| After Roger Stone conviction, star witness against him feels 'horrible' Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:27 AM PST  Randy Credico told Yahoo News that he was in tears upon learning of the verdict and did not want to see Stone go to jail because of his testimony.
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| Stefanik embraces spotlight at impeachment hearings Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:55 PM PST  The second day of the impeachment inquiry's public hearings, on Friday, began the same way as the first: with an attempt by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, to interrupt proceedings with a procedural objection.
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| Marine deserter’s mother names him in fatal shooting Posted: 15 Nov 2019 12:15 PM PST  The mother of a wanted Marine told investigators that she saw her son kill her boyfriend, according to a federal criminal complaint. The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Virginia, on Wednesday shows Vanessa Hanson told a U.S. Marshal that she witnessed Michael Alexander Brown, 22, fatally shoot her boyfriend, Rodney Wilfred Brown, last Saturday at a home in Hardy. The vehicle was later found near Clarendon County, South Carolina, about four hours southwest of Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, where he had been stationed as a U.S. Marine until leaving his post last month.
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| Chinese soldiers leave Hong Kong barracks in rare clean-up cameo Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:53 AM PST  Soldiers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army briefly left their Hong Kong barracks on Saturday to help the clean-up after a week of disruption caused by pro-democracy protests, a rare and highly symbolic troop movement unsolicited by the city's embattled government. The action saw scores of soldiers from the garrison, which is confined to the barracks under Hong Kong's mini-constitution, with crewcuts and identical gym kits conduct a lightning-quick removal of bricks and debris near their base. Confirming the brief deployment on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, the PLA said it acted to open a debris-strewn road outside their Kowloon Tong barracks to traffic, winning "applause from residents" in the process.
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| Chile police stopped rescue workers helping dying protester: human rights watchdog Posted: 16 Nov 2019 04:45 PM PST  Chile's independent human rights watchdog said on Saturday it would file a formal complaint for murder against police officers who allegedly prevented paramedics from attending a heart attack victim amid a protest Friday. Security forces firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons made it impossible for rescue workers to properly treat the victim, Chile's publicly-funded National Institute for Human Rights said. Twenty-nine year old Abel Acuna died shortly after at a nearby Santiago hospital.
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| These are the 10 sports cars that have the best resale value 5 years after purchase Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:10 AM PST  The Porsche 911 coupe tops the list, losing only 37.2% of its value over five years, but the others might surprise you.
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| Penultimate C7 Corvette Being Enshrined At National Corvette Museum Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:12 AM PST  While the last C7 will be in a private collection, this '19 Corvette Stingray will be on display for all to see.The final C7 Corvette rolled off the assembly line on November 14th at around 3:10 pm CT marking the end of the line for the front-engine Corvette before production begins for the all-new, mid-engine C8 'Vette. The final Corvette – a black Z06 – was auctioned off earlier in the year for $2.6 million to a software company CEO, but the second to last Corvette isn't going far. This car will be delivered at and then donated to the National Corvette Museum, which is right across the street from the Corvette's assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.This penultimate C7 was purchased by the NCM's lifetime member and supporter, Ivan Schrodt, who will take delivery of the car on November 20th via Chevy's museum delivery program. Immediately afterward, he will hand the keys over to the museum where this Corvette will be enshrined among all of the other important and significant Corvettes on display. This Corvette will be a permanent fixture at the museum, and it is a fitting send off for the C7 Corvette ahead of the highly anticipated launch of the C8.As for the second to last Corvette, it is painted in Arctic White with a Jet Black and Adrenaline Red interior. This car came in the mid-level 2LT trim level with the upgraded Z51 performance suspension, and it was also equipped with Carbon Fiber and Painted Body Color removable roofs, Carbon Flash exterior trim accents, chrome emblems, red calipers, personalized plate package, brake package, performance exhaust and chrome aluminum wheels. All in, this well-equipped Corvette had a sticker price of just over $70,000, making it quite an impressive donation to the museum.This donation ceremony will take place at the National Corvette Museum on November 20th starting at 2:00 p.m. CT, and the museum has invited the public to attend. More C7 News... * Last C7 Sells For $2.7 Million At Barrett-Jackson Auction * C7 Grand Finale: 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
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| Rashida Tlaib referred to House Ethics Committee for a potential violation of federal law Posted: 15 Nov 2019 07:08 AM PST  The House Ethics Committee released texts and emails on Thursday that show Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., repeatedly asking her campaign for funds to defray personal costs. The committee's announcement comes after the board of the Office of Congressional Ethics unanimously voted in August to refer Tlaib for a potential violation of federal law.
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| Amid attacks from Trump, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine testifies to influence from 'foreign corrupt interests' Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:16 AM PST  A former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine testified Friday, amid real-time attacks by President Trump himself, that she was the victim of a dishonest smear campaign in which one of the president's personal lawyers worked with corrupt Ukrainian officials to remove her from her position earlier this year.
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| Nicaraguan judge sentences man to 30 years in NY killing Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:13 AM PST  A Nicaraguan judge sentenced a man to 30 years behind bars in the killing of a young nursing student in upstate New York, a district attorney in the state said Friday. The trial of Orlando Tercero in the 2018 killing of Haley Anderson marked an exceedingly rare legal proceeding in which the defendant was prosecuted under Nicaragua's legal system for a slaying that happened on American soil. Tercero is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nicaragua.
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| Dodge Makes First Appearance in Top 10 of Consumer Reports Reliability Study Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:37 AM PST  The Detroit-based brand moved up 13 places in the Consumer Reports survey thanks to the Challenger and Grand Caravan.
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| Hong Kong leader condemns London protester 'attack' on minister Posted: 14 Nov 2019 10:06 PM PST  Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam on Friday condemned a "barbaric attack" on her justice minister, who fell while being surrounded by a crowd of jeering pro-democracy protesters in London. It was the most physical confrontation involving a member of Lam's cabinet since the protests, now in their sixth month, erupted in the international finance hub. Teresa Cheng, Hong Kong's deeply unpopular Secretary for Justice, was ambushed by around a dozen masked demonstrators as she prepared to attend a speaking event on Thursday night in London.
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| 'He essentially added an article of impeachment in real-time': Trump criticised by Fox News and Ken Starr for attacking Yovanovitch during hearing Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:55 AM PST  Donald Trump's tweets attacking Marie Yovanovitch during her powerful testimony before the House impeachment inquiry has turned into a lightning rod of the hearings — and even some prominent conservative sources have slammed the president's comments.The tweet was highlighted by House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who asked Ms Yovanovitch what she thought of him saying that "everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad", before attacking her decades of experience.
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| Man kills wife, three young sons in San Diego home: police Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:44 PM PST ![Man kills wife, three young sons in San Diego home: police]( "Man kills wife, three young sons in San Diego home: police") Three other boys, ages 5, 9 and 11, were taken to a hospital where two of them died, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said during a news conference. "When the officers arrived on the scene, they were able to look into one of the windows and see a small child inside covered in blood," San Diego Police Lieutenant Matt Dobbs said.
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| Sanders and Warren want to tax the rich. Here’s why their plans could work. Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:33 AM PST ![Sanders and Warren want to tax the rich. Here's why their plans could work.]( "Sanders and Warren want to tax the rich. Here's why their plans could work.") Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have been facing charges that the proposals won't work. Critics of the Warren (D-Mass.) and Sanders (I-Vt.) plans say it's too hard to figure out how much wealth there is in the U.S., and they point out that wealth taxes failed in Europe. It didn't work in Europe, so why will it work here?
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| A Blue Wave Looks Poised to Wash Over Louisiana Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:25 AM PST  Jonathan Bachman/ReutersVoters will deliver another verdict on whether a moderate Democrat can survive in a red Trump state when they go to the polls Saturday in Louisiana's run-off race for governor. "When you're a Southern Democrat, you're fully aware that things might not work out," said Democratic strategist James Carville. "But in this instance, I'd rather be us than them." "Us" for Carville, the "ragin' Cajun," is Democrat John Bel Edwards, running for re-election against Republican businessman Eddie Rispone. Democrats are hoping for a second big win in a red state ten days after Democratic challenger Andy Beshear won the governor's race in Kentucky. Democrats' Big Night Is Bad News for Trump"If John Bel wins, the one big story is impeachment at worst is a wash," says Carville. "If it was bad for the Democrats, we would have picked that up in Kentucky. We're not getting any indication there is a backlash." That would be different than in the elections that followed the contentious Senate vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, when a backlash hurt Democrats. "I saw it after Kavanaugh, I felt it after Kavanaugh," Carville says, but now "I would rather be a House Democrat than a Senate Republican. Let the Senate stew," he says. What Carville will be watching for on Saturday is whether Edwards can hold the 34 percent share of the white vote that is critical to victory. Edwards, a graduate of West Point and an Army veteran, is as conservative on social issues as any Republican. He signed an abortion law that is one of the toughest in the nation, banning the procedure as early as six weeks. He cites his Catholic faith as a centerpiece in his life and politics. He's a Second Amendment enthusiast, and his supporters worry that a Saturday vote competes with a day of hunting."He likes to tout how many times he's been to the White House," says Louisiana pollster John Couvillon. That's up to nine times, including a state dinner last year. "Edwards is not portraying himself as an enemy of the president," Couvillon told the Daily Beast. "He doesn't want to give partisans an extra reason to vote against him."What Couvillon will be looking for on Saturday is the strength of black turnout. On Election Day last month, 974,000 voters went to the polls in the state's "jungle primary," in which all candidates are on the same ballot, regardless of party, with the top two then facing off if no one tops 50 percent. He expects turnout on Election Day to increase by 50,000 to 100,000 in the runoff. Early voting was up substantially in the runoff. In the October vote, there were 386,000 early or absentee ballots. Of those voters, 25 percent were black, and 41 percent were Republican. (Overall, 31 percent of Louisianans are black, and 31 percent of the electorate is Republican, which some overlap between those groups). In the runoff, there were 498,000 early voters as of Wednesday night—an increase of 112,000 from October. Of those early voters, Couvillon identified 60,000 new voters, who hadn't turned out in October. Forty-one percent of those new voters, he said, are black, and 29 percent are Republican—meaning the group is much blacker and less Republican than the overall electorate, "much like the Obama phenomenon." Under Louisiana law, voters identify their race when they cast their ballot. "You have this group of 60,000 that showed up out of nowhere," he says, "and they're much more Democrat-friendly. Republicans think Democrats are just getting them to the polls a week early. My thinking is that Democrats expanded the pie." That, of course, is the dream of Democrats—that anger about Trump has brought new voters into their fold. That tale will be told on Saturday. The other factor impacting the vote is dissension in the Republican camp. The October primary included, along with Edwards and Rispone, Republican House member Ralph Abraham. Rispone went after Abraham hammer and tongs for his high absentee rate for congressional votes, which was fair, but he also accused him of being disloyal to Trump and voting with Nancy Pelosi against Trump's wall. The bad blood in the party boiled over and Abraham's son-in-law contributed $5,000 to the Edwards campaign. In a tight election, Rispone can't afford any defections. Trump's rally in Shreveport Thursday night was his second in the state in recent weeks, and at the first one, while Abraham was still on the ballot, the two GOP contenders didn't appear on the stage at the same time. There's no real love for Rispone in the party. "His unabashed allegiance to Trump is the only thing that keeps Abraham in the game," says Couvillon, who describes Rispone as a Louisiana version of Sheldon Adelson, someone who gives a lot of money to conservative causes and who has ran a "thoroughly mediocre campaign and he had $12 million to spend." If Edwards wins, it would be the second example this month of a Democrat triumphing in a red state. Larry Sabato, founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, has the race leaning Democrat. "We don't know of any poll that has Rispone up," he told the Daily Beast, while noting that the race remains too close to call. While Trump's 11th hour visit to Kentucky failed to elect Bevins, Sabato says Bevins—who finally conceded Thursday—would have lost by more without it. In Louisiana, says Sabato, "the big question is Trump's election eve rally. He might be able to pull Rispone across the finish line." Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Man who shot, wounded school bus driver sentenced to prison Posted: 15 Nov 2019 02:11 PM PST  A Minnesota man who shot and wounded a school bus driver on a Minneapolis freeway during a snowstorm has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. Thirty-two-year-old Kenneth Lilly, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in August to first-degree assault for the February attack that left Thomas Benson deaf in one ear and unable to continue working as a bus driver due to nerve damage in his hand. Lilly was sentenced Friday to 86 months.
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| Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on streets of Hong Kong for clean-up operation Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:13 AM PST  China's People's Liberation Army troops appeared on the streets of Hong Kong yesterday as part of a clean-up mission that risked a backlash from pro-democracy protesters who have brought the city to a standstill in recent months. The appearance of the PLA soldiers outside their barracks - even dressed in shorts and t-shirts - to help clear away barricades and debris from another night of protests could be seen as an incremental raising of the political stakes from Beijing. Demosistō, a pro-democracy organisation, said the clean-up operation could set a "grave precedent" if the city's government invites the military to deal with internal problems. A member of Chinas People's Liberation Army (PLA) stands guard inside Osborn Barracks in Kowloon Tong in Hong Kong on November 16, 2019. - China's President Xi Jinping warned on November 14 that protests in Hong Kong threaten the "one country, two systems" principle governing the semi-autonomous city that has tipped into worsening violence with two dead in a week. Credit: AFP Hong Kong's city government clarified that it did not request assistance from PLA forces which have remained in their barracks during five months of protests, issuing a statement describing the deployment as a "voluntary community activity" by the military. Foreign envoys and security analysts estimate up to 12,000 troops are now based across Hong Kong - more than double the usual garrison number following an additional deployment last August. Chinese troops have appeared on streets only once since the 1997 handover to help clear up after a typhoon in 2018. It was not clear how many were involved yesterday, but by late afternoon, the PLA soldiers had left the streets outside Baptist University beside their barracks in Kowloon Tong. An anti-government protesters stands at a blocked outlet of the Cross Harbour Tunnel near the Polytechnic University in Hong Kong Credit: Reuters The PLA garrison in Hong Kong said that when some residents began cleaning, some troops "helped clear the road in front of the garrison gate". Clashes between protesters and police have become increasingly violent, with China warning that any attempt at independence for Hong Kong will be crushed. Chinese state media has repeatedly broadcast comments made on Thursday by President Xi Jinping, in which he denounced the unrest and said "stopping violence and controlling chaos while restoring order is currently Hong Kong's most urgent task". Read More | Hong Kong crisis The clean-up followed some of the worst violence seen this year, after a police operation against protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday. The authorities have since largely stayed away from at least five university campuses that had been barricaded by thousands of students and activists who stockpiled petrol bombs, catapults, bows and arrows and other weapons.
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| 'He doesn't seem like the kind of kid to do this': Classmates, neighbors surprised by suspected Santa Clarita shooter's identity Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:33 AM PST  The 16-year-old who fatally shot two students and wounded three others at Saugus High School in California was an unlikely shooter, classmates said.
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| North Korea calls Joe Biden a 'rabid dog' that 'must be beaten to death' Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:42 PM PST  North Korea launched a visceral diatribe against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, calling the former vice president a "rabid dog."
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| UPDATE 2-Texas court halts execution of man convicted of killing 19-year-old lover Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:24 PM PST ![UPDATE 2-Texas court halts execution of man convicted of killing 19-year-old lover]( "UPDATE 2-Texas court halts execution of man convicted of killing 19-year-old lover") The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday halted the execution of Rodney Reed, who was convicted of killing his 19-year-old lover in 1996, as recent calls for his exoneration and a fresh look at his case got more intense. Nearly 3 million people have signed an online petition on the website Freerodneyreed.com, while Republican and Democrats alike along with several high-profile celebrities have spoken out against Reed's impending execution, which had been scheduled for next week. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the execution and sent the case back to trial court, ruling that Reed's lawyers had met legal requirements for a re-examination by a lower court on whether or not prosecutors presented false testimony, suppressed evidence and on Reed's assertion that he is innocent, according to the ruling.
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| Trump commits new offence which could lead to impeachment in the middle of his own impeachment hearing Posted: 16 Nov 2019 11:28 AM PST  It should not, perhaps, be surprising in the extraordinary state of affairs of Trumpworld that in the middle of his impeachment proceedings the president would tweet something which could lead to a further article of impeachment.The tweet disproves Mr Trump's claim that he was ignoring the hearings which he had claimed would go nowhere, and attacked using his usual terms against investigations into his conduct – a "worst ever witch-hunt", "totally fake" and so on.
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| S. African asylum-seekers held on trespassing charges Posted: 16 Nov 2019 07:48 AM PST  South African police detained more than 180 foreign nationals for storming the UN refugee agency in Pretoria, where they had been staging a sit-in protest, police said Saturday. Hundreds of asylum-seekers started camping in front of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on October 8, asking to be relocated to another country after a spate of xenophobic violence in September. Protesters broke into the UNHCR premises on Thursday after they were informed of a court order giving them three days to vacate the site.
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| Beshear to Kentucky teachers: Help is on the way Posted: 15 Nov 2019 11:38 AM PST  On election night, long before his win in the Kentucky governor's race became official, Democrat Andy Beshear made clear who he thought helped make it happen. "To our educators, this is your victory," Beshear proclaimed in a Nov. 5 victory speech as he maintained a slim 5,000-vote margin. Now that Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has conceded, Beshear is moving quickly to translate the political activism of teachers that began in 2018 and persisted through this year's election into tangible school improvements.
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| No More Air: How An Entire Chinese Submarine Crew Died a Tragic Death in 2003 Posted: 16 Nov 2019 08:00 AM PST  A cruel death.
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| ‘We Must Be As Harsh as Them’: Leaked Docs Reveal China’s Mass Incarceration of Muslims: NYT Posted: 16 Nov 2019 10:21 AM PST  HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via GettyHundreds of internal Chinese government documents obtained by The New York Times reveals striking new details about the execution of the country's mass detention of ethnic minorities over the past three years in the Xinjiang region.The rare leak of documents, described in the newspaper's bombshell report as "one of the most significant leaks of government papers from inside China's ruling Communist Party in decades," details how Chinese authorities have contained as many as one million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other predominately Muslim minorities into internment camps and prisons.The camps, which began in 2016, were described as China's answer to fighting Islamic extremism.While the party has pushed back on international criticism of the camps by describing them as "job-training centers," the documents show the coercive nature of the camps that top government officials knew tore families apart, fueled ethnic tensions and hurt economic growth. Cannibalism, Torture and Death: Inside China's Genocidal Re-Education Camps"Children saw their parents taken away, students wondered who would pay their tuition and crops could not be planted or harvested for lack of manpower," the report states. "Yet officials were directed to tell people who complained to be grateful for the Communist Party's help and stay quiet."According to the documents, President Xi Jinping first laid the groundwork for the camps in a series of April 2014 speeches to party officials and during a trip to Xinjiang. The trip came just weeks after Uighur militants reportedly killed 31 people, and stabbed more than 150, at a train station in Kunming. "The methods that our comrades have at hand are too primitive," Xi said during one talk in Urumqi, according to the report. "None of these weapons is any answer for their big machete blades, ax heads and cold steel weapons."He added: "We must be as harsh as them and show absolutely no mercy."While Xi called for an all-out "struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism" using the "organs of dictatorship" after the train attack, the documents do not indicate he directly ordered the detention centers. But his harsh rhetoric combined with terrorist attacks abroad fueled the toxic beliefs that minority communities could be eradicated, The New York Times notes. In one example, the 2017 London Bridge attacks spurred party officials to condemn Britain's policy of by putting "human rights above security," and prompted Xi to urge leaders in Xinjiang to respond to extremism like America's "war on terror" campaign. "In recent years, Xinjiang has grown very quickly and the standard of living has consistently risen, but even so ethnic separatism and terrorist violence have still been on the rise," Xi said in a speech to party officials, according to The New York Times. "This goes to show that economic development does not automatically bring lasting order and security."Trump Blames China's Xi Jinping for Sabotaging the Kim Jong Un SummitThe rise of the camps, the newspaper reported, didn't until until August 2016, when Chen Quanguo was promoted from the party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region to governor of Xinjiang. The new leader was eager to "remobilize" Xi's goals for increasing security and rapidly expanded the region's internment camps. Chen also distributed Xi's speeches to justify his aggressive approach, and even told officials to "round up everyone who should be rounded up.""The struggle against terror and to safeguard stability is a protracted war, and also a war of offense," Chen said in an October 2017 speech to the regional leadership, according to the leaked papers.Soon after, authorities started to arrest anyone who displayed "symptoms" of radicalism or anti-party views, without any judicial rationale or explanation, the Times reported.Party leaders even displayed dozens of signs to highlight such behaviors to other Chinese citizens, some including common Uighurs practices like wearing long beards, giving up smoking or drinking, studying Arabic or praying outside mosques. Woman Sent to Labor Camp in China's Latest Abuse OutrageTo justify the discriminatory practices, authorities cited ongoing terrorism attacks abroad and the possibility of such attacks in China. Whenever local officials expressed doubts about the camps they believed would hurt economic growth, the documents reveal Chen would have them fired or jailed.In one instance, one county leader ordered the release of 7,000 camp inmates, writing in a 15-page confession he believe the crackdown harmed ethnic relations. After the release, Chen had the leader detained, stripped of power, and prosecuted. According to the Times, the documents indicated that about 900,000 people have been put into these camps, a number previously unknown due to the campaign's secrecy. 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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| Here's everything we know about Mina Chang, who rapidly rose from a self-described singer to a State Department official with a dubious résumé Posted: 16 Nov 2019 01:39 PM PST  A closer look at her history reveals the Trump official may have misrepresented her work history and educational background.
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| Nearly 200 officers search Staten Island marshland for missing NJ woman Stephanie Parze Posted: 14 Nov 2019 06:50 PM PST  Setphanie Parze, 25, of Freehold Township, New Jersey, disappeared on Oct. 30 after returning from an outing with friends to a psychic medium.
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| Michael Bloomberg to launch $100 million digital anti-Trump campaign Posted: 15 Nov 2019 08:18 AM PST  Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire media mogul who continues to weigh a run for the Democratic nomination for president, will launch a $100 million online ad campaign targeting Republican President Donald Trump, an advisor confirmed. Bloomberg has not said whether he will run for president, but has qualified as a candidate to appear on the primary ballots of two states. The online advertisements Bloomberg is funding, which have not yet run but are slated to begin Friday, will target four states: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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| Armed men storm Guaido party headquarters in Venezuela Posted: 15 Nov 2019 07:06 PM PST  Armed men stormed the party headquarters of Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido on Friday, one day ahead of a protest against President Nicolas Maduro, Guaido and witnesses said. Dressed in black and carrying pistols and rifles, the hooded men forced their way into the offices of Guaido's Voluntad Popular party in the east of the capital Caracas.
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| Pro-Life Investigators Found Guilty in Lawsuit After Filming Planned Parenthood Execs Discussing Sale of Fetal Body Parts Posted: 15 Nov 2019 03:33 PM PST  A San Fransisco district court on Friday found pro-life activists guilty in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood after the activists surreptitiously filmed executives of the abortion group discussing the sale of fetal body parts.A ten person federal jury convicted activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, breach of contract and trespass and violation of state and federal recording laws in Maryland, California and Florida. Planned Parenthood will be awarded $870,000 in punitive damages.Daleiden and Merritt released videos in 2015 of Planned Parenthood executives as well as footage from the 2014 National Abortion Federation conference, which they obtained while posing as researchers for a fake fetal tissue research company they called Biomax.In the videos, abortion industry players could be seen admitting to illegally altering abortion procedures in order to provide fresher, more intact fetal parts, as well as haggling with the investigators over prices. The investigators have also accused Planned Parenthood of illegally profiting off the sale of fetal tissue for medical research, using their footage as evidence.The verdict set "a dangerous precedent for citizen journalism and First Amendment civil rights across the country, sending a message that speaking truth and facts to criticize the powerful is no longer protected by our institutions," read a statement from CMP.Planned Parenthood has consistently denied any activities portrayed in the videos were illegal, and have accused CMP of deceptively editing the footage."The jury has spoken loud and clear," said Planned Parenthood attorney Rhonda Trotter after the verdict. "Those who violate the law in an effort to limit access to reproductive rights and health care will be held accountable."The trial made headlines in September when California obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Forrest Smith, who has administered thousands of abortions, testified on behalf of the CMP activists."There's no question in my mind that at least some of these fetuses were live births," Smith told the court while describing the abortion procedures elaborated by Planned Parenthood executives in the CMP footage.
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| Bill Gates Tops Jeff Bezos as World’s Richest Person With Amazon Slide Posted: 15 Nov 2019 01:56 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- This time it's official.Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates overtook Amazon.com Inc.'s Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person on Friday, reclaiming the top ranking for the first time in more than two years.Gates may have been helped in part by the Pentagon's surprise decision announced Oct. 25 to award a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft over Amazon. Shares of Microsoft have since climbed 4%, giving Gates a $110 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Amazon's stock is down about 2% since the announcement, putting Bezos's net worth at $108.7 billion.Gates, 64, had briefly topped Bezos, 55, on an intraday basis last month after Amazon posted its first profit drop in two years, but shares of the world's biggest online retailer pared the decline. The index, which tracks the wealth of the richest 500 people, is updated each trading day after U.S. markets close. Europe's richest person, Bernard Arnault, is third with $102.7 billion.Read more: Microsoft Shares Surge After Controversial Pentagon Contract WinMicrosoft has surged 48% this year, boosting the value of Gates's 1% stake. The rest of his wealth is derived from share sales and investments made over the years by his family office, Cascade.Bezos would be far richer if he and MacKenzie Bezos hadn't divorced. The pair announced their split in January, with MacKenzie, 49, receiving a quarter of their Amazon holdings in July. Her net worth dipped to $35 billion on Friday. Gates, on the other hand, may have never relinquished the top spot were it not for his philanthropy. He has donated more than $35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 1994.Gates recently shared his thoughts on the wealth tax that's been proposed by some Democratic presidential candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, saying he's already paid more than $10 billion in taxes."If I'd had to pay $20 billion, it's fine," he said. But "when you say I should pay $100 billion, then I'm starting to do a little math about what I have left over."As of today, that would be $10 billion.(Updates with Gates comments on wealth tax starting in seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Sophie Alexander.To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum, Steven CrabillFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| ‘No discipline. No plan. No strategy.’: Sen. Kamala Harris campaign in meltdown Posted: 15 Nov 2019 12:47 PM PST  As Sen. Kamala Harris crisscrosses the country trying to revive her sputtering presidential bid, aides at her fast-shrinking headquarters are deep into the finger-pointing stages. And much of the blame is being placed on campaign manager Juan Rodriguez.
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| Four dead in Iran fuel protest after government hikes pump prices up to 300 per cent Posted: 16 Nov 2019 02:55 AM PST  Four people were left dead in Iran following clashes between riot police and protesters in several Iranian cities after the government raised the price of petrol by up to 300 per cent. The deaths occurred in separate incidents in the southern cities of Sirjan, Behbahan and Shiraz, while video footage showed protestors had attacked a military barracks used by the regime's feared Bajis militias in Tehran, setting it on fire. Thousands of angry motorists parked their vehicles on major thoroughfares and highways in protest at the price hikes, urging others to stop and "join the national anti-regime movement" as they drove by. Iran's chief public prosecutor, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, called the protestors "saboteurs" and warned they would face "severe punishment" if arrested. He has also alleged that foreign powers were behind the protests. At a glance | Key players in Tehran But in a sign of that the Rouhani government's increasing political isolation over the decision, a leading establishment cleric Grand ayatollah Golpaygani called for the decision to be reversed, describing it as "a matter of great regret" and "deplorable". Video footage from the city of Shiraz showed protesters over-running a police station and setting banks on fire, while chanting "death to the dictator" against Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran's Interior Minister Abdulreza Rahmani Fazli announced the sudden 300 percent increase in the price of gasoline last Friday, saying that it was a decision by the country's High Council for Economic Coordination. The aim was to generate revenue for the central government, which has lost billions of dollars of income from recently reimposed international sanctions on oil exports. Fuel for unrest: a huge petrol price rise triggered protests across Iran Credit: REX "The decision to raise the price of gasoline is aimed at creating social justice for more than 60 million Iranians, in particular the very low income families, fight fuel smuggling, reduce the amount of subsidies and strengthening our economic power," the minister said. The government has also cut petrol subsidies to thousands of poor people in a nation where many families make a living as informal taxi drivers. Despite the subsidy cuts and price-rises, fuel in Iran still remains among the cheapest in the world thanks to the country having the fourth-largest oil reserves. A highway is blocked by vehicles as protests block the roads following fuel price increase in Tehran, Iran, 16 November 2019. Credit: REX Iran affairs expert Dr. Reza Taghizadeh, formerly of Glasgow University, says the public reaction to the price rise has been inevitable, given the dire economic conditions of the country. "It appears that the common element of these protests is exactly the same as what we are currently witnessing in Iraq, Lebanon and Chile and that is general poverty and the failure of their governments to provide the basic needs of populations. "Although the trigger force in Iran is the rise of price of gasoline, the protests in more than 37 major cities are political and against a system of government that is corrupt, undemocratic and resists change", he said.
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| 14 of the Best-Designed Hotel Restaurants in the U.S. Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:44 AM PST |
| Migrants thrust by US officials into the arms of the cartels Posted: 15 Nov 2019 12:17 PM PST ![Migrants thrust by US officials into the arms of the cartels]( "Migrants thrust by US officials into the arms of the cartels") The gangsters trawling Nuevo Laredo know just what they're looking for: men and women missing their shoelaces. In years past, migrants moved quickly through this violent territory on their way to the United States. Now, due to Trump administration policies, they remain there for weeks and sometimes months as they await their U.S. court dates, often in the hands of the gangsters who hold the area in a vise-like grip.
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| Kellyanne Conway confronts CNN anchor after he says ‘I know there are issues with your marriage’ Posted: 14 Nov 2019 11:11 PM PST  Donald Trump's adviser and frequent spokesperson Kellyanne Conway has confronted a senior CNN anchor after he suggested there were "issues" with her marriage to a prominent critic of the president.In an an interview with Ms Conway, who frequently speaks on behalf of the administration, veteran journalist and presenter Wolf Blitzer played clips from a rival channel from the day before, in which her husband was seen criticising Mr Trump.
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