days, the RIA news agency reported. Turkey agreed on Thursday to pause its offensive in Syria to let Kurdish forces withdraw from a "safe zone" Ankara had sought to capture, in a deal hailed by the Trump administration and cast by Turkey as a complete victory. "We expect to receive information from Turkey," RIA quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
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| Long-extinct Tasmanian tigers spotted at least eight times, officials say Posted: 18 Oct 2019 10:23 AM PDT  Between 2016 to 2019, the report notes seven sightings of the Tasmanian tiger. It "had black stripes on the back side of the body."
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| Serial Bank Robber Who Wrote Book About Prison Time With Bernie Madoff Faces Fifth Robbery Charge Posted: 17 Oct 2019 02:15 PM PDT  Multnomah County Detention CenterRalph Griffith, a serial bank robber who penned a self-published book about his time in prison with Bernie Madoff, appeared in federal court Wednesday to face his fifth bank robbery charge.Griffith spent his 68th birthday at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where he was ordered to remain in jail pending his trial for an alleged armed robbery of a Milwaukie Wells Fargo Bank in July, The Oregonian first reported.The career criminal, who describes himself as the founder and executive producer of XAK Media Group, was released from California prison in August 2017 after spending time behind bars for three San Francisco bank robberies in 2003. He was also previously convicted of a bank robbery in 1985.Billionaire David Koch, Who Reshaped American Politics and Paved the Way for Trump, Has DiedShortly after his 2017 prison release, Griffith wrote a self-published book, The Real Bernie Madoff: Our 7 Years Together in Prison, about his time behind bars at a North Carolina federal prison with the former financier, who was convicted of running one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history."I lived with the man," Griffith said in a YouTube video about the book. "After about seven years I got a pretty good understanding about what Bernie Maddoff was up to."The 68-year-old has also written fictional accounts of his life of crime, including a four-paragraph story called "The Proper Way to Rob a Bank" and another involving a character "who inadvertently robs a bank and a star is born."On Wednesday, prosecutors argued that his stories about his misdeeds prove he is still a danger to the community. Griffith's defense lawyer, Mark Ahlemeyer, insisted his client's books are protected under the First Amendment. Ahlemeyer declined to comment about the allegations to The Daily Beast on Wednesday, citing the "active criminal case." On July 26, authorities allege Griffith walked up to a Wells Fargo teller at around 10:30 a.m. wearing sunglasses, a black wig, a white surgical mask under his chin, and clear gloves. Court records show Griffith rested what authorities believed to be a black handgun on the counter before pointing it at the teller and saying, "Give me the money and no one will get hurt."Stephanie Madoff Mack Talks Mark Madoff's Suicide, Bernie Madoff & MoreAfter the teller handed him a stack of cash with a GPS tracker hidden inside, a second bank employee walked over—and Griffith allegedly demanded money from her as well."You too, sweetie," he said, according to a federal affidavit obtained by The Oregonian, before stuffing the cash into a grocery bag. Griffith allegedly threw away the two GPS devices and left. One tracker was later located in some bushes with a ripped $20 bill attached, and the second was found in the middle of the street. Surveillance video caught Griffith fleeing the scene in a blue Nissan Sentra.On Tuesday, Griffith was allegedly on his way to rob another bank when he got into a minor accident, prosecutors allege. While searching the car, authorities found multiple medical masks, wigs, and black sunglasses in the front passenger seat."It is my belief that Griffith was on his way to conduct another bank robbery at the time of his traffic accident and arrest,'' FBI agent Zachary Clark reportedly wrote in the affidavit. Griffith is currently being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center. He is expected to be back in court on Oct. 24. 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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| Pelosi’s Impeachment Express Posted: 18 Oct 2019 03:41 PM PDT  Nancy Pelosi is right."This is deadly serious," the House Speaker said Tuesday, regarding impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Too bad Pelosi is handling this solemn matter with staggering unseriousness.As the Impeachment Express accelerates, the Democratic-controlled House is hell-bent on removing America's duly elected president of the United States. This is among the gravest contingencies in this constitutional republic.On something so momentous, the House should operate once again on a bipartisan basis: * Before President Bill Clinton was impeached, the House voted on October 8, 1998. The tally was 258–176 to advance an impeachment probe, with 31 Democrats resisting their party leaders. * At the depths of Watergate, on February 4, 1974, the House voted 410–4 — on a nearly unanimous, bipartisan basis — to launch the impeachment of President Richard Milhous Nixon. He resigned that August 9, before the House adopted articles of impeachment, but after the emergence of severely incriminating evidence of his illegality. (What a concept!) * The House also voted 126–47 to commence the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson on February 24, 1868.Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat, hurled these precedents off the Golden Gate Bridge."There's no requirement that we have a vote," she declared Tuesday. "So, at this time, we will not be having a vote."True, despite these three powerful precedents, the Constitution does not compel a full-House vote to start the impeachment ball rolling. Regardless, Pelosi avoids this opening move because she might lose such a vote or, ultimately, her majority if she forced certain members to support a formal impeachment inquiry.Pelosi is speaker thanks to 31 Democrats who won districts in 2018 that Trump secured in 2016. These Trump-district Democrats fear, as does Nervous Nancy, that if they back an impeachment probe, some will face furious constituents, lose their seats, and hand the House back to Republicans.So, as she clutches to political control like a life preserver, Pelosi preserves the political lives of these 31 Democrats.Beyond this non-vote strategy, Pelosi and her far-Left colleagues have little interest in due process or first-grade-level fairness. These Democrats —the sorest losers in the history of human competition — lust to oust a president whose guts they hate, largely for the warm rush of doing so. Unlike the widely watched Nixon and Clinton impeachment hearings, Pelosi's persecution happens behind closed doors, with all the transparency of a casket. Trump's attorneys cannot cross-examine witnesses, present counterevidence, or simply sit quietly and watch. Even worse, scheming Democrats have barred the American people from this star chamber.Democrats often whine that Trump flattens political norms. In fact, the norm-crushing steamroller, finds Pelosi at the wheel, with House Intelligence Chairman Adam "Four Pinocchios" Schiff riding shotgun. Schiff, another California Democrat, is grilling impeachment witnesses in secret. If the House Judiciary Committee were in charge — as it was in the Clinton, Nixon, and Johnson impeachments — these perilous developments surely would unfold in public."We're going forward in the most secret room in the Capital. And all Adam Schiff is doing right now is building a secret record in his SCIF, in a one-sided process to move forward towards impeachment," Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News Channel's Bill Hemmer this morning. (A SCIF is a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. Such a high-tech space is designed to foil eavesdroppers, foreign and domestic.) "I think it's a very unfair process," McCaul added. "I think it's a bit of a fishing expedition at this time."Schiff's opening statement at a September 26 hearing included these comments, supposedly from Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky:"I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand. Lots of dirt, on this and that," Schiff read aloud. "And don't call me again. I'll call you when you've done what I asked."Schiff fabricated these words. Caught red-handed, he claimed he spoke "at least part in parody."Hilarious.Zelensky repeatedly insists that he felt no such pressure to investigate alleged Biden-family corruption in Ukraine. At a joint September 25 news conference with President Trump at the United Nations, Zelensky said, "nobody pushed me." Zelensky said on October 10, "There was no pressure or blackmail from the U.S." He spoke during a 14-hour "press marathon" in Kiev, in which he answered unscripted questions from some 300 journalists who interviewed him in 20- to 30-minute sessions, in seven- to 10-member squads. "This call influenced only one thing. We needed to secure a meeting, that it was necessary to meet with the president," Zelensky added, referring to Trump. "I wanted to show him our team, our young team. I wanted to get him into Ukraine."Likewise, Trump did not threaten to withhold U.S. military aid, absent a Ukrainian probe of the Bidens. Though such assets were being withheld at the time, Ukrainian officials were reportedly unaware of this during the July 25 Trump/Zelensky phone call. Zelensky told journalists in Kiev on October 10: "I had no idea the military aid was held up." These weapons — which Obama never even offered — arrived not long after Trump and Zelensky conversed. Specifically, Zelensky and Vice President Mike Pence spoke in Warsaw on September 1. Zelensky explained: "And after this meeting, the U.S. unlocked the aid and added $140 million. That's why there was no blackmail." As Reuters reported, the Trump administration freed the military assistance to Kiev on September 11, thus bolstering Ukraine's defenses against Russia and refuting the lie that Trump is a Kremlin stooge."President Obama was sending you pillows and sheets," Trump told Zelensky at the U.N. "I gave you anti-tank busters."These facts should compel the House to abandon this self-indulgent nonsense and — radical idea — return to governing this republic, starting with a vote on the USMCA trade agreement among America, Mexico, and Canada. At a minimum, the whole House should vote on whether or not to shove America down this rocky path, adjudicate this matter in public, and stop basing these decisions on how best to insulate 31 Trump-district Democrats from the righteous rage of their own voters.Michael Malarkey contributed research to this opinion piece.
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| Fears of military build-up as China secretly leases entire island in Solomons Posted: 17 Oct 2019 05:33 AM PDT  The government of the Solomon Islands has reached a secretive deal with a Chinese company with close ties to the Communist party that grants it exclusive rights to develop Tulagi, once the seat of British colonial rule in the Pacific archipelago. The confidential arrangement has alarmed residents and raised fears that Beijing could be planning to use the tiny territory for future military rather than just commercial purposes. Tulagi, which has a protected deepwater harbour, has long been viewed as a strategic outpost. Japan occupied the island during the Second World War in 1942 before it was seized by the US marines in a fierce battle. China extended its reach last month after it persuaded the Solomon Islands and the Pacific nation of Kiribati to switch formal diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing, as it seeks to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region while undermining the US and its allies' strategy there. A copy of the "strategic cooperation agreement" which sets out a renewable 75-year lease was granted to the China Sam Enterprise Group, a conglomerate founded in 1985 as a state-owned enterprise, according to the New York Times, which obtained a copy. The vague wording of the document has sparked suspicion that it could be used for infrastructure that shares both civilian and military uses, causing concern among US officials who see the island chains of the South Pacific as crucial to protecting important sea routes, said the Times. Dated September 22, the deal mentions provisions for a fishery base, an operations centre, and the "building or enhancement of the airport," noting also that the company has ambitions to build an oil or gas terminal even though there are no confirmed natural reserves. The Solomons' authorities have not commented on the reports, but Stanley Maniteva, the provincial governor, told the local media earlier this week that the agreement had not been completed and formalised. But the news follows reports earlier this year that Pacific nations would seek new, stronger ties with China as they pivot away from traditional allies towards Beijing. In a speech in February in Port Vila, Vanuatu, Dame Meg Taylor, the secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, an intergovernmental body, said it was time to debate how to "collectively engage" with Beijing to gain access to its markets, technology, financing and infrastructure.
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| Mexico breaks ground on new airport project outside capital Posted: 17 Oct 2019 06:40 PM PDT  Mexico broke ground Thursday on a project to supplement the capital's overtaxed international airport, finally making headway on a controversial alternative to another, equally controversial one that was scrapped last year after being about a third built. Bulldozers cleared earth at the site of the Santa Lucia air base north of Mexico City, and a backhoe scooped the soil into the backs of military-green trucks as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, top government officials and armed forces brass looked on. A video showed a rendering of the envisioned facility, which involves converting Santa Lucia for civilian use and building two additional landing strips and which the president vowed to inaugurate in spring 2022.
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| Cop gets 8-hour suspension for pushing suspect off roof Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:53 AM PDT  After another officer told him to push a suspect off of a roof, Officer Plenio Massiah did – and it was caught on a body camera
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