| The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back. Posted: 19 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  In 2008, CIA operative Stephen Stanek faced a decision: cancel the operation he was running or go forward with it — as a tropical storm barreled through the Philippines with a projection to veer north and miss his team's area of operation.
|
| Mass suspension of German police officers who shared pictures of Hitler and doctored images of refugees in gas chambers Posted: 19 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The officers allegedly shared extremist content in chatrooms and WhatsApp groups. Some face charges of spreading Nazi propaganda and hate speech.
|
| Communist Organizers Arrested after Allegedly Barricading Officers Inside Aurora Police Department Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:08 PM PDT  Six rioters were charged by Colorado district attorneys on Thursday with allegations stemming from anti-police demonstrations in June and July.The demonstrations occurred following the death of George Floyd, who was killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. However, Colorado demonstrations also protested the August, 2019, death of Elijah McClain, an African American man who died after being put in a choke hold by officers in Aurora. Several officers in the Aurora Police Department were fired on July 3, 2020, after photos surfaced in which the officers reenacted the choke hold near the site of McClain's arrest.Riots over the summer in Aurora included a July 3 incident in which demonstrators barricaded police inside a precinct building for seven hours.Prosecutors charged Lillian House and Joel Northam, organizers for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, as well as Whitney Lucero with first-degree kidnapping in connection with the July 3 demonstration. The defendants "unlawfully and feloniously attempted to imprison or forcibly secrete 18 officers with the intent to force them or another person to make a concession to secure their release," prosecutors said in a press release. The charges were brought by the district attorneys for Colorado's 17th and 18th judicial districts, both of which are in the city of Aurora.The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a communist party that "believes that the only solution to the deepening crisis of capitalism is the socialist transformation of society," according to its website. House, Northam, and their party have led many of the demonstrations in Aurora and Denver over the summer, the Denver Post reported.Another demonstrator facing felony charges for engaging in and inciting a riot, Terrance Roberts, is a leader of a group called the Front Line Party for Revolutionary Action.Riots that began after the death of George Floyd have caused almost $2 billion in damages, according to a report from Axios, in the most expensive damage from civil unrest in U.S. history. U.S. Attorney General William Barr has called to prosecute rioters for sedition.
|
| Sources: Russian aggression against U.S. intelligence satellites sparks congressional briefing Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:41 PM PDT  Over recent days, officials from the U.S. Space Force and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed congressional committees on an "uptick" in Russian military activity in space targeting U.S. defense and intelligence satellites.
|
| Thai national park sends rubbish back to tourists Posted: 18 Sep 2020 05:37 AM PDT  If you're leaving your rubbish in a Thai national park, you might be reunited with it by post.
|
| Homes destroyed after winds push California fire into desert Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:07 PM PDT  Homes were destroyed Friday by an unrelenting wildfire that reached a Mojave Desert community and was still growing on several fronts after burning for nearly two weeks in mountains northeast of Los Angeles. Officials were investigating the death of a firefighter on the lines of another Southern California wildfire that erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby's gender. The death occurred Thursday in San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of LA, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement.
|
| Michigan residents urged to stay indoors as scientists race to deal with threat of rare mosquito-borne disease Posted: 18 Sep 2020 07:46 AM PDT  'This is an ongoing threat to the health and safety of Michiganders,' says Department of Health and Human Services chief medical executive Dr Joneigh Khaldun
|
| Tropical Storm Beta strengthens overnight Posted: 19 Sep 2020 04:05 AM PDT  We'll enjoy some fantastic weather Saturday ahead of impacts from Tropical Storm Beta.
|
| Ethiopia files terrorism charges against leading opposition activist Posted: 19 Sep 2020 05:27 AM PDT  Ethiopia has filed terrorism charges against a prominent media mogul and opposition politician from the Oromo ethnic group, Jawar Mohammed, the attorney general's office said on Saturday. Jawar, founder of the Oromiya Media Network and a member of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, was arrested in June amid the widespread unrest that followed the assassination of popular Oromo musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa.
|
| Court rulings in critical swing states make it easier to vote this November — but may delay results Posted: 18 Sep 2020 03:00 PM PDT  A Michigan judge ruled Friday that if a mail-in ballot is postmarked by Nov. 2, the day before the election, election officials must count it if it arrives by the end of the day on Nov. 16.
|
| A Florida bar owner is banning customers from wearing masks and asking them to leave if they do Posted: 19 Sep 2020 09:42 AM PDT  Gary Kirby, owner of Westside Sports Bar and Lounge, said that anyone who refuses to take off their face covering will be asked to leave.
|
| Tropical Storm Wilfred could form in Gulf; Hurricane Teddy remains a major Category 4 Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:03 AM PDT |
| Japan police arrest fraud suspect linked to ex-PM's event Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:40 AM PDT  Japanese police on Friday arrested a man on fraud charges linked to annual cherry blossom viewing parties that were hosted by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but the new government ruled out an investigation into how the party and its budget were used. Abe's annual cherry party came into question last year when opposition lawmakers pointed out the number of guests and high cost, accusing Abe of using taxpayers' money to entertain constituents. Abe has denied any wrongdoing or personal ties with the suspect and is not facing any criminal investigation so far.
|
| Rochester: Two killed and 14 wounded after mass shooting at party in New York state Posted: 19 Sep 2020 03:04 AM PDT  Police say incident is 'tragedy of epic proportions'
|
| CDC — again — changes COVID-19 guidelines. Now asymptomatic people need a test Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:37 PM PDT  The change replaces a controversial update from Aug. 24 that said individuals who don't have symptoms don't need to get tested.
|
| Does Trump have enough votes to confirm RBG’s replacement? A look at the senators who might block his nomination Posted: 19 Sep 2020 11:12 AM PDT  Republican leaders came forcefully following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to urge their senate colleagues to toe the party line and demand the vacancy is filled before the November election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent a letter to Republicans on Friday telling them to "keep your powder dry" and avoid falling under pressure to announce their stance on whether the open seat on the nation's highest court should be filled just six weeks ahead of election day. "Over the coming days, we are all going to come under tremendous pressure from the press to announce how we will handle the coming nomination," the senate majority leader wrote to his colleagues.
|
| The man behind Trump’s campaign against 'critical race theory' Posted: 18 Sep 2020 05:00 AM PDT  The programs Rufo targeted are intended to improve communication, defuse tensions and promote equal opportunities among co-workers of different races and ethnicities, and are analogous, or identical to, similar programs that have been a staple of corporate human relations departments for decades.
|
| Tesla driver charged for appearing to be asleep with the seat fully reclined while traveling at over 86 mph Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Canadian authorities said the man was going over 86 mph before being stopped, where police discovered fully reclined seats.
|
| NC woman still missing two years after she left baby with family reportedly to visit sick mother in Mexico Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:02 AM PDT  Nancy Troche Garcia, 28, was last seen in Asheboro, North Carolina on May 20, 2018, when she dropped her baby off with the baby's father. She then reportedly went to the father's sister's house nearby and asked her if she would help care for the baby since she would be traveling to Mexico to care for her sick mother. But her mother told police that she was not sick and there were no plans for Nancy to come to Mexico. Nancy's burgundy 2001 Chevy Impala is also missing. The Asheboro Police
|
| Janusz Walus: Why far-right Polish football fans idolise a murderer in South Africa Posted: 19 Sep 2020 04:36 PM PDT  Janusz Walus killed anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993, sparking fears of a racial civil war.
|
| Fears of a brain drain in Belarus as IT workers prepare to flee brutal crackdown Posted: 18 Sep 2020 12:28 PM PDT  On the night of the Belarusian presidential elections, Andrey Fedorovich, a 27-year-old web developer with an enviable job and a big flat in Minsk, found himself lying on the ground underneath an abandoned van, hiding from riot police rampaging across the city. "I first thought about leaving when I was lying underneath that van, when I saw what kind of people live in my country," Mr Fedorovich says. He and his wife have now decided to flee for Kyiv in Ukraine. Belarus - perhaps better known for its tractor factories - has a booming tech industry. Minsk was the USSR's designated tech hub, and now over 10,000 tech workers are based there. These workers have long enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle and were once hailed as the sole hope for the country's Soviet-style economy.
|
| Tropical Storm Beta spurs hurricane worries for Texas Posted: 18 Sep 2020 09:00 PM PDT  An exceptionally busy Atlantic hurricane season was churning along Saturday as the Texas coast prepared for a tropical storm that could strengthen into a hurricane before breaching its shores in the week ahead. Both the city of Galveston and Galveston County on Saturday issued voluntary evacuation orders ahead of Tropical Storm Beta, as did the city of Seabrook to the north of Galveston. Mayor Pro Tem Craig Brown said in a statement that high tides and up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of expected rainfall would leave roads impassable, especially along the city's west end and low-lying areas.
|
| China launches counter-mechanism to US sanctions list Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:38 PM PDT  China said Saturday it had launched a mechanism enabling it to restrict foreign entities, a much-anticipated move seen as retaliation to US penalties against Chinese companies such as telecom giant Huawei.
|
| India arrests nine al Qaeda militants planning 'terrorist attacks' Posted: 19 Sep 2020 01:44 AM PDT |
| Whose voters are 'hidden' in polling data? 'Shy' Biden voters may actually outnumber Trump’s Posted: 18 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Just 20 percent of Trump voters with mostly Biden-backing neighbors say those neighbors would be surprised by their support for Trump. Among Biden voters in Trump country, however, that number is 10 points higher (30 percent).
|
| Hong Kong Pro-democracy Activist Nathan Law Wins TIME’s 2020 TIME100 Reader Poll Posted: 18 Sep 2020 07:37 AM PDT  TIME asked readers to vote for who they thought should make the 2020 TIME100 list, an annual compilation of the world's most influential people. Nathan Law, a leading pro-democracy activist and the youngest lawmaker in Hong Kong's history, took first place in TIME's poll with 3.8% of the 4.7 million votes cast by readers. Law made news in July when he revealed that he fled Hong Kong after China imposed a new, controversial national security law making separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries criminal offenses—an attempt at cracking down on Hong Kong protests.
|
| Philadelphia police investigate shooting involving 2 undercover officers Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:56 PM PDT  Philadelphia Police in the 14th district are investigating a shooting involving undercover police officers Friday. The incident happened just after 8:00 p.m. on the 1400 block of Sharpnack Street.
|
| Postal workers are catching COVID by the thousands. It’s one more threat to voting by mail Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:59 AM PDT  More than 50,000 workers have taken time off for virus-related reasons, slowing mail delivery
|
| It’s Time to Rein in the Fed Posted: 19 Sep 2020 03:30 AM PDT  At the Kansas City Federal Reserve's virtual Jackson Hole economic-policy symposium, Fed chairman Jerome Powell drove a final stake into the legendary inflation fighter Paul Volcker's Fed. The new orthodoxy promises easy money as far as the eye can see and holds that inflation is good -- not Venezuelan and Zimbabwean hyperinflation of course, just a moderate dose -- thus ensuring that a dollar every year is worth less. Americans should be afraid.Powell announced the Fed's new inflation-averaging strategy. The central bank is changing how it defines and attempts to achieve the 2 percent inflation target, which it adopted on its own authority in 2012. Henceforth, the Fed will attempt to catch up for past inflation shortfalls. Powell warned that inflation below "its desired level," which our enlightened central bankers have decreed is 2 percent, can lead to an "unwelcome reduction" in inflation expectations, causing lower inflation. Joe and Sally Sixpack, however, would view gas, steak, and dental check-up prices not rising as welcome.Additionally, the Fed chairman declared the central bank would not, as it has in the past, preemptively raise interest rates to stave off higher inflation when unemployment falls below its natural rate.The new policy has an asymmetric pro-inflation bias. America's central bankers are not contemplating deflationary policies to offset excessive past inflation. If inflation were 5 percent in period one, the Fed would try to bring it down to 2 percent in period two, not to negative 1 percent.The Fed is a masterful political actor. Powell touted "The Fed Listens" events as "connecting with the American people." All well and good, but it is Congress, which represents the American people, that the Fed is supposed to heed.The Fed isn't independent or the policymaker. It is an instrument of Congress, which by statute directs it to conduct monetary policy to achieve "stable prices," maximum employment, and moderate low-term interest rates. Stable prices mean inflation hovering around zero, not prices doubling every 35 years. If a 200-pound MMA fighter's weight increased 2 percent every year to 244 pounds after a decade, nobody would suggest his weight was stable.Shame on the Fed for "redefining" its role under the law. But shame on Congress for not insisting the central bank hew to statute.If Congress wants inflation, it should pass legislation changing the Fed's mandate to that effect, which President Trump or Biden would likely sign. But while many congressional cravens may want inflation, few want to go on record voting for it.Powell allowed, "Many find it counterintuitive that the Fed would want to push up inflation." No kidding. Money is a unit of account, a means of exchange, and a store of value. Stable money is a sine qua non of stable, prosperous, free societies. There's enormous value in the dollar remaining constant for consumers and firms planning, transacting, and saving. Imagine a world where a yard continually changed.The received wisdom is that deflation is bad. Precipitous deflation is harmful. However, gentle deflation benefits many firms and individuals. During much of the 19th century the U.S. enjoyed mild deflation.To bolster inflation the Fed is keeping real wholesale interest rates negative.Interest rates are the price of present versus future investment and consumption. They are the economy's most important price, dynamically signaling where and when capital should be allocated to maximize value.Keeping interest rates artificially low, as the Fed has done for nearly two decades, causes systemic malinvestment, incentivizes excessive risk-taking, and sustains zombie firms, making society poorer, and is sowing the seeds for the next crisis. It punishes savers and creditors.There are, however, powerful constituencies for easy money. America's biggest borrower, the federal government, loves it. Real-estate developers and brokers and much of Wall Street also vigorously support cheap debt.With everyone focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, inflation is low on people's list of concerns, but it's brewing. From December 2019 to August 24, 2020, the monetary base (M1) increased 35 percent. The Fed's real benchmark interest rate is negative. The pandemic has crimped production. As America limps out of the crisis and the velocity of money -- the rate at which money turns over -- recovers, it's a recipe for inflation.Since the Fed's creation in 1913, its policies have massively debased the dollar and caused or contributed to multiple economic crises, including the Great Depression and the Great Recession, devastating job and wealth creation. While the central bank can affect price levels, easy money can't increase sustainable long-term employment and wealth. Congress should, therefore, eliminate any doubt about what the Fed can and should do by doing away with its "dual" mandate, narrowly focusing it on maintaining stable prices, something that it is equipped to deliver.
|
| Tropical Storms Wilfred, Alpha and Beta formed Friday. That’s a record Posted: 18 Sep 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The breakneck pace of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season claimed another record on Friday after three tropical storms formed within a 24-hour period, hitting fast-forward on the National Hurricane Center's adoption of the Greek alphabet for storm names.
|
| American Airlines CEO says hundreds of thousands will lose their jobs without additional emergency aid Posted: 18 Sep 2020 06:22 AM PDT  "It's not fair to them, it's not fair to our country," Doug Parker said about the upcoming mass layoffs in the airline sector.
|
| 'They should have let us die in the water': desperate Lebanese migrants sent back by Cyprus Posted: 18 Sep 2020 04:09 AM PDT  Mohammad Ghandour never thought he'd be one of them. "In Lebanon, we are being killed by poverty," Ghandour told Reuters this week, from his mother's cramped three-room apartment where he was staying with 12 other family members. Ghandour, 37, is one of dozens of Lebanese who've attempted the journey since late August, when rights groups say a rise in the number of boats leaving Lebanon began.
|
| Mexico's populist president left embarrassed by failed stunt to sell private jet Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:57 AM PDT  Mexico's populist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was voted in on a pledge to stamp out corruption and largess that went all the way to the country's highest office. So when he pledged to sell the presidential plane, with its marble bathrooms and king sized bed, it seemed like an easy win. But the $218 million, purchased under a predecessor in 2012, jet lies on the tarmac after the latest failed bid to find a buyer in a saga that has exposed the socialist leader to ridicule and embarassment. This week's attempt to raffle the plane during the country's Independence holiday ended in predictable disaster. For López Obrador, also known by his initials as Amlo, the plane is a symbol of the opulence and waste of the country's political elite, and he vowed to sell it and return the money to Mexicans during his 2018 campaign. After his landslide victory, the President put it up for sale and has been flying on low-cost commercial flights. But it wasn't that easy. The jet is a used and expensive luxury item with few potential buyers. After spending nearly two years parked for sale in California and spending almost the same amount of money for having it parked than he would have spent using it (about $1.5 million), Amlo decided in February he would just raffle it off during the September 15 Independence holiday. He even had to change the law in order to raffle an item instead of money through Mexico's National Lottery. Only the plane wasn't his to raffle. It turned out the Mexican government hasn't finished paying for it. Amlo moved forward with the raffle but decided to give out the cash equivalent of the jet's market value of about $95 million instead of the actual plane, split it into 100 winning tickets.
|
| Trump says Kamala Harris can't be the first woman to be president because she 'comes in through the back door' Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:16 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's vice-presidential pick, had acted in "no way for a woman" to become president.
|
| Suspects open fire on home of New Jersey police officers and newborn baby; reward offered Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:29 AM PDT  Assailants opened fire on the home of two New Jersey police officers Tuesday night, with two bullets piercing the front door.
|
| Navalny shows early stages of recovery from poisoning Posted: 19 Sep 2020 07:21 AM PDT  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Saturday posted a photo to his Instagram account in which he is walking down a flight of stairs as part of his recovery after he was poisoned last month.In the photo's caption, Navalny, one of Russia's most prominent Kremlin critics, wrote that he has a "clear path" to recovery, but suggested it will be a long one. He was removed from a ventilator five days ago and said he is still having trouble climbing stairs, pouring water, and using his phone. Still, he has apparently made significant progress since, he said, he was previously considered only "technically alive."Navalny fell ill in August while in Siberia and was airlifted to a hospital in Berlin while in a coma. Multiple labs in Europe have confirmed he was poisoned by a Soviet-era nerve agent called Novichok. His supporters suspect Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the assassination attempt, but Moscow has denied any involvement and has accused Navalny's aides of removing evidence, jeopardizing the official inquiry into the poisoning. Read more at Deutsche Welle and The Guardian.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
|
| Georgia Senate Candidate Jon Ossoff Quietly Discloses Financial Ties to Pro-CCP Hong Kong Media Company Posted: 18 Sep 2020 11:52 AM PDT  Georgia Democrat and Senate candidate Jon Ossoff has been compensated by a Hong Kong media conglomerate whose owner has spoken out against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, according to his most recent financial disclosure.Ossoff, whose role as CEO of a London-based producer of investigative documentaries has drawn scrutiny over the years, reported in an amended financial statement that he has received at least $5,000 from PCCW Media Limited over the last two years — a detail that has previously gone unreported. Ossoff did not disclose his ties to PCCW in his initial financial report, which he filed in May.PCCW, the largest telecom agency in Hong Kong, is run by Chairman Richard Li, son of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing. Li also serves as a councilor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank. But for years, Li has spoken out against Hong Kong independence and the pro-democracy protests that have rocked the island as the Chinese Communist Party has consolidated control.An Ossoff campaign spokesperson told National Review that the payments stemmed from the airing of "two investigations produced by Jon's company of ISIS war crimes against women and girls," representing "one of dozens of TV stations and distributors in more than 30 countries that have aired Jon's work.""Jon strongly supports Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and condemns the brutality and authoritarianism of the Chinese Communist Party," the spokesperson added, after a National Review analysis of Ossoff's public comments showed that the candidate has been silent on the situation in Hong Kong. Ossoff's campaign declined to comment on whether he condemns Li's opposition to the island's pro-democracy movement.In 2016, Li released a public statement asserting that he was "staunchly opposed to the independence of Hong Kong," after a mainland Chinese media outlet reported that his company was backing pro-democracy singer Denise Ho Wan-see, prompting calls to boycott his companies from Chinese nationalists."Mr. Richard Li and MOOV would like to clearly state that the company and Mr. Li respect freedom of expression," the statement read. "However, both Mr. Li and the Company are staunchly opposed to the independence of Hong Kong and it is their view that the independence of Hong Kong would not be feasible, and discussing Hong Kong's independence is a waste of society's resources."As protests reached a fever pitch in 2019, Li moved to take out full-page advertisements in seven newspapers to call for the restoration of "the social order with the rule of law," backing the recommendations of Beijing's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council.While Li reaffirmed the "One Country, Two Systems" principle that has governed Hong Kong since 1997, he has been silent since the Chinese Communist Party acted unilaterally to pass a sweeping new national security law in June, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said makes Hong Kong no longer an "autonomous" entity.Li's father Li Ka-shing has publicly backed the law, saying the Hong Kong people "need not over-hypothesise it," even as Beijing has cracked down on its critics and dissenters. And when asked by Vulture what the law would mean for potential media censorship, a PCCW spokesperson said that "PCCW Media will operate its businesses in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations."PCCW's payments to Ossoff are not the only source of controversy in the amended report. In July, the Washington Free Beacon revealed that, based on the same disclosure, Ossoff has been compensated financially by the Qatari-backed news agency Al Jazeera over the past two years. Ossoff was heavily criticized for similar ties to Al Jazeera during his failed run for Georgia's Sixth Congressional District in 2017.Editor's Note: This piece has been updated with a comment from the Ossoff campaign.
|
| Family continues to speak out after viral encounter with Elk Grove officer Posted: 17 Sep 2020 08:35 PM PDT  Video of a traffic stop in Elk Grove involving a Black driver and a white police officer is raising questions in the community. The incident took place last Sunday, when the driver of a car rolled through a stop sign in front of an Elk Grove police officer. The Elk Grove Police Department said they are launching an investigation into the incident. The encounter went viral after the 19-year-old rolled through a stop sign. Family members said the officer refused to hand over the citation and his driver's license, keeping her hand on her gun during the exchange. Get the full story in the video above.
|
| After U.S. claims, France says no evidence of Hezbollah explosives stores Posted: 18 Sep 2020 04:00 PM PDT |
| Michelle Obama: We would never have 'gotten away with' running the country like Trump Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:11 AM PDT  Former first lady discussed race, families and parenting in latest podcast episode
|
| Mexico sees fentanyl seizures up 465%, denies making drug Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:24 AM PDT  Mexican authorities say seizures of the synthetic opioid fentanyl so far this year are 465% higher than in 2019, rising to almost 2,300 pounds (1,040 kilograms) from around 405 pounds ( 184 kilograms) last year, but progress against another big Mexican export to the U.S. market — methamphetamines — is slower. The Defense Department said seizures of meth in Mexico rose by only 32.8% between Jan. 1 and Sept. 16, but busts of meth labs dropped 51% compared to the same period of last year.
|
0 条评论:
发表评论
订阅 博文评论 [Atom]
<< 主页