| Mitch McConnell pulled a 'Machiavellian' move to swing Trump's impeachment trial in his favor Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:34 PM PST  Constitutional scholars told Insider McConnell's maneuver was "cynically Machiavellian" and a "hyperpartisan" manipulation of Senate norms.
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| Hurricane Rudy Strikes Back: Giuliani Hints At Tapes Exposing Parnas 'Lies' Posted: 21 Jan 2020 03:18 AM PST  Will the potential Trump impeachment witness hit back?
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| UK to introduce tougher jail terms for convicted terrorists after London Bridge attack Posted: 20 Jan 2020 04:12 PM PST  Britain will introduce tougher jail sentences for convicted terrorists and will end early release as part of a series of measures to strengthen its response to terrorism, the government said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to make changes after an attack near London Bridge in November in which Usman Khan, a convicted terrorist who had been released early from prison, killed two people. Khan had been sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison in 2012 with a requirement that the parole board assess his danger to the public before release.
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| AOC criticises Democratic Party: ‘We don’t have a left party in the United States’ Posted: 21 Jan 2020 07:32 AM PST  New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained that the Democratic party does not represent the political left in the United States, calling the organisation a "centre or centre-conservative" party that "can't even get a floor vote" on nationalising health care.She said: "We can't even get a floor vote on Medicare for All — not even a floor vote that might get doubled down."
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| China Tries to Ease Concern U.S. Trade Deal Hurts Other Nations Posted: 21 Jan 2020 07:53 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng told the World Economic Forum that the country's trade deal with the U.S. won't hurt rival exporting nations as complaints mount from governments that were left out of the agreement.In the most high-profile remarks on the country's economic policy since the accord was signed last week, Han said that its commitment to buy more from the U.S. is in line with its World Trade Organization obligations and won't squeeze out other imports. Han also pledged to lower barriers for foreign investors as he set out the case for China's engagement with the global economy."China will open its door wider," Han told an audience in Davos, Switzerland. "Though facing some protectionism from some countries, the determination to open up will not waver."The speech comes less than a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping sealed a "phase one" deal intended to de-escalate a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. The accord saw China commit to crack down on the theft of American technology and corporate secrets by its companies and state entities, while outlining a $200 billion spending spree to try to close its trade imbalance with the U.S."The phase-one trade deal is good for U.S., China and the world," Han said. "China's increasing purchases of U.S. goods are in accordance with WTO guidelines and will not impact its imports from other countries."Han made the comments just as Trump gave his own speech in Davos, in which the U.S. president claimed credit for overseeing an economy enjoying its longest expansion yet, with an unemployment rate that fell to a five-decade low after tax cuts, deregulation and improved trade deals. He also spoke of his close relationship with Xi."He's for China and I'm for the U.S., but other than that, we love each other," he said.Under the agreement, China will boost purchases of U.S. manufactured goods, agricultural products, energy and services over the next two years. Critics say such pre-determined demand can have adverse consequences elsewhere.'Managed Trade'"The real problem with managed trade is that it may divert, rather than expand, international commerce," Chad Bown, a senior fellow and trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said in a report released Tuesday. "For example, China could purchase more American soybeans by cutting back on imports of oilseeds from Brazil."Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy said China's pledge to boost American imports could end up costing the European Union about $11 billion next year. "If trade costs and hence relative prices do not change, Chinese imports from the U.S. must come at the expense of third countries," the institute said in a study published this week.Last week, EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan said his team will scrutinize whether China's pledge is allowed under the WTO."We haven't analyzed the document in detail, but we will and if there's a WTO-compliance issue of course we will take the case," Hogan told a conference on Thursday in Washington.Separately, Australia is pushing China for the same dairy concessions that the U.S. received, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. As part of phase one of the deal, the U.S. secured regulatory breaks on dairy products shipped to China, barriers that have hampered Australian exporters, the newspaper reported last week.To contact the reporters on this story: Dandan Li in Beijing at dli395@bloomberg.net;Crystal Chui in Zurich at tchui4@bloomberg.net;Bryce Baschuk in Geneva at bbaschuk2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Brendan MurrayFor 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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| Boeing makes it official: 737 Max plane won't be back until summer. Could it be later? Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:58 PM PST  Airlines have already moved the 737 Max back in their schedules. Boeing makes it official: The planes will miss at least part of the summer travel season.
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| 2 inmates were killed Monday night at an understaffed Mississippi prison Posted: 21 Jan 2020 10:32 AM PST  Two inmates were killed Monday night at an understaffed Mississippi prison that has been shaken by other deadly violence in recent weeks. The state Department of Corrections confirmed the deaths Tuesday but did not immediately release the names of the latest inmates killed at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The department said it is investigating the deaths.
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| 4 wild stories we've learned so far from 'A Very Stable Genius,' a new book on the Trump White House Posted: 21 Jan 2020 01:39 PM PST  The book tells never-before-heard stories about the Trump White House, and confirms anecdotes that were detailed in other books and reporting.
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| Forget North Korea or Pakistan: This U.S. Ally Has a Nuclear Arsenal That Could Kill Billions Posted: 20 Jan 2020 11:55 PM PST  And its all underwater.
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| Arizona mother arrested on suspicion of killing her three young children Posted: 21 Jan 2020 11:00 AM PST  A 22-year-old woman was arrested and booked into jail on Tuesday on suspicion of killing her three young children, city police said, after the bodies were found inside her south Phoenix home. The suspect, Rachel Henry, was taken into custody by Phoenix police early on Tuesday after admitting that she harmed the children, said Sergeant Mercedes Fortune of the Phoenix Police Department. Responders found the three children unresponsive, and were unable to resuscitate them.
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| US envoy say it's his mustache; South Koreans say otherwise Posted: 20 Jan 2020 01:24 AM PST  The U.S. ambassador to South Korea has some unusual explanations for the harsh criticism he's faced in his host country. Or a Japanese ancestry that raises unpleasant reminders of Japan's former colonial domination of Korea? Many South Koreans, however, have a more straight-forward explanation for Harry Harris' struggle to win hearts and minds in Seoul, and it's got more to do with an outspoken manner that they see as undiplomatic and rude.
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| Zimbabwe Opposition Vows Rolling Protests Over Economy Posted: 21 Jan 2020 08:30 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterZimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change will hold a series of demonstrations this year over the government's failure to address the deteriorating economy.The southern African nation had the continent's fastest-shrinking economy last year, after Libya, and its annual inflation rate was outpaced globally only by Venezuela, International Monetary Fund estimates show. Zimbabwe is grappling with shortages of food, fuel and foreign-exchange, while its inability to pay for adequate electricity imports and breakdowns at power plants have led to outages of as long as 18 hours a day."This year is going to be a year of demonstrations and action," MDC leader Nelson Chamisa told party supporters in the capital, while outlining their plans for this year." This year it must be known that demonstrations are coming. It is time to fight for Zimbabwe we all want and have been dreaming of."Previous protests by anti-government activists have resulted in brutal repression. At least 18 people have been killed in demonstrations since Emmerson Mnangagwa came to power in November 2017.To contact the reporter on this story: Godfrey Marawanyika in Harare at gmarawanyika@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Alastair ReedFor 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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| Biden selfie with elevator operator goes viral after 2020 candidate fails to secure New York Times endorsement Posted: 21 Jan 2020 08:35 AM PST  A clip of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden taking a selfie with an elevator operator has gone viral after the former vice president failed to secure an endorsement from The New York Times.The exchange was captured on camera when Mr Biden was on his way to meet the Times' editorial board as part of a series of interviews with Democratic 2020 election candidates.
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| Asian stocks arrest slide but investors on edge over China virus Posted: 21 Jan 2020 05:13 PM PST  Asian share markets steadied on Wednesday as investors took stock of the spread of a new strain of coronavirus from China and weighed the possible consequences of a global pandemic. Fears of contagion, particularly as millions travel for Lunar New Year festivities, knocked stocks from record levels on Tuesday as investors swapped them for safer assets. The outbreak has revived memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002-03, a coronavirus outbreak that killed nearly 800 people and hurt world travel.
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| Signs of life at 'no-man's land' around Philippine volcano Posted: 20 Jan 2020 11:48 PM PST  A desolate landscape of ash dunes and bare trees left by the eruption of the Philippines' Taal volcano lay in contrast with a few signs of life at ground zero of the disaster on Tuesday. The island site was buried by massive deposits of ash when Taal erupted last week and remains under a mandatory evacuation order due to a feared bigger blast. Authorities have said any outward signs of an imminent eruption have been weak over the past several days.
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| White House to Block Possible Testimony from Lev Parnas: Report Posted: 20 Jan 2020 11:13 AM PST  The White House will block any attempt to summon Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas to testify in the Senate impeachment trial, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.Parnas, who was involved in Giuliani's efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, made explosive claims regarding President Trump's involvement in Ukraine during a series of interviews released on Wednesday."President Trump knew exactly what was going on," Parnas said in an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. "He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the President."Parnas accused Attorney General William Barr of being aware of Giuliani's and Trump's actions but Barr denied that he had any knowledge of such dealings.In testimony during House impeachment hearings, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch alleged Parnas and associate Igor Fruman, along with Giuliani, were working to oust her in order to advance Parnas's and Fruman's business interests. The two are also thought to have worked with former top Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko to obtain information on the Bidens.The Ukrainian businessman was indicted in October on campaign-finance charges, and is accused of disguising donations to Republican candidates to advance his personal interests and those of other Ukrainian politicians.President Trump's impeachment defense team, which includes heavyweight attorney Alan Dershowitz and former Clinton impeachment manager Ken Starr, announced on Monday it will call on the Senate to "swiftly reject" the articles of impeachment."The Senate should speedily reject these articles of impeachment and acquit the President," reads a trial brief released by the team. "All that House Democrats have succeeded in proving is that the President did absolutely nothing wrong."Democrats allege President Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate corruption allegations against Joe and Hunter Biden.
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| Russia admits its deadly Zircon hypersonic missile is suffering from 'childhood diseases' Posted: 21 Jan 2020 02:11 PM PST  The weapon which is expected to eventually arm the country's newer frigates is apparently experiencing developmental challenges.
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| The Navy Has a Plan to Stop Ship-Killer Missiles Posted: 20 Jan 2020 11:28 PM PST  The threat keeps building from nations like Russia, China, Iran and many others.
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| 30 Doormats That Will Wow Visitors Posted: 21 Jan 2020 08:30 AM PST |
| Documents: Extremist group wanted rally to start civil war Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:11 PM PST  A hidden camera captured members of a white supremacist group expressing hope that violence at a gun rights rally in Virginia this week could start a civil war, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday. Former Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews also videotaped himself advocating for killing people, poisoning water supplies and derailing trains, a prosecutor wrote in urging a judge in Maryland to keep Mathews and two other members of The Base detained in federal custody. Last month, a closed-circuit television camera and microphone installed by investigators in a Delaware home captured Mathews talking about the Virginia rally as a "boundless" opportunity.
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| Xi Vowed Not to Turn the Screws on Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Says Posted: 21 Jan 2020 09:29 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up here to receive the Davos Diary, a special daily newsletter that will run from Jan. 20-24.Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered personal assurances that he won't use the protests in Hong Kong as an excuse to tighten Beijing's controls on the region, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said.Speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview at the World Economic Forum Tuesday, Lam pushed back against the widespread assumption that Xi is tightening controls on Hong Kong as she sought to reassure global investors that the Asian financial center will remain stable despite months of historic and increasingly violent protests."There is no truth in the allegation that the central government is tightening the grip on Hong Kong," Lam said. "The central government has time and again made it very clear that they want Hong Kong to succeed under 'One Country, Two Systems' and a high degree of autonomy.""It was made very clear to me by President Xi Jinping on the three occasions that I met him" in recent months, she added.Lam arrived in Davos after a fresh bout of protest violence in downtown Hong Kong, with four police officers injured in clashes with demonstrators Sunday following an otherwise peaceful rally. More than seven months of pro-democracy protests have battered the former British colony's economy, undermined its reputation for political stability and increased geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China.China has governed Hong Kong since 1997 under a "one country, two systems" framework that preserves its freedom of expression, independent courts and capitalist financial system. The city's pro-democracy opposition has accused Beijing of eroding that autonomy and stonewalling calls for meaningful direct elections of the chief executive, who's currently selected by a 1,200-member committee.While Lam withdrew legislation allowing extraditions to China that initially prompted the unrest, she has so far refused to consider other key protester demands including an independent probe of the police. Nevertheless, in Davos, Lam hinted that there may be other motivations behind the protests."One has to wonder what are the underlying factors that caused the sustained social unrest in the last few months," she said.The protests have been more subdued since mid-November, when pro-democracy candidates swept elections for local district councils though the city of 7.4 million people remains bitterly divided, with widespread distrust of Beijing and the local government. The main political event this year will be elections for the more powerful Legislative Council in September.Rumors have persisted for months that Beijing may replace Lam, whose approval rating is hovering near a record low of 14%, according to a Hong Kong Public Opinion Program survey released earlier this month. So far, President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed China's support for Lam, although Beijing replaced its main representative in Hong Kong earlier this month with an official some analysts described as a hardliner.Lam herself insisted she wouldn't quit."I will do my utmost to stay in this position and arrest the current situation," she said.To contact the reporters on this story: Haslinda Amin in Singapore at hamin1@bloomberg.net;Dandan Li in Davos, Switzerland, at dli395@bloomberg.net;Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten KateFor 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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| Meet the General Who Ran Soleimani’s Spies, Guns and Assassins Posted: 21 Jan 2020 01:51 AM PST  They're the Quds Force officers who tracked and killed Iraqis working with the U.S.-led coalition, hunted those deemed hostile to Iranian influence through a council of assassins, and smuggled the spies, money, weapons, and secrets into Iraq that sowed chaos across the country during the American occupation. Qassem Soleimani first gained the attention of Western media through his role in instigating a campaign of covert violence against the U.S. in Iraq which cost the lives of over 600 American troops. But underneath the now famous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps icon, other officers managed the war that first made Soleimani notorious. For a period during the mid-2000s, one of those officers was Brigadier General Ahmed Foruzandeh, who rose to command the Ramazan Corps, part of the Guard's elite Quds Force, after cutting his teeth in the unit running guerrilla warfare operations during the Iran-Iraq war.'OK, Now What?': Inside Team Trump's Scramble to Sell the Soleimani Hit to America"Although Qassem Soleimani was the architect of that broader strategy, it was his lesser known lieutenants who ran and oversaw the operations," Dr. Afshon Ostovar, a scholar at the Naval Postgraduate School, said. "Foruzandeh was one of the top Quds Force operatives in the field in Iraq, yet his name was hardly known at the time." Declassified documents obtained by The Daily Beast through the Freedom of Information Act offer new details of Foruzandeh's campaign of violence in Iraq during the latter 2000s. They show how Foruzandeh and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) funneled guns, money, and spies into Iraq and assassinated both Americans and Iraqis. And they offer hints that the man who helped Iran kill hundreds of Americans throughout the Iraq war may not have actually retired years ago as he let on, but continued to consult for his former boss long after the war ended.Iranian and American media alike have treated Foruzandeh's old boss, the former Quds Force commander Soleimani, with something approaching hagiography. In profiles and obituaries, he's cast as a legendary "shadow commander" possessed of superhuman abilities and cunning, a judgment not entirely supported by Soleimani's colleagues. By contrast, declassified documents obtained by The Daily Beast and other sources paint a more prosaic picture of Foruzandeh. Like a number of Quds Force personnel, Foruzandeh's career in Iraq drew on nothing more mystical than relationships and experience. His first brush with the world of covert operations in the Iran-Iraq war met with middling success and the guerrilla warfare effort he supported barely moved the needle in the conflict. But by the time the U.S. showed up on Iran's doorstep, Foruzandeh had been carrying out guerrilla warfare and covert operations across the Iran-Iraq border for nearly 20 years with some of the same people and organizations. "They clearly have, one, home court advantage. Two, these guys have been doing special operations in the region for their entire adult life and they're veterans of the brutal Iran-Iraq war," Doug Wise, a former CIA officer and station chief in Baghdad, told The Daily Beast of Iranian Quds Force officers who worked on Iraq. "These guys are worthy adversaries. They're not 10 feet tall. They have human and physical limitations but extraordinary experience in conducting the operations that they were required to conduct," Wise said. * * *"Big picture," Col. Donald Bacon, then the chief of special operations and intelligence information for the coalition, said in a 2007 press conference, "the Ramazan Corps is the organization that does operations here in Iraq to—they use it to—they're the ones who transit in the weapons, the funding and help coordinate Iraqi militia extremists into Iran to get them training and then get them back into Iraq."Ramazan was the Quds Force unit in charge of causing chaos in Iraq and, at least for a time, Foruzandeh was its commander. The unit, which dated back to the Iran-Iraq war, divided its forces between a handful of sub-commands along the Iraqi border. Foruzandeh had worked in Fajr command, based in Ahwaz, Iran, which handled operations in Basra and southern Iraq, working his way up to deputy commander of Ramazan.By 2007, as violence in Iraq peaked, intelligence reports surveyed Iranian covert operations in Iraq as the U.S. turned its attention away from the Sunni jihadist insurgency and towards the violence instigated by Iran and its proxies. The documents include raw reporting marked as "not finally evaluated intelligence" from sources whose motivations are described as "based on favorable experiences with U.S. forces and desire to rid Iraq of destructive foreign influences" but they track broadly with what U.S. officials have said about Ramazan Corps and its personnel.Taken together, they show a sprawling campaign of covert violence with Foruzandeh and the Ramazan Corps in charge.The documents spend considerable space detailing the elaborate process by which the Iranian-overseen "Golden Death Squad" targeted, approved, and carried out assassinations against Iraqis they viewed as obstacles. The unit, the report wrote, "consists of Iranian intelligence leadership that provide guidance and funding to Iraqis that are recruited from [Jaish al-Mahdi], Badr Corps, the Al-Fadilah Party, and other Shia Iraqi parties and militias that conduct assassination operations against former Ba'ath party members, Iraqis that are working with the [Coalition Forces], and Iraqis that are not supporting Iranian influence in Iraq."Iranian officers shuttled Iraqi members of the assassination teams to Ahwaz, Iran, the headquarters of Ramazan's Fajr command, for training. The 10-day long course included instruction from Iranian officers on "information collection to support the targeting of coalition forces in Iraq, assassinations, and the use of indirect fire systems such as Katyusha rockets and mortars." Iran also trained its proxies in the use of "what is described as very sophisticated explosives that can penetrate [Coalition Forces'] armor," an apparent reference to the notorious Iranian-made explosively formed projectiles which killed and maimed hundreds of American troops. When it came time to decide who would be killed, Quds Force officers set up a process for adjudicating assassination targets, giving Iraqi allies a role in the process, according to the documents. "Iraqis that are agents of the Iranians are allowed to produce lists of Iraqis that are to be assassinated," it notes. "Most of these Iraqis that are authorized to make decisions regarding who is to be killed by the Golden Death Squad are members of the Iraqi government and security forces." Meetings of the hit squad reportedly took place at the Basra governor's office where members of Basra police intelligence would "routinely attend."Iranian intelligence officers also nominated their own targets for assassination. Their names were handed to a member of the Iranian-backed Badr militia. The Iranian officer who passed the targets along—his name is redacted in the report—is described as "a Persian Iranian that is fluent in Iraqi Arabic and has a southern Iraqi accent due to the years he has spent in Iraq."Those slated for assassination included not just former Baathists but Iraqis who worked with the U.S.-backed coalition. The documents recount how one Quds Force officer, assigned to Ramazan's Fajr command in southern Iraq, ran an Iraqi agent who photographed coalition informants for the IRGC. The unnamed Quds Force officer then "passe[d] the pictures to Iraqis that he tasks and funds to kill those identified by [redacted's] reporting and pictures."In at least one case, Foruzandeh reportedly intervened to help one of his militia allies after coalition officials arrested them. Mehdi Abdmehd al-Khalisi allegedly ran the Muntada al-Wilaya militia, a small, Iranian-backed Shiite militia implicated in the murder of a number of former Baathist officials and an attack on coalition troops. When coalition officials arrested al-Khalisi in 2005, senior Iraqi officials began pressuring the coalition to release him. A classified cable leaked by WikiLeaks show that informants told the U.S. that al-Khalisi had been communicating with Foruzandeh about attacks on British forces in Iraq's Maysan governorate via encrypted telegrams as early as 2003. After his arrest, the cable says that an informant of "unknown reliability" reported that Foruzandeh "has authorized an expenditure of up to $500,000 for operations to secure Mr. al-Khalisi's release, and that senior [Iraqi Transitional Government] officials have received telephone calls from the Brigadier requesting assistance." Along with the assassinations came Iranian weapons and trainers. Reporting by the Long War Journal first sketched out Ramazan's "rat lines" in Iraq and documents obtained by The Daily Beast note that the unit oversaw a "complex smuggling apparatus from Ahwaz, Iran into Iraq" that included "weapons, information, financial support, and Iranian intelligence officers." The money, guns, and Iranian personnel began their journey in Ahwaz and were handed off to smugglers at the border with Iraq.Iranian intelligence officers would vet smugglers for loyalty and to ensure that they had a "pre-existing relationship with the [Iraqi border police] because of their tribal relationship"—a relationship that nonetheless "usually involves a pre-arranged bribe." Once across the border, smugglers toting money, guns, and Iranian personnel were "typically met by a reception element that represents a Shia militia group that the operation support package was built for."In the ports of southern Iraq, Ramazan agents smuggled weapons via hidden compartments in the fuel tanks of fishing boats, according to the documents. As violent as Foruzandeh's tenure in occupation-era Iraq war was, he wasn't entirely averse to covert diplomacy. Ahmed Chalabi, the exiled Iraqi lobbyist who helped push the Bush administration to war in Iraq, met with Foruzandeh in the spring of 2004, according to a 2008 biography of Chalabi by journalist and former Daily Beast senior correspondent Aram Roston. At the time, Chalabi had transitioned from pro-war lobbyist to an Iraqi member of parliament and was seeking to accommodate himself to Iran's newfound influence in Iranian politics. Some time after the meeting, the U.S. learned that Iranian intelligence had suddenly realized American spies were reading their cable traffic and had broken their codes. A few months later, American intelligence officials told The New York Times they believed Chalabi had walked into the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and blown the operation to the station chief of Iranian intelligence at the embassy. Chalabi denied any involvement in the leak but the incident led the Bush administration to end its relationship with him.* * *Foruzandeh's father worked for the Abadan oil company and when he left the company, his family of 13 sons and daughters moved to Khorramshahr, just across the border from Basra in Iraq. His son Ahmed was an early supporter of Iran's Islamic Revolution, a stance which earned him a stint in prison at university—thanks to the ruling Shah's secret police—and the revolutionary bonafides that came with it when the Shah's government was ousted.In the early days of the Islamic Revolution, Foruzandeh worked with the IRGC to identify and arrest Arab dissidents in Khorramshahr opposed to the new government. His knowledge of the area, proven commitment to the regime, and background in underground work made him a natural fit for intelligence when the Iran-Iraq war started."After Iraq's invasion, he was the intelligence chief of the Khorramshahr unit that later played a key role in re-taking the city from the Baathists in 1982," Amir Toumaj, an Iran researcher who's written extensively on the Quds Force, explained of Foruzandeh. "His biography states that he started developing a relationship with Hassan Bagheri around the time of Khorramshahr's fall and sent him reports," Toumaj says. Bagheri, the founder of the Islamic Republic's intelligence service, was killed during the war but went on to become one of Iran's most famous "martyrs." His brother, Mohammad, is now Iran's highest-ranking military officer and it was those kinds of connections that would help pave Foruzandeh's ascent to the highest ranks of the IRGC.Trump, Iran, and Where 'The Forever War' Was Always HeadedLater in the war, Foruzandeh left his position in Khorramshahr's 22nd Badr Brigade and joined the Ramazan Corps. The unit was designed to work with dissident groups in Iraq and carry out guerrilla operations behind enemy lines while the otherwise static style of trench warfare that characterized the Iran-Iraq conflict played out. At Ramazan's Fajr headquarters, where Foruzandeh first worked, the unit carried out operations with Iraqi Shiite groups like the Badr Brigade, a group of exiled dissidents and former prisoners of war. The militia was originally "conceived by the Iranians as an adjunct to the IRGC-QF Ramazan Corps," according to a 2005 State Department cable, and drew support from their political arm, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq war, radio broadcasts from Tehran hailed operations by the "Ramazan Headquarters" which claimed assassination attempts with "Iraqi mujahidin" on Saddam's interior minister Samir al-Shaykhali in Baghdad, the "revolutionary execution" of a Ba'ath Party official in Baghdad's Mansur neighborhood, and having set fire to one of Saddam's Baghdad palaces "used for pleasure by Ba'ath party officials and senior officers of that regime."Ramazan's Fajr headquarters and the Badr Brigade didn't do much to change the tide of the war. It ended in a bloody stalemate in 1988, more of exhaustion than because of guerrilla daring. One of the Ramazan Corps's most valuable relationships actually lay farther north with Kurdish forces from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The group carried out strikes deep into Iraqi Kurdish territory with Ramazan's backing, including a 1986 raid on Iraqi oil infrastructure in Kirkuk (later memorialized in a cheesy Iranian action flick, Kirkuk Operation).But the relationships forged by Ramazan with Iraqi Shia militants would prove useful to both the Revolutionary Guards and Iran years down the road when groups like Badr took on an important role in Iraqi politics and security. When the war ended, both Ramazan Corps and Foruzandeh remained focused on Iraq, particularly during the Shia uprising against Saddam at the end of the Persian Gulf War. One Iranian news account put Foruzandeh in charge of working with Iranian-backed militias to support the uprising "in order to speed up the support of the Iraqi Mujahideen" because his unit, Ramazan's Fajr headquarters, was closest to the revolt in Basra.There's not much evidence about how Foruzandeh spent his time in the interim between America's first two wars in Iraq. The most evidence available is a fragmentary report from Saddam-era intelligence documents captured by the U.S. after the war that shows Foruzandeh running an agent inside a camp for the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, an Iranian dissident cult group which fought on behalf of Iraq during the war and carried out a series of terrorist attacks in Iran.* * *Not many senior Ramazan Corps veterans appear to have retired. Iraj Masjedi, another Quds Force Iraq veteran, took over as Iran's ambassador in Baghdad in 2017. Abdul Reza Shahlai, who served in Iraq during the occupation alongside Foruzandeh, is now at 63 years old reportedly the top Quds Force officer in Yemen and was unsuccessfully targeted in a U.S. airstrike there the same night that special operations forces killed Soleimani.After the U.S. wound down its occupation in Iraq, Foruzandeh, gray-haired and portly, gave every impression of having retired and contented himself with the hobbies of old age, despite a U.S. sanctions designation on him during the war. He told an Iranian news outlet that he'd retired from the Quds Force in 2008, and was working on an oral history project about his hometown. In public, he spent his spent time shuffling between memorial ceremonies for fallen comrades. It doesn't appear to be true.Another declassified intelligence document obtained by The Daily Beast offers hints that Foruzandeh may not have retired after all. The report, an account of senior Iranian officials' participation in a museum project "documenting lessons learned from the Iran-Iraq war," suggests he kept at least a consulting role in Quds Force operations. In describing the background of officials present at the meeting, the report says Foruzandeh still dabbled in "management of personnel and logistic support to IRGC-QF external activities." Iran's Khorasan province "has been recently added to his portfolio." Iran's Khorasan province borders northwest Afghanistan and by 2013, the Obama administration had already been arguing for years that Quds Force officers were secretly supporting the Taliban in order to weaken U.S. and NATO forces in the country. There are some reasons to be skeptical of the declassified report. The sources claim that Foruzandeh was appointed a director of Iran's Iran-Iraq war museum, but he's not listed by the museum as an official or referred to as such in news accounts. It's also dated around the same time Foruzandeh gave an interview to an Iranian news outlet announcing that he was working on a history project about his hometown's role in the Iran-Iraq war.Still, other evidence suggests Foruzandeh was still in the irregular warfare business.In 2014, one of Foruzandeh's closest colleagues in the Quds Force, fellow brigadier general and Ramazan Corps veteran Hamid Taghavi, was killed by ISIS in Iraq. The death came as a surprise, not least because Taghavi was one of the highest-ranking IRGC officers killed in Iraq since the Iran-Iraq war. Like Foruzandeh, Taghavi was also supposed to have left active duty. Instead, he was in Iraq supporting a Shiite militia loyal to Iran, Sayara al-Khorasani, and organizing Iran's fight against ISIS."Commander Taghavi was retired. No one thought he'd go to Iraq and be able to play a role in the mobilization and organization of the [Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units militia]," Foruzandeh told a meeting of Ahwaz city officials after his death. Taghavi's death hit Foruzandeh hard and he would break down in tears recounting his comrade's life when talking to reporters. In one interview, Foruzandeh suggested he'd been in contact with Taghavi by phone shortly before his death and offered advice for his work standing up pro-Iranian militias after ISIS took Mosul"He came to the place where we were stationed," Foruzandeh said without elaborating. "We told him about the situation in Iraq, the characteristics of the conflict, the various Iraqi groups, and the challenges that existed. The Iraqi forces had deficiencies that needed to be addressed." Taghavi was concerned about Iranian-backed militias' performance during operations in Jurf al-Sakhar, an Iraqi town captured by ISIS and taken back during a brutal operation coordinated by the Quds Force. "He believed that unless these forces received better training they would suffer severe casualties. The casualties these forces suffered were generally due to a lack of proper military training. They didn't know how to move, what to do when they're under fire from the enemy, how to provide cover when attacking, or even how to clear traps and contaminants from an infected area," Foruzandeh recalled.One of the last public glimpses of Foruzandeh comes from an unlikely source: Facebook. Foruzandeh doesn't appear to have a profile, but his acquaintances identified him in pictures during a 2016 visit to meet with Iraqi officials from Maysan Province. The photos show a grandfatherly Quds Force officer with his trademark scowl described as an "advisor" to Iran's Supreme Leader, a tailored visiting dignitary in a place where decades before he was once a spry, hunted guerrilla in hand-me-down fatigues.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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| Photos of starving lions in Sudan spark campaign to save them Posted: 20 Jan 2020 07:35 PM PST  One of the five lions at Khartoum's Al-Qureshi Park is believed to have died.
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| Schiff may have mischaracterized Parnas evidence, documents show Posted: 21 Jan 2020 04:46 PM PST  Unredacted material shows he may have referred to the wrong "Mr. Z."
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| Scientists want to cut off Wuhan from the rest of the world to fight the spread of the deadly coronavirus gripping the city Posted: 21 Jan 2020 07:44 AM PST  As of Tuesday, the outbreak of the pneumonia-like coronavirus had killed six people in China, with more than 300 people infected in total.
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| Why Did North Korea Sink the South Korean Warship Cheonan in 2010? Posted: 21 Jan 2020 01:50 AM PST  What was the point of this terrible act?
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| Nigerian military clears thousands from Lagos waterfront Posted: 21 Jan 2020 10:21 AM PST  Nigerian navy personnel shot in the air Tuesday as they sought to clear a waterfront community of 10,000 people in the latest mass-eviction around economic hub Lagos. Bulldozers rumbled into Tarkwa Bay, a semi-rural area on an island in the city of some 20 million, as part of an operation the military say is aimed officially at stopping the looting of nearby oil pipelines. AFP correspondents heard gunfire during the operation.
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| AOC Compares Baltimore Riots to Peaceful Richmond Gun-Rights Demonstration Posted: 20 Jan 2020 02:03 PM PST  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Monday contrasted the annual gun rights rally in Richmond, Va. with the riots after the death of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray and protests following the killing of Eric Garner by New York police."When we go out and march for the dignity…of the lives of people like Freddie Gray and Eric Garner, the whole place is surrounded by police in riot gear without a gun in sight [among protesters]," Ocasio-Cortez said at a Monday event. "And here are all of these people [in Richmond], flying Confederate flags with semiautomatic weapons, and there are almost no police officers at that protest."Following the death of Freddie Gray in the back of a police van in Baltimore in 2015, the city saw riots so extensive that Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency, while national-guard units deployed to quell the violence. While the officers who arrested Gray were initially charged with murder, all charges were eventually dropped by the prosecution.During the Second Amendment rally in Richmond, Va. officers arrested one person for covering her face in public, which is banned under Virginia law. The individual was later released, and the rally continued without violence.On Thursday the New York Times reported that three suspected white nationalists had been arrested, with investigators alleging the three would try to ignite violence at the rally. Governor Ralph Northam, who has voiced support for more restrictive gun laws, declared a state of emergency in response to the threat.
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| Iran admits it fired two Russian antiaircraft missiles at a Ukrainian jetliner Posted: 21 Jan 2020 06:48 AM PST  Iran acknowledged on Tuesday that its armed forces fired two Russian antiaircraft missiles at a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed after taking off from Tehran's main airport earlier this month, killing all 176 people onboard.
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| Malaysia sends back trash, says won't be world's waste bin Posted: 19 Jan 2020 07:21 PM PST  Shipments of unwanted rubbish have been rerouted to Southeast Asia since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, but Malaysia and other developing countries are fighting back. Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said another 110 containers are expected to be sent back by the middle of this year.
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| Hong Kong protesters decry police inaction six months after brutal mob attack Posted: 21 Jan 2020 06:30 AM PST  Chinese-ruled Hong Kong has been embroiled by more than seven months of turmoil sparked by a now withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed individuals to be sent to China for trial. The youth-led protests, including mass marches, petrol bomb attacks and battles on university campuses, have since morphed into a broader revolt against authorities and strong-arm Chinese rule. Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 with sweeping promises of a high degree of autonomy and freedoms.
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| Sweden Readies for Diplomatic Crisis With China Over Free Press Posted: 20 Jan 2020 03:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sweden's government has demanded a meeting with the ambassador from China after he lambasted Swedish media.Ambassador Gui Congyou caused a diplomatic furore over the weekend after giving an interview to Sweden's public broadcaster SVT, in which he said that some local media representatives "have a habit of criticizing, accusing and smearing China." He then went on to compare the relationship between Swedish media and China to one in which "a 48kg weight boxer keeps challenging an 86kg weight boxer to a fight."Three parties in Sweden's parliament have now called for Gui Congyou to be thrown out of the Nordic country, adding to tensions ahead of a meeting scheduled to take place with the ambassador at the foreign ministry in Stockholm on Tuesday.Sweden's foreign minister, Ann Linde, has already ruled out the option of expelling Gui Congyou. But she also made clear Sweden won't accept veiled threats from China. Relations between the two countries have soured recently over jailed Chinese-born Swedish publisher Gui Minhai, who was honored last year by the Swedish chapter of PEN International with its annual Tucholsky Award.Gui Minhai, who has written several books that are critical of China's leadership, has been detained since late 2015 by Chinese authorities, who accuse him of crimes including "operating an illegal business." Gui Congyou says Minhai is a "lie-fabricator" who "committed serious offenses in both China and Sweden." He also said Swedish media "is full of lies" about the case and that the Tucholsky Award, which was handed out by Sweden's minister of culture, would result in Chinese "countermeasures."The spat comes amid a more assertive diplomatic stance from China, which dominates global export markets and is one of Sweden's most important trade partners. In neighboring Norway, the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 to Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo led to a deep-freeze of diplomatic relations that lasted more than half a decade and hurt trade. In 2018, Sweden exported goods and services to China worth 67 billion kronor ($7 billion), making it the Nordic country's eighth-largest export market.Gui Congyou, who was appointed ambassador to Sweden in 2017, has repeatedly angered lawmakers in the country with his remarks over the years. Commenting on Swedish media's coverage of Gui Minhai, Gui Congyou in December cited a Chinese proverb: "We treat our friends with fine wine, but we have shotguns for our enemies."The ambassador's latest remarks prompted the nationalist Sweden Democrats as well as the Christian Democrats and the Left Party to demand that he be thrown out.To contact the reporter on this story: Niclas Rolander in Stockholm at nrolander@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.netFor 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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| Trump impeachment news: Democrats taunt president with his own words as historic Senate trial begins Posted: 21 Jan 2020 11:00 AM PST  Donald Trump has again labelled his Senate impeachment trial a "witch hunt" and a "hoax" from the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, before addressing the business summit with a blustering, hyperbolic speech laying out his supposed economic and environmental achievements.Proceedings in the upper chamber of Congress will began in earnest on Tuesday after the president was charged with abuse of power and obstruction by the House of Representatives last month. The prosecution team from the House faced the president's legal counsel, making their first appearance in the impeachment proceedings, and debated trial rules proposed by Mitch McConnell, whose gauntlet called for a brief trial without testimony or evidence and would likely end up in the president's acquittal.
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| Why America Stores 50 B61 Nuclear Bombs in Turkey Posted: 21 Jan 2020 02:00 AM PST  Seems like a questionable idea.
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| Homeless Oakland Moms Cut Deal to Buy House They Squatted In Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:32 PM PST  A group of homeless mothers evicted and arrested after squatting in an empty Oakland residence have reached an agreement to buy the home in a radical conclusion to a struggle that shone a renewed spotlight on the Bay Area's dire housing shortage. The women, known collectively as Moms 4 Housing, occupied a house in West Oakland from November until Alameda County Sheriff's deputies removed them in a pre-dawn raid on January 14. Cops also arrested two of the women, along with two men on the scene. Around the same time as that eviction raid, hundreds of supporters gathered at the house to express solidarity with the mothers' rallying cry of "housing is a human right." On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Moms 4 Housing announced that the women—who were released from jail last week—reached an agreement to purchase the property from its owner with the help of a local nonprofit, Oakland Community Land Trust. "This is what happens when we organize, when people come together to build the beloved community. Today we honor Dr. King's radical legacy by taking Oakland back from banks and corporations," said Dominique Walker, one of the mothers who was living in the home.Eviction Squad Tosses Moms on Street in Ultra-Rich Bay AreaThe house, owned by the Southern California real estate company Wedgewood, had remained empty for two years, even as homelessness in Oakland rose by nearly half in the same time period. Members of Oakland's city council had urged the company to make a deal with the mothers to end the dispute. In a statement, the company said, "Wedgewood is thankful for the outpouring of support for our company throughout the illegal occupation of our Oakland property. We appreciate the local, state and national support for property owners as well as the public's support for non-violent discussion and action." Activists who worked with the mothers were quick to brandish the outcome as not just a win but a precedent they might repeat."The moms fought for all of Oakland," said Carroll Fife, director of the Oakland chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. "Now Wedgewood has pledged to work with the City of Oakland's Housing and Community Development Department and the Oakland Community Land Trust to negotiate a first right of refusal program for all Oakland properties they own and we will hold them to it." Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Security guard 'definitely saved lives' by killing shooter at Kansas City bar, police say Posted: 21 Jan 2020 11:04 AM PST  A Missouri security guard was lauded as a hero after shooting a gunman who killed one person and wounded 15 outside a Kansas City nightclub.
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| "The Rock" opens up about dad's "quick" death Posted: 21 Jan 2020 03:13 AM PST  Rocky "Soul Man" Johnson died last week at the age of 75 – and in an emotional video, "The Rock" said he would deliver his dad's eulogy.
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| Police: Dad strangles coyote to defend family under attack Posted: 21 Jan 2020 06:24 AM PST ![Police: Dad strangles coyote to defend family under attack]( "Police: Dad strangles coyote to defend family under attack") A coyote attacked a pair of dogs, bit a woman and skirmished with a vehicle before being killed by a father defending his family on a walk Monday, police said. The same coyote is likely connected to three attacks that happened relatively close together and throughout the course of an hour, Kensington Police Chief Scott Cain said Monday. Police say they believe the coyote attacked a vehicle on a roadway in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, bit a 62-year-old woman and her dogs on a porch in Kensington and then attacked a family walking on a trail in Exeter.
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| Iran says Zarif not attending Davos as its organizers 'changed its agenda' Posted: 20 Jan 2020 12:10 AM PST  Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will not attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos this week because its organizers had "abruptly changed its agenda", its foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday. Reuters last week reported that Zarif was no longer on the list of nearly 3,000 people due at the event, which is being held under the banner "Stakeholders for a Sustainable and Cohesive World".
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| South Korea Mulls North Korea Visits Despite U.S. Pushback Posted: 19 Jan 2020 10:32 PM PST ![South Korea Mulls North Korea Visits Despite U.S. Pushback]( "South Korea Mulls North Korea Visits Despite U.S. Pushback") (Bloomberg) -- South Korea is considering different ways to allow its people to travel to North Korea despite a U.S. warning to proceed with caution in visiting a country under extensive international sanctions.The Unification Ministry said Monday the government is looking at measures that include allowing South Koreans to go to North Korea directly through previously established land crossings or going through a third country in a tour group. The latter option would help South Koreans travel to major cities in North Korea, including the capital Pyongyang.The tourism initiative comes after the South Korea presidential office last week criticized U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris for suggesting that the U.S. government should be consulted first. The latest dispute added to heightened tensions between the allies over U.S. demands for South Korea to pay more for hosting American troops.Harris said tourism is allowed under sanctions but some of things visitors take with them could be prohibited under the sanctions, which were imposed on North Korea to punish it for its testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.South Korea Should Consult U.S. on North Korea Tours, Envoy SaysTourism allows cash-starved North Korea to obtain hard currency and significant flow of money to Kim Jong Un's regime could undermine President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign to squeeze its economy through sanctions. Moon has called for a resumption of projects with North Korea seeing them as a way to establish trust and security on the heavily armed peninsula.North Korea's Kim has pushed for increased tourism and in an address to mark the new year highlighted one of his pet projects in the coastal city of Wonsan, which has been undergoing a tourism face-lift. For months Pyongyang has rebuffed Moon's calls for talks, telling South Korea to stay out of the way in its dealings with Trump and advising Seoul to "behave prudently" and "not to be reduced to a fool heading nowhere."Kim last year also threatened to tear down South Korean-built structures at a resort constructed at North Korea's Mt. Geumgang, delivering a blow to Moon's plans to bring back the now-frozen project once seen as a symbol of reconciliation.Kim Jong Un Deals Blow to South Korean Plans for Joint ResortIn 2008, South Koreans were ordered to vacate the resort after a 53-year-old woman vacationer who wandered close to a North Korean military facility in the area was shot and killed. More than 2 million South Koreans had visited the scenic mountain site located near the border before it was shut down. Tourists paid a fee to enter North Korea and Pyongyang took a cut on all the money the South Koreans spent on food, lodging and tours. The U.S. raised worries at the time that North Korea used funds from Mt. Geumgang to help pay for its weapons programs.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, Peter PaeFor 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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| Silent Senators, No Photographers: Inside the Impeachment Trial Posted: 21 Jan 2020 03:58 PM PST ![Silent Senators, No Photographers: Inside the Impeachment Trial]( "Silent Senators, No Photographers: Inside the Impeachment Trial") (Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren scratched out copious notes and Bernie Sanders watched intently as House impeachment managers began arguing their case against President Donald Trump.But almost nobody could see what two of the leading Democratic presidential candidates or the other 98 members of the Senate were doing as the historic impeachment trial opened on Tuesday, with photographers barred and Senate-controlled TV cameras focused solely on the House impeachment managers and the president's defense team.A Senate chamber that is normally mostly empty except for during votes instead had all 100 senators forced to sit at their desks with a pile of impeachment documents and a pad of paper, pencils and cups of water, while a gallery packed with journalists and spectators looked on.With their phones and other electronics stowed in the cloakroom, and ordered to stay silent under pain of imprisonment by the sergeant-at-arms, the senators paid rapt attention as the case got underway.Still, it wasn't long before they started whispering to their seat-mates or writing each other notes. Some struggled to stay awake as the hours passed with short breaks.The unusually intense chamber was eerily quiet other than the sounds of pens scratching on paper, the shuffling of Senate pages bringing water to senators, or the rustle of members of the public quietly filing in an out of the chamber's galleries. A lone courtroom sketch artist sat in the balcony drawing the scene after Chief Justice John Roberts opened the proceeding at 1:18 p.m.Campaigns on HoldAll four of the Senators running for the Democratic presidential nomination have to be off the campaign trail while the trial is going on, even though the Iowa caucuses are less than two weeks away.Warren and Michael Bennet appeared to be intently reading through the House's impeachment documents -- given to each senator in a large binder. At times, Warren and other Democratic senators flipped through pocket copies of the Constitution. Amy Klobuchar was also paying close attention and occasionally taking notes.White House Counsel Pat Cipollone at one point offered a sort of false sympathy for them."Some of you are upset you should be in Iowa right now," he said.That remark caused Klobuchar to fold her arms, while Sanders showed no outward emotion, continuing to lean back in his seat."It's long past time that we should start, so we can end this ridiculous charade and go have an election," Cipollone added.A number of Senate Republicans appeared glum or even irritated at times, resting their heads on their hands. Some seemed especially irritated during House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff's opening excoriation of the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's resolution setting the rules for the trial.Two Republicans were paying especially close attention: Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who could be critical swing votes later in the trial on whether to call witnesses. Collins was taking diligent notes; Murkowski was staring intently almost throughout.They voted with the rest of the GOP, however, to block a move by Democrats to subpoena documents withheld by Trump related to his order to hold up aide to Ukraine while he sought to have that country announce an investigation of Joe Biden, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, and his son. Collins issued a statement saying she's inclined to back witnesses later in the trial, but not now.As they waited for the trial to get under way, senators milled around chatting. House attorneys shook hands with Cipollone and other lawyers defending Trump. Cipollone also shook hands in a friendly manner with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats.There was an animated discussion before the proceedings among John Thune, the Republican whip, Collins and Murkowski.Hushed ChamberAfter Roberts opened the trial, the room hushed. The glad-handing and smiles turned to serious and sober looks on both sides of the aisle.Among those visiting the Senate on Tuesday was former Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican who before his retirement from Congress had sharply criticized the president.Flake said he was at the Capitol for other business and decided to watch because "it's a momentous day." He said he talked to some of his former colleagues but would not say what they told him."You can make a good argument on both sides whether this rises to the level where the president needs to be removed," said Flake. "I've always said I would like to see the voters remove the president, not necessarily the Senate because you don't want to get in a cycle of trying to disqualify each other."But Flake said "it pains me" to see what he says some House Republicans do, insisting "that the president did no wrong, this is somehow normal. It is not. It ought to be taken seriously."To contact the reporters on this story: Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net;Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Anna EdgertonFor 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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| The last time China was hit by a deadly illness like the Wuhan virus, it covered it up and 774 people died. There are fears it could happen again. Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:13 AM PST  China tried to cover up the deadly SARS virus in 2003, and observers are closely watching China as it deals with a new virus outbreak.
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| Migrants tear-gassed as they try to storm into Mexico Posted: 20 Jan 2020 02:21 PM PST  Hundreds of Central Americans from a new migrant caravan tried to storm into Mexico Monday by fording the river that divides the country from Guatemala, but National Guardsmen fired tear gas trying to force them back.
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| Experts: Iran Could Be a Nuclear Armed State in Just 1 Year Posted: 20 Jan 2020 10:00 PM PST  365 days until a crisis?
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| Twisted Christians Sentenced a Man to 12 Years in Prison Over a Cell Phone Charge in Mississippi Posted: 20 Jan 2020 01:42 AM PST  Brian K. Burns was sworn in as a Mississippi Circuit Court judge in early January, one of the last appointments made by outgoing hardline Republican Governor Phil Bryant. Before becoming a judge, Burns had prosecuted just 11 cases in the entirety of his legal career, leading fellow attorneys from his district to register "grave concerns about Burns's lack of trial experience," according to his hometown newspaper. In one of those cases, he'd succeeded in sending an African-American man to jail for 12 years merely for possessing a cellphone in a local jail—a sentence so extreme that Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Leslie King wrote that it "seems to demonstrate a failure of our criminal justice system on multiple levels." The defendant, Willie Nash, is a 39-year-old father of three currently serving his decade-plus sentence in one of Mississippi's worst prisons. By any reasonable reading of the trial court record, Nash's real crime seems to have been a lack of detailed knowledge about Mississippi's lengthy list of codes and statutes. While in the custody of the Newton County jail after a misdemeanor arrest in August 2017, Nash asked a guard to charge his cellphone. The officer's testimony later affirmed that Nash handed over his smartphone "voluntarily," as if he "wasn't trying to hide anything," and even "said thank you"—unlikely behavior for someone knowingly committing a felony—before also providing his phone's passcode. Officers later discovered, according to court records, that Nash's last outgoing text had been to his wife, informing her that he was "in jail." Nash was then charged with violating a law prohibiting possession of any "unauthorized electronic device, cell phone or any of its components or accessories" in correctional facilities, a statute that carries a penalty of three to 15 years.The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the 2018 decision last week, noting that while the lower court's sentence against Nash's is "obviously harsh," it still "falls within the statutory range." Presiding Justice King wrote a special concurring opinion "to voice [his] concern over this case as a whole." In it, the jurist notes that "Nash's behavior was that of a person who did not know" he was not supposed to have the phone, "as he voluntarily showed the officer his phone and asked the officer to charge it for him." He goes on to point out that it is likely the jail's "booking procedure was not followed"—Nash's intake officer was never called to testify—which explains how Nash entered the jail with a "large smartphone that would have likely been impossible to hide during a strip search." The jurist responds to the lower court's citation of Nash's two previous burglary convictions by noting that Nash had remained out of trouble for a decade after he'd served seven years for the most recent conviction in 2001, which "evinces a change in behavior." While King makes clear he agrees with the state Supreme Court's decision establishing the legality of Nash's sentence, his opinion questions the morality of Judge Mark Sheldon Duncan harsh sentence and prosecutor Burns's pursuit of it. "[Nash] has a wife and three children who depend on him," King writes. "Combining this fact with the seemingly innocuous, victimless nature of his crime, it seems it would have been prudent for the prosecutor to exercise prosecutorial discretion and decline to prosecute or to seek a plea deal. In that same vein, it would have been prudent for the judge to use his judicial discretion in sentencing to sentence Nash to a lesser sentence than that of twelve years. Cases like Nash's are exactly why prosecutors and judges are given wide discretion."That's not how prosecutors and judges in Mississippi have used that discretion.A Justice Department report ranks the state's incarceration rate as the third highest in the country, after Louisiana and Oklahoma. Even as the national prison population has been on the decline, the number of people imprisoned in Mississippi has increased over the last five years, and currently stands at roughly 19,000. One reason for that rise may be the number of former prosecutors who then ascend to Mississippi's bench—from which they continue to prosecute. Like Burns, Nash's sentencing judge, Mark Duncan, is a former prosecutor, who served as District Attorney for Mississippi's Eighth District for nearly 15 years. Additionally, while 38 percent of Mississippi's population is black—the largest share of any state—its prosecutors and judges are white and male, as in the rest of the country. Today, the state that lynched the most African-Americans now locks up its black citizens. According to a 2018 ACLU report, 1 in 30 black men in Mississippi is in jail, while a 2019 report from FWD.us finds that "1 in 7 black Mississippians has a felony conviction." "This is a guy who has no history of violence," said Robert McDuff, director of the Mississippi Center for Justice's Impact Litigation Project. "His only prior criminal convictions were burglary convictions that were nearly 20 years old or older. I mean this guy's obviously not a career criminal. He was in jail on a misdemeanor charge when this cellphone was found…. So, yeah, clearly he's not a violent person—he's not a danger if he's on the streets. It's just ridiculous to be sentencing him to 12 years in prison,". McDuff was also a defense lawyer for Curtis Flowers, a black Mississippi man who has been prosecuted six times for the same crime by Doug Evans, a white district attorney. In December, after 23 years in prison, Flowers's most recent conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that Evans and his team had undertaken a "relentless, determined effort to rid the jury of black individuals.""In Mississippi we are facing a crisis of overcrowding in the prisons," McDuff told me. "There are not enough guards to supervise the prisoners. This recently has broken out in violence, in chaos, and conditions that are unsafe both for prisoners and for staff. And a large part of the reason for this is because the judges are sending nonviolent people like Mr. Nash to prison when they just don't need to be there."Nash has been imprisoned since December 2019 in the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, which ProPublica described in a 2019 report as "a violent tinderbox." One inmate set another on fire last August, leaving him with second-degree burns. Another inmate described a separate incident in which prisoners begged guards to stop a fight that ultimately ended in the death of an inmate. "We had beat on the cell doors for hours, trying to summon help… all the officer in the tower would do is yell over the P.A. speaker for us to 'shut the hell up.'" The report went on to describe a place where danger is a constant threat, as "the prison struggles to meet the fundamental duties of a correctional facility, with surging violence and, now, a lockdown barring visits entering its seventh month. Rather than counting inmates, as required, some guards are reportedly falsifying those counts, an internal prison memo says. The state has sharply cut its spending on prisons over the last few years. Along the way, the number of guards at the three state-run prisons has plummeted, from 905 in July 2017 to 627 two years later, even as the number of inmates has remained the same. Vacancies abound, largely because the pay is so low. South Mississippi Correctional Institution, known as SMCI, now has an inmate-to-correctional officer ratio of 23 to 1, far higher than that of other states or the federal prison system."On January 3, Burns was officially sworn in as a judge for Mississippi's Eighth Judicial District. The new judge told a local news outlet that in his new job, he planned to rely on one idea above all others. "Prayer," Burns said. "Lean on the lord. Cast all your burdens upon him. Pray, pray, pray. He will provide the answer."It was Duncan—the sentencing judge who told Nash he should "consider himself fortunate" he'd only been sentenced to 12 years, given his long-ago non-violent convictions—who administered the oath to Burns, Nash's zealous prosecutor. At the ceremony, Duncan deemed Burns a "highly intelligent, sharp lawyer" who will make an "outstanding circuit judge." Duncan said that he and Burns had spoken about their shared Christian faith, and how God had "put us there to use the gifts he has given us to administer to those who are around us. Brian and I talked and he agreed with that assessment. He told me he trusted God to put him wherever he was supposed to be." The judge added, "We've enjoyed a lot of great conversations about golf and time on the golf course as well. Golfers will tell you that you can find out a lot about a person on the golf course. Golf has a way of exposing a person's true character. As much as legal skills are required to do the job of judge, a person's character may be even more important." 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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