| Iran passes uranium enrichment cap set by endangered deal Posted: 08 Jul 2019 12:51 PM PDT  Iran on Monday breached a uranium enrichment cap set by a troubled 2015 nuclear deal and warned Europe against taking retaliatory measures, as France decided to send an envoy to Tehran to try to calm tensions. The move came more than a year after Washington pulled out of the landmark accord between world powers and Tehran, which says it has lost patience with perceived inaction by the remaining European partners. After Tehran's latest step, US President Donald Trump held talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on "ongoing efforts to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and to end Iran's destabilising behaviour in the Middle East", the White House said in a statement.
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| California earthquake: more major quakes and months of aftershocks likely, seismologists say Posted: 07 Jul 2019 01:39 AM PDT  Up to 30,000 aftershocks could hit California in the next six months after the US state was hit by two major earthquakes in 48 hours last week, seismologists have warned. They were part of a continuing sequence of tremors that would affect the area for months, said Lucy Jones, of the California Institute of Technology and said the earthquakes. The region could see more than 30,000 minor earthquakes over six months, with one or two magnitude 6 quakes expected, her colleague and fellow seismologist Egill Hauksson, added. Up to 190 magnitude 3 earthquakes could take place over the next week alone, with a 12 per cent probability of a magnitude 6 earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).Magnitude 3 earthquakes are big enough to be felt and any earthquake over magnitude 4 is big enough to cause damage to buildings."It is a wake-up call for the rest of the state and other parts of the nation, frankly," California Governor Gavin Newsom said, voicing concerns about the possibility of major aftershocks in the months to come. He said that residents should make sure they know how to respond if more natural disasters strike.Friday's evening's earthquake was the largest one Southern California in nearly 20 years. Centred 11 miles from Ridgecrest, a small town with around 28,000 residents it struck the same area of the desert where a 6.4-magnitude temblor hit on ThursdayThe earthquake was felt by millions across an area ranging from Sacramento, the state capital in the north, to Mexico and including the Las Vegas and Los Angeles counties.It came off the back of hundreds of "foreshocks" that rattled the region late last month. Those left behind cracked and burning buildings, broken roads, obstructed railroad tracks and leaking water and gas lines and prompted the evacuation of the US Navy's largest single landholding, the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the Mohave Desert.Only a few injuries were reported, but two houses were reported to have caught fire from broken gas pipes; water gushed from zigzagged cracks in the busted pavement; and deep fissures were seen snaking across the Mojave Desert.In Ridgecrest, local fire and police officials said they were initially swamped by calls for medical and ambulance service.But police Chief Jed McLaughlin said there was "nothing but minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, by the grace of God."In Trona, a town of about 2,000 people considered the gateway to Death Valley, fire officials said up to 50 structures were damaged. San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Lovingood said the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delivered a tractor-trailer full of bottled water because of damage to water lines. Newsom declared a state of emergency for the county. The USGS has issued a red alert for economic losses, meaning that extensive damage is probable and that the disaster is likely widespread. Estimated economic losses are at least $1 billion dollars."Past events with this alert level have required a national or international level response," the USGS said in its assessment.Mr Newsom estimated more than $100m (£79m) in economic damages and said President Donald Trump called him to offer federal support in the rebuilding effort."He's committed in the long haul, the long run, to help support the rebuilding efforts," Mr Newsom, a Democrat, said of his leader. "There's no question we don't agree on everything, but one area where there's no politics, where we work extremely well together, is our response to emergencies," he added. The USGS said the aftershock activity is decreasing faster than average. Aftershocks are minor earthquakes that take place as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main earthquake. It is normal for aftershocks to take place for weeks after a major shock, although their number decreases over time. A large aftershock can temporarily increase the numbers again.With aftershocks expected and temperatures forecast to reach 38 Celsius over the next several days, officials were taking precautions.The California National Guard sent 200 troops, logistical support and aircraft. Major General David Baldwin said the Pentagon had been notified and the entire California Military Department was put on alert. The California Office of Emergency Services also brought in cots, water and meals and set up cooling centres in the region. Additional reporting by Associated Press
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| Iranian tanker wasn't headed to Syria: Iran deputy foreign minister Posted: 07 Jul 2019 03:07 AM PDT ![Iranian tanker wasn't headed to Syria: Iran deputy foreign minister]( "Iranian tanker wasn't headed to Syria: Iran deputy foreign minister") An Iranian tanker captured by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar was not headed to Syria, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday in a press conference broadcast live on state TV. Royal Marines seized the tanker on Thursday for trying to take oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions, a dramatic intervention described as "maritime robbery" by Araqchi. The minister said the giant tanker has a capacity of up to two million barrels of oil and that is why it was travelling through the Strait of Gibraltar rather than the Suez Canal.
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| Starbucks apologizes to police for incident in Arizona shop Posted: 06 Jul 2019 08:14 PM PDT ![Starbucks apologizes to police for incident in Arizona shop]( "Starbucks apologizes to police for incident in Arizona shop") Starbucks apologized after an employee reportedly asked six police officers to leave or change their location in one of the company's shops in a Phoenix suburb because another customer reported feeling unsafe. Starbucks said it has "deep respect for the Tempe Police Department" and was apologizing "for any misunderstanding or inappropriate behavior that may have taken place" during the July 4 encounter. The Tempe Officers Association said the officers had just bought their drinks and were standing together before their shift started when a barista made the request for a customer.
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| Duterte Won’t Let Up on Deadly Drug War Amid Calls for UN Probe Posted: 06 Jul 2019 07:44 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to continue his war against drugs in his final three years in office despite international calls for a probe into the rising death toll."Do not destroy my country for the three years that I am still here," Duterte said in a speech in Leyte, central Philippines, on Friday. "Do not produce drugs for our children to eat and go crazy. I will really kill you."Since taking office in 2016, Duterte has waged a campaign against drugs that has killed thousands and been condemned by human rights advocates. Philippine police place drug-related killings at 6,600 during his presidency, a quarter of the 27,000 estimated by rights groups. Iceland has initiated a resolution supported by 28 nations calling on the United Nations to investigate.Duterte's spokesman Salvador Panelo called the UN resolution an interference, saying that other nations may have been misled by "false news" on the drug war because the deaths were mainly caused by suspects resisting arrest.In his speech, Duterte reiterated that the Philippines cannot fight China over the territorial dispute in the South China Sea because of China's military might. He instead urged the U.S. to intervene."Let them assemble all their armaments there in South China Sea," he said. "Fire the first shot and I'll be glad to do the next."To contact the reporters on this story: Clarissa Batino in Manila at cbatino@bloomberg.net;Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Matthew BrockettFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Ex-GOPer Amash doubles down on call for Trump impeachment Posted: 07 Jul 2019 01:48 PM PDT  Days after declaring his independence from his Republican Party, Rep. Justin Amash reaffirmed his belief that "there's a strong case" to bring up articles of impeachment against President Trump. The newly independent Michigan lawmaker, who was the only GOP member to call for impeachment proceedings after Robert Mueller's report was released, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was making a mistake in not moving forward. From a strategic position, she's making a mistake," Amash said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" Sunday.
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| Migrant rescue sailboat defies Salvini, docks in Italy Posted: 06 Jul 2019 07:28 PM PDT  A charity rescue vessel on Saturday brought 41 shipwrecked migrants into port in Lampedusa, the second boat to defy far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's bid to close Italian ports to them. Mediterranea's Italian-flagged Alex was met by a strong police presence on the quayside but people were not allowed to disembark after spending two days with the rescued migrants and asylum seekers on the sailboat. "I do not authorise any landing for those who couldn't care less about Italian laws and help the people smugglers," populist deputy prime minister Salvini tweeted as night fell.
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| Shutdown Showdown: How the Strait of Hormuz Factors into the U.S.-Iran Crisis Posted: 07 Jul 2019 01:02 AM PDT  The recent mining of two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, attributed to Iran by the United States, offers an important window into the strategic thinking of Iran and similarly situated regional powers. The incident is notable because the act of mining a limited number of vessels makes relatively little sense when viewed through the lens of traditional patterns of coercive behavior. Limited coercive acts typically have little value with regards to gaining concessions from a determined opponent. Generally, these acts may serve as a visible demonstration of a state's willingness to enact some other, more substantial threat, such as shutting down the Strait of Hormuz outright. However, this requires the state making the threat to have the capacity to make good on its more substantial threats and for its opponents to believe that it is willing to incur the risks entailed. Iran, however, could not shut down the Strait of Hormuz for very long even if it wished to—something noted by President Donald Trump—and is unlikely to incur the substantial risks that an attempt would entail. Iran's opponents, then, clearly don't see its limited provocations as harbingers of something worse.
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| Bodies of woman, 3 children found in rental car in apparent murder-suicide in New York Posted: 08 Jul 2019 09:35 AM PDT ![Bodies of woman, 3 children found in rental car in apparent murder-suicide in New York]( "Bodies of woman, 3 children found in rental car in apparent murder-suicide in New York") A tow truck driver discovered the bodies of a woman and three children in New York on Sunday.
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| The Incredible Guts of Thae Yong-ho Posted: 08 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Editor's Note: In the current issue of National Review, Mr. Nordlinger has a piece about Thae Yong-ho. The below is a larger treatment.People who manage to leave North Korea are often known as "defectors" -- even when they are ordinary citizens, rather than government officials or military personnel. That's because, when you are born in North Korea, you are deemed to belong to the state. If you leave, you have defected, and you are a traitor.Thae Yong-ho is a defector in a more widely understood sense. He was North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom when he went over to the South Koreans in 2016. He is one of the highest-ranking North Korean officials ever to defect. He is something rare in the world: a messenger from a closed and isolated society, a "hermit kingdom," as North Korea is called.• I have met him at the Oslo Freedom Forum, the annual human-rights gathering here in Norway's capital. Thae speaks good English with a slight British accent. He is elegant, knowledgeable, and self-assured -- a man you can imagine in diplomatic work.• He was born in 1962, and he grew up a true believer. There is little choice in North Korea. You are commanded to worship the Kims as gods. You know hardly anything about the outside world (although this is less true now than it was when Thae was growing up). He read books about Communist liberators who sacrificed their lives for the equality of man. Thae wanted to dedicate his life to that end too.I learn something from him that I have never heard before: North Korea has a version of the Ten Commandments -- with the ruling Kim, whoever he is (there have been three since the founding of the state), in place of God.Thae attended the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies. He joined the WPK, the Workers' Party of Korea, i.e., the ruling party. He entered the foreign ministry in 1988. And, in 1996, he had his first foreign posting -- to Denmark.• That was a revelation. He expected beggars in the street and the ruthless exploitation of workers. Instead, he found a happy, peaceful, healthy society, with ample social welfare. This pricked at the young diplomat's brain.He also started to see North Korea, and its ruling Kims, as outsiders saw them. In the mid 1990s, there was a terrible famine in North Korea. Thae understood that this was the result of natural disasters, and that the leader, Kim Jong-il, was doing everything possible to relieve the problem.All North Korean diplomats, wherever they were posted, were instructed to get food aid from their host governments. Thae went to the Danish foreign ministry. They were happy to oblige. But they had questions: Why was Kim Jong-il investing millions in nuclear weapons when people were starving? Why was he spending millions on a mausoleum for Kim Il-sung (his father and predecessor) when people were starving? These were hard questions to answer.Thae came face to face with the hypocrisy of the regime he was serving, and had been taught to revere. North Korean delegates arrived in Denmark to buy cows, for the special use of the Kim family. This would keep the Kims in dairy products and beef. Other delegates arrived to buy beer for the North Korean elites. These things were a far cry from the equality of man.Thae began to experience "doublethink," in Orwell's immortal and useful coinage. Part of him held on to the true faith, the North Korean Communist faith; another part of him had plain doubts.• He was later posted to Britain. One of his duties was to speak to Communist and socialist groups -- people who loved North Korea. He duly sang the praises of his country to them. But he knew, already, that it was a false song. He felt sorry for these deluded Brits. He also felt sorry to deceive them, or to keep them in their delusions -- but he had no choice: It was his job.• Then there was the matter of his boys, his two sons. In an atmosphere of freedom -- namely, Britain's -- they, too, were experiencing doublethink. And they had some hard questions for their father at the dinner table."Why is there no Internet in North Korea? YouTube helps you with your homework. You can go there and learn how to figure out a math problem. Our government is supposed to be for education. They say that they are doing everything possible for education. So why don't they allow the Internet?"Thae Yong-ho found he had to tell them the truth: If North Koreans had the Internet, they would learn things about the Kims, which would lead them to challenge the Kims' rule. This, the Kims could not have.The two boys were teased at school, by their British classmates. You know how schoolkids are. "You're from North Korea? You ate your dogs, right?" "Hey, you have long hair! That's not allowed in your country. I'm going to call Chairman Kim, and he will send someone to bring you back!" Etc.• Periodically, the family would indeed go home to North Korea. And naturally, the boys' friends there were curious -- curious about life in Britain, curious about a world outside North Korea. The Thae boys could not tell them the truth. It would be dangerous to speak of the wonders of freedom -- the Internet, an abundance of food, and all that.They asked their father what they should do. He suggested that they re-read Oliver Twist -- and give their friends some stories out of that book. About the misery and exploitation of Britain.Yes, you can read Dickens in North Korea. A few months ago, I talked with Vladimir Bukovsky, the Russian dissident. He spent twelve years in the Soviet Gulag. He told me that, in prison libraries, you could read Dickens (and Dreiser).• Thae Yong-ho pondered his fate, and his family's, and North Korea's. Maybe he could wait the Kim regime out. Maybe it would collapse before too long -- certainly in his lifetime. Then, in 2009, Kim Jong-il announced that his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, would succeed him. This dispirited Thae. The end of the regime was not in sight.• A tidbit: Thae would have an encounter with Kim Jong-un's older brother, Kim Jong-chul, in London. Kim Jong-chul is a big fan of Eric Clapton, the British rocker. In 2015, Thae accompanied Kim Jong-chul to hear Clapton in the Royal Albert Hall. (I write about this family, among others, in my book Children of Monsters.)• Slowly, inevitably, defection crept into Thae's mind. He would not consider it while his family was separated. Diplomats could not have all of their children with them abroad -- someone had to be left hostage, back in North Korea. So, Thae and his wife would have one son or the other with them in Britain. But in 2014, Kim Jong-un changed the policy. Now they had both of their sons with them -- which changed the equation.But what about other relatives back home? The Kim regime is a firm believer in guilt by association. If one person steps out of line, his family and even his friends and colleagues pay for it. This keeps North Koreans in line.• There came a time when Thae Yong-ho was recalled from London to Pyongyang. Why was a mystery. Maybe they were going to punish him, for some infraction unknown to him. This happens to North Koreans routinely. They don't know they have done something wrong until they are being imprisoned, tortured, or killed.In 2013, many of Thae's diplomatic colleagues around the world were recalled and then -- who knows what happened to them? Apparently, they had some kind of association with Jang Song-thaek, the dictator's uncle, whom the dictator turned against (and, of course, killed).• Thae thought about his sons. What kind of future would they have in North Korea? Could he really consign them to that kind of life, when they had already enjoyed a free life? And what about their children, and their children? Thae decided he would "cut off slavery at my generation," as he puts it. This far and no farther. No matter what, his sons and grandchildren and so on would not be slaves. He made a break for it.The North Korean government called him "human scum" and, for good measure, accused him of child rape. (This accusation is a specialty of Communist governments, and of some post-Communist ones too, such as Putin's.)A delicate, awful question: What happened to Thae Yong-ho's brothers, sisters, and other relatives in North Korea? Sitting here in Oslo, I don't ask him. But previous interviewers have. He assumes his relatives are in camps. It weighs very, very heavily on him. Unspeakably so. Knowing this already, I don't need to ask.• I do ask him about his personal security. Does he have worries? "I have a lot of worries," he says, "but I am heavily protected when I am in South Korea. The South Korean government knows that I am No. 1 on the assassination list." And "I know this will go on till the last day of the Kim regime."• Let me pause, now, to relate something that happened in the days after Thae Yong-ho and I talked. Do you know about the recent fad of "milkshaking"? Protesters throw milkshakes on public figures they dislike. This happened to Thae as he was entering the Grand Hotel here in Oslo. The attacker, or "milkshaker," was a Norwegian leftist, apparently.In the Free World, hard as it may be to believe, some people despise North Korean defectors as traitors, liars, and defamers. They take essentially the same view as the Kim regime itself.When Thae was "milkshaked," his guards quickly subdued the attacker, and the man was soon arrested. Online, his comrades celebrated him. One of them said, "He got arrested for ruining a rich defector's coat and deserves a lot of support and love right now."It was just a milkshake, true -- nothing serious. But Thae didn't know that at first. He thought of Kim Jong-nam, the dictator's half-brother, who was killed when two women smeared him with a foreign substance in the Kuala Lumpur airport.• Back, now, to our conversation, and another question: How do South Koreans, his brother Koreans, treat Thae? It depends, he says. South Korea is polarized on the issue of North Korea. People on the left treat him with scorn. I remark that they might try living in North Korea, if they think it's so great -- which makes Thae smile.Around the world, people view the Korean War (1950–53) as a war between the North and the South. In South Korea, says Thae, many people view it, instead, as a war between Left and Right. And there is deep sympathy for the Left.Think of it: Left and Right did not fight merely theoretically. They did not fight merely with words. They fought with arms. East Germany and West Germany never fought a war against each other. The Koreas did. And this war reverberates, says Thae, even now.In South Korea, he meets people on the left who struggled for democracy and human rights in their country, when it was under dictatorship. Yet many of these same people are reluctant to talk about democracy and human rights for North Koreans. They want to change the subject.I remark to Thae that it must be bewildering to him to meet apologists for dictatorships -- especially North Korea's, the worst -- in free countries. Yes.• What does he think about the unusual relationship between the American president, Trump, and the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un? Thae says that he understands the need to discuss nuclear issues -- but does not understand why Trump depicts Kim as a "nice guy" or even a "normal person." "Kim Jong-un is a tyrant, a dictator, and a criminal."• Jeane Kirkpatrick used to describe North Korea as "a psychotic state," something of which the world had very little experience. Thae Yong-ho often describes life inside North Korea as "unimaginable." He is trying to get people to imagine it. He wrote a memoir, Cryptography from the Third-Floor Secretariat. He started a blog.• His goal, or dream, is nothing less than the end of the regime. He would like to see the Korean Peninsula reunited on democratic terms. Does he have a strategy? Yes. First and foremost, he wants to encourage North Korean elites to recognize what they surely know or suspect already, in their doublethinking: The Kim regime is corrupt, nasty, and lying.He knows what it's like to be a North Korean elite. He was one. Eventually, this doublethinking will tip over into a more resolute thinking: Yes, the North Korean regime is wrong. It smashes everything that a human being has a right to have.Thae does not think that this regime will fall tomorrow, oh no. But he thinks it will fall, as the people of North Korea learn more about themselves and others, and, in disgust at having been misled and oppressed, rise up.• Before he and I part, I ask Thae, "Do your former colleagues and other North Korean elites admire you, secretly?" "Yes," he says. "Do you know this for sure?" I ask. "Of course," he answers. They know, better than anyone else, the sheer guts of what Thae Yong-ho has done.
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| Border agency knew of troubling Facebook posts in 2016: acting secretary Posted: 07 Jul 2019 08:11 AM PDT  U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials knew in 2016 about a private Facebook group where border agents posted racist and misogynistic comments, acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan said on Sunday. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service came under fire over the issue last Monday, when the nonprofit news site ProPublica reported that offensive content had been posted on a private Facebook group for current and former CPB officers. McAleenan said the Facebook page was a private site run by a group of individuals in their off-duty hours and not under CBP control.
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| Biden Explains Delay in Apologizing for Segregationist Comments Posted: 07 Jul 2019 02:24 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden said he waited more than two weeks to apologize for comments about segregationist senators because he hadn't had a chance to do so, even though the delay kept the controversy alive and might have cost him in some polls.The former vice president addressed the issue directly on Saturday because it was "the first opportunity I had to do it in a fulsome way," he told reporters Sunday, explaining that he wanted to speak in South Carolina -- where blacks account for 60% of the Democratic primary electorate -- and in front of "an audience that in fact would be the most likely to have been offended by what was said.""If any comments I made were taken in a way that people took offense from them, then I am truly sorry for that. That was not my intention," Biden said Sunday, echoing his remarks to a predominantly African-American crowd in Sumter a day earlier when he said he was "sorry for the pain and misconception I may have caused."Black voters account for about a fifth of the Democratic vote, and the South Carolina primary in February is the first next year with a predominantly black electorate. A strong showing there often has foreshadowed enduring strength nationally with African Americans. The winner in South Carolina has gone on to win the Democratic nomination in four out of the past five contests.Rivals CriticizeThe controversy erupted in mid-June after Biden recalled his Senate interactions with two prominent advocates of segregation, triggering criticism from two black rivals for the presidency, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker."He says he's sorry, I'm going to take him at his word," Harris, a California Senator, told reporters Sunday in Hartsville, South Carolina. "But again, that doesn't address the issue of busing in America.""We cannot rewrite history about what segregationists were doing at that time on a number of issues," she added.Asked about Harris's comments, Biden instead pointed to differences he has with her on other issues, such as health care. "I don't want to do away with Obamacare and start all over and trash it," he said.Obama TiesHarris also offered implicit criticism of Biden's reliance on his ties to former President Barack Obama, which he cited Saturday as a reason his record on race shouldn't be questioned."When it comes time to pull the level and for people to actually vote in this presidential election, they're going to make their decisions based not just on who we're associated with, but they're going to make their decisions based on the work we've done and, most importantly, our plans for the future of America," she said.Biden laughed when asked if he was too reliant on Obama's reputation in selling himself to voters. "I say let's talk about the future instead of talking about the past. That's what I say," he said.On Sunday afternoon, Biden appeared at a town hall in Charleston hosted by State Senator Marlon Kimpson, who made the event's only reference to the Harris-Biden split as he and voters in the audience asked about education, gun control and care for veterans.Kimpson, who is holding town halls with many Democratic candidates, warned voters not to "fall prey to anyone's attempt to manufacture a fight to drive media attention or to save a failing campaign.""I do not find it useful to re-litigate issues from 1950 or 50 years ago or 25 years ago," Kimpson said. "We've spent far too much time talking about the past" and candidate should be talking about the future.Speaking a moment later, Biden said: "I find it really refreshing to talk about the future."To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, ;Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Wife of arrested Chinese ex-Interpol president sues agency Posted: 07 Jul 2019 01:44 AM PDT  The wife of former Interpol President Meng Hongwei is suing the international police agency, accusing Interpol of failing to protect him from arrest in China and failing to protect his family. Meng's wife Grace Meng said her lawyers filed a legal complaint in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. Interpol said Sunday it strongly disputes the allegations.
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| Spy Photos of the 2021 Volkswagen GTI Mark 8 Posted: 08 Jul 2019 07:31 AM PDT |
| Protests pile pressure on Hong Kong's already-stressed youth Posted: 07 Jul 2019 12:14 AM PDT  Hong Kong's protests have ratcheted up already high stress levels among young people as they despair for their future under Beijing's heel in a city where anger has long simmered over inequality and sky-high property prices, experts warn. The international financial hub has been rocked by a month of huge peaceful protests as well as a series of separate violent youth-led confrontations sparked by a proposed law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. An army of social workers, counsellors and other volunteers have mobilised across the city to address a spike in demand for mental health services.
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| Trona, California, was trying to bounce back. Then an earthquake hit. Then a bigger one. Posted: 07 Jul 2019 11:42 AM PDT  "If we have another quake, I am not going to have a house," said a resident coping with damage in the 1,500-person town of Trona, California.
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| Ocasio-Cortez responds after Pelosi dismisses young House progressives Posted: 07 Jul 2019 09:03 AM PDT  New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who dismissed her and other progressives who voted against their chamber's bill to send $4.6 billion in emergency aid to the U.S. southern border. "All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," Pelosi said, according to the New York Times. "That public 'whatever' is called public sentiment," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday.
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| Inside Ellen Van Dusen's Colorful Brooklyn Brownstone Posted: 08 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| US STOCKS-Wall St falls as Apple drags, sharp rate cut hopes fade Posted: 08 Jul 2019 07:20 AM PDT ![US STOCKS-Wall St falls as Apple drags, sharp rate cut hopes fade]( "US STOCKS-Wall St falls as Apple drags, sharp rate cut hopes fade") U.S. stocks fell on Monday, dragged down by losses in Apple and Boeing and as investors cut back bets of an aggressive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month. A surprisingly strong June jobs data on Friday has forced traders to reassess expectations of an aggressive rate cut, even as a reduction is still expected at the Fed's July 30-31 policy meeting.
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| Rainbow flag again set on fire at New York gay bar Posted: 08 Jul 2019 05:35 AM PDT  A rainbow flag was set on fire at the entrance to a New York City gay bar on Monday — the second such incident at the same club in just over a month. Alibi Lounge owner Alexi Minko said staff members, alerted by someone on the street, found the flag had been set aflame between 12:20 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. New York City police were already investigating a possible anti-gay bias crime after rainbow flags at the Harlem bar's entrance were torched just after midnight May 31, a day before the start of the city's Pride Month celebrations.
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| Top immigration official says ICE will begin deporting 1 million illegal immigrants with final removal orders Posted: 08 Jul 2019 06:28 AM PDT  Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli announces operations will begin to remove illegal immigrants who have been lawfully ordered to leave the country; Kevin Corke reports from the White House.
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| Governor estimates California quake toll at $100 million, says poor have been hit hardest Posted: 07 Jul 2019 01:04 PM PDT  Although Californians are on the path to recovery, deeper devastation - in economic recovery - has already taken root.
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| Turkey Will Soon Have Russia's S-400 (And Is Stockpiling F-16 Parts) Posted: 06 Jul 2019 06:00 PM PDT  A Bloomberg report says Turkey has been stockpiling parts for F-16s and other military equipment in anticipation of a U.S. sanction for acquiring the Russian S-400 air defense system.Two anonymous officials from Turkey who spoke to the news outlet refused to clarify on what types of spares were accumulated, how much was acquired and how long they can last.Relations between the two countries deteriorated over the course of the Syrian civil war, when the U.S. armed a Kurdish militia that Turkey views as a terrorist group, and in the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan that his government blames on a Turkish imam residing in the U.S.NATO member Turkey is determined to acquire ballistic missile technology, and aims to co-produce the next generation of the S-400, the officials added, citing discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Erdogan said his country will take delivery of the S-400 within days."The first batch of S-400s will be delivered in a week or 10 days," Haberturk newspaper cited him as saying in a report Monday. "I've clearly told this to Trump, Mr. Putin also said it."The U.S. argues that the pivot to Moscow could allow Russia to collect critical intelligence that would weaken NATO and compromise the American F-35 stealth fighter, which Turkish companies are helping to build. Yet while Congress is drawing up potential sanctions plans that at their harshest would cripple the Turkish economy, U.S. President Donald Trump has cast Turkey as a victim in the saga.
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| Kris Kobach Enters U.S. Senate Race, Misspells Own First Name Posted: 08 Jul 2019 07:46 AM PDT  REUTERSKris Kobach's U.S. Senate campaign is off to an inauspicious start. The former Kansas secretary of state, a Republican, officially declared his candidacy in a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. But the filing misspelled his first name. The campaign amended the error an hour later. Kobach is running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.The former secretary of state is a strident Trump supporter who previously chaired a presidential commission on voter fraud, which fizzled out after the panel failed to marshal much evidence that the practice was widespread. After White House advisor Stephen Miller boasted of Kobach having evidence of such alleged fraud, the Kansas Republican appeared on CNN and famously came up empty with any proof.Kobach also ran for governor of Kansas in 2018 and received Trump's outspoken support for his candidacy despite the president's initially neutral stance in the state's Republican primary. One day before primary ballots were cast, Trump tweeted his endorsement of Kobach, taking sides against incumbent Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer.Despite the president's "full & total" endorsement in the general election, Kobach lost to Democrat Laura Kelly by about five points.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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| Democrat Buttigieg announces minority-focused small business investment plan Posted: 07 Jul 2019 10:08 AM PDT  Joining several other Democrats targeting black voters this weekend with economic proposals, presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg released a policy on Sunday aimed at helping minorities start businesses. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, announced the proposal at Essence Festival, a gathering of thousands of black women organized by Essence magazine. Black voters have played a critical role in the Democratic primary process, and winning the party's nomination would be unlikely without their support.
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| Trump's White House has leaks — literally Posted: 08 Jul 2019 03:11 PM PDT  White House flooding, Jeffrey Epstein, Kevin Spacey and more of Monday news.
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| No Matter 18,000 Lost Jobs, Germany OK With Deutsche Bank Cull Posted: 08 Jul 2019 04:49 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel's government will look past Deutsche Bank AG's cutting a fifth of its workforce as the German lender commits to an overhaul.Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing's bid to reboot the bank is viewed in Berlin as a necessary change, according to an official with direct knowledge of the issue who asked not to be named. Despite the headline 18,000 job cuts, normally a red flag for politicians, the Frankfurt-based lender's makeover is seen as necessary to cut fat and boost the bank's profitability. In addition, the government welcomes a step back from investment banking and a renewed focus on German businesses.Deutsche Bank's failure in April to combine with Commerzbank AG, in which the government has a stake of about 15.5%, was a stinging defeat for Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, whose bid to rescue a potential national champion got little public support from across the political spectrum.That left Deutsche Bank to its own devices and Sewing on Sunday pledged to do what many in Germany's political ranks have always called on it to do: drop its ambitions as a global investment bank and return to its German-lending roots.Olav Gutting, a lawmaker for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union who sits on the finance committee of the lower house of parliament, called the overhaul "bold" given a challenging business environment in which lending money is hardly profitable any more. "This is very ambitious," Gutting, who in the past has ruled out any form of state involvement in helping Deutsche Bank, said in a message, adding that job cuts naturally concerned politicians. "But I'm crossing my fingers, because we need a Deutsche Bank present globally."A spokesman at Germany's Finance Ministry declined to comment on the overhaul plans.Markets have had a mixed view on the overhaul for a bank viewed by German regulators as systemically relevant, with risk gauges falling and its euro convertible bonds climbing. Deutsche Bank shares fell 1.7% in afternoon trading after seesawing in the morning. (Updates with CDU lawmaker comments in fifth, sixth paragraphs.)To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net;Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond ColittFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Boston suburb reflects broad changes in US immigration Posted: 07 Jul 2019 11:03 AM PDT  Guatemalan bakeries, Honduran restaurants and Salvadoran markets are joining an already ethnically diverse mix of businesses in downtown Chelsea, a tiny industrial city across the Mystic River from Boston. Among them is Catracho's, a modest Honduran eatery recently purchased by Johanna Mateo, who was born in New York and raised in Honduras until she was 12, when she joined her older sister in Chelsea. "I always wanted to reinvest in Chelsea," said Mateo, 27, who plans to expand to a vacant storefront next door.
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| India 'dosa king' seeks delay to life sentence for love-saga murder Posted: 08 Jul 2019 04:06 AM PDT  The founder of a trailblazing Indian restaurant chain sentenced to life for murder launched a Supreme Court appeal to delay the beginning of his term Monday, citing ill-health. P. Rajagopal, the wealthy founder of the Saravana Bhavan chain of eateries popular across India and beyond was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in 2004 over the killing of a love rival. Reports say Rajagopal, 71 and known as the "Dosa King" was obsessed with the daughter of an employee and wanted to marry her.
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| Boy stabs brother because he 'would rather be in jail than spend eight hours in a car with him' Posted: 08 Jul 2019 07:14 AM PDT  A 13-year-old boy who stabbed his older brother told police he would "rather be in jail" than spend eight hours in a car with his sibling.The teenager complained his 15-year-old brother had been teasing him before he slashed him three times with a pocket knife.The victim was found bleeding heavily in the drive of a house in Florida while his sibling sat in the front seat of their car.The younger boy was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said.The teenager said he had "had enough" of his brother and did not regret attacking him on Saturday. According to an arrest report, he told officers: "I'd rather be in jail than eight hours in the car with him."His sibling was taken to hospital for treatment but has since been discharged.The boys live in Clarksville, Tennessee, northwest of Nashville.
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| Months of aftershocks could follow big California earthquake Posted: 06 Jul 2019 08:00 PM PDT  Officials in Southern California expressed relief Saturday that damage and injuries weren't worse after the largest earthquake the region has seen in nearly 20 years, while voicing concerns about the possibility of major aftershocks in the days and even months to come. No fatalities or major injuries were reported after Friday night's 7.1-magnitude earthquake, which jolted an area from Sacramento to Mexico and prompted the evacuation of the Navy's largest single landholding, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the Mojave Desert. The quake struck at 8:19 p.m. Friday and was centered 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Ridgecrest, the same area of the desert where a 6.4-magnitude temblor hit just a day earlier.
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| What Has Become of Abdul-Salaam Ojeili's Syria Posted: 07 Jul 2019 12:59 PM PDT  Following a stalemate that had lasted, imperfectly, from September 2018, the Syrian government and their Russian allies launched a campaign in early May against opposition-held territory in Syria's northwest. If a larger campaign against Idlib province is coming, then it could be the death knell for the Syrian opposition as a force within the country's borders. Aside from the significant territory east of the Euphrates controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and pockets of Turkish-occupied territory in the north, the Syrian government will have reclaimed the country following eight years of war. While this may still be some time away from becoming a reality, it is a fitting time to assess how the Syrian opposition failed in its objective to overthrow Bashar al-Assad and end the regime his father began in 1970.Over the course of eight years, the Syrian conflict went from complex to more complex, but its origins, of course, were in the idea that the Syrian government, and its president Bashar al-Assad, had lost the legitimacy to govern the country. The conflict evolved from peaceful protesters standing off against a dictatorial government, to a roughly two-sided war of rebels versus government, then to a total breakdown of the state into at least four distinct areas of control: the Syrian government, ISIS, the SDF and the opposition.So what went wrong? We all remember the hope that permeated the news media and social media in 2011, when everyone was convinced that the Arab world's "spring" had finally come. Eight years later, however, the Syria that remains is not what anyone envisioned when they took to the streets to protest against the government. Given the Arab Spring's track record around the region, it would be naïve to dismiss an argument that pinpoints an Arab-worldwide phenomenon that explains the failure to democratize in the region.
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| Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Speaker Nancy Pelosi attack each other over border funding vote Posted: 08 Jul 2019 02:10 AM PDT  Republican strategist Kimberly Klacik and Democratic strategist Kevin Walling weigh in on the divide in the Democratic Party as we head into the 2020 election cycle.
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| View Photos of the BMW X7 Pickup Concept Posted: 08 Jul 2019 11:19 AM PDT |
| Life-threatening rains pound U.S. capital; White House basement offices leak Posted: 08 Jul 2019 10:19 AM PDT  Driving rains flooded parts of Washington, D.C., on Monday, shattering a daily record in just an hour, forcing 15 swift-water rescues from stranded cars and causing an undeniable leak in the White House. Seek higher ground now!" the National Weather Service warned amid torrential rains that dropped 3.3 inches (8.4 cm) at Reagan National Airport from 9 a.m. through 10 a.m. ET (1200-1300 GMT), shattering in one hour the previous record of 2.2 inches (5.6 cm) set in 1958. It was the seventh-wettest July day since record-keeping began in 1871, said NWS meteorologist Marc Chenard.
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| Jim Beam bourbon warehouse fire still burning Thursday more than 42 hours after it started Posted: 07 Jul 2019 08:45 AM PDT ![Jim Beam bourbon warehouse fire still burning Thursday more than 42 hours after it started]( "Jim Beam bourbon warehouse fire still burning Thursday more than 42 hours after it started") The Woodford County Fire Department is waiting to extinguish the Jim Beam warehouse fire "because of the environmental consideration."
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| SunTrust Is Latest Bank to Halt Financing of Private Prisons Posted: 08 Jul 2019 11:07 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- SunTrust Banks Inc., the lender merging with BB&T Corp., said it won't provide future financing to companies that manage private prisons and immigration holding facilities."This decision was made after extensive consideration of the views of our stakeholders on this deeply complex issue," the Atlanta-based bank said in an emailed statement Monday.SunTrust's decision follows similar moves by Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. Politicians including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for president, have urged bank executives and investors to back away from the business as immigration detentions have soared.Shares of the two biggest for-profit prison companies, Geo Group Inc. and CoreCivic Inc., have fallen more than 13% since mid-June. Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden introduced legislation that would deny the companies tax benefits from their status as real estate investment trusts, and Warren said she would end federal contracts with the prison operators."This decision is about caving to political pressure," Amanda Gilchrist, a spokeswoman for CoreCivic, said in an emailed statement. "These banks have kowtowed to a small group of activists rather than engaging in a constructive dialogue."Flash PointsWhile detention centers have become flash points amid reports of substandard conditions for migrant children, neither CoreCivic nor Geo Group run facilities for unaccompanied minors. They each operate a family detention center for migrant children with a parent. They also build and operate adult prisons under contracts with states and the federal government."It's unfortunate that misleading political activism has been allowed to impact a decade-long banking relationship," Geo Group said in a statement. The company "has never managed any facilities that house unaccompanied minors, nor have we ever managed border patrol holding facilities."Both companies' shares took a hit in the last months of the Obama administration, when the Justice Department said it would phase out their use, then climbed in the months after President Donald Trump's November 2016 election.SunTrust shares fell as much as 1.3% in intraday trading. The bank has helped arrange bonds for Geo Group and CoreCivic. Geo Group dropped as much as 1.2% while CoreCivic was down 0.7% before paring losses.Private-Prison REITs Expand Empires Thanks to Tax AdvantagesThe prison operators are increasing their business with states, including construction of a new prison in Kansas. CoreCivic borrowed $159.5 million to pay for construction, at 4.43% to build the center, which it will lease to the state for 20 years. When the lease is up, the prison will belong to the state.(Updates with CoreCivic comment in fifth paragraph, Geo Group in seventh.)\--With assistance from Sridhar Natarajan.To contact the reporter on this story: Lananh Nguyen in New York at lnguyen35@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Rob Urban, Daniel TaubFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Hundreds of thousands march across Europe for Gay Pride Posted: 06 Jul 2019 08:27 PM PDT  Four hundred thousand people turned out on the streets of Madrid Saturday for a Gay Pride parade dedicated this year to pioneers of the LGBT+ cause, amid growing fears of fresh repression with the rise of the far-right in Europe. The slogan for this year's march was "History, struggle and memory" and participants marked 50 years since the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969 which were the foundation of the gay rights movement worldwide. Catholic Spain at the time was controlled by dictator General Francisco Franco and homosexual acts were illegal.
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| First lady Melania Trump in West Virginia for opioid talk Posted: 08 Jul 2019 12:24 PM PDT  First lady Melania Trump visited West Virginia on Monday to learn how a city at the center of the nation's opioid epidemic is grappling with the crisis. "I am here to give you my support," Trump told participants in the roundtable discussion. West Virginia has the country's highest fatal opioid overdose rate and has struggled, like many other states, to confront the many aspects of the problem.
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| Trump approval rating jumps to highest level of his presidency in Washington Post/ABC News poll Posted: 07 Jul 2019 06:04 PM PDT  His high of 44% is lower than the average approval rating for every other president going back to Harry Truman.
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| F-35 Is Old: Russia Could Turn Its Su-57 Into a 6th Generation Stealth Monster Posted: 07 Jul 2019 03:18 AM PDT  Russia could turn its first fifth-generation fighter, the Sukhoi Su-57, into a sixth-generation fighter the former head of the Russian Aerospace Force, chief Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev recently told TASS."This is actually a splendid plane and it can embrace both fifth-and sixth-generation features. It has huge modernization potential," Bondarev, now chairman of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, said. "Importantly, it is the best among the existing versions by its stealth characteristics. It incorporates all the best that is available in modern aviation science both in Russia and in the world," he added.(This first appeared in late 2017.)As reported by Franz-Stefan Gady in an extensive piece for The Diplomat, Russian defense officials have repeatedly claimed that hardware elements designed for a future sixth generation fighter have been tested on the Su-57 prototype, including flight and navigation systems as well as advanced electronic warfare and radar systems.Noteworthy Russia revealed the design of a new sixth-generation fighter aircraft for the first time in March 2016. According to Russian defense officials, the new aircraft is slated to be available in manned and unmanned configuration and could take to the air for the first time in the late 2020s.
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| Dog owners told to feed pet before post arrives and lock them in room for ten minutes after postman has left, under Royal Mail guidance Posted: 07 Jul 2019 04:00 PM PDT  Dog owners should feed their pets before the postman arrives and lock them away for ten minutes after he leaves, the Royal Mail has said following a spate of attacks. Every week in the last year around 47 postmen and women were attacked by dogs in the course of their work, new figures show. There were 2,484 dog attacks on postal staff in the past year, representing an increase of 9% on the year previously. Attacks have left some mail workers with "permanent and disabling injury" the report said. In response the Royal Mail has issued a set of guidelines to dog owners to prevent further attacks in which it warns even the most lovable dog can pose a danger to delivery workers. Among the postal services' advice is to give your dog some food to occupy them while mail is being delivered. Pet owners should shut their canines in a secure room when the postman comes knocking and "wait 10 minutes after mail has arrived to let your pet back into your hallway". In several postcodes, attacks on postal workers have risen. Telford has seen the rate of dog attacks quadruple, Royal Mail said. A Royal Mail postal van Credit: Luke MacGregor/Reuters In the last year, 883 or 35% of dog attacks on postal workers happened at the front door or in the garden, the report said. Tina O'Toole, a postwoman who has been working in Warrington for three years was set upon and bitten on the leg by a dog in the front garden of a property she was delivering to. Ms O'Toole received treatment in hospital for her injury and required a skin flap. She was unable to work for five weeks following the incident. "The day before the attack, the dog had attempted to grab the mail through the box. That made me think it was quite aggressive," Ms O'Toole said. "On the day of the attack… I turned to leave the premises when I heard the dog barking and running up behind me. As I was attempting to get through the gate I felt pain to my right calf. Ms O'Toole said she "went int shock" when she saw the blood seeping through her trousers. "It would have been much worse if I was wearing shorts. Neighbours called the ambulance and I was rushed to hospital."
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| Iran's Zarif calls on UK to immediately release captured oil tanker Posted: 08 Jul 2019 04:19 AM PDT  The capture of an Iranian oil tanker by Britain has set "a dangerous precedent and must end now", Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter on Monday. "Iran is neither a member of the EU nor subject to any European oil embargo. UK's unlawful seizure of a tanker with Iranian oil on behalf of #B_Team is piracy, pure and simple.
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| Police officers praised after paying for woman's groceries instead of arresting her for shoplifting Posted: 07 Jul 2019 10:22 AM PDT  Three New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers have been praised after they paid for a woman's groceries when she was caught attempting to steal the goods.The moment at a Manhattan Whole Foods was captured by a fellow shopper, who snapped a photo and posted it on Twitter.The image shows the woman burying her head in her hands, while the three officers stand around her at the cash register, paying for the food."I know that the police make split second decisions each day, so for the police to pay for the woman's food without hesitation was powerful," Paul Bozymowski, the individual who took the photo, told The Independent. "It was incredibly moving to see such a genuinely kind moment."The officers have since been identified as lieutenant Louis Sojo, and officers Esnaidy Cuevas and Michael Rivera, who said during a press conference that officers all around the city act in this way frequently – but that these actions are rarely seen.During that press conference on Friday they said they were heading into the store to when they were told by security guards that the woman was stealing food."I asked her, 'What's going on?' She told me she was hungry," Mr Sojo said. "So, I looked in her bag. I decided – we decided – to say 'We'll pay for her food'."He added that they were not expecting the reaction they received."You know, I've been doing this for 22 years. This is not the first time I've paid for food. This is not the first time they've paid for someone's food," Mr Sojo said."We don't go out and do it all the time, but, you know, when you look at someone's face and you notice that they need you, and they're actually hungry. It's pretty difficult as a human being to walk away from something like that. We weren't raised like that. So, it's the right thing to do."Mr Bozymowski, for his part, said he did not think many in the supermarket noticed the police officers and their act of kindness. But, he said he was glad his photo had resonated."When I posted the photo, I certainly didn't think it would get this amount of attention. I'm happy it is," he said. "If the story can inspire others to be generous and kind, then that's good for all of us."
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