| Republican ‘disturbed’ by Trump trial comment Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:42 AM PST  A Republican senator has said she was "disturbed" to hear her party leader say there would be "total co-ordination" with the White House during Donald Trump's impeachment trial.Alaska lawmaker Lisa Murkowski made the comment after Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, said he was working in "total coordination" with the White House on the upcoming trial earlier this month.
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| New wife, 26, charged with exploiting husband, 77, for money Posted: 25 Dec 2019 12:08 PM PST  Lin Helena Halfon was arrested earlier this month at Tampa International Airport. The Tampa Bay Times reported that when her husband, Tampa businessman Richard Rappaport, was notified by investigators about what his wife was doing, he said wanted to give his wife the benefit of the doubt, according to a warrant affidavit.
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| 2 passengers say they were sexually assaulted during their flights. They're suing the airline for allegedly ignoring their reports. Posted: 26 Dec 2019 08:16 AM PST  One woman alleged in the lawsuit that she immediately notified a flight attendant when she was assaulted, but she was not allowed to switch seats.
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| Australia braces for second heatwave as wildfires continue to rage Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:24 AM PST  A second heatwave is set to sweep through Australia in coming days, threatening to worsen an already dire wild fire crisis. This fire season more than four million hectares have been burnt in Australia, almost one third the size of England, destroyed nearly 1,000 houses, and has killed at least nine people, with one more missing. Over the past week South Australia endured four days of extreme heatwave conditions, pushing into the high 40s. 84 homes were destroyed since last Thursday and at least 2,700 animals killed as fires wiped out parts of the Adelaide Hills region. In New South Wales, approximately 100 homes were lost to bush fires over the weekend, but weather eased on Monday through to Wednesday, allowing firefighters time to establish desperately needed containment lines. More than 70 fires are still burning in New South Wales alone, with 30 uncontained. The last heatwave saw the record for the hottest average maximum temperature in Australia broken twice in two days, with 40.9 and 41.9 recorded back to back. In addition, record high individual site temperature set twice last Thursday, Eucla in Western Australia with 49.8C, and the South Australian Nullarbor weather station with 49.9C a few hours later. Professor David Karoly, a leading climate scientist at the CSIRO, the Australian government's scientific research agency, said the record spikes were way beyond what had been seen previously, and the cause is climate change. The fires have destroyed an area almost a third the size of England Credit: Australian Broadcasting Corporation "We're smashing the extremes by effectively a degree relative to the other cases because that's by how much the Australian temperatures have warmed," he said. South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are all expecting severe heat in coming days. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Richard Russell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the fire danger in Victoria would be very high across the entire state this weekend and was likely to be upgraded to severe on Monday when the heatwave peaked. "On Monday, temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees across the majority of the state, and 44C in the north-west including Mildura and Swan Hill... Very little rainfall is expected and unfortunately, yet again, we are facing that dry lightning risk and are looking at potential gusty winds," he said. Victorian officials are concerned that three large fires will worsen in the deteriorating conditions. In New South Wales, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rose Barr told SBS that a severe heatwave will start building over the next three days. "Between Thursday and Saturday we are starting to see severe heatwave conditions in the southern parts of the state, extending over a more significant area of New South Wales into the weekend and next week... Some areas are forecast to reach extreme heatwave conditions," she said. "With the increasing heat and winds, the fire danger will worsen into the new week, with Monday and Tuesday most likely to be the most significant fire weather days."
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| Watch the Tesla Cybertruck's closest rival execute full 360-degree turns from a standstill Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:51 AM PST  Video of the Rivian R1T truck performing the 360-degree turns surfaced months ago. The electric-truck startup is now officially acknowledging it.
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| Iran Can Really Build Submarines? Posted: 25 Dec 2019 07:00 PM PST  What does this mean for Middle Eastern security?
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| Serbs protest in Montenegro ahead of vote on religious law Posted: 26 Dec 2019 07:01 AM PST  Hundreds of backers of Montenegro's pro-Serb opposition took to the streets of the capital Podgorica on Thursday, rallying against a law they say would strip the Serbian Orthodox Church there of its property. Ahead of a vote on the draft Law on Religious Freedoms, expected later on Thursday or on Friday, Serbian Orthodox clergy and believers held a service on a packed bridge near parliament, watched by police who had sealed off city center roads and approaches to the government building. The law envisages that religious communities in the tiny Adriatic state would need to prove property ownership from before 1918, when predominantly Orthodox Christian Montenegro joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the predecessor of the now-defunct Yugoslavia.
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| Mexican Nationals Now Comprise Majority of Asylum Seekers on Southern Border Posted: 26 Dec 2019 12:52 PM PST  The number of Mexican nationals seeking asylum in the U.S. has risen dramatically over the last year as the number of Central American asylum seekers has fallen as a result of Trump administration policies designed to stem the flow of migrants.A study released last month by researchers at the University of Texas and UC San Diego found that over half of all asylum seekers on the southern border are now Mexicans, predominantly coming from the states of Guerrero, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Zacatecas, and Veracruz.Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, many pointed to cartel violence as the primary reason to seek asylum. Others referenced the Central American caravans that made headlines for passing through Mexico on the way to the U.S. border.Since Mexicans are exempt from the "Remain in Mexico" policy that constrains the number of central American asylum seekers, U.S. authorities have adopted a policy known as "metering" which admits only a relatively small number of of Mexican asylum seekers each day. Last week, Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced that Mexican nationals seeking asylum in the United States could be moved to Guatemala rather than being allowed to wait in the United States for their asylum claims to be adjudicated.The White House has been locked in a ongoing court battle over policies to limit the amount of asylum seekers, including requiring that migrants first apply for refugee status in Mexico, or whatever country they enter after leaving home, before seeking asylum in the U.S. The remain in Mexico policy has also been met with legal challenges. The Ninth Circuit is currently hearing arguments regarding the constitutionality of the orders, after the Supreme Court ruled in September that the remain in Mexico policy can remain in effect as legal challenges progress.More than 300,000 Central Americans entered Mexico illegally last year, 80 percent of whom were headed for the U.S. border, according to Mexico's interior minister, Olga Sánchez Cordero. The southern border has been overwhelmed this year with asylum applicants though numbers have waned in recent months following highs in the spring.Former acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan said in August that border crossings declined over the summer, with apprehensions dropping 43 percent since May, when arrests between ports of entry at the southern border increased for the fourth straight month to 132,887.
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| Israel's indicted Netanyahu faces party leadership challenge Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:16 PM PST  Polls closed in the race to lead Israel's ruling Likud party Thursday, with embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Gideon Saar set to find out who would take the party into March elections. Forty-nine percent of Likud's roughly 116,000 eligible members voted throughout the day, according to party figures. A defeat for Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier, would be a shock, but even a relatively close victory could weaken his influence over the right-wing party he has dominated for 20 years.
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| No sign of "Christmas gift" from North Korea yet, but deadline looms Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:09 AM PST  There's been speculation Kim Jong Un might test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
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| Texas migrant helper released from Mexico after detention Posted: 25 Dec 2019 08:04 AM PST ![Texas migrant helper released from Mexico after detention]( "Texas migrant helper released from Mexico after detention") A Texas woman who drove to Mexico to deliver Christmas gifts to a sprawling refugee camp housing people waiting for U.S. court dates said Wednesday she was detained by authorities there for two days. Anamichelle Castellano said she and another volunteer for her nonprofit group were stopped Monday at a bridge crossing from Brownsville, Texas, to Matamoros, Mexico. Mexico has strict laws against entering the country with guns or ammunition.
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| $10,000 in a Coffee Cup: 8 Politicians Swept Up in N.J. Corruption Cases Posted: 25 Dec 2019 11:55 AM PST  One aspiring politician is accused of getting her bribe in a coffee cup chock-full of $100 bills. Another, a mayoral hopeful, of receiving his at his campaign headquarters in a bag stuffed with $10,000.There was also a councilman who accepted a cash-stuffed envelope from a man who explicitly asked for a "quid pro quo," according to a court document, and an official who funneled thousands of dollars into a charity he ran, then diverted the money for personal use.These were among the allegations made in the eight political corruption cases announced by New Jersey prosecutors over five days this month. Taken together, the accusations offered a striking picture of entrenched small-time corruption at a time when questions of impropriety consume the national political debate."To say we have a long and sordid history of corruption in this state would be understating it," said New Jersey's attorney general, Gurbir S. Grewal.All but one of those charged were current or former elected officials or political candidates, and the accused included both Republicans and Democrats. They included a small-town mayor, a school board president and a man trying to hold on to his position as county freeholder.'I just wanna be your tax guy.' 'Done.'In some ways, they were charged with crimes that were remarkably old-school. Between May and July of 2019, Jersey City's school board president, Sudhan Thomas, was given $35,000 in cash in envelopes, according to a criminal complaint. One envelope filled with $25,000 was handed off in a restaurant parking lot.In return for funds for his reelection campaign, Thomas offered to make the briber, who became a cooperating witness, the school board's real estate counsel, the complaint said."Real estate … that's perfect," the witness said at one meeting, according to the complaint."Yeah, nobody questions anything," Thomas said, the complaint said.Thomas was one of five politicians linked to a monthslong bribery investigation that involved the same unnamed witness and several sting operations. Even at a time when the attorney general has made fighting misconduct and restoring public trust a focus of his office, Grewal said that some of the accusations made last week stood out for their boldness."I'm no longer shocked by what I see from this chair," Grewal said. "But I'm still occasionally surprised that somebody would so brazenly say, 'I'll give you this position if you make this donation,' and nobody questions that stuff."All five politicians caught in the stings were charged with second-degree bribery and face up to 10 years in prison. Three, who were holding public office at the time, faced an additional charge of taking of an unlawful benefit by a public servant for official behavior.In a statement, Thomas, a Democrat in New Jersey's second-largest city, denied the allegations and accused Grewal's office of unfairly targeting him for suing the state for $2.1 billion he said the Jersey City school district was owed.In another sting operation in neighboring Bayonne, Jason O'Donnell, a former state assemblyman who was running for mayor, requested $10,000 in "street money" from the witness during a dinner in New York City, according to a criminal complaint.The witness eventually passed the money to O'Donnell in a white paper bag at a meeting in O'Donnell's campaign headquarters in May 2018, the complaint said.The complaint said that the witness reiterated, "I just wanna be your tax guy," to which O'Donnell replied, "Done."That same month, John Windish accepted a $7,000 cash bribe during a bid to be reelected to the borough council of Mount Arlington, a community of 5,000 in the New York City suburbs, prosecutors said.After handing over a money-stuffed envelope, the witness said he needed Windish to "commit that I'm your borough attorney" and give him more work, according to a criminal complaint."You got it," Windish replied, according to the complaint.O'Donnell denied the allegations and his lawyer said he would plead not guilty. Windish could not be reached for comment.A coffee cup full of cashNot every politician caught in the stings was happy to be handed stacks of cash. Some of them, prosecutors said, preferred checks.In May 2018, John Cesaro was a freeholder in Morris County, a wealthy suburban locale about 30 miles west of New York City. Mary Dougherty wanted to be one. (A board of freeholders in New Jersey is akin to a group of county supervisors elsewhere.)According to a criminal complaint, her $10,000 payoff from the witness at first came in a takeout coffee cup packed with $100 bills.In return, the witness wanted Dougherty's support for him keeping his position as a counsel to Morris County if she won, the complaint said, to which she agreed.But Dougherty later returned the cash, saying she wanted checks instead, the complaint said. To avoid violating campaign financing limits, Dougherty is accused of discussing with the witness that the money should be given through straw donors -- individuals who contribute to a candidate but are later reimbursed by someone else for their contribution. Such donations are illegal in New Jersey.It was the same for Cesaro, who is also accused of accepting $10,000 in cash and then later asking for checks, at one point saying that he did not know how to "pass" the cash around.In one meeting, he appeared to make his understanding that the checks would come from straw donors clear, the complaint said."It's not like they're going to have to use their money," he told the witness of potential donors, according to the complaint. "You know what I'm saying?Dougherty and Cesaro both denied the allegations.The mayor who money launderedBefore he was elected mayor in 2015, Ronald J. DiMura worked for years as the treasurer for the local Democratic Party and on local campaigns in the borough of Middlesex, a small community 30 miles southwest of Manhattan.Those financial positions enabled DiMura, 63, to steal $190,000 from campaigns, then use a charity he operated to launder the money, according to an indictment.Between January 2013 and June 2019, DiMura made "purported donations" from the campaigns to the charity, prosecutors said.But the nonprofit only spent a "small fraction" of that money on charitable deeds, with the rest diverted into DiMura's bank account or a business account that he controlled, the indictment said.DiMura, who is also accused of soliciting a $10,000 donation from a developer when he was mayor, was charged with nine counts, including theft by deception, money laundering and official misconduct and tampering with public records.The most serious charges have a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, and he could be fined up to $500,000 on the money-laundering charge.DiMura was set to leave office at the end of the year after being voted out. But he resigned on Thursday, ahead of schedule, according to a statement from Middlesex's borough council.DiMura's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.He took money meant to clean up his townCarl Washington Jr., a councilman in Penns Grove in southern New Jersey, worked as a local coordinator for a statewide anti-littering initiative, managing funds intended to help ensure that parks and other public areas stayed pristine.But prosecutors accused Washington, 46, of stealing more than $8,000 from the program, saying he doctored paperwork in order to obtain fraudulent checks.The checks were made out to organizations that were run by Washington and several associates, including his nephew, Lavar H. Ledbetter, prosecutors said. Those associates cashed the checks, then returned some of the money to Washington and Ledbetter, 31, prosecutors said.Both men were charged with official misconduct, conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, and misapplication of entrusted property.Washington did not respond to requests for comment but told NJ.com that he and Ledbetter were innocent, claiming the allegations were levied against him by a political rival.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| ‘We’ve never seen spending like this’: Bloomberg, Steyer saturate airwaves Posted: 25 Dec 2019 04:04 AM PST  Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer have hit the $200 million mark combined, and Bloomberg, at least, is just getting started.
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| This Is How Nazi Germany Built Hitler's Private Army Posted: 25 Dec 2019 05:45 PM PST  Meet the Waffen-SS.
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| Remains of Special Forces soldier who died in Afghanistan arrive at Air Force base Posted: 25 Dec 2019 03:56 PM PST  On Wednesday, the body of sergeant first class Michael Goble arrived at Dover Air Force base. The 33-year-old Green Beret from New Jersey was killed by a roadside bomb. Goble was the 20th American to die in combat operations in Afghanistan in 2019, the deadliest year for the U.S. forces in that country since 2014.
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| Baltimore On Pace to Break Homicide Rate Record in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2019 10:42 AM PST  Baltimore may see the highest homicide rate ever recorded in the city by the end of 2019, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.Police had recorded 338 homicides as of Tuesday, four shy of the 342 seen in 2017 and 2015. The city saw 353 homicides in 1993, the most of any year on record.However, because the city had a larger population in the early 1990's, the homicide rate per 100,000 residents in 2019 is nearing the rate from 1993, despite the lower total. If Baltimore sees 342 or more homicides by the end of 2019, the homicide rate will reach 57 per 100,000, surpassing the 1993 rate."It's a major concern for me, not just as a hopeful man but as a citizen of Baltimore who grew up in inner city Baltimore," Carmichael "Stokey" Cannady, a reformed drug dealer who became a community activist, told the AP. "I remember when a person had a conflict and would have a fight at best, now these young kids, at the age of 13, 14 years old, are finding handguns in their possession and they use them as toys."The homicide rate was declining before 2015. On April 12 of that year, 25-year-old Freddie Gray died while restrained in the back of a police van after officers arrested him on suspicion of illegally carrying a switchblade. The death sparked riots in the city after officers were accused of racism in the case. Gray was African-American.The state attorney for Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby, charged the officers involved with murder, and said she would attempt to give voice to rioters' chants of "no justice, no peace." The six officers charged were eventually acquitted, and in 2016 prosecutors dropped all remaining charges.The homicide rate in Baltimore has remained high since Gray's death. In 2019 the city appointed current Police Commissioner Michael Harrison to revamp the department."People can expect [the homicide rate] to go down, we are building capacity, but we need to have some type of effect on the poverty, the housing, the education, the addiction, the skills, the jobs and the lack thereof, together at the same time," Harrison told the AP. "All of that has to be addressed while prosecuting people who commit crimes and preventing other people from committing those crimes. Otherwise, it continues and then you ask the question, 'When does it stop?' without fixing the reason it starts."President Trump in July described the district in which the Freddie Gray incident took place as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess." Trump blasted the district's longtime representative Elijah Cummings, who died in October, for what the President said was Cummings's failure to address problems of crime in the district.Maryland's Republican governor Larry Hogan denounced Trump's remarks as "outrageous and inappropriate."
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| Netanyahu seen remaining at Likud helm as party votes ahead of March ballot Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:23 AM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to have faced down a fresh challenge to his power on Thursday when his Likud party held a leadership vote in the run-up to a March national election, the country's third in under a year. An exit poll cited by the political correspondent for Israel's Channel 12 news predicted that Netanyahu, head of Likud for the past 14 years, would retain the right-wing party's leadership with 71.52% of votes. The challenge by Gideon Saar, whom the exit poll gave 28.48% of votes, has added to pressures that have mounted this year on the four-term premier, who is under indictment and fighting for political survival.
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| Trump tweets warning to Russia, Iran against killing ‘innocent civilians’ in Syria Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:10 AM PST  Thousands of civilians have fled fighting in Syria for the border with Turkey.
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| The Most Powerful Space Moments of the 2010s Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:39 PM PST |
| New Mexico police investigate killing of 4 on Christmas Day Posted: 25 Dec 2019 08:07 PM PST  Four people found dead on Christmas Day in a home in an Albuquerque suburb were members of the same family and the case is being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said Thursday. The victims were identified as Carlos Velasquez, 50; Marilyn Velasquez, 45; Roberto Velasquez, 22; and Adrian Velasquez, 14, police in the community of Rio Rancho said in a statement. Rose Varona told KRQE-TV that she's related to the people who lived at the home and that her brother and mother found the bodies.
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| China slams US defence act over trade restrictions Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:48 AM PST  Beijing on Thursday said it "firmly opposes" trade restrictions included in a new US defence act, having already admonished the bill for interfering in China's internal affairs. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- signed into law last week -- bars the use of federal funds to buy railcars and buses from China, and slows the lifting of sanctions on tech giant Huawei. It comes as Beijing and Washington have agreed to a temporary truce in their bruising nearly two-year trade war, with a "phase-one" deal that has rolled back tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.
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| The U.S. Soldiers Who Liberated Nazi Concentration Camps Could Never Forget What They Saw Posted: 25 Dec 2019 11:15 PM PST  With only weeks left before the surrender, GIs were unexpectedly coming across the concentration camps. These centers of evil and depravity, scattered across Nazi-held territory for all the Allies to discover, explained the need for the war far better than mere words ever could.
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| Before-and-after photos from space reveal some of the biggest moments that changed our world in the last decade Posted: 26 Dec 2019 12:24 PM PST  Some of the decade's most important events were documented in remarkably detailed images from orbiting space satellites.
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| Avalanche at Swiss ski resort Andermatt buries 'a number' of people Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:02 AM PST  Mountain rescuers and helicopters were searching last night for victims of four avalanches in Austria and Switzerland that injured at least two skiers. More holidaymakers were feared to have been buried under snow, Swiss and Austrian police said. After a big avalanche struck the Swiss resort of Andermatt, emergency workers rescued two people, who were airlifted to hospital with minor injuries. Four other skiers were pulled from the snow unhurt. The slopes were crowded when the avalanche occurred. Stefan Kern, a resort spokesman, said: "It is possible that other people have been buried," he said. Reto Pfister, a police spokesman, said rescuers were assuming that there could be other victims and would continue searching. A large rescue team with avalanche dogs trained to sniff out people under the snow were combing the slopes at Andermatt, but had found no other other victims by the end of the day. Three avalanches also came down at the Ankogel resort in Austria, where two off-piste skiers were buried but managed to climb out of the snow. Rescuers were also continuing the search at Ankogel, but had not found anyone by the end of the day, a police spokesman said. The avalanche risk throughout the Alps is at level three on a scale of five, according to the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. The threat stems mainly from fresh snow and snowdrifts caused by wind. "A dangerous avalanche can sometimes be triggered by a single skier if conditions are hazardous and there's a lot of loose snow," an official said. A skier who narrowly escaped the Andermatt avalanche with his daughter told the online newspaper 20 Minutes: "It happened in a flash. Our only thought was to get a move on to try to get out of the way. We were very lucky. I'm thanking my guardian angel." He said helicopters arrived minutes after the avalanche, which officials said was about 300 metres (yards) long and 60 metres wide. No one had been reported missing by last night. A Swiss official said: "The police have to keep looking in case there's anyone else trapped out there, but we're crossing our fingers and hoping there isn't. If anyone was missing, their families or friends would usually have notified us by this stage."
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| 27 local peace activists abducted in western Afghanistan Posted: 25 Dec 2019 03:03 AM PST ![27 local peace activists abducted in western Afghanistan]( "27 local peace activists abducted in western Afghanistan") Taliban militants have kidnapped 27 peace activists from a highway in Afghanistan's western Farah province, local officials and peace activists said on Wednesday. Massoud Bakhtawar, the deputy governor of Farah, said the activists were traveling with six cars from Herat to neighboring Farah on Tuesday evening when their convoy was stopped by the Taliban on a main highway and taken to an unknown location. Bismillah Watandost, a member of the group, said the activists had planned to travel to various parts of Farah to call for peace and a ceasefire between the warring parties in Afghanistan.
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| America's public lands of tug of war: It's time to join the fight for conservation Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:00 AM PST  Our public wildlife lands are worth preserving. They provide something that in today's society we desperately need: an escape.
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| Masked Russian Police Raid Opposition Leader Navalny’s Office Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:15 AM PST ![Masked Russian Police Raid Opposition Leader Navalny's Office]( "Masked Russian Police Raid Opposition Leader Navalny's Office") (Bloomberg) -- Police dragged away Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny on Thursday during a raid on the Moscow offices of his Anti-Corruption Foundation in a continuing crackdown on critics of President Vladimir Putin, later releasing him."They took Alexey away by force," Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter. The police action, involving masked officers in helmets, appeared to be aimed at preventing Navalny's organization from airing a regular evening program Thursday that got 1.4 million views the previous week, said Leonid Volkov, an aide to the opposition leader."They chose this day, obviously, because I was due to be appearing live on a broadcast," Navalny said, adding that there were no arrests. He broadcast the raid live on Twitter.Another Navalny ally, Ruslan Shaveddinov, 23, was conscripted for compulsory military service in a remote Arctic base earlier this week. Authorities flew him to Novaya Zemlya after breaking into his Moscow apartment on Monday, in what supporters denounced as a state abduction reminiscent of Soviet times.Putin in mid-2019 faced the biggest protests since his return to the presidency in 2012 over the refusal to register opposition candidates for local elections in Moscow. In addition to sweeping arrests and jail sentences for protest participants, Russia targeted Navalny's foundation with a money-laundering investigation and listed it as a "foreign agent."To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Henry MeyerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| There have been more mass shootings than days in 2019 Posted: 25 Dec 2019 09:06 PM PST  Before the year has even ended, 2019 has already surpassed a previous record for mass shootings in one year.
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| Los Angeles prosecutors reviewing 8 cases against Weinstein Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:21 PM PST  Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing eight cases accusing disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, an official said Thursday. The Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments each brought four investigations to prosecutors, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The office will decide whether to move forward with prosecution.
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| Mexico vows to take Bolivia to court over embassy spat Posted: 26 Dec 2019 03:01 PM PST  Mexico threatened Thursday to take Bolivia to the International Court of Justice over what it calls harassment of its diplomatic mission in La Paz, after its embassy sheltered some 20 officials from the former government. The two countries have been in a spiraling spat since Mexico granted asylum to Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales, who resigned on November 10 in the face of mass protests, and granted refuge to top officials from his leftist government at its embassy. Mexico accuses Bolivia's new interim government of responding with a campaign of "harassment and intimidation" by deploying a large contingent of police and intelligence officers outside the embassy.
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| Japan hangs a Chinese man convicted of the murder of a family Posted: 26 Dec 2019 06:53 AM PST  Japan on Thursday hanged a Chinese man convicted of the murder of a family of four whose bodies were found handcuffed and weighted down with dumbbells in a bay, the justice minister said.
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| Game-Changer? Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter Is Packing Hypersonic Missiles Posted: 25 Dec 2019 05:00 AM PST  We take a look.
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| Huawei freaked out at The Wall Street Journal over a report that it secured its global tech dominance on the back of $75 billion in state support from China Posted: 26 Dec 2019 10:01 AM PST  Huawei accused the news outlet of showing a pattern of bias against it and relying on "false information," though it has so far not provided details.
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| 'It doesn't matter if it's Christmas': Hong Kong pro-democracy activists keep up protests Posted: 25 Dec 2019 02:15 AM PST  Hong Kong anti-government protesters marched through Christmas-decorated shopping centers on Wednesday, chanting pro-democracy slogans and forcing one mall to close early, as police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathering on nearby streets. The protests have turned more confrontational over the festive season, though earlier in December they had been largely peaceful after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections. Despite the embarrassing results, Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leaders have made no new concessions.
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| Turkey Raises Net Minimum Wage by 15% for 2020 Posted: 26 Dec 2019 06:40 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Turkey's minimum wage, earned by almost a third of the workforce, has been raised by 15% for 2020, after dissatisfaction with the economy hurt President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party in municipal elections.The net monthly minimum wage will be 2,325 liras ($392) next year, up from 2,021 liras in 2019, Labor Minister Zehra Zumrut Selcuk said in Ankara on Thursday. The increase compares with a November inflation rate of 10.56%, which declined steadily after hitting 25% in late 2018, following a currency shock in the summer of that year.A downturn in the economy, accompanied by a surge in inflation in 2018, was a major factor in the ruling AK party's losses in municipal elections earlier this year. The most stinging defeats came in commercial hub Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.About 10 million workers -- almost a third of the 33-million-strong labor force -- earn the minimum wage or slightly higher, according to a study by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey. But its level has a much wider impact."It's a reference salary for all workers," Murat Birdal, an academic at Istanbul University's Faculty of Economics, said by phone. "Over the past year, wages have been eroded seriously due to the loss in purchasing power." Changes in the inflation basket in recent years means workers have been hurt harder than the official figures suggest, Birdal added.Ergun Atalay, head of the Turk-Is labor confederation, demanded a monthly net minimum wage of 2,578 liras in a Dec. 5 speech. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan weighed on the debate on Dec. 20, saying he would "make a gesture" that would please both workers and employers.About 4.6 million workers in Turkey are jobless, according to latest official data. The non-farm jobless rate is at 16.4%, while the youth unemployment rate is 26.1%.\--With assistance from Fercan Yalinkilic.To contact the reporter on this story: Taylan Bilgic in Istanbul at tbilgic2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Amy TeibelFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. Preparing to Respond to 2020 Russian Election Interference by Releasing Kremlin Officials’ Personal Info Posted: 26 Dec 2019 10:21 AM PST  U.S. Cyber Command is readying options to wage information warfare against Russian officials if the country tries to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.The officials would include senior members of Russia's government as well as Russian oligarchs, stopping short of targeting Vladimir Putin himself. The operation is designed to halt election interference by threatening Kremlin officials with the release of their personal information."When the Russians put implants into an electric grid, it means they're making a credible showing that they have the ability to hurt you if things escalate," Bobby Chesney, a professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Post. "What may be contemplated here is an individualized version of that, not unlike individually targeted economic sanctions. It's sending credible signals to key decision-makers that they are vulnerable if they take certain adversarial actions."The U.S. has used information warfare in the past, including in the Gulf War when the military dropped leaflets over Iraq attempting to persuade Iraqi troops to surrender. The advent of internet technology and social media has expanded the reach of such tactics across the world.U.S. government agencies have pushed repeatedly over the past year to loosen restrictions on offensive cyber capabilities. Traditional information warfare techniques have also been absorbed by the 10-year-old cyber command."It's a really big deal because we have not done a good job in the past of integrating traditional information warfare with cyber-operations," Chesney commented. "But as Russia has demonstrated, these two are increasingly inseparable in practice."Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken out against possible Russian interference in U.S. elections."Interference in American elections is unacceptable and if the Russians were engaged in that in 2020 it would put our relationship in an even worse place than it has been," Pompeo told Russian Foreign Minsiter Sergey Lavrov in May of this year."We've said this not only about the Russians but about other countries as well," Pompeo said. "Our elections are important and sacred and they must be kept free and fair and with no outside country interfering."Russia has denied meddling in U.S. elections despite overwhelming evidence collected by the U.S. intelligence community.
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| Red wolves court battle reignites as governor urges action Posted: 26 Dec 2019 06:29 AM PST  The fight over the critically endangered red wolf has returned to court as North Carolina's governor sought immediate help for the dozen or so remaining in the wild and federal biologists planned to transfer wolves into the recovery area for the first time in years. In late November, Gov. Roy Cooper sent the secretary of the interior a sharply worded letter warning that, with no more than 14 known wolves in the wild, "the American red wolf is on the brink of extinction." He noted that in 2019, no litters of red wolf pups were born in the wild for the first time in the history of the reintroduction program. Red wolves once occupied much of the Eastern U.S. but were driven to near extinction by trapping, hunting and habitat loss before they were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987.
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| Aung San Suu Kyi party official killed in Myanmar's Rakhine Posted: 25 Dec 2019 10:20 PM PST  An official from Aung San Suu Kyi's political party was killed in Rakhine state after planning a show of support for the leader's defence of Myanmar against genocide allegations at The Hague, a spokesman said Thursday. The National League for Democracy's Ye Thein, party chairman in Buthidaung township, had been held for weeks by the Arakan Army, insurgents fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. The rebels said he was killed in military attacks on Christmas day but the claim could not be verified and NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt said the group bore responsibility.
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| Woman ‘thrown in jail’ while delivering Christmas gifts to children in Mexico border migrant camps Posted: 26 Dec 2019 01:41 PM PST  A woman was detained while delivering Christmas gifts to migrant children in camps near the US-Mexico border, after officials suspected her of trying to smuggle ammunition.Anamichelle Castellano was travelling across the southern border from Texas into Mexico on Monday with another volunteer and over 300 gifts, when she was stopped by Mexican authorities at the Gateway Bridge.
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| Watch Russia's Su-34 Fighter Complete Its Mission In Extreme Weather Posted: 25 Dec 2019 02:00 PM PST  One of Russia's most impressive jets.
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| Ukraine to buy more U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile systems Posted: 26 Dec 2019 09:05 AM PST ![Ukraine to buy more U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile systems]( "Ukraine to buy more U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile systems") Ukraine will purchase a second consignment of U.S. Javelin anti-tank missiles and launch units, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The United States has been one of Kiev's strongest supporters since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region that has killed more than 13,000 people. Contracts for the deal were signed in the fourth quarter of 2019, the defense ministry in a statement, without giving further details.
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| 'Shower Power': Woman converts food truck into mobile shower unit for homeless Posted: 26 Dec 2019 10:19 AM PST  Teresa Renkenberger started a mobile shower unit for the homeless. It's an often overlooked need, she says.
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| Delivery driver allegedly steals package he delivered; Police call Amazon uncooperative Posted: 26 Dec 2019 12:14 PM PST  An Amazon delivery driver was caught on camera stealing a package that he delivered to a Florida home.
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| U.S. Buckles in South Korea Troop-Funding Talks, Chosun Says Posted: 25 Dec 2019 06:09 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Days before a troop-funding deal was set to expire, the U.S. has dropped its demand that South Korea pay five times more to host its military personnel after receiving assurances Seoul would purchase more American weapons, a newspaper report said.The Trump administration also likely eased up after South Korea indicated it would step up its presence in the Strait of Hormuz, helping U.S. efforts to protect oil flows in the region, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Thursday, citing an unidentified diplomatic source. The increase now may be about 10-20% above the current level of nearly $1 billion, it said.South Korea's foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.Last month, U.S. negotiators walked out of a meeting on troop funding in Seoul after South Korea balked at the five-fold increase seen as exorbitant by many in the country. The breakdown at that time raised questions about one of the U.S.'s closest military alliances and a key piece of the Pentagon's strategy for countering North Korea and a rising China. The two sides resumed talks in December.U.S. Walks Out of Military Cost-Sharing Talks With South KoreaEven though the deal known as the Special Measures Agreement technically expires at the end of this year, both sides are likely to agree to some sort of temporary extension as they negotiate, allowing for the continued operations of the about 28,500 U.S. military personnel positioned on the peninsula.The talks with South Korea could affect other countries that host U.S. troops, as the Trump administration is seeking funding increases from other American allies.Trump Price Tag for Troops in South Korea Clouds Esper TripTrump, arguing that South Korea is rich and should pay more for U.S. protection, has demanded Seoul contribute about $5 billion for hosting U.S. troops. The price tag originated with the White House, according to people familiar with the matter, and administration officials justify it by saying it reflects the costs South Korea would incur if it takes operational control of combined U.S.-South Korean forces in the case of a conflict.The request for more money hasn't sat well in South Korea, where many in President Moon Jae-in's progressive camp and opposition conservatives have come out against the demands. Moon, facing a sagging support rate, may not want to make any major concessions that further dent his popularity ahead of an election for parliament next year.To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Gearoid ReidyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Congolese woman, 41, dies after entering US border custody Posted: 26 Dec 2019 04:14 PM PST ![Congolese woman, 41, dies after entering US border custody]( "Congolese woman, 41, dies after entering US border custody") A 41-year-old Congolese woman died Wednesday in U.S. government custody shortly after she entered a border station in South Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday. CBP says the woman, who the agency did not identify, had arrived at an official port of entry in Laredo, Texas, early Tuesday afternoon. The woman came with paperwork that documented a "previous medical condition," CBP said.
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| Two killed in air strike on shopping area in Libya Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:33 AM PST  An air strike Thursday on a shopping area during rush hour near Libya's capital killed at least two civilians and wounded 20 others, a local official said. The air strike on the town of Zawiya, 45 kilometres (30 miles) west of Tripoli, hit a pharmacy, a bakery and cars parked on the street, the mayor of the town, Jamal Baher, told AFP. The air strike took place as the area was busy with shoppers ahead of the weekend, which starts Friday in the North African country.
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