| Aide Accused of Murdering Former Arkansas State Senator Offered ‘Gold’ From Jail for Hit on Ex: Prosecutors Posted: 15 Jan 2020 10:51 AM PST  A woman awaiting trial for allegedly killing a former Arkansas state senator was hit with new charges Tuesday after she promised fellow inmates she would give them "gold and silver" to murder the victim's ex-husband and his new wife, prosecutors said. Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, who pleaded not guilty to several charges in the June murder of former State Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, was slapped with two counts of soliciting to commit murder and two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence in connection with the elaborate plot she allegedly tried to orchestrate from prison.The former campaign staffer for Collins-Smith has been behind bars since June 14—10 days after the 57-year-old Republican was found fatally stabbed and wrapped in a blanket under a tarp at the end of her Pocahontas, Arkansas, driveway. Former Arkansas State Senator's Shooting Death Investigated as 'Homicide'Authorities at the time said O'Donnell was caught on video removing Collins-Smith's home surveillance cameras on May 28, 2019—the last day the politician was seen alive—but have not elaborated on the details of the murder due to a gag order. O'Donnell, 49, faces the death penalty on the original murder charges and is being held without bond in Jackson County. "These newest charges further cement in our minds that the police have arrested the right person. Rebecca O'Donnell's threats are being treated very seriously but have not deterred our faith in what we are committed to: justice for Linda," the family of Collins-Smith said in a Wednesday statement to The Daily Beast. "Thank you all for your continued support, prayers and well wishes."According to several jailhouse informants, O'Donnell allegedly tried to hire two fellow inmates to stage a murder-suicide at the home of the lawmaker's ex, former state Judge Phil Smith, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the Jackson County Circuit Court on Tuesday. During a Nov. 7 interview, one of the inmates told an Arkansas State Police special agent that O'Donnell wanted her to "shoot or hang Mr. Smith" and include a "suicide note" that the 49-year-old had handwritten, the affidavit states. The same inmate was then told to pack a bag to make it seem like his new wife "was in the process of leaving him," the affidavit states.Prosecutors allege O'Donnell told other inmates that "Phil Smith needed to be killed" so that "charges would be dropped off her." In exchange for the hits, the inmates were told they could take a bag of "gold and silver" from Smith's home—which investigators said had been appraised to be worth between $20,000 and $30,000 during his divorce.O'Donnell, in addition to working on Collins-Smith's campaign, had served as a witness in the couple's acrimonious divorce, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.They Were Hired to Murder a Man's Ex-Wife, But Accidentally Killed Her Sister: SheriffThe former campaign staffer also allegedly tried to enlist the inmates to go to Randolph County Jail to blow up her 2005 Honda Civic so she could "destroy any evidence" that could be used in her murder trial because "police had planted stuff in her truck," the affidavit states. On top of that, she allegedly asked two inmates to kill a judge and prosecutor connected to her murder case.The prosecutor, Henry Boyce, was taken off the case in December without citing a reason. "My family's faith in Becky is unwavering. We cannot imagine the evidence will actually substantiate these allegations. The allegations defy believability. I won't even comment on the informant's extensive criminal history but instead will wait to see if the state produces credible evidence at trial," Tim Loggains, O'Donnell's fiancé, said a statement. One inmate told police that while she never considered killing Smith, she was worried "a more gullible" inmate might. The three other inmates who reported O'Donnell also stated they refused the murder requests.Maryland Millionaire Daniel Beckwitt Found Guilty of Murder in 2017 Death of Man Who Helped Dig Bunker TunnelsO'Donnell's defense attorney, Lee Short, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News, casting doubt on the inmates' credibility, insisting they had an incentive to offer information for a reduced punishment. Short did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast's requests for comment."It's not surprising at all—inmates do it all the time," Short said. "In high-profile cases, especially homicides, people tend to seek opportunities to improve their situations by giving statements against people."Collins-Smith was first elected to the state senate in 2014 but lost her re-election bid in 2018. Prior to her time in the Senate, the lawmaker served in the statehouse of representatives from 2011 to 2013. While she was elected as a Democrat, Collins-Smith switched parties just months after taking office, citing a change in "ideals."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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| Guatemala sweeps up migrant group, returns them to border Posted: 15 Jan 2020 09:02 PM PST  Guatemalan police accompanied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swept up the majority of a group of some 300 migrants Thursday, loaded them on buses and took them back to the Honduran border, effectively dashing their plans to travel together in a "caravan" with hopes of reaching the United States. Praying and singing songs, the group of 300 migrants — adults, teens and young children — had set out from a shelter in Entre Rios under rainy skies before dawn and walked about six hours before stopping in the town of Morales to eat and rest. There they were challenged by police who asked for their entry documents, and nearly all had crossed into Guatemala irregularly and didn't have such documentation.
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| Biden allegedly told Bush in 2002 he'd get the Nobel Peace Prize if he could invade Iraq quickly Posted: 15 Jan 2020 11:23 AM PST  Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has been distancing himself from his 2002 vote for the invasion of Iraq as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time.
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| Bloomberg Visits Capitol Hill to Woo Democratic Lawmakers Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:01 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Michael Bloomberg is meeting with groups of Democrats in Congress on Capitol Hill on Thursday seeking support for his fledgling 2020 presidential campaign.The former New York mayor plans to meet separately with BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; ASPIRE PAC, the political arm of Asian American and Pacific Islander members of Congress; the New Democrat Coalition of centrist Democrats and the co-chairs of the Blue Dog Coalition of "fiscally responsible" Democrats.The New Democrat group sent a letter to every Democratic presidential candidate to meet with them.BOLD PAC said in a statement that the meeting focused on issues facing Latinos such as comprehensive immigration reform, as well as "increasing access to affordable health care, tackling the issue of gun violence and creating an inclusive economy."Bloomberg is self-funding his campaign, so the purpose of the meetings is relationship building and to get to know individual members, according to a person familiar with one of the groups.Bloomberg is also expected to attend a private reception in San Francisco on Thursday evening that will include Silicon Valley technology billionaires, Recode reported and the campaign confirmed.Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.(Adds BOLD PAC statement in fourth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Billy House and Erik Wasson.To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Craig GordonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Disease that killed millions of China's pigs poses global threat Posted: 16 Jan 2020 04:05 AM PST  Soon the dog's handler discovered and confiscated a ham sandwich in the purse of a passenger who had flown on a China Eastern Airlines flight from Shanghai. China has lost millions of pigs in outbreaks of the disease, pushing its pork prices to record highs, forcing purchases of costly imports and roiling global meat markets. Bettie is among an expanded team of specially trained beagles at U.S. airports, part of a larger effort to protect the nation's $23 billion pork industry from a disease that has decimated China's hog herd, the world's largest.
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| Supreme Court Not Buying It on Bridgegate Convictions Posted: 15 Jan 2020 11:34 AM PST  It's unclear whether they'll throw the cases out.
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| Australia’s Bushfires Show the Wicked, Self-Destructive Idiocy of Climate Denialism Must Stop Posted: 15 Jan 2020 05:00 PM PST  'We have to urgently stop burning coal,' writes Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
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| 10 Home Prep Tips Before Going on Vacation Posted: 16 Jan 2020 11:00 AM PST |
| Wealthy CEOs complain about feeling 'unsafe' because of homeless people in San Francisco Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:01 AM PST  A major healthcare conference in San Francisco this week has sparked a debate about the California city's homeless crisis as wealthy executives and investors complain of feeling 'unsafe'.The city rakes in $51m (£39m) each year from the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference despite growing concerns about the city's homeless population among attendees of the healthcare industry's leading conference, according to Bloomberg News.
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| Iran warning puts thousands of European troops in spotlight Posted: 15 Jan 2020 04:59 AM PST  A warning by Iran's president that European forces in the Middle East could be at risk if their nations join the U.S. pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic puts a focus on thousands of foreign troops in the region. Britain, France, and Germany have spent months trying to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal after President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned it in 2018.
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| Warren Confronted Sanders After Debate About Calling Her a Liar Posted: 15 Jan 2020 07:32 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of calling her a liar during a confrontation after the Democratic debate on Tuesday, breaching a longstanding nonaggression pact between the two progressive candidates.Audio released Wednesday by CNN, which co-hosted the debate in Des Moines, Iowa, revealed that Sanders and Warren were continuing a dispute that began even before the debate after she said he had told her that a woman could not be elected president in 2020.During the debate, he denied ever making the remark, while Warren reasserted that he had, in fact, done so.Warren told Sanders: "I think you called me a liar on national TV.""What?" Sanders responded."I think you called me a liar on national TV," Warren repeated."You know, let's not do it right now. If you want to have that discussion, we'll have that discussion," Sanders said, to which Warren replied, "Anytime.""You called me a liar," Sanders continued. "You told me -- all right, let's not do it now."The dispute marked the unraveling of what amounted to a tacit agreement between the two Democratic presidential candidates not to criticize each other. But their alliance, which centered on health care and other issues, had been fraying over the past week.The tense interaction occurred as all the candidates were congratulating one another on the debate stage, and was broadcast live without sound. Warren could be seen walking toward Sanders, as he stretched out his hand to her. But instead of taking it, she clasped her hands together. They then appeared to have the brief conversation.The disagreement over Sanders' comments in a private meeting in 2018 followed a report last week that Sanders had been trying to undercut Warren's campaign.Politico reported that the Sanders campaign gave talking points to volunteers criticizing Warren as the candidate of "highly-educated, more affluent people," suggesting she couldn't bring new voters into the party. She fired back over the weekend that she was "disappointed" that he had instructed his campaign to "trash" her to voters.To contact the reporter on this story: Max Berley in Washington at mberley@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Egypt and Ethiopia reach deal on Nile 'mega dam' that brought threats of war Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:35 AM PST  Egypt and Ethiopia have struck a preliminary deal to end a row over the construction of a giant dam on the Nile, potentially averting a war between two of Africa's biggest military powers. Following talks in Washington brokered by the US government, Egypt agreed in principle to drop its opposition to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam after receiving assurances that its water supply would not be threatened. The breakthrough follows years of recrimination, with both countries periodically resorting to threats of war ever since Ethiopia announced plans to build the dam in 2011. With 95 percent of its population living in the Nile Valley, Egypt has always been acutely sensitive about the flow of a river on which it has depended for its very existence since the dawn of civilisation 5,000 years ago. The world's longest river is the source of nine-tenths of Egypt's fresh water. Arguing that it was granted ultimate control of the Nile under safeguards implemented by Britain in 1929, Egypt says the Renaissance Dam — which will be the world seventh largest on completion — could cause vital downstream reservoirs to dry up. Ethiopia, in whose highlands the Blue Nile rises before meeting the White Nile in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, argues that the dam will transform the lives of its 110m people, providing many of them with electricity for the first time and allowing the country to industrialise. Hopes for a resolution to the crisis were raised last year after Ethiopia, which had previously resisted international mediation, agreed to US involvement after Egypt's president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, made a personal appeal to Donald Trump, his US counterpart. Mr Trump instructed the US treasury department to work with the World Bank to find a solution. Following talks in Washington, officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed to allow the dam, which has largely been completed, to be filled in stages every July and August, the Ethiopian rainy season, so long as the impact on downstream reservoirs is monitored. "The subsequent stages of filling will be done according to a mechanism to be agreed," the US treasury department said in a statement. A final deal could be signed at the end of the month, although analysts warn that differences between Egypt and Ethiopia remain, particularly over how long it should take to fill the dam's reservoir, which will be the size of Buckinghamshire. Sudan has sided with Ethiopia in the row, believing the dam will help regulate the flow of the Blue Nile and reduce downstream flooding.
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| Former U.S. Marine: Suleimani’s Killing Is the Apotheosis of American 'Strategy' Posted: 16 Jan 2020 05:06 AM PST  A strategy that has achieved the opposite of its promises is a failure. Before another moment is wasted, Americans need to ask their leaders the same question General David Petraeus plaintively asked at the height of the Iraq War: "Tell me how this ends."
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| Camera Captures the Moment a Deer Sheds Its Antlers in the Middle of the Night Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:21 AM PST  If you blink you might miss it
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| Lev Parnas wants to unload his dirt on Rudy Giuliani to federal prosecutors, his lawyer says Posted: 15 Jan 2020 09:41 PM PST  Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani in his Ukraine endeavors, "completed his break with the White House on Wednesday, asserting for the first time in public that the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf," The New York Times reported late Wednesday. And Parnas said through his lawyer that he's now eager to cooperate with federal prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, and Giuliani's Ukraine dealings now at the center of Trump's impeachment.Parnas was arrested in October on tangentially related campaign finance charges, and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have both his case and the so-far-unannounced Giuliani investigation. "We very much want to be heard in the Southern District," Parnas' lawyer Joseph Bondy told the Times. "We very much want to provide substantial assistance to the government." Parnas has provided evidence already to federal prosecutors and House impeachment investigators, and he spoke with both the Times and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Wednesday.Parnas told Maddow that "Trump knew exactly what was going on." He told the Times that while he met with the president several times, he knows Trump was aware of the Ukraine efforts mostly because Giuliani showed him so. He provided some evidence to back that up. "I am betting my whole life that Trump knew exactly everything that was going on that Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine," Parnas said.Parnas also said he regrets his involvement in the Ukraine affair and "trusting so much" in Giuliani, who is a godfather to his son. "I thought I was being a patriot and helping the president," he told the Times, and he "thought by listening to the president and his attorney that I couldn't possibly get in trouble or do anything wrong." Giuliani texted the Times that Parnas is "a proven liar," suggested he's turning over evidence for "attention," and claimed it's "sad to watch how the Trump haters are using" him.More stories from theweek.com Ukraine gives Trump the corruption investigation he asked for Mitch McConnell should recuse himself Trump declares major disaster in Puerto Rico
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| Peru to deport tourists over Machu Picchu damage Posted: 15 Jan 2020 12:23 PM PST  Five tourists arrested for damaging Peru's iconic Machu Picchu site will be deported to Bolivia later on Wednesday, police said. A sixth was released from custody and ordered to remain in Machu Picchu pending trial after paying bail of $910. The six tourists -- four men and two women -- were arrested for damaging Peru's "cultural heritage" after being found in a restricted area of the Temple of the Sun on Sunday.
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| Bureaucracy to brutality: New evidence reveals IS hierarchy Posted: 16 Jan 2020 11:13 AM PST  Documents compiled by a U.S.-based Syrian rights group reveal how Islamic State militants used one of their most powerful bureaucratic bodies to regulate daily life and impose and execute penalties. The Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center said Thursday that the evidence — documents produced by IS itself — could help identify individuals responsible for atrocities during the militants' four-year reign of terror and lead to criminal prosecutions. The 24-page report, called "Judge, Jury and Executioner," is based on dozens of documents obtained by SJAC from inside Syria and collected by a local activist from abandoned IS offices in Raqqa province, where the militants also had their self-declared capital in a city that carries the same name.
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| A man who was put up in a Comfort Inn 'boardroom suite' discovered it was literally a boardroom with a bed Posted: 15 Jan 2020 02:37 PM PST  The stranded traveler shared his amusement on Twitter, where the photo of the "boardroom suite" hotel room went viral.
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| Biden Says He Would Consider Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro as Potential Running Mates Posted: 16 Jan 2020 01:17 PM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would consider former 2020 contenders Beto O'Rourke and Julián Castro as running mates or members of his Cabinet should he get the party's nomination."I would consider either or both of them. I've spoken to each of them," Biden told the Dallas Morning News. "My plea to both of them is that they stay engaged. They are talented, talented people."O'Rourke made headlines during the 2018 congressional elections when the former Texas congressman nearly ousted conservative Senator Ted Cruz in the deep-red state. He garnered early attention after launching his presidential bid but suspended his campaign in November after being outshone by Biden and other candidates.Castro served with Biden in the Obama administration as secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He dropped his 2020 bid earlier this month after a year of campaigning and endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren.Biden said in August that he would prefer to choose a woman or a person of color as his running mate. He also remarked on Tuesday that he would consider Senator Kamala Harris, who dropped out of the presidential race early last month, for "anything that she would be interested in," including as his running mate."Whomever I pick, preferably it will be someone who was of color and/or a different gender, but I'm not making that commitment until I know that the person I'm dealing with I can completely and thoroughly trust as authentic and on the same page," the former vice president said.As a former presidential running mate himself to President Barack Obama, Biden said the main quality he would prioritize in a potential vice president is being "simpatico" with his values.Obama "knew that he and I had the same value set and the same political disposition as what we should do, and he knew if I ever had any doubt, I would come back to him," Biden said last year.Biden currently leads in polling among Democratic 2020 candidates at 27 percent, with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren behind him, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
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| Hong Kong Leader Says China Could Treat City the Same After 2047 Posted: 15 Jan 2020 08:16 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's leader said China could continue guaranteeing the city its separate freedoms under the "one country, two systems" principle after it expires in 2047."My view is that, as long as we insist on the 'one country, two systems' principle, with the in-depth implementation of the principle and ample understanding, which fits the interests of Hong Kong citizens, then there is sufficient reason to believe that 'one country, two systems' will be practiced smoothly in the long term, and will not be changed after 2047," Chief Executive Carrie Lam told lawmakers at a question-and-answer session at the city's Legislative Council on Thursday.The comments are some of Lam's most detailed statements on the long-term political future of the former British colony, which was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 on the promise that Beijing would leave its capitalist economy and political freedoms untouched for 50 years. They echoed those made by China's government in recent years.During a 2017 visit to the financial hub marking the anniversary of its handover, President Xi Jinping said he hoped for the "smooth and long-term successful practice" of "one country, two systems," according to Hong Kong's pro-China newspaper Wen Wei Po.Uncertain FutureAnxiety and fear about Hong Kong's political future under an increasingly authoritarian administration in Beijing have fueled seven months of violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, initially triggered by since-scrapped legislation over extraditions to the mainland.Once the 50-year time period expires in 2047, China is under no obligation to continue permitting Hong Kong to keep separate freedoms -- including a free media and the right to protest -- that make the city distinct from the mainland. Protesters and pro-democracy lawmakers have frequently accused China of undermining the promises the country's leaders made to Britain before the handover in 1997 and envision a bleak future beyond 2047, in which Hong Kong is treated like any other Chinese city.Some pro-establishment lawmakers have argued that violent protests in favor of greater democracy are likely to make Beijing feel threatened, and less likely to continue guaranteeing Hong Kong's separate freedoms after 2047.Luo Huining, the new director of China's Liaison Office in the city, said Wednesday that Hong Kong's people should place their hope in "one country, two systems."If the system is implemented well, "Hong Kong will win development opportunities and earn room for growth," he said. If it isn't, "there will be non-stop conflicts and chaos."To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh, Adrian KennedyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'Joe's Jokers': Meet Some of the Best Marine Aces of World War II Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:15 AM PST  VMF-115 compiled an amazing combat record with Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss at the helm.
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| The Best Compact Fitness Equipment Under $300 Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:56 AM PST |
| Universities, Colleges Where Students Are Eager to Enroll Posted: 16 Jan 2020 06:29 AM PST ![Universities, Colleges Where Students Are Eager to Enroll]( "Universities, Colleges Where Students Are Eager to Enroll") As students apply to their dream schools, acceptance is almost too good to pass up.
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| New footage shows Iranian missiles hitting Ukraine plane Posted: 15 Jan 2020 06:56 AM PST  New video footage has emerged showing two Iranian missiles tearing through the night sky and hitting a Ukrainian passenger plane, sending the aircraft down in flames and killing all 176 passengers and crew on board. The projectiles were fired 30 seconds apart and explain why the plane's transponder was not working as it hurtled to the ground -- it was disabled by the first strike, before being hit by a second, said the New York Times, which published the verified security camera footage Tuesday. The blurry film, shot from a rooftop in a village four miles from an Iranian military site, shows the Kiev-bound plane on fire and circling back to Tehran's airport, the Times said.
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| McConnell says 'the House's hour is over' Posted: 16 Jan 2020 08:02 AM PST  During an address on the floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "The House's hour is over. The Senate's time is at hand."
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| Navy removes commander of San Diego-based destroyer Decatur Posted: 16 Jan 2020 02:27 PM PST ![Navy removes commander of San Diego-based destroyer Decatur]( "Navy removes commander of San Diego-based destroyer Decatur") The commanding officer of the San Diego-based destroyer Decatur has been removed from command, the Navy announced Thursday. Cmdr. John "Bob" Bowen was relieved of his duties due to a "loss of confidence in his ability to command," according to a Navy statement obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Navy Capt. Dan Cobain, the commander of Destroyer Squadron 21, ordered the move, the statement said.
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| DOJ Is Investigating Comey’s Role in Leak of Classified Document during Clinton-Email Probe Posted: 16 Jan 2020 03:04 PM PST  Department of Justice prosecutors reportedly are investigating the possibility that former FBI director James Comey leaked a classified Russian intelligence document to the media during the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, according to a Thursday report from the New York Times.Per the Times, the investigation is centered around two 2017 articles from the Times and the Washington Post describing the Russian document, which played a key role in Comey's unilateral decision to announce in July 2016 that the FBI would not pursue charges against Clinton for using a private email server to conduct official business during her time as secretary of state.The document, which Dutch intelligence shared with the U.S., includes an analysis of an email exchange between Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), who was then chairing the Democratic National Committee, and Leonard Bernardo, an official with the Soros-backed non-profit Open Society Foundations. Wasserman Schultz assures Bernardo in the email that then–attorney general Loretta Lynch would make sure Clinton wasn't charged in the email probe.Both Bernardo and Wasserman Schultz have denied ever having the exchange, and the FBI's assessment claimed that the document was a fake and part of a Russian disinformation campaign.Department of Justice inspector general Michael Horowitz said in a review of Comey's actions over the Clinton probe — and its subsequent reopening in October 2016 — that the former FBI director had a "troubling lack of any direct, substantive communication" with Lynch over his decisions.Both 2017 articles cite Comey's private concern that if Lynch had announced no charges for Clinton, the Russians could have released the document to cast doubt on whether the investigation was ethical. They also cite Comey's decision not to tell Lynch that he was declining to charge Clinton as a way of protecting the FBI's political independence.Investigators are examining whether Comey's personal lawyer, Daniel Richman, gave the Russian document to reporters. Richman played a key role in a different, confirmed leak that Comey orchestrated to hand over memos of his private encounters with President Trump in the early days of the Trump administration."I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter," Comey testified to Congress in June 2017. "I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel."In August, Horowitz found that Comey violated policy and set a "dangerous example" for the rank-and-file by retaining and leaking the memos. Horowitz referred Comey for potential prosecution over the matter, but the DOJ declined to prosecute.Comey has long taken criticism for his handling of the Clinton investigation from Republicans and President Trump, who suggested in December that Comey could get jail time.> So now Comey's admitting he was wrong. Wow, but he's only doing so because he got caught red handed. He was actually caught a long time ago. So what are the consequences for his unlawful conduct. Could it be years in jail? Where are the apologies to me and others, Jim?> > -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2019
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| South Korea Should Consult U.S. on North Korea Tours, Envoy Says Posted: 16 Jan 2020 02:21 AM PST ![South Korea Should Consult U.S. on North Korea Tours, Envoy Says]( "South Korea Should Consult U.S. on North Korea Tours, Envoy Says") (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's push to allow for private tourism to North Korea should be discussed with the U.S., said Ambassador Harry Harris, who added the visits are technically possible."Tourism is allowed under sanctions, but what you take with you when you tour, some of those things might not be allowed under those sanctions," the U.S. envoy to South Korea told reporters Thursday after President Moon Jae-in raised the proposal earlier this week. Harris said consultations with a designated U.S. government body should take place to "avoid misunderstandings."Moon said at a news conference in Seoul on Tuesday that individual tourism is not restricted by international sanctions and he's willing to "seek approval from the United Nations for exceptions when it comes to cooperation between South and North Korea."Tourism allows cash-starved North Korea to obtain hard currency and significant flows of money to Kim's regime could undermine President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign to squeeze its economy through sanctions.Harris also said that the U.S. has made adjustments in its request for funding from South Korea to host U.S. troops and was looking for Seoul to do the same -- without mentioning any specific figures. His comments came after U.S. and South Korean negotiators failed to reach an agreement at their latest defense cost-sharing talks held in Washington, with the two sides saying there is still a "difference in stances," according to a statement from South Korea's foreign ministry.Their current deal technically expired at the start of the year and the tension over the new terms has raised questions about one of the U.S.'s closest military alliances and a key piece of the Pentagon's strategy for countering North Korea and a rising China. There has been no major change to the U.S. military presence in the country as they two sides meet to discuss a new deal.U.S. Walks Out of Military Cost-Sharing Talks With South KoreaTrump has demanded South Korea contribute about $5 billion for hosting about 28,500 U.S. military personnel, well above the current one-year deal where Seoul pays about $1 billion. The price tag originated with the White House, according to people familiar with the matter, and administration officials justify it by saying it reflects the costs South Korea would incur if it takes operational control of combined U.S.-South Korean forces in the case of a conflict.To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Chris KayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| AOC-Linked Dark Money Goes After Biden and Buttigieg Posted: 15 Jan 2020 11:59 AM PST  Wait, isn't she against that...
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| Virginia Ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment, and Conservatives Fight Like It’s 1979 Posted: 15 Jan 2020 02:54 PM PST  Time to bring back bell-bottom jeans and Disco Inferno: the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed Congress in 1972 and became a feminist cause celébre in the 1970s and 1980s, has just been ratified by 38 states, making it part of the Constitution.Maybe.On Wednesday, the Commonwealth of Virginia ratified the ERA as both houses of the state legislature approved the amendment by comfortable margins. Democratic Governor Ralph Northam also backs the measure. The ERA states, simply, that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."But that ratification may not be valid, and, as a consequence, Republicans and Democrats will spend years fighting it out in Congress and the courts.This, ultimately, will be good for Democrats, because Republicans seem determined to die on a hill fighting against it. That may have played well in the 1970s and 1980s, but it's just not a good look in the post-MeToo 2020s.To begin, it's not clear that the ERA is still open to being ratified at all. Congress placed time limits on ratification in both 1972 and 1977, and the latter one expired in 1982. Women's rights advocates argue that because the time limit was in the amendment's preamble, rather than its text, it doesn't count.But there's no precedent for that position, and it's hard to see the current Supreme Court, in particular, invalidating a clear deadline set by Congress simply because it was set in one paragraph and not another.Advocates also are asking Congress to formally remove the deadline, but it's hard to see Mitch McConnell's Senate doing any such thing. It's also not clear that Congress can remove a deadline 38 years after it expired.For its part, the Trump administration's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued an opinion on January 6 holding that the ratification period has expired and the deadline cannot be removed now.Although not formally binding, that opinion will almost certainly become the position of the government as a whole, including the National Archives and Records Administration, which formally has the responsibility for certifying the amendment or not.For now, anyway, the ERA is not part of the Constitution.But Democrats are ready to fight. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said last week that "I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that the will of Virginians is carried out and the ERA is added to our Constitution, as it should be."Why? A combination of principle and politics.While the battles over the ERA are a relic of the last days of disco – or, if you like, the Jazz Age, given that the ERA was first proposed back in 1923 – the general principle that men and women should be treated equally under law is as valid in 2020 as it was in 1977. "American women need the ERA now more than ever," Virginia Kase, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States, said in a statement following the amendment's ratification.Legally speaking, it's not clear that that's the case.In the absence of the ERA, the Supreme Court has already read sex (and gender) into the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution. Believe it or not, the only legal effect of the ERA may be to change the Court's standard of review in sex discrimination cases. That is rather thin sauce.Some advocates have suggested that the ERA could provide a basis for protecting abortion rights. As Stephanie Russell-Kraft wrote in these pages, "Women's equality necessarily requires reproductive and bodily autonomy, and without control over our bodies, women cannot participate as full and equal citizens in this country."That is a compelling argument in principle, but it's hard to see a literal-minded Supreme Court reading it into a constitutional amendment that doesn't mention abortion at all. After all, if Congress wanted to protect abortion, it could have done so in the text of the ERA, which was passed shortly before Roe v. Wade was decided. In terms of text and intent, the argument seems tenuous at best.So if the ERA won't have much practical impact, why fight so hard for it?Easy: it's a symbol, and symbols matter.As Herring said on NPR last month, "the fact that it's almost 2020 and there are still states that are trying to block women's equality from being a part of the U.S. Constitution is repugnant."That's true regardless of what the ERA would or wouldn't do. Now as in the 1970s, the fight is about whether women's equality is enshrined in the text of the Constitution, along with the right to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and other rights that our country regards as fundamental.Moreover, this is a fight that Democrats will win.In the 1970s, fights over the ERA, together with those over desegregation, religion, and abortion, helped create the modern Christian Right. Phyllis Schlafly and other conservative firebrands made it the context for fighting against changing gender roles and social mores. Egads, Schlafly exclaimed, if the ERA passes, women may not be entitled to their own single-gender restrooms!Goodbye to Phyllis Schlafly, the Equal Rights-Hating, Trump-Loving Culture WarriorHow far the Christian Right has come. Just last year, as three states sought to rescind their earlier ratification of the ERA, conservatives argued that it could force schools to let transgender people use gender-appropriate bathrooms. What is it about conservatives and bathrooms, anyway?Factually speaking, restroom scaremongering is, and was, poppycock. Women's restrooms don't violate the ERA, and transgender women aren't male sexual predators. Anyway, the text of the ERA mentions sex, not gender.But Schlafly's larger point – that social mores about sex and gender are changing – was accurate, then and now. What drove thousands of conservative women to clutch their pocketbooks in protest wasn't some arcane claim about bathrooms. It was their fear that traditional gender roles were shifting.Well, guess what: they have shifted. The glass ceiling, the gender pay gap, and sexual harassment are still very much facts of life. But as MeToo has shown, clear majorities of Americans do not think the kind of workplace behavior commonplace in Schlafly's day is acceptable anymore. Republican as well as Democratic women have run for president. Republicans are deeply misguided if they think they can fight 1980's battles today. The notion that women should not have equal legal rights as men is about as contemporary as a Boomer's old pair of bell-bottoms.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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| Qatar further eases restrictions on migrant workers' exit Posted: 16 Jan 2020 03:46 AM PST ![Qatar further eases restrictions on migrant workers' exit]( "Qatar further eases restrictions on migrant workers' exit") Qatar said on Thursday it had scrapped restrictions on leaving the country for nearly all migrant workers as part of reforms answering accusations of exploitation especially in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup. The measure removes exit visas for hundreds of thousands of domestic workers left out of earlier reforms - mainly from Asian nations like Nepal, India and the Philippines - whom rights groups said were left open to abuse by being excluded. Unions and activists have documented labor exploitation, dangerous conditions and deaths of workers building stadiums and infrastructure for both the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the upcoming event in Qatar.
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| Jeffrey Epstein abused girls as young as 11 on secluded private island, lawsuit says Posted: 15 Jan 2020 02:27 PM PST  Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls in the Caribbean as young as 11 years old up until 2018, according to a new lawsuit.The lawsuit filed by US Virgin Islands attorney general Denise George claims that Epstein had brought girls as young as 11 and 12 to his secluded estate there, and kept a computerised database that tracked the availability of women and girls. The lawsuit could ultimately reduce the amount of money available to victims who have come forward as a part of claims against the estate in the United States, according to Reuters.
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| Race to save animals on Australia's fire-ravaged 'Galapagos' Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:36 AM PST  On an island famed as Australia's "Galapagos" for its unique and abundant wildlife, rescuers are racing to save rare animals in a bushfire-ravaged landscape. The charred forest floor on Kangaroo Island is littered with corpses of animals incinerated by the blazes that swept through two weeks ago. Unprecedented fires across swathes of southern and eastern Australia over the past five months have killed an estimated billion animals.
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| UN court to rule next week in Rohingya genocide case Posted: 15 Jan 2020 07:14 AM PST  The United Nations' top court announced Wednesday that it will issue a decision next week on a request to order Myanmar to halt what has been cast as a genocidal campaign against the southeast Asian country's Rohingya Muslim minority. At hearings in December, lawyers representing Gambia showed judges maps, satellite imagery and graphic photos to highlight what they called a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide — including the killing of civilians, raping of women and torching of houses — that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
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| Why Trump’s Impeachment Trial Makes Senate Republicans Squirm Posted: 16 Jan 2020 02:29 AM PST ![Why Trump's Impeachment Trial Makes Senate Republicans Squirm]( "Why Trump's Impeachment Trial Makes Senate Republicans Squirm") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- As the impeachment of President Donald Trump moves to what Republicans are calling a trial in the Senate, members of his party are poised to bury evidence of his corruption and acquit him. This is not because they are personally loyal to the president; several GOP senators have previously acknowledged that he is unfit for office. It is because they are afraid of his, or rather their, voters.The fear is genuine: Much like Trump himself, many Republicans have a distorted view of reality. In a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, roughly two thirds of voters, 64%, say they would oppose the U.S. going to war against Iran. If you're wondering who the minority is that thinks it's a good idea for a reckless and unstable commander in chief with vacancies in many crucial national-security posts to attack a Muslim nation with a population of more than 80 million and dangerous proxy forces throughout the region, the answer is … Republicans. By a 24-point margin, 55% to 31%, they support another Middle East war. Much of Republican officials' anti-democratic behavior — norm busting, extreme gerrymandering, voter suppression, nonchalance about Russian manipulation of U.S. politics — can be explained as a reaction to shrinking Republican electoral prospects under fair election conditions. In other words, these efforts may be venal and destructive, but they are also rational from the perspective of short-term political self-interest.An itch for war with Iran, by contrast, is not a manifestation of the GOP's mad pursuit of electoral supremacy at any cost. It's just mad.Republicans increasingly see things as they are not. This is not simply a matter of values shaping vision. Belief in God, questions of whether the U.S. should prioritize maintaining its superpower status and a host of other issues rely on value judgments. Individual mileage may vary. However, 37% of Republicans saying there is no solid evidence that the Earth is getting warmer, and another 18% saying they are unsure, is not a value judgment. It's a war on thermometers.Republicans also say that evangelical Christians face as much discrimination in the U.S. as Muslims do. Large numbers of Republicans contend that whites face as much or more discrimination than blacks. (A much smaller percentage of Democrats think so.) These beliefs bear no relationship to the social, political, cultural or economic realities in the U.S. — now or at any moment in history.As long as Republicans maintain institutional political power, and a thriving right-wing propagandaplex, there is little reason to believe the party or its base will make accommodations to reality or the rule of law. Only defeats at the polls (Russia willing), a painstaking demographic makeover or a sustained show of leadership by Republican elites (most of whom know better) is likely to have a corrective influence. Despite occasional professions of unease, the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will continue to fund the insanity. Not even a trade war, never mind corruption and incompetence, has managed to divert them from their pursuit of tax cuts and deregulation.In 2012, political scientists Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein published their instant-classic summation of the GOP as "ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition."The party's descent has since accelerated rapidly. The Senate trial of Trump, provided Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allows something worthy of the name to proceed, is an opportunity to slow the degradation. Maybe, just maybe, a handful of Republicans will rise to meet the moral and political challenge posed by this president. More likely, however, is that the party will use Trump's trial as it used his tainted election: To lower itself, and the country, still closer to the bottom.To contact the author of this story: Francis Wilkinson at fwilkinson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Meet The Focke-Wult FW-190 Fighter: World War II's Best Fighter Aircraft Posted: 15 Jan 2020 09:00 PM PST  Created by a brilliant, German aircraft designer.
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| A 14-year-old boy died after being trapped in a chimney where his lungs were unable to expand and contract Posted: 15 Jan 2020 09:07 AM PST  Police had been looking for the Ohio boy for nearly a month. Compressive asphyxia can also occur at overcrowded concerts and sporting events.
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| New video shows two Iranian missiles hitting Ukraine plane in the night Posted: 15 Jan 2020 06:52 AM PST  New video footage has emerged showing two Iranian missiles tearing through the night sky and hitting a Ukrainian passenger plane, sending the aircraft down in flames and killing all 176 passengers and crew onboard.
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| Nigerian Islamist militants free three aid workers, other civilian hostages: U.N. Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:04 AM PST ![Nigerian Islamist militants free three aid workers, other civilian hostages: U.N.]( "Nigerian Islamist militants free three aid workers, other civilian hostages: U.N.") Islamist militants released three aid workers and other civilians in northeast Nigeria who had been held hostage since late December, a United Nations official said on Thursday. The people were kidnapped on Dec. 22 by militants posing as soldiers who stopped a convoy of commercial vehicles traveling towards the city of Maiduguri, state capital of the northeastern state of Borno. Islamist militants have waged an insurgency in northeast Nigeria that has killed 36,000 people since 2009 and left 7.1 million people needing humanitarian assistance.
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| Texas carries out first US execution of 2020 Posted: 15 Jan 2020 05:40 PM PST  Texas on Wednesday carried out the first execution of the year in the United States, putting to death by lethal injection a man convicted of killing his wife 15 years ago because she wanted a divorce. John Gardner, 64, was sentenced to death in 2006 for killing his fifth wife, who had left him after multiple incidents of physical violence and filed for divorce. Tammy Gardner died two days later.
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| Woman who poisoned husband with eyedrops sentenced to 25 years in prison Posted: 16 Jan 2020 02:41 PM PST  A woman accused of poisoning her husband to death with eye drops then burning his will has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.South Carolina woman Lana Clayton pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter more than a year after she had spiked her husband's water with Visine until he collapsed inside the couple's multi-million-dollar home on 21 July 2018.
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| US military training for Saudi students could resume soon Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:30 AM PST  U.S. training for more than 800 Saudi Arabian military students could be restarted "in the coming days," the Pentagon said Thursday, nearly six weeks after a shooting by one Saudi trainee killed three sailors at a Florida base. The Pentagon had stopped all flight and field training for the approximately 850 Saudi students amid fears that others may have known about or been involved in the shooting at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Jonathan Hoffman, chief spokesman for the Defense Department, said officials probably will have an announcement soon about the training resumption.
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| Russia's entire cabinet resigned en masse in a plan that would help Putin keep power indefinitely. Here's everything we know. Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:22 AM PST  The resignation came moments after President Vladimir Putin Putin suggested big constitutional changes.
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