| Trump compares impeachment inquiry to a 'lynching' Posted: 22 Oct 2019 05:58 AM PDT  While fuming Tuesday morning about the House Democrats' ongoing impeachment inquiry, President Trump declared the probe a "lynching."
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| CORRECTED-Security forces arrest 31 cartel suspects in raid on Mexico City drug labs -authorities Posted: 22 Oct 2019 12:46 PM PDT ![CORRECTED-Security forces arrest 31 cartel suspects in raid on Mexico City drug labs -authorities]( "CORRECTED-Security forces arrest 31 cartel suspects in raid on Mexico City drug labs -authorities") Security forces arrested 31 suspected cartel members on Tuesday in a raid on a warren of clandestine tunnels and alleged drug laboratories in Mexico City, authorities said. Government officials said dozens of police and security force members swooped down on buildings in the central Tepito neighborhood of Mexico City, long known for its contraband activity. Videos on Twitter purportedly of the raid showed soldiers in battle gear brandishing assault rifles alongside armored vehicles and police trucks blocking an intersection and highway before dawn.
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| Tree of Life anniversary: American Jews see rising anti-Semitism in alarming new survey Posted: 22 Oct 2019 09:01 PM PDT ![Tree of Life anniversary: American Jews see rising anti-Semitism in alarming new survey]( "Tree of Life anniversary: American Jews see rising anti-Semitism in alarming new survey") American Jews think anti-Semitism is growing worse. More than third have experienced it, and nearly that many say they hide their identity in public.
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| Turkey-U.S. Sparring Escalates as Bank Spurns NY Court Posted: 22 Oct 2019 03:51 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Turkey is snubbing U.S. demands for one of its biggest banks to face charges that it helped Iran evade sanctions amid escalating tensions fueled by Turkey's incursion into northern Syria.U.S. prosecutors charged Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS last week with enabling a sanctions-evasion scheme that helped Iran tap $20 billion in frozen foreign oil sales revenue sitting in foreign bank accounts, at a time when the U.S. was trying to maximize leverage over the country in negotiations to abandon its nuclear program.The timing of the indictment led Turkish officials to dismiss the charges as false and politically motivated. The bank and its U.S. lawyers have refused to accept a legal summons or acknowledge U.S. legal authority in the matter. At a hearing Tuesday, no lawyers or executives showed up to represent the bank. A day earlier Turkey named a former executive at the bank, who'd been convicted in the U.S., to head the Istanbul stock exchange.Tensions between Turkey and the U.S. have heightened since President Donald Trump ordered the removal of U.S. troops from northern Syria, opening the door for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to send his forces to attack Kurds in the region.The incursion spurred the U.S. to sanction Turkey with Trump writing a letter last week to Erdogan imploring him not to be a "tough guy" or a "fool." Erdogan reportedly threw the letter in the trash.Earlier, Trump threatened Turkey in a statement on Twitter.U.S. authorities had been pursuing a criminal case against the bank for at least a year, seeking to impose a massive financial penalty for its role in the scheme. But the case idled for months amid diplomatic wrangling until the charges were filed along with other sanctions last week.Read more on the charges hereFederal prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office have now deemed Halkbank a "fugitive," and told U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman they may seek contempt sanctions if the bank fails to respond to renewed demands for its presence in court. Halkbank has no employees or offices in the U.S., though it does have a correspondent bank account and shares that are listed and traded as American depositary receipts in U.S. markets.The judge said he would consider the request but also said he wanted to give the bank two weeks to review the matter and reconsider its position.If Turkey's current position on the issue is any indication, it may take more than two weeks: on Monday, it named a former Halkbank executive who was convicted in a U.S. trial over the sanctions scheme as the new chief executive of the Istanbul stock exchange. The executive, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, was released from U.S. custody in July. In making the appointment, Turkish finance minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan's son-in-law, said Atilla was the victim of an "unjust conviction."(Corrects bank's name in second paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Berthelsen in New York at cberthelsen1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe SchneiderFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Putin aims to boost Moscow's clout with Russia-Africa summit Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:12 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted dozens of leaders of African nations Wednesday for the first-ever Russia-Africa summit, reflecting Moscow's new push to expand its clout on the continent. Putin said Russia's annual trade with African nations doubled in the last five years to exceed $20 billion. El-Sissi in his speech encouraged Russian companies to expand their investment in Africa.
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| Why Russia Is Angry at America's Missile Defense Systems Posted: 22 Oct 2019 04:40 AM PDT  Moscow hates THAAD and Aegis Ashore.
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| Turkey and Russia announce deal to withdraw all Kurdish forces from Syrian border Posted: 22 Oct 2019 11:42 AM PDT  Turkey and Russia announced last night they had reached a deal to avoid a return to fullscale fighting in northeast Syria, just hours before a US-brokered ceasefire between Turkish and Kurdish forces was due to expire. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin emerged from marathon talks in Sochi with an agreement that would see all Kurdish forces pull back 30km from the Syrian border over the next six days. Russia and Turkey will then launch joint military patrols in the area to ensure the deal is being implemented. There was no immediate comment from Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the deal. But if the agreement holds it means Turkey will not restart its military offensive, which many feared would resume as soon as an earlier ceasefire ended at 10pm on Tuesday. "According to this agreement, Turkey and Russia will not allow any separatist agenda on Syrian territory," Mr Erdoğan said. Turkey and Syria border The talks in Sochi underscore how quickly Russia has replaced the US as the main powerbroker in northeast Syria in the days since Donald Trump, the US president, pulled American forces out of the region. Russian forces will now stand guard in areas that only a few weeks were ago were being patrolled by US troops. The evening agreement between Russia and Turkey capped a dramatic day as the world counted down the hours until the end of the ceasefire brokered last week by US vice president Mike Pence. The US said earlier in the day that it believed that Kurdish forces had fulfilled their obligations to withdraw from a key 120km stretch of the border and warned Turkey that it would impose sanctions if the Turkish military resumed attacks. Areas of Rojava and Iraqi Kurdistan before the Turkish offensive The Russian-Turkish deal appears to expand on the earlier American agreement and ensure that Kurdish forces will leave the entire length of the border. Turkey will maintain control in areas it has already seized while Russian and Syrian regime forces will hold the rest of the border. The agreement also states that the Kurds will withdraw from two holdout towns in western Syria, Kobani and Tel Rifaat, which Turkey has been trying to dislodge them from them for more than a year. Sergey Shoygu, the Russian defence minister, said up to 500 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) members had escaped from Kurdish-run prisons in northeast Syria amid the chaos of the Turkish offensive. US troops are withdrawing from northeast Syria Credit: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images Meanwhile, confusion over the US plan to withdraw forces from Syria deepened on Tuesday after Iraq's government said the retreating troops did not have permission to stay in Iraq. "There is no permission granted for these forces to stay inside Iraq," the Iraqi military said. The comment appeared to contradict claims by the Pentagon that the roughly 1,000 soldiers would stay in Iraq to continue fighting Isil. Mark Esper, the US defence secretary, said he would try to smooth the issue during a visit to Iraq and added that the additional American forces did not plan "to stay in Iraq interminably". There was a bleak reminder of the threat from Isil inside Iraq when it emerged Tuesday that a senior Iraqi police commander had been killed in an ambush by jihadist fighters. Bashar al-Assad visited his forces in Idlib for the first time in years Bashar al-Assad made a rare trip outside Damascus to visit his troops on the front line in southern Idlib, where Syrian regime forces are battling against jihadists and rebels to take back the last opposition-held province in Syria. The visit is the first time Assad has stepped foot in the province in years and marks his growing confidence after several weeks of good news for Damascus. While his forces are make slow progress in Idlib, they were handed an unexpected victory in northeast Syria after Kurdish forces invited them in to confront Turkey. Assad took aim at the Turkish president during the trip to Idlib, saying: "Erdogan is a thief and is now stealing our land." He vowed to continue his assault on Idlib, which is home to around 3 million civilians, and said a victory in the provice would help "decisively end chaos and terrorism in all of Syria".
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| Subaru Levorg, Bold New Station Wagon, Previews the Next WRX Posted: 22 Oct 2019 10:00 PM PDT  The Levorg's chiseled looks and updated technology could reach our shores on other Subaru models, but, sadly, probably not in this form.
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| Explorers Find Sunken Japanese Aircraft Carrier from the Battle of Midway Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:43 AM PDT  It's the second carrier the crew has discovered in a week.
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| Former Acting Attorney General: ‘Abuse of Power Is Not a Crime’ Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:51 PM PDT  Following Tuesday's devastating House testimony by acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor about President Trump allegedly coercing the Ukrainian president to do his political bidding, former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker defended the president by claiming "abuse of power is not a crime."With House Democrats reportedly looking to focus their impeachment inquiry on a basic "abuse of power" narrative going forward, Fox News' Laura Ingraham brought Whitaker on her primetime show Tuesday night to provide a counter-argument.Predicting Republican "payback" in the future if Democrats are successful in impeaching and removing the president, Whitaker went on to complain about the "secret testimony" in the House hearings before claiming that it is too close to the 2020 election for impeachment."It's corrosive and yet those that are perpetrating it cast themselves as the white knights," Ingraham replied, seemingly referring to Taylor, among others. "They are saving the republic from the man whose policies they disagree with so vehemently."Whitaker, meanwhile, blasted the "global elitists and careerists" who are upset with Trump for "upsetting the apple cart" of the "world establishment," claiming Trump is "being punished for this." He then called on Democrats to hold public hearings to make their case for impeachment."I'm a former prosecutor and what I know is this is a perfect time for preliminary hearings where you would say show us your evidence," Whitaker stated. "What evidence of a crime do you have? So the Constitution—abuse of power is not a crime.""Let's fundamentally boil it down," he added. "The Constitution is very clear that there has to be some pretty egregious behavior and they cannot tell the American people what this case is even about."The articles of impeachment against former President Bill Clinton specifically laid out gross abuse of presidential power charges. Richard Nixon was also looking at three articles of impeachment—one of which was for abuse of power—before he resigned as president.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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| US far-right activists get four years in jail for attacking leftists Posted: 22 Oct 2019 11:44 AM PDT  Two members of a US far-right group were each sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday for brawling with anti-fascist demonstrators in New York, prosecutors said. The sentencing comes as tensions between white supremacists and leftists simmer in the United States. Maxwell Hare and John Kinsman, members of the Proud Boys group, were found guilty in August by a state court of several counts of attempted assault and rioting.
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| Supreme Court Throws Out Michigan Gerrymandering Ruling in Win for GOP Posted: 21 Oct 2019 09:45 AM PDT  The Supreme Court granted the Michigan Republican party a win on Monday by throwing out a lower court ruling that required dozens of congressional and legislative districts to be redrawn due to concerns they had been gerrymandered by Republicans.The high court's 5-to-4 decision reverses a ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which demanded the state redraw nine congressional districts and 25 state districts by August 1.Monday's decision also follows the Supreme Court's ruling in June that it would leave gerrymandering cases to state courts."Partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the June decision, which dealt with district boundaries in Maryland and North Carolina.That ruling divided the court along ideological lines with Roberts serving as the swing vote.Roberts joined conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch to strike down the lower court's ruling, while liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen, and Stephen Breyer voted to preserve the lower court's finding that the districts must be redrawn.The majority in the June case cited the lack of an adequate test to determine when "political gerrymandering has gone too far."The League of Women Voters of Michigan sued the Republican-controlled state legislature last year, accusing the party of rigging districts to keep the party in power, resulting in the overturned Sixth Circuit ruling, which said Republicans infringed on voters' First and 14th Amendment rights "by diluting the weight of their votes.""The Enacted Plan gives Republicans a strong, systematic, and durable structural advantage in Michigan's elections and decidedly discriminates against Democrats," the nixed Sixth Circuit decision read. "This court joins the growing chorus of federal courts that have, in recent years, held that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional."Because of the Supreme Court's Monday ruling in favor of the GOP, districts will not be redrawn until 2022, when a bipartisan redistricting commission resulting from a state referendum last fall will assume the task of redrawing the boundaries.
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| Biden’s Lead in CNN Poll Widest Since April: Campaign Update Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:50 AM PDT ![Biden's Lead in CNN Poll Widest Since April: Campaign Update]( "Biden's Lead in CNN Poll Widest Since April: Campaign Update") (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden is rebounding, at least according to the latest CNN poll, which registered his widest lead since April among fellow Democratic White House candidates.It's an encouraging sign for the former vice president, who has been on the verge of losing his front-runner status to rival Elizabeth Warren.Biden has the support of 34% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters, with Warren second with 19% followed by Bernie Sanders with 16%. Biden's bump hasn't appeared to harm Warren or Sanders, whose support stayed steady from the last CNN poll in September.Instead, Biden has seen his support spike among moderate and conservative Democrats, 43% of whom support him now, up from 29% in the September poll. He also registered a 14 percentage-point gain among racial and ethnic minorities and a 13-point gain among voters 45 and older. The national poll, conducted Oct. 17-20, has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.8 percentage points.COMING UPCory Booker is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club in Washington at 1 p.m on Wednesday.Julian Castro, Beto O'Rourke and Sanders are to attend a town hall hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens in Iowa on Thursday from 7-9 p.m. local time.Biden, Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Sanders and Warren are set to attend a forum hosted by the Bipartisan Justice Center in Columbia, South Carolina, Oct. 25-27.To contact the reporter on this story: Kathleen Hunter in London at khunter9@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth WassermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kim orders South's buildings at resort in North be destroyed Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:34 AM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the destruction of South Korean-made hotels and other tourist facilities at the North's Diamond Mountain resort, apparently because Seoul won't defy international sanctions and resume South Korean tours at the site. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim had visited the resort and described its facilities as "shabby" and lacking national character.
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| A top Marine Corps scout sniper managed to sneak up on his enemy completely naked except for a pair of boots Posted: 22 Oct 2019 01:51 PM PDT  The nude sniper proved that to truly disappear you don't need clothes, just that you fully embrace the "weirdest thing in the world."
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| Iraq: U.S. troops crossing border from Syria don't have approval to stay Posted: 22 Oct 2019 04:34 AM PDT  U.S. forces that crossed into Iraq as part of a withdrawal from Syria do not have permission to stay and can only be there in transit, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday.
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| See Photos of the New Honda Fit Posted: 22 Oct 2019 06:04 PM PDT |
| President Trump is right to keep administration members from secret tribunals: Rep. Biggs Posted: 22 Oct 2019 03:35 PM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi should formalize the impeachment inquiry by a vote of the whole House, writes Rep. Andy Biggs, chairman of the Freedom Caucus
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| Brothers who allegedly left their grandma to die in a fire, but saved meth lab equipment indicted Posted: 21 Oct 2019 03:10 PM PDT ![Brothers who allegedly left their grandma to die in a fire, but saved meth lab equipment indicted]( "Brothers who allegedly left their grandma to die in a fire, but saved meth lab equipment indicted") A Steuben County grand jury two men in connection with a May fire that was reportedly caused by a meth lab and killed their grandmother.
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| Lebanon's Hezbollah under rare street pressure Posted: 21 Oct 2019 05:53 PM PDT  When mass anti-government protests engulfed Lebanon, a taboo was broken as strongholds of the Shiite Hezbollah movement saw rare demonstrations criticising the party and revered leader Hassan Nasrallah. This shattered the myth of absolute acquiesence among Hezbollah's popular base, baffling even those who hail from the movement's strongholds. "No one ever expected that in any of these areas in south Lebanon we would hear a single word against Nasrallah," or Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri, said Sara, a 32-year-old activist who participated in protests in the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
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| Silicon Valley CEOs Appear to Have Chosen Their 2020 Candidate Posted: 22 Oct 2019 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The technology industry is looking for something different in a president in 2020. And it appears Pete Buttigieg is their candidate.While Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren are topping national polls in the contest for the Democratic Party's nomination, California's deep-pocketed Silicon Valley is donating to the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana over the former vice president by a 5-to-1 margin."Pete is a clean slate for the party in ways Biden can't be," said Cyrus Radfar, a 35-year-old technology entrepreneur and Democratic donor. "There's new life and new energy that Pete brings, especially as the base of the Democratic Party is getting younger. I think he's going to be on the national stage for a long time."Buttigieg has staged a fundraising blitz in posh Northern California communities, holding events hosted by technology executives such as Netflix Inc. Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings, Nest Labs home-automation company co-founder Matt Rogers, and Chelsea Kohler, director of product communications at Uber Technologies Inc., among others.Were he to win, Buttigieg would not only be the youngest president, but also the first openly gay one. While he is successfully raising money, Buttigieg has struggled until recently to enter the top tier of candidates nationally.But there are signs that he could be a moderate voter's alternative to Biden. While raising money in California, Buttigieg is campaigning heavily in Iowa, and it appears both efforts are paying off. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll of likely Iowa caucus goers put Buttigieg just behind Biden and Warren for the first time. Biden had 18% support, Warren 17% and Buttigieg 13%.Millennial voters in the tech industry say they appreciate that Buttigieg's liberal policies seem grounded in reality and recognize "a cutthroat world," as Elizabeth Moran, 28, put it at a debate watch party in Silicon Valley's Sunnyvale. Moran, who works at Poshmark, a social commerce platform, said she likes Buttigieg's grasp of economics."Well-educated recognizes well-educated," Moran said, adding that Buttigieg could have come to Silicon Valley after graduating from Harvard as many Ivy League graduates do.In other words, in their eyes, Buttigieg is like them."There's a big move on the Democratic side to more heavily regulate tech, and that hasn't been part of Buttigieg's message," said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. "His message is consistent with innovation and forward-looking technology. He has not given the impression that he would threaten their interests."While he hasn't said much about competition and antitrust, Buttigieg has focused on improving regulations as opposed to breaking up big tech."We're going to need to empower the FTC to be able to intervene, including blocking or reversing mergers, in cases where there's anti-competitive behavior by tech companies," he said in a CNN town hall in April, referring to the Federal Trade Commission.Buttigieg was his high school's valedictorian and went on to Harvard, where he befriended two roommates of future Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and was one of the first 300 users on the social media platform. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, joined McKinsey & Co. as a consultant, and volunteered for Barack Obama's tech-savvy 2008 presidential campaign before joining the U.S. Navy Reserve and serving in Afghanistan.His relationship with Zuckerberg persisted. Zuckerberg, 35, visited South Bend in 2017 while doing research for his philanthropic organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and got a personal tour from Buttigieg. That relationship lasted into this year, when Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, recommended two people that Buttigieg ultimately hired for his campaign. Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Zuckerberg and Chan, said the couple hasn't yet decided whom to support for president.The Golden StateCalifornia voters have an unusually large influence in choosing the party's nominee this cycle. The state primary next year is in March instead of its previous June slot and its donors contributed 1 of every 5 dollars raised by the party's presidential candidates in the first six months of this year, data from the Center for Responsive Politics show.Buttigieg is second only to home-state senator Kamala Harris in the percentage of his campaign money that comes from California. Harris got 45% of her donations from Californians, Buttigieg got 22%.Harris, who was the state's attorney general, raised $1 million from California lawyers, more than twice as much as any other candidate. She was also the top recipient of donations from employees of the entertainment industry. But California employees of tech companies, including giants like Facebook, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., backed Buttigieg more than any other candidate.Silicon Valley bundlers -- fundraisers who gather money from numerous employees of a firm -- have raised concerns about both Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, who are relying primarily on small-dollar contributions from online donors.Warren is particularly thorny for the tech industry. She has vowed that she will not meet with big donors who want to "buy access" -- and perhaps more troubling for them, has promised to break up big technology companies. Some technology workers are contributing to Warren and Sanders, but few are writing the $2,800 checks that Buttigieg and Biden are relying on, likely because they've been quieter on the question of how to handle big tech.Buttigieg is positioning himself as a younger alternative to 76-year-old Biden. Like Biden, he has not embraced the progressive wing's Medicare for All, instead proposing government-run health care "to those who want it," without eliminating private insurance.In other areas, he hasn't taken many unique stances, but his Midwestern and military background seeps into some plans. An issue page on his campaign website is simply called "Unleash rural opportunity," and he has proposed eliminating some student debt in exchange for national service.Paul Holland, a California venture capitalist and fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, said he believes a moderate has the best chance of winning. In his circles, Biden hasn't attracted the same kind of enthusiastic support that other candidates have."It's Mayor Pete and Cory Booker who are getting most of the attention," he said.Buttigieg himself drew the contrast between his candidacy and Biden's during a Marin County event."Every time we've won in our party it's been with a candidate with new ideas, who hasn't been on the scene for too long," Buttigieg said. "That's what works. Also, Americans are most likely to support the opposite of what's in the Oval Office."Among Buttigieg's donors are Ron Conway, an investor who has guided San Francisco mayors to back tech-friendly policies; Scott Belsky, the chief product officer and executive vice president at Adobe Inc.; Tony Xu, CEO of Doordash Inc.; David Marcus, the head of Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency project and Wendy Schmidt, wife of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.Buttigieg's fundraising has been prodigious, but he's still behind in national polls. He stands at just 5% in the RealClearPolitics national average, compared with 26% for Biden. And that raises pragmatic questions about who can win the Democratic nomination."Even with his flaws, Biden is the guy who's probably going to satisfy the moderates," Holland said.To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Allison in Washington DC at ballison14@bloomberg.net;Jeffrey Taylor in San Francisco at jtaylor184@bloomberg.net;Sophie Alexander in San Francisco at salexander82@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Peter EichenbaumFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The Latest: Hong Kong government withdraws unpopular bill Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:10 AM PDT  Hong Kong's government has formally withdrawn an unpopular extradition bill that sparked unruly protests, which morphed into a broader campaign for democratic change in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The security chief announced in the legislature on Wednesday that the bill was being withdrawn. Hong Kong's leader had proposed amendments to extradition legislation as a way to resolve a case involving a man wanted for murder in self-ruled Taiwan, who could not be sent to face charges because there was no extradition agreement.
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| This 1 Invention Made Swedish Submarines Among the Best Posted: 22 Oct 2019 10:00 AM PDT  A silent, powerful new engine.
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| Making do with less: Mexican media bruised by president's austerity Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:02 AM PDT  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December promising to reduce public spending to free up more resources for the poor. Between January and August, Lopez Obrador's government spent 88 million pesos ($4.6 million) on advertising, just 3.6% of the sum spent in the same months of 2018 by his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto, Public Administration Ministry (SFP) data show. The reduction in government publicity, which had accounted for 10% or more of advertising revenue for many outlets, has sparked layoffs and the suspension of projects in an industry still suffering disruption from the shift to the internet.
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| Seattle Public Schools Want to Teach Social Justice in Math Class. That Hurts Minorities. Posted: 22 Oct 2019 02:05 PM PDT  Seattle's public-school district has proposed a new math curriculum that would teach its students all about how math has been "appropriated" -- and how it "continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities."A draft of the curriculum, which was covered in an article in Education Week, would teach students how to "explain how math and technology and/or science are connected and how technology and/or science have (sic) been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color," as well as to "identify and teach others about mathematicians* of color in their various communities: schools, neighborhoods, places of worship, businesses, etc."Education Week reports:> If adopted, its ideas will be included in existing math classes as part of the district's broader effort to infuse ethnic studies into all subjects across the K-12 spectrum. Tracy Castro-Gill, Seattle's ethnic studies director, said her team hopes to have frameworks completed in all subjects by June for board approval.> > If the frameworks are approved, teachers would be expected to incorporate those ideas and questions into the math they teach beginning next fall, Castro-Gill said. No districtwide—or mandated—math/ethnic studies curriculum is planned, but groups of teachers are working with representatives of local community organizations to write instructional units for teachers to use if they wish, she said.As strange as it may sound, this proposed curriculum is not the first time that someone has argued for teaching math in this way. In fact, in 2017, an online course developed by Teach for America -- titled "Teaching Social Justice Through Secondary Mathematics" -- instructed how to teach their students how "math has been used as a dehumanizing tool." Also in 2017, a University of Illinois math-education professor detailed what she saw as some of the more racist aspects of math, claiming that "mathematics itself operates as Whiteness."I wrote columns about both of these stories that year -- and, at the time, most people likely saw them simply as examples of "fringe" beliefs, confined to only super-progressive, ultra-woke circles. With the announcement of this Seattle proposal, however, we can no longer reassure ourselves that this is the case. Now, the social-justice approach to teaching math has officially entered the mainstream (and taxpayer-funded!) arena.This concerns me, and, believe it or not, that's actually not because I despise "people and communities of color." In fact, it's quite the opposite: It's because this approach to teaching math will only end up harming the very groups it claims it champions. As The American Conservative's Rod Dreher notes:> The young people who are going to learn real math are those whose parents can afford to put them in private schools. The public school kids of all races are going to get dumber and dumber.Guess what? Minority students are far more likely to attend public school than whites. In fact, according to Private School Review, "[t]he average percent of minority students in private schools is approximately 28 percent."In other words? The minority students, the members of the very groups that this curriculum presumably aims to aid, are actually going to be learning less math than they would have without it -- because they will be spending some of that class time learning about how math's racism has hurt them. Ironically, one of the curriculum's goals is to teach students how to "critique systems of power that deny access to mathematical knowledge to people and communities of color," and yet, that's exactly what the district itself would be doing with it.The historical contributions of communities of color are important, and students should study them. A better place to study them, though, would (quite obviously) be a history class, not a mathematics one. Mathematics classes should be for mathematics lessons; this is especially important considering the fact that math is exactly where American students (of all races) struggle compared to students in other countries. In fact, according to a Pew Research study from 2017, American students ranked 38th out of 71 countries in the subject. If we want to fix this, we need to focus more on math, instead of looking for ways to teach less of it in the very classes where our students are supposed to be learning it.The bottom line is: If Seattle's school district really wants to help minority students excel in mathematics, the last thing it should be doing is proposing a math curriculum that would teach less of it in the schools that they're most likely to attend.
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| Nissan Ariya Electric SUV Concept Is Destined for Production Posted: 22 Oct 2019 06:15 PM PDT  This battery-powered compact crossover looks good, and it's coming soon to U.S. roads.
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| Iraqi Kurds turn to Zoroastrianism as faith, identity entwine Posted: 22 Oct 2019 06:52 PM PDT  Zoroastrianism. Years of violence by the Islamic State jihadist group have left many disillusioned with Islam, while a much longer history of state oppression has pushed some in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to see the millennia-old religion as a way of reasserting their identity. "After Kurds witnessed the brutality of IS, many started to rethink their faith," said Asrawan Qadrok, the faith's top priest in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
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| Rudy Giuliani Admits He ‘Did Sort of Look at’ Ukrainian Oligarch Dmitry Firtash for Info Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:05 PM PDT  Georges Schneider/AFP/GettyVictoria Toensing and Joe DiGenova, the pro-Trump lawyers representing a Ukrainian oligarch wanted by U.S. authorities on conspiracy charges, reportedly met personally with Attorney General William Barr in July—at the height of Rudy Giuliani's hunt for kompromat on Joe Biden in Ukraine. Citing three sources familiar with the meeting, The Washington Post reports that diGenova and Toensing argued against the charges facing Dmitry Firtash—who has been described by federal prosecutors as having connections to the "upper echelons" of Russian organized crime—in the meeting with Barr and other Justice Department officials. Barr is said to have refused to intercede. Firtash, who has been fighting extradition to the U.S. on bribery and corruption charges from Vienna for more than five years, had only recently hired Toensing and diGenova at the time of the reported meeting. According to Bloomberg, he paid them $1 million earlier this year to dig up dirt on Biden in a bid to get Giuliani's help with his legal woes. While Giuliani has maintained he never had anything to do with Firtash's case, Firtash reportedly bankrolled at least one piece of opposition research that Giuliani would later hold up on cable news as proof of Biden's wrongdoing: a witness statement from Viktor Shokin, Ukraine's former prosecutor general, claiming the former vice president had him fired to protect his son from a corruption investigation. Giuliani told the Post that he "did sort of look at Firtash to see if he had any relevant information" that could help with his search for damaging information about Democrats. "As far as I can tell, he didn't. I looked at maybe 20 of these oligarchs."A Justice Department spokeswoman said the Firtash case "has the support of the department leadership" and said DOJ would "continue to work closely with the Austrian Ministry of Justice to extradite Mr. Firtash." Toensing reportedly declined to comment on the Barr meeting.The Post also reports that prosecutors in Chicago who filed the bribery charges against Firtash in 2013 had previously come across two of Giuliani's recently arrested associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, in their case. Prosecutors there are now said to be reviewing whether there is a larger relationship between Firtash and the Soviet-born businessmen accused of campaign finance violations. Parnas and Fruman, who were reportedly enlisted by Giuliani to help find dirt on Trump's political opponents in Ukraine, are accused of making an illicit campaign donation in a bid to have the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, removed. Giuliani claimed he did not know whether Firtash, Parnas, and Fruman had a relationship. "It's none of my business," he told the Post. Lawyers for Parnas and Fruman have not publicly spoken about their clients' potential ties to Firtash.Firtash reportedly hired both Toensing and diGenova this summer at the recommendation of Parnas, who is said to have worked as a translator for Toensing and diGenova in the Firtash case. A Toensing and diGenova spokesman said Firtash had "no business relationship" with Parnas or Fruman. "No money has been paid to Mr. Parnas by Mr. Firtash beyond his work as a translator for the law firm," the spokesman said.Parnas and Fruman were both arrested at a D.C. airport before they reportedly could board one-way flights to Vienna earlier this month. Giuliani told The Atlantic that he also intended on going to Vienna just one day after Parnas and Fruman were scheduled to depart the U.S.Indicted Oligarch Dmytro Firtash Praises Paul Manafort, Says Trump Has Third-Grade SmartsRead 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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| View Photos of the 2020 GMC Acadia AT4 Posted: 22 Oct 2019 04:59 AM PDT |
| TV reporter climbs on classic cars, is handed walking papers Posted: 23 Oct 2019 04:31 AM PDT ![TV reporter climbs on classic cars, is handed walking papers]( "TV reporter climbs on classic cars, is handed walking papers") Maybe the "Good Day Sacramento" reporter just thought he'd drive a little more traffic to his television station's website when he climbed on top of a classic 1950s Thunderbird convertible and struck a silly pose, putting his feet on its pristine yellow paint job. Instead, Angel Cardenas drew criticism of car-wreck proportions with his live broadcast for KMAX-TV from Sunday's Sacramento International Auto Show. It was hours before the show was to open, he added, and no one was there to keep him off the cars, many of which he reported were off-limits.
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| Nadler Defens Stzok Texts to Mistress as 'Highest Tradition' Posted: 22 Oct 2019 10:02 AM PDT  But the Inspector-General called them 'antithetical to the core values of the FBI.'
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| Iranian beauty queen pleads for asylum in the Philippines Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:11 AM PDT  An Iranian beauty queen is seeking asylum in the Philippines, fearing for her life after Tehran demanded her extradition for a crime she claims she did not commit. Bahareh Zare Bahari, who represented Iran at the 2018 Miss Intercontinental pageant in Manila, and who has studied dental medicine in the Philippines since 2014, has been held for six days at the country's Ninoy Aquino airport after Iran slapped an Interpol Red Notice on her for alleged assault. In a series of messages, the distraught Ms Bahari told the Telegraph that the case was a "big lie," adding that she believed she was being targeted for her political activism and outspoken support of women's rights. If she was deported to Iran, "they will kill me," she said. Markk Perete, undersecretary at the Philippine department of justice, said that "the only reason she was held at the airport - and we really don't call it detention - it is really restraining her from entering the Philippine territory, is only because of that Red Notice issued against her." He added that the request had been made "presumably on account of a pending criminal case against her in Iran, and this case was filed by an Iranian national against her in relation to an assault that happened presumably here in the Philippines." Bahareh Zare Bahari, who is studying dental medicine, is an outspoken advocate for women's rights Credit: Facebook However, Mr Perete said that the Philippines was unaware of this allegation, and that an earlier accusation of commercial fraud against her had been dismissed. There were no criminal cases pending against Ms Bahari, he confirmed. "We don't have any cause for refusing her entry for violation of our laws." Ms Bahari's asylum plea is now being considered by the justice department, with the help of a lawyer. Meanwhile, the dental student is confined to Terminal 3's transit area awaiting her fate. "There is no updating, no information about the reason why [they] keep me here so long," she said. She believes her political statement at the pageant - waving a poster of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince, and one of the foremost critics of Iran's Islamic government - made her enemies in Tehran. Mr Pahlavi's name has been invoked by some Iranian groups who have called for a return of the monarchy to deal with corruption and poor economic conditions. "I used his photo on stage to be [the] voice of my people because all news and media are ignoring my people," she said. Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called for "a fair and impartial hearing of her claim" in Manila. "It's absolutely critical the Philippines provides Bahareh Zare Bahari with support, including access to legal counsel, to compile and file her asylum application," said Phil Robertson, HRW deputy Asia director. "While waiting for the details to become clear, there should be no action under Iran's Interpol red notice, especially since under Interpol rules a red notice is null and void if the person named in the notice is found to be a refugee fleeing from the state that issued it."
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| Driver dies days after pickup collided with small plane Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:39 PM PDT  Patrick J. Schounard died from injuries he suffered when a single-engine aircraft attempting to land collided with his pickup truck in Wisconsin.
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| Wildfires threaten southern California homes, prompt evacuations Posted: 22 Oct 2019 02:23 AM PDT  California firefighters worked through the night into early Tuesday to tackle a pair of wildfires threatening people's homes. Live aerial video footage broadcast by KABC-TV showed flames raging along a ridge-line at the edge of an affluent beach-front neighborhood located between Santa Monica and Malibu about 18 miles (30 km) west of downtown Los Angeles. Initially, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for about 200 homes in the Pacific Palisades community, as ground teams and helicopters worked on putting out hot spots and carving a containment line around the fire zone's perimeter.
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| Trump reportedly claimed to be 'in charge of the Hatch Act' Posted: 22 Oct 2019 11:24 AM PDT ![Trump reportedly claimed to be 'in charge of the Hatch Act']( "Trump reportedly claimed to be 'in charge of the Hatch Act'") President Trump makes the rules. All of them.Trump went after the Emoluments Clause on Monday, calling the Constitutional rule that bars presidents from profiting from their office "phony." But before that, he reportedly tried to ditch another major rule that bars executive malfeasance, The Wall Street Journal reports.Back before his June rally in Orlando, Trump was pushing to bring Cabinet officials along to the event, which would launch his 2020 campaign, people present during the conversation tell the Journal. But Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reportedly warned Trump against it, telling him it could result in violations of the Hatch Act, which bars executive branch employees from engaging in certain political activities. Cabinet officials and reelection launch rallies would likely fall under that designation.But Trump reportedly didn't care, telling Mulvaney "I'm in charge of the Hatch Act" while surrounded by other top aides. He then called Mulvaney "weak," the people in the room tell the Journal. While it doesn't appear Trump actually said he'd listened to Mulvaney's suggestion, he did eventually drop the idea of bringing his Cabinet to the rally. Read more about Trump's rally-filled campaign at The Wall Street Journal.
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| View 2020 Nissan Titan XD Photos Posted: 21 Oct 2019 11:00 AM PDT |
| Canadian Court Rules against Transgender Activist Jessica Yaniv in Fight with Beauticians over Waxing Posted: 22 Oct 2019 01:57 PM PDT  The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ruled against Canadian transgender activist Jessica Yaniv in a case stemming from a complaint Yaniv filed against multiple female beauticians who refused to wax Yaniv's male genitalia."Self-identification does not erase physiological reality," said Jay Cameron, a lawyer for the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which represented the beauticians. "Our clients do not offer the service requested. No woman should be compelled to touch male genitals against her will, irrespective of how the owner of the genitals identifies."The Tribunal said in its decision that Yaniv had had filed the "complaints for improper purposes," and had contradicted herself in "disingenuous" testimony. Yaniv, who is sexually attracted to women, brought 15 complaints against a number of beauticians in the Vancouver area, seeking as much as $15,000 in damages from each one."Most of the women who were the target of Yaniv's complaints work out of their own home, are of immigrant background, and have small children with them in the house during the day," the Justice Centre's report said. Yaniv also apparently accused immigrants during the trial of discrimination for refusing service on religious grounds, writing earlier this year on Facebook that "we have a lot of immigrants here who gawk, judge and aren't the cleanest of people, they're also verbally and physically abusive, that's one reason I joined a girl's gym."Yaniv is being ordered to pay $2,000 to three of the accused women, one of whom was forced out of business due to the case.In August, Yaniv was arrested for owning a taser, after brandishing it on camera during an interview about Yaniv's alleged history of predatory behavior toward children. Screen-captured messages allegedly from Yaniv highlighted intimate questions to underage girls, and legal documents showed an attempt to organize a topless pool party for such girls.
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| Fall of a royal consort and the Thai king's assertive reign Posted: 21 Oct 2019 11:37 PM PDT  The very public downfall of the Thai king's 34-year-old consort -- stripped of all royal titles and military ranks by a late-night command -- left the country open-mouthed Tuesday at the latest abrupt act from its mercurial monarch. Former royal bodyguard and army nurse Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi was dismissed from the rank of Chao Khun Phra, or noble consort, and accused of "disloyalty to the king". Here are five ways royal power has been displayed under Thailand's new king so far, from beefing up his security to taking direct control of a fortune.
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| Indian troops kill 3 senior Kashmiri militants Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:55 AM PDT  Indian forces have killed a top militant commander and his two associates in a counterinsurgency operation in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said Wednesday. Hamid Lelhari and his associates were killed Tuesday evening in a gunfight that erupted after Indian security forces launched a counterinsurgency operation in southern Awantipora area, said Dilbagh Singh, chief of police in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Police say Lelhari became the operations chief of Ansar Ghawzat-ul-Hind, an affiliate of the al-Qaida militant group, after Indian troops killed a top militant, Zakir Musa, last year.
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| Joe Biden's Black Sheep Son Could Wreck His Presidential Run Posted: 22 Oct 2019 09:39 AM PDT  Hunter Biden and, by extension, his father's third run for the presidency, have become enmeshed in controversy as Donald Trump's attempts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Hunter's questionable business dealings in the war-torn country are coming under attack from congressional Democrats.
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| Shark tears woman's hands off in Polynesian paradise island attack Posted: 22 Oct 2019 07:15 AM PDT  A French tourist has lost both her hands in a rare shark attack in the Pacific islands of Polynesia, say emergency services. The woman was swimming during a whale-watching trip on Monday off the island of Mo'orea, a honeymoon destination in the French overseas territory, when the oceanic whitetip shark bit into her chest and arms.
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| A Tenn. county official called Pete Buttigieg a slur. It sparked calls to boycott Dollywood Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:43 PM PDT  Following his remark, Commissioner Warren Hurst went on to say, "I'm not prejudice, but by golly a white male in this country has very few rights."
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| An Air France flight was forced to turn back in midair when staff found an unattended cellphone that wasn't claimed by any of the passengers Posted: 22 Oct 2019 04:34 AM PDT  Air France flight 136 to Chicago from Paris landed at Ireland's Shannon Airport, where the police scanned a cellphone found on board.
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| Trump’s quest for vengeance against John Brennan Posted: 22 Oct 2019 02:06 AM PDT  President Donald Trump's obsession with former CIA director John Brennan could be on a collision course with an ongoing Justice Department probe as Attorney General Bill Barr takes a more hands-on approach to examining the intelligence community's actions in 2016. Barr has been meeting with the U.S.' closest foreign intelligence allies in recent months, making repeated overseas trips as part of an investigation he is overseeing into the origins of the Russia probe and whether any inappropriate "spying" occurred on Trump's campaign. As part of that investigation, Barr and John Durham, the federal prosecutor he appointed to conduct it, have been probing a conspiracy theory for which there is little if any evidence, according to several people with knowledge of the matter: that a key player in the Russia probe, a professor named Joseph Mifsud, was actually a Western intelligence asset sent to discredit the Trump campaign — and that the CIA, under Brennan, was somehow involved.
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| Fears Are Growing Among Mainland Chinese Living in Hong Kong Posted: 22 Oct 2019 12:51 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- As Hong Kong's historic protests become increasingly violent, mainland Chinese living in the city are becoming increasingly fearful.Min, who moved to Hong Kong from the mainland in 1995 and now runs his own hedge fund, said the startling escalation in mayhem prompted him to tell his children not to speak Mandarin in public for fear they'll get beaten up in the Cantonese-speaking city.Before going out for dinner, Min checks his phone for news on which city streets are blocked due to mass marches or violent clashes. He stopped flying on the city's flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., where some staff took part in protests and others were fired after investigations into depleted oxygen tanks. With battles between police and black-clad mobs becoming pervasive, Min said he's considered moving his business to Shanghai and his family to Canada."They have no moral bottom line as to what they'll do to achieve their goals," Min, who asked that his full name not be used for fear of retribution, said of the protesters. "Fingers crossed, I believe the police can crush this."The strife ripping through Hong Kong -- with police officers and protesters in hand-to-hand combat, subway stations set ablaze and an improvised explosive device detonated near a police car -- looks very different to the city's mainland-born residents. More than 1 million mainlanders, including many professionals, have migrated across the border since China regained control of the former British colony in 1997, helping swell its population to 7.5 million.The protests began in opposition to a since-scrapped government bill allowing extraditions to mainland China and have expanded to include calls for greater democracy and an independent inquiry into police tactics. While the majority of protesters are peaceful, the demonstrations often feature a darker, anti-China tone. Some demonstrators have burned Chinese flags and spray-painted the phrases "Chinazi" and "Hong Kong is not China!" across the city.The rhetoric is spilling over into violence on both sides. A 22-year-old mainland visitor accused of slashing a teenage Hong Kong protester in the abdomen surrendered to police this week.Over the weekend, gangs ransacked or destroyed Chinese bank branches and retail businesses, including an outlet for smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. based in Beijing.The tensions between mainlanders and locals also surface in daily office interactions."Employees are generally encouraged to not discuss this topic at work and to leave political opinions at home," said Benjamin Quinlan, chief executive officer of financial-services consultancy Quinlan & Associates. Still, "you can't segregate a private and corporate life so cleanly, and there will inevitably be opinions on politics that don't gel among colleagues."When crowds surged into the streets recently, Yang, a 34-year-old finance professional from China, watched from above in one of the city's gleaming skyscrapers.TVs in the office -- and desktop live-streams -- were all tuned to the protests against Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam's impending use of a colonial-era emergency powers law to ban face masks on demonstrators. Mobile phones buzzed with messages flowing across WeChat groups about looming protests and violence outside, including one alarming video of a Chinese banker from JPMorgan Chase & Co. getting punched in the head by a protester, and someone yelling: "Go back to the mainland!"On Tuesday, lawmakers debated the ban on face coverings at the city's Legislative Council. Financial Secretary Paul Chan was also set to announce various measures to support local businesses impacted by the protests.Yang, who asked to be identified only by one name, also is scared to speak Mandarin and has been regularly fleeing across the border to nearby Shenzhen to escape the violence. That Friday afternoon, she left early and dashed to meet her husband and daughter at the bus station, right before the city descended into its worst violence on the weekend of Oct. 5."As I rushed to the bus station to regroup with my family, I was so stressed -- hearing my heart beating quickly and strongly," she said, adding she bought the last three tickets for a bus that whisked them all to Shenzhen, which was celebrating 70 years of Communist rule with buildings and billboards decked out in red lights."When the bus crossed the bridge and was about to enter Shenzhen, we all saw the red neon at the other side of the river," she said. "I felt suddenly relaxed."At the same time, several mainlanders interviewed said they were reluctant to uproot the lives they built in Hong Kong over many years: landing coveted jobs at international companies, getting their children into international schools and buying homes. And plenty of Mandarin conversations can be heard while walking through the financial district.Yet while many mainlanders say they feel shunned by some Hong Kongers, many locals worry that showing support for the protests will hurt their careers. Some Hong Kong employees working at Chinese firms said they were told to attend pro-Beijing demonstrations, and feared losing their jobs if they refused.Pro-Beijing RalliesOne Hong Konger with the surname Ho, who took a job at a U.S.-based bank over the summer after working at a Chinese bank in the city for three years, said mainland colleagues at her former employer would try to find out her stance on the conflict -- and criticize anyone they thought supported the protesters."I was asked to attend the rallies that support the Hong Kong police," said the employee, who asked not to be identified by her full name to avoid hurting her career. "Of course, I didn't go. Then some of my former colleagues linked my resignation to my political views. They thought I was fired because I'm pro-independence, which wasn't true."In the financial sector, the conflicts between those sympathetic to protesters and those aligned with Beijing can be seen in instances both subtle and dramatic.Hao Hong, chief strategist at Bocom International Holdings Co. in Hong Kong, recently visited another company to meet with workers from mainland China, stepping into an office and speaking to them in Mandarin. Their local colleague quickly raised the volume on a nearby TV, overpowering the conversation with the sound of a show -- in Cantonese.Moving Back"Sometimes people refuse to talk to you if you speak to them in Mandarin," said Hong, who's lived in the former British colony for eight years. "Everyone is touchy."In addition to not speaking Mandarin in public, other mainlanders said they have stopped using WeChat -- the Tencent Holdings Ltd.-owned Chinese messaging service -- in the open.Some have started considering relocating back to the mainland, despite spending decades in the city, said one woman who works at a Chinese hedge fund and asked that she only be identified as Levy. Mainlanders with children in local schools are concerned they will be exposed to anti-government sentiment, she said."We are all in the financial industry," Levy said. "If they can find good offers in Shanghai or Beijing, there is now a stronger incentive to move back."(Updates paragraph 5 to clarify the mainland population in Hong Kong, and adds government measures to boost the economy in paragraph 13.)\--With assistance from Manuel Baigorri, Moxy Ying, Lulu Yilun Chen and Iain Marlow.To contact the reporters on this story: Bei Hu in Hong Kong at bhu5@bloomberg.net;Alfred Cang in Singapore at acang@bloomberg.net;Alfred Liu in Hong Kong at aliu226@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Candice Zachariahs at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net, ;Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Michael TigheFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Connecticut College Students Charged With Violating State Law Prohibiting ‘Ridicule’ after Using Racial Slur Posted: 22 Oct 2019 07:06 AM PDT  University of Connecticut students Jarred Karal and Ryan Mucaj were arrested by campus police Monday night and charged with violating a Connecticut hate crime statute for using a racial slur in an incident captured on video.One night earlier this month, Karal and Mucaj — both described by police as white — walked with another individual through the parking lot of a student apartment complex playing "a game in which they yelled vulgar words," according to the incident report. Police allege that the two switched to saying "n*****" when they reached the parking lot, which was loud enough for two people inside to hear.The two were charged under a Connecticut State law that criminalizes ridiculing "any person or class of people on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality, or race." The misdemeanor is punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a fine of $50, or both. The third individual was not charged for saying the slur.It is unclear whether the statute violates First Amendment grounds. "It is supportive of our core values to pursue accountability, through due process, for an egregious assault on our community that has caused considerable harm," UConn President Thomas C. Katsouleas said in a statement late Monday.Karal and Mucaj were released after promising to return for a scheduled court date on October 30.After the video went viral online, Campus blowback was swift. The administration, which learned of the incident October 11, faced severe criticism from students and activists. On Monday, the university's NAACP chapter published a letter to the editor in the campus newspaper lambasting the university's administration."If the university does not adequately address and handle these occurrences of racism appropriately, it will create a culture in which racism is tolerated and normalized," the NAACP letter reads. "We demand for your full assurance that you will take appropriate measures to hold the students involved in these heinous acts of racism accountable."On Monday afternoon, hundreds of students chanted "it's more than just a word" during an on-campus march and rally. During the march, Katsouleas voiced support for the students and extended an invitation to discuss the incident during his open office hours scheduled for Friday morning.UConn's president also announced a nationwide search for a chief diversity officer in a letter to students on Friday. But students and professors criticized the president for his slow and inadequate response."No stance is a stance," Conn senior Areon Mangan told the Chronicle. "Not saying anything says a lot."In its letter to the campus newspaper, the NAACP released a list of eight demands, including new student guidelines and punishments for instances of racism, a new first-year course on diversity training, and increased hiring of black administration, faculty, staff, and police officers.Democratic State Senators Mae Flexer and Gregory Haddad, both UConn alums, voiced their support for students during the Monday rally."White people can't just say they care about this with words,"Flexer said. "You can't just say you're an ally. You need to be a co-conspirator.""I'm here because I want to lift your voices up," Haddad added.
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| Southern Niger reels after Nigeria closes borders Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:39 PM PDT  Dan Issa (Niger) (AFP) - "Nothing crosses into Nigeria and nothing comes out. It's hermetically sealed," said Amadou Idi, sitting in a makeshift shelter to keep out of the rain, and reflecting on the downturn in his luck. Idi's job is a transiting agent -- to get goods across the border to Nigeria at the Dan Issa frontier post in southeastern Niger.
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