| Mueller witness bragged about access to Clintons secured with illegal campaign cash, says Justice Department Posted: 05 Dec 2019 11:38 AM PST  An emissary for two Arab princes boasted to unnamed officials of a Middle Eastern government about his direct access to Hillary and Bill Clinton while funneling more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to the 2016 Clinton campaign and Democratic fundraising committees, according to a federal indictment.
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| Joe Biden Challenges Iowa Man to a Push-Up Contest During Heated Exchange Posted: 05 Dec 2019 02:55 PM PST  Biden also called the man a 'damn liar' after comments about his son
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| Mom, grandmother charged in baby's overdose death Posted: 06 Dec 2019 04:24 AM PST ![Mom, grandmother charged in baby's overdose death]( "Mom, grandmother charged in baby's overdose death") Alexus Lorraine Taylor, 17, and Laurie Ann Taylor, 43, were arrested Thursday on charges including manslaughter and first degree child abuse resulting in the July 27 death of Niyear Taylor, news outlets report. Anne Arundel County police called to their home in Curtis Bay were told the baby was unreponsive and had been wheezing before he fell asleep the night before.
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| Giuliani Is in Kyiv; Ukrainian Officials Are Steering Clear Posted: 06 Dec 2019 02:21 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Rudy Giuliani, whose work in Ukraine is at the heart of U.S. impeachment proceedings, is back in the country -- and officials in Kyiv appear to be keeping their distance.People with knowledge of his trip say Giuliani flew into Kyiv from Budapest on Wednesday, the same day that U.S. hearings stemming from his shadow diplomacy in Ukraine kicked over to the House Judiciary Committee. Social media postings show him meeting with current and previous Ukrainian political figures as part of a cable news documentary series that's critical of the impeachment inquiry.But President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine won't be meeting with him, according to the president's spokeswoman. Igor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian billionaire who had ties to Zelenskiy, also said he wasn't planning to meet Giuliani. Zelenskiy's predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, met Giuliani twice in Kyiv in 2017; through a spokesman, he, too, said he had no plans to see Giuliani during his trip.Andriy Yermak, a key aide to Zelenskiy who figured prominently in the House's impeachment report, was in London for a conference on Ukraine. He also said he wasn't meeting Giuliani. "How can I? I'm in London," he said.Giuliani has been accompanied in Kyiv by Andriy Telizhenko, a Ukrainian who worked at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in 2016 and is the source of unsubstantiated allegations that his country interfered with the 2016 U.S. election.Telizhenko, who featured in the first episode of the documentary series on the One America News Network, declined to comment on the meetings, citing security issues.Others who have figured prominently in Giuliani's Ukraine overtures in the past year -- former prosecutors Viktor Shokin and Kostyantyn Kulyk -- didn't respond to requests for comment on whether they would be meeting Giuliani. In a Facebook post, Telizhenko said Giuliani would meet with Shokin and with former Ukraine prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko on Friday.Giuliani's decision to descend on Kyiv to meet with some key people in the impeachment saga comes after months of public testimony in Washington about his back-channeling in Ukraine. Journalists in Kyiv clambered to learn where he was holding meetings. A group of reporters rushed to the Fairmont Grand Hotel, which declined to comment on whether he was staying there.With his visit, Giuliani appears to be doubling down on his efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine on political opponents of President Donald Trump. He met, among others, with Andriy Derkach, a Kremlin-friendly Ukrainian parliamentarian who recently wrote a letter to Giuliani beseeching him to support criminal justice reform in the country -- an effort that could help Giuliani take on the mantel of corruption fighter rather than dirt digger.Meanwhile, Zelenskiy's government is pursuing its own anti-corruption efforts. Giuliani's visit to Kyiv coincided with a visit by Philip Reeker, the acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. On the same day Giuliani met with Lutsenko -- who is accused of corruption in the House impeachment report -- Reeker was meeting with Ruslan Ryaboshapka, Zelenskiy's new prosecutor general, to discuss changes to the country's law enforcement structures."The new prosecutor office will be oriented at society's trust," Ryaboshhapka's office said in a written statement. "It must be effective and fair."(Adds Telizhenko Facebook post in seventh paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Stephanie Baker in London at stebaker@bloomberg.net;Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey D Grocott at jgrocott2@bloomberg.net, David S. JoachimFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The Navy created incredible photos comparing Pearl Harbor today to the day of the Japanese attack Posted: 06 Dec 2019 10:15 AM PST  Composite photos made by the Navy show present day Pearl Harbor compared to the day of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.
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| Weather whiplash to bring warmup, heavy rain and flood threat followed by Arctic blast to Northeast Posted: 05 Dec 2019 09:25 AM PST  As the holidays approach and many may find themselves dreaming of a white Christmas, Mother Nature has a different idea up her sleeves. The weather pattern will soon be reversed in the northeastern United States, allowing wintry landscapes to transform into a sloppy, muddy mess instead.Forecasters are closely watching a storm system that is expected to take shape and track toward the Great Lakes early next week -- and it will be the player that will help to flip the weather conditions in the East. As wintry weather and yet another snowstorm are predicted for portions of the Midwest, surging warm and moist air will race out ahead of the system.Temperatures are expected to rebound to the 30s over the northern tier to near 50 F in parts of Virginia as a southerly breeze develops on Sunday.On Monday, temperatures are forecast to surge into the 40s across the northern tier and the 50s and 60s across part of the mid-Atlantic region. The warm air combined with rain will dissolve the deep snow over part of the Northeast, potentially leading to flooding issues for some communities. Recent storms have buried parts of New York state and central and northern New England under as much as 1-3 feet of snow in the last couple of weeks. A car makes its way through a snowy landscape in Highland Falls, N.J., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. The last of the snow is falling over parts of New Jersey after leaving behind power outages in the northwest part of the state. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) That snowcover contains a significant amount of locked-up moisture, called the snow-water equivalent.Within the existing snow on the ground, there is between 1 and 5 inches of water as of Thursday, Dec. 5.Many areas, including those places where deep snow is on the ground, may stay well above freezing Sunday night, which can allow the snow to soften up. This image was taken from the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. (NOAA) Some of the deep snow may harmlessly melt from Sunday to early Monday before the storm and its soaking rain arrives, but there is a risk that surging temperatures, moist air and drenching rain may cause a rapid meltdown of the existing snowcover from later Monday into Tuesday.Instead of releasing the 1-5 inches of water by itself, another 1-2 inches of water may be added in depending on the intensity of the rainfall that occurs. "Since the ground is not frozen, some of the melting snow and rain will be absorbed by the soil and should avoid disastrous stream and river flooding," Dale Mohler, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said.However, some quick rises on small streams are likely with minor flooding possible in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding during heavy rain or spring thaw events. Some of the rivers may surge to bank full as well."Even if only part of the snow melts and only a light amount of rain falls, piles of snow along streets and highways that are blocking storm drains can lead to urban flooding," Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said.Anderson said that property owners should make sure that runoff has easy access to storm drains ahead of the system's arrival to reduce the risk of flooding as a precaution."Even in some of the major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City where there is no appreciable snow on the ground, enough rain can fall to cause travel delays and ponding on roads that drain poorly," Dave Bowers, AccuWeather forecaster, said.Ski resorts in the region that have gotten off to their earliest start in recent years will take a hit from the storm. Those seeking ideal ski conditions are encouraged to hit the slopes into Sunday, before the rainstorm arrives.Along with bringing a swath of heavy snow to part of the Upper Midwest, next week's storm is predicted to unleash Arctic air in its wake later Tuesday and Wednesday. Remaining areas of slush and standing water can freeze as temperatures plummet across the northeastern U.S. There is a chance that the cold air may catch up with the back end of the rain and cause a period of snow at the tail end of the storm at midweek.Since the storm will be weak rather than strong, it's possible that a secondary storm may develop along the push of frigid air, according to AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno."I am pretty convinced that a storm is going to form along this boundary [between warmer air in place and colder air surging] into the Carolinas Tuesday night. Then, the question becomes does the storm goes out to sea and the cold front blasts out to sea? Or, does the storm have enough energy because of all of the energy associated with the jet stream that the storm strengthens? And, if it does, it won't go out to sea. It will come up the coast. If the storm does strengthen, you've got to worry about a snowstorm," Rayno said.The I-95 corridor of the mid-Atlantic and eastern New England could face snow if the latter and stronger scenario unfolds. If a weaker secondary storm develops, then it will likely push out to sea. If a secondary storm forms and it strengthens enough, it may bring snow to the Northeast. No indications are currently pointing to a big snowstorm developing and rather it could be more of a nuisance snowfall, according to Rayno.However, this type of weather pattern has yielded major snowstorms in the past, and meteorologists will have to keep a watchful eye on how all of the weather players come together, Rayno added.AccuWeather meteorologists are also tracking the potential for yet another significant storm toward the middle of the month, warning that it could be disruptive to the eastern U.S. Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| House Ethics Committee tells indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter to 'refrain from voting' Posted: 06 Dec 2019 04:37 AM PST  Rep. Duncan Hunter "should refrain from voting on any question," the House Ethics Committee said in a Thursday letter.
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| Six months of sacrifice: Hong Kong's protesters take stock Posted: 05 Dec 2019 07:45 PM PST  With Beijing taking a hard line, it has since broadened into a call to halt authoritarian China's attempts to erode freedoms in the city. Raymond Yeung, a liberal studies teacher at the elite Diocesan Girls' School, joined the movement early and was there on June 12 when a massive protest descended into violence. Protesters broke into the forecourt of the city's legislative building, throwing objects including metal bars at police.
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| Bloomberg on his Democratic rivals: 'Trump will eat 'em up' Posted: 06 Dec 2019 07:42 AM PST  Bloomberg, 77, a billionaire media mogul and former New York mayor, was a late entry into the race last month. At the same time, some Democrats have been unnerved by an uneven campaign performance from former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, while another leading candidate, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 37, is seen in some quarters as too young and inexperienced.
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| History Book Nightmare: Russia Could Have Nuked Away America's Submarine Fleet Posted: 05 Dec 2019 09:30 PM PST  By cutting off communications.
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| Feds: Over 60 Latin Kings members arrested along East Coast Posted: 05 Dec 2019 07:50 AM PST ![Feds: Over 60 Latin Kings members arrested along East Coast]( "Feds: Over 60 Latin Kings members arrested along East Coast") More than 60 members of the Latin Kings have been arrested on federal racketeering, drug and firearms charges, including the leaders of the street gang's East Coast operations, authorities announced Thursday. Among those arrested is Michael Cecchetelli, a 40-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts, resident with ties to the Genovese crime family who oversaw the gang's operations from Massachusetts down to Florida, according to Joseph Bonavolonta, head of the FBI's Boston office.
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| 19 unforgettable images from the Pearl Harbor attack 78 years ago Posted: 05 Dec 2019 02:03 PM PST  December 7, 1941 began as a perfect Sunday morning. These photos show the attack by Imperial Japan that changed history.
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| Mountain lion who killed dog prowls California neighborhood Posted: 06 Dec 2019 09:13 AM PST ![Mountain lion who killed dog prowls California neighborhood]( "Mountain lion who killed dog prowls California neighborhood") Authorities have warned residents of a Southern California suburb to take precautions as a mountain lion prowls neighborhoods after killing a resident's dog and injuring another pet. Mountain lions are an iconic native species in the region but face increasing problems as development, roads and highways fragment their habitat. "Although a beautiful animal, the Simi Valley Police Department recommends that if you live near the hills surrounding our city, keep your pets inside at night and be aware of your surroundings," a police statement said.
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| North Carolina GOP Rep Says He Won’t Seek Reelection After District Redrawing Posted: 06 Dec 2019 09:12 AM PST  Representative George Holding (R., N.C.) announced Friday that he will not seek reelection in 2020 after a North Carolina district reconfiguration put his seat in danger."I should add, candidly, that yes, the newly redrawn Congressional Districts were part of the reason I have decided not to seek reelection," he said in a statement. "But, in addition, this is also a good time for me to step back and reflect on all that I have learned."Holding, a former federal prosecutor who is wrapping up his fourth-term on Capitol Hill, added that he hoped to return to public office at some point in the future.> JUST IN: George Holding (R-NC) announces he's leaving Congress after redrawn map leaves him with a heavily Democratic district. pic.twitter.com/yX3tfxK1Sg> > -- Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 6, 2019Holding's announcement comes after a North Carolina panel of judges confirmed a GOP redrawing of Congressional Districts which likely cedes Holding's Wake-County seat to a Democratic challenge.According to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, Holding's seat has changed from leaning Republican to likely Democrat.Republicans currently hold 10 of 13 congressional seats in North Carolina, but were forced to redesign the map after state judges blocked the existing district layout for the 2020 elections, citing excessive partisan bias. Despite picking up two seats, Democrats remain opposed the new map over allegations it did not do enough to reverse gerrymandering.Holding is the 18th House Republican not to seek reelection, and the second in two days, after Georgia Republican Tom Graves announced Thursday that he would no longer run for office.
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| Hillary Clinton says Trump ‘shocked into silence’ by her offer of help after he won presidency Posted: 05 Dec 2019 03:54 AM PST  In her debut appearance on popular radio program The Howard Stern Show, Hillary Clinton said she stunned Donald Trump into silence when she offered to help him in his presidency.Ms Clinton has been on a promotional tour for a book she wrote with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, called 'The Book of Gutsy Women' and sat down with Mr Stern on Wednesday.
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| Azerbaijan plants 650,000 trees to celebrate poet - but green activists grumble Posted: 06 Dec 2019 05:46 AM PST ![Azerbaijan plants 650,000 trees to celebrate poet - but green activists grumble]( "Azerbaijan plants 650,000 trees to celebrate poet - but green activists grumble") Oil-rich Azerbaijan planted more than half a million trees on Friday to celebrate a 14th century poet, an initiative the government said would help tackle climate change but some environmental activists called "a waste of money". The Azeri ministry of ecology said 650,000 trees were being planted across the country to mark the 650th anniversary of the birth of Seyid Imadeddin Nesimi, whose work touched on the relation between man and nature. Countries from India to Malawi have launched large-scale tree-planting efforts, but scientists have warned that such initiatives are not a panacea against global warming.
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| Bloomberg says ending 'nationwide madness' of gun violence drives his presidential bid Posted: 05 Dec 2019 03:41 PM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday he wants to become president to end "the nationwide madness" of U.S. gun violence, calling it evil and saying he would allow its victims to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
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| St. Louis Woman Looked Up ‘What to Do if Your Husband Is Upset You Are Pregnant’ Before Her Murder: Warrants Posted: 05 Dec 2019 11:58 AM PST  Before she went missing last month, a St. Louis woman looked up "what to do if you husband is upset you are pregnant" on her phone, according to search warrants.Beau Rothwell, 28, reported the disappearance of his six-weeks-pregnant wife, Jennifer Rothwell, on Nov. 12, after she failed to show up for work at a chemical engineering firm. Two days later, authorities charged him with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with his 28-year-old wife's slaying. Rothwell is currently being held without bond after authorities on Nov. 19 located his wife's body—which was found after he gave up information on her location, police said.In the newly released search warrants obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, investigators say Beau Rothwell called authorities at 9:44 p.m. on Nov. 12 to report his wife of four years missing. He initially told investigators they had spent the night before watching cooking television shows together, and he had last seen her leaving for work the next morning.Charred Body Found in NYC Storage Unit Is 'Very Likely' Missing Mom, Police SayPolice later found her car parked with her cell phone inside about a mile from their home just outside Creve Coeur."She has not been seen or in contact with anyone since leaving her home. Jennifer has no history of leaving and is normally in contact with family members and friends on a daily basis," St. Louis County police said at the time of her disappearance.When authorities tried to search their home, Rothwell did not let police enter and barred them from looking at his car and cell phone. He also refused to give police a DNA sample, and immediately requested an attorney.As they searched the perimeter of the couple's home, investigators found various cleaning supplies, including rubber gloves and paper towels in a trash can, the warrants state. St. Louis County police told The Daily Beast in a statement video surveillance also shows Rothwell purchasing the supplies with a gift card and cash at Dierbergs grocery store on Nov. 11. "This purchase was oddly at a time during a major snow event involving dangerous driving conditions, and was also contradictory to Beau Rothwell's statement that he was home with his wife all night," the warrant states.Husband of Missing Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos Takes Stand in Civil Lawsuit Brought by Mother-in-LawOn Nov. 13, after obtaining a search warrant for the couple's home, detectives found "empty cleaning bottles, wet carpet soaked with bleach, large areas of blood in carpeting and underlying pad," police said. "DNA from the victim's mother and father was analyzed and is consistent with the blood found in the carpet," the warrant states. Detectives also described the home as having an "overwhelming" smell of bleach and other cleaners, adding that the drywall in the basement appeared to be damaged and contained samples of human hair. In the attached garage, investigators found a 2015 GMC Canyon pick-up truck that also smelled of bleach. The night, Rothwell was arrested on suspicion of murder. On Nov. 18, authorities found Jennifer in a wooded area during a six-hour search near Troy, Missouri. According to the Post-Dispatch, detectives found the 28-year-old naked and partially covered in branches and brush after her husband allegedly gave up information about her location. The medical examiner's office has not yet determined her official cause of death. 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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| Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to curtail another repo rate crisis, report says Posted: 06 Dec 2019 05:13 AM PST  Mnuchin told the House that he and Fed Chair Jerome Powell met multiple times to discuss liquidity concerns ahead of year-end reserve obligations.
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| Blind inmate executed in Tennessee for woman's 1991 killing Posted: 04 Dec 2019 10:23 PM PST  A blind prisoner convicted of killing his estranged girlfriend by setting her on fire in her car was put to death Thursday in Tennessee's electric chair, becoming only the second inmate without sight to be executed in the U.S. since the reinstatement of the nation's death penalty in 1976. Lee Hall, 53, was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m. at a Nashville maximum-security prison, corrections officials said. Hall was already strapped into the electric chair when the curtains were raised for the witnesses — which included family, attorneys and reporters.
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| Bombs Away! The Powerful B-52 Bomber Is Getting Even More Deadly Posted: 05 Dec 2019 02:00 PM PST  Time for an upgrade.
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| Thousands of Las Vegas shooting victims will have to split an $800 million settlement. Now, 2 retired judges have to decide which victims deserve the most. Posted: 06 Dec 2019 03:50 PM PST  Though $800 million seems like an enormous settlement, some 4,500 people joined the lawsuit against MGM Resorts. Some will need more than others.
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| Judge Allows Criminal Trial to Proceed against Pro-Life Investigators Posted: 06 Dec 2019 11:47 AM PST  A San Francisco judge ruled Friday that the criminal trial may move forward against the pro-life investigators who went undercover to record abortion industry executives talking about procuring fetal body parts.Judge Christopher Hite deemed the evidence sufficient to send to trial the case against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress, who are charged with nine felony counts, one count of conspiracy and eight counts of illegal taping. Six additional counts were dropped.Daleiden, 30, and Merritt, 64, several years ago surreptitiously recorded executives from Planned Parenthood and other organizations haggling about compensation for the procurement of fetal parts for researchers who request them.The Thomas More Society, representing the two pro-life investigators, announced the decision on Friday in a tweet.> BREAKING NEWS: 6 counts in David Daleiden's criminal case have been thrown out of court and 9 remain. Judge Hite deems the evidence enough to go to trial on 9 counts. More to follow!> > -- Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) December 6, 2019Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called the charges against the investigators "unfounded and outrageous" in a statement on Friday's decision, saying they "have nothing to do with violating privacy or video recording laws but everything to do with protecting the powerful and wealthy abortion industry.""The same year David and Sandra published their recordings of Planned Parenthood employees haggling over the price of aborted baby body parts, videos taken by undercover animal rights activists were praised and led to investigations of abuse in the poultry industry," Rose said.Last month, the jury in the separate civil case against Daleiden and Merritt handed Planned Parenthood a win under federal racketeering statutes, awarding the abortion giant over $2.2 million.
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| Trump orders Republican to block resolution recognising Armenian genocide: ‘I don’t know that it can be objected to much longer’ Posted: 06 Dec 2019 10:11 AM PST  Donald Trump has once again intervened in the US Senate's attempts to pass a bipartisan resolution recognising the Armenian genocide by directing a third Republican senator to block the motion.Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, was asked by the White House to block the resolution on Thursday, the senator said, just after the US president met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Nato summit in London.
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| U.S. Supreme Court takes up fight over Delaware judicial appointments Posted: 06 Dec 2019 11:25 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether the state of Delaware's system of requiring ideologically balanced courts is lawful. The nine justices will hear the state's appeal of an April ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of challenger James Adams. Adams, who wants to apply to be a judge, claims that his right to free association under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was violated by the restrictions, which stipulate that no more than half of the judges on certain benches can be affiliated with one political party.
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| Hong Kong police sound alarm over homemade explosives Posted: 06 Dec 2019 12:04 AM PST  Hong Kong's much-maligned police force provided a rare behind-the-scenes look Friday at its bomb disposal squad to show the potentially deadly destructive force of homemade explosives seized during months of protests that have shaken the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide. Other recent seizures in Hong Kong involved far smaller amounts, just 1 gram, of TATP, or tri-acetone tri-peroxide.
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| Indian rape victim set ablaze by gang of men on her way to court as outrage grows over violence against women Posted: 05 Dec 2019 10:12 AM PST  A 23-year-old rape victim is in critical condition after being set on fire by a group of men, including two of her alleged rapists, as she made her way to court in northern India on Thursday. It came after thousands took to the streets of several cities on Monday to protest the brutal rape and murder of a 27-year-old vet in Hyderabad and called for the rape cases to be fast-tracked and for rapists to be given tougher punishments. A June 2018 survey of 550 experts on women's issues by the Thomson Reuters Foundation found India was the worst country in the world for sexual violence against women. 32,000 rapes were recorded by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2017 although 99 per cent of attacks are thought to go unreported. India also ranked top for human trafficking for domestic work, forced labour, forced marriage and sexual slavery. The 23-year-old victim was on her way to catch a train to a court hearing in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh when the mob doused her in kerosene and set her alight. Activists burn effigies of rapists in Amritsar Credit: NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images Doctors treating the victim at the Civil Hospital in the regional capital of Lucknow said she had suffered 90 per cent burns and would be flown in an air ambulance for further treatment in Delhi. Police documents show the woman had filed a case with police in Unnao, alleging she was raped at gun-point in December, 2018. Her alleged rapist was released suddenly last week after securing bail, a police spokesperson said. It is not the first time that even the Unnao district has made headlines over a rape case. Women have taken to the streets to protest India's appalling record on women's rights Credit: SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images Police opened a murder investigation in July against a lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after he allegedly orchestrated a fatal car crash against a minor who had accused him of rape. During Monday's outpouring of anger, one member of parliament suggested that India's rape problem could only be solved by publicly lynching attackers. On Thursday, police in the state of Madhya Pradesh confirmed they had arrested a man on suspicion of raping and murdering a 4-year-old girl on December 1. Local media also reported a teenager was allegedly gang-raped and killed in the state of Bihar on Tuesday.
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| Another 1,000 truck drivers lost their jobs in November, and it's a chilling sign for the economy Posted: 06 Dec 2019 02:34 PM PST  After an uptick of 700 trucking payrolls in October, the industry slashed another 1,000 jobs in November.
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| Germany: 'No understanding' for Russia outrage on expulsions Posted: 06 Dec 2019 03:59 AM PST  German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff is urging Russia to support the investigation of a killing prosecutors say appears to have ordered by Russian or Chechen authorities, and says he has "no understanding" for outraged reactions from Moscow. Germany expelled two Russian diplomats on Wednesday over the brazen killing of a Georgian man on the streets of Berlin in August. German federal prosecutors said evidence suggested the slaying was ordered either by Moscow or authorities in Russia's republic of Chechnya.
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| India Is About to Start Targeting Citizens Without Proof of Ancestry Posted: 05 Dec 2019 03:09 AM PST  All voting-age Indians may soon be asked to submit government-issued ID to prove citizenship. That may be a challenge for women, religious minorities and members of oppressed castes.
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| A polyamorous 20-year-old is in a relationship with 4 men while pregnant with her first child. She says it's working. Posted: 06 Dec 2019 12:18 PM PST  20-year-old Florida-native Tory Ojeda is in a polyamorous relationship with four men and is expecting her first child.
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| Trump Administration Authorizes 'Cyanide Bombs' to Kill Predators Again, Months After Backlash Posted: 05 Dec 2019 02:42 PM PST  The devices have been used to poison thousands of coyotes, foxes and feral dogs to protect wildlife
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| Trump says the EPA is looking 'very strongly' at 'sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms' because people are flushing their toilets 10 to 15 times Posted: 06 Dec 2019 01:59 PM PST  The New York Times reported in December 2017 that Trump "has an odd affinity for showing off bathrooms, including one he renovated near the Oval Office."
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| Bloomberg says he shouldn't have called Booker 'well-spoken' Posted: 06 Dec 2019 12:03 PM PST  The New Jersey senator said he was "taken aback" by the former New York mayor's language.
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| China imposes 'reciprocal' restrictions on US diplomats Posted: 06 Dec 2019 01:19 AM PST  China on Friday said it had taken "reciprocal" measures against US diplomats in the country, ordering them to notify the foreign ministry before meeting with local officials. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Wednesday, which she said were a "countermeasure" to Washington's decision in October to restrict Chinese diplomats. In October, the US ordered Chinese diplomats to notify the State Department in advance of any official meetings with US diplomats, local or municipal officials, and before any visits to colleges or research institutions.
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| UPDATE 8-Indian police kill 4 men suspected of rape, murder, drawing applause and concern Posted: 05 Dec 2019 07:10 PM PST ![UPDATE 8-Indian police kill 4 men suspected of rape, murder, drawing applause and concern]( "UPDATE 8-Indian police kill 4 men suspected of rape, murder, drawing applause and concern") Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near Hyderabad city, an action applauded by her family and many citizens outraged over sexual violence against women. The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime after they snatched weapons from two of the 10 policemen accompanying them, said police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar. Thousands of Indians have protested in several cities over the past week following the veterinarian's death, the latest in a series of horrific cases of sexual assault in the country.
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| Florida Keys Deliver a Hard Message: As Seas Rise, Some Places Can't Be Saved Posted: 05 Dec 2019 05:15 AM PST  KEY WEST, Fla. -- Officials in the Florida Keys announced what many coastal governments nationwide have long feared, but few have been willing to admit: As seas rise and flooding gets worse, not everyone can be saved.And in some places, it doesn't even make sense to try.On Wednesday morning, Rhonda Haag, the county's sustainability director, released the first results of the county's yearslong effort to calculate how high its 300 miles of roads must be elevated to stay dry, and at what cost. Those costs were far higher than her team expected -- and those numbers, she said, show that some places can't be protected, at least at a price that taxpayers can be expected to pay."I never would have dreamed we would say 'no,'" Haag said in an interview. "But now, with the real estimates coming in, it's a different story. And it's not all doable."The results released Wednesday focus on a single 3-mile stretch of road at the southern tip of Sugarloaf Key, a small island 15 miles up U.S. Highway 1 from Key West. To keep those 3 miles of road dry year-round in 2025 would require raising it by 1.3 feet, at a cost of $75 million, or $25 million per mile. Keeping the road dry in 2045 would mean elevating it 2.2 feet, at a cost of $128 million. To protect against expected flooding levels in 2060, the cost would jump to $181 million.And all that to protect about two dozen homes."I can't see staff recommending to raise this road," Haag said. "Those are taxpayer dollars, and as much as we love the Keys, there's going to be a time when it's going to be less population."The people who live on that 3-mile stretch of road were less understanding. If the county feels that other parts of the Keys ought to be saved, said Leon Mense, a 63-year-old office manager at a medical clinic, then at least don't make him pay for it."So somebody in the city thinks they deserve more of my tax money than I do?" Manse asked. "Then don't charge us taxes, how does that sound?"She suggested the county could offer residents a ferry, water taxis, or some other kind of boat during the expanding window during which the road is expected to go underwater during the fall high tides."If that's three months a year for the next 20 years, and that gets them a decade or two, that's perhaps worth it," Haag said. "We can do a lot. But we can't do it all."At a climate change conference in Key West on Wednesday, Roman Gastesi, the Monroe County manager, said elected leaders will have to figure out how to make those difficult calls."How do you tell somebody, 'We're not going to build the road to get to your home'? And what do we do?" Gastesi asked. "Do we buy them out? And how do we buy them out -- is it voluntary? Is it eminent domain? How do we do that?"Administrators and elected officials are going to have to start to rely on a "word nobody likes to use," Gastesi said, "and that's 'retreat.'"The county's elected officials must now decide whether to accept that recommendation. The mayor of Monroe County, Heather Carruthers, said she hopes the cost of raising the roads turns out to be lower than what her staff have found, as the need for adaptation leads to better technology.Still, Carruthers said, "We can't protect every single house."Asked how she expected residents would respond, Carruthers said she expects pushback. "I'm sure that some of them will be very irate, and we'll probably face some lawsuits," she said. "But we can't completely keep the water away."The odds of the county winning future possible lawsuits over the policy are unclear. The novelty of what the Keys' officials are proposing is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that nobody can say for certain whether it's legally defensible.The law generally requires local governments to maintain roads and other infrastructure, because failure to do so will reduce the property value of surrounding homes, according to Erin Deady, a lawyer who specializes in climate and land-use law and is a consultant to the county on adapting to rising seas. But local officials retain the right to decide whether or not to upgrade or enhance that infrastructure.What's unclear, Deady said, is whether raising a road to prevent it from going underwater is more akin to maintaining or upgrading. That's because no court has yet ruled on the issue."The law hasn't caught up with that," Deady said.She said she thinks the county is within its rights to refuse to elevate the road at the end of Sugarloaf Key, so long as it's transparent about the rationale for that decision. "At some point, there's an economic consideration," she said. "We can't manage every condition."The debates over county spending and legal precedents will determine the future of Old State Road 4A, two lanes of asphalt tucked between mangroves that mostly obscure the water threatening it from all around. On a recent afternoon, the only signs of life on this road were the occasional passing car, along with the gates many of the road's few residents have erected to keep unwanted visitors out of their driveways.Henry Silverman, a retired teacher from Long Island in New York, bought a house on the southern edge of Sugarloaf Key 10 years ago. The building's first floor is 18 feet off the ground; a boardwalk cuts through a forest of mangroves to his boat launch. His wife, Melissa, said that when farmers burn sugar cane in Cuba, 90 miles to the south, they can see the plumes of smoke from their roof and even smell the sugar.Still, climate change is encroaching on their treehouse paradise. Hurricane Irma in 2017 blew out their screens and pushed water through the windows. Each high tide brings the saltwater a little bit closer, killing the palm trees under the deck and popping the wooden slats off the boardwalk. The couple used to fly down from Long Island in a Cessna, until one day the runway at the island's airport was underwater."What's government for? They're supposed to protect your property," Silverman said from behind the wheel of his shallow skiff boat on a recent afternoon.The couple listed the variety of jobs that depend on the people who live on this street: Landscapers, construction workers, caterers, carpenters, the restaurants up the road. "There's a lot of trickle-down," Silverman said.Still, he conceded that it might be difficult to generate sympathy among the broader public for the plight of this neighborhood. "Nobody feels sorry for anybody living down here," Silverman said, gesturing across the water to the gated mansions that line the shore.Mense, who lives in the last house on the road, suggested that officials focus instead on slowing global warming, without which no amount of adaptation will be enough for these islands."Maybe we should think about stopping, or trying to stop, the cause of the water rising," Mense said. "At what point will the road be high enough?"Others seemed resigned. Georgia Siegel, a 73-year-old yoga teacher who grew up in Buffalo, New York, and moved here 20 years ago, said that if the government decided this area can't be sustained, she would simply leave."What am I going to do?" Seigel asked, standing on the narrow beach in front of the home that she and her husband built. "It's a problem that's bigger than me."Not everyone was so sanguine about the prospect. A woman who lives in one of the more modest homes along this road, who asked not to be identified for fear that discussing flooding would hurt her property value, said she worried what the county's plans mean for her future."This is all I have," she said, gesturing to her house next to the water. "If that road goes under, I go under."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Germany's Merkel voices 'shame' during 1st Auschwitz visit Posted: 06 Dec 2019 02:31 AM PST  German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced a feeling of "deep shame" during her first-ever visit on Friday to the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Adolf Hitler's regime murdered more than a million people. Merkel noted that her visit comes amid rising anti-Semitism and historical revisionism and vowed that Germany would not tolerate anti-Semitism.
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| A day in the life of a Peloton instructor who wakes up at 4:30 a.m., takes his mini poodle to dog parks, and loves cookies Posted: 06 Dec 2019 08:10 AM PST  Peloton, a fast-growing fitness brand, has developed a cult following in part because of energetic instructors like Oliver Lee.
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| Purdue president apologizes for calling black scholar ‘rarest creature in America’ Posted: 05 Dec 2019 11:04 AM PST  Two weeks after he told students an African American scholar was the 'rarest phenomenon,' Purdue President Mitch Daniels retracted his statement.
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| Incredible photos show how the White House has celebrated Christmas through the years Posted: 05 Dec 2019 03:03 PM PST  The White House halls have been decked for the holidays every December since John and Abigail Adams held the first Christmas party in 1800.
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| Buttigieg: Trump Supporters are ‘At Best Looking the Other Way on Racism’ Posted: 05 Dec 2019 08:21 AM PST  South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg implied on Monday that supporters of President Trump tacitly support racism."Anyone who supported this President is, at best, looking the other way on racism," Buttigieg said at a South Carolina campaign event.This is not the first time that Buttigieg has made this comment. In August, the Mayor told CNN's State of the Union that a vote for Trump in 2020 would mean ignoring racism in the U.S."Do you think that it's a racist act to cast a vote for President Trump in 2020?" host Jake Tapper asked the candidate."Well, at best, it means looking the other way on racism," Buttigieg responded. "Basically, what [Trump] is saying is, I want you to look the other way on racism."Buttigieg began this week a four-day campaign tour of North and South Carolina and Alabama, in a bid to reach out to black voters. The Mayor was polling at zero percent among black voters in South Carolina in November, which according to some reports was due to concern over his sexuality."We certainly knew that there was an opportunity and a need to mix it up in terms of our style of engagement and our approach," Buttigieg told the New York Times on Tuesday.In an October debate, Buttigieg said he was the candidate "who can turn the page and unify a dangerously polarized country."The mayor is leading polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to hold primary caucuses. Nationally he remains in fourth place, well behind frontrunner Joe Biden and trailing progressives Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has complained that since Kamala Harris dropped out of the presidential race, the Democratic field has become much less diverse."We're spiraling toward a debate stage without a single person of color," Booker wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
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| Nepal makes first arrest over 'menstrual hut' death Posted: 05 Dec 2019 05:54 AM PST ![Nepal makes first arrest over 'menstrual hut' death]( "Nepal makes first arrest over 'menstrual hut' death") Police in Nepal have arrested the brother-in-law of a woman who died after she was banished to a 'menstrual hut', the first such arrest in the Himalayan nation as it seeks to end the practice. The body of Parbati Buda Rawat, 21, was found on Monday after she lit a fire to keep warm in a mud and stone hut and suffocated in Nepal's western Achhan district, the latest victim of the centuries-old, "chhaupadi" custom, outlawed in 2005. "This is the first time we have arrested any person in connection with a death under the chhaupadi custom," Achham's chief district officer, Bhoj Raj Shrestha, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
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| Banks gave $745 billion to groups planning new coal power plants: NGOs Posted: 05 Dec 2019 08:00 PM PST  Financial institutions have channeled $745 billion over the past three years into companies planning new coal-fired power plants, according to a report by environmental groups, who are urging global banks to stop financing the sector. The report's release comes as world leaders met this week in Madrid for a 12-day UN climate summit, where they are expected to hammer out some of the details of the 2015 Paris agreement.
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