| Rep. Justin Amash turned on Trump. Will his Michigan district follow him — or turn on him? Posted: 17 Nov 2019 03:00 AM PST  If you want to understand how impeachment is being seen by actual Americans, there may be no better place to go than Grand Rapids, Mich. In part that's because the area around Grand Rapids, comprising Michigan's Third Congressional District, is one of only about two dozen districts in the nation to vote for Barack Obama and for Donald Trump.
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| PHOTOS: Hong Kong police storm university held by protesters Posted: 18 Nov 2019 11:26 AM PST  Police breached a Hong Kong university campus held by protesters early Monday after an all-night siege that included firing repeated barrages of tear gas and water cannons. Anti-government protesters have barricaded themselves inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University for days.
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| PHOTOS: Deadly shooting at California football party Posted: 18 Nov 2019 05:09 AM PST  Four people were killed and six more wounded when "unknown suspects" sneaked into a backyard filled with people at a party in central California and fired into the crowd, police said.
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| Nikki Haley and George Conway spat on Twitter after he calls GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik 'lying trash' Posted: 18 Nov 2019 04:17 PM PST  After George Conway called GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik "lying trash," Nikki Haley said he is "the last person that can call someone 'trash.'"
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| Ukraine ex-president named witness in power abuse probe Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:35 AM PST  Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko has been designated a witness in a criminal investigation related to the nomination of judges, the state investigation bureau said on Monday. Poroshenko has been embroiled in a number of investigations since leaving office in May. "His status is that of a witness," a spokeswoman for the state investigation bureau, which handles high-profile cases, told AFP.
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| Spanish court says wanted Venezuelan spy still missing Posted: 18 Nov 2019 07:15 AM PST  A Spanish National Court official confirmed Monday that a former Venezuelan spymaster accused of attempting to "flood" the United States with drugs remains missing since an order for his arrest pending extradition was issued this month. The official said the order for Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal's arrest in Madrid was issued Nov. 8, after the court reversed an earlier ruling that rejected the U.S. extradition request for allegedly being politically motivated. Carvajal was for over a decade the eyes and ears in the military of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
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| Mexico, Uruguay and Caribbean Community reject use of force in Venezuela -statement Posted: 18 Nov 2019 10:26 AM PST ![Mexico, Uruguay and Caribbean Community reject use of force in Venezuela -statement]( "Mexico, Uruguay and Caribbean Community reject use of force in Venezuela -statement") Mexico, Uruguay and representatives of the Caribbean Community on Monday rejected the use of force and human rights violations in Venezuela, urging a peaceful and democratic solution to solve the crisis in the troubled South American nation. The group issued the statement after Venezuela's opposition staged nationwide protests against Nicolas Maduro on Saturday and called for a new wave of demonstrations to revive stalled efforts to topple the deeply unpopular ruling Socialist Party.
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| China's H-20 and JH-XX Stealth Bombers: Beijing's Very Own Deadly B-2 Bombers? Posted: 18 Nov 2019 01:49 AM PST  What role will they have? Should America be worried?
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| State Department Staffer Who Overheard Phone Call Between Trump and Sondland Will Testify Publicly This Week Posted: 18 Nov 2019 03:32 PM PST  State Department official David Holmes, who allegedly overheard a conversation between President Trump and U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in which Trump asked about a Ukrainian investigation into the Bidens, will testify in a public impeachment hearing Thursday.William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified Wednesday during the first public impeachment hearing that Holmes heard Trump press Sondland about investigations during a July 26 phone call, the day after Trump's ill-fated phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that sparked the impeachment inquiry against him. Trump asked Sondland whether Ukraine would investigate Democratic 2020 candidate Joe Biden's connections to a Ukrainian gas company as well as alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.Taylor added that after the phone call, Sondland remarked to Holmes that Trump cared more about whether Ukraine would investigate Biden than about the broader U.S. policy toward Ukraine."So, he's gonna do the investigation?" Holmes will testify that Trump asked Sondland, according to a prepared opening statement."He's gonna do it," Sondland responded.The White House has denied accusations of a quid pro quo relating to the Trump administration's delay of much-needed U.S. military aid to Ukraine over the same period the administration was pressuring Ukraine to publicly announce an investigation into the Bidens.Holmes's appearance comes as a number of other impeachment witnesses are slated to testify this week, including Sondland himself and Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine who testified in a closed-door congressional hearing about Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's involvement in the push for investigations.
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| Rodney Reed's mother says the 'truth will and shall set him free' after her son was granted a stay of execution Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:40 AM PST  Rodney Reed has spent 20 years in prison for the 1996 murder of a 19-year-old woman named Stacey Stites.
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| TikTok is reportedly considering a rebrand in the US to shed its Chinese roots Posted: 18 Nov 2019 04:31 AM PST  ByteDance, the company which owns short-form video app TikTok, has recently come under fire due to the fact that it is headquartered in China.
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| 'People aren't stupid': de Blasio slams Bloomberg's 'stop-and-frisk' apology Posted: 18 Nov 2019 12:27 PM PST  Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized for the controversial "stop-and-frisk" policy, but Bill de Blasio says he had six years to say sorry.
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| Christine Blasey Ford makes rare public remarks, a year after Kavanaugh ordeal Posted: 18 Nov 2019 06:25 AM PST  Professor who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault says 'I did not feel courageous. I was simply doing my duty as a citizen'Dr Christine Blasey Ford accepting an award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California in Beverly Hills on Sunday night. Photograph: Alberto E Rodríguez/Getty ImagesChristine Blasey Ford, who accused supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, made a rare public appearance on Sunday night."When I came forward last September," she said, accepting an award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California in Beverly Hills, "I did not feel courageous. I was simply doing my duty as a citizen."embed"I understood that not everyone would welcome my information, and I was prepared for a variety of outcomes, including being dismissed."Blasey Ford, a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University in California, came forward in September 2018, as Kavanaugh's nomination was before the Senate.In testimony before the Senate judiciary committee, she alleged that he assaulted her at a party in suburban Maryland in 1982, pinning her down, groping her, trying to remove her clothing and putting his hand over her mouth when she screamed.Kavanaugh angrily denied the allegation – and similar claims against him – and was confirmed as Donald Trump's second supreme court pick.His ascent, after that of Neil Gorsuch, tipped the ideological balance of the highest court in favour of conservative justices.Kavanaugh also appeared in public last week, addressing an event on Friday in Washington and staged by the Federalist Society, the rightwing group which has played an influential role in Trump's supreme court picks."I signed up for what I knew would be an ugly process," he said. But he said he had expected his confirmation to be "maybe not that ugly".Kavanaugh was confirmed by just two votes, the narrowest margin for a supreme court justice since 1881.His appearance at Union Station in Washington was greeted by protests, including women dressed up as characters from The Handmaid's Tale television series.Last year, lawyers for Ford said her life had been "turned upside down" and she had effectively gone into hiding, such was the vitriol directed her way after her testimony in the Senate.Ford "received a stunning amount of support from her community and from fellow citizens across our country", the lawyers said in a letter to Senate judiciary committee chairman, Chuck Grassley."At the same time, however, her worst fears have materialized. She has been the target of vicious harassment and even death threats. As a result of these kind of threats, her family was forced to relocate out of their home. Her email has been hacked, and she has been impersonated online."At the Beverly Hills event on Sunday, Blasey Ford accepted the Roger Baldwin Courage Award, named for the founder of the ACLU. When coming forward, she said, she had "simply thought that it was my duty as a citizen and that anyone in my position would do the same thing".
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| Protesters set fire to hold off police at Hong Kong campus Posted: 17 Nov 2019 04:39 PM PST  Pro-democracy demonstrators holed up in a Hong Kong university campus set the main entrance ablaze Monday to prevent surrounding police moving in, after officers warned they may use live rounds if confronted by deadly weapons. The police warning, which came after one officer was struck by an arrow, marked a further escalation of the near six-month crisis engulfing the city. Several loud blasts were heard around dawn on Monday before a wall of fire lit up an entrance to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), AFP reporters said, as what appeared to be a police attempt to enter the campus was repelled by protesters determined to hold their ground.
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| 2 dead as French bridge collapse sends vehicles into river Posted: 18 Nov 2019 07:27 AM PST  A 15-year-old girl and a truck driver died Monday when a road bridge collapsed in rural southwest France, dumping several vehicles into a river and prompting nationwide questions about bridge safety. Bystanders were able to rescue the girl's mother after her car fell into the Tarn River near the village of Mirepoix-sur-Tarn, regional prosecutor Dominique Alzeari told reporters. Several hours later, Mirepoix-sur-Tarn Mayor Eric Oget said on BFM television that a truck driver whose vehicle fell into the river was also found dead, and rescuers were working to extract his body.
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| UPDATE 2-Saudi-led coalition says Yemen's Houthis seize ship in Red Sea Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:34 AM PST ![UPDATE 2-Saudi-led coalition says Yemen's Houthis seize ship in Red Sea]( "UPDATE 2-Saudi-led coalition says Yemen's Houthis seize ship in Red Sea") The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday the Houthis had seized a vessel towing a South Korean drilling rig at the southern end of the Red Sea. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement carried by Saudi state media that the vessel was seized late on Sunday by armed Houthis. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior Houthi official later told Reuters the group's forces had seized a "suspect vessel" in the Red Sea and that the crew were being treated well.
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| Has the U.S. Army Created Its Ultimate Weapon? Posted: 18 Nov 2019 02:05 AM PST  Armed Army robot vehicles conducted reconnaissance, called for indirect fire and then, when directed by human decision-makers, attacked and destroyed enemy targets in a recent experiment designed to assess the technical maturity and readiness of autonomous ground drones.
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| ‘I Love You, Sir’: Convicted War Criminal Thanks Trump for Pardon on ‘Fox & Friends’ Posted: 18 Nov 2019 08:39 AM PST  Days after receiving a full pardon from President Donald Trump for multiple convictions of murdering unarmed civilians in Afghanistan, 1st Lt. Clint Lorance appeared on Trump's favorite morning program on Monday to tell the president that he loved him for absolving him of war crimes.Reportedly overruling top military leaders, the president issued pardons on Friday for Lorance, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2013 for ordering his soldiers to fire upon three Afghan men, and Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, who faced murder charges for killing an unarmed Afghan citizen he thought was a bomb maker.The president also reversed a demotion for Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who was recently found not-guilty of murdering a teen ISIS fighter.During his Monday morning appearance on Fox & Friends alongside co-host Pete Hegseth, an Iraq War veteran who has privately lobbied Trump to pardon accused and convicted war criminals, Lorance took aim at high-ranking military officers for questioning the pardons."I think folks that start putting stars on their collar, anybody that's got to be confirmed by the Senate for a promotion, they are no longer a soldier," Lorance exclaimed. "They are a politician. And so I think they lose some of their values. And they certainly lose a lot of their respect from their subordinates when they do what they did to me, which was, you know, throw me under the bus."Co-host Ainsley Earhardt, meanwhile, gleefully noted that Trump's "timing is perfect because next week is Thanksgiving." This then prompted her to let her guest know that he could directly address the president via Fox's cameras."If the president is watching, what do you want to say to him?" Earhardt asked."I love you, sir," Lorance declared. "You are awesome!"He went on to say that Trump needs a "better team around" him and "more people watching your back." Lorance also groused that if someone is working in the White House who doesn't agree with the president, they need to "go home.""Well said," Hegseth replied.The segment concluded with Earhardt holding back tears while thanking Lorance for serving his country as the pardoned vet shook hands with all three co-hosts. 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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| Iraqi Spy Chief: ISIS Regrouping and Plotting Mass Prison Breaks Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:24 AM PST  Head of Iraqi military intelligence Lt. Gen. Saad al-Allaq said in a Monday interview with CNN that ISIS is regrouping and planning new attacks as well as prison breaks.According to al-Allaq, top ISIS leaders have fled north from Syria into Turkey, where they are currently trying to reestablish the organization."Some of its important leadership fled north, I mean in the direction of neighboring countries and into border areas like Gazientep [in southern Turkey]," said al-Allaq. "They have secretly crossed into these areas from the Syrian-Turkish border -- top leaders who have money. They crossed with the help of smugglers by paying [a] large amount of money and have secretly entered Turkish territory."Al-Allaq said that the ISIS supporters who managed to flee into Turkey "play a key role in the recruitment of fighters and terrorists."In comments to CNN, spokesmen for the Turkish government said they were looking into al-Allaq's allegations. Turkey has arrested a sister, wife, and other family members of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-styled "Caliph" of ISIS, who was killed by U.S. special forces in October. The country has also detained 42 people accused of carrying out wire transfers for ISIS.Turkey's recent invasion of northeast Syria sparked fears among U.S. lawmakers that ISIS members held in Kurdish detention facilities would be set free in the ensuing fighting. President Trump has made clear his backing for Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, although he has threatened to impose sanctions against Turkey if the country acted in ways Trump considered "off-limits."Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) has said the withdrawal of American troops from the region in advance of Turkey's invasion was a "disaster in the making" that "ensures ISIS comeback."
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| Warren Calls Out Blackstone for ‘Shameless’ Profits From Housing Posted: 18 Nov 2019 12:56 PM PST ![Warren Calls Out Blackstone for 'Shameless' Profits From Housing]( "Warren Calls Out Blackstone for 'Shameless' Profits From Housing") (Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren called out Blackstone Group Inc. for its real estate practices as she laid out her tenants' rights plan, accusing the company of "shamelessly" profiting from the 2008 housing crisis.Her criticism on Monday was the latest instance of the Democratic 2020 presidential candidate singling out Wall Street companies and investors by name for actions she says contribute to inequality.In a Medium post where she laid out proposals to strengthen tenants' rights, Warren assailed Blackstone for going on a "shopping spree" in the wake of the 2008 crisis and buying apartments and single-family homes that had been foreclosed. She also took aim at Colony Capital Inc. and Cerberus Capital Management."Some of the same Wall Street firms that tanked the dream of home ownership for millions of American families are now the country's biggest landlords -- profiting off the destruction they caused," Warren wrote in her post.Blackstone noted that in fact it began purchasing homes through a now-independent company it founded, Invitation Homes, in 2012, after the housing crisis that began in 2008 had abated. The company said vacant homes were dragging down property values for surrounding homes, and Blackstone's purchases and billion-dollar investments in renovations boosted local economies and employment. The firm was spending $150 million a week buying single-family homes."Though we are only a tiny percentage of the housing market, we are proud of our investments, which are helping address the housing shortage by adding high-quality, professionally managed rental housing, while contributing to local economies and creating jobs -- all on behalf of our investors, which include retirement systems for millions of teachers, nurses, firefighters and other pensioners," said Jen Friedman, senior vice president for global public affairs at Blackstone.Blackstone is one of the world's largest real-estate investors, and has about $554 billion in total assets under management. The business is so profitable it has made both founder Stephen Schwarzman and president Jonathan Gray, who oversaw Blackstone's massive real estate growth, billionaires several times over.Warren has singled out some of the largest U.S. corporations, including Facebook Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Walmart Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co., as she campaigns for the Democratic nomination by championing working- and middle-class families. The Massachusetts senator promised to break up big corporations, crack down on their political influence and enforce strict regulations on Wall Street.She has also engaged in fights with such Wall Street figures as Lloyd Blankfein and Leon Cooperman.Warren's latest attack comes in a policy proposal to withhold federal funding from corporate landlords with a history of "harassing" tenants. Corporate landlords would be required to publicly disclose data like median rent, the number of tenants they've evicted and building code violations, as well as the names of any individuals with an ownership interest of 25% or more.Warren also pointed to Blackstone's $5.3 billion deal to buy New York's Stuyvesant Town, an 80-acre Manhattan development with more than 11,000 apartments. Under the terms of the deal, about 5,000 of those apartments would remain "affordable" for 20 years, according to an announcement by New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio.Warren has proposed spending $500 billion to build about 3 million housing units in the U.S., and also said her administration would provide a nationwide right-to-counsel and establish a federal grant program aimed at benefiting low-income tenants facing eviction. She said she'd create a federal Tenant Protection Bureau, modeled after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a key component of the 2010 Wall Street overhaul legislation that she advocated.(Updates with details on Blackstone's housing purchases in fifth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Washington at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net;Heather Perlberg in Washington at hperlberg@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, ;Sam Mamudi at smamudi@bloomberg.net, Gregory MottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Vatican: top anti-money laundering official leaves post Posted: 18 Nov 2019 07:44 AM PST  The Vatican's top financial investigator charged with investigating money laundering and other such crimes has left his post after the non-renewal of his contract, the Holy See said on Monday. Rene Bruelhart, a Swiss lawyer, had worked for the Vatican's financial watchdog, the Financial Information Authority (FIA), since 2012. "Thanking him for his service in recent years (the Holy Father) has appointed his successor," the Vatican said in a statement, saying that Bruelhart's mandate had expired.
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| Avalanche hits Indian army post in Himalayas, 6 killed Posted: 18 Nov 2019 08:18 AM PST  An avalanche hit an Indian army post Monday on a Himalayan glacier in the disputed Kashmir region, killing four soldiers and their two civilian porters, the army said. Rescuers pulled six soldiers and two porters from the snow, said army spokesman Lt. Col. Abhinav Navneet. The group was on patrol near the post when the area was hit by the avalanche, Navneet said.
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| Some Hong Kong protesters escaped police by lowering themselves off a bridge and speeding away on motorcycles Posted: 18 Nov 2019 02:41 PM PST ![Some Hong Kong protesters escaped police by lowering themselves off a bridge and speeding away on motorcycles]( "Some Hong Kong protesters escaped police by lowering themselves off a bridge and speeding away on motorcycles") Hong Kong Polytechnic University remains sealed off with many pro-democracy, anti-government protesters trapped on campus as fears of violent clashes with police intensify.At least some demonstrators escaped at great personal risk, as dozens of protesters lowered themselves more than 30 feet down from a bridge with plastic hosing before jumping onto the back of waiting motor bikes and speeding off while police fired projectiles, Reuters reports.> Footage shows daring escape by Hong Kong protesters on motorbikes https://t.co/J3qTNrVNRc pic.twitter.com/r4Icekat8a> > -- Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) November 18, 2019Not everyone fled the scene successfully, however. A Reuters reporter who captured footage of the escape later said that it appeared several of the protesters were arrested.Meanwhile, two "prominent figures" were allowed onto campus by police to mediate with the demonstrators, signaling a growing risk of violence, Reuters reports.More stories from theweek.com The potential lie that could actually destroy Trump The coming death of just about every rock legend How China can win a trade war in 1 move
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| Back in 2017, Russian Nuclear Submarines Fired Torpedoes at Each Other Posted: 17 Nov 2019 01:11 AM PST  It was a drill--and thank god for that.
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| Fox News Host Hits Trump for Attacking Chris Wallace: You’re ‘Not Entitled to Praise’ Posted: 18 Nov 2019 03:51 PM PST  Fox NewsFox News aired a rare bit of "Common Sense" on Monday afternoon when host Neil Cavuto ended his show with a strong defense of his colleague Chris Wallace, who earned the wrath of President Trump for daring to challenge House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA).Trump tweeted on Sunday that Scalise "blew the nasty & obnoxious Chris Wallace (will never be his father, Mike!) away on Chris's lowest rated (unless I'm on) morning show," adding, "This kind of dumb and unfair interview would never have happened in the @FoxNews past." Zooming out, Cavuto asked his viewers, "What makes something 'fake news?'" before explaining that the president "doesn't distinguish" between false reporting and journalism that reflects poorly on him. "Now we can debate whether any crime was committed here," Cavuto said, "but Chris challenged Scalise concluding the witnesses that testified last week didn't see a crime committed here. That was his view of what they said, but that was not what they said." He went on to say it "was a pity" Trump didn't keep watching Fox News Sunday to see Wallace "just as aggressively going after" Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT). Speaking directly to Trump, Cavuto said, "Now while it's understandable not to like what you hear, Mr. President, it is not understandable to tune out what you would very much like to hear." He futilely urged Trump to watch "the things you might like and, yes, the things you might not like." While Trump is "entitled" to his opinion, Cavuto said journalists "aren't entitled to praise" him unconditionally—as he has come to expect from Fox's primetime hosts. "We're obligated to question you and always be fair to you," he said. "We will. Even if it risks inviting your wrath." Trevor Noah Slams Fox News: They Think Viewers Are 'Too Dumb' to Follow ImpeachmentRead 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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| Trump prepares to seize private land in Texas for border wall: Report Posted: 17 Nov 2019 10:33 AM PST  The Trump administration is preparing to submit court filings as soon as next week as a necessary step toward seizing private land in Texas for its wall on the border with Mexico, NBC reported on Thursday.
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| Too Far Left? Some Candidates Don't Buy the Argument Posted: 17 Nov 2019 08:51 AM PST  LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The crowded Democratic field of presidential candidates grappled with President Barack Obama's advice and legacy Saturday, the day after the former president sounded an unusual public warning about moving too far left in the primary race.While none were willing to directly rebuff Obama, a few candidates offered implicit criticism, saying that Democrats should be careful to steadfastly back the field so that whoever wins the nomination can count on enthusiastic support from all corners of the party."What we're doing right now, creating these dynamics within the Democratic Party, we've got to be careful," Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said, his voice rising as he addressed reporters in Long Beach, California, after speaking at the state's Democratic convention. "Because whoever is the nominee, we have one shot to make Donald Trump a one-term president. And so I'm not interested in delineating left or right or criticizing other folks.""Let's stop tearing each other down, let's stop drawing artificial lines," he added. "I'm tired in this election of hearing some people say, 'Well if this person gets elected, I can't support them,' and then other people say, 'If this person gets elected, I can't support them.' Are you kidding me?"During a televised forum sponsored by Univision, Jorge Ramos, an anchor for the Spanish-language station, asked Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont if Obama was right in saying that "the average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system."Sanders chuckled briefly and responded, "Well, it depends on what you mean by tear down the system.""The agenda that we have is an agenda supported by the vast majority of working people," he said. "When I talk about raising the minimum wage to a living wage, I'm not tearing down the system. We're fighting for justice. When I talk about health care being a human right and ending the embarrassment of America being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care for every man, woman and child, that's not tearing down the system. That's doing what we should have done 30 years ago."Julian Castro, who served as the housing secretary under Obama and has embraced some of the most left-leaning policies during the primary, said that he "always takes what President Obama says very very seriously."But, he emphatically said that he believed any of the candidates would be well-positioned to defeat Trump."I don't think that anybody in this campaign has articulated a vision for the future of the country that would not command a majority of voters in November of 2020," he said. "Their vision for the future of the country is much better and will be more popular than Donald Trump's."The comments came just a day after Obama spoke at a forum in Washington, D.C., and warned against Democrats moving too far to the left, particularly on issues such as health care and immigration. While Obama did not mention any candidate by name, he took aim at the "activist wing" of the Democratic Party and "left-leaning Twitter feeds," saying they were out of touch with the average voter."This is still a country that is less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement," he told an audience of some of the party's wealthiest donors Friday evening.The remarks were a rare departure for Obama. While the former president has spoken privately with nearly all the candidates, he has been careful to avoid exerting any influence on the race.Aides said his comments were intended to calm the nerves of Democrats who were worried about the strength of their historically large field, but Obama ended up reinforcing some of their more pressing concerns.Some establishment Democrats, elected officials and top donors have fretted that the liberal platforms of Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren would complicate their paths to the general election, arguing that they would lose voters in rural areas and in the suburban districts that helped the party win back the House last year. They are particularly worried about the politics of "Medicare for All," fearing it could transform health care, an issue that has been a political asset for Democrats, into a liability."We're changing something that clearly is a message that, in 2018, resonated with voters and we're making the issue about our plan rather than what the president has or has not done," former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota said.Among the liberal wing of the party, Obama's remarks prompted fierce backlash online and the creation of the hashtag TooFarLeft by Peter Daou, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton.Warren declined to address Obama's implicit criticism and instead praised the former president's efforts on health care."I so admire what President Obama did. He is the one who led the way on health care and got health care coverage for tens of millions of Americans when nobody thought that was possible," she said, speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Waverly, Iowa."Those are huge changes in this country, and they have made a difference for millions of people, and I will always be grateful," she said.Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts did not address Obama's comments directly but argued that he defied ideological labels."Don't put me in a box," he told reporters. "I don't fit. By the way, neither do most voters.""One of the most exciting things about this moment is that the public's appetite for solutions as big as the challenges we face is greater than it's been in a long, long while," he said. "Our goals should be ambitious."Patrick received a tepid response to his five-minute speech at the California Democratic Convention in Long Beach on Saturday, his first major address since declaring his bid for the presidency."I am not running, my friends, to be president of the Democrats. I am running to be president of the United States." But he quickly added: "I'm not talking about a moderate agenda. This is no time for a moderate agenda. I'm talking about being woke, while leaving room for the still waking."Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was among those objecting to Obama's premise. She published a tweet listing some of the priorities of the progressive left, with the rejoinder, "Count me in!"This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| WikiLeaks founder Assange has unsuitable computer in jail, court told Posted: 18 Nov 2019 05:41 AM PST  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is struggling to prepare for his case fighting extradition to the United States because he has been given an unsuitable computer in prison, his lawyer told a British court on Monday. Assange, 48, who spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy before he was dragged out in April, is wanted in the United States to face 18 counts including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. Appearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court via video link, Assange spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth in a hearing that lasted just a few minutes.
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| In new pro-Israel shift, US no longer calls settlements illegal Posted: 18 Nov 2019 12:35 PM PST  The United States no longer believes that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday, in the latest pro-Israel shift by Washington. The statement puts the United States at odds with virtually all countries and UN Security Council resolutions and comes just as centrist Benny Gantz races to form a government to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of President Donald Trump.
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| Mexican president defends indigenous pensions plan Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:57 AM PST ![Mexican president defends indigenous pensions plan]( "Mexican president defends indigenous pensions plan") Mexico's president on Monday defended a plan to provide pensions to indigenous people starting at age 65, compared with 68 for other Mexicans. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was elected last year after campaigning to help marginalized people, said those who question the idea should visit poor indigenous communities to see how residents live. "It is painful that a senior in the city, age 65, is better preserved than an indigenous person of 65 because they work, they eat poorly, they have to walk for kilometers and they suffer greatly," López Obrador said.
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| Here's how FedEx will fly giant panda Bei Bei to China via its 'Panda Express' Posted: 18 Nov 2019 08:08 AM PST  A FedEx plane will soon take a 15-plus hour flight from the U.S. to China. Its cargo: one giant panda, supplies and plenty of snacks.
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| Rudy Giuliani's son has a White House job where he doesn't seem to do much Posted: 18 Nov 2019 10:15 AM PST ![Rudy Giuliani's son has a White House job where he doesn't seem to do much]( "Rudy Giuliani's son has a White House job where he doesn't seem to do much") Rudy Giuliani's unflinching love for President Trump didn't come out of nowhere.Sure, Trump and his lawyer have a lot of shared history thanks to their reputations as some of most well-known and New Yorkiest New Yorkers of all time. But Giuliani's staunchest affinity for Trump comes from how the president brings Giuliani and his son Andrew Giuliani together, Giuliani tells The Atlantic.The 31-year-old Andrew Giuliani has a White House job as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison, with current and former White House officials telling The Atlantic he coordinates events with athletes. Yet "sports-team visits are more special-occasion than scheduling staple in the business of government," especially with teams often rejecting meetings with Trump, The Atlantic writes. That's led White House officials to say it's clear Andrew Giuliani got a "nepotism job" thanks to his father's name, with one saying "he's just having a nice time" and not exactly working hard.But Rudy Giuliani says that's just not the case. This "wasn't the usual 'hire my kid' situation," Giuliani said, because even though his son has "known the president since he was a baby ... they also had a relationship independent of me." That relationship came into play when Andrew Giuliani was a teenager and Rudy Giuliani was going through a divorce with Andrew's mother Donna. Andrew Giuliani "credits Trump with helping him navigate" his father's divorce and "particularly with helping him repair his relationship with Rudy," two former White House officials tell The Atlantic -- and Rudy Giuliani said he agrees.Andrew Giuliani didn't return a request for comment. Read more at The Atlantic.More stories from theweek.com The potential lie that could actually destroy Trump The coming death of just about every rock legend How China can win a trade war in 1 move
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| Lebanon’s Protests Divide Hezbollah. Will It Strike Back? Posted: 18 Nov 2019 01:53 AM PST  Marwan Naamani/APBEIRUT—He has fought Israel since the 1990s and killed many fighters in Syria's civil war, but the increasing difficulty of working-class life in Lebanon and a popular revolt against the country's leaders has forced Abu Hussein to reevaluate his decades-long service to Hezbollah. The group whose name translates as "the Party of God" has been branded a terrorist organization by the United States since the 1980s. Backed by Iran, it is more powerful than Lebanon's military and holds a political veto on state policies. The Trump White House has made Hezbollah a prime target in its "Maximum Pressure" campaign against Iran, which seeks to squeeze the Islamic Republic economically until it signs a new, Trump-approved deal covering not only nukes, but ending Iran's support for militias like Hezbollah. Sanctions have targeted the party's members in Lebanon's parliament and a Lebanese bank accused of involvement managing Hezbollah accounts. Lebanon's Wild 'WhatsApp' Revolution Challenges Hezbollah and the Old ElitesBut the U.S. efforts have only added pressure to Lebanon's economic crisis. And Iran has many ways to fight back."Iran sees Lebanon as an important arena in the duel with Washington and will not sacrifice its prize horse Hezbollah no matter the cost," says Raghida Dergham, founder of the Beirut Institute, an independent think tank. The cost to the country of an effort to crush the uprising could be enormous, and some Hezbollah fighters want no part of it.* * *ABU HUSSEIN* * *I have met Abu Hussein several times over the last four years, but this conversation in the southern suburbs of Beirut is like none we've had before. Regardless of how grim the fighting had been in Syria, when he came back home Abu Hussein was always unwaveringly loyal and ideologically committed to the party. (He uses a pseudonym here because Hezbollah fighters are barred from speaking to Western media.) Now he is frustrated with Hezbollah's response to the widespread discontent in the streets by masses of people fed up with corruption, austerity and the high cost of living. After years fighting abroad as the commander of a rapid response unit that numbered as many as 200 fighters, it is domestic rather than regional issues that pushed him to abandon the movement.Hezbollah first built its strength and reputation fighting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. "Am I a member of Hezbollah against the Israelis? Yes I am," says the weathered officer. "Am I member of Hezbollah when it's against the people in the streets? No!" Two months ago, as Israel and Lebanon stood on the brink of war after an exchange of cross-border fire, Abu Hussein was part of redeployment from Syria, leading patrols and reconnaissance missions on Lebanon's southern border with Israel. But then, last month, working- and middle-class people from across Lebanon took to the streets condemning a ruling political class still lingering since the 1975-1990 civil war and enriching itself as the country's economy collapsed. Rather than the traditional hurling of blame across the sectarian divide of Lebanon's confessional political system, this time Christians, Druze, Shia and Sunni Muslims condemned the failures of their own leaders, and for Abu Hussein, something changed. Now he says he refuses to go back to Syria, has not gone on patrol in the south since the protests started, and won't be mobilized in Beirut. "The protesters' demands are 100 percent legitimate and they have no other choice to get their demands met," he says of a movement that calls for an end to the sectarian system that Hezbollah relies on to leverage power. He contends that a growing number of his comrades in arms support the demonstrations and roadblocks where people chant "all of them means all of them."It's a rebuke to all of the country's political leaders: Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Maronite Christian President Michel Aoun, Shia Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, the powerful Druze leader Walid Joumblatt—and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah."Hezbollah made a major mistake; they thought they were too big for Lebanon," says Abu Hussein of a movement focused on expanding regional military influence while its Shia working class base endured some of the worst of the country's economic pain. "They never thought people would rebel against them with this force and now they feel the heat."For Hezbollah, a movement inspired by the Iranian revolution and loyal to the Islamic Republic, this loss of confidence is a problem its military successes can't solve. In southern cities like Nabatieh and in Bekaa valley towns where Hezbollah competes with Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal movement for Shia support, demonstrators have cursed both Berri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Young people from the low-income Shia-majority Beirut suburb of Dahieh have joined the protests in the capital center around Martyrs' Square. "There were the kids of Hezbollah MPs telling their fathers that the people's demands should be heard," says the commander, emphatically describing the mood among Hezbollah's core constituents. He is careful to keep Nasrallah above reproach, blaming those around him and his tenuous ally, Berri, who went from warlord to parliamentary speaker in 1992 and has held the position ever since.But Abu Hussein does not mince words about Nasrallah's response to the uprising. In a televised addresses broadcast across the country on Oct. 25, Nasrallah tried at first to dismiss the protests as a hostile foreign plot while claiming he would not accept the government or president's resignation. Three days after the government collapsed, on Nov. 1, he went on air again, this time to begrudgingly accept the reality of the Hariri led cabinet resignation. He tried to distance himself from his previous comments about the protests being a Western and Israeli plot and called for dialogue. Unable to to appear in public because of the threat of Israeli assassination, the long serving secretary general always makes his televised addresses from an undisclosed location."Hezbollah can say what it wants," the commander tells me, annoyed by the allegations of foreign interference. He says he knows many people who have been joining the protests and that the demonstrators are changing people's minds. "Every time they reach a point they feel they are in trouble with their own people, they blame someone else," he adds. "They are in trouble and don't know what to do."* * *PARADIGM SHIFT* * *The clanging of pots and pans echoing nightly off apartment buildings across Beirut has become the latest sound of discontent ringing out here, a month into the country's popular revolt. Lebanon's economic crisis continues to deepen, with banks restricting withdrawals and transfers abroad while the gap between the official and street-traded exchange rate of the Lebanese lira, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, grows wider. As protests and political stagnation add to the economic crisis, faith in the established parties continues to dissipate, even among core supporters.This erosion is not unique to Hezbollah but rather seems to be happening across the establishment's political divide, threatening the future of all parties, whether allied to Iran and Syria or the West and the Gulf. It is discontent with a system of proxy politics that exploits sectarian divides while ignoring the basic needs of people that is threatening to upend politics and power in Lebanon. The Master Terrorist Behind America's Blood Feud With Iran"There is a paradigm shift in the way people are thinking. People have been able to move away from the traditional parties that they have been attached to and there is a general dislike of party partisanship," says Ahmad Mousalli, a political science professor and specialist in Islamic movements at the American University of Beirut. "Most of the people on the ground these days have not been through the civil war in Lebanon, but they have known nothing but these corrupt cronies," he continues.At the same time, the parties have continued to fight over which of their traditional blocks will dominate in the new government, each claiming to carry the street's anti-corruption, economic reformist goals and demands for a secular civil democracy. "They are trying to ride the wave in one way or another," says Mousalli before adding, "I don't think the population at large want this anymore." Mousalli notes that this trend has impacted Hezbollah, but argues that the intense ideological conviction of its members, especially its fighters, puts it in better shape than other established parties in a political system where loyalty is usually based on patronage. While Abu Hussein says he is among an increasing number of fighters leaving the organization, Abu Abdullah, who also declines to use his name because of Hezbollah's restrictions on its fighters talking to the media, is unwavering in his support. He fought Israel in 2006, then bolstered the Assad regime in Syria's civil war, and now he trains fighters. Describing Hezbollah units across the country as on "full alert," he says they are looking out for American or Israeli acts of destabilization through the protests. Abu Abdullah also knows people from Dahieh going to the protests and hears about discontent with Hezbollah along with the rest of the political class, but he has listened to Nasrallah's accusations and is convinced that the protests are the result of foreign agitation. "The Israelis and Americans feel they can enter through these protests and we aren't going to let them," he says decisively.In 2008, Hezbollah fighters took over the streets in Beirut in a display of their military dominance and effective control of the country, but Abu Abdullah states univocally that Hezbollah has no intention of doing that at the moment. Mousalli concurs, saying that any military action against Lebanon's people would likely only create bigger problems for Hezbollah, exacerbating internal divisions and alienating its base. Still, Abu Abdullah contends Hezbollah will not allow the collapse of a sectarian system that it uses to secure its interests while avoiding the international isolation for Lebanon that would come from a party the U.S. has long labeled a terrorist organization officially running the country. It's a position he's willing to kill for and he says he's ready to do whatever his commanders deem necessary."If I get an order and a fatwa to shoot the people," he says, "then yes, I'll shoot my brother."For Abu Hussein, there is no order or religious decree that could make him turn on his people and he would sooner abandon his post than help Hezbollah use its might against its own. For Hezbollah, concerns that the number of Abu Husseins is growing in its ranks may be one reason its reaction, so far, has remained political.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. 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| National Transgender Group Sees Exodus of Workers in Clashes With Leaders Posted: 17 Nov 2019 09:06 AM PST  A well-known national transgender policy group finds itself having to rebuild after a mass exodus of staff members amid discontent over its leadership, claims of retaliation for labor organizing and concerns about minority hiring and outreach.The group, the National Center for Transgender Equality, has lost about two-thirds of its staff in just weeks, Mara Keisling, the group's executive director, said on Friday night.At least eight staff members resigned as a result of frustrations with the organization and a failed attempt to oust the executive and deputy executive directors. Those former staff members explained their reasons for leaving in an open letter published Friday by Out magazine.Tensions at the center have been building for years, according to the letter."Over the last decade, it's been abundantly clear that members of the executive team hold an inconsistent and irreconcilable view of how to make the organization itself a strong social justice movement," the letter said.The letter also said that the organization had employed a record high of 23 employees at the beginning of the year but is now down to just seven. Staff members from the policy, communications and outreach and education departments were among those who left.Union organizing, which began last year, stalled after staff members and the executive team were unable to agree on terms.On Friday, an unfair labor practice charge was filed against the center "for discharging all employees in the bargaining unit, in retaliation against the staff asking for voluntary recognition of their union," the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, which had been working to organize staff members, said in a statement.The union added that "NCTE management used textbook union-busting tactics to draw out the process and never recognized the union."In August, staff members walked out in protest over the firing of a survey outreach coordinator who is black and Nicaraguan, as well as to push for better workplace conditions, according to the website NewNowNext.com, which covers lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.About a month later, staff members called for the resignation of Keisling and the group's deputy executive director, Lisa Mottet. At a staff meeting on Nov. 1, according to Keisling, the two women, with the support of the group's board members, announced they would not resign and presented a plan for the organization's "next chapter" as well as a severance offer for those who felt they needed to leave."Anybody who decided that this chapter isn't for them, we wanted them to be able to have the stability to make that decision," said Keisling, who admitted that the organization had faltered on some issues raised by employees."You do the best you can, and then you learn, and then you do better, and you learn, and you do better," she said, adding that the group had brought in outside experts to "fix where we've fallen short."Keisling also denied that the group had retaliated against staff members who were union organizers."We could not have expressed in a more heartfelt way that we are pro-union," she said, calling the unfair labor charge "baseless."But former staff members, as described in their open letter, saw the decision to keep a leadership team they viewed as problematic and offer a buyout instead as sending an "unmistakable" message: That "all of the work and experience we bring to the organization was, in their view, dispensable, while an inconsistent and problematic leadership was not.""Each one of us relished the opportunity to do our work, but we simply could not honestly speak for the equality of others from a stubbornly unequal workplace that has continually disappointed its staff, its donors, and the community it seeks to represent," the letter said.The organization is gearing up for a critical year as it tackles the 2020 presidential election as well as its 2020 Transgender Survey.Keisling said she and her team were grateful for all the former staff members but that now "it's time to rebuild.""It's time to get back to the work that trans people really, desperately, need us to do," she said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Jodie Chesney's killer jailed for life as judge laments criminals 'carving up areas' of London Posted: 18 Nov 2019 08:07 AM PST  Two drug dealing teenagers have been jailed for life for the "callous and casual" murder of girl scout Jodie Chesney, who was stabbed to death in an east London park. County lines dealer Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and his 17-year-old apprentice, Arron Isaacs had been looking to take revenge on rivals when they killed Jodie by mistake, the Old Bailey heard. The popular 17-year-old student had been relaxing with friends in Amy's Park in Harold Hill, east London, on the evening of March 1 when two shadowy figures emerged from the dark and one knifed her in the back. She screamed and collapsed in the arms of her boyfriend, Eddie Coyle, 18, as her attackers made off in a fellow drug dealer's car. Days later, they were arrested together as they fled from the rear of a house connected with the youth. The defendants denied Jodie's murder, each blaming the other for inflicting the fatal wound. But prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors that both were responsible for the killing, amid incidents of "casual violence" in the drug-dealing world. The jury deliberated for less than six hours to find them guilty last week of Jodie's murder. Jodie Chesney Judge Wendy Joseph QC handed Ong-a-Kwie a life sentence with a minimum of 26 years. She sentenced Isaacs to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure for at least 18 years. She said that Jodie's death led to a "world of anguish" for her family, which came amid "tit for tat" incidents. Jodie was the victim of "callous, casual and irresponsible violence" which had shocked the community "to the core", she said. On the evidence, she found Ong-a-Kwie was the stabber and the 17-year-old his "enthusiastic supporter". Isaacs was initially shielded by anonymity, but now he can be named after the judge lifted reporting restrictions. In doing so, she said: "What is important is that a blameless girl is dead at the hands of those engaged in and those that associate with drug dealing on the streets which Jodie and other blameless young people must live. "This death has brought great unease in the community. Those suffering, which spreads much further than Jodie's friends and family, need and have a right to known and understand how this has come about." The judge lamented the impact of criminals that had "carved up areas of the capital of this country". She added: "The dangers this brings to decent law-abiding members of the public is graphically spelled out in this case." The court heard moving tributes to Jodie and the "ripple effect" her murder had among friends, family and the wider community. Mr Coyle has been left with post-traumatic stress from witnessing her murder. Svenson Ong-a-Kwie was a county lines drug dealer Credit: PA He said: "Jodie was funny, silly, she always made fun of me and she had a bright future ahead of her. She was full of energy and was always out doing something. We had been going out for three months. "I've never lost anyone before and for the first funeral I've gone to to be my own girlfriend's is incredibly hard. I loved her." Jodie's father, Peter Chesney, who gave up a job in the City, said: "I have lost the most precious human being I will ever know. I have no idea how I'm going to continue my life or come to terms with the loss." Her sister, Lucy, said: "Jodie will be greatly missed and the people who caused such tragedy to a whole family should hang their head in shame. You have ripped away a bright future that was destined to make a change to many lives." The court heard that Ong-a-Kwie had convictions for possessing and supplying drugs. He admitted being in breach of a six-week suspended sentence for handling stolen jewellery dating back to October last year. Isaacs had previous convictions for possessing a screwdriver, actual bodily harm, possession of cannabis as well as aggravated vehicle-taking.
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| Riot police use water cannons to disperse Georgia protesters Posted: 18 Nov 2019 07:29 AM PST  Riot police in Georgia used water cannons on Monday to disperse anti-government protesters who have taken to the streets after the ruling party backtracked on promised electoral reforms. Hundreds of riot police in body armour and helmets sprayed water to break up a crowd of several hundred protesters outside the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi. Police also cleared protesters away from the city's main thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue, where they have blocked traffic since the last week.
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| Texas A&M marks 20 years since bonfire collapse killed 12 Posted: 18 Nov 2019 11:05 AM PST  More than 1,000 people attended a memorial Monday to honor the 12 people who died when a tower of logs collapsed at Texas A&M University 20 years ago. The Bonfire Remembrance Ceremony was dedicated to the 11 university students and one former student who died on Nov. 18, 1999, when a 40-foot bonfire structure holding about 5,000 logs collapsed while under construction. Janice Kerlee, whose son was killed in the collapse, called the 12 who died "extraordinary young people" as she spoke during the memorial.
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| Will Pete Buttigieg be the first gay president? Older LGBTQ Americans celebrate his run Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:38 AM PST  Mayor Pete Buttigieg's presidential bid was something older LGBTQ voters say they never could have imagined when they were young.
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| John Oliver Says If You Want to Irritate Donald Trump, Fill Out the 2020 Census Posted: 18 Nov 2019 12:38 AM PST  "This administration clearly thinks that some people don't count," Oliver says.
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| FCC chairman Pai backs public auction to free up spectrum in C-band for 5G Posted: 18 Nov 2019 09:17 AM PST  Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said on Monday he backs a public auction to free up spectrum in a key band currently used for delivering video content for next-generation 5G wireless networks, an announcement that sent a major satellite company's shares down 40%. The C-band is a block of spectrum used by satellite company customers to deliver video and radio programming to 120 million U.S. households and is seen as the most likely short-term source of available spectrum for 5G use. Experts believe the C-band spectrum can be divided to maintain existing service and deliver 5G service.
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| Bangladesh organises onion airlift as prices hit record high Posted: 18 Nov 2019 05:30 AM PST  South Asia's onion crisis has widened, with Bangladesh airlifting supplies of the vegetable and the prime minister claiming prices are so high she has stopped eating them. The spike in Bangladesh has put a staple ingredient for much South Asian food out of reach of the country's poor and follows a similar price hike in India. Prices in Bangladesh rocketed after India banned exports to conserve its own stocks after they were hit first by drought and then by heavy monsoon rains. As prices reached record levels, Bangladesh's largest opposition party blamed the government for the hike and on Monday called for nationwide protests. The humble bulb is so important to daily cooking in South Asia that shortages have a history of political fallout and a reputation for even toppling governments. One kilo of the vegetable in Bangladesh usually costs 30 taka (27p) but soared to up to 260 taka (£2.37) after India's export ban was imposed. Hours-long queues have formed to purchase the staple of South Asian cuisine Credit: AFP India has seen its own spike in prices after a sharp fall in production and the issue has become a political headache for Delhi. India has already released its national buffer stocks and imposed measures to stop onion hoarding. Hasan Jahid Tusher, deputy press secretary for Bangladesh's prime minister Sheikh Hasina, told AFP onions were being imported by air freight, and that "prime minister said she has stopped using onion in dishes". None of the dishes at the PM's residence in Dhaka on Saturday contained onions, he added. Media in Bangladesh reported onion consignments arrived at a major port in Chittagong city on Sunday after the government imported stocks from Myanmar, Turkey, China and Egypt. The increasing prices have pushed onions off restaurant and domestic menus, with Bangladeshis having to adjust their cooking and tastebuds. "Onion has become an essential part of the taste buds of the people of this region, including Bangladesh," a restaurateur called Shafiqul Islam told bdnews24. "A food can be eatable, but not much delicious without onion. Onion is a must for fish and meat recipes, biriyani and many other dishes." The state run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has attracted long queues waiting for subsidised onions. "Even if I have to stand another two hours, I will do that. I can save some 250 taka by buying one kilo of TCB onion. I am standing here because I have to save money," said Ratan, an English teacher. "I am 41 years old. I have never seen onion prices ever crossing beyond 120 taka." Drought badly hit India's first onion harvest in the spring, while unusually heavy monsoon rains hit the second harvest. The fluctuating price of onions is widely used as an everyday measure of inflation and a sudden inability for the poor to buy them can quickly focus concern over wider economic problems. Indira Ghandi came to power in 1980 citing soaring onion prices as a metaphor for economic failures of the government. The issue dominated state elections in 1998 and again became a political crisis in 2010. India last week said it was importing 100,000 tons of onions in a bid to curb rising prices. Pakistan has meanwhile seen its own vegetable inflation, with a spike in tomato prices. A government finance adviser came in for widespread mockery after he insisted tomatoes were to be found for 17 rupees (8p) per kg. The price is more than 10 times that.
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