| Trump's flip-flopping approach to Afghanistan has left him looking foolish and empowered the Taliban Posted: 12 Sep 2019 08:47 AM PDT  President Ashraf Ghani's government is in a dire state ahead of Afghanistan's September elections, not least due to Trump.
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| New US ambassador takes up post at United Nations Posted: 12 Sep 2019 09:32 AM PDT  US Ambassador Kelly Craft took up her post at the United Nations on Thursday, vowing to defend America's values and interests nine months after the departure of her high-profile predecessor Nikki Haley. Craft, 57, served previously as US ambassador to Canada where she was involved in negotiations on a new US Mexico Canada free trade agreement.
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| Mississippi man pleads guilty to cross burning, sentenced to 11 years in federal prison Posted: 11 Sep 2019 10:22 AM PDT  Louie Revette pleaded guilty in April for his part in burning a cross outside the home of a black family in Seminary, Mississippi.
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| Crisis at the boar-der: panic as Canadian feral hogs approach the US Posted: 12 Sep 2019 06:12 AM PDT  They are exceptionally large, often aggressive, can be difficult to track down and breed copiouslyAccording to USDA officials, sightings of feral hogs along the US-Canadian border have increased in recent years. Photograph: Rebecca Santana/APAmerica is facing a crisis at the border. It's just not the one you might have heard about. According to officials with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), sightings of feral hogs along the northern US-Canadian border have increased in recent years, and the prospect of the invasive species has wildlife experts worried.The roving swine have reportedly set their itinerary for Montana, according to the Daily Inter Lake."Multiple people say that if we were to design an invasive species that would do the most widespread damage, feral swine aren't too far off from being the perfect specimen," Dale Nolte of the USDA's National Feral Swine Program told the Daily Inter Lake. "It would be a disaster."The feral hogs can present all manner of complications for environments: they don't belong, are exceptionally large, are often aggressive, can be difficult to track down and breed copiously. There is also the potential they may carry diseases such as African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.Ryan Brook, a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan, told the Daily Inter Lake that the hogs are also capable of covering significant distances. "There is a general denial that wild pigs are a critical issue," he said.> Legit question for rural Americans - How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?> > — William McNabb (@WillieMcNabb) August 4, 2019As many on social media have been quick to point out, the prospect of a feral hog invasion harkens back to a short-lived but widely spread meme about the animals from August in which a man said assault weapons were necessary in rural areas throughout the country in order to stem the invasion. "How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?" he asked on Twitter.> OH MY GOD HE WAS RIGHT https://t.co/sjTbHWHsNo> > — National Security Counselors (@NatlSecCnslrs) September 12, 2019> He tried to warn us...https://t.co/jC37O0SyLm> > — incorrigible mozart stan (@TrevorWoggon) September 11, 2019More than 6 million feral swine can be found in 32 states in the US, according to the USDA, which estimates the annual damage they cause at over $1.5b.
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| Jeep's Hot-Selling Gladiator under Stop-Sale Order for Driveshaft Problem Posted: 12 Sep 2019 01:36 PM PDT  Jeep's Gladiator pickup truck has been on sale for just a handful of months, but it's already being recalled for a flaw with the rear driveshaft.
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| How to Settle the South China Sea Question Once and For All (China Won't Like It) Posted: 11 Sep 2019 07:57 AM PDT  Hint: it involves these missiles.
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| Parents of Georgia Tech student shot by police file lawsuit Posted: 12 Sep 2019 01:45 PM PDT  The parents of a Georgia Tech student killed by a campus police officer two years ago have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school, the university system and the officer. Authorities have said university police officer Tyler Beck fatally shot 21-year-old Scott "Scout" Schultz on Sept. 16, 2017. The federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by William and Lynne Schultz names Georgia Tech, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and Beck as defendants.
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| Echoing Trump, speaker at 9/11 ceremony questions Muslim congresswoman's patriotism Posted: 11 Sep 2019 11:22 AM PDT  A speaker at New York City's Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony on Wednesday assailed U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, a Muslim member of Congress who has often been the target of false slurs by President Donald Trump and right-wing media outlets. The speaker's remarks were an unusual deviation into partisan politics and religious division at the somber annual ceremony held at the lower Manhattan site where Islamist al Qaeda hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people. Called up to read some of the names of the victims, Nicholas Haros, whose mother, Frances Haros, was killed in the attack, falsely suggested Omar was confused about the nature of the attack.
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| Young man impersonating 81-year-old caught flying to New York with fake passport Posted: 11 Sep 2019 07:05 AM PDT  A 32-year-old man was detained at an Indian airport on Sunday after he was caught pretending to be an elderly man in a wheelchair.
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| These Are the Best Deals on Apple iPads, Watches, and Macbooks Right Now Posted: 11 Sep 2019 09:17 AM PDT |
| Ohio cheerleader bursts into tears as murder verdict is read Posted: 12 Sep 2019 01:31 PM PDT 
A jury found a former cheerleader, 20-year old Brooke Skylar Richardson, not guilty in the 2017 death of her newborn daughter. The jury found Richardson not guilty of aggravated murder, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter, not guilty of child endangerment and guilty of abuse of a corpse
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| Hong Kong Police Ban Mass March After Subway Station Fire Posted: 12 Sep 2019 01:59 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong police banned a planned Sunday march and gathering called by the organizer of some of the city's biggest protests, days after demonstrators set fire to a central subway station as the pro-democracy movement carries on into autumn.Police Commissioner Stephen Lo on Thursday cited violence around previous protests in the city -- with some demonstrators vandalizing public installations, blocking roads and setting fires, which caused injuries to protesters, officers and journalists -- in making the decision, according to a letter of objection issued to the Civil Human Rights Front. Police also said Sunday's location was close to "high-risk buildings" that could be subject to violence, including central government offices, the letter said.Co-vice convener Bonnie Leung told journalists that the group was appealing. Police said the result would be made known on Friday afternoon.The ban is the second issued to CHRF by police since it began organizing mass rallies in early June. Their events have been largely peaceful, though smaller groups of protesters have broken off and engaged in clashes with police in the hours following them, while violence has also marred some of the now near-daily protests organized by demonstrators online."In the past three months, most gatherings that were originally peaceful were easily hijacked by violent protesters and turned into large-scale clashes in no time," acting assistant district commander Kwok Chun-kit said at a regular police briefing. "The police has long respected the public's right to peaceful procession and freedom expression, but it also has social responsibility to maintain public security and safety."Some verbal and physical scuffles broke out during an afternoon sing-off between groups singing the Chinese national anthem and others who were pro-democracy and singing "Glory to Hong Kong," which some demonstrators see as Hong Kong's anthem, at the centrally located IFC mall, according to footage broadcast on Cable TV.Hong Kong on Aug. 31 saw one of its worst days of violence since the movement began, as thousands of people came out in defiance of a prior ban on a planned CHRF demonstration. People threw bricks and Molotov cocktails, setting fire to a huge road block in the city center. Police cautioned residents in some areas to stay inside as they used "appropriate force" to disperse the crowds.Small pockets of demonstrators also set fires, vandalized train stations and erected barricades in the city center this past Sunday -- including setting fire to an entrance at Central station, in a glitzy business and shopping area -- after a peaceful march by tens of thousands of people to the U.S. consulate in a bid to appeal to President Donald Trump.To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh, Colin KeatingeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Stowaway passengers killed in DR Congo train disaster Posted: 12 Sep 2019 11:42 AM PDT  A freight train derailed in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, killing between 10 and 50 people stowing away onboard according to conflicting reports, in the latest rail tragedy to strike the vast central African nation. Estimates of the death toll have varied widely.
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| Congress committee subpoenas Trump envoy to Taliban talks Posted: 12 Sep 2019 02:02 PM PDT  The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday issued a subpoena to the Trump administration's envoy to the U.S.-Taliban talks, demanding that he testify at an open congressional hearing next week. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., complained that the Trump administration was keeping Congress and the American people "in the dark" about negotiations with the Taliban, which have broken down. Engel issued the subpoena to compel Zalmay Khalilzad to testify Sept. 19.
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| Justice Department nears prosecution of ex-FBI official McCabe: sources Posted: 12 Sep 2019 12:09 PM PDT  The U.S. Justice Department moved closer to a politically sensitive prosecution of former top FBI official Andrew McCabe on Thursday by rejecting a request from his legal team to drop the case, according to two sources familiar with the investigation. The notice indicates that the department could soon bring criminal charges against the FBI's former No. 2 official, who has endured years of criticism by President Donald Trump after playing a key role in the investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia in the 2016 election. McCabe has said those attacks are part of an effort to undermine law enforcement and intelligence professionals.
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| Lou Dobbs Deploys Anti-Semitic ‘Tentacles’ Trope to Smear George Soros Posted: 11 Sep 2019 07:11 PM PDT  Fox Business NetworkDuring a Wednesday night interview with right-wing provocateur Michelle Malkin, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs smeared liberal Jewish financier George Soros with an anti-Semitic trope, claiming Soros' "tentacles reach out into various non-government organizations and nonprofits." Dobbs brought on Malkin, who recently told Fox News that Soros is funding the "illegal alien lawyers lobby," to hawk her latest anti-immigrant book, and it didn't take long for her to portray Soros as a "globalist" bent on destroying America's sovereignty."And George Soros himself… explicitly says the idea of sovereignty, something that so many of us who are children of legal immigrants, for example, respect as a fundamental precept for the survival of a country, sovereignty to George Soros is quote-unquote an obstacle," she said. "And he has created an entire infrastructure of tax-exempt nonprofits to do his bidding."Dobbs then took Malkin's comments a step further."It is extraordinary and I think most people, I'll include myself, cannot conceive of why a man would fund efforts that would work against sovereignty," Dobbs said. "Work against our laws—there are laws against illegal immigration—and to see his tentacles reach out into various non-government organizations and nonprofits that are working with everything from the Koch Brothers to the Southern Poverty Law Center, as you document through this book.""It is stunning to see how pervasive and how successful he has been with his strategy," he added.Last year, the Anti-Defamation League commented on the anti-Semitism behind many of the Soros-related conspiracies the right has spread for years, many of which have recently made their way into the mainstream. "Even if no anti-Semitic insinuation is intended, casting a Jewish individual as a puppet master who manipulates national events for malign purposes has the effect of mainstreaming anti-Semitic tropes and giving support, however unwitting, to bona fide anti-Semites and extremists who disseminate these ideas knowingly and with malice," the organization noted.Nazi propaganda, meanwhile, used images of a Jewish octopus spanning the globe and wrapping around political institutions during the 1930s. Neo-Nazi groups have continued to promulgate this trope in recent years, specifically referring to Jewish "tentacles."A frequent guest of Dobbs', Judicial Watch's Chris Farrell, was banned from Fox airwaves last year after he claimed migrant caravans from Central America were funded by the "Soros-occupied State Department," parroting the anti-Semitic smear of a "Zionist-controlled government." Two days after Farrell made his comments, an anti-Semite killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The shooter believed that Soros and other Jews were trying to replace whites through immigration.This also isn't the first time the "tentacle" trope has been used by a Fox host. Back in 2015, then-Fox News host Bill O'Reilly called Soros the "shadow puppet master" who "has his tentacles into political organizations."Meanwhile, Dobbs—who serves as an informal adviser to the president—was seen entering the White House on Wednesday afternoon.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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| Former Dem Gov Labels Warren ‘Hypocrite’ for Shunning Big Donors after Taking Their Money Posted: 12 Sep 2019 05:27 AM PDT  Ed Rendell, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, slammed Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) in the pages of the Washington Post on Thursday for touting her commitment to grassroots fundraising after pocketing millions in donations from the wealthiest people in the country."I like Elizabeth Warren. I like her a lot. Too bad she's a hypocrite," Rendell begins the op-ed.After praising Warren's ideological commitments and her efforts to increase consumer protections in the financial sector, Rendell takes his fellow Democrat to task for "trying to have it both ways" by claiming independence from high-dollar donors while surreptitiously relying on them.He cites a recent New York Times report which revealed that Warren transferred $10.4 million from her senate reelection fund into her presidential campaign fund, $6 million of which came from donations of over $1,000."The senator appears to be trying to have it both ways — get the political upside from eschewing donations from higher-level donors and running a grass-roots campaign, while at the same time using money obtained from those donors in 2018," Rendell writes.Rendell, who is backing Joe Biden in the Democratic primary, goes on to criticize Warren's characterization of a fundraiser he hosted for Biden in April as "a swanky private fund-raiser for wealthy donors" in a fundraising email she sent the day after the gathering."Well, I helped organize that affair, and I thought her attack was extremely hypocritical because nearly 20 of us who attended the Biden fundraiser had also given her $2,000 or more in 2018 at closed-door fundraisers in "swanky" locations," he writes.Warren continues to tout her commitment to grassroots fundraising and has not responded to Rendell's broadside. However, her allies in the media have defended her decision to rely on high-dollar donations as a pragmatic move that will enable her to reform campaign finance laws from within once she wins the presidency.
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| Iran detained 2 travel influencers who were traveling the country trying to 'break the stigma' around it with posts on YouTube and Instagram Posted: 12 Sep 2019 03:23 AM PDT  Jolie King and Mark Firkin were arrested in July near Tehran, accused of flying a drone without a license, the Iranian diaspora Manoto TV reported.
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| Donna Brazile sees 'good news' for Democrats in North Carolina special election defeat Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:10 PM PDT  The fact that Dan McCready came within 2 points of Republican Dan Bishop in a 'ruby red' district is a positive sign for Democrats, says Fox News contributor Donna Brazile, former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee.
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| Judge: Hastert victim broke terms of $3.5M hush-money deal Posted: 11 Sep 2019 06:58 PM PDT  A former student who Dennis Hastert sexually abused decades ago breached an unwritten $3.5 million hush-money agreement with the former U.S. House Speaker by telling family members and a friend about it, an Illinois judge ruled this week. Hastert's victim, referred to only as James Doe in filings, brought the breach-of-contract lawsuit in 2016 in a bid to force Hastert to pay the unpaid balance of the hush money, nearly $2 million.
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| Trump: 'Mr. Tough Guy' Bolton made 'very big mistakes' before being fired Posted: 11 Sep 2019 12:33 PM PDT  The president cites his differences with the man he picked to be his national security adviser.
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| Colombia's armed forces on alert over Venezuela military exercises Posted: 11 Sep 2019 04:58 PM PDT  The Colombian military is on alert in response to Venezuelan armed forces exercises along the two nations' border that Colombia considers an open threat, a senior military commander said on Wednesday. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered a series of military drills that began on Tuesday in response to what he called Colombia's planned aggression against the OPEC nation. "As for the exercises that the Venezuelan regime is carrying out ... we are on a special alert," General Luis Navarro told reporters.
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| This Is Life for Muslim-Americans 18 Years After 9/11 Posted: 11 Sep 2019 01:55 AM PDT  Tom Pennington/GettyWhen you speak with the author of a new children's book, you typically don't expect to hear words like "neo-fascist movement" or how the current U.S. president has "unearthed bigotry." But that was the discussion I had with Ibtihaj Muhammad, who made history in 2016 when she became the first American Olympic athlete both to wear a hijab and win a medal while doing it. (She won a bronze medal as part of the women's sabre team.) Her new book, The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family depicts an African-American Muslim girl wearing a hijab and confronting the challenges and celebrating the joys that brings.Muhammad recalled that as a kid growing up in New Jersey before 9/11, she was taunted for wearing a hijab, with one kid calling her head covering a "tablecloth," and said she hopes her book can help kids "feel strong in the face of being made to feel different."She added something that I know resonates with countless Muslim Americans today, "I believe it's a lot harder in this moment to be Muslim…than it was right after 9/11." I heard that sentiment countless times over Labor Day weekend at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention in Houston.It truly is a tale of two experiences for Muslims today. On one hand, Muslims in America are seeing our greatest successes ever in ways that can be objectively measured. There are now three Muslims in Congress, the most ever. Keith Ellison last year became the first Muslim American to win statewide office when he was elected attorney general for Minnesota. And more Muslim Americans than ever before now serve as elected officials from school boards to state legislatures, with historic wins in 2018 from New Hampshire to New Mexico to California.In the world of entertainment there has also been never before seen success. In 2018, Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim American to win an Academy Award for acting, which he repeated in 2019 with an Oscar for his performance in The Green Book. For years, the Muslim American community longed for a TV series focused on a Muslim family. That finally happened in 2019 with the critically acclaimed Hulu Series Ramy, starring Ramy Youssef, about growing up Muslim in New Jersey. There's also comedian Hassan Minhaj becoming the first Muslim American host of late-night show with his Netflix series, Patriot Act.Yet at the very same time there's a growing a sense of unease and even fear that something horrible is waiting around the corner for us. And I mean that last part quite literally, given the spike in hate crimes directed against the Muslim community since Trump first called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the United States back in December 2015 through 2018. We have seen our mosques firebombed and self-professed Trump supporters plotting terror attacks to kill American Muslims in places from New York to Kansas. (I was even the subject of death threats and an organized smear campaign by Trump-supporting Neo-Nazis, causing me to sue them in federal court.)And while it didn't occur in the United States, the white supremacist terror attack on a New Zealand mosque that killed over 50 Muslims sent shockwaves through the U.S. Muslim community, as did the man espousing white supremacist views who killed 11 Jewish Americans while they were in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. As one mental health professional explained to NPR recently about the rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes and rhetoric, "What is going to be the long-term impact of this persistent exposure to trauma that our kids are facing right now?" No one knows for sure, but there has been a documented spike in bullying of Muslim students in recent years. Consider for a moment what it would feel like to be part of a faith community that the man in the White House declares he wants to ban from our nation and that other GOP elected officials have demonized over the years amidst plots to murder people in your community. Add to that Trump's recent attacks on the two female Muslim members of Congress, Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, urging them to go back to their own country. How would that impact your sense of being an other? Your sense of being unwanted in your own country? Despite the dreams of Trump and people like him, we as a community aren't going anywhere. Muslims were here before the United States and literally help build this country, given that 10 to 15 percent of African slaves were Muslims. And we are a growing community; as Pew notes, by 2040 Muslims are expected to be the second largest faith group in the country, behind Christians and moving ahead of Jews.The future for our community in the near term, however, will likely be more of what we've seen recently. The hope, though, is that in the long run the best of times will eclipse the worst. 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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| A Sleepy Giant Seal Helped Foil an International Drug Smuggling Operation in Australia Posted: 12 Sep 2019 10:30 AM PDT  The seal just wanted to sleep in peace
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| Foxconn Billionaire Clears Path for Taiwan Presidential Run Posted: 12 Sep 2019 02:19 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology Group, threatened to throw Taiwan's presidential race into turmoil as he took a key step toward running as an independent.Gou withdrew Thursday from the opposition Kuomintang, a necessary precursor to mounting a third-party challenge against President Tsai Ing-wen. The move came despite a last-minute plea from senior KMT leaders including Tsai's predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou, for Gou to back their nominee and help return the China-friendly party to power. Gou has until Tuesday to apply to run in the Jan. 11 election."I know I'm doing the right thing, something major that will turn around Taiwan's destiny," Gou said in a statement. Gou's candidacy would shake-up Taiwan's political landscape, undercut KMT challenger Han Kuo-yu's effort to unseat Tsai and potentially weaken both dominant parties. A three-way race could be a hard-fought affair, with Tsai leading with 33.7% of support, compared with 28.9% for Han and 25.6% for Gou, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Apple Daily newspaper.Since both Gou and Han support closer ties with China -- always Taiwan's most contentious wedge issue -- the Foxconn founder could complicate the KMT's bid to oust Tsai and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. Tsai has been dogged by an increasingly assertive Beijing, which has been angered by her refusal to accept the Communist Party's bottom line that both sides belong to "one China.""The KMT will be substantially impacted by Gou's declaration to run," said Stephen Tan, president of the Taipei-based Cross-Strait Policy Association. "Although Gou will run as an independent, his constituents have been mainly the 'blue' voters and the moderates whom KMT is working hard to seek for support."Taiwan's Tsai Rises From Ashes With a Hand From Hong KongGou has continued to publicly flirt with the idea of a presidential bid despite losing the KMT primary to Han in July. The firebrand Kaohsiung mayor has become one the island's best-known -- and most divisive -- political leaders since his surprise win in the DPP's southern stronghold in November.Han said he regretted Gou's move to withdraw from the KMT. Ma, the former president, and KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih were among several senior opposition figures who published advertisements in newspapers earlier Thursday urging Gou to support their nominee.Gou built Foxconn from a maker of television knobs into a global powerhouse that is now Apple's biggest supplier and China's largest private employer. He also has ties to President Donald Trump, meeting the U.S. leader at the White House in May, weeks before stepping down as chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Foxconn's main listed arm.Shares in companies Gou controls rose after he quit the party Thursday, with FIH Mobile Ltd. surging more than 15% in Hong Kong and the group flagship Hon Hai rising 2% in Taipei.Hong Kong Immigration to Taiwan Surges as Protests Grind OnGou has been sending signals that he might mount an independent run for weeks, although he'll still need to collect around 280,000 signatures to get on the ballot. After assembling a campaign team, he confirmed last month that he was considering breaking from the KMT for a stand-alone bid."This conservative, hidebound party leadership is putting their own interests ahead of their party's and the party's interests ahead of the nation's," Gou's spokesman, Evelyn Tsai, told reporters Thursday. "Mr. Gou won't miss this party."(Updates with Gou quote in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Adela Lin.To contact the reporter on this story: Samson Ellis in Taipei at sellis29@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, ;John Liu at jliu42@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Hong Kong Protesters Paused Their Demonstration to Show Solidarity With 9/11 Victims Posted: 12 Sep 2019 05:13 AM PDT  Hong Kong protesters called off their demonstration on Wednesday to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks after the Chinese state newspaper predicted they would mark the day with terrorist attacks of their own.Thousands of protesters have occupied the streets and other public places for months to voice their opposition to Beijing's encroachment on Hong Kong's sovereignty but they stopped those efforts temporarily Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the victims of 9/11."In solidarity against terrorism, all forms of protest in Hong Kong will be suspended on Sept. 11, apart from potential singing and chanting," the protesters said in a statement obtained by Reuters.The decision to pause demonstrations was made after the Chinese state newspaper equated the protesters to the 9/11 attackers and suggested they would employ similar tactics."Anti-government fanatics are planning massive terror attacks, including blowing up gas pipes, in Hong Kong on September 11," the Hong Kong edition of China Daily said in a Facebook post featuring a photo of the attacks at the World Trade Center.The protests began in response to the introduction of an extradition bill that would have allowed the Chinese authorities to extradite Hong Kong citizens suspected of crimes to face trial on the mainland.Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam announced that she would withdraw the bill last week after temporarily suspending it in June in response to the public backlash. But the protests have grown in scope beyond opposition to the extradition bill; demonstrators are now demanding greater protections from police abuses and more democratic control over their government.
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| Russia Tries to Balance India and China Posted: 11 Sep 2019 10:05 AM PDT  With Russia moving ever closer to China, can Moscow manage to maintain its historically friendly ties with one of Beijing's prospective regional rivals?
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| Hundreds of Nigerians board plane to leave South Africa Posted: 11 Sep 2019 08:22 AM PDT  A group of Nigerians boarded a free flight from Johannesburg to Lagos on Wednesday, following a week of violence targeting foreigners in South Africa that has stoked tensions between Africa's two largest economies. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the flight, operated by the private Nigerian airline Air Peace, but Nigeria's government said it estimated 313 people would board. In total, 640 Nigerians living in South Africa had registered at Nigerian missions to take the flights offered by the airline last week after bands of South Africans launched violent attacks against foreign-owned shops and stalls, looting and burning the small businesses and attacking some of the shopkeepers.
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| Trump's immigration crackdown starts to gain traction Posted: 12 Sep 2019 12:04 PM PDT  With a little help from the Supreme Court and Mexico, US President Donald Trump's fitful crackdown on immigration is finally gaining traction. Trump has spent his entire presidency promising to stop illegal immigration, shut out asylum seekers and wall off the Mexican border. Undeterred, Trump has hammered away, making construction of a US-Mexican border wall one of his presidency's centerpieces -- and a key part of his 2020 reelection platform.
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| A pair US F-15 fighter jets came close to taking out a couple of free-falling skydivers at nearly 350 mph Posted: 12 Sep 2019 12:38 PM PDT  The skydivers, who were in freefall at 120 mph, caught the fighters on video passing beneath them at 345 mph, a UK air safety board reported.
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| 'Found my emails': Hillary Clinton flips through her emails at an Italian art exhibit Posted: 12 Sep 2019 08:27 AM PDT  The former Democratic presidential candidate flipped through thousands of her emails at the art exhibit in Venice, Italy. Afterward, Clinton told an Italian media outlet: "And anyone can go in and look at them -- there's nothing there."
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| Uber is sued over resistance to California 'gig' contractor law Posted: 12 Sep 2019 07:30 AM PDT ![Uber is sued over resistance to California 'gig' contractor law]( "Uber is sued over resistance to California 'gig' contractor law") A driver for Uber has sued the company for misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors, hours after California legislators voted to help thousands of those workers become, and enjoy the benefits of being, employees. The proposed class action filed on Wednesday might by Uber driver Angela McRay appears to be the first since California's senate passed landmark legislation that could affect workers in many industries, in addition to ride-sharing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. Governor Gavin Newsom supports the proposed law, which is known as Assembly Bill 5 and would take effect on Jan. 1, though it may undergo changes before it reaches his desk.
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| Oregon Babysitter Who Tortured and Sexually Abused 3 Sisters Is Sentenced to 270 Years in Prison Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:58 PM PDT  Babysitter Sentenced to 270 Years for Sexually Abusing 3 Sisters
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| Italian region offers €8,000 a year to newcomers prepared to move to dying villages Posted: 11 Sep 2019 07:39 AM PDT  One of Italy's smallest and least famous regions is offering newcomers a bounty of €8,000 a year to settle in villages that are in danger of dying out. The offer has been made by Molise, which is squeezed between the mountainous Abruzzo region and Puglia – the heel of the Italian boot. It is so little known that there is a joke among Italians that "Molise non esiste" – Molise does not exist. It used to be joined with Abruzzo but was carved off as an independent entity in 1963. The region wants to reverse the effects of decades of depopulation, which has left many villages bereft of inhabitants. There are conditions attached – the offer applies to settlements with a population of less than 2,000, and newcomers must set up and run a new business for at least five years. The coastal town of Termoli in Molise Credit: Alamy There is no shortage of places to choose from – of the region's 136 villages, more than 100 now have populations of less than 2,000. The initiative will be funded with €1 million from Italy's ministry of economic development. Approved by the regional government, details will be published in an official gazette on September 16. Prospective candidates will then have 60 days in which to apply. The initiative was dreamt up by Antonio Tedeschi, a member of the centre-Right regional government. "Our villages offer an excellent quality of life from an environmental and social point of view," said Mr Tedeschi. "You can live well here for a lot less than you would have to spend in the city." He wants to help villages like Pizzone, which is now down to just 300 inhabitants. All the shops have closed, leaving just a bar where locals can buy bread and milk along with their morning espresso or cappuccino. "Everyone is leaving. There is no future. The only businesses that are left are small agricultural enterprises that people inherited from their great-grandparents," Anna Laura D'Amico, whose family are from the village, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. "We really hope the project will work. This region deserves a lot better." Molise is Italy's second smallest region after Valle d'Aosta in the northwest, an Alpine pocket on the border with France. Around 40 per cent of Molise is mountainous, offering great hiking opportunities, and there are Roman ruins as well as villages that were settled by refugees from Albania in the 14th century. A medieval tower in Campobasso, Molise Credit: De Agostini Editorial Large parts of Italy struggle with the effects of depopulation, and villages have come up with a number of initiatives to try to address the problem. Some offer abandoned houses for a nominal price of one euro, on condition that buyers restore them to their former splendour, while others have invited migrants and refugees to settle to counter the effects of an ageing population. Across the country, the number of babies being born is at its lowest ebb since the unification of Italy in 1861. Emigration has also had a dramatic effect – there are an estimated 600,000 Italians living in the UK alone.
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| More States Hitting Electric Vehicle Owners With High Fees, a Consumer Reports Analysis Shows Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:01 PM PDT  A number of states are charging electric-vehicle owners fees that experts and consumer advocates say are higher than what the drivers of equivalent gas-powered vehicles are paying in gas taxes, p...
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| Severely malnourished teen's dad, stepmom plead not guilty Posted: 12 Sep 2019 08:11 AM PDT ![Severely malnourished teen's dad, stepmom plead not guilty]( "Severely malnourished teen's dad, stepmom plead not guilty") A severely malnourished 13-year-old boy fed a strict vegan diet of fruit and nuts by his parents and weighing just 65 pounds (30 kilograms) resembled a concentration camp survivor when he fled his family's home last month, an Ohio county prosecutor said Wednesday. "It breaks your heart," Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall said. The boy's father and adoptive mother, 35-year-old John Miller and 36-year-old Katrina Miller, of Crestline, pleaded not guilty Monday to kidnapping, felonious assault and child endangerment charges.
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| US says tanker spotted in Syria shows Iran deceitful Posted: 12 Sep 2019 01:48 PM PDT  The United States said Thursday that Iran had shown itself to be untrustworthy after a tanker apparently delivered oil to Syria in defiance of promises. "I think the importance here to our friends around the world in the international community is to note that once again you have been lied to and misled by the Iranian regime," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters. An Iranian vessel, originally called the Grace 1 and renamed the Adrian Darya 1, was held for six weeks by the British overseas territory of Gibraltar until authorities received promises it was not heading to Syria, Iran's main Arab ally.
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| Can the Pentagon Find a Way to Stop Chinese and Russian Hypersonic Missiles? Posted: 11 Sep 2019 11:00 PM PDT  A grave danger?
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| 2019 Toyota Yaris vs. 2020 Nissan Versa in Photos Posted: 11 Sep 2019 05:08 AM PDT |
| Elizabeth Warren Proposes Boosting Social Security by Hiking Taxes on the Rich Posted: 12 Sep 2019 05:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren released a plan Thursday to expand Social Security benefits by $200 per month with a payroll tax increase on incomes above $250,000, her latest attempt to court voters who want a larger safety net.Her proposal would impose a 14.8% tax on annual earnings above $250,000 (or $400,000 for joint filers), split evenly between employers and employees. It would impose a separate 14.8% tax on investment income.The policy, if enacted, would raise average monthly Social Security benefits from $1,395 to $1,595 if implemented in 2020, according to an analysis by economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics that was shared by Warren's campaign.It would index Social Security benefits to a faster rate of inflation and bolster benefits for widows and widowers and caregivers of children younger than six.Quiz: Can You Tell the 2020 Democrats Apart? All told, Warren's plan would extend the solvency of Social Security by about two decades to 2054, Zandi said."We need to get our priorities straight. We should be increasing Social Security benefits and asking the richest Americans to contribute their fair share to the program," Warren wrote in a post for medium.com, calling her plan "the biggest and most progressive increase in Social Security benefits in nearly half a century."Warren's proposal indicates how far Democrats have moved since 2011, when President Barack Obama offered to cut Social Security benefits as part of a "grand bargain" compromise with Republicans to reduce the deficit. It's in keeping with Warren's broader policy pitch to enhance the middle class safety net by taxing upper incomes.Her policy paper comes on the day of the third Democratic debate in Houston, the first time all of the four leading contenders will be on stage together.She follows rival Bernie Sanders, a fellow senator and rival for the Democratic nomination, who pushed for an expansion of Social Security benefits during his unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign. Legislation by Sanders to expand Social Security has been cosponsored by 2020 contenders Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.The Warren and Sanders plans are unlikely to become law in the near future as Republicans, who control the White House and the Senate, oppose raising payroll taxes and prefer to tackle Social Security's long-term problems by reducing benefits.To contact the reporter on this story: Sahil Kapur in Washington at skapur39@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Terri Lynn Hollis, 11, was murdered on Thanksgiving Day 1972. California investigators didn't give up on her case Posted: 12 Sep 2019 07:52 AM PDT  Investigators solved the killing of an 11-year-old girl in Southern California 47 years after her kidnapping through DNA evidence, authorities said.
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