2019年11月25日星期一

Yahoo! News: Education News

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Education News


Fox News' Wallace calls out GOP senator for pushing debunked conspiracy theory

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 10:20 AM PST

Fox News' Wallace calls out GOP senator for pushing debunked conspiracy theoryFox News host Chris Wallace pushed back against GOP Senator John Kennedy, who repeated a debunked conspiracy theory promoted by President Trump. 


Ship with 14,600 sheep aboard capsizes off Romania

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 05:06 PM PST

Ship with 14,600 sheep aboard capsizes off RomaniaRescuers were struggling Sunday to save 14,600 sheep loaded on a cargo ship that capsized in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania, they said. The Queen Hind bound for Saudi Arabia overturned for yet unknown reasons shortly after leaving Romania's Midia port. The crew of 20 Syrians and one Lebanese were rescued, together with 32 sheep, two of which were pulled from the water, said Ana-Maria Stoica, a spokeswoman for the rescue services.


The 30 Best New York City Landmarks to Visit

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 05:00 AM PST

The 30 Best New York City Landmarks to Visit


From growing a beard to complaining about porn: Here are the flimsy excuses China uses to throw Uighur Muslims into prison camps

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 07:22 AM PST

From growing a beard to complaining about porn: Here are the flimsy excuses China uses to throw Uighur Muslims into prison campsChina has imprisoned at least one million Uighurs in detention camps and prisons in Xinjiang. The Communist Party sees Uighurs' religion as a threat.


Iran's Guard threatens US, allies over protests

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 05:40 AM PST

Iran's Guard threatens US, allies over protestsThe head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard threatened the U.S. and its allies Monday as he addressed a pro-government demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people denouncing last week's violent protests over a fuel price hike. Gen. Hossein Salami, echoing other Iranian officials, accused the U.S., Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia of stoking the unrest. Iran has not released a death toll and cut off internet for several days, making it difficult to ascertain the extent and severity of the demonstrations.


U.K. Conservative Manifesto Launch: Boris Johnson’s Key Policies

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 09:06 AM PST

U.K. Conservative Manifesto Launch: Boris Johnson's Key Policies(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled his Conservative Party's election manifesto on Sunday with a promise to end the "seemingly unending Brexit box-set drama."In a 40-minute speech, Johnson promised 50,000 new nurses and said the National Health Service will not be "on the table" in post-Brexit trade talks, lines that sought to neutralize attacks by the opposition Labour Party. He also pledged not to raise income tax, value-added tax or national insurance rates.Even so, the policies are far less radical than those proposed by Labour, which published its manifesto on Thursday -- perhaps reflecting the Conservative Party's already strong lead in the polls.Here's a breakdown of the Conservatives' key proposals:Brexit, TradeRatify Johnson's divorce deal with the European Union before the Jan. 31 deadline; legislation would be introduced to Parliament before ChristmasOnce the U.K. has left, negotiate and ratify a free-trade agreement with the EU quickly enough to ensure there's no need for an extension to the transition phase beyond its scheduled end in Dec. 2020.Aim to have 80% of U.K. trade covered by free-trade agreements within three yearsTaxation, SpendingBorrow more to invest in infrastructure under loosened fiscal rules, which would allow an increase of 13.8 billion pounds ($17.7 billion) in spending across all departments by 2021The rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT would not riseRaise the threshold for making National Insurance contributions from 8,628 pounds year to 9,500 in the government's first budget, with a goal to raise it to 12,500 pounds at an unspecified future dateReduce the "overall burden" of business ratesIncrease the tax relief on buildings and research and developmentThe party has shelved a planned cut in corporation taxLaborRaise the minimum wage to 10.50 pounds an hour by 2024Establish a National Skills Fund, which would give individuals and small businesses the chance to receive vocational trainingEnsure workers have the right to request a more predictable contractEnvironmentMake the U.K. carbon neutral by 2050, including by planting an additional 75,000 acres of trees a year by 2023Spend 6.3 billion pounds on energy efficiency measures to cut fuel bills in millions of homesA ban on exporting plastic waste outside OECD countries to reduce ocean damageSet up a new independent Office For Environmental Protection and introduce new legal targets, including for air qualityHealth CareDeliver 50,000 more nurses, some of whom will be newly-trained, some hired from abroad and some from staff retention. Also the reintroduction of bursaries for nurse trainingA 2.7 billion-pound investment to build 40 hospitals. This has been widely disputed by opposition parties and fact-checkers, who put the actual number of new hospitals at six over five yearsCommit 1 billion pounds per year in extra funding for local authorities to better deal with demands for social careNo specific plan to resolve the U.K.'s social care crisis; aim to build a "cross-party consensus" on a new policy to ensure nobody needs to sell their home in order to afford itEnd hospital car park charges for some staff, patients and visitorsEducationA 1 billion-pound investment to boost childcare provisionsExtra 14 billion pounds funding for schools by 2023HousingBuild at least 1 million more homes by 2024Ban the sale of new leasehold homesIntroduce a 3% surcharge for foreign buyers of homes in EnglandBan "no fault evictions," where tenants are evicted before the end of their contract without a proper reasonLifetime rental deposits program, allowing payments to be transferred when tenants move houseLaw, PolicingRecruit 20,000 new police officersIncrease stop-and-search powers for policeEnsure those guilty of premeditated murder of a child are never eligible for releaseAdd 10,000 prison places, with 2.75 billion pounds already committed to refurbishing existing prisons and building new onesTransportNew fund to reopen disused railway lines axed in the 1960s, beginning with northern EnglandInvest 2 billion pounds to repair the U.K.'s roadsImmigrationAn Australian-style points-based visa system to prioritize skilled workersImmigrants from the EU will only be able to access unemployment, housing, and child benefits after five yearsTo contact the reporter on this story: Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Thomas PennyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


Former incarcerated student: Society owes men and women in prison chance to return whole

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 12:04 PM PST

Former incarcerated student: Society owes men and women in prison chance to return wholePBS documentary shows how higher education helped me remove the shackles of incarceration. College degrees in prison can do the same for others.


Chinese woman convicted of trespassing at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort faces up to 6 years in prison

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 05:43 PM PST

Chinese woman convicted of trespassing at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort faces up to 6 years in prisonA Chinese woman convicted of trespassing at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in March is expected to receive a prison sentence on Monday.


Practice (for War with Russia) Makes Deadly: NATO and U.S. Army Conducting Massive Exercises

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:03 AM PST

Practice (for War with Russia) Makes Deadly: NATO and U.S. Army Conducting Massive ExercisesThese exercises, which will closely resemble the weapons, tactics and combat strategies joint forces would be called upon to perform in the event of major enemy attack, will span across air, sea, land, cyber and space domains throughout Europe.


Egyptian Coptic rights activist faces 'terror' charges

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 06:34 AM PST

Egyptian Coptic rights activist faces 'terror' chargesAn Egyptian Coptic rights activist is facing charges of joining a "terror" group and spreading misinformation, his lawyer confirmed Monday, amid a renewed crackdown on dissidents in the country. Ramy Kamel was arrested from his Cairo home early Saturday by seven plainclothes police officers, a member of his defence team, Atef Nazmy, told AFP. The prosecution has alleged Kamel joined a "terror" group, received foreign funding and broadcast false information.


Former Mattis Speechwriter Won’t Admit or Deny to Fox News That He’s ‘Anonymous’

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:41 PM PST

Former Mattis Speechwriter Won't Admit or Deny to Fox News That He's 'Anonymous'Former Pentagon aide Guy Snodgrass cagily refused to deny or admit that he was the infamous Resistance White House figure "Anonymous" during a Fox News interview on Monday, shortly after he was fingered as the most likely candidate.Snodgrass' name began making the rounds on social media early on Monday when The New Republic's David Kusnet—who once correctly guessed the anonymous author of Clinton tome Primary Colors—found there was a striking resemblance between the writing style of Anonymous' A Warning, the author's notorious 2018 op-ed and Snodgrass' memoir. Snodgrass, a former speechwriter and comms director for ex-Defense Secretary James Mattis, kept the speculation going with a cryptic tweet.The former Mattis staffer, who would be considered a one-time "senior official" of the Trump administration, appeared on Fox News Reporting on Monday afternoon to purportedly talk about the recent termination of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer. Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher, however, spent the majority of the interview peppering Snodgrass with questions about whether or not he was the senior Trump official working against the president from within the administration."If you look at the article, the author hits all the high points. He makes a very good case and the question is, are you Anonymous?" Gallagher initially asked."Great question," Snodgrass replied. "I have a book out with my name on it called Holding the Line. I do appreciate that the New Republic said the writing was excellent across both books, that's a great sales pitch. But I tell you what, if I was making an announcement like that, I'd do it right and come into the studio with you in New York City."The Fox anchor immediately noted that Sondgrass wasn't issuing a denial but was instead just saying that this wasn't the proper venue to make that statement. Snodgrass, with a wry smile, claimed he only just heard about the allegation before insisting he was on to talk about national security since there's a "lot to talk about there.""There was a lot of talk about there but there's also a lot to talk about here and I am curious because why not just deny it outright?" Gallagher pressed again. "You said you just heard about it on your way to the studio but you sent out the tweet today not really denying it, kind of saying 'the swirl continues,' what did you mean by that?"The former Pentagon official, meanwhile, said this was just the "latest in a long series of D.C. parlor games" and that he only retweeted the story out because "it caught my eye and someone put it on my radar." Gallagher, for his part, continued to probe, noting that Kusnet pointed to similar writing styles and vocabulary choices between the two books."I can't remember using lodestar a single time so the analysis may be breaking down a little bit," Snodgrass quipped, still not denying or admitting to anything.Eventually, after Gallagher questioned him again on the topic and noted that the Fox interview became a great opportunity to sell his memoir, Snodgrass pushed back by stating the current news cycle surrounding the military dictated why he was initially scheduled to appear on-air.The Fox host would make sure, though, to get one final word in before closing out the interview."Not saying one way or another, we just want to point out that Joe Klein back in 1992, when he was called on it, he denied it several times before finally coming out," he concluded.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.


Donald Trump Jr. makes ‘ignorant’ joke about those with HIV

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 12:21 PM PST

Donald Trump Jr. makes 'ignorant' joke about those with HIVDonald Trump Jr. has been criticized for a "despicable" and "ignorant" comment he made about people with HIV.


Chemical weapons body defends Syria attack conclusions after leaks

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 06:42 AM PST

Chemical weapons body defends Syria attack conclusions after leaksThe head of the global chemical weapons organization on Monday defended the agency's conclusion that poison was used in a high profile attack in Syria last year, after leaked documents suggested two former employees doubted some of its findings. More than 40 people were killed in the April 7 attack in Douma, a town on the outskirts of Damascus that was then held by rebels. The United States, Britain and France retaliated a week later by firing missiles at Syrian government targets, the biggest Western military action against the Damascus authorities of the eight year war.


China Announces Plans to Strengthen Protection of Intellectual-Property Rights

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 02:51 PM PST

China Announces Plans to Strengthen Protection of Intellectual-Property RightsChina's government on Sunday issued a directive aimed at tightening protections for Chinese intellectual-property rights, amid accusations from the U.S. that China has stolen American intellectual property.The document, released jointly by the General Offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Chinese State Council, lays out a goal of strengthening intellectual-property-rights protections over the next two years by cracking down on the infringement of such rights."Strengthening IPR protection is the most important content of improving the IPR protection system and also the biggest incentive to boost China's economic competitiveness," the directive reads, according to excerpts released by the Chinese State Council.The new guidelines say China will boost its efforts to enhance international cooperation on IPR protection as well.The measures come while disputes over intellectual-property theft have roiled trade negotiations between China and U.S. as the world's two largest economies scramble to reach "phase one" of a trade deal.Last year, an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative found that intellectual-property theft by China causes the U.S. to lose between $225 billion and $600 billion a year.Exacerbating the situation further, the Justice Department in January charged China's largest smartphone maker, Huawei Technologies Co., with bank fraud and stealing trade secrets. The 13-count indictment alleges that Huawei stole robotic technology designed to test smartphones from American cell-phone company T-Mobile.


Banks Close Branches in Half of U.S., Loss Worst in Rural Areas

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 12:09 PM PST

Banks Close Branches in Half of U.S., Loss Worst in Rural Areas(Bloomberg) -- More than half of U.S. counties lost access to bank branches between 2012 and 2017, with rural counties that have less educated and minority residents especially hurt, the Federal Reserve said in a new report.Nearly 800 rural counties lost 1,533 bank branches, representing 14% of their total branches, the Fed said Monday. While urban counties also lost branches, they lost just 9% of the branches, according to the report. The findings highlight a broader U.S. trend of the widening gap between rural areas and better-served and more prosperous urban centers.While urban and rural Americans are using branches less frequently as more banking services have moved online, traditional bank offices nonetheless provide an important way for people to open up checking accounts and to borrow. As a result, the loss of branches can hinder access to credit for households and small businesses.Forty-four counties were "deeply affected" by closings, defined as a county that had 10 or fewer branches in 2012 and lost at least 50% of those branches by 2017, the Fed said."Rural counties deeply affected by branch closures had higher poverty rates, lower median incomes, a higher share of their population with less than a high school degree, and a higher share of their population who were African American," the report said.In listening sessions the Fed has held around the county, people have called the loss of branches "frustrating and disruptive" to their lives, according to their report. Local banks also can provide leaders who contribute to the community, and their loss is keenly felt."Banks are more attuned to the needs of the communities in which they are headquartered, so this loss could have a negative impact on the affected local markets," the Fed said.Fed leaders are trying to understand the divide and what can be done to help struggling rural areas, who's plight has become a powerful issue in the U.S. politics. President Donald Trump successfully focused part of his 2016 election campaign on turning out support among Republican-leaning rural voters who he said had been neglected by political leaders.To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Matthews in Atlanta at smatthews@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alister Bull at abull7@bloomberg.net, Vince GolleFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


Teacher Threw Away Students' Black Lives Matter Posters, ACLU Says

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 11:56 AM PST

Teacher Threw Away Students' Black Lives Matter Posters, ACLU SaysA school district near Sacramento, California, said it is investigating an episode in which a teacher threw away student posters related to the Black Lives Matter movement.The district, the San Juan Unified School District in Carmichael, Califorinia, said in a statement that it apologized if any student felt "discomfort" about what happened, the television station KCRA 3 reported.The episode, which took place in September, came to light Thursday after the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California sent the district a letter detailing what happened.In the letter, the organization described how a parent volunteer taught a lesson about how "art can manifest in activism."The parent volunteer asked the teacher if she could teach another art lesson about diversity. According to the letter, the teacher told her in front of a sixth-grade class that "his lessons would contain lessons with 'a bunch of old white guys' so her content may not fit."The volunteer "was obviously confused, and a bit concerned regarding this comment, but did not stop the lesson plan" because of his comment, the letter said.She asked the students to create a poster that focused on something they wanted to see changed at the school. Four students created Black Lives Matter posters, Abre' Conner, the lawyer at the ACLU who wrote the letter, said Sunday.The day after the posters were made by the students, the teacher told the parent volunteer that he threw them away because they were "inappropriate and political," the letter said.The teacher asked her "whether students were getting shot at the school and demanded answers regarding why a presentation on Black Lives Matter was relevant" to the school, Del Paso Manor Elementary, the letter said.The letter identified the teacher only as Madden; a school directory lists a David Madden as a teacher. Conner would not identify the parent volunteer, who was referenced in the school district statement only as Kincaid. A Magali Kincaid is listed as a parent or community member on the school's website.Neither Madden nor Kincaid could be reached Sunday. Kent Kern, the school district superintendent, to whom the letter was addressed, also could not be reached.Kincaid went to the principal, who supported Madden, according to the letter. The principal said that Black Lives Matter posters are political statements and therefore were off limits for public display.Though not named in the letter, Damon Smith is listed on the school's website as its principal. He could not be reached Sunday.The ACLU argued that the Black Lives Matter posters were protected speech under the California Education Code because they convey a student's thoughts, ideas and beliefs in the support of black lives. The group also said the posters were protected under the California Constitution.Conner wrote that "there are obvious problems with a teacher and principal who currently have black students in their classroom and school taking the positions that the acknowledgment of Black Lives is controversial and political in nature."The district has not responded to the letter, Conner said."Because these are so basic fundamental rights we believe that the school district at this point would have responded back to us," she said Sunday.In its statement, the district said the ACLU letter raised new assertions."Ms. Kincaid was allowed to provide a lesson that was not prepared by the district's art program and without having been trained," it said. "That should have not occurred and unfortunately led to disagreement between Ms. Kincaid and the classroom teacher on the assignment's final outcome."The statement attributed the disagreement to a misunderstanding about the nature of the assignment.Madden's "understanding of the resulting assignment was for students to produce artwork related to a change they wanted to see within the school itself," the statement said."Students whose artwork focused on large social issues, which varied in topic, and was not directly tied to the school, were asked by the teacher to complete another poster the next day," it continued.The district said it was never its "intent or desire for any student to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome to discuss issues that are important to them."It added: "Censoring a student's assigned work because of its content would not be acceptable. We are open and committed to continuing our work with students, staff, community partners and others to ensure that our school communities embrace a diversity of thoughts and experiences."The ACLU asked for, among other things, a curriculum and events that include the Black Lives Matter movement, parent engagement training. It also asked that school staff undergo cultural and sensitivity training with Kincaid's input."The moral here is that you have a teacher in your school district basically sending the message that if you create Black Lives Matter art work, it is literal trash," Conner said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company


By 'serendipity,' GOP senator lands in middle of impeachment saga, as witness and potential juror

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 06:49 AM PST

By 'serendipity,' GOP senator lands in middle of impeachment saga, as witness and potential jurorSen. Ron Johnson has been a witness in the House impeachment probe – and he could be a high-profile juror in the all-but-certain Senate trial


Whoops: In 1984, a Soviet Sub Crashed into the U.S. Carrier It Was Tailing

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 10:00 AM PST

Whoops: In 1984, a Soviet Sub Crashed into the U.S. Carrier It Was TailingWell that's awkward.


Iran rejects US order to pay $180 mn over reporter's jailing

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 04:12 PM PST

Iran rejects US order to pay $180 mn over reporter's jailingIran on Monday rejected a US court order for Tehran to pay $180 million in damages to a Washington Post reporter for jailing him on espionage charges. Jason Rezaian spent 544 days in an Iranian prison before he was released in January 2016 in exchange for seven Iranians held in the United States. On Friday, a US district court judge ordered damages be paid to Rezaian and his family in compensation for pain and suffering as well as economic losses.


Florida Woman Reported an ‘Unknown’ Body in Her Driveway. Hours Later, She Was Charged With Murder.

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:39 PM PST

Florida Woman Reported an 'Unknown' Body in Her Driveway. Hours Later, She Was Charged With Murder.Early Saturday morning, 51-year-old Yvonne Serrano called Florida authorities to report a grisly scene in the driveway of her Coral Springs home."I just walked out and there is a car in my driveway with a dead body," she told the 911 dispatcher. "There's blood..she's been here for a while," she added. "She's bleeding everywhere."During the frantic, five-minute phone call, Serrano insisted she had no idea what a dead body was doing in her driveway. But hours later—after changing her story multiple times—Serrano was charged with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence for allegedly shooting 21-year-old Daniela Tabares outside her home, then trying to cover it up, Coral Springs police said.Authorities said the pair had gone to the movies and a bar on Friday night with friends from their local gym, a night of fun that ended with a bullet in Tabares' forehead. California Man Who Rapped About Burying His Girlfriend Is Charged With Her Murder"Daniela is an inspiration. She is the [sic] shining example of what the best of us can only try to be," the gym that organized the group event said in a Facebook statement on Monday. "It shines through in the joy, laughter,  and loving sassiness she shared with us. It shines through in the boundless love she gave us and the selfless care she took for the people around her. We cannot measure her loss."According to a police affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast, deputies arrived at Serrano's house early Saturday morning to find Tabares "partially inside the driver's side of a Nissan Kicks"—her right foot still inside the SUV while the rest of her body was on the driveway. "The victim was lying on her back with a fatal gunshot wound on her forehead," the affidavit states. The medical examiner later determined that Tabares died from a single gunshot to the head by a 9mm pistol.Serrano initially told police she'd "discovered" the body on her way to the gym, but when authorities arrived, she "was not dressed in gym attire and did not appear ready to go for a work out," according to the affidavit. The 51-year-old admitted to police during questioning that she knew Tabares, saying they'd seen the movie 21 Bridges together at around 7:30 p.m. the night before. While they "did not sit together," Serrano told police the two went as a "part of a very large group of friends" who all attended the "Training for Warriors" gym in Coral Springs.Sarah Stern's Childhood Friend Found Guilty of Murdering Her for Her InheritanceThe group went to a bar, World of Beer, after the movie, the affidavit states. The gastropub's surveillance video shows Tabares and Serrano "conversing, laughing and drinking for several hours" before leaving the bar together.Serrano told police she had "originally mentioned taking an Uber home from the bar," but Tabares "volunteered to drive" her home. Surveillance video from her neighborhood shows Tabares pulling into Serrano's driveway at around 2 a.m. Her headlights turned off about five minutes later, and the car remained in the same position until police arrived about three hours later, the affidavit states. When police questioned Serrano about her story's discrepancies, she then stated she'd "blacked out" at a bar and "had no recollection of how she got home," according to the report. All "she remembered after World of Beer was waking up in her own bed" early the next morning, she told police. A few hours later, Serrano changed her story again, stating she actually woke up in Tabares' passenger seat at around 5:55 a.m. and saw the driver's door open and the 21-year-old "lying in the driveway," police said. At that point, she also admitted she had a concealed weapons permit and three guns—including a 9mm pistol that she usually carried around but had removed and placed under her bed after calling the police."The defendant advised that she then changed out of a white tank top she was wearing and place it in the washing machine" because it had blood on it, the affidavit states.Family Sues Man They Say Left Their Daughter to Die on Florida HighwayPolice said her pistol and its holder tested positive for human blood, and linked shell casings found inside Tabares' car to the weapon.  It was not immediately clear if Serrano, who is currently being held at the Broward County Jail without bond, has an attorney. Tabares' family did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast's requests for comment. Tabares' friends paid tribute to the 21-year-old on social media, calling her a selfless person with a "good soul.""My BFF always tried to help! Always nice to people! Always smiling!," one of Tabares friends, Karo Miller, wrote on Facebook Monday. "Can't even find the words!""Daniela Maya Tabares, such a good soul! You will always be remembered," another friend added on Facebook. 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.


Arab League formally rejects U.S. policy shift on Israeli settlements

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 11:01 AM PST

Arab League formally rejects U.S. policy shift on Israeli settlementsThe Arab League on Monday formally rejected a decision by the United States to no longer consider settlements in Israeli-occupied territory illegal, saying the move was a threat to peace and a flagrant violation of international law. Meeting in a special session in Cairo, the Arab League said it considered the U.S. position legally null and void and showed "unprecedented disdain for the international system", according to Egyptian state news agency MENA. The Nov. 18 announcement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reversed a stand taken under President Jimmy Carter in 1978.


U.S. Customs Officials Seize 154 Pounds of Bologna at the Texas-Mexico Border

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 01:15 PM PST

U.S. Customs Officials Seize 154 Pounds of Bologna at the Texas-Mexico BorderCBP said the Mexican bologna is banned because it could introduce disease


Pot-Smoking ‘Weedman’ Says Rich Will Crush N.J.’s Black Market

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 09:39 AM PST

Pot-Smoking 'Weedman' Says Rich Will Crush N.J.'s Black Market(Bloomberg) -- The guy who calls himself NJ Weedman was angry -- that is, as angry as one can be with a lungful of marijuana smoke -- as he condemned New Jersey's latest attempt to legalize adult recreational use via ballot."They're going to steal our culture, steal our market and give it to the rich guys," the activist, born Ed Forchion, said Monday outside the Trenton statehouse, where he was sharing a joint as he prepared to lead a protest march with about a dozen supporters.Forchion, 55, who lost legal bids in California and New Jersey to change his name to NJWeedman.com, makes no secret of his drug-arrest history. He says he sells pot illegally at NJ Weedman's Joint, his restaurant across the street from Trenton City Hall.On Nov. 18, New Jersey lawmakers said they will drop their quest to pass a bill to legalize pot sales and use, after almost two years without enough votes to pass. Instead, they will seek voters approval on the 2020 ballot.If the measure passes, Forchion said, he fears a reprisal of proposed regulations from earlier legislation: limiting operations to corporate-backed interests with millions of dollars to spend on applications and security, and no felony convictions.A friend, Anthony Rico, said he expects enforcement to increase if sales come under corporate control."We know our market, and they'll restrict us so much that we can do nothing for the regular street buyers," said Rico, a 53-year-old cook from Woodbridge.Eleven states have legalized adult-use recreational marijuana even as it remains federally outlawed. Governor Phil Murphy had intended to legalize within 100 days of coming to office in January 2018, but legislation was blocked by Republicans and some fellow Democrats.To contact the reporter on this story: Elise Young in Trenton at eyoung30@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, Stacie ShermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


Vintage illustrations as Thanksgiving greetings

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 10:34 AM PST

Vintage illustrations as Thanksgiving greetingsHere's a look at some vintage Thanksgiving postcards, greeting cards and illustrations from the turn of the century to 1923. They don't make them like that any more!


Americans now believe the conspiracy theory that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was murdered — and did not kill himself — by a margin of 3 to 1

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:44 PM PST

Americans now believe the conspiracy theory that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was murdered — and did not kill himself — by a margin of 3 to 1The conspiracy theory that Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself is now fully mainstream, with 45% of Americans believing he was murdered.


This Is Why The Fed Must Keep Cutting Interest Rates

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 07:15 AM PST

This Is Why The Fed Must Keep Cutting Interest RatesOr else America could be in for a world of pain.


Police look for suspects after 2 boys fatally shot outside California elementary school

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 09:13 AM PST

Police look for suspects after 2 boys fatally shot outside California elementary schoolTwo boys sitting in a van in a parking lot of a Northern California elementary school were fatally shot early Saturday, police say.


First Central American Migrant Offered Asylum In Guatemala Returns Home to Honduras Instead

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 10:59 AM PST

First Central American Migrant Offered Asylum In Guatemala Returns Home to Honduras InsteadThe first Central American migrant offered asylum in Guatemala, under an arrangement between that country and the U.S., has decided to return to his home in Honduras, according to the Associated Press.Erwin José Ardón Montoya, 23, travelled to the U.S. in September in a bid to see his newborn daughter. The daughter's mother had chosen to migrate to the U.S. while still pregnant."I wanted to see my daughter, to help her," Ardón Montoya told his parents through tears as he arrived at his family's home in Trujillo, Honduras.Ardón Montoya was caught by federal agents in El Paso, Texas. He was offered a job and a place to live in Guatemala, but chose to return to his family.The 23-year-old told the Associated Press he might try to enter the U.S. again after Christmas.The Trump administration has enacted a host of policies meant to curb illegal immigration to the U.S., including placing restrictions on asylum seekers who enter the U.S. illegally. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced a policy change preventing illegal asylum seekers from obtaining work permits until their applications have been approved.The Department of Homeland Security has also instituted the so-called "remain in Mexico" policy, whereby asylum seekers who enter the U.S. illegally are required to wait in Mexico while their applications are processed.While some of the Trump administration's immigration policies have been challenged in court, a senior Border Patrol official warned in October that striking down those policies could bring the flow of illegal immigration to "crisis level.""We will go back, mark the words, we will go back to the crisis level that we had before," said the Border Patrol's chief of law enforcement operations Brian Hastings. "It is kind of a new norm. We're at risk at any time."


Briton, Filipino hostages safe after troops clash with Islamist rebels

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 09:34 PM PST

Briton, Filipino hostages safe after troops clash with Islamist rebelsSoldiers in the southern Philippines rescued a British man and a Filipino woman from members of an Islamist militant group, the army said on Monday, after their captors fled during a military operation. The couple, Allan and Wilma Hyrons, were abducted at gunpoint on Oct. 4 from the resort they ran in a neighbouring province and were now being looked after at a military camp. The kidnappers were members of Abu Sayyaf, a group that operates in the Sulu archipelago and has extremist factions loyal to Islamic State, and linked to at least five suicide bombings in the region in the past 16 months.


Denmark, Poland celebrate 100 years of diplomatic ties

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 04:10 AM PST

Denmark, Poland celebrate 100 years of diplomatic tiesDanish Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary marked 100 years of Denmark's diplomatic ties with Poland with a one-day visit to Warsaw Monday that involved meeting Poland's president and World War II veterans. Frederik and Mary were greeted with military honors by Polish President Andrzej Duda in front of the Presidential Palace.


Google Engineer Who Protested Company's Work With CBP Says She’s Been Fired

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 02:21 PM PST

Google Engineer Who Protested Company's Work With CBP Says She's Been FiredA Google software engineer who wrote and circulated a petition against the company's potential bid on a contract with Customs and Border Protection said Monday that she'd been fired."I was just informed by Google that I am being terminated," Rebecca Rivers wrote on Twitter. Rivers was placed on leave earlier this month along with another employee, Laurence Berland, who protested against hate speech on YouTube, prompting roughly 200 employees to walk out of the company's San Francisco offices in support of the two. Google said the two employees had been placed on leave for violating the company's policies regarding access to sensitive documents and monitoring employee calendars, but protest organizers said the company's treatment of the pair amounted to retaliation. Bloomberg reported Google sent a company-wide email Monday announcing that four employees in total had been fired for data security violations that day.Rivers' efforts follow increasing tension between Alphabet management and employees over the company's work with the Department of Defense, its handling of sexual harassment allegations, and alleged retaliation against critical employees. Google reportedly hired a law firm known for its union-busting tactics last week, a move presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called "unacceptable." The company has also reportedly limited employees' opportunity to pose questions to management, a former staple of its famously open culture, and advised employees against having "raging" political debates in online company forums or in person.Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported firing, nor did Rivers. Meredith Whittaker, an artificial intelligence researcher who left Google earlier this year after leading global employee protests of more than 20,000, wrote on Twitter, "It's happened. Google is illegally firing organizers. This is craven retaliation, and I ask everyone who can to show up and support."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. Learn more.


How Did the Gettysburg Address End Up in Glenn Beck's Office?

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 08:51 AM PST

How Did the Gettysburg Address End Up in Glenn Beck's Office?Only five known copies of the Gettysburg Address bear Abraham Lincoln's handwriting. One sits beneath the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, for much of the year, in a vault where the humidity and temperature are tightly controlled.But on June 15, 2018, those two weathered pages could be found in Glenn Beck's office."Are they requiring you wear gloves?" Beck, the conservative radio host, asked an archivist who worked for a museum run by his charity, Mercury One. "That's so stupid."Beck joked to the archivist about spilling chocolate sauce on the framed papers as he sat next to a black box containing the document, which has been valued at $20 million."You don't get another one at Home Depot," Beck said in a live Facebook video.It turns out that the document memorializing Lincoln's famous speech on Nov. 19, 1863, never should have been sent to the Mercury Museum in Irving, Texas, according to a report by a government watchdog released Friday.Illinois investigators said the presidential library's former executive director, Alan Lowe, had rushed to lend the document to Beck on less than two weeks' notice, calling it an unusual and risky move that put the artifact in danger. They also faulted Lowe and the museum's former chief operating officer for letting Beck's charity pay for their plane tickets and hotel stays in Texas when they traveled to the Mercury Museum.The former chief operating officer, Michael Little, took a job with Mercury One months after the document was displayed in a pop-up exhibit. Lowe joined an advisory board for the organization, though he said he was not paid and had decided to resign, according to the report from the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General.Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois fired Lowe in September, shortly after receiving the inspector general report, which recommended the firing. Lowe, Beck and Mercury One did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.The report describes how the museum's staff felt rushed by Lowe to ship the document to Texas on an accelerated timeline that Carla Smith, the registrar of the Lincoln museum, told investigators was "ridiculous."The museum has lent the document only twice before, and in those situations it had months to prepare. This time, the timeline was so compressed that Mercury One sent its certification of insurance minutes before FedEx shippers arrived to pick up the document, Smith told investigators.The report's authors said Lowe had violated at least two policies of the state's Historic Preservation Agency: one that expressly banned loans of the Gettysburg Address and another that required loan requests to be submitted six months in advance. Lowe told investigators he thought the museum was not bound by those rules after 2017, when it became an independent state agency, but investigators dismissed that claim.The Lincoln museum's copy of the Gettysburg Address was safely returned last year and is on display until Dec. 2. To avoid damaging the document in the light, the museum usually takes it out of the vault for only a few weeks each year, around the anniversary of the speech."The people of Illinois are fortunate that the Gettysburg Address and other artifacts ultimately returned safely" to the museum, the report said.Lincoln delivered the short speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the Union Army had won one of the Civil War's most important battles months earlier. In the address for the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, Lincoln extolled the virtues of the nation and those who had fought there. He said it was up to the living to continue their "unfinished work."The Lincoln museum has had its copy of the Gettysburg Address, known as the Everett copy, for about 75 years. It is named after Edward Everett, a politician who delivered a speech before Lincoln's that has mostly been forgotten. Illinois schoolchildren collected pennies to raise most of the $60,000 the state needed to buy the document in 1944, according to Bob Willard, the president of the Abraham Lincoln Association.Willard said he personally hoped the controversial loan would be a reminder that institutions should "take increased devotion to the important role they have of safeguarding our national treasures."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company


Kellyanne Conway Struggles to Defend Trump's DNC Server Conspiracy Theory on ‘Face the Nation’

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 06:13 AM PST

Kellyanne Conway Struggles to Defend Trump's DNC Server Conspiracy Theory on 'Face the Nation'"Are you sure they did that? Are you sure they gave it to Ukraine?" Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy asked on Friday after Donald Trump ranted for several minutes about a conspiracy theory that a Ukrainian-based company helped the Democratic National Committee frame Russia for interference in the 2016 election. "Well, that is what the word is," the president replied. On Sunday morning, it was up to White House counsel Kellyanne Conway to defend that baseless claim and she more or less came up empty-handed. "The president gave an extended interview on Fox on Friday, and he said once again that they, meaning Ukraine, have the server from the Democratic National Committee," Margaret Brennan told Conway on Face the Nation. "Fiona Hill, the Russia expert formerly of the Trump White House, said this is something that's propagated by Russian security services- services. It's false narrative." George Conway Blasts GOP's 'Incoherent' Hearing Performance in MSNBC DebutWith that, the host presented an excerpt from a 60 Minutes report airing Sunday night in which John Demers, the Justice Department official in charge of investigating the 2016 election, completely debunks the idea that anyone besides the Russians is responsible for "hacking and dumping" DNC emails. "Well, our indictment spells out what it is—the evidence that we have has shown, which is it was the Russians who were behind the hacking and dumping of the Democratic campaign in 2016," Demers said. "We could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt." Then came this question from Brennan: "Why doesn't the president believe his own Justice Department and intelligence experts?" "But the president has said he accepts that," Conway answered, misleadingly, before undercutting her own point. "But also, there are plenty of ways to interfere in elections." She then proceeded to deflect by saying, "if we're doing this, we're back to Mueller and we've already spent two and a half years and thirty five million taxpayer dollars for a Mueller report that was produced in March. It was a big bomb." Instead of answering Brennan's direct questions about Trump's preferred conspiracy theory, Conway began warning that the "mainstream media" could "interfere in the 2020 election the way they tried in the 2016 election." "She's going to win. He has zero percent chance of winning," Conway said, repeating the conventional wisdom in 2016. "That's a different kind of interference, and that's dangerous, too." She could not ultimately explain or defend why the president refusing to take his own Justice Department and intelligence officials at their word. Meghan McCain Explains Why Kellyanne Conway Will Never Betray TrumpRead 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. Learn more.


This Is How The Philippines Will Help America Patrol The South China Sea

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 08:30 PM PST

This Is How The Philippines Will Help America Patrol The South China SeaBy buying P-3 surveillance planes.


Chinese state media urge Hong Kongers to 'vote to end violence'

Posted: 24 Nov 2019 02:01 AM PST

Chinese state media urge Hong Kongers to 'vote to end violence'Chinese state media urged Hong Kongers to "vote to end violence" Sunday, as record numbers turned out for district elections after months of unrest in the city. Lengthy queues snaked out of polling stations across the semi-autonomus territory in the election for 18 district councils -- largely toothless bodies which set policy on issues such as bus routes and garbage collection. State media on the mainland urged voters to give support to pro-establishment forces to "end social chaos", but the big turnout is widely expected to benefit democratic forces.


Joe Biden: Stacey Abrams, Sally Yates could be potential vice president picks

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 04:39 AM PST

Joe Biden: Stacey Abrams, Sally Yates could be potential vice president picksJoe Biden identified several prominent Democratic women when asked at a town hall in Iowa who he would choose as vice president.


Warren Slams Bloomberg 2020 Run: Billionaires Shouldn’t ‘Come and Buy Elections’

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 01:19 PM PST

Warren Slams Bloomberg 2020 Run: Billionaires Shouldn't 'Come and Buy Elections'Democratic 2020 candidate Elizabeth Warren took aim at her newest rival over the weekend, slamming former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's presidential bid as an attempt to "buy" the election."Elections should not be for sale. Not to billionaires. Not to corporate executives. We need to build a grassroots movement," the Massachusetts senator said Saturday at a New Hampshire town hall."We have a country that works great for billionaires. Works great for corporate executives," Warren said. "But it's not working for the rest of America. And if the only way that Democrats can pick a nominee is to go to the billionaires and corporate executives, then we're going to have a country that keeps working better and better for those at the top."Bloomberg made his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination official on Thursday and kicked off his campaign Sunday with a $37-million ad buy."He could've just been the middle-class kid who made good, but Mike Bloomberg became the guy who did good," the first television ad of the billionaire businessman's campaign says, adding a promise that Bloomberg will tax the wealthy and make sure those in the middle class get their fair share.Bloomberg battled low poll numbers for most of November after his late campaign announcement. Meanwhile, critics have raised concerns about the former mayor's alleged demeaning comments towards women and others, saying they raise concerns about Bloomberg's viability as a representative of the Democratic Party."I understand rich people are going to have more shoes than the rest of us," Warren told the town hall crowd. "They're going to have more cars than the rest of us. They're going to have more houses. But they don't get a bigger share of democracy. Especially in a Democratic primary. We need to be doing the face-to-face work that lifts every voice.""Telling billionaires they can come and buy elections, that does not make democracy work," the senator said.Warren is currently polling at 18 percent behind former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, according to Real Clear Politics average of polls. Bloomberg polls at 2 percent.


Two priests in Argentina sentenced to more than 40 years in sex abuse case

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 10:42 AM PST

Two priests in Argentina sentenced to more than 40 years in sex abuse caseAn Argentine court on Monday convicted two Roman Catholic priests and the former gardener of a church-run school for deaf students in the province of Mendoza on 28 counts of sexual abuse and corruption of minors. Priests Nicola Corradi and Horacio Corbacho were sentenced to 42 and 45 years in prison, respectively, while the school employee, Armando Gomez, got 18 years. The sentencings by Judges Carlos Diaz, Mauricio Juan and Anibal Crivelli of the Collegiate Criminal Court No. 2 were live streamed in Argentina.


Rescued circus tigers to arrive in Florida after 18-month ordeal in Guatemala

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 04:00 AM PST

Rescued circus tigers to arrive in Florida after 18-month ordeal in GuatemalaRescuers say they endured threats from armed Guatemalan mob after rescuing six lions and 15 tigers from circusesThree male tigers – Kimba, Max and Simba – will be airlifted to Miami and taken by road to Big Cat Rescue. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty ImagesThree former circus tigers will arrive at a sanctuary in Florida on Monday, at the conclusion of a harrowing 18-month recovery operation that saw their rescuers exposed to repeated intimidation and threats from an armed Guatemalan mob.Workers for the California-based Animal Defenders International say they endured the harassment after rescuing six lions and 15 tigers from circuses in the Central American country following a 2017 law banning live performances by animals.In one of the worst incidents, they said an armed group invaded a transitional rescue center the charity had set up on private land designated by the government, stealing fences, gates and workers' possessions and attempting to take the animals back.The ADI team said it locked itself inside the facility until police and government officials arrived, then hastened efforts to relocate all the animals to a more secure temporary rescue center closer to Guatemala City's La Aurora airport in September, protected by its own armed guards."It was very unnerving and fractious," said Tim Phillips, the group's vice-president, who believes the landowner was trying to cash in on the enforced presence of the animals on his property. "We've rescued more than 150 animals in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia and never come across this kind of behavior."The reptile park we were allocated to seemed to have its eyes on milking US charities and donors for funds and effectively setting up a mini-zoo. Later, they were openly campaigning with the circuses who were trying to disrupt the rescue and overturn the ban."We find that once we show an interest in the animals the perception is that there must be lots of money to be made. Also, these animals are worth more dead than alive, for their bones, teeth and skins, or to be sold as pets. Internationally, animal trafficking is behind only drugs, arms and human trafficking."On Monday, three male tigers – Kimba, aged two and a half, and nine-year-olds Max and Simba – will be airlifted to Miami and taken by road to Big Cat Rescue, a 67-acre preserve in Tampa that houses more than 60 exotic animals. The remaining lions and tigers are being prepared to fly to ADI's recently opened 455-acre grassland sanctuary in South Africa before Christmas.Phillips said getting some of the circuses to release the animals had also been an ordeal, despite the support of the Guatemalan government, army and animal welfare division.One circus, he said, surrendered nine tigers and two lions but retained six tigers the group eventually rescued from a circus wagon parked in a scrapyard. During the original handover, Phillips said the ADI team was harassed by circus workers who stole their tools, while one circus employee tried to distract them by exposing himself.On another occasion, rescuers had to stop a circus worker beating a tiger with a metal bar as he was trying to move the animal between cages."The tiger had been in a cage all his life, he was terrified," Phillips said. "This circus guy comes up and goes mad, shouting at the tiger, lashing out and hitting it with the bar, leaving it with a bleeding leg and mouth. It could have been worse but it highlighted the brutality in these places."Once rescued, the animals received specialized veterinary care."Two tigers we rescued had seizures, they're so incredibly inbred," Phillips said. "Three of the animals needed dental surgery."Guatemala is among the most recent countries to adopt laws banning live animals in circus performances, according to ADI, which lists 46 countries and 32 of the 50 states of the US with prohibitions.In October, California's governor, Gavin Newsom, signed a bill banning most animals from circus performances while also making it the first state to outlaw the manufacture and sale of new fur products.In May, Arizona congressmen Raúl Grijalva and David Schweikert introduced a bill for the traveling exotic animal and public safety protection act, which would impose the first federal restrictions on the use of wild animals and update what Grijalva sees as "antiquated" animal welfare laws.The bill is endorsed by numerous animal advocacy groups including ADI.


The 5G Threat for Weather Satellites Is Only Growing

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 06:41 AM PST

The 5G Threat for Weather Satellites Is Only Growing5G providers trespassing weather satellites frequencies could be devastating news for accurate weather prediction.


Poland Repatriates 100 Tons of Gold From Bank of England Storage

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 07:30 AM PST

Poland Repatriates 100 Tons of Gold From Bank of England Storage(Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.Poland brought about 100 tons of gold home from the Bank of England in a bid to demonstrate the strength of nation's $586 billion economy, central bank Governor Adam Glapinski said.The institution bought about 126 tons in 2018 and 2019 to increase its gold reserves to 228.6 tons. As a result, the country has become the 22nd-biggest bullion holder in the world and has the biggest reserves of the metal in the European Union's east, the central bank said.Glapinski said the central bank will keep bringing the precious metal home if the "reserve situation is favorable.""The gold symbolizes the strength of the country," Glapinski told reporters on Monday. Poland could generate "multi-billion" profits if it sold its holdings but has no plans to do so, he said.Central banks, including those of Hungary and Serbia, loaded up on gold in the first half of 2019, helping push total bullion demand to a three-year high, according to the World Gold Council. Central banks around the world have been adding to reserves as economic growth slows, trade and geopolitical tensions rise, and authorities seek to diversify away from the dollar.Poland had $121.9 billion in official reserves, including gold, as of Oct. 31.To contact the reporters on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net;Dorota Bartyzel in Warsaw at dbartyzel@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Wojciech MoskwaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


Judge Orders Former Trump White House Lawyer Don McGahn to Obey Congressional Subpoena

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 03:04 PM PST

Judge Orders Former Trump White House Lawyer Don McGahn to Obey Congressional SubpoenaIt's a big win for House Democrats—at least on paper. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled Monday that the White House's former top lawyer Don McGahn must appear before Congress to testify as part of its impeachment inquiry. The ruling is the first by a federal judge in the Trump era ordering an ex-White House official to comply with a Congressional subpoena. "However busy or essential a presidential aide might be, and whatever their proximity to sensitive domestic and national-security projects, the President does not have the power to excuse him or her from taking an action that the law requires," Jackson wrote in 120-page memo.Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told The Daily Beast moments after the ruling that prosecutors will appeal. The Justice Department is arguing against Congress on behalf of the president. A higher court is expected to immediately put the ruling on hold, so while it's a meaningful win for Democrats, it's a temporary one. At issue is whether McGahn, President Donald Trump's first White House counsel, must comply with a congressional subpoena demanding his testimony. The House Judiciary Committee sued to enforce that subpoena in August. He defied the subpoena and did not appear for testimony. Members of the committee have said they want to question McGahn about matters he discussed with Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of the Russia investigation. Mueller's report cited McGahn's testimony extensively in detailing potential instances of obstruction of justice by Trump.  House Dems Authorize New Powers to Take Trump World Figures to Court"Mr. McGahn's failure to appear was without legal justification," Jackson wrote in her order.She issued a 120-page memorandum along with the order explaining her decision, concluding that the president had no right to direct McGahn not to show up for his scheduled hearing."[W]hen the issue in dispute is whether a government official has the duty to respond to a subpoena that a duly authorized committee of the House of Representatives has issued pursuant to its Article I authority, the official's defiance unquestionably inflicts a cognizable injury on Congress, and thereby, substantially harms the national interest as well," she wrote. Though the Judiciary Committee is pressing the matter, the ultimate ruling in McGahn's case could have tectonic consequences for the impeachment inquiry taking place in the House Intelligence Committee—if it comes soon enough. If federal courts decide Congress has the power to demand White House aides testify, then the Hill would use that power to bring in a new wave of impeachment witnesses. Federal judges can take months to reach decisions on contentious matters, and congressional impeachment investigators are moving at a much faster pace. It is possible that the impeachment inquiry will be finished in the House—with a trial underway in the Senate—before the court fight over McGahn's testimony ends. One of McGahn's former deputies, James Burnham, has been arguing the case for the Justice Department. Judge Jackson has telegraphed skepticism about the DOJ's arguments that White House officials are immune from congressional demands. "So what does checks and balances mean?" she asked in a hearing last month, according to Buzzfeed. "How can the legislature actually exercise oversight with respect to the executive unless it has some ability to enforce its inquiries, its commandments with respect to 'give me information'?"A host of current and former White House officials are stiff-arming congressional subpoenas, arguing that the legislative branch does not have the power to force them to testify. Chief among those are White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Both men likely have deep insight into the Trump administration's efforts to push the Ukrainian government to announce investigations of one of the president's political rivals. Bolton is involved in separate litigation regarding congressional subpoenas. Mulvaney tried to join his lawsuit but then backed out. Since Trump is one of the defendants in the Bolton suit, Mulvaney's participation would have teed off a court fight between the president's chief of staff against the president himself. 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. Learn more.


Iran Would Be Wasting Its Time Building an 'F-35'

Posted: 23 Nov 2019 08:00 PM PST

Iran Would Be Wasting Its Time Building an 'F-35'It would be asking for more trouble than it's worth.


US, EU 'owe half the cost' of repairing climate damage

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 07:02 AM PST

US, EU 'owe half the cost' of repairing climate damageThe United States and Europe bear more than half the cost of repairing the damage already wrought by climate change, a coalition of environmental groups said Monday. Based on their historic greenhouse gas emissions, the US and EU should be held jointly responsible for 54 percent of funding owed to developing nations already dealing with extreme flooding, droughts and megastorms rendered more frequent and intense by global warming, the groups said. A week ahead of a UN climate summit in Madrid -- in which the controversial issue of how funding for the so-called "loss and damage" inflicted by climate change will be provided -- they said the amount needed would hit $300 billion annually within a decade.


Sarah Huckabee Sanders eyes run for governor of Arkansas in 2022

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 04:42 AM PST

Sarah Huckabee Sanders eyes run for governor of Arkansas in 2022Sarah Huckabee Sanders is following the traditional route for former press secretaries after leaving the White House as President Trump's chief spokesperson. But she's also getting reacquainted with her home state of Arkansas and laying the groundwork for a potential governor's race in three years.


Supreme Court re-enters debate on money in politics by vacating decision on Alaska contribution limits

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 09:57 AM PST

Supreme Court re-enters debate on money in politics by vacating decision on Alaska contribution limitsThe Supreme Court re-entered the national debate over the influence of money in politics by vacating a lower court's decision in an Alaska case.


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