| US slams Russia, China at UN for failure to condemn embassy attack Posted: 06 Jan 2020 01:40 PM PST  The United States on Monday slammed Russia and China for their failure to condemn an attack last week on its Baghdad embassy by pro-Iranian demonstrators. "Not allowing the United Nations Security Council to issue the most basic of statements underscoring the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises once again calls the council's credibility into question," the US statement said. The attack on the Baghdad embassy, which did not result in any injuries, was meant to protest against a US airstrike against Ketaeb Hezbollah (KH), an Iranian-backed militia which the US blames for rocket attacks on its facilities in northern Iraq that resulted in the death of a US contractor.
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| Plane carrying 107 passengers slidesoff taxiway at Wisconsin's Austin Straubel airport Posted: 05 Jan 2020 10:20 AM PST  No one was injured after a Delta plane carrying 107 passengers slid off the taxiway early Saturday at Austin Straubel International Airport in Wisconsin.
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| Turkey’s President Erdogan Urges Restraint Between U.S. and Iran Posted: 05 Jan 2020 11:10 AM PST ![Turkey's President Erdogan Urges Restraint Between U.S. and Iran]( "Turkey's President Erdogan Urges Restraint Between U.S. and Iran") (Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death of an Iranian general in a U.S. drone strike has raised tensions in the Middle East and he urged restraint between Washington and Tehran."Tensions between the U.S. and Iran should be controlled and defused," Erdogan told CNNTurk television in an interview on Sunday. "The U.S.'s targeting of Soleimani has increased tensions in the region. I think killing a senior commander of a country won't remain unanswered."The government in Ankara has stepped up diplomatic contacts in the region after Soleimani, one of Iran's most venerated leaders, died in Baghdad in the U.S. attack.Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey on Wednesday to discuss developments in the region, Erdogan said.To contact the reporter on this story: Asli Kandemir in Istanbul at akandemir@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Jeffrey Epstein investigation finds letter in prison cell complaining about being locked in shower and 'giant bugs' crawling across his hand Posted: 06 Jan 2020 01:36 PM PST  A new investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein has made public several new pieces of evidence, including photos of his jail cell showing a number of bed sheets, prescription medicine and an apparent note written by the convicted sex offender complaining about jail conditions before his death.The paedophile financier was awaiting trial in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Centre in downtown Manhattan when his body was found in his cell in August. The circumstances of his death, ruled a suicide by the New York medical examiner, have sparked considerable speculation, given the powerful company he kept that included Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew.
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| Segway's New Egg-Shaped S-Pod Is a Futuristic People Mover Posted: 06 Jan 2020 07:39 AM PST  It's for theme parks, closed campuses, and anyone who wants to go pretty fast while sitting down, but Segway's latest scooter will remind everyone of the movie Wall-E.
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| Guatemalan seeking asylum sues US to reunite with family Posted: 06 Jan 2020 11:42 AM PST ![Guatemalan seeking asylum sues US to reunite with family]( "Guatemalan seeking asylum sues US to reunite with family") A Guatemalan woman seeking asylum in Massachusetts is suing the federal government to reunite with her partner and son, who have been ordered to remain in Mexico under the Trump administration's asylum process. The lawsuit filed on behalf of Maudy Constanza and her partner, Hanz Morales, argues the asylum policy violates constitutional due process and equal protection rights. "United States law protects asylum seekers like Ms. Constanza, Mr. Morales, and their children," the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said in the suit filed Friday in federal court in Boston.
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| How Many of These Tough Logic Puzzles Can You Solve? Posted: 06 Jan 2020 12:45 PM PST |
| US army to 'pay price' for killing Soleimani: Hezbollah chief Posted: 05 Jan 2020 08:27 AM PST  Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday said the US army will "pay the price" for killing top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and a senior Iraqi commander in a drone strike. "The American army killed them and it will pay the price," the Iran-backed head of the Lebanese Shiite group warned in a televised speech following Friday's strike in the Iraqi capital. "The only just punishment is (to target) American military presence in the region: US military bases, US warships, each and every officer and soldier in the region," Nasrallah said.
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| Fisker's Ocean electric SUV will sell for $37,499, include Karaoke mode Posted: 05 Jan 2020 03:41 PM PST  American automaker Fisker said consumers can purchase their electric SUV for $37,499, which drops to $29,999 with a federal tax credit.
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| From Iran With Love: North Korean Drones Are Sure To Fight In Its Next War Posted: 05 Jan 2020 11:30 PM PST  North Korea will learn from Iran's experiences.
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| Key Senate Republican wants to start impeachment trial Posted: 05 Jan 2020 09:52 AM PST  The head of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Sunday he wants the Senate to launch an impeachment trial of President Trump within days, even if it means changing Senate rules so the chamber can move ahead without receiving articles of impeachment from the House of Representatives.
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| Australia Counts Wildfire Devastation After Calamitous Weekend Posted: 05 Jan 2020 12:39 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Hundreds of properties were destroyed across southeastern Australia after searing temperatures and strong winds exacerbated catastrophic wildfires Saturday in one of the worst days of the weeks-long crisis.Dozens of communities, from small towns on the south coast of New South Wales, to alpine villages in the neighboring Victoria state, were razed as fires grew so large they generated dry thunderstorms. Milder weather, including patchy rain, across scorched areas brought some relief Sunday, though flame-fanning wind gusts have frustrated efforts to quell about 200 blazes before conditions worsen later in the week, authorities said.Australia Fire Maps: Where the Devastating Wildfires Are BurningThousands of people, including tourists, heeded the advice of authorities and evacuated a 350-kilometer (217-mile) stretch of coastline as well as dangerous inland areas over the past few days to escape the intensifying infernos. But many remained, hosing down their properties to protect against falling embers as they anxiously waited to see if the winds would blow the fire front in their direction.The unfolding tragedy, that's blackened more than 5 million hectares (12.3 million acres) across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia alone, has prompted millions of dollars of donations and support from international celebrities, sports stars, and the British Royal Family.Australia's Wildfire Crisis: Key Numbers Behind the DisasterTwo people died in wildfires that destroyed more than a third of South Australia's Kangaroo Island, devastating the national park and farmland, and severely damaging the luxury Southern Ocean Lodge resort. Penrith, on the outskirts of Sydney, reached a record 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) Saturday, symbolic of the dangerous weather conditions that have fanned ferocious flames and sparked new blazes further south.Flights CanceledQantas Airways Ltd. canceled 27 flights Sunday afternoon arriving in and departing from Canberra, where air pollution was at least four times higher than the minimum threshold for "hazardous," prompting the release of particulate-filter masks from the national stockpile. Australia Post suspended mail deliveries to the national capital Friday, citing the impact of the poor air quality on the safety of its workers.Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Saturday an unprecedented level of military support to boost firefighting and recovery efforts as the national death toll since September rose to 23. A video set to electronic music posted on Morrison's Twitter and Facebook accounts outlining the additional measures sparked thousands of comments.Blind-SidedKey authorities in New South Wales and Victoria welcomed the news of the deployment of as many as 3,000 army reservists, but voiced disappointment that they weren't consulted ahead of the decision or briefed before Morrison detailed his response plans to the media.The AustraliaDefence Association lambasted the 50-second clip, which spawned mocking renditions and drew harsh criticism from Kevin Rudd, a former Labor party leader who served as prime minister twice from December 2007 to September 2013.Morrison, 51, defended the video, telling reporters Sunday that it was produced to "communicate as simply and helpfully" as possible what the government is doing to assist people. A link initially pinned to the post to donate to the leader's own Liberal party gave the appearance of a political advertisement, critics said."It came out as a Liberal party ad," said Stewart Jackson, a senior lecturer in the department of government and international relations at the University of Sydney. "It seems to have generated a certain amount of ire that the ad has been done before you've fully organized all the different branches of government to be able to work together."Political FalloutThe criticism adds to a backlash against Morrison for his handling of the wildfires -- highlighted by his curtailed trip to Hawaii just days after declaring a national disaster -- and tepid acknowledgment of the role of climate change in fueling them.The prime minister was heckled on Thursday by angry residents when he visited the fire-ravaged town of Cobargo, where two people died last week, while others declined to shake his hand and called for more resources to tackle the disaster."Morrison has been found considerably wanting in terms of his leadership," Jackson said. "You can't imagine previous prime ministers acting in what seems such a self-serving way."\--With assistance from Edward Johnson and Ben Bartenstein.To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Melbourne at j.gale@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Stanley JamesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Uganda police disperse Bobi Wine supporters with tear gas Posted: 06 Jan 2020 03:51 AM PST  Police in Uganda on Monday fired tear gas to disperse supporters of pop star and presidential hopeful Bobi Wine when he tried to hold a rally, underscoring the hurdles he faces in seeking to unseat President Yoweri Museveni. Police also arrested Wine, a lawmaker whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, accusing him of trying to stage an illegal assembly. Wine and his pressure group People Power had aimed to start a program of consultations with supporters on his plans to stand for president next year in a challenge to Museveni, 75, who has ruled Uganda since 1986.
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| Japan vows to improve border checks, bail after Ghosn escape Posted: 05 Jan 2020 06:31 PM PST  Japan's justice minister vowed Monday to strengthen border checks and review bail conditions after Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, fled the country despite supposedly stringent surveillance. Masako Mori told reporters at a news conference that the ministry has already acted to prevent a recurrence but declined to give details. Ghosn skipped bail and showed up in Lebanon a week ago, saying he could not get a fair hearing in Japan, where he was awaiting trial on financial misconduct allegations.
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| Pentagon officials reportedly presented Trump with the option of killing a top Iranian commander, not thinking he'd actually do it Posted: 04 Jan 2020 07:16 PM PST  Later, the Trump administration would defend the strikes by saying Maj. Gen. Qasssem Soleimani had been plotting an "imminent" attack.
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| United flight delayed? The airline is changing how it handles delay payouts Posted: 06 Jan 2020 12:06 PM PST  United is making a change — it won't "proactively" give customers refunds for flights delayed less than six hours.
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| Lincoln Chafee, ex-GOP senator and Democratic governor, is running for president as a Libertarian Posted: 06 Jan 2020 12:05 AM PST  Lincoln Chafee isn't taking no for an answer.Chafee was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in Rhode Island, was defeated in 2006 after one full term, successfully ran for governor as an independent in 2010, switched to the Democratic Party in 2013, declined to seek re-election in 2014 due to enduring dismal poll numbers, and briefly ran for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination in 2015. On Sunday, Chafee filed to run for president in 2020 on the Libertarian Party ticket, The Intercept's Lee Fang noticed Sunday evening.Chafee, who moved to Wyoming after dropping out of the 2016 race, will formally announce his candidacy on Wednesday at the National President Club in Washington, his campaign treasurer, Caswell Cook Jr., told the Providence Journal. His website, registered last September, touts Chafee's "thirty years, zero scandals," and declares: "Protect Our Freedoms. Tell The Truth. No More Wars. No More Reckless Spending.""The news may spur concern among Democrats about the possibility Chafee could siphon votes away from their party's eventual nominee in what is expected to be a tough race against President Trump," writes Ted Nesi at WPRI 12 in Providence. "The 2016 Libertarian ticket of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld received about 4.5 million votes nationwide. (Weld is now challenging Trump for the GOP nomination.)" And if the Libertarians don't take him, there's always the Green Party.More stories from theweek.com America is guilty of everything we accuse Iran of doing Border Patrol has started its 'small-scale' DNA collection program Pentagon mistakenly releases draft memo promising withdrawal from Iraq
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| Fact: Iran Is No Persian Empire (And Should Be Treated As Such) Posted: 04 Jan 2020 07:00 PM PST  America has more important priorities.
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| Police find body of a woman who texted 'I feel in trouble' before disappearing Posted: 06 Jan 2020 08:53 AM PST  Alabama police said Friday they found the body of a 29-year-old woman who had sent a concerning message to her co-worker before disappearing in December, CNN reported.
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| U.S.-EU Trade Talks Vexed by Drums of a Real War Posted: 06 Jan 2020 04:00 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Terms of Trade newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Economics on Twitter for more.The drums of war beating in Washington sound a lot more ominous than the kind accompanying tariff threats.That doesn't mean the escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran won't have consequences for other relationships or global trade. They could well contribute to the revival of trade conflicts that markets have convinced themselves are in the rear-view mirror now that 2020 is upon us.But no trade or strategic relationship is likely to be tested faster or harder than the already fragile one with Europe.The Trump administration's decision to abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that European Union powers were co-signatories to was a pre-existing source of tension, with European companies caught in the sanctions crossfire. Now that Iran has pulled the plug as well in the wake of the killing of a top Iranian general, things are unlikely to get better. Also causing friction were Trump's now frozen plans to levy tariffs on imported cars and more live ones to target champagne and other French products over France's digital services tax. Duties imposed in relation to a long-running trade feud between Airbus and Boeing haven't helped either. Those issues look episodic compared to what seems a lot like a broader breakdown in trans-Atlantic relations. It doesn't take much digging to establish that many in the Trump administration view the powers in Europe and institutions of the EU with an instinctive contempt. Trump, after all, has repeatedly called the EU (officially a U.S. ally) worse than China (an officially designated existential rival) on matters including trade. What irks the president and people close to him most may be Europe's defense of technocratic multilateralism and EU officials' refusal to bow to Trump's tariffs and other efforts to pressure them into even pretending to make a deal on American terms (an art China may well have mastered). European officials, meanwhile, view Trump's attack on the World Trade Organization and other pillars of the rules-based order as a peculiar populist's tantrum. Spend any time discussing trans-Atlantic relations with European officials and the emotion you run into quickly is bemusement. They relay specific complaints about the U.S.'s refusal to engage in meaningful discussions about issues like reforming the WTO or the willingness of Washington to allow the withering of potentially substantive efforts to create a joint front to take on China over industrial subsidies and other common complaints. But hanging over it all like a thunderhead is a broader European perplexion with a one-time friend's life choices.None of that is likely to be improved by what is developing between the U.S. and Iran. Charting the Trade WarThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce is warning that American businesses and consumers are bearing the brunt of the trade war and is calling on the administration to change course. Crunching Commerce Department data, it concludes that more than half of U.S. states are facing retaliatory tariffs on at least 25% of their exports to the EU and China.Today's Must ReadsJust a phase | The Chinese trade delegation including Vice Premier Liu He plans to sign the first phase of its trade deal with the U.S. in Washington on Jan. 15. Service charge | The euro-zone economy edged gradually away from stagnation at the end of 2019 as services picked up to counter moribund manufacturing. Brexit countdown | Companies most exposed to the uncertainty surrounding the U.K.'s exit from the EU have reduced hiring and investment and lost a substantial fraction of their market value Change the channel | Turkey's president said warships will be able to use a planned multibillion-dollar canal bisecting Istanbul, possibly undercutting a 20th-century agreement. USMCA support | Some Democratic presidential candidates are supporting the USMCA agreement while at least one other is distancing himself from the new North American trade deal.Economic AnalysisChina boost | China's economy showed stronger momentum in December for the first time in eight months, according to a range of early indicators, and Bloomberg Economics expects growth to improve in early 2020. World in 2030 | Bloomberg Economics' 10-year growth forecasts paint a picture of continued weakness, with aging populations, barriers to immigration, and weak productivity capping growth potential.Coming UpJan. 7: U.S. trade balance Jan. 8: France trade balance Jan. 9: Germany trade balance Jan. 14-16: EU trade chief Phil Hogan plans trip to Washington Jan. 15: Trumps plans to sign phase-one deal with ChinaLike Terms of Trade?Don't keep it to yourself. Colleagues and friends can sign up here. We also publish Balance of Power, a daily briefing on the latest in global politics.For even more: Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access for full global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.How are we doing? We want to hear what you think about this newsletter. Let our trade tsar know.To contact the author of this story: Shawn Donnan in Washington at sdonnan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Zoe SchneeweissFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Diver killed in Australia shark attack Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:53 PM PST  A man has been mauled to death by a suspected great white shark at a popular diving spot off Australia's southwestern coast, officials said Sunday. The man was attacked at Cull Island near the town of Esperance in Western Australia state, the state's primary industries department said in a statement. "A man received fatal injuries after being bitten by a reported white shark," the department said.
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| Local authorities: Mysterious illness in China is not SARS Posted: 05 Jan 2020 01:18 AM PST  The mysterious respiratory illness that has infected dozens of people in a central Chinese city is not SARS, local authorities said Sunday. The 2002-2003 SARS epidemic started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Fears of a SARS recurrence arose this month after a slate of patients were hospitalized with an unexplained viral pneumonia in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.
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| Potentially "catastrophic" issue with 737 Max wiring Posted: 06 Jan 2020 01:39 AM PST  It could theoretically put the plane into a nose dive but sources say it's not clear whether that could actually happen.
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| Meghan McCain Praises Trump: ‘I’m Happy’ He Killed a ‘Big, Bad Terrorist’ Posted: 06 Jan 2020 09:30 AM PST  The View's Meghan McCain on Monday declared her surprise that people would fear war after President Donald Trump assassinated top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani—a decision she is unequivocally "happy" about.Returning from its holiday break on Monday, The View brought on ABC News political director Rick Klein to discuss the ongoing Iran crisis. While discussing concerns from Democrats that the president is escalating tensions with Iran to distract from impeachment, McCain seemed to come to the defense of the president she has often criticized."Yesterday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Soleimani was, quote, actively plotting against the American public and that Trump made the right decision," the conservative host said. "I was actually really surprised to see things like World War III trending, just given the fact that Soleimani was responsible for over 600 American deaths.""Why do you think people are reacting the way that they are?" McCain continued. "Do you think it's just because there is this trust gap, if you will, between the president of the United States and the American public? For me, when a big, bad terrorist gets blown up, I'm happy about it."Klein, meanwhile, said there were two things at play here: The trust gap Americans have with the president and the fact that the administration hasn't been able to explain how "imminent" the threat was of any attacks Soleimani was purportedly planning against the United States.In a later segment, McCain wondered why Trump was getting so much blowback over the attack on Iran since, in her opinion, other Republican presidents would have made the same decision."Iran has been escalating their attacks for months and months," the proudly hawkish pundit stated. "I mean, they were harassing our warships, firing rockets to American troops, orchestrated a rocket strike to killed a U.S. contractor and wounded four service members and obviously stormed the U.S. embassy.""I made the argument to a friend of mine yesterday that I don't think a President Marco Rubio or President Romney would have necessarily done anything different by taking out Soleimani," she added. "Why do you think people are reacting this way to Trump doing this?"Klein noted that much of it has to do with Trump's track record and "the way he's conducted himself and the fact that he's sitting under impeachment and would have reason to distract.""I also think if this was another president, a president Rubio or Romney, I think there would still be questions asked, which are the right questions to ask," the ABC reporter continued. "When you use military force to kill a guy, you want to know what was behind it."Fellow co-host Sunny Hostin, meanwhile, further stated that previous presidents had the opportunity to kill Soleimani but passed on it because "everybody knew that taking out someone who's not just a terrorist but also someone who's a member of a government, a sitting position in a government, that's a provocative action. It's actually tantamount to war."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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| Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg clinched his first celebrity endorsement — and it's Judge Judy Posted: 06 Jan 2020 11:42 AM PST  Judge Judy, whose real name is Judith Sheindlin, appeared in a campaign ad released on Monday giving her support to Michael Bloomberg.
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| Venezuela's ruling Socialists seize congress, defiant opposition re-elects Guaido Posted: 05 Jan 2020 06:50 AM PST  Venezuela's socialist government installed a new head of Congress on Sunday after armed troops blocked opposition legislators from entering parliament, in a move condemned by dozens of nations as an assault on democracy. Troops with riot shields blocked opposition leader Juan Guaido from entering parliament for what was expected to be his re-election as head of Congress, at one point pulling him off the compound's iron railings after he tried to push past security forces. The blockade allowed the ruling Socialist Party to hand the post to legislator Luis Parra, who was recently expelled by an opposition party over corruption allegations.
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| This Is How Russia's Su-35 Became A Threat to Russia's Stealth Fighter Posted: 06 Jan 2020 09:00 AM PST  The Su-35 was meant to be a stopgap until the Su-57 arrived, but it has become much more.
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| Billionaire Czech Premier Faces More Heat Over Conflict of Interest Probes Posted: 06 Jan 2020 04:46 AM PST ![Billionaire Czech Premier Faces More Heat Over Conflict of Interest Probes]( "Billionaire Czech Premier Faces More Heat Over Conflict of Interest Probes") (Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.The Czech Republic's billionaire prime minister is coming under increasing pressure over allegations of conflict of interest, which last year triggered the country's biggest anti-government protests in three decades.A European Commission audit said that Andrej Babis maintained control over his chemical, farming and media business empire, which continued to receive funds from the European Union's budget after he took power in 2017, news website Neovlivni.cz reported Monday, citing a person with knowledge of the findings.The audit focused on investment subsidies for agriculture companies and came to the same conclusion as last year's probe related to EU's development funds. Babis said he had no inflation about the farming audit.The prime minister rejected all allegations and said he obeyed the rules by placing his company Agrofert in trusts before taking office. Babis also expects the country to oppose any "senseless interpretation of the Czech law by Brussels," according to a statement to the public newswire CTK.Agrofert, which employs about 34,000 people in 18 countries and had sales of 158 billion koruna ($7 billion) in 2018, also said it had no information about the farming audit. The Czech Radio reported the company received 66 million koruna in such subsidies in 2018, half of which came from EU budget.The conflict-of-interest allegations were a chief trigger of a series of the biggest anti-government demonstrations since the fall of communism. The organizers of the rallies said they'll announce further protest actions against Babis on Tuesday.Despite the protests and the legal challenges, Babis remains the most popular politician in the country of 10.7 million. His ANO party has a wide lead in opinion polls about two years before elections following decisions to raise pensions and salaries of state employees.To contact the reporter on this story: Lenka Ponikelska in Prague at lponikelska1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Peter Laca, Andras GergelyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| At least two rockets hit near US embassy in Baghdad: witnesses Posted: 05 Jan 2020 04:07 PM PST  Baghdad (AFP) - Two rockets hit near the US embassy in Iraq's capital Sunday, witnesses told AFP, hours after the ambassador was summoned over a US strike that killed top Iraqi and Iranian commanders.
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| US to start collecting DNA from people detained at border Posted: 06 Jan 2020 12:26 PM PST ![US to start collecting DNA from people detained at border]( "US to start collecting DNA from people detained at border") The U.S. government on Monday launched a pilot program to collect DNA from people in immigration custody and submit it to the FBI, with plans to expand nationwide. The information would go into a massive criminal database run by the FBI, where it would be held indefinitely. A memo outlining the program published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security said U.S. citizens and permanent residents holding a "green card" who are detained could be subject to DNA testing, as well as asylum seekers and people entering the country without authorization.
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| Steve Irwin's family announces it has saved 90,000 animals in Australia, and says admissions are surging as bushfires rage on Posted: 06 Jan 2020 08:40 AM PST  Bushfires in Australia have destroyed the country's wildlife and nature. Nearly half a billion animals are believed to have died this season alone.
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| Where Does Admiral Yamamoto Go to Get His Apology? Posted: 06 Jan 2020 03:30 AM PST  Before there was Qasem Soleimani, there was Admiral Yamamoto.In 1943, the U.S. targeted the exceptionally skilled Japanese commander and killed him in what constituted a precision attack for the time — with the P-38G Lightnings that intercepted him midair playing the role of the MQ-9 Reaper.If it was wrong to kill Soleimani, it was wrong to kill Yamamoto — just as barbaric and illegal, just as damnable an "assassination."Of course, no celebrities back in World War II apologized to Imperial Japan, as actress Rose McGowan did to Iran after the killing of Soleimani in a now-semi-retracted sentiment. There wasn't a debate about the operation's legality. Members of the opposition party didn't call it an assassination. No former sports star — and corporate brand ambassador — condemned it as a lamentable instance of American militarism.Indeed, if he's being consistent, Colin Kaepernick must view the killing of Yamamoto as yet another example of American authorities seeking to control and destroy the bodies of nonwhite men.Obviously, the targeted killings of Soleimani and Yamamoto aren't exactly parallel. We were in a declared war with Japan, a conflict on a much larger scale than that with Iran. But both men were commanders of enemy forces actively engaged in killing Americans, and both were taken out in a combat theater. Both of the targeted killings were fully justified legally and morally.What were considered the advantages of going after Yamamoto resemble those of hitting Soleimani.Like Soleimani, Yamamoto was vulnerable because he was on the move, on a visit to Japanese units. We intercepted a Japanese signal revealing his imminent whereabouts, on the periphery of the range of U.S. aircraft. Admiral Chester Nimitz made the call to target him.As Donald A. Davis notes in his book Lightning Strike, the fact that Yamamoto, who carried out the Pearl Harbor attack, was responsible for the deaths of so many Americans motivated us to go after him. "The blood of thousands of American and Allied soldiers, sailors, and airmen had been spilled because of Yamamoto," he writes, "and here was an opportunity to eliminate him."The motive here wasn't subtle. The strike at Yamamoto was dubbed Operation Vengeance.The centrality of Yamamoto to the enemy war effort also played a role. "Yamamoto was the beating heart of the Japanese navy," Davis continues. "In his own country, he was seen as embodying the unwavering Bushido fighting spirit."It was hoped that his loss would stagger Tokyo, and so it did — after an amazing feat of U.S. airmanship downed Yamamoto's plane, which crashed in the jungle on the island of Bougainville.There was some worry when considering whether to kill him that Yamamoto's successor might be even more formidable. But it was brushed aside. Nimitz asked his exceptional intelligence officer, Edwin Layton, if he was confident that were none better who could replace Yamamoto. "Absolutely none," Layton replied, according to his later account. "Absolutely none."A comment at the outset of the Yamamoto operation could just as easily have applied to the Soleimani operation:"TALLYHO X LET'S GET THE BASTARD."
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| The myth of a new China Posted: 06 Jan 2020 02:45 AM PST  Dead center on the front page of The New York Times' last Sunday edition of 2019, a headline: "As it detains parents, China weans children from Islam." Its subheading, equally ready for distribution to newspaper stands in Beijing: "New boarding schools redirect faith from religion to party."The story itself, available online under a different — better — title, is compelling and well-reported. It effectively conveys Beijing's galling oppression of Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic minorities, many of them Muslim, in China's western provinces. Yet even there, the language seems unduly circumspect. For example, facilities hedged by armed guards and barbed wire where children are forcibly isolated with an explicit intent of breaking up families and erasing their religious and cultural heritage are called "boarding schools" — which, I suppose, is technically not wrong, but neither is it right when the term conjures, for many Americans, visions of Harry Potter's Hogwarts and its real-life counterparts, elite educational institutions reserved for the most privileged children.Such strange descriptive treatment of perhaps the most systematic program of ethnic persecution on the planet today is hardly isolated to a single Times article. (In fact, the Times has published numerous important reports on the Uighurs' plight.) As The Week's Matthew Walther has noted, this despotism is too often downplayed or outright ignored in the narrative of a "new China," a prosperous, modern nation that has left behind the murderous communism of the last century. This narrative is not entirely groundless — China has changed, a lot, in recent decades — but in many ways that matter, it's a myth.The myth of a new China is useful to Beijing, but it is not purely a Chinese export. The American account of the Cold War quite naturally pairs the China of Chairman Mao with Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union, and that link makes it easy to forget that when the USSR dissolved, Beijing didn't.China never had a glasnost, despite years of Western expectation. Protests in Tiananmen Square did not produce a Chinese perestroika. There was no Chinese equivalent of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Three decades ago it may have seemed, as this 1989 Christian Science Monitor piece opined, that China's movement toward "economic modernization" would bring it "face to face with the inevitability of pressure for political liberalization." Now the connection of consumerism to social freedom looks far more tenuous."Socialism with Chinese characteristics" has produced a strange amalgam of autonomy and coercion. China's nail houses and gutter oil suggest a laissez-faire attitude unmatched anywhere in the United States, yet these small markers of economic liberty coexist with a terrifying surveillance state, public executions, and treatment of minority groups like the Uighurs for which "genocide" is not too strong a word. The "social credit" system is a waking nightmare. Reports indicate religious texts like the Bible and the Quran soon will be edited to "reflect socialist values," a throwback to Mao if there ever was one, and religious persecution more generally is spiking.Rising authoritarianism is a hallmark of the tenure of Xi Jinping, China's newly minted "president for life." Once cast as a potential Mikhail Gorbachev of Beijing, Xi has proven to be anything but. By his own account in a 2013 address, the "profound lesson" Xi learned from the fall of the USSR is the danger of allowing national leaders' "ideals and beliefs [to be] shaken." For Xi, reform means getting back to Mao, not away from him. Thus Xi's "presidency has been characterized by an insistence that all individuals in positions of responsibility devote more serious study of and adherence to Marxist-Leninist doctrine," explains Ted Galen Carpenter at The National Interest. Xi is "determined to enhance and perpetuate his dominant role," Carpenter continues, and he has used his growing power to move China "toward greater repression and regimentation, not greater liberalization."The Beijing of Tank Man is, in many ways, still the same Beijing. Likewise the Beijing of the Great Leap Forward (estimated death toll: 30 million) and the Cultural Revolution (estimated death toll: 1 to 10 million), and the Beijing that has violently repressed the Uighurs and sought to eradicate their culture since the end of World War II.This is not to suggest the China of 2020 is indistinct from the China of 1970. Far from it. Economic quality of life has enormously improved thanks to Beijing's qualified embrace of the open market (and it continues to improve under Xi). In 1981, 90 percent of the country survived on $2 or less per day; today fewer than 1 percent do. I lived in China's Shandong province for a year in the mid-1990s, and the contrasts I observed returning to the country a decade later were almost unbelievable. Signs of new wealth were everywhere, most visibly in the explosion of personal vehicle ownership. And despite Beijing's increasingly powerful censorship apparatus, the internet allows communication and information access at a previously impossible scale.Nor do I want to suggest this brutal statism in Chinese governance warrants U.S. antagonism, whether in the form of a break in diplomatic or trade relations or, God forbid, military conflict. The ethics here may be irreducibly complex — anyone who has a simple answer to whether it's better to buy Chinese goods or boycott them is a liar or a fool — but it is hardly disputable that isolating or attacking China would add to the suffering of many ordinary people. War doesn't gentle totalitarian regimes; foreign meddling may provoke a more severe tyranny; sanctions are like to do the poor and powerless more harm than good.There is no obvious route to ending Beijing's cruelties, among them its efforts to eliminate the Uighurs as a coherent community. And I can offer no conclusive argument for how our rejection of the myth of a new China will accomplish anything, practically. Still, I am certain it is necessary.The truth is that China has changed much in the last 50 years, but also that recording a history of only change obscures a great continuity. And though a modern Tank Man could not be expunged from national memory as the original was, he could still be disappeared, tortured, and killed. Half a world away, there is little to nothing we can do about this. But we can, at least, refuse to call the next Tank Man's prison a "re-education camp" and his children's brainwashing a "boarding school."More stories from theweek.com America is guilty of everything we accuse Iran of doing Border Patrol has started its 'small-scale' DNA collection program Pentagon mistakenly releases draft memo promising withdrawal from Iraq
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| Germany seeks crisis meeting of EU foreign ministers Posted: 05 Jan 2020 02:16 PM PST  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on Sunday for a crisis meeting of his European Union counterparts this week to discuss escalating tension in the Middle East following the killing of a top Iranian military commander in Iraq by the United States. "As Europeans, we have tried and tested and resilient channels of communication on all sides, which we must make full use of in this situation," Maas said in a statement. Maas has proposed to EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell that a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers be brought forward to this week to agree on a common approach.
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| The Navy Wants Torpedo Boats To Help Deter Iran Posted: 04 Jan 2020 10:30 PM PST  Washington may need more of such warships to patrol contested waters.
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| Ukrainian Orthodox Church compares Russia's treatment of believers in Crimea to Stalin-era repressions Posted: 06 Jan 2020 04:57 AM PST  The head of Ukraine's recently independent Orthodox Church has compared Russia's treatment of believers in annexed Crimea to "Stalin-era" repressions, after authorities ordered a church demolished. Metropolitan Epiphaniy, the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said believers in Crimea and the east of the country had particularly suffered at the hands of Russia since the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was granted independence in 2018, to the fury of Moscow. "In Crimea, the Russian authorities, the temporary authorities, are trying to completely supplant us," he said in an interview ahead of Orthodox Christmas on January 7. Officials are trying to evict the congregation from the peninsula's Ukrainian cathedral and at the end of last year ordered the "absurd" destruction of another church building in Crimea, he said. "This is reminiscent of the Stalin-era of the USSR, when churches were destroyed," he told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in a Ukrainian-language interview. Epiphaniy said he had raised the issue on a recent trip to the United States and had asked the international community to condemn Russia's actions. Metropolitan Epiphaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine spoke out against Russia Credit: Hennadii Minchenko/ Ukrinform Last year the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's Archbishop Kliment was briefly arrested in Crimea in what he described as an attempt to tarnish his reputation. His cathedral in Simferopol has also reported attacks by vandals. In October 2018, the leader of the global Orthodox community granted independence to the Ukrainian Church, after more than 300 years under the jurisdiction of Moscow. Kiev had been pushing for the move since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow's support for separatist rebels in the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church, which is closely aligned to the Kremlin, cut ties with the top Orthodox patriarch in Istanbul, in one of the biggest rifts within Christianity for almost 1,000 years. Around 600 churches previously aligned to Moscow have joined the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church over the last year, Epiphaniy said. That figure is disputed by Moscow, which says some of the churches have been seized. The Ukrainian Church leader added that he wanted the conversions "to continue to be peaceful, calm and voluntary... we do not need confrontation." In his Christmas address on Monday, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow called for the unity of Orthodoxy and "multiplying love".
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| Erdogan Says Warships May Bypass 1936 Treaty With Planned Canal Posted: 06 Jan 2020 12:57 AM PST ![Erdogan Says Warships May Bypass 1936 Treaty With Planned Canal]( "Erdogan Says Warships May Bypass 1936 Treaty With Planned Canal") (Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said warships will be able to use a planned multibillion-dollar canal bisecting Istanbul, possibly undercutting a 20th-century agreement meant to ensure stability and security in the Black Sea region.Instead of crossing the narrow Bosporus strait, Erdogan said military ships will instead be able to use Canal Istanbul, which will similarly link the Black and Marmara seas. The project is meant to ease shipping traffic and the risk of accidents in the Bosporus, which runs through the middle of Turkey's biggest city. It could create jobs for 10,000 people as well as a new city along its route.Speaking in an interview with CNN-Turk television late Sunday, Erdogan didn't elaborate on whether any limitations would be imposed on the passage of warships through Canal Istanbul.Turkey to Build Canal Through Istanbul to Bypass BosporusTurkey could be courting another controversy with one of the most ambitious projects of Erdogan's almost two decades in power. After years of work since it was first unveiled in 2011, the ruling party has said the canal has finally become ripe for a tender process.The option presented by the planned 45-kilometer (28-mile) canal for warships, including navies from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, adds a significant political dimension to what Erdogan dubbed his "crazy project." It's already mired in questions over financing and its impact on the environment.Endangering Treaty?If Turkey uses it as an alternative route to assert more autonomy, it could potentially trigger an international debate on whether such a move would violate the 1936 Montreux Convention.The convention limits deployments in the Black Sea to 21 days for navies not belonging to Black Sea states. It also regulates the number and the maximum aggregate tonnage of all foreign naval forces that may pass the Turkish straits while barring the passage of all aircraft carriers.Erdogan said the convention was only "binding" for the Turkish straits and the Canal Istanbul project would be "totally outside Montreux."Responding to a question on whether warships will continue to cross the Turkish straits under the limits set down by the treaty, he said: "We would find a solution for them."Istanbul's New Mayor Takes On Erdogan's Pet Canal Project"If necessary, they may cross here, too," Erdogan said, referring to the passage of warships through the future channel.Turkey may charge ships passing through Canal Istanbul, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday. However, navigation through the Turkish straits is free, and it's not clear how Turkey would encourage ships to traverse the new waterway instead.Erdogan's 'Crazy Project' Prompts Warning of Environmental Ruin\--With assistance from Firat Kozok.To contact the reporter on this story: Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Paul Abelsky, Amy TeibelFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Troops in Iraq have been reassigned from fighting ISIS to protecting US assets amid Iran conflict Posted: 05 Jan 2020 11:44 AM PST  A US-led coalition formed to fight the threat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been reassigned to protecting personnel and facilities in Iraq.
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| IKEA to pay $46M in boy's dresser tipover death, lawyers say Posted: 06 Jan 2020 03:25 PM PST  IKEA has agreed to pay $46 million to the parents of a 2-year-old boy who died of injuries suffered when a 70-pound (32-kilogram) recalled dresser tipped over onto him, the family's lawyers said Monday. Jozef Dudek, of Buena Park, California, died in 2017 of his injuries, and his parents sued the Swedish home furnishings company in a Philadelphia court in 2018. In the lawsuit, the Dudeks accused IKEA of knowing that its Malm dressers posed a tip-over hazard and that they had injured or killed a number of children, but that the company had failed to warn consumers that the dressers shouldn't be used without being anchored to a wall.
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| Australia’s Wildfire Crisis: Key Numbers Behind the Disaster Posted: 06 Jan 2020 02:05 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Australia is in the grip of deadly wildfires burning across the country, triggering an emotive debate about the impact of climate change in the world's driest-inhabited continent. The unprecedented scale of the crisis, and images of terrified tourists sheltering on beaches from the infernos, has shocked many Australians.With summer only just beginning and the nation affected by a prolonged drought, authorities fear the death toll will continue to mount as more homes and land are destroyed. Here are some key details of the crisis:How many people have died?Since the fire season began months ago during the southern hemisphere winter, at least 24 people have died. Among the fatalities are volunteer firefighters, including a young man who died when his 10-ton truck was flipped over in what officials have described as a "fire tornado." Australia's worst wildfires came in 2009 when the Black Saturday blazes left 180 people dead.How big an area has burned?Massive tracts of land have burned. More than 10 million hectares (25 million acres) have been destroyed -- that's about five times the size of Wales, or larger than Indiana. In New South Wales state alone, almost 5 million hectares of forest and bush has been destroyed, while more than 1.1 million hectares has been burned in Victoria. The fires are so large they are generating their own weather systems and causing dry lightning strikes that in turn ignite more. One blaze northwest of Sydney, the Gospers Mountain fire, has destroyed almost 512,000 hectares -- about seven times the size of Singapore.The scale of the blazes dwarfs the California wildfires in 2018, which destroyed about 1.7 million acres, and about 260,000 acres in 2019.How many homes have been destroyed?Some 1,400 homes have been destroyed in New South Wales alone this fire season and the tally is rising daily as the fires continue to burn and authorities assess damage. Scores of rural towns have been impacted, including the community of Balmoral about 150 kilometers southwest of Sydney, which was largely destroyed before Christmas.What's the economic impact?That's still to be assessed. The Insurance Council of Australia says 6,000 claims worth A$431 million ($299 million) have been lodged. Consultancy SGS Economics and Planning has estimated that Sydney's economy loses as much as A$50 million each day it is blanketed with a toxic haze from smoke billowing in from the fires. An inquiry into the Black Saturday fires estimated the cost at A$4.4 billion. More broadly, the economy faces pressure from increasingly severe heat and storms from climate change, threatening industries ranging from agriculture to property to tourism. Australia's Climate Council estimates cumulative damage from reduced agricultural and labor productivity might reach A$19 billion by 2030, A$211 billion by 2050 and a massive A$4 trillion by 2100.How has wildlife been affected?The University of Sydney estimates that 480 million animals have been killed by the bushfires in New South Wales alone since September. The "highly conservative figure" includes mammals, birds and reptiles killed either directly by the fires, or later due to loss of food and habitat. The fires have raised concerns in particular about koalas, with authorities saying as much as 30% of their habitat in some areas had been destroyed. Images of the marsupials drinking water from bottles after being rescued have gone viral on social media.\--With assistance from Jason Scott.To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net, Jason ScottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| College students panic over FAFSA and the draft Posted: 05 Jan 2020 11:30 PM PST  Concerns over an active draft and FAFSA's role in the service even shut down the Selective Service System's website because of the sudden surge in traffic.
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| China can still salvage 'one country, two systems' in Hong Kong – here's how Posted: 06 Jan 2020 04:07 AM PST  Authorities in Hong Kong may have hoped to start 2020 by putting a turbulent period of sustained, often violent protests behind them. Instead hundreds of thousands of protesters ushered in the new year by taking to the streets. Around 400 were arrested as protesters continued their push for political reform on the densely populated island.The clash between the government and demonstrators is now seven months long and has served to further erode Hong Kongers' trust in China's commitment to the "one country, two systems" formula. Under that principle, the region was granted a degree of autonomy over its own matters in 1997. But a perception that Beijing is increasingly imposing its authority has led not only to a more militant protest movement, but one that is eyeing separation from the mainland.As a political scientist who has closely followed political developments in Hong Kong over the last decade, I have watched trust in Beijing ebb away during the sustained unrest.If China wants to correct this course and convince Hong Kongers that their best hope lies in autonomy rather than independence, then I believe it must permit genuine democracy in the region. Cycle of unrestThe people of Hong Kong have not had much of a say in their own destiny. Not only did they lack political power as a colony of the British, but they also weren't consulted in the drafting of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that set the terms for the 1997 handover of the territory from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China. Nevertheless, that agreement offered an implicit bargain to Hong Kongers: They would submit to Beijing's sovereignty in return for the promise of a "high degree of autonomy" on the basis of "one country, two systems."Over the past two decades, major outbreaks of unrest in Hong Kong have followed attempts by Beijing to impose unwanted measures that violate this bargain. Large-scale protests beat back Beijing-directed legislative proposals dealing with sedition in 2003, national education in 2012 and extradition last year. The Umbrella Movement protests of 2014 succeeded in stymieing Beijing's proposed revisions to Hong Kong's system for selecting its chief executive, but protesters' demands for universal suffrage and an open nomination process were rejected.Many Hong Kongers consider this interference a violation of the promised autonomy built into the terms of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution. This interference reinforces fears that the city will lose its autonomy entirely after 2047, the end point of commitments made under the Joint Declaration.With only limited and inadequate democratic mechanisms at their disposal, Hong Kongers have developed a vibrant and increasingly militant protest culture as a primary means for exercising political influence. Autonomy or independence?Efforts to steer Hong Kong toward greater integration with the mainland have backfired, undermining trust in Beijing's promise of a "high degree of autonomy." The result is an ongoing cycle of radicalization. The focal point for many protesters has moved away from any one particular issue to focus on the fundamental status of Hong Kong's relationship to China. Growing numbers of people are questioning why they should keep their side of the bargain – accepting Beijing's sovereignty over Hong Kong. According to a recent Reuters poll, 17% of Hong Kongers express outright support for independence from China, while another 20% express dissatisfaction with the "one country, two systems" model. Moreover, 59% of respondents said they supported the recent protests and over one-third had themselves attended a protest.According to a separate survey, support for eventual independence among young people approaches 40%. Many young people have also come to reject any "Chinese" identity in favor of a "Hong Kong" identity.The depth of discontent among Hong Kongers was reflected in the District Council elections held on Nov. 24. These low-level posts have traditionally been dominated by pro-Beijing political parties. The recent elections, however, brought a record turnout with pro-democratic parties winning close to 90% of contested positions. Beijing's miscalculationTo blunt the growth of separatist sentiment in Hong Kong, Beijing must tackle what social scientists call a "commitment problem." In any negotiation, each side will cooperate only if they believe that the other side is both willing and able to carry out any commitments made as part of the bargain. If either side believes the other side's commitments lack credibility, then cooperation fails. What China needs to do now is show that it is committed to respecting the autonomy promises embodied in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.I believe the best way to do that is for Beijing to stop manipulating governance of the city. As long as selection of the chief executive and a majority of the Legislative Council lies in Beijing's hands, it will be difficult for the mainland to resist meddling in Hong Kong's affairs and for Hong Kongers to feel that autonomy offers them any real say over their fate.In other words, Beijing could undercut calls for independence and interrupt the cycle of mass protests by offering Hong Kongers the ability to select their leaders through free and fair elections.Beijing badly miscalculated in 2014 when it proposed electoral reforms that fell far short of the demands of Hong Kong's pan-democratic camp, a coalition of parties that advocate universal suffrage. As a consequence, older, mainstream leaders lost control of the protest movement to younger, more militant activists. By 2019, young radicals resorted to violent street actions coupled with harsh anti-Beijing rhetoric. Yet a move toward democracy could still calm the waters provided the process allowed for genuine and effective local participation.This proposal may be far-fetched. Indeed, some accounts suggest that leaders in Beijing are laying plans to move in the opposite direction by taking more direct control over Hong Kong's political and legal institutions. Moreover, Beijing worries that full democracy in Hong Kong might lead to demands for the same elsewhere in China.If a democratic solution to China's Hong Kong problem appears unattractive to Beijing, the alternatives may be worse. The current cycle of provocation, protest, radicalization and rising separatism can lead to only one eventual result: a violent crackdown that would damage China's reputation and leave it in costly occupation of a sullen and defiant population for a generation or more.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * As Digital Earth gains momentum, China is setting the pace * Unrest in Latin America makes authoritarianism look more appealing to someDavid Skidmore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Biden Suddenly on the Defensive After Soleimani Killing Posted: 06 Jan 2020 01:45 AM PST  In the early hours after President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iran's top military official, the Democratic presidential field responded in lockstep that the operation had the potential to destabilize the region further and put the lives of Americans and their allies at risk of deadly reprisal.But as the potential blowback against the United States became clearer in the days following the death of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Quds Force and architect of Iran's war against ISIS across the region, candidates began to divide themselves into two camps: those who argue that only a steady, experienced hand can steady America's increasingly erratic foreign policy, and those who point to the past two decades of U.S. foreign policy to show the need for drastic change. Former Vice President Joe Biden, whose entire presidential campaign centers on the restorationist idea that his decades of Washington experience are the best guarantee to undo the Trump administration's mistakes, has been increasingly nudged closer to the fire by opponents pointing to his past support for the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation, a quagmire from which many of the current crises in the region emerged. As a former two-term vice president and a major figure in U.S. foreign policy during his decades in the Senate, Biden is particularly vulnerable to attacks on geopolitical orthodoxy as an example of what not to do.Iraq Tells Trump GTFO After Soleimani Strike"Age does not necessarily correlate with wisdom on foreign policy," one foreign policy adviser to a top-tier campaign told The Daily Beast. "Over the course of years, and in some cases decades, there is a track record that is extensive—and in some cases it is consistent—in pointing to flaws of judgement, and perhaps even a worldview that is not necessarily well-suited to what is required of a commander in chief."Leading the charge, unsurprisingly, is Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who for years has trumpeted his 2002 vote against authorizing the use of military force in Iraq as a member of the House of Representatives as evidence that decades of foreign policy experience can't supplant good judgment. Even in the days before the strike that killed Soleimani when foreign policy was still very much on the back burner for most presidential hopefuls, Sanders had described Biden's support for the war as "a lot of baggage.""I was right about Vietnam. I was right about Iraq. I will do everything in my power to prevent a war with Iran," Sanders tweeted on Friday morning, alongside a video underscored by a trap beat in which he describes that war and the vote that authorized it as "the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of the United States.""People want to criticize me for that? Go for it, that's okay," Sanders said. "I don't apologize to anybody."Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, both of whom entered politics long after public opinion and political consensus turned against the invasion of Iraq, have been more implicit in their criticism, instead warning that Soleimani's death risks an escalation of military tensions with Iran that could result in another "endless war"—like the one Biden voted for."Every piece of this is about judgement," Warren said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, when asked whether Biden should be the most trusted candidate on foreign policy matters despite his past support for the Iraq War, as polls of likely voters have suggested. "There are people running for president who are willing to keep combat troops in the Middle East for five years, for 10 years… Staying pinned down and escalating our wars in the Middle East is not in the long-term interest of the United States."Warren has not been immune from criticism for her own response to Soleimani's killing. Her campaign's initial statement in response to the strike, calling the late Quds Force chief a "murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands," was criticized from the left as parroting the talking points of more hawkish Democrats. Warren on Sunday morning dodged the question of whether she still felt that Soleimani's death amounted to an assassination, responding that "the question that we ought to focus on is, why now?"On the same program, Buttigieg declined to directly question Biden's judgement on foreign policy matters, telling host Jake Tapper that the focus should be on Trump, his decision-making process ahead of ordering the operation, and as The Daily Beast reported on Saturday, his decision to gossip about impending military action with members of his private Palm Beach resort."I'll let the V.P. speak to his own judgment," Buttigieg said, noting that his judgement is informed by his experience as a naval intelligence officer in Afghanistan. But earlier in the week, before most Americans or candidates likely even knew who Soleimani was, Buttigieg had blasted Biden's vote as supporting "the worst foreign policy decision made by the United States in my lifetime.""You could also argue that we wouldn't be there if it weren't for the invasion of Iraq in the first place, which I still believe was a grave mistake," Buttigieg later told reporters in New Hampshire on Friday.Buttigieg and Warren's more abstract criticisms of Biden's judgement, the foreign policy adviser told The Daily Beast, harken back to a day when differences on geopolitics weren't marks of personal failure—so long as you learned from your mistakes."A lot of this has gone out the window, but there's a hope where we can get back to a point where these positions and approaches can transcend politics, where they're not personalized, not politicized, but based on principles and values," the adviser added.The Biden campaign, however, told The Daily Beast that they see the emergence of foreign policy matters as a central issue in campaign politics as a boon, rather than a burden."These events put into greater relief that we need a commander-in-chief who can, from the moment they're sworn in—and without needing on the job training—start repairing the severe damage that Donald Trump has done on the world stage," a campaign spokesperson told The Daily Beast.One campaign that has felt no compunction about explicitly personalizing Biden's past potential liabilities on the Middle East is that of Trump himself. In the hours after Soleimani's killing, Trump campaign officials declared that Biden's track record in the region was both too bellicose and too simpering."America's enemies in Iran rejoiced under Obama/Biden," tweeted Trump campaign director of rapid response Matt Wolking. "Under Trump, they are crying like babies."The Trump campaign also pushed out an old interview with former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who served under President Barack Obama, in which he stood by saying that he thought Biden had been "wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."Biden's response, as in other campaign moments when his buttons were pressed, has been defensive to the point of inelegance, refusing to respond to Sanders' comments about his "baggage" except to say that Sanders himself has more than his fair share.On Friday, Biden's response to a reporter's inquiry about his role in the 2011 operation that led to the death of Osama bin Laden prompted further questions about whether his foreign policy experience is a help or a hindrance. In an exchange with Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, Biden said that he would be willing to use an airstrike to kill a terrorist leader, using the bin Laden operation as an example. When Doocy followed up by noting that Biden has previously said that he discouraged President Obama from authorizing the operation, Biden brusquely responded, "No, I didn't. I didn't."How Biden Kept Screwing Up Iraq—Over and Over and Over AgainThe exchange—which was almost instantly repackaged by the Trump campaign into an email titled "Joe Biden just lied about opposing the raid to kill Osama bin Laden"—sparked a flurry of fact-checking articles noting that by all accounts, including Biden's own in 2012, he had not backed the operation in a group meeting at the time. In 2015, Biden said that he did not offer a firm opinion in that group meeting, saying that "it would have been a mistake" to do so, but that he had privately encouraged President Obama to "trust your gut."A Biden campaign official confirmed to The Daily Beast that Biden had told Obama in a private conversation that he supported the president following his "instincts" on the raid, and noted that that aspect of Biden's story has never changed.Biden, for his part, is hoping to keep the focus on the more pressing matter of Trump's foreign policy, rather than his own."No president has a right to take our country to war without the informed consent of Americans—informed consent. And right now we have no idea what this guy has in mind, we have no idea," Biden told reporters before a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday evening. "He's going off on a tweetstorm on his own, and it's incredibly dangerous and irresponsible."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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| Meet America's B-25G Bomber: The Jet That Used A Tank Cannon To Destroy Enemy Warships Posted: 06 Jan 2020 08:00 AM PST  When the U.S. Army Air Force procured the B-25G Mitchell, it had a very different mission in mind—sinking ships at sea.
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| Ghosn escaped from Japan after hiding in large crate too big for airport scanners: Reports Posted: 06 Jan 2020 06:42 AM PST  Carlos Ghosn managed to sneak out of Japan undetected due to a simple design limitation on a luggage scanner at a Japanese airport, the Wall Street Journal and Nikkei Asian Review reported.
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