| The GOP lawmakers disgusted by Trump’s invitation to the Taliban are the latest sign his foreign policy is in shambles Posted: 09 Sep 2019 01:09 PM PDT  The Taliban invitation and subsequent backlash adds to an expanding list of foreign policy controversies and failures for Trump ahead of 2020.
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| Texas Republican Predicts McCabe Will be Indicted for Lying to Investigators Posted: 09 Sep 2019 05:06 AM PDT  Representative John Ratcliffe (R., Texas) predicted Sunday that former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe will soon be indicted for lying to investigators about his role in the leaking of classified information.McCabe was fired from the FBI in March 2018, one month after the release of an inspector general report that detailed multiple instances in which he "lacked candor" when questioned by investigators about his role in the leaking of classified information related to the Clinton email probe.Ratcliffe told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that the Department of Justice must indict McCabe or face accusations of partisanship and hypocrisy"Here, you have the inspector general stating that Andrew McCabe did that multiple times, and the magic words, did so intentionally and knowing," Ratcliffe said during an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures." "I think the Department of Justice is going to have to indict Andy McCabe, simply because to do otherwise would be to admit that there are separate standards for people doing the same thing for the same conduct."The 21-year FBI veteran was made a CNN analyst last month despite the existence of an ongoing investigation into his conduct that may still result in criminal charges. He maintains that he did not intentionally mislead investigators and continues to suggest that he was acting within his authority as deputy director when he authorized the leaking of information about the Clinton email investigation to a Wall Street Journal reporter.In a lawsuit filed last month, McCabe alleges his firing at the hands of former attorney general Jeff Sessions was politically-motivated.McCabe's attorneys met with deputy attorney general Jeffrey Rosen last month, according to an August 26 New York Times report. The meeting has been widely-interpreted as evidence that McCabe will soon be indicted.
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| Questions after police fatally shoot man who streamed chase Posted: 09 Sep 2019 04:30 PM PDT  The livestreamed video of the final minutes of Brian Quinones' life before he was fatally shot by police show him calmly driving a car and listening to music, running at least one red light as he leads officers on a chase through two Minneapolis suburbs. At one point, the video shows, Quinones got out of the car with what appears to be a knife. Quinones, 30, died at the scene.
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| Cocaine abuse leaves fatal infected erosion in man's throat Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:24 AM PDT  Doctors in Malta are using a cocaine abuser's death as a lesson for treatment. The 38-year-old had a known history of cocaine use that left him with a gaping hole at the back of his throat. Medical officials are now advising a thorough examination of brain and palate imaging for patients with a history of cocaine abuse.
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| 9 elementary school students sent to ER after inadvertently eating weed candy Posted: 09 Sep 2019 08:43 AM PDT ![9 elementary school students sent to ER after inadvertently eating weed candy]( "9 elementary school students sent to ER after inadvertently eating weed candy") The students, who attended Renaissance Charter School in Cooper City, Florida, suffered stomach pain. The injuries were not life-threatening.
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| Pope Francis urges Mauritius to shun 'idolatrous economic model' Posted: 09 Sep 2019 08:12 AM PDT  Pope Francis on Monday urged Mauritius, a prosperous magnet for tourists and a global tax haven, to shun an "idolatrous economic model" that excludes the youth and the poor and damages the environment. The Argentine pontiff's visit to the idyllic Indian Ocean island began with a mass attended by an estimated 100,000 faithful, ecstatically waving palm fronds and cheering "Francis, Francis". While the island is a beacon of stability and relative prosperity, Pope Francis honed in on the struggles of the youth, who face growing inequality, unemployment and the scourge of drug abuse.
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| McConnell backs short-term spending bill to avert shutdown Posted: 09 Sep 2019 01:04 PM PDT  "A major focus of the Senate this month will be ... passing a temporary continuing resolution for the outstanding parts of the government," McConnell says.
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| Have Archaeologists Discovered the Town Jesus Appeared in After His Resurrection? Posted: 08 Sep 2019 02:15 AM PDT  CaravaggioAccording to the Bible, after his resurrection Jesus appeared to various groups of followers. In one story, found only in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus appears to two of his disciples as they journeyed to the town of Emmaus. They have a discussion and share a meal with Jesus and it's only when Jesus breaks the bread that "their eyes were opened" and they recognize him for who he is. The story is part of the most significant event in Christian history, a major inspiration to Caravaggio and other Renaissance artists. The only problem is that scholars cannot agree about where Emmaus was. This week archaeologists announced that they may have unearthed the first evidence of its location—and they weren't even looking for it. Historically, there has been considerable debate about where, exactly, Emmaus was situated. For Christians, places associated with the life of Jesus are important pilgrimage destinations. From the ancient world to the modern one, religious tourists want to retrace the footsteps of Jesus. This is especially true of places associated with Jesus's birth, death, and resurrection. The earliest known attempt to pinpoint Emmaus' location was that of the fourth-century church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, who identified the city of Nicopolis as the biblical Emmaus. The theologian and translator Jerome agrees, and implies in a letter that there was a church in Nicopolis constructed over the house where Jesus and his followers broke bread. From the fourth century onwards, Christians seem to have readily identified Nicopolis with Emmaus. The problem with this argument is that Nicopolis is much further away from Jerusalem than we would expect. Luke says Emmaus was about 60 stadia (7-11 km) from Jerusalem, but Nicopolis is 160 stadia from Jerusalem. Over the years, a number of scholars have suggested no fewer than five alternative sites to Nicopolis and there is no general agreement about which is the most likely. Now, things may have changed. In 2017, a joint French and Israeli group of archaeologists began excavation work at Kiriath-Jearim, a hill several kilometers to the west of Jerusalem. Due to its proximity to Jerusalem and its elevated position, the fort was a strategically important military site. It essentially controlled access to Jerusalem from the coast. The archaeologists involved in the excavation were initially interested in two sets of questions: the relationship of the site to events and places mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the history of the site during the Maccabean revolt in the second century B.C.. In the Bible, Kiriath-Jearim is best known as the place that the Ark of the Covenant was supposedly held before King David moved it to Jerusalem. The Maccabean revolt, which is partially described in the books of the Maccabees, is largely remembered for Judah the Maccabee's triumph over Seleucid oppressors and reconquest of Jerusalem in 164 B.C.. It's the miraculous event that took place at this time that is celebrated during Hannukah. During the 2019 excavation season researchers at Kiriath-Jearim uncovered evidence of later phases of use of the site. Their most significant discovery was a set of fortifications that were built over the city walls during the first half of the second century B.C.. These walls are roughly three meters thick. Excavators at the dig also uncovered what is tentatively described as the remains of a tower. Additional evidence—Roman tiles, coins, and the kind of nails used in the sandals of Roman soldiers—shows that these walls were repaired sometime in the first century A.D.. Inscriptions from Kiriath Yearim and the nearby village of Abu Ghosh reveal that the town had hosted part of the 10th Roman legion after the Jewish war in A.D. 66-73. The very fact that the city had been repeatedly refortified is further evidence of the military and strategic significance of the site. In a forthcoming article in New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region, professor Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist based at Tel Aviv University and Thomas Römer, a professor of biblical studies at the College de France, argue that the Hellenistic era walls date to the period of conflict between the Maccabees and the Seleucids. During the revolt, Bacchides, the leader of the Seleucid army, ordered the construction of a ring of fortresses around Jerusalem that would guard and secure the various approaches to the city. Bacchides' construction efforts are, according to Römer, the only known large-scale fortification efforts during this period of history. Both 1 Maccabees 9:50 and the first century CE Jewish historian Josephus provide us with lists of the towns around Jerusalem that Bacchides had fortified. Most of those locations are identifiable sites to the north, south, and east of Jerusalem, many of which have been excavated. Neither list refers to Kiriath-Jearim, but, instead, both mention the name of another town: Emmaus. According to the Gospel of Luke, Emmaus was 60 stadia (7-11 kilometers) from Jerusalem. This is roughly equivalent of the 11 kilometers that lie between Jerusalem and the area that encompasses the hill of Kiriath-Jearim and town of Abu Ghosh. Given the absence of any other known Hellenistic-era fortified cities to the west of the city, Finkelstein and Römer argue that Kiriath-Jearim and the neighboring town of Abu Ghosh are actually Emmaus. This would mean that, in addition to identifying a strategically important military center, they may also have uncovered the location of an important episode from the story of the life of Jesus. Finkelstein and Römer have support from an unlikely source. During the 12th century, crusaders (more precisely, the Knights Hospitaller) built the Church of the Resurrection at Abu Ghosh beneath the hill of Kiriath-Jearim and called the place Castellum Emmaus. Of course, it's difficult to speak with certainty about the identification. Finkelstein and Römer's article uses archaeology, historical texts, and ancient and modern geography to make a strong case, but ultimately without the discovery of something decisive (say, an inscription) that can positively identify the site as Emmaus the theory remains a theory, albeit a compelling one. 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.
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| Brazilian official who protects Amazon indigenous tribes shot dead Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:14 AM PDT  A Brazilian government official who spent more than a decade working to protect indigenous people in the Amazon from loggers, miners and other threats to their way of life has been killed. Maxciel Pereira dos Santos was shot twice in the head in front of his family in an apparent execution, according to a union that represents such workers. Mr Santos had spent more than 12 years working for Funai, the National Indian Foundation, which is a Brazilian government body that defends the interests of indigenous people. He was reportedly shot while riding a motorbike down a main street of Tabatinga, located deep in the Amazon rainforest on Brazil's border with Colombia and Peru. Officials at INA, a union that represents Funai workers, claimed Mr Santos was killed in retaliation for work at the Vale do Javari reservation, which has the world's highest concentration of uncontacted indigenous tribes. An aerial view shows smoke rising over a deforested plot of the Amazon jungle in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, in this August 24, 2019 Credit: UESLEI MARCELINO/REUTERS Police are investigating but have not yet determined a motivation for the crime, according to the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. The killing comes amid international outrage at the destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. More than 80,000 fires were recorded between January and August this year, double last year's number. Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, has faced criticism from the international community for failing to do enough to protect the Amazon. According to Reuters analysis the budget for the government body which protects the rainforest has shrunk by 25 per cent since Mr Bolsonaro took office on January 1. Funai has three bases in the Vale do Javari to protect an area the size of Austria with some 6,000 residents from eight tribes, and some 16 uncontacted tribes. INA officials called on authorities to demonstrate Brazil "no longer condones violence against those who engage, under the rule of law, in the protection and promotion of indigenous rights".
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| A new 2020 Democratic primary poll shows Warren surging alongside fellow frontrunners Biden and Sanders Posted: 08 Sep 2019 04:20 PM PDT  The new poll from ABC News and The Washington Post found Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders slumping, Elizabeth Warren gaining, and Kamala Harris falling.
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| India Criticizes Chinese Trade Policies Posted: 08 Sep 2019 10:23 PM PDT ![India Criticizes Chinese Trade Policies]( "India Criticizes Chinese Trade Policies") (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday criticized China for what he described as one-sided trade policies, casting doubt over the progress of negotiations for a pan-Asian free trade agreement.Speaking during a panel discussion in Singapore, the minister said India remained skeptical over "unfair" market access and "Chinese protectionist policies" that have created a significant trade deficit between the two nations. India's trade deficit with China was $53.6 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2019."The big concerns of India are of course, one, its relationship with China because we have an enormous trade deficit with China," Jaishankar said in response to a question regarding the ongoing negotiations for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.Negotiators have expressed hope that RCEP -- which includes all 10 of Southeast Asia's Asean countries, as well as Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and China -- would be delivered by the end of the year. While ministers from the 16 participating countries reaffirmed their commitment to reaching a deal this year following negotiations in Bangkok over the weekend, it is unclear whether such a goal will be met.Jaishankar said he was unsure what was discussed in the latest round of negotiations, but noted that India's involvement would hinge on a mutually equitable, depoliticized arrangement."RCEP at the end of the day is an economic negotiation. It has a strategic implication, but the merits of the RCEP outcome have to be economic," said Jaishankar. "It has to be sold for its strength and I think if that was more self-evident to Indians I think you would get clearly a much stronger resonance."Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who was also on the panel, urged India to reconsider its position on RCEP, saying that Beijing and New Delhi would have to come to terms on trade eventually."I am making the argument that it is worth making the effort, because this would be a game changer," Balakrishnan said.To contact the reporter on this story: Philip J. Heijmans in Singapore at pheijmans1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan SundaramFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| South African attacks on foreign shops continue; 12 dead Posted: 09 Sep 2019 06:24 AM PDT  Two people have been killed in Johannesburg, police confirmed Monday, bringing to 12 the number of deaths since violence against foreign-owned shops erupted last month. Bands of South Africans launched violent attacks against foreign-owned shops and stalls, looting and burning the small businesses and attacking some of the shopkeepers. The attacks appear to be spreading throughout Gauteng, the country's most populous province encompassing the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
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| The hardest-hit communities in the Bahamas look apocalyptic after Hurricane Dorian, with wrecked homes and corpses left to rot in the hot sun Posted: 09 Sep 2019 08:06 AM PDT  A New York Times reporter was shown the bodies of six hurricane victims in a tour of Marsh Harbour's poorest neighborhoods this weekend.
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| New York college student arrested in Russia over medical marijuana possession Posted: 09 Sep 2019 12:13 PM PDT ![New York college student arrested in Russia over medical marijuana possession]( "New York college student arrested in Russia over medical marijuana possession") Audrey Lorber, a student at Pace University, was stopped at the airport in St. Petersburg with 19.05 grams of medical marijuana.
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| Photos of Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, World's Fastest Production Car Posted: 08 Sep 2019 03:01 AM PDT ![Photos of Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, World's Fastest Production Car]( "Photos of Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, World's Fastest Production Car")
Same spec as record-breaking car that ran 300 mph at Ehra-Lessien test track. From Car and Driver
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| Three SKorean crew members of capsized cargo ship rescued Posted: 09 Sep 2019 01:38 PM PDT  Three South Korean crew members of a massive cargo ship were rescued on Monday after a hole was cut into the steel hull of the capsized vessel, the US Coast Guard said. A rescue operation was ongoing for the fourth trapped member of the crew of the MV Golden Ray, which listed and caught fire in St. Simons Sound off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia. US Coast Guard Captain John Reed told reporters the fourth crew member was "stuck behind glass in an engineering control room" of the vessel, which is lying on its side after capsizing on Sunday.
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| Trump news: President says Bahamas full of 'bad gang members', as official threatens to fire NOAA employees over Hurricane Dorian claims Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Donald Trump is campaigning in North Carolina on Monday in support of Republican Mark Harris, who faces a strong challenge in a special election in a district that the president carried overwhelmingly in 2016.During an impromptu press conference before boarding his plane to that state, Mr Trump shocked reports by telling them that he is hesitant to allow Bahamians to enter the US after Hurricane Dorian because the island is full of "bad gang members". Also during that press conference, the president repeatedly said that Barack Obama had given him a present by leaving judicial vacancies, and repeatedly insisted that pundits had misanalysed the 2018 election results — in which Republicans lost control of the House — because his party had retained control of the Senate in an election year that favoured the GOP.
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| Epstein bombarded Bill Gates with calls and contacts to score a meeting with the billionaire a year before his $2 million donation to MIT Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:08 PM PDT  A spokesperson for Bill Gates confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein "worked aggressively" to meet with him in 2013, a year before giving $2 million to MIT.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Toyota Camry TRD Posted: 09 Sep 2019 04:00 AM PDT |
| Zimbabwe's Mugabe to lie in state at 2 different stadiums Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:03 AM PDT  Former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's body will lie in state at two different stadiums in the capital city for three days, the information minister said Monday, but she did not announce where he would be buried on Sunday. Mugabe, an ex-guerrilla chief who took power in 1980 when the African country shook off white minority rule and ruled for decades, died on Friday at a hospital in Singapore. Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in a statement that the government has dispatched Vice President Kembo Mohadi and other senior officials and family members to Singapore to accompany Mugabe's body home.
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| San Francisco makes $2.5 billion bid for PG&E's electric system Posted: 08 Sep 2019 10:20 AM PDT  The city of San Francisco has offered to buy PG&E Corp's power lines and other electrical system infrastructure serving the city for $2.5 billion, according to the utility, which sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. PG&E is expected to file a reorganization plan in a U.S. bankruptcy court in San Francisco this week that addresses its estimated $30 billion in liabilities from wildfires in California in 2017 and 2018, including November's Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire of the state's modern history. "We all agree on the importance of continuing to serve the citizens of San Francisco with safe, clean, affordable and reliable energy," PG&E said in a statement provided by spokeswoman Karly Hernandez on Sunday.
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| Hong Kong’s Richest Man Tells Leaders to ‘Have Mercy’ Amid Protests Posted: 09 Sep 2019 06:18 AM PDT ![Hong Kong's Richest Man Tells Leaders to 'Have Mercy' Amid Protests]( "Hong Kong's Richest Man Tells Leaders to 'Have Mercy' Amid Protests") (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's richest man urged the government to "have mercy" in dealing with the unrest that has rocked the city this summer, describing recent months of protests as its worst crisis since World War II.Li Ka-shing, whose conglomerate is among Hong Kong's most dominant business empires, on Sunday called for reconciliation between the government and protesters as another weekend of demonstrations turned violent."If it continues, it will be very bad, and I am concerned," the 91-year-old said during an event at Tsz Shan Monastery, a Buddhist temple which he helped finance. "We hope young people can consider the big picture, and government leaders can also have mercy on the masters of our future." A spokesman for CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., Li's flagship ports-to-telecom conglomerate, confirmed his remarks.Small pockets of demonstrators on Sunday set fires, vandalized subway stations and set up barricades downtown after tens of thousands marched peacefully to the U.S. consulate. The dramatic images in the heart of Hong Kong served as the latest reminder that three months of demonstrations against China's grip over the city are unlikely to end soon.Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam last week said she would formally withdraw a bill allowing extraditions to the mainland, which triggered the unrest in early June. But demonstrators now have a host of other demands, and Beijing has ruled out the biggest one: the right to elect a leader of their choosing.In newspaper advertisements last month, Li called for an end to the violence in a poetic message that some interpreted as calling for those in power to stop persecution, while others said it meant to urge protesters to stop disrupting the city.To contact the reporter on this story: Shirley Zhao in Hong Kong at xzhao306@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Watkins at dwatkins19@bloomberg.net, Sam NagarajanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| New Saudi minister jokes oil outlook could drive him to Prozac Posted: 09 Sep 2019 08:06 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia's Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman brought some humour to his debut as the kingdom's new oil minister Monday, joking that the industry outlook could drive him to take Prozac if he took it seriously. Speaking at an international energy forum in Abu Dhabi where he was the star of the show just a day after being appointed by his father King Salman, the new minister deflected concerns over the health of the energy sector. The International Energy Agency (IEA) last week lowered its growth forecast for oil demand for 2019 and 2020, blaming the ugly US-China trade dispute which has triggered fears of a global recession.
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| Trump shares bizarre cat meme about his altered hurricane map Posted: 08 Sep 2019 01:40 PM PDT  President Trump prolonged a weeklong controversy over Hurricane Dorian, sharing cat video late Saturday night that mocked coverage of his incorrect claims about the storm's path.
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| Couple arrested after bank mistakenly deposited $120,000 they spent, police say Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:09 AM PDT  The couple from Montoursville, Pennsylvania, allegedly purchased a car, paid their bills and handed the money out to friends, police said.
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| A leaked offer to an Iranian tanker captain exposed an open secret: The US will pay you millions of dollars to betray its enemies Posted: 09 Sep 2019 12:53 PM PDT  Defense and security experts were incredulous that the US government used email to offer millions of dollars to the captain of an Iranian oil tanker.
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| 13,000 stranded after French airline collapses: official Posted: 09 Sep 2019 03:36 AM PDT  Some 13,000 passengers, mainly booked on flights to and from Algeria, are still stranded after France's second-largest airline Aigle Azur went into receivership, a senior French official said Monday, adding that several potential buyers had been identified. The airline, which employs almost 1,200 staff, filed for bankruptcy and suspended flights last week after losses which prompted a shareholder coup that ousted the chief executive. "Out of 19,000 passengers who found themselves in difficulty at the peak of the crisis, there are still 13,000" who have yet to be repatriated, the secretary of state for transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, told the Le Parisien daily.
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| WV pol charged after anger over racist signs turns physical Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:06 PM PDT ![WV pol charged after anger over racist signs turns physical]( "WV pol charged after anger over racist signs turns physical") A West Virginia lawmaker has been charged for kicking a door into a statehouse staffer and elbowing a delegate because he was mad about racist signs at the Capitol, authorities said. A criminal complaint filed Friday charges Democratic Del. Mike Caputo with misdemeanor battery for the incident in March. Caputo has admitted to kicking the door because he was upset about a display outside the House chamber on "WV GOP Day" that falsely linked U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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| Female prisoner who asked for help says she was 'beaten so badly' she was paralyzed Posted: 08 Sep 2019 09:12 AM PDT  A female inmate in a Florida prison who said she was beaten by four guards has sued the state's corrections agency. Cheryl Weimar said the alleged beating left her paralyzed, ane with with "serious and life-threatening injuries, including a broken neck," in a complaint filed in district court on Tuesday.
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| The next target in the climate-change debate: your gas stove Posted: 09 Sep 2019 05:31 AM PDT  WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dozens of cities in liberal-leaning states such as California, Washington, and Massachusetts are studying proposals to ban or limit the use of natural gas in commercial and residential buildings. The movement opens a new front in the fight against climate change that could affect everything from heating systems in skyscrapers to stoves in suburban homes. Berkeley, California, in July became the first U.S. city to pass an ordinance banning gas systems in new buildings, and it may soon be followed by many others, according to interviews with local officials, activists and industry groups.
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| S.Africa issues arrest warrant for suspected killers of Rwandan ex-spy Posted: 09 Sep 2019 07:05 AM PDT  South African authorities have issued an arrest warrant for two of the four alleged murderers of an exiled Rwandan ex-spy and critic of President Paul Kagame who was killed in a Johannesburg hotel in 2014, the family lawyer said Monday. South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is also applying for the extradition of two other suspects of Rwandan descent, advocate Gerrie Nel said in a statement. If granted, the NPA will apply to Interpol to issue "Red Notices" for the suspects, Nel said in a statement.
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| US prepares to step up strikes on Taliban after Trump halts talks Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:11 AM PDT  American forces are preparing to redouble a campaign to kill Taliban commanders in Afghanistan, in an attempt to put more pressure on the insurgents following Donald Trump's decision to call off negotiations with the militants. US commanders are expected to step up the tempo of their campaign of air strikes and raids targeting militant leaders, military sources said. The Taliban are expected to respond to the halt in talks with their own increase in operations, leaving Afghanistan braced for intensified violence in the coming weeks. "[The Americans] have said they are really going to go after their commanders now, " said one source. Both sides have refused to halt fighting while holding talks in Doha over the past year, attempting to convert military pressure into negotiating strength. Mr Trump tweeted on Monday: "We have been serving as policemen in Afghanistan, and that was not meant to be the job of our Great Soldiers, the finest on earth. Over the last four days, we have been hitting our Enemy harder than at any time in the last ten years!" Mr Trump added that US talks with the Taliban were "dead." Mr Trump, speaking at the White House, said: "They're dead. They're dead. As far as I'm concerned, they're dead." Afghan army soldiers pray during a ceremony to introduce the new chief of the intelligence service, in Kabul Credit: AP The US president said it had been his idea to hold a meeting at Camp David, and his idea to "terminate" it. He said: "When I heard, very simply, they killed one of our soldiers, and 12 other people, there's no way I'm meeting on that basis. They made a big mistake. And they're telling people they made a big mistake." "You should know, in the last 10 days we've killed over a thousand Taliban," said Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, after Mr Trump cancelled talks. He went on: "If you're the Taliban, conditions have been worsening, and they're about to get worse." Asked if that meant military activity would increase, he said "I'll leave it to the Department of Defence to talk about specifics, but no one should underestimate President Trump's commitment to achieving those goals." The Taliban continued their own campaign of indiscriminate bombing through talks and warned that Mr Trump's cancellation of negotiations would lead to more bloodshed. The move "will harm America more than anyone else," the group said in a statement. "It will damage its reputation, unmask its anti-peace policy to the world even more, increase its loss of life and treasure and present its political interactions as erratic." Scattered violence continued across the country on Monday as Afghans digested Mr Trump's reverse on talks. A roadside bomb blast in the capital, Kabul, wounded three civilians. The intended target was unknown and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The Taliban claimed attacks on at least two districts of north eastern Takhar province overnight, and a heavy gun battle continued in the district of Khwaja Ghar. The insurgents launched a series of assaults on provincial capitals last week. The main highway between the capital and the capital of the northern province of Baghlan remained blocked, a week after the Taliban attacked Pul-e Khumri, and sporadic gun battles continued. Mr Trump's lead negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, had last week announced a deal had been finalised "in principle", that would see US troops begin to withdraw from America's longest war. Mr Trump invited both the insurgents and the Afghan government to a meeting at his presidential retreat, Camp David, where he hoped to seal the deal and make a grand announcement. Mr Trump said he cancelled the gathering after a Taliban bomb blast killed a US soldier. The Taliban said they themselves had rejected the invitation, refusing to appear alongside the Afghan government, who they denounce as a US puppet regime. Both the US and Taliban appeared to leave the door open to a resumption of talks later. "I'm not pessimistic," Mr Pompeo said. "I've watched the Taliban do things and say things they've not been permitted to do before." The Taliban said they stood by talks. "The Islamic Emirate has a solid and unwavering policy. We called for dialogue twenty years earlier and maintain the same stance today and believe America shall return to this position also."
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| Robert Shiller, who predicted dot-com crash, sees less than 50% chance of recession in '20 Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:19 AM PDT ![Robert Shiller, who predicted dot-com crash, sees less than 50% chance of recession in '20]( "Robert Shiller, who predicted dot-com crash, sees less than 50% chance of recession in '20") Economist Robert Shiller told the Financial News he believes there's less than 50% chance of recession in 2020. Many economists predict a downturn
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| Trump Agriculture Trade Official Calls Xi ‘Communist Zealot’ Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:15 PM PDT ![Trump Agriculture Trade Official Calls Xi 'Communist Zealot']( "Trump Agriculture Trade Official Calls Xi 'Communist Zealot'") (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Agriculture Department's top trade official called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "communist zealot," as he warned farmers the Asian leader is a tough adversary in negotiations.Ted McKinney, the department's undersecretary for trade, offered the provocative characterization of the Chinese leader Monday at a sensitive time in U.S.-China relations. After a summer of bombast and tariff escalation the two sides have agreed to hold face-to-face working-level staff talks in the coming weeks and a ministerial meeting in Washington in early October.Throughout the trade conflict and even as economic relations have deteriorated, Trump has also been careful in his personal dealings with Xi.McKinney offered a harsh assessment of the Chinese leader as he defended Trump's trade war during a speech to the National Farmers Union, which has been critical of the tariff fight and the economic losses it has caused U.S. agricultural producers."Let me just tell you what: Mr. Xi Jinping is a communist zealot. He sees himself very much in the spirit of Mao Zedong," McKinney said in remarks to 380 farmers the group gathered in Washington to lobby the government.He also aired complaints the Asian nation suppresses church attendance. McKinney said that members of the Department's Foreign Agricultural Service, which has diplomatic representatives stationed around China, have reported that Xi's government has stepped up a crackdown on church attendance."Chinese nationals are not allowed to go to church: No, no, no, no, no, no -- off limits," McKinney said.McKinney nonetheless said he was "encouraged" that trade talks are moving in the right direction. Earlier in the year "we were negotiating very well," he said."I hope we can pick up where we last left off. But I'm only 50-50," McKinney said.McKinney was appointed to the U.S. Agriculture Department post after serving as Indiana's state agriculture director, a job he was hired for by then-Indiana governor Mike Pence.To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Dorning in Washington at mdorning@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie AsséoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| MIT scandal highlights thorny ethics of university donations Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:57 PM PDT  While MIT grapples with new allegations about its financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein, other universities that accepted donations from the disgraced financier say they have no plans to return the money. The turmoil at MIT has sent shockwaves through the world of education and highlights the challenges universities face as they screen potential donors and decide whether to keep money that's tainted by its benefactor's misdeeds. Epstein was arrested in July on federal sex-trafficking charges, drawing new attention to old allegations that he had sexually abused women and girls.
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| Former Fresno County sheriff's deputy admits to domestic violence, avoids felony strikes Posted: 08 Sep 2019 09:48 AM PDT  A Fresno County sheriff's deputy who lost his job after a second domestic violence related arrest last month has admitted to some of his crimes.
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| A former Boeing official is pleading the Fifth Amendment after being subpoenaed for documents in the US Justice Department's probe of the 737 Max Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:12 AM PDT  The former chief technical pilot on the Boeing 737 Max project invoked the Fifth in response to a grand jury subpoena from the Justice Department.
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| NKorea mobilizes after typhoon as Tokyo gets hit by storm Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:52 AM PDT  North Korean state media urged citizens on Monday to "fully mobilize" to rebuild after powerful Typhoon Lingling lashed the country over the weekend, with workers rebuilding electricity networks, salvaging battered crops and helping families whose homes and property were damaged. Meanwhile, a separate typhoon that blew across the Tokyo area Monday killed one person and caused dozens of injuries while disrupting rush-hour travel and knocking out power. Several railway and subway operators suspended service, and flights were canceled at Tokyo airports as Typhoon Faxai passed over Chiba, a northern suburb of the Japanese capital, before daybreak, shaking homes with strong winds and battering the area with rain.
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| China's Guangdong to release another 3,150 tonnes of pork from reserves to secure supplies Posted: 09 Sep 2019 05:54 AM PDT |
| Crisis-hit Nissan's CEO to resign over pay issue: reports Posted: 08 Sep 2019 05:41 PM PDT  The CEO of crisis-hit Japanese auto giant Nissan plans to resign, local media reported Monday, days after admitting he received more pay than his entitlement. The reports said it was not immediately clear when Hiroto Saikawa would step down, as the firm struggles with the aftermath of the arrest of its former chief Carlos Ghosn on charges of financial misconduct. Nissan said it had no immediate comment on the reports, which first emerged overnight in the Nikkei business daily.
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| White House says it has killed ‘1,000 Taliban’ in last 10 days, hours after Trump called off talks Posted: 09 Sep 2019 09:23 AM PDT  Mike Pompeo told multiple news anchors that American forces had killed "over 1,000 Taliban" in the last ten days, days after the president abruptly announced a failed would-be meeting with leaders of the group at Camp David."We have been fighting and talking in a way that America often doesn't do," the secretary of state said on ABC's This Week, after claiming the thousand killed. "It's what's driven us to be able to have the success at the negotiating table."
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| Tropical trouble? Forecasters eye several systems in the Atlantic Posted: 09 Sep 2019 09:14 AM PDT ![Tropical trouble? Forecasters eye several systems in the Atlantic]( "Tropical trouble? Forecasters eye several systems in the Atlantic") Now that Hurricane Dorian has passed on, forecasters keep watch on a few other disturbances in the Atlantic.
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| Clashes Erupt in Hong Kong as Thousands March on the U.S. Consulate to Call for Washington's Support Posted: 08 Sep 2019 03:24 AM PDT  Marchers are calling on the U.S. to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
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| America’s First Gay Credit Union Gets Green Light From Michigan Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:07 AM PDT ![America's First Gay Credit Union Gets Green Light From Michigan]( "America's First Gay Credit Union Gets Green Light From Michigan") (Bloomberg) -- Do lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people need a bank of their own? Superbia Credit Union is about to find out.Michigan on Monday approved a charter for the new financial institution designed for LGBT customers, clearing the way for online service to begin early in 2020.Superbia Credit Union will offer products which are often outside the scope of a more traditional lender, such as loans for transgender people in the process of transitioning, said Myles Meyers, founder of New York-based Superbia Services Inc., which created the credit union."I can walk into a bank or credit union and apply for a loan or credit card or savings accounts and frankly, no problem," said Meyers. "If I walked in to the same institution with my husband, we can come across different responses and welcome. And this is where it all starts to change for the community."Large swaths of corporate America now advertise their support for LGBT rights, and hundreds of companies have signed on to support federal and state laws to give equal protection to the community. A majority of Americans say they support gay marriage.But it's still legal to discriminate against LGBT consumers in most U.S. states, and research shows that gay couples face hurdles in banking regardless of geography. Same-sex couples are less likely to be approved for a loan, for example, and when they are, they pay more for the financing.There's a financial incentive to target LGBT customers more directly when offering banking services. The combined buying power of the U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adult population was estimated at $987 billion in a 2017 projection by Witeck Communications.With the charter in place, Superbia will form a board and begin hiring executives. In addition to the credit union, Superbia Services plans to expand into products such as insurance, health care and wealth management specifically designed for LGBT customers, Meyers said.To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Daniel TaubFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Appeals court orders resentencing for Rand Paul attacker Posted: 09 Sep 2019 04:07 PM PDT ![Appeals court orders resentencing for Rand Paul attacker]( "Appeals court orders resentencing for Rand Paul attacker") A federal appeals court on Monday vacated what it called a "well-below-guidelines" prison sentence for the man who tackled U.S. Sen. Rand Paul outside his Kentucky home, ordering a resentencing for the attack that broke the lawmaker's ribs. The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it found "no compelling justification" for Rene Boucher's 30-day sentence. The Republican senator was tackled by Boucher in late 2017 when Paul's then-neighbor became angry over lawn maintenance at the senator's home.
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| Poles who saved Jews during Holocaust honored in Warsaw Posted: 08 Sep 2019 11:28 AM PDT  A U.S.-based Jewish foundation honored Polish gentiles who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, a number that grows smaller each year, with U.S. and Israeli diplomats also paying their respects at the event Sunday in Warsaw to the elderly Poles who put their lives in danger to save others. Today, the rescuers are in their 80s and 90s, and they arrived at the event in Warsaw helped by their children, with some in wheelchairs. "On behalf of the Jewish people, I thank you for your noble deeds so many years ago, for when most turned their backs on their Jewish neighbors, you did not," Stanlee Stahl, the foundation's executive vice president, told those gathered.
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