| Pakistan Won in Afghanistan (While America Lost) Posted: 15 Dec 2019 07:00 AM PST  How did this happen?
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| Inmate's suicide shows need for reforms, advocates say Posted: 15 Dec 2019 07:43 AM PST  The final two months of Cachin Anderson's life in New York's prison system were filled with warnings he was a man in crisis. Prisoner advocates say Anderson's death and others illustrate how New York's prison system fails to ensure the safety of inmates who might hurt themselves if left alone in a cell. New York state prison inmates in solitary confinement or long-term "keeplock" units, in which inmates are isolated, were over five times more likely to kill themselves than prisoners in general confinement, according to a report from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
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| On Battle of the Bulge's 75th anniversary, WWII vets return to celebrate – and pay tribute Posted: 16 Dec 2019 12:18 PM PST  Louisville native George Merz is among a group of American WWII veterans whose return to Europe marked the 75th anniversary of Battle of the Bulge.
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| A flight bound for New York took off from Germany, flew for 8 hours, then landed 85 miles from where it started Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:01 AM PST  Passengers flying from Frankfurt to New York endured an extremely frustrating day last week when they ended up turning back halfway over the Atlantic.
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| Holocaust architect's grave dug up in Berlin Posted: 16 Dec 2019 05:42 AM PST  The grave of a top Nazi who helped plan the Holocaust and was assassinated by British-trained agents during World War II has been dug up in Berlin, German police said on Monday. The grave of Reinhard Heydrich was "dug up in the night between Wednesday and Thursday" and an investigation has been opened on charges of disturbing a burial site, a police spokeswoman told AFP. Heydrich was the powerful head of Hitler's Reich Security Office, which included the Gestapo.
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| The 11 Cars We Are Most Excited About Driving in 2020 Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:31 AM PST |
| Police search for missing Texas mother and her newborn girl Posted: 15 Dec 2019 08:51 PM PST  Police in Austin are searching for Heide Broussard and her 2-week-old child, Margot Carey
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| The Real Meaning of the Statues on Easter Island Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:24 PM PST  The stone monoliths have stumped scientists for centuries. Not anymore.
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| Argentina gang behind British tourist murder held welcome signs in airport arrival, say officials Posted: 16 Dec 2019 12:09 PM PST  The Argentinian crime gang which killed a British businessman held welcome signs in the airport arrivals hall as cover to spot wealthy tourists, officials say, as four men have been arrested in connection with the murder. Property magnate Matthew Gibbard and his family arrived at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires on Saturday morning, and were identified as targets because of their "high-end watches", according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice and Security in Argentina. CCTV shows that they were followed to their five star hotel across town, where Mr Gibbard, 50, and his stepson Stefan Zone, 28 were held up and shot while trying to fight off their attackers. Mr Gibbard died shortly afterwards and Mr Zone remains in hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg, which narrowly missed his femoral artery. One witness, who arrived in the aftermath of the shooting told a local news crew that he saw Mr Gibbard's wife next to her husband screaming "stay with me, stay with me." He added that "the son was also screaming in pain on the floor. It was very chaotic and disturbing." Guards were outside the Faena hotel in Buenos Aires after the attack Credit: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko In a press conference yesterday, the Chief of Security for Buenos Aires, Marcelo D'Alessandro said: "This gang works in the arrivals hall of the Ezeiza airport, where they look for tourists coming from Europe and the United States. From there they begin their pursuit." "The modus operandi was to spot people at the airport wearing high-end watches, follow them to their destination, and rob them. "They had a kind of placard, they would pretend to work to work for Uber," he added. Mr Gibbard was a director at Tingdene, a retirement homes firm, which turned over £20 million last year, according to Companies House. He is also listed as a director for a local vineyard, and a vegetation management company. His stepson, Mr Zone is understood to be a product manager at JP Morgan, and works in London. Yesterday, police raided 18 properties across Buenos Aires and arrested four men, including an Argentinian who is thought to be the gang leader. They are still hunting at least six more people involved in the attack, including the shooter. It is understood that the chauffeur which drove the family to the hotel is not under suspicion. "We were able to identify the perpetrators and we are working to arrest them," said Mr D'Alessandro, adding that one of the suspects arrived on a flight from the Caribbean only last Monday. "Saturday's wasn't the first crime they've committed," he said, linking the group to an attack on a Canadian businessman outside the Intercontinental hotel last month. On Thursday, before the attack on Mr Gibbard and his stepson, an Argentinian was arrested for trying to steal a watch in a similar manner in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires. He was linked to the same gang by Mr D'Alessandro. Today, there will be a meeting between police and security forces to try and move the investigation forward. "It is an atrocious act and the loss of a human life is irreversible. Our job is to stop these criminals and bring them to Justice," said Diego Santilli, Argentina's security Minister. On Sunday, the president, Alberto Fernandez branded the incident "atrocious" adding: "We must be severe, we cannot tolerate this." Last night the Foreign Office told The Telegraph that they keep all their travel advice "under constant review."
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| Trump ally Lindsey Graham says he is 'not a fair juror' and will vote against impeachment Posted: 16 Dec 2019 03:38 AM PST  Republican senator Lindsey Graham has said he has made up his mind on impeachment and does not plan on being a "fair juror" in a Senate trial of Donald Trump.Senators will be called upon to determine whether the president should be removed from office if the House of Representatives votes to pass articles of impeachment against Mr Trump this week.
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| Trump: Giuliani 'does this out of love’ Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:22 PM PST  President Trump talks about Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine investigations Downloadable
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| Former Japanese official sentenced for killing reclusive son Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:06 AM PST  A Tokyo court sentenced a former senior government official to six years in prison on Monday for fatally stabbing his socially reclusive son with a kitchen knife. The Tokyo District Court found Hideaki Kumazawa, 76, a former vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, guilty of repeatedly stabbing his son Eiichiro, then 44, in the neck and chest at his home in Tokyo in June. Kumazawa, who immediately called police and admitted to the killing, pleaded guilty to the crime during the trial.
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| This Was the Most Horrific Battle at the Battle of the Bulge Posted: 15 Dec 2019 11:11 PM PST  What your history book missed.
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| 11 striking photos from 2019 show the US military in action around the world Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:03 PM PST  Check out the year's best military images that show US troops jumping from planes, flying jets in close formation, fighting an intense blaze and more.
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| Finland aims to repatriate Islamic State children from Syria 'as soon as possible' Posted: 16 Dec 2019 11:13 AM PST  Finland will try to repatriate children of Finnish mothers who traveled to Syria to join Islamic State "as soon as possible", Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday. Finland is one of a number of European Union member states facing a decision over whether to bring home citizens with IS links who are trapped at the al-Hol camp displacement camp controlled by Kurds in northeastern Syria. More than 30 children born to 11 Finnish women are at al-Hol, according to Finnish media, and the fate of the mothers has caused divisions in Finland's five-party coalition government that took office last week.
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| 9 die in wintry crashes in several Midwestern states Posted: 16 Dec 2019 06:58 AM PST  At least nine people have died in weather-related crashes in several Midwestern states amid a storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow in places, forced schools to close and snarled traffic, authorities said. The wintry weather was part of a storm system that hit parts of the Midwest and was expected to extend into the Northeast through Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. In Missouri, the storm dumped 3 to 9 inches (7.6 to 22.9 centimeters) of snow across of the state.
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| India protests rage over 'anti-Muslim' law Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:59 AM PST  Fresh protests rocked India on Monday as anger grew over new citizenship legislation slammed as anti-Muslim, after six people died in the northeast and as many as 200 were injured in New Delhi. Critics say it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise the 200-million strong Islamic minority. Modi denies this, tweeting Monday that the new law "does not affect any citizen of India of any religion", while accusing "vested interest groups" of stoking the "deeply distressing" unrest.
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| Five things you should know about guns lost by G4S, the largest security company in the world Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:04 AM PST  Guns that were supposed to be secured by G4S have been bought by children, stolen by criminals and used in murders, rapes and robberies across the U.S.
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| Schiff, Nadler Likely to Be Trial Managers: Impeachment Update Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:49 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The full House is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to adopt the two articles approved by the Judiciary Committee and make President Donald Trump only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.Here are the latest developments:Schiff, Nadler Likely to Be Trial Managers (4:45 p.m.)House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff and Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler are likely to be named by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to lead the House managers who will present evidence against Trump during an impeachment trial, according to people familiar with the matter.The rest of the House managers will mostly be Democrats on the Judiciary and Intelligence panels, the people said. It isn't yet certain how many impeachment managers there will be, the people said.One lawmaker who is not expected to be chosen is independent Justin Amash of Michigan, who left the Republican Party earlier this year and supports impeachment, one person said. Moderate Democrats Backing Trump Articles (3:37 p.m.)The remaining uncommitted moderate Democrats are starting to announce how they will vote on Wednesday, and most so far are saying they'll back impeaching the president.Utah's Ben McAdams said in a statement he will vote to impeach because "the president abused the power of his office by demanding a foreign government perform a personal favor" and obstructed Congress's investigation.Joe Cunningham of South Carolina also released a statement saying he will back impeachment, as did New Hampshire's Chris Pappas and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia.Freshman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan announced in an opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press that she will vote to impeach, even though she said she's been told many times that the vote "will mark the end of my short political career."Two Democrats said they'll oppose impeaching the president, and both voted against opening the House inquiry. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said Friday he's a "no" on impeachment. Five members of his staff resigned over the weekend amid reports that he'll switch his party registration to Republican.Democrat Collin Peterson of Minnesota said he'll oppose impeachment "unless they come up with something between now and Wednesday," according to the Pioneer Press.Schumer Seeks Bolton, Mulvaney Testimony (2:36 p.m.)Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the White House should let acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and two other White House officials testify at an impeachment trial "unless the president has something to hide."The four witnesses "have direct knowledge of why the aid to Ukraine was delayed," Schumer told reporters Monday. "These people are crucial and haven't been heard from."The other two officials are Robert Blair, senior adviser to Mulvaney, and Michael Duffey, the White House budget office's associate director for national security.Schumer said he's "very eager and willing" to talk with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about trial procedures, but instead McConnell has spoken publicly and said he would be taking his cues from the White House. That would be "very unfair," Schumer said.The minority leader also has asked that the White House produce documents on Ukraine aid that it has thus far withheld."I haven't seen a single good argument about why these witnesses shouldn't testify or these documents shouldn't be produced," Schumer said.Some Republicans have said that Trump should be able to call the witnesses he wants, including Joe Biden or his son. Hunter Biden served on the board of Ukraine energy company Burisma Holdings, and Trump had asked Ukraine's president to investigate that matter.The House is expected to vote on the two proposed articles of impeachment on Wednesday. -- Laura LitvanDemocrats Offer Jobs to Rebel Member's Aides (11:39 a.m.)The chairwoman of the House Democrats' campaign committee offered jobs to aides of Representative Jeff Van Drew who left his office following news reports that the freshman New Jersey lawmaker plans to quit his party and become a Republican."It's right before the holidays and these staffers just quit their jobs to stand up for their Democratic values. We'll bring them and others who leave on with the @dccc until they land new jobs that align with their values," Chairwoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois wrote on Twitter. She also asked for donations to keep Van Drew's district in Democratic hands.Van Drew is one of just two House Democrats who voted against opening the impeachment inquiry in October. He won a vacant seat in 2018, though election analyst David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said his southern New Jersey district is "trending towards" Trump and Republicans. He said Van Drew "was just about the only Democrat capable of winning" there.Five Van Drew staffers announced their resignations in a letter dated Sunday. They said they "are deeply saddened and disappointed" by his reported decision to join the GOP — which he has not publicly announced — and "can no longer in good conscience continue" to work for him. The aides are Javier Gamboa, Edward Kaczmarski, Justin O'Leary, Mackenzie Lucas and Caroline Wood. -- Sahil KapurJudiciary Panel Releases Report (9:21 a.m.)The House Judiciary Committee released a 169-page report spelling out Democrats' grounds for two articles of impeachment, arguing that Trump poses "a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office."The two articles allege the president abused the power of his office by soliciting Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election and then obstructing Congress during its investigation.The report is meant to support an impeachment resolution the House Rules Committee will consider Tuesday in what's expected to be a marathon hearing setting the terms for floor debate ahead of a full House vote on Wednesday.The Judiciary Committee "does not lightly conclude that President Trump acted with corrupt motives," the report states, calling that conclusion "inescapable."The report accuses Trump of using his official powers "to solicit and pressure" Ukraine to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 rival.It also criticizes the White House's resistance to cooperating with the probe."No president before this one has declared himself and his entire branch of government exempt from subpoenas issued by the House under its 'sole power of Impeachment'," the panel's Democrats wrote.Committee Republicans filed a separate dissenting report that said "the paltry record on which the majority relies is an affront to the constitutional process of impeachment and will have grave consequences for future presidents."The Republicans described as "hyperbolic and untrue" Democratic claims that the 2020 election is at risk and the national interest is in jeopardy unless action is taken against Trump."The quicker the majority report and the majority's actions are forgotten, the better," they stated. -- Billy HouseCatch Up on Impeachment CoverageKey EventsThe House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved the two articles of impeachment on 23-17 party-line votes.The House impeachment resolution is H.Res. 755. The Intelligence Committee Democrats' impeachment report is here.Gordon Sondland's transcript is here and here; Kurt Volker's transcript is here and here. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch's transcript is here and here; the transcript of Michael McKinley, former senior adviser to the secretary of State, is here. The transcript of Holmes, a Foreign Service officer in Kyiv, is here.The transcript of William Taylor, the top U.S. envoy to Ukraine, is here and here. State Department official George Kent's testimony is here and here. Testimony by Alexander Vindman can be found here, and the Fiona Hill transcript is here. Laura Cooper's transcript is here; Christopher Anderson's is here and Catherine Croft's is here. Jennifer Williams' transcript is here and Timothy Morrison's is here. The Philip Reeker transcript is here. Mark Sandy's is here.\--With assistance from Sahil Kapur and Laura Litvan.To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie AsséoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Supreme Court Lets Ruling Stand Forbidding Prosecution of Homeless for Sleeping in Public Spaces Posted: 16 Dec 2019 10:39 AM PST  The Supreme Court on Monday chose not to hear the city of Boise's defense of its policy of prosecuting homeless people who sleep in a public space, letting a lower court ruling stand that terms the city's policy "cruel and unusual punishment."Boise, the capital of Idaho, fined or jailed homeless people for sleeping in public, contending the policy was needed to prevent unsanitary and unsafe conditions from developing in the city. Six current and former homeless residents of the city, who were fined between $25 to $75 and served one to two days in jail, sued the city government in federal court in 2009.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, California, ruled in 2018 that Boise's policy violated the 8th amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling prevents cities from punishing homeless people for sleeping in public if there are not enough beds available at local shelters to house them."As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter," the court said in its ruling. The city of Boise maintained that it did not issue citations to people when shelters were full, and added that two of the city's shelters had a policy to never turn away a person in need of a bed.The state of California is currently in the midst of its own homelessness crisis, with 60,000 homeless in Los Angeles County and 28,000 in San Francisco.
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| The US military wants to deliver drinking water to troops in the desert by sucking it out of the air Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:32 PM PST  DARPA is trying to figure out how to extract water from the ambient air as a way to provide drinking water to troops on the move in really dry areas.
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| Philippine court dismisses case seeking $3.9 billion of Marcos wealth Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:14 AM PST  A Philippine court threw out a high-profile, 32-year-old forfeiture case on Monday involving the family of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, citing insufficient evidence to order the return of $3.9 billion of allegedly ill-gotten wealth. The country's anti-graft court decided in favor of the Marcoses for the fourth time since August, with judges ruling that photocopied documents could not be used as evidence, so the case would not proceed. It has been referred to widely as the "mother" of cases in a three-decade effort by a special presidential panel to recover an estimated $10 billion allegedly siphoned off by Marcos and a family that had lived lavishly during his 20 years in power, 14 of which were ruled under martial law.
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| Police: Elected official's wife dumped drink on reporter Posted: 16 Dec 2019 08:50 AM PST  The wife of a local elected official in Georgia faces criminal charges after she reportedly dumped a drink on a reporter's head at a county meeting. Abbey Winters, the wife of Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters, intentionally poured a drink over the head of AllOnGeorgia reporter Casie Bryant just before a county budget meeting was to start around 11 a.m. Friday, witnesses told police. Winters, 35, "said something to the effect of the Victim 'deserved it,'" according to the incident report from the Summerville Police Department.
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| India protests spread over 'anti-Muslim' law Posted: 15 Dec 2019 09:49 PM PST  Fresh protests were expected across India on Monday over a new citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, after clashes overnight in the capital and days of unrest in the northeast that left six people dead. The bill fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from three neighbouring countries, but critics allege it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims -- something he denies. On Sunday evening thousands took to the streets in the northeast, the scene of days of rioting and deadly running battles with police, while other protests were reported across India in Delhi, Aligarh, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Patna and Raipur.
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| Starbucks apologizes for third 'anti police' incident in six months, this time in California Posted: 15 Dec 2019 05:20 PM PST  Starbucks apologized for employees' refusal to serve deputies in Riverside, California, the company's third such incident with police in six months.
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| Democrats prepare for final debate of 2019 Posted: 16 Dec 2019 05:53 AM PST  Seven Democratic presidential candidates will stand on stage this week in Los Angeles, a pool of survivors who have withstood almost a year on the campaign trail, sustained attacks from rivals in both major political parties and five rounds of high-pressure debates.
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| Florida truck driver arrested in 1980 Colorado killing Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:37 AM PST  A Florida truck driver has been arrested and charged in the killing of a college student working as an intern for a Denver radio station nearly 40 years ago, a break in the cold case that authorities on Monday credited to the analysis of DNA information shared on genealogy websites combined with old fashioned police work. James Curtis Clanton of Lake Butler, Florida, was arrested in the 1980 slaying and sexual assault of Helene Pruszynski, 21, after being surveilled by investigators for a week and extradited to Colorado over the weekend, Douglas County Tony Spurlock said. Pruszynski was from Massachusetts and had only been working as an intern at KHOW-AM for two weeks when she was killed on Jan. 16, 1980, Spurlock said.
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| Zimbabwe Vice President’s Wife Charged With Attempted Murder Posted: 16 Dec 2019 03:19 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterThe wife of Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who was arrested during the weekend over alleged fraud and money laundering, now faces an additional charge of attempted murder.Prosecutors accused Marry Mubaiwa of deliberately denying the vice president medical attention at the height of his illness and unlawfully interfering with medical procedures when he finally got to a hospital."On 23 June 2019, the accused kept on denying the complainant access to medical treatment and the security team had to force their way to take the complainant to Netcare Hospital," according to charges read out by Prosecutor Michael Reza in the capital, Harare.The Magistrate Court ordered Mubaiwa detained until Dec. 30 She was not required to take a plea during Monday's session.Chiwenga, a possible challenger to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, returned to Harare in November after spending months in South Africa, China and India seeking treatment for an undisclosed illness. The retired general orchestrated the army intervention that toppled former President Robert Mugabe and brought Mnangagwa to power.To contact the reporter on this story: Desmond Kumbuka in Harare at dkumbuka@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Dulue MbachuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Could This Be The End Of Iran? Posted: 14 Dec 2019 09:05 PM PST  Iran is facing serious internal and external problems.
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| A new Fox News poll found that a majority of voters think Trump abused his power and should be impeached Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:45 AM PST  Fifty-three percent of registered voters polled by Fox News last week said President Donald Trump abused his power, with 54% supporting impeachment.
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| Hong Kong’s freshman councilors get a crash course: City Gov 101 Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:36 AM PST  Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp won big in district elections. Now, incoming councilors have to translate their dreams into day-to-day decisions.
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| New autism guidelines focus on early diagnosis, treatment Posted: 15 Dec 2019 09:02 PM PST  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Monday issued its first new autism treatment guidelines in 12 years aimed at helping doctors identify at-risk children and getting them the care they need as early as possible. Since developmental delays are often present in very young children with autism, the report, published in the journal Pediatrics, urges doctors to check for issues during all well-baby visits and refer children for treatment at the first sign of an issue, rather than wait for a formal autism evaluation.
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| Turkey sends armed drone to N.Cyprus amid gas dispute Posted: 15 Dec 2019 04:57 PM PST  A Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus on Monday amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approved the use of the airport for unmanned aerial vehicles. It followed a deal signed last month between Libya and Turkey that could prove crucial in the scramble for recently discovered gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
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| The perplexing politics of Priyanka Chopra, who has been called 'hypocritical' for her patriotic statements Posted: 15 Dec 2019 08:37 AM PST  The actress has raised eyebrows with her politics, backing her native India at particularly tense moments with countries like Pakistan.
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| 7 years after Delhi gang rape, brutal India attacks continue Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:11 AM PST  Days after an alleged gang-rape victim was set on fire, a note was left at the family home of an 18-year-old set to testify in her own case against a man she had accused of rape. "Consequences may be worse than what happened in Unnao," the note read, alluding to the city in northern India where a woman was allegedly doused with gasoline and set ablaze by five men, including two she had accused of gang rape who were out on bail. Sexual violence against women and girls is so common in India, the case was given only a few lines in one of the country's leading dailies.
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| 5 Italian men sentenced to jail for rape of tourist in popular holiday resort Posted: 15 Dec 2019 07:55 AM PST  Five Italian men have been jailed for the gang rape of a British tourist in the popular resort of Meta di Sorrento, south of Naples.
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| Was America's M16 Rifle a Bad Weapon to Fight North Vietnam? Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:40 AM PST  A history lesson.
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| Trump said China would more than double its agricultural purchases from the US. Farmers are skeptical. Posted: 15 Dec 2019 10:44 AM PST  At a press conference Friday night in Beijing, China declined to confirm a farm purchase quota touted by the White House.
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| Nunes Urges Schiff to Accept the IG’s Findings on FBI FISA Abuses: ‘You Are in Need of Rehabilitation’ Posted: 16 Dec 2019 06:47 AM PST  Ranking House Intelligence Committee Republican Devin Nunes rebuked committee chairman Adam Schiff in a Sunday letter, telling Schiff he is "in need of rehabilitation" if he is to fully accept the Justice Department's inspector general report detailing the FISA abuses committed by the FBI during their Russia probe."After publishing false conclusions of such enormity on a topic directly within this committee's oversight responsibilities, it is clear you are in need of rehabilitation, and I hope this letter will serve as the first step in that vital process," Nunes wrote in a Sunday letter.After originally dismissing Nunes's concerns about the warrant process, Schiff admitted that the FBI committed significant errors in its application to the FISA court to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page."FBI and DOJ officials did not 'abuse' the [FISA] process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign," Schiff wrote in a memo last year, adding a claim that the warrant applications "made only narrow use of information from Steele's sources."However, the inspector general's report documented 17 "significant errors and omissions" in the process and said the FBI failed to inform the FISA court about the partisan origins of the Steele dossier, which they also failed to independently corroborate.On Sunday, Schiff said he "certainly accepts" that "the inspector general found things that we didn't know 2 years ago."Nunes commended Schiff for that acknowledgement, calling it "a valuable first step—a baby step, but a step nonetheless—in your rehabilitation.""As part of your rehabilitation, it's crucial that you admit you have a problem—you are hijacking the Intelligence Committee for political purposes while excusing and covering up intelligence agency abuses," Nunes wrote. "Rehabilitation will be a long, arduous process."The intelligence committee held an impeachment hearing last week and the lower chamber is expected to hold a full House vote this week to impeach President Trump over accusations that he engaged in a quid pro quo involving temporarily withheld U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Trump is accused of witholding the aid to coerce Ukrainian officials to announce the opening of a corruption investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
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| The New Worry for Iran’s Intelligence Services: Drug-Laced Cakes Posted: 16 Dec 2019 03:52 AM PST ![The New Worry for Iran's Intelligence Services: Drug-Laced Cakes]( "The New Worry for Iran's Intelligence Services: Drug-Laced Cakes") (Bloomberg) -- Already battling U.S. sanctions, regional isolation and unrest on the streets, Iran's intelligence services are dealing with a strange new threat: medicine-laced sponge cakes.Earlier this week, Iranian state TV reported that several cake factories in some of the country's southern provinces had been forced to suspend production after pills, including the narcotic-like pain relief drug Tramadol, were discovered in packaged produce.Health Minister Saeed Namaki said Sunday that the security and intelligence services had been enlisted to track down what he called a "network" believed to have contaminated the cakes at some stage. The incidents are being handled as "a security matter," he said, without speculating on the reasons for the sabotage."Fortunately there have been no deaths from the incidents of poisoning resulting from these cases," Namaki told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Tehran, the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency reported. "We're working day and night with various teams in order to identify the network." A total of 12 companies have received reports of their cakes or cookies being found to contain various medicines, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. A university lab in southern Hormuzgan province discovered 30 different types of drugs in the cases it examined, IRNA said.To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Mark WilliamsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Thousands of Gambians demand President Barrow step down Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:15 PM PST  Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Gambia's capital Banjul on Monday demanding that President Adama Barrow respect his pledge to quit after three years in office. The president, a relative unknown at the time, defeated former autocrat Yahya Jammeh in elections in the tiny West African state in 2016. According to the founding charter of Barrow's ruling coalition, the president was meant to lead a provisional government for three years and then call elections, and not stand.
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| Pentagon chief urges Iraq to stop attacks on bases housing U.S. forces Posted: 16 Dec 2019 03:14 AM PST  U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Monday urged Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to take steps to prevent bases housing U.S. troops from being shelled, a statement from the premier's office said. Esper's call came after a senior U.S. military official warned last week that attacks by Iranian-backed groups on bases hosting U.S. forces in Iraq were pushing all sides closer to an uncontrollable escalation.
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| Jaden Smith says people offered him food and asked if he was sick after his parents did a very public health intervention on their talk show Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:42 PM PST  The 21-year-old appeared on "Red Table Talk" and recalled the response he got from strangers after talking about his health on a previous episode.
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| Why South Korea's Marines Are Such an Excellent Fighting Force Posted: 16 Dec 2019 05:05 AM PST  North Korea should be wary.
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| How US Army engineers keep things working at the US's northernmost military base in the world Posted: 16 Dec 2019 11:35 AM PST  The location and harsh conditions they face mean Army engineers have to use special techniques to keep everything running properly.
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