| Trump impeachment narrative gathers steam as diplomats fill in details Posted: 16 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  The first week of public testimony in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump shed new light on the administration's efforts to procure a Ukrainian investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden.
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| NATO ally expels undercover Russian spy Posted: 16 Nov 2019 01:11 PM PST  In a rare move, NATO ally Bulgaria has expelled an undercover spy affiliated with the Russian military intelligence service, according to a Western intelligence source.
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| Michael Bloomberg issues first apology for 'stop and frisk' policy ahead of presidential bid Posted: 17 Nov 2019 04:46 PM PST  Michael Bloomberg has apologised for his endorsement of the stop and frisk policy utilised by police under his tenure as Mayor of New York.Mr Bloomberg has spoken negatively of the initiative for the first time, ahead of a potential bid for the presidency.
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| China's Inner Mongolia reports fresh bubonic plague case Posted: 17 Nov 2019 12:38 AM PST ![China's Inner Mongolia reports fresh bubonic plague case]( "China's Inner Mongolia reports fresh bubonic plague case") China's Inner Mongolia reported a fresh, confirmed case of bubonic plague on Sunday, despite an earlier declaration by the country's health officials that the risk of an outbreak was minimal. The health commission of the autonomous region said a 55-year-old man was diagnosed with the disease after he ate wild rabbit meat on Nov. 5. Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague globally and can advance and spread to the lungs, which is more severe type called pneumonic plague, according to the World Health Organization.
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| Massachusetts man arrested after son, 5, allegedly takes heroin to school and brags it makes him feel like Spider-Man Posted: 17 Nov 2019 03:31 PM PST  A father is facing drug possession charges after his son, 5, allegedly took heroin to school and said tasting it made him feel like Spider-Man.
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| Nuclear missile bunker: yours for less than $400k Posted: 16 Nov 2019 10:03 AM PST  Decommissioned nuclear silo accessed 40ft staircase leading underground was once home to US's largest intercontinental ballistic missile ever deployedAll this can be yours for $395,000. Photograph: Casey James with Luxe Realty PhotographyOne local newspaper described the sales listing, with calculated understatement, as a "mid-century fixer-upper": an underground bunker built to withstand a nuclear attack, and to house the fire power to retaliate.The decommissioned nuclear silo in southern Arizona was once home to the Titan II, the largest intercontinental ballistic missile deployed by the US Air Force.The inside of the decommissioned Titan nuclear missile silo in southern Arizona. Photograph: Casey James with Luxe Realty PhotographyThe silo's owner, Rick Ellis, told the Arizona Daily Star newspaper that he was selling the property because he's "bored".Ellis said he originally bought the silo to turn into a commercial data storage center because it is shielded from electromagnetic pulses that can scramble electronics, but his plans were waylaid by the economic recession. So far, he said he has rejected serious offers from a buyer who wanted to turn it into a greenhouse for medical marijuana and another who planned to use it as a porn studio.The threshold to tour the property is much higher than for a typical open house. Interested buyers must prove they have the money to cover the $395,000 cost and sign a liability waiver before descending a 40ft staircase into the bunker to tour the property.An aerial view of the nuclear missile silo. Photograph: Casey James with Luxe Realty Photography"Private yet not too remote," says the listing for the property, which includes more than 12 acres of desert.There are 18 decommissioned nuclear silos which surround Tucson and were operational from June 1963 into the 1980s. They were on alert to launch, or respond, to nuclear attacks with the Titan II missiles, which carried warheads with nine megatons of explosive power – the equivalent to a yield 600 times that of "Little Boy", the bomb dropped over Hiroshima.When the bunkers were decommissioned, the government demolished them, filled them with rubble and sealed the entrances with concrete.Another view of the nuclear missile silo. Photograph: Casey James with Luxe Realty PhotographyEllis took on a major excavation after purchasing the property, which still includes some original equipment such as floor-to-ceiling springs which isolated each level of the basement from seismic shocks and signs revealing the bunker's designated smoking area.Premier Media Group created a 3D tour of the bunker which showcases pools of stagnant water and the 6,000lb blast door which can be closed with one hand.For those who can't provide the paperwork necessary to tour the property, realtors Grant Hampton and Kori Ward recommend a visit to the nearby Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita, Arizona, which is inside a decommissioned silo.
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| Elizabeth Warren takes risk with ad blasting billionaires Posted: 16 Nov 2019 05:26 PM PST  Elizabeth Warren, one of the leading Democratic presidential candidates, has stepped up her assault on billionaires -- a rallying cry popular with her base, but one that could stymie her efforts to garner wider support among US voters. The one-minute campaign ad shows clips of several leading businessmen criticizing her plans for a wealth tax and predicting economic ruin if she is elected to succeed Donald Trump, a billionaire himself. Then the viewer sees Warren at a campaign rally, challenging America's most wealthy to pay up to help reduce income inequality in America.
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| The War That Made India a 'Great Power' (And Hurt Pakistan to This Day) Posted: 17 Nov 2019 10:00 AM PST  The 1971 India-Pakistan War.
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| Elephant dies in captivity after killing villagers Posted: 17 Nov 2019 10:33 AM PST  An elephant named after Osama bin Laden, the late al-Qaida leader, has died in captivity after he was captured following a massive hunt in northeastern India, officials said Sunday.
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| Can Pete Buttigieg win the presidency? Posted: 16 Nov 2019 07:15 AM PST  A poll released earlier this week showed Pete Buttigieg leading the Democratic presidential primary pack in Iowa for the first time. Can he really win the presidency?
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| Obama cautions Democratic hopefuls on tacking too far left Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:20 AM PST  Former President Barack Obama on Friday warned the Democratic field of White House hopefuls not to veer too far to the left, a move he said would alienate many who would otherwise be open to voting for the party's nominee next year. The centrist wing of the party has warned for months that a far-left nominee could alienate moderate Republicans and independent voters needed to oust President Donald Trump.
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| First African-American FBI agent finally gets recognition Posted: 16 Nov 2019 12:28 AM PST  There are no known photographs of James Wormley Jones, but there is a record of his hiring
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| Santa Clarita shooting: What we know about the Saugus High School suspected gunman, victims Posted: 15 Nov 2019 07:02 PM PST  Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, near Los Angeles, will remain closed Friday as authorities continue their investigation of a deadly shooting.
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| Three family murder-suicides within ten days shock Turkey as the country faces record unemployment Posted: 17 Nov 2019 09:31 AM PST  The deaths of three separate families within ten days have shocked Turkey as the country struggles with mass unemployment and a financial crisis. On Friday, authorities confirmed that a family of three had been found dead in their home in the central Istanbul district of Bakırköy, poisoned by cyanide. Police had entered the house after neighbours complained of a chemical smell. Bülent Kerimoğlu, the local mayor, said that the father, a jeweller, had financial troubles, and had poisoned himself, his wife, and his six-year-old child. It follows two similar stories involving cyanide. Earlier in the month, police discovered the bodies of a family of four, including a nine year-old daughter and a five year-old son, in their home in the southern city of Antalya. According to reports in local media the father, Selim Şimşek, left a note explaining he had been unemployed for nine months, adding: "I apologise to everyone, but there is nothing I can to any more. We are ending our lives." On Nov 5, four siblings aged between 38 and 50 killed themselves in their shared flat in Fatih, a conservative district in Istanbul, after leaving a note taped on their door reading: "Beware of cyanide. Call the police, do not enter." Turkish lira crisis sends shock waves on markets as defiant Erdogan prepares for more 'economic attacks' They were reportedly unable to pay their debts. Turkish media has discussed the incidents at length even though conversations about suicide are usually taboo in the predominantly Muslim county. The opposition Republican People's Party has said the suicides are the human cost of the country's slow recovery from its economic crisis last year, during which the lira plunged 30 per cent in value. Fuat Oktay, Turkey's vice president, said there was not enough evidence to link the suicides to unemployment, and pro-government media warned about the risk of news reports fuelling copycat incidents. Unemployment is still near record levels, and according to official statistics published last week, the rate rose to 14 per cent for August, or 4.5 million Turks, with youth unemployment at 27 per cent. Şeyfettin Gürsel, the head of Bahçeşehir University's Centre for Economic and Social Research Centre, describes the current rate of unemployment as "a real threat to the stability of Turkish society." This is the first time Turkey has faced such a sustained period of high unemployment.
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| Leading Muslim groups to challenge India holy site court ruling Posted: 17 Nov 2019 09:25 AM PST  Two leading Muslim groups said Sunday they will file petitions in India's top court challenging its decision to award Hindus control of a bitterly disputed holy site that has sparked deadly inter-religious violence. The Supreme Court ruled on November 9 that the holy site in Ayodhya, where Hindu mobs destroyed a 460-year-old mosque in 1992, must be managed by a trust to oversee the construction of a Hindu temple. A separate piece of land in Ayodhya would be given over to a Muslim group to build a "prominent" new mosque.
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| Why Russian Fighter Jets Are Threatening NATO In The Baltics Posted: 16 Nov 2019 12:05 PM PST  A Russian Su-27 recent intercepted an American F-15C.
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| Chuck Todd Confronts GOP Senator: You Blame ‘Everybody’ but Trump on Ukraine Scandal Posted: 17 Nov 2019 09:25 AM PST  A month after their explosive confrontation over impeachment and Ukraine, Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) were back at it on Sunday when Todd pointedly told Johnson that he seemed to "blame this on everybody" but President Trump.Johnson, who has previously said it made him "wince" when U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland said President Trump would release military aid to Ukraine when Ukraine moved to "get to the bottom of what happened in 2016," told Todd that he understood why Trump wanted an investigation."What I also know is when I sprung that on President Trump in my August 31st phone call," Johnson said on Meet the Press, "he completely denied there was any kind of arrangement—Ukraine had to do something before he released that funding."GOP Sen. Ron Johnson Loses It on 'Meet the Press': I Do Not Trust the FBI or CIAJohnson went on to further claim that during that late-August call with Trump, the president was "already leaning towards providing that funding on August 31" before grousing about the delay being made public."My guess is that if this never would have been exposed, that funding would have been restored and our relationship with Ukraine would have been far better than it is today," the Republican senator declared."Again, you seem to blame this on everybody but the president," Todd snapped back, prompting Johnson to retort: "I'm not blaming everybody else!" "You are! You are blaming everybody else for the reason why we're in this situation other than the president," the NBC anchor exclaimed. "Isn't the president's own behavior, which raised all of these yellow and red flags, isn't that why we're here?"The Wisconsin senator said he was "sympathetic" to Trump because he "has been tormented" since right after he was elected, causing him to take aim at the impeachment inquiry whistleblower's lawyer for tweeting about a "coup" days after Trump's inauguration.Todd, however, noted that while Johnson was fuming over early calls for Trump's impeachment, the Republican lawmaker himself was pushing for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's impeachment days BEFORE the 2016 election."Understand, that is before an election," Johnson responded, defending his 2016 remarks. "I am trying to hammer out the political difference before an election. By the way, I completely agree with that. We had been investigating the whole Hillary Clinton email scandal, the exoneration of her, you know, that was not an investigation to really dig out the truth."Chuck Todd Tells GOP Senator: 'Don't Gaslight Us' on Ukraine-BidenRead 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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| Crowd honors tree as Havana celebrates 500th anniversary Posted: 16 Nov 2019 02:10 PM PST  Hundreds of people in Cuba's capital stood in line to kiss, touch or walk around a towering silk floss tree Saturday in a nod to tradition as they celebrate Havana's 500th anniversary this weekend. The event comes as Cuba deals with an ailing economy and increasingly tense relations with the U.S., concerns that were briefly cast aside as residents prepared for a gala event Saturday night featuring fireworks, music and international dignitaries. "Havana grows, lives, sings, dances and dreams," said Félix Julio Alfonso, a professor who spoke before granting the public access to the revered silk floss tree.
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| Racist, anti-Semitic incidents prompt Syracuse to halt fraternity activities; Alpha Chi Rho suspended Posted: 17 Nov 2019 12:50 PM PST  Syracuse suspended a fraternity and halted social activities at all of them for the semester after a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents.
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| French interior minister blames protest violence on 'thugs' Posted: 17 Nov 2019 02:29 AM PST  French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner blamed "thugs" and "bullies" on Sunday for the violence that hit demonstrations the previous day marking marked the first anniversary of the anti-government "yellow vest" protests. "Yesterday, what we saw were few (legitimate) demonstrators but thugs, bullies and morons," Castaner told Europe 1 radio when asked about the violence in Paris on Saturday. Demonstrators torched cars and pelted police with stones and bottles and police fired tear gas and water cannon during the rallies to mark a year since the birth of the anti-government yellow vest movement.
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| Why serial killers kill Posted: 16 Nov 2019 03:55 AM PST ![Why serial killers kill]( "Why serial killers kill") There have been 220,000 unsolved murders in the U.S. since 1980. Are serial killers to blame? Here's everything you need to know:How many serial killers are there? Since 1900, there have been 3,000 identified American serial killers who've collectively killed nearly 10,000 people, says Dr. Michael Aamodt, who oversees the Radford University/Florida Gulf Coast University Serial Killer Database. The FBI defines a serial killer as someone who kills two or more people in separate events. About 32 percent of these killers, Aamodt says, did so for enjoyment (thrills, lust, and power); 30 percent for financial reward; 18 percent in anger; 6.3 percent to advance a criminal enterprise; and fewer than 1 percent because a cult put them up to it. Their favorite murder weapon was a gun (42 percent), although 6 percent preferred poison and 2 percent axes. About 52 percent were white, 40 percent black, and 6.7 percent Hispanic. Men outnumber women by a factor of 10. Samuel Little, a transient former boxer and career criminal serving time for two murders, was recently identified by the FBI as the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, after he confessed to 93 killings between 1970 and 2005.What makes a serial killer? Probably a combination of genetics and experience. Research shows that certain genes can predispose people to violence. (One gene, particularly, the so-called warrior gene, is present in about 30 percent of the population and has been linked to increased aggression.) Many serial killers also experienced childhood trauma or early separation from their mothers. As a consequence of that trauma or separation, scientists believe, they learned to suppress empathy or suffered damage to the areas of the brain that control emotional impulses. Serial killers often are loners who fear all relationships and seek to control, to destroy other people to eliminate the possibility of another humiliating rejection. Prolific arsonist Robert Dale Segee, who is believed to have killed 168 and injured hundreds more by setting a fire at a Connecticut circus in 1944, grew up with a dad who punished him by holding his fingers over a candle flame. Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed, dismembered, and partially ate 17 boys and young men beginning in 1978, said he did so "not because I hated them, but to keep them with me." Gerald Stano, who killed at least 22 women beginning in the 1970s, compared killing people to "stepping on a cockroach." Little said he got sexual pleasure from strangling women with his bare hands, and that by taking their lives, he came to "own" them.What role does society play? The teeming, impersonal nature of the modern world is fertile soil for creating serial killers, experts say. Five hundred years ago, the average citizen lived in a small community, traveled rarely if at all, and might have come into contact with 100 "strangers" over the course of his lifetime. By comparison, modern urban dwellers live amid "a sea of strangers," providing the consistent, impersonal interactions and anonymity that are almost preconditions for serial killing. Those who've studied serial killers believe that many are at least partly motivated by the attention and fame that mass media can provide mass murderers. As Dennis Rader, the self-proclaimed "BTK killer" ("Bind them, torture them, kill them"), put it in a letter to a TV station, "How many people do I have to kill before I get a name in the paper or some national attention?" He murdered 10 people during the 1970s and '80s in Kansas.How do they choose targets? Serial killers often prey on the most marginalized members of society. Little, for one, managed to evade detection for so long by preying on prostitutes, drug addicts, and homeless women. As he told New York Times reporter Jillian Lauren, "I never killed no senators or governors or fancy New York journalists. Nothing like that. I killed you, it'd be all over the news the next day. I stayed in the ghettos." Earlier this year, Bruce McArthur pleaded guilty to murdering eight men in Toronto's Gay Village -- many of them immigrants from South Asia or the Middle East who were not "out" to their families. Generally speaking, the majority of victims of serial killers are women (51.4 percent). African-American victims are over-represented (24 percent) relative to their proportion of the U.S. population (13 percent).How many are active? Data suggest that American serial killing peaked in the 1980s and has declined since then. The FBI says only 1 percent of murders today are committed by serial killers, and that it's harder for them to go undetected, because of DNA evidence, public cameras, stricter parole laws, and the use of databases. But Michael Arntfield, a retired police detective and author of a dozen books on serial killing, contends that the number of repeat killers active today is more likely between 3,000 and 4,000. He notes that the police "solve rate" for murders dropped from 91 percent in 1965 to only 61.6 percent in 2017, partly because mass killers are more sophisticated. Thomas Hargrove, who has created the nation's largest database of killings, also puts the number of active serial killers at greater than 2,000. "There are more than 222,000 unsolved murders since 1980," he said. "I'll say almost every major American city has multiple serial killers and multiple uncaught serial killers."The century of mass killings Many factors are credited with the growth in the number of serial killers during the 20th century. Some have cited the creation of the interstate highway system, which gave predators greater mobility and a vulnerable pool of victims -- hitchhikers. Historian Peter Vronsky says the growth of cities and surge in suburbs "led to a lot of transience, a lot of mobility, a lot of broken families, which is where many of these people came from." But Vronsky also says the savagery of World Wars I and II might have contributed as well. He says there was a bump in active serial killers in the years immediately after the First World War and an even greater one after the Second. The wars, he said, were "far more vicious and primitive than we have been able to acknowledge." Vronsky believes traumatized soldiers who had been desensitized to taking lives either became killers themselves or had a hand in raising them.More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Minneapolis Police Admit to Discovering 1,500 Untested Rape Kits, Spanning Over 30 Years, Found in Storage Posted: 17 Nov 2019 09:09 AM PST  "We had failure in terms of the auditing process of those kits"
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| Russia Loves the Impeachment Hearings Because GOP Is Parroting Kremlin Propaganda Posted: 16 Nov 2019 02:21 AM PST  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastAs Russia's state media watch impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald J. Trump they're loving what they see. They don't think the man they brag about getting elected is in much danger. They listen in delight as Republicans parrot conspiracy theories first launched by Russians. And they gloat about the way Trump removed U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, because they blame her for promoting democratic "color revolutions" that weakened Moscow's hold on the former Soviet empire. Best of all, from the Kremlin's point of view, they see Trump pushing Ukraine back into the Russian fold.Republicans Thought Yovanovitch Would Be a Pushover. She Beat Them Up InsteadSo while the historical impeachment inquiry, after two days of public hearings, has been deemed by some pundits to lack "pizzazz," the Kremlin is having a ball. Instead of disseminating their usual conspiracy theories, the Russians watch gleefully as the Republicans do that for them. From the long-debunked "Crowdstrike" cyber plot positioning Ukraine as the fall guy for what undoubtedly was Russian interference in the 2016 elections, to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories centering around Jewish financier and philanthropist George Soros, rivers of Russian dezinformatsiya are flowing down from the President of the United States and the GOP, through the impeachment hearings, to Trump's cult-like devotees. The Kremlin also enjoys the Trump-GOP treatment of the Mueller report as a colossal hoax, or even a joke, letting Russian President Vladimir Putin off the hook, and putting him in a position to make light of the whole matter.During a public appearance for Russian Energy Week, Putin "jokingly" promised to interfere in the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. Speaking at the Paris Peace Forum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged to "solve the problem" of the American elections in 2020. When President Trump pulled a news report out of his pocket at his Louisiana rally featuring the picture of Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko denying there was a quid pro quo of security assistance for an investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Olga Skabeeva, the host of Russian state television news show 60 Minutes, complained with sharp irony: "When we—here in Russia—were electing Trump, we were certain that to express his gratitude, he would carry a picture of Putin in his pocket." This desensitizing mirth mirrors Trump's infamous public dare: "Russia, if you're listening," but treating a serious matter as a joke does not diminish its real gravity.Russian experts and state media propagandists constantly reiterate that President Trump cannot and will not be impeached, because the Republicans are controlling the Senate. On 60 Minutes, Skabeeva mockingly told some sacrificial Ukrainian panelists: "We appointed Trump and you can't unseat him." Leading Russian state media outlets repeatedly publicize the name of the alleged whistleblower. State TV channel Rossiya-1 smeared Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as a Soros-linked architect of post-Soviet color revolutions. The co-host of 60 Minutes, Evgeny Popov, warned Ukraine of the threat if faces if it does not cooperate with Trump's demands: "If Trump gets re-elected, and you don't investigate Biden... [Ukraine] won't get anything from America. Not a thing."The Kremlin is eager to help Trump, in fact, because his presidency has proven to be exceedingly beneficial for the Kremlin—having brought chaos into American politics, undermined trust in democratic institutions, weakened transatlantic alliances, delivered Syria into the hands of Putin, Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, thereby elevating the international image of Russia as a global force to be reckoned with. State Dept. Aide Says He Overheard Sondland Tell Trump Ukraine President Would Do 'Anything'The ongoing impeachment inquiry is a twofold gift for the Kremlin. On the one hand, President Trump and the Republican Party are doing Putin's work by assailing U.S. intelligence agencies, career diplomats and institutions. On the other hand, the impeachment inquiry revealed an unprecedented rift between the United States and Ukraine—America's strategic partner that enjoyed decades of strong bipartisan support.Witnesses in the impeachment inquiry laid bare President Trump's reported indifference toward Ukraine's plight of deterring Russian aggression—treating this fledgling democracy as a mere tool for his personal needs, while disregarding national interests of the United States. The statement of State Department aide David Holmes revealed a candid assessment by Gordon D. Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, who surmised that President Trump couldn't care less about Ukraine or its war with Russia. Holmes wrote in his opening statement that—according to Ambassador Sondland—President Trump "did not give a s--t about Ukraine," concerning himself instead with "big stuff" that could benefit him personally, "like the Biden investigation."In stark contrast to Trump's ambivalence, Putin hungers after the restoration of Russia's control and influence over Ukraine. As the late Zbigniew Brzezinski once said, "Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire." During National Security Council staffer Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's deposition in the ongoing impeachment probe, he reaffirmed a geopolitical reality that none of Russia's post-Soviet neighbors are of greater significance than Ukraine. Putin could not possibly envision a sweeter gift than Ukraine falling away from the West into the welcoming—albeit bloodied—hands of the Kremlin. Popov on 60 Minutes urged all Ukrainians to "finally sober up and understand that the only country willing to lovingly cover Ukraine with its nuclear shield is Russia." (Note that when the Soviet empire collapsed, Ukraine was left with a substantial nuclear arsenal which it gave up in exchange for an agreement with Russia that its territorial integrity would remain inviolable—an agreement Putin trampled on when he annexed Crimea and launched the war in eastern Ukraine.)During a press conference at the BRICS Summit (an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on Thursday, Putin told Ukrainians: "Don't look for happiness overseas, don't look across the oceans... but make deals with your neighbors."Using the treasure trove of documents released during the impeachment inquiry, Russia's master propagandists are weaponizing the information to demoralize the Ukrainians. State TV hosts, experts and talking heads are browbeating visiting Ukrainian guests and audiences by painting a picture where the West is merely using Ukraine for its own ends—predicting Trump will soon abandon the country just as he did America's Kurdish allies in Syria. There is a common thread permeating the Russian media blitz: Ukraine is all alone and has nowhere left to turn, except to Russia."Everyone is laughing at you," scoffed Skabeeva, addressing a Ukrainian panelist on 60 Minutes. Maksim Yusin, the editor of international politics at the leading Russian business daily Kommersant exclaimed, "Ukraine is toxic, everyone will want to avoid it now." When Ukrainian panelist Alexander Goncharov said that his country is relying on the support of Republicans, the hosts and other panelists broke out in uproarious laughter. "Listen to Rand Paul," said the co-host of 60 Minutes, playing the clip of the Kentucky senator bluntly stating: "I wouldn't give them anything." The Kremlin is poised to reap more rewards from the presidency of Donald Trump—and suddenly, Ukraine seems to be within reach.Appearing on the Russian state TV program, The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, analyst Dmitry Drobnitsky said that Trump is fulfilling the dreams of anti-American strategists by withdrawing U.S. forces from the Middle East and retreating to domestic affairs. Drobnitsky predicted: "If Trump manages "to defeat his enemies and gets re-elected, he will start doing whatever he wants—and the world will see 'Trump unchained.' He will fulfill all of his promises." The host, Vladimir Soloviev, threw in another prediction: "And after that, his daughter will become the next president." The Kremlin sees another trump card in its future.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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| Officer in Louisiana won't face charges in 94 mph fatal crash Posted: 17 Nov 2019 08:53 AM PST  A Louisiana police officer who crashed a speeding car while off duty in 2017 will face no criminal charges in the death of a child.
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| Report: Prosecutor used daughter as bait to catch molester Posted: 17 Nov 2019 11:39 AM PST  A Northern California prosecutor used his 13-year-old daughter to lure a man back to the spot where she said he had molested her, so the man's incriminating actions could be recorded on video, according to a newspaper report Sunday. The suspect has been arrested but the Santa Clara County prosecutor is under scrutiny for possibly endangering his child, the Mercury News reported, citing police reports and sources familiar with the case. Ali Mohammad Lajmiri, 76, of San Jose is charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and false imprisonment.
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| Chicago teachers approve 'historic' contract that ended 11-day strike Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:20 AM PST  The Chicago Teachers Union voted Friday to accept a contract deal that ended an 11-day strike in the third-largest school district last month.
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| U.N. warns Bolivia crisis could 'spin out of control' as death toll mounts Posted: 16 Nov 2019 07:12 AM PST  The United Nations warned on Saturday violence in Bolivia could "spin out of control" following recent skirmishes between security forces and coca farmers loyal to ousted President Evo Morales that have left nine dead. Morales resigned under pressure from Bolivia's police and military last Sunday after evidence of vote rigging tainted his Oct. 20 election victory. The leftist and charismatic former coca farmer has since called his ouster a right-wing "coup" and decried growing allegations of repression by security forces under interim President and former conservative lawmaker Jeanine Anez.
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| There have been more mass shootings than days in 2019 Posted: 17 Nov 2019 12:03 AM PST  There have been more than 365 mass shootings so far in 2019
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| The Leonids meteor shower will send bright green shooting stars across the sky this weekend, early next week. Here's how to see them. Posted: 15 Nov 2019 10:21 PM PST  Sometimes the Leonids treat skywatchers to meteor storms, with thousands of shooting stars each hour. They glow green as their metals ignite.
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| US businesswoman says 'heartbroken' by Britain's Johnson Posted: 17 Nov 2019 06:21 AM PST  A US businesswoman at the centre of controversy over whether Boris Johnson showed her inappropriate favouritism amid an alleged affair said Sunday she had been left "heartbroken" and "humiliated" by the British prime minister. Jennifer Arcuri, who is accused of getting privileged access to foreign trade jaunts and grants when Johnson was previously London mayor, told Britain's ITV he was treating her like "some fleeting one-night stand". The technology entrepreneur said the British premier, now campaigning for re-election, had rebuffed her requests "for advice" after the scandal erupted in September and "hung up" on her.
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| Why Did a Russian Soldier Shoot Eight of His Comrades in Siberia? Posted: 16 Nov 2019 09:30 PM PST  Could it have been a hazing issue? Something more?
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| Impeachment: Trump abuses power by harassing, intimidating witnesses like Yovanovitch Posted: 17 Nov 2019 12:09 PM PST  Trump has a pattern of public witness tampering. Using his presidential platform this way may not be criminal but that is not relevant to impeachment.
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| Venice Is Flooding Because of Corruption Posted: 16 Nov 2019 02:09 AM PST  FILIPPO MONTEFORTEROME–In 1984, long before global warming and rising sea levels were common notions, Venice already was sinking. The future was so dire for the lagoon city that the local council voted to spend whatever it would take to study and then build a high-tech floodgate system to combat the rising Adriatic Sea. It took nearly 20 years and a starting budget of $1.8 billion to come up with the so-called "Moses" plan. The project is an acronym for Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico or Experimental Electromechanical Module, and plays on the name of the biblical figure who parted the Red Sea. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's then prime minister, inaugurated the project in 2003 with the promise it would be completed by 2011, which was pushed back to 2014, which was pushed back to 2016, and, at last check, to 2021. Had the project been completed in time, Moses' 78 massive mechanical gates might have limited this week's devastating floods, which inundated 85 percent of the city with a tidal surge that topped six feet, causing millions of dollars' worth of damage and putting ancient treasures at risk. Moses likely would not have completely kept out the surge, experts say, but it would have certainly done more than the alternative, which was to do nothing but tally the damage and wait for the next high tide.In the 16 years since the Moses plan was put in place, the budget to finish the project has exploded to more than $7 billion and continues to bleed money at a dizzying rate. Some of the money has gone to bad management or corrupt contractors who have swindled the builders. In July, workers discovered that the 156 hinges—each weighing 36 tons—on the underwater barriers that were supposed to last a century are nearly rusted shut after just a decade under water. The job was awarded to a company called Gruppo Mantovani, which won the $275 million contract without there being a formal bid. La Stampa newspaper reports that the company used sub-par steel and is being investigated. Replacing the hinges will take a further 10 years and cost another $34 million, according to the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, which is in charge of the project.More troubling still is that a lot of the money meant to finish the project has been siphoned away by rampant corruption. Several special funds fed by art lovers and patrons of the city that were meant to defray costs have disappeared into thin air. In 2014 after an investigation, Venice's mayor Giorgio Orsoni resigned and 35 people tied to the project were arrested for bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering. The investigation traced some $27 million that had disappeared from the Moses coffers to kickbacks from contractors and foreign bank accounts allegedly used to line the pockets of about 100 people. Venice 'on Its Knees' After Historic Floods Create State of EmergencyOrsoni was accused of taking illicit funds in exchange for awarding lucrative contracts to sub-par companies. In some cases, the contracts were never fulfilled or were allocated for studies or other non-construction-related projects that were never delivered. Investigators said Orsoni used the money to run a successful re-election campaign and buy votes. Charges against him were eventually dropped after the statute of limitations ran out. Giancarlo Galan, a former president of the Veneto region, was also placed under investigation, accused of taking $230,000 in kickbacks to speed up approval of contracts without going through the rigorous checks the Consorzio required. The hinge fiasco was approved under his watch. Galan spent a few months in prison after being convicted of the crimes, and is currently on house arrest. Even Giovanni Mazzacurati, the head of the Consorzio, was arrested, accused of creating a slush fund with money meant to finish the floodgate, according to Carlo Nordio, the prosecutor who helped uncover the scam. Mazzacurati was convicted of the crimes and died while on house arrest in September. But even if the gates are one day completed, they may already be obsolete. Back when city leaders decided to invest in the gates, St. Mark's Square flooded a handful of times a year. Now, water creeps over the canal banks more than 100 times a year. As it was planned, 78 bright yellow floodgates will rise to part the sea using a system of compressed air and water displacement in what will eventually be one of the biggest engineering feats of its kind. The rising sea would essentially fill compartments inside the gates which are designed to rise to about a 90 degree angle to cut off the sea from the mouth of the lagoon. As the water recedes, the gates would slowly lower down, spilling out the displaced water back to the sea. The gate system would be activated when the tide hits 3 feet 7 inches. Flooding last Tuesday night reached 6 feet 2 inches, which is the highest the water has risen since 1966, when it hit 6 feet 4 inches. And the system was designed to be used just 20 times a year, but thanks to the rising sea levels, it would currently have to be closed once a day during rainy seasons. Still the work goes on, and rarely smoothly. A test of the gates in early November caused such vibrations throughout the city that many people called emergency services to report what they thought was an earthquake. It was later reported that the gate testing hadn't been authorized because the work isn't close enough to completion and the rusty hinges could have caused a major maritime disaster had any snapped. No one has yet fully measured if those intense vibrations caused any structural damage to the buildings or in any way harmed the lagoon's fragile ecosystem. Venice has long been a city of vast contradictions. The very sea that makes it famous threatens it almost daily. But so do people. Only about 50,000 people live in Venice full time, though the city gets more than 36 million tourists a year. Giant cruise ships bring in huge numbers of tourists, all while threatening the vulnerable canals with the massive vessels. Overcrowding has long been an issue, but the city's economy is completely reliant on them to survive. So too, Venetians are understandably angry over the events of the last week. Not only are they aggravated by tourists who are taking smiley "acqua alta adventure selfies" in waist-deep waters while they bail water out of their shops and restaurants, they feel the whole country has failed them. Alessandro Morelli, the head of the Italian parliamentary committee on transportation, has dispatched a special team to study why Moses isn't running yet. "These delays are an embarrassment for all of Italy and we urgently need a solution," he said, stating what to Venetians has been obvious for nearly three decades.The current mayor Luigi Brugnaro on Friday took the unprecedented step of closing St. Mark's Square completely, essentially barricading the water in so it won't seep into the city as rains and strong winds started pushing the tides higher once more. Brugnaro said that the high tide has caused "apocalyptic damage" to the city. "The future of Venice is at stake," he said, adding that the damage will easily reach hundreds of millions of euro. That could be the understatement of the century. Tuesday night, just hours before the floods swept through the city, Venice's regional council met in the historic city hall on the Grand Canal where years earlier the decision to build Moses was taken. This time, they voted down a budget measure that would have helped the city tackle climate change—in part because of how much Moses has cost them. A few minutes later, in what seemed like a not-so-subtle message from mother nature, the ancient chamber hall was inundated with water for the first time in the city's history. 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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| Sheriff calls deadly shooting at Airbnb rental a ‘bloodbath’ Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:03 AM PST  Authorities in the San Francisco Bay Area are calling a shooting that left five dead during a Halloween party at an Airbnb rental a "bloodbath," where several partygoers were armed and some showed up looking for trouble. Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston said Friday that he knows residents in the plush San Francisco suburb of Orinda are on edge after the massive party on Oct. 31 and wanted to provide an update, although he could not yet say what sparked the shooting and who shot whom. Livingston said there is a wealth of evidence to process, including casings that littered the floors and countertops of the four-bedroom home with vaulted ceilings that hosted roughly 100 people that night.
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| Private zoo owner in Crimea pleads for public to take 30 of his bears so he won't have to euthanise them Posted: 17 Nov 2019 06:21 AM PST  The owner of a struggling safari park in Crimea is giving more than thirty bears to save them from euthanasia. Oleg Zubkov, the owner of the Taigan Lion Park near Simferopol, said he is seeking new homes for the animals because he can no longer afford to feed them. It comes after inspectors ordered the safari park, which is famous for its large collection of lions, found violations of veterinary regulations and ordered it closed for three months. Speaking on his Youtube channel, "the Lion Man," Mr Zubkov said he could not afford to feed and look after the animals without the revenue from ticket sales and was left with no choice but to find them new homes or put them down. "Twelve lions and tigers will be moved to other zoos shortly, and a final decision will be made about… shooting 30 bears from the park," he says in the video. "I've forced into these extreme measures because there are no other options left," he said. Oleg Zubkov with BBC television presenter Simon Reeve Credit: Jonathan Young Mr Zubkov said he had already fed several dozen of his Vietnamese pigs to the lions and tigers in a bid to cut costs, and that he had informed regional veterinary authorities about his decision to cull his bears. Valery Ivanov, the head of the state veterinary committee in Crimea, told Interfax no documents related to the killing of animals had been received. The Taigan Safari Park, which is home to 2,500 animals, was opened in 2012. Mr Zubkov also runs a second zoo, called Skazka, in Yalta. Both have been the subject of numerous complaints about the conditions in which the animals are kept, according to local officials. Last year Taigan was at the centre of a small scandal after one of the lions bit a 46 year old female tourist posing for photographs with the animal. Mr Zubkov's career has not passed without controversy Credit: Media Drum World / Alamy Stock Photo Mr Zubkov insists that his bears live in better conditions than in many other zoos in Russia, and that the biting incident was the only one of its kind. He has complained that authorities have been trying to shut him down ever since Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsular after Vladimir Putin annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. Mr Zubkov was an enthusiastic supporter the annexation at the time, and even featured in Russian television reports promising that his "fighting lions" would maintain order during the controversial referendum on "reunification" with Russia. In the months afterwards he made an unsuccessful bid to enter local politics and even tried to call Vladimir Putin during his annual phone-in show to invite him to the safari park. But by 2015 he had begun to complain that he and his zoo had become the target of a campaign of harassment by local officials apparently determined to put him out of business.
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| UPDATE 1-Belarus threatens to pull out of Russia integration deal over subsidy row Posted: 17 Nov 2019 02:45 AM PST ![UPDATE 1-Belarus threatens to pull out of Russia integration deal over subsidy row]( "UPDATE 1-Belarus threatens to pull out of Russia integration deal over subsidy row") Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday threatened to pull out of signing an integration deal with Russia next month if Moscow failed to resolve their dispute over energy subsidies. Russia has propped up its traditional ally with loans and subsidies to keep Belarus in its political orbit but now plans to phase these out to lessen the burden on its economy. Belarus previously said that it stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year from changes to Russian tax policy and has tried to negotiate compensation.
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| Epstein jail guards were offered plea deal: Sources Posted: 16 Nov 2019 07:43 AM PST  Federal prosecutors offered a plea deal to two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night that he died, but the officers have declined the offer, sources told the Associated Press.
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| Shock Poll Has Sweden Nationalists More Emboldened Than Ever Posted: 17 Nov 2019 04:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The leader of a party once shunned for its ties to far-right extremism is now riding a wave of popularity that he says may pave the way to a century of political dominance in Sweden.Jimmie Akesson, the 40-year-old head of the Sweden Democrats, woke up on Friday to news that his party was now polling as the country's biggest. At 24%, it's a few percentage points ahead of the ruling Social Democrats that have towered over Sweden's political landscape for most of the postwar era."We want to be part of shaping this country over the next 100 years, just as the Social Democrats have been doing for 100 years," Akesson said in an interview at the Swedish parliament in Stockholm. "We want political influence, and we want a significant influence."The kind of influence Akesson is talking about would mark an historic break with the balance of power in Sweden, where the political establishment once vowed to keep the Sweden Democrats out of any coalition. The more established groups on the right and left have pointed to the party's past ties to neo-Nazis and white supremacists in defense of their efforts to isolate the group.But that stance seems increasingly out of step with what voters in Sweden want. A separate poll from Sifo also out on Friday put support for the Sweden Democrats at 23%, the highest level ever registered by that pollster. While still trailing the Social Democrats, Sifo said the difference between the two parties was not statistically significant.As a result of the surge in popularity, some corners of parliament have shown signs of softening to the Sweden Democrats. The conservative-leaning Christian Democrats and the Moderates -- Sweden's biggest opposition party -- recently signaled an increased willingness to work with Akesson. In charge of the party since 2005, Akesson has been weeding out extremists in a process of self-gentrification."Voters are seeing us, perhaps not formally, but still, as part of a conservative bloc," Akesson said. "I think that makes them more willing to give us their votes. That's the main reason why this is happening now."The shift in Sweden's political landscape follows a punishing election cycle last September. The Social Democrats ultimately emerged as the victors, but only after four months of grueling coalition talks that resulted in a fragile alliance.In the meantime, the government has been accused of inaction in handling a growing wave of violence in the country. In late August, an 18-year-old woman was shot dead in Stockholm's Vallingby suburb, and in the southern city of Malmo another young woman was shot dead while carrying her baby. In the same city, a 15-year-old boy was shot dead outside a pizza restaurant.There has also been an increase in the number of bombings, prompting defense experts to compare Sweden with Northern Ireland in the 1980s and even contemporary Afghanistan.The surge in violence on the streets of some of Sweden's biggest cities has left voters angry. And the Sweden Democrats have been quick to respond; the party called for a vote of no confidence against the justice minister, which was backed by the Moderate Party.Though the motion was dismissed, the fact that the Sweden Democrats were able to team up with the largest opposition party for a key vote marked a "milestone," according to Akesson.Understanding Sweden's history with populism also requires taking a look at developments over the past decades, and more recently during the Syrian refugee crisis. The country's policy of giving permanent residency to Syrians landing on its shores backfired in 2015, when a spike in immigration became too much for the authorities to handle. The Social Democrat-led government of Stefan Lofven introduced border checks and has since toughened its rhetoric on immigration.Akesson is enough of a realist to know he's unlikely to achieve a formal collaboration with the parties that make up the conservative wing of parliament before elections due in 2022. But he says it's "clear" that the Sweden Democrats will be a more regular partner in legislative talks. Akesson said he has been concerned that his party could also suffer when rival parties emulate Sweden Democrat policies."That is something we have seen with the Moderates and more recently with the Christian Democrats," he said. "Social Democrats are sending mixed signals but they have a desire to appear tougher to stop bleeding voters to us. But I think we have been able to fend that off rather well."(Adds results of Sifo poll in fifth paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Rafaela Lindeberg in Stockholm at rlindeberg@bloomberg.net;Niclas Rolander in Stockholm at nrolander@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Niklas Magnusson at nmagnusson1@bloomberg.net, Tasneem Hanfi Brögger, Nick RigilloFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Huge Czech protest marking Velvet Revolution demands PM quit Posted: 16 Nov 2019 08:29 AM PST  More than 200,000 Czechs flooded central Prague on Saturday to mark 30 years since the Velvet Revolution toppled communism in then-Czechoslovakia, with protesters demanding that billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis quit over allegations of graft. Some demonstrators waved flags or brandished banners calling for Babis to step down and chanted "shame!" and "resign!". Czech police tweeted there were "more than 200,000 people while others are still coming" to the protest at Letna park in central Prague.
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| China's H-20 Stealth Bomber: The One Weapon America Won't Be Able to Beat? Posted: 16 Nov 2019 06:00 AM PST  Or just a myth?
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| Trump dismisses Mike Pence aide Jennifer Williams, who overheard Zelensky call, as 'Never Trumper' Posted: 17 Nov 2019 01:53 PM PST  In her testimony, Jennifer Williams said Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine's president "struck me as unusual and inappropriate."
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| Forgotten Genocide: How a Quarter of Europe’s Roma Were Murdered by the Nazis, then Erased From History Posted: 17 Nov 2019 02:18 AM PST  LONDON—It's impossible to fathom the scale of the depravity. An eyewitness account by a Holocaust survivor—unearthed for a new exhibition in London—describes the conditions in the "gypsy" section of Auschwitz as even more inhumane than the rest of the appalling facility."The conditions were worse than in the other camps," wrote eyewitness Hermann Langbein in 1945. "The route between the huts was ankle deep in mud and dirt. The gypsies were still wearing the clothes that they had been given upon arrival… footwear was missing… The latrines were built in such a way that they were practically unusable for the gypsy children. The infirmary was a pathetic sight."The Holocaust Didn't End with the Liberation of Auschwitz and the Nazi Death CampsThe report by Langbein, also a survivor of the Spanish Civil War, is just one of the sickening contemporary accounts highlighted in the exhibition Forgotten Victims: The Nazi Genocide of the Roma and Sinti at London's Wiener Holocaust Library (to March 11, 2020).Over 90 percent of the Roma held at Auschwitz did not survive the war.In total, it is estimated that up to half a million Roma and Sinti, the name taken by the nomadic people based in Germany, died during the Holocaust. Accurate estimates are impossible but that may have been a quarter of Europe's Roma and Sinti population.The plight of these people, commonly known as gypsies at the time, was overshadowed by the scale of the genocide perpetrated against Europe's Jewish community, but the Romani suffering was not simply eclipsed; it was systematically erased in the post-war period. Romani survivors did not qualify for restitution; the mass murder of the Roma was largely ignored at the Nuremberg trials; Germany did not formally recognize that there had been a Romani genocide until 1982.Like homeless and gay victims of the Holocaust, the Roma and Sinti people were primarily categorized by the Nazi killing machine as criminals or "asocials." For the tiny minority who survived, this meant they struggled to apply for compensation for their treatment in the same way as Jewish survivors.Despite the German authorities' failure to recognize this as another strand of genocide, there was plenty of evidence that the Nazis were applying similar twisted pseudo-science to portray the Roma and Jews as lesser people.The exhibition highlights the work of a man named Dr Robert Ritter, who was responsible for running the Racial Hygiene and Demographic Biology Research Unit from 1936. In 1941, he was promoted and also became head of the Criminal Biology Unit. Much of his work focused on trying to prove that the Romani people were racially inferior using a vast array of nonsensical and unscientific methods.He supported the sterilization of Roma women and expressed his concern about preventing intermarriage with other Germans. He was also personally responsible for identifying Roma and Sinti communities in Germany and Austria which were then raided by Nazis units who transported thousands to the camps.Ritter was never brought to trial. His racist project had obviously been influential among senior Nazi officials, however. In 1938, the head of the SS Heinrich Himmler wrote: "Experience gained in combating the gypsy nuisance, and knowledge derived from race-biological research, have shown that the proper method of attacking the Gypsy problem seems to be to treat it as a matter of race."It's utterly extraordinary that it took the German government until the 1980s to officially take Himmler's word for it: the mass execution of the Roma and Sinti people was a racially motivated genocide.It wasn't just within Germany; the Roma and Sinti people were largely left out of the picture when the world united to condemn the horrors of the Holocaust."There was no reckoning, no recognition," said Barbara Warnock, curator at the Wiener Holocaust Library. "At the Nuremberg war crimes trials, crimes against Roma weren't part of the indictments. There are some documents that were entered at Nuremberg that are to do with persecution against Jews that happen to mention persecution against Roma too but it wasn't something that was being particularly focused on or investigated even though people were aware of it. There's never been that big moment of acknowledgement."Warnock told The Daily Beast that there has been a historic and continued marginalization of Roma communities in Europe. "The failure to acknowledge the extent of persecution and suffering probably hasn't been helpful," she said.Documents that tell the typically depressing story of Hans Brann, a Roma survivor of Auschwitz, have been located by the Wiener Holocaust Library. He was one of just a couple of thousand Roma who entered Auschwitz and left alive.According to a police letter, the response to his restitution claim was to order a police inspector to investigate his claim, and prove that he was a criminal, not a racial victim. Not all of the documentation survives, but he must have been turned down because six years later Brann made the same claim of restitution. He had waited more than a decade for any recognition of the torment he had suffered.For the Roma people in Europe, the wait goes on. Recent years have seen crackdowns on communities in Italy, France and Hungary."Reflect upon the situation in Europe today," said Warnock. "A massive amount of prejudice and discrimination continues." 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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| Dubai Airshow opens as big Gulf airlines slow down purchases Posted: 17 Nov 2019 12:50 AM PST  The Middle East's biggest aviation event, the Dubai Airshow, opened Sunday without any major deals as flagship Gulf carriers rein back big-ticket purchases. In the only major announcement of the day, Boeing and Biman Bangladesh Airlines signed a deal for two 787-9s aircraft, which list at $292.5 million apiece. In contrast, there were $140 billion in new orders announced at the start of the 2013 airshow, but that was an era before global oil prices collapsed, sparking a slowdown in economic growth across the Gulf Arab region — home to the Middle East's largest carriers.
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| Child abuse victims should have right to sue paedophiles caught with images of them, children charities say Posted: 17 Nov 2019 01:30 PM PST  Child abuse victims should be given new rights to sue paedophiles caught viewing or sharing indecent images of them, children charities have said. The Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety (CCCIS) called for the initiative arguing it would act as a deterrent for offenders, who now know they are unlikely to go do jail, as it could mean potentially losing their homes and pensions if caught with abuse material. The CCCIS, which represents charities such as the NSPCC and Barnardo's, said those convicted of indecent images should also face a new automatic surcharge to fund the treatment and therapy costs of victims of abuse. The call comes as police have previously said they are struggling to cope with the now more than 5,000 arrests being made for indecent images every year. Police chiefs have argued that some paedophiles caught with indecent images could be dealt with by conditional cautions to lighten the caseload. John Carr OBE, Secretary of the CCCIS, said : "If you assume these offenders are rational, they must know that the chances of them being caught, convicted and sent to jail are very close to zero. "But if they knew that if they were caught their house, their car, their pension, their assets could be at risk as they are obliged to pay compensation to the victims, that would act as a major deterrent. "Why should the taxpayer pick up the entire bill (for victim treatment) if the guys who are responsible can fund it? We've got the phrase 'the polluter pays' - here we want the abuser to pay." Victims of child abuse can currently sue their abusers through the civil courts, however their rights regarding people caught with images or recordings of their abuse are far less clear. The CCCIS, said that explosion in abuse images being shared on the internet was causing long-lasting trauma to victims whose abuse had been recorded. Last year the US-based watchdog, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said it received reports of 18 million images worldwide being shared across major tech platforms, including 16 million just from Facebook. The CCCIS also argued an automatic surcharge should be levied on the growing numbers of people caught with images, on top of the current victim surcharge, which would fund care for victims. Currently all people convicted in UK courts pay a victim surcharge of up to £181, the proceeds of which are dispersed among various victims' charities. Mr Carr added: "The victims of sexual abuse are completely clear and know that those images are circulating on the internet and being downloaded. Some of these young people will have that pain and burden the rest of their lives. "That is a huge source of stress and anxiety for them, and so the who business of downloading needs to be discouraged and stopped."
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| UPDATE 2-HP says open to exploring bid for Xerox Posted: 17 Nov 2019 12:00 PM PST ![UPDATE 2-HP says open to exploring bid for Xerox]( "UPDATE 2-HP says open to exploring bid for Xerox") HP Inc said on Sunday it was open to exploring a bid for U.S. printer maker Xerox Corp after rebuffing a $33.5 billion cash-and-stock acquisition offer from the latter as "significantly" undervaluing the personal computer maker. Xerox made the offer for HP, a company more than three times its size, on Nov. 5, after it resolved a dispute with its joint venture partner Fujifilm Holdings Corp that represented billions of dollars in potential liabilities. Responding to Xerox's offer on Sunday, HP said in a statement that it would saddle the combined company with "outsized debt" and was not in the best interest of its shareholders.
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| Artificial Intelligence Can Now Predict When Lightning Will Strike Posted: 17 Nov 2019 06:58 AM PST  So, hopefully we can get out of the way before it's too late.
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