| Trump campaign says impeachment helped bring in $46 million fundraising haul Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:15 PM PST  The 2020 presidential election is still 10 months away, but President Trump already has a third of what he spent for the entire 2016 campaign.
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| FBI Investigators Say McCabe Apologized for Lying about Clinton-Probe Leak Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:14 AM PST  FBI investigators claim former deputy director Andrew McCabe admitted to misleading them about his involvement in a media leak and subsequently apologized for the lie, according to newly released transcripts of McCabe's interviews with investigators.The transcripts, released by the Department of Justice Inspector General's office (OIG) — which found McCabe "lacked candor" with investigators in a scathing February 2018 report — detail how McCabe spun a false narrative that he was not responsible for leaking the information cited in a October 2016 Wall Street Journal article that detailed a new probe into Hillary Clinton's email use.Obtained via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by government-watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the documents, first reported by the Daily Beast, describe McCabe's reversal. Initially, the former deputy director told bureau investigators in May 2017 that he was "disappointed" the story "was appearing in the publication," and was not sure how it leaked to the press.McCabe also denied that he had authorized the article, which included a conversation between himself and a top Obama DOJ official, and presented himself as a "victim" to the agent interviewing him, who at the time "wasn't surprised by his response."But in a follow-up interview on August 18, 2017, after investigators received "conflicting information" in other interviews, McCabe admitted that he had in fact authorized the leak."I need to know from you did you authorize this article? Were you aware of it? Did you authorize it?" the FBI agent said he asked McCabe at the time."And as nice as could be, he said, yep. Yep I did," McCabe said, surprising the agents. "Things had suddenly changed 180 degrees with this," one of the agents present recounted to the OIG.When the agents showed McCabe the portion of his statement from the May interview which stated "I do not know the identity of the source of the information contained in the article. I gave no authority to share any information relative to my interaction with the DOJ executive with any member of the media," McCabe replied that he "didn't ever remember seeing this before.""I told him, I said we sent it to you at least three times or two times," the agent said. And an email record mentioned in the transcript shows the statement was emailed to McCabe on May 12, 2017. McCabe's explanation at the time was "there was a lot going on."In its February 2018 report, the OIG detailed how McCabe had told former FBI special counsel Lisa Page to speak to the Journal, stating that McCabe's intent was "an attempt to make himself look good" after a previous article detailed how McCabe's wife had received nearly $500,000 from a Clinton ally to run for office in Virginia.The OIG also found McCabe's explanation for the discrepancy in his statements to be "wholly unpersuasive," because it was "highly implausible" that McCabe forgot to tell the FBI of the approved leak in May."We therefore concluded that when McCabe told INSD in May that he did not know who authorized the disclosure to the WSJ, it was not due to a lack of memory. In our view, the evidence is substantial that it was done knowingly and intentionally," the OIG wrote.Following the report, McCabe was fired by former attorney general Jeff Sessions.The DOJ is currently mulling charges against McCabe, who was made a CNN analyst in August, after the OIG recommended the charges. The former FBI deputy director is suing the FBI and the DOJ over his firing and has denied intentionally making false statements about his role in the media leaks.
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| 5 crew members feared dead after Alaska fishing boat sinks Posted: 01 Jan 2020 12:04 PM PST  Five fishermen missing after a crab boat sank in the frigid waters off Alaska were feared dead after authorities called off a search for those working in the one of the most dangerous industries in the U.S. Two other crew members were rescued after the disaster Tuesday, telling authorities they were the only ones who made it into a life raft, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Dean Gribble Jr., who's appeared on the Discovery Channel documentary series "Deadliest Catch," and John Lawler suffered hypothermia but have been released from a hospital.
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| Lebanon receives Interpol arrest warrant for ex-Nissan boss Ghosn Posted: 01 Jan 2020 09:29 PM PST  BEIRUT/TOKYO (Reuters) - Lebanon received an Interpol arrest warrant on Thursday for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, while Turkey launched an investigation into his daring escape from Japan via Istanbul. Ghosn has become an international fugitive after he revealed on Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape what he called a "rigged" justice system in Japan, where he faces charges relating to alleged financial crimes. Sources close to Ghosn said a delay to a trial and a strict ban on communicating with his wife motivated him to go ahead with a plan to use a private security company to smuggle him out of Japan via private jet.
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| An Australian zookeeper took home monkeys, pandas, and a tiger in order to keep them safe from bushfires Posted: 01 Jan 2020 10:53 PM PST  "Right now in my house there's animals of all descriptions in all the different rooms with different pet packs so that they're safe and protected."
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| Taiwan's Military Chief Among 8 Dead After a Helicopter Carrying Leaders Crashed Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:02 AM PST  Air Force General Shen Yi-ming and seven others have died after a helicopter made a crash landing in a mountainous region south of Taipei
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| Family being investigated after German zoo fire Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:14 AM PST  A mother and her two daughters have turned themselves in to police over a blaze which killed dozens of monkeys at a zoo in Germany on New Year's Eve, police confirmed Thursday.
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| The 8 Most Beautiful Castle Gardens in Europe Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST |
| Giuliani Says He’s Prepared to ‘Do Demonstrations’ at Trump’s Impeachment Trial Posted: 31 Dec 2019 09:01 PM PST  Rudy Giuliani is prepared to do more than just testify at President Trump's upcoming impeachment trial. The former New York City mayor made clear in comments to reporters on Tuesday night that he's ready to pull out all the stops to defend his client—and that apparently includes giving "lectures" and doing "demonstrations." Asked if he would testify at the trial, Giuliani appeared unable to settle on a single, coherent answer. "I would testify, I would, um, do demonstrations. I'd give lectures, I'd give summations. Or, I'd do what I do best, I'd try the case. I'd love to try the case. Well I don't know if anybody would have the courage to give me the case, but, uh, if you give me the case, I will prosecute it as a racketeering case, which I kind of invented anyway," Giuliani said at a New Year's Eve gala at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. He also dodged a question about whether he had any plans for another trip to Ukraine, an activity that has been at the center of the impeachment proceedings against Trump, which center on allegations he abused his power to pressure Ukraine to do him political favors. Giuliani, accused of hijacking American foreign policy to run a dirt-digging mission in Ukraine that would boost Trump domestically, returned from his latest trip earlier this month claiming to have boatloads of evidence to exonerate Trump and incriminate Trump's political foes, including former vice president Joe Biden and many Democrats. So far, however, despite Trump claiming Giuliani would be filing a report with the Justice Department on his Ukraine findings and Giuliani saying he planned to brief the Senate on the matter, his findings have apparently not been embraced as the smoking gun against Democrats that he believed they would be. As The Daily Beast reported earlier this week, some Republican senators have actively avoided Giuliani ahead of the impeachment trial over concerns that his Ukraine findings may be mingled with Russian conspiracy theories. Even Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who first called on Giuliani to share his findings, has urged him to "make sure it's not Russian propaganda." 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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| After violent protests, Pentagon says anyone who tries to overrun the US Embassy in Baghdad will 'run into a buzzsaw' Posted: 02 Jan 2020 09:05 AM PST  "The game has changed. We're prepared to do what is necessary," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Thursday.
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| Hong Kong legal groups condemn protester insults to judge Posted: 02 Jan 2020 03:07 AM PST  Hong Kong's Law Society and Bar Association on Thursday condemned abusive graffiti sprayed by protesters on a court building that insulted a judge by name. The groups called that "an affront to the rule of law and judicial integrity" in the former British colony, which has retained its unique judicial system free from the corruption and political interference so common on mainland China. "The graffiti are outrageous and firmly condemned,"the joint letter stated.
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| 'I did it alone', Ghosn says of Japan escape Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:59 AM PST  Carlos Ghosn claimed Thursday he organised his dramatic escape from bail in Japan alone as the disgraced auto tycoon enjoyed his first days of freedom in Beirut despite an Interpol arrest notice. Ghosn, who had been under house arrest in Tokyo since April, was believed to be holed up his central Beirut residence, where visitors filed in and out under the scrutiny of TV cameras. Lebanon's state news agency quoted Justice Minister Albert Sarhan as announcing that "the public prosecutor... has received what is known as a red notice from Interpol in the Carlos Ghosn case".
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| Nearly half a billion animals have been killed in Australia's devastating bushfires Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:29 AM PST  An estimated 480 million mammals, birds, and reptiles, are believed to have died in Australian bushfires since September.
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| Over 200 members of Congress sign letter urging Supreme Court to strike down US abortion right protections Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:28 PM PST  Over 200 members of Congress have signed their names onto an effort to overturn two key abortion protections in the United States, marking the latest attempt by the GOP to take down the longstanding right.The list includes 39 Republicans hailing from red states, most of which Donald Trump carried in 2016 in a surprise victory that has allowed him to appoint two new conservative justices to the Supreme Court. Another 168 politicians in the House have also signed, including two Democrats.
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| Switzerland stresses diplomatic safety in Sri Lanka arrest Posted: 01 Jan 2020 01:40 AM PST  The Swiss Embassy in Sri Lanka said that the safety of diplomatic missions is the responsibility of the host state, days after a local staffer who complained of being assaulted was released on bail while being investigated for maligning the government. Before her arrest, the Sri Lankan employee had reportedly said she was abducted, held for hours, sexually assaulted and threatened by captors who demanded that she disclose embassy-related information. Sri Lankan authorities have said they investigated her complaint but found no evidence to file charges against anyone.
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| Trump Says Trade Signing Set For Jan. 15; China Silent Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:20 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, sealing an agreement that sees the Asian nation raising purchases of American farm goods in exchange for lower tariffs on some of its products. The date has yet to be confirmed by the Chinese side."The ceremony will take place at the White House," Trump said on his Twitter account Tuesday, adding he will be going to Beijing, where talks will begin on the second phase of the deal.Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang on Thursday referred a question on the signing to the Ministry of Commerce. The commerce ministry did not respond to an earlier fax seeking comment.Despite the lack of clarity on the signing date, Beijing is still indicating it also wants the deal. A commentary on the front page of People's Daily on Tuesday said, "it is every one's wish that China and the U.S. will sign the phase one agreement."The deal, announced Dec. 13, sees the U.S. suspending plans for new tariffs on $160 billion of Chinese imports including smart-phones and toys and reducing some existing levies. China agreed to increase its purchases of American agricultural products and has made new commitments on intellectual property protections, forced technology transfers by U.S. companies and currency practices. The move at least temporarily calms fears of an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies.The precise terms of the 86-page agreement have not been revealed. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Dec. 13 he expected to sign the accord together with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, in early January in Washington, and that it would be released publicly then.(Corrects Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs comment in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Miao Han and April Ma.To contact the reporter on this story: Ana Monteiro in Johannesburg at amonteiro4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Jeffrey Black, Jiyeun LeeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 5 commercial fishermen are believed to be dead after their crabbing vessel sank on New Year's Eve Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:41 AM PST  Five commercial fishermen were believed to have died after their crabbing vessel sank on New Year's Eve in the Gulf of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said after ending a search and rescue operation amid high winds and heavy seas.
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| U.S. sees signs Iran or proxies may be planning more attacks: Pentagon chief Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:44 AM PST  U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday there were indications Iran or forces it backs may be planning additional attacks, warning that the "game has changed" and it was possible the United States might have to take preemptive action to protect American lives. "There are some indications out there that they may be planning additional attacks, that is nothing new ... we've seen this for two or three months now," Esper told reporters, without providing evidence or details about the U.S. assessment. Iranian-backed demonstrators hurled rocks at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad during two days of protests, then withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops.
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| A Florida woman drowned her dog in the bathtub for barking too much, police say. She faces felony animal cruelty Posted: 02 Jan 2020 06:32 AM PST ![A Florida woman drowned her dog in the bathtub for barking too much, police say. She faces felony animal cruelty]( "A Florida woman drowned her dog in the bathtub for barking too much, police say. She faces felony animal cruelty") Florida woman Margaret Kinsella allegedly drowned her dog in the bathtub for excessive barking. She now faces a felony animal cruelty charge.
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| Carlos Ghosn fled Japan using a 2nd French passport that the courts let him keep, reports say Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:39 AM PST  The former Nissan CEO abruptly appeared in Lebanon, from which he cannot be extradited, after giving authorities in Japan the slip.
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| Armed, even in church: Texas shooting is about a lot more than Jack Wilson's heroism Posted: 01 Jan 2020 05:33 AM PST  Jack Wilson is a hero. But why were so many other parishioners armed? And how did the shooter get his gun, given his criminal history?
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| Trump's Nightmare: Could North Korea Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier? Posted: 01 Jan 2020 01:00 AM PST  Perhaps more of one than you think.
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| Elizabeth Warren Unveils Plan to Help People with Disabilities Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:11 AM PST  'As President, I will work in partnership with the disability community to combat ableism,' Sen. Warren says
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| Star Wars, Ranked Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:00 AM PST |
| Fleeing war, poverty, African migrants face racism in Egypt Posted: 01 Jan 2020 09:46 PM PST  Two Sudanese sisters, Seham and Ekhlas Bashir, were walking their children home from elementary school in a Cairo neighborhood when a group of Egyptian teenagers crowded around them. The harassment brought up traumatic memories of detention, torture and rape they said they experienced at the hands of militias in Sudan's Nuba mountains. Egypt has for decades been a refuge for sub-Saharan African migrants trying to escape war or poverty.
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| Australia’s Wildfire Crisis: Key Numbers Behind the Disaster Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:32 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Australia is in the grip of deadly wildfires burning across the country, triggering an emotive debate about the impact of climate change in the world's driest-inhabited continent. The unprecedented scale of the crisis, and images of terrified tourists sheltering on beaches from the infernos, has shocked many Australians.With summer only just beginning and the nation affected by a prolonged drought, authorities fear the death toll will continue to mount as more homes and land are destroyed. Here are some key details of the crisis:How many people have died?Since the fire season began months ago during the southern hemisphere winter, 20 people have died and with 28 people missing in Victoria state, authorities fear the death toll will rise. Among the fatalities are volunteer firefighters, including a young man who died when his 10-ton truck was flipped over in what officials have described as a "fire tornado." Australia's worst wildfires came in 2009 when the Black Saturday blazes left 180 people dead.How big an area has burned?Massive tracts of land have burned. More than 12 million acres (5 million hectares) have been destroyed -- that's more than twice the size of Wales, and larger than Denmark. In New South Wales state alone, 8.9 million acres of forest and bush has been destroyed, while more than 1.8 million acres has been burned in Victoria. The fires are so large they are generating their own weather systems and causing dry lightning strikes that in turn ignite more. One blaze northwest of Sydney, the Gospers Mountain fire, has destroyed more than 1.2 million acres -- about seven times the size of Singapore.The scale of the blazes dwarfs the California wildfires in 2018, which destroyed about 1.7 million acres, and about 260,000 acres in 2019.How many homes have been destroyed?Some 1,365 homes have been destroyed in New South Wales alone this fire season and the tally is rising daily as the fires continue to burn and authorities assess damage. Scores of rural towns have been impacted, including the community of Balmoral about 150 kilometers southwest of Sydney, which was largely destroyed before Christmas.What's the economic impact?That's still to be assessed. The Insurance Council of Australia says about 4,300 claims worth A$297 million ($208 million) have been lodged. Consultancy SGS Economics and Planning has estimated that Sydney's economy loses as much as A$50 million each day it is blanketed with a toxic haze from smoke billowing in from the fires. An inquiry into the Black Saturday fires estimated the cost at A$4.4 billion. More broadly, the economy faces pressure from increasingly severe heat and storms from climate change, threatening industries ranging from agriculture to property to tourism. Australia's Climate Council estimates cumulative damage from reduced agricultural and labor productivity might reach A$19 billion by 2030, A$211 billion by 2050 and a massive A$4 trillion by 2100.\--With assistance from Jason Scott.To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net, Jason ScottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| John Roberts praises judges' efforts in age of "false information" Posted: 01 Jan 2020 02:25 AM PST  Chief Justice John Roberts highlighted the importance of an independent federal judiciary and credited judges with promoting civic education in his annual year-end report.
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| Judge Recuses Himself from Hunter Biden Paternity Case Without Explanation Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:03 PM PST  Arkansas Judge Don McSpadden recused himself without explanation Tuesday from Hunter Biden's paternity case after ordering the son of former Vice President Joe Biden to hand over all income records over the past five years.McSpadden, of Independence County's circuit court, had said that the handing over of financial information was in the well-being of 1-year-old "Baby Doe," the child of Biden and Lunden Alexis Roberts, the plaintiff in the case. McSpadden also ordered that the financial information be under seal and only available to the attorneys in the case.Other individuals have attempted to use the case to get access to Biden's financials.Private investigator Dominic Casey filed a motion to intervene on December 27, claiming that access to Biden's financials show a "counterfeiting scheme" in Ukraine that accumulated a $150 million fortune. Another man, "defrauded investor" Joel Caplan, filed a different motion to intervene on behalf of other investors who were allegedly swindled by Biden in a "systemic, formulaic and Biblically-sized multi-billion dollar stock scheme" called "The China Hustle." Caplan filed 64 pages of "exhibits" on Tuesday.McSpadden recused himself before ruling on either motion.Brent Langdon, Biden's attorney, called Casey's filing "a scheme by a non-party simply to make scandalous allegations" in a motion filed Monday.Roberts said in her case filed in May that Biden fathered her child during a past relationship, which Hunter Biden initially denied and refused to submit for a paternity test. But after a DNA test proved Biden was indeed the father in November, he did not contest the paternity.Roberts has asked the court to make Biden pay the $11,000 cost of her paternity case.McSpadden's order Tuesday didn't provide a specific reason for his recusal, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported."One of the clearest indicators of a judge's integrity is when he or she recuses from a case," Roberts's attorney Clinton Lancaster said on the news. "It highlights the ethos and values that make the judiciary such a powerful, separate branch of government. Our client sincerely thanks Judge McSpadden for his time and attention to what has become a difficult and convoluted child support matter."According to Rule 2.11 of the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct, "A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."
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| Lebanon denies president welcomed fugitive Ghosn Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:48 AM PST  The Lebanese presidency on Thursday denied reports that President Michel Aoun had welcomed fugitive former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn upon his arrival in the country. The French-Lebanese tycoon, who had been under house arrest in Japan over several counts of financial misconduct, escaped in mysterious circumstances and arrived in Beirut on Monday. Several media outlets reported that he had been greeted by Aoun but a senior presidency official denied the two men had met.
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| Delta flight attendants say their chemically treated Lands' End uniforms are giving them migraines, hair loss, and boils — and now they're suing the retailer Posted: 02 Jan 2020 12:49 PM PST  In a court case filed on December 31, employees of Delta Air Lines allege their Lands' End uniforms are making them sick.
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| Why America's Navy Could Use A New Battleship Posted: 01 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST  Thick armor is important.
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| With nuclear weapons talks stalled, Kim Jong Un threatens 'shocking actual action' against US Posted: 01 Jan 2020 09:44 AM PST  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, frustrated with the slow pace of denuclearization negotiations, has issued a new threat.
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| 2020 brings higher labor costs for small businesses Posted: 02 Jan 2020 09:28 AM PST  Small business owners have plenty of changes to deal with as 2020 begins — higher labor costs for many companies, and some owners will discover that they have to comply with new laws that aren't on the books in their own states. As of Jan. 1, there are higher minimum wages in a quarter of the states, and new federal overtime rules. Plastic bags are on their way out at stores and other businesses in a growing number of places around the country.
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| Wanted: Weirdos and misfits - aide to UK's Johnson is hiring Posted: 02 Jan 2020 01:51 PM PST  The senior adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who plotted Brexit and steered his boss to last month's election triumph, is on the lookout for "weirdos and misfits with odd skills" to help bring new ideas to Britain's government. "We want to improve performance and make me much less important — and within a year largely redundant," Dominic Cummings said in a post on his blog https://bit.ly/2rQjaAv on Thursday. Cummings, who has made no secret of his disdain for much of the way Britain's civil service operates, said he had been lucky to have worked with some fantastic officials in recent months.
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| Australia Wildfires Trigger Exodus as Navy Joins Rescue Effort Posted: 01 Jan 2020 08:51 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Australia's navy rushed to rescue thousands of holiday-makers from a wildfire-ravaged coastal community while many more struggled to escape endangered towns by road before extreme weather triggers fresh infernos in the nation's southeast.Eight people have been killed in the bushfires that have swept through New South Wales and the neighboring state of Victoria this week, destroying hundreds of properties in rural towns crammed with tourists during the peak summer holiday season.Driven by strong winds and searing temperatures on New Year's Eve, the blazes turned the sky blood red and rained down embers, forcing people to shelter on beaches or flee by fishing boats. Roads are only now re-opening, and authorities are urging people to evacuate before the extreme weather returns on Saturday."We cannot overstate the potential risk of more damage and more destruction," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said Thursday. "There is a big effort between today and tomorrow to get as many people out of the south coast as we can."A naval vessel is anchored off the isolated township of Mallacoota in Victoria and evacuations of the 4,000 people there should start Friday. Satellite phones have been dropped into some of the other 20-plus communities that remain cut-off and have been without communications or power.Long lines of cars clogged the main highway out of Batemans Bay in New South Wales as people tried to drive to safety. There were reports of fuel and food shortages, causing lengthy queues at supermarkets and gasoline stations. The evacuation effort was further hampered by roads intermittently being closed again as firefighters continued to battle about 150 fires still burning in the two states.The scale of the crisis, played out in real-time on social media as people posted footage and images of raging fire-fronts bearing down on communities, has shocked Australia and stoked an emotive debate about the impact of global warming in the world's driest-inhabited continent.Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government is coming under sustained criticism from environmentalists and the opposition after repeatedly downplaying links to climate change, and for not taking stronger steps to curb emissions. In a press conference Thursday, Morrison again stressed that Australia was meeting its emissions-reduction targets, and appealed for calm."I understand the anxiety and I understand the fear that is there for many and I understand the frustration," he said. "But this is a natural disaster. Natural disasters are best dealt with through the methodical, well-coordinated response that we are seeing today."The emergency has placed scrutiny on Australia's capacity to combat blazes that have spread over massive areas, pushing fire services largely manned by volunteers to their limits. Almost 4 million hectares of forest and bushland -- an area almost twice the size of Wales -- have been destroyed in New South Wales alone.New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday declared a week-long emergency to start on Friday."We don't take these decisions lightly but we also want to make sure we're taking every single precaution to be prepared for what could be a horrible day on Saturday," she told reporters in Sydney, adding forecasters expected temperatures in some parts of the state that day to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). "We also know that there are a lot of tourists on the move."While New South Wales and Victoria have been the hardest hit, fires are burning in all six Australian states.At least 18 people have died since fires broke out months ago during the southern hemisphere winter, an unusually early start to the season amid a widespread, prolonged drought gripping much of the nation. With 17 people unaccounted for in Victoria, authorities fear the death toll will rise.Fires are so intense they are generating their own weather systems, with dry thunderstorms sparking new blazes. They have already pumped out more than half of the country's annual carbon dioxide emissions, and smoke has drifted some 2,000 kilometers to New Zealand, turning the sky orange early Wednesday in the South Island city of Dunedin.Sydney has been frequently choked by toxic smoke in recent weeks. Residents of the Australian capital, Canberra, woke to a new year with air quality more than 23 times the level deemed hazardous. Australia Post said Thursday it was suspending deliveries in the Australian Capital Territory due to the smoke.(Updates with death toll.)\--With assistance from Hannah Dormido and Adrian Leung.To contact the reporters on this story: Edward Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net;Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net, Jason ScottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why This Indian State Is Witnessing the Country's Most Violent Anti Citizenship-Law Protests Posted: 01 Jan 2020 06:02 AM PST  Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath, who has served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh since 2017, has overseen a brutal crackdown on protesters.
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| From the Brig to Mar-a-Lago, Former Navy SEAL Capitalizes on Newfound Fame Posted: 01 Jan 2020 05:58 AM PST  A year ago, Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was wearing drab prison scrubs at a brig near San Diego, facing murder charges that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life. Now he is modeling his own lifestyle clothing brand, endorsing nutrition supplements and positioning himself as a conservative influencer with close ties to the man who helped clear him -- President Donald Trump.Gallagher was acquitted this summer of charges that he shot at civilians and killed a wounded captive with a knife while serving as a platoon leader in Iraq. The punishment for his lone conviction -- posing for a grisly trophy photo with the dead captive's body -- was reversed this fall by Trump, who has repeatedly praised him. At a political rally in Florida, he called him "one of the ultimate fighters."Now, Gallagher is using his controversial past as a springboard to social media followers and branding opportunities. Beyond repping coffee beans and protein shakes. he is making appearances at influential conservative gatherings and rubbing elbows with Trump's inner circle at Mar-a-Lago.Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, who has openly criticized Gallagher, said that the square-jawed, blue-eyed SEAL has been a valuable political weapon for the Trump administration."Trump is a master of casting, and Gallagher is a perfect fit," said Rieckhoff, who now hosts the Angry Americans podcast. "He's handsome, he's heroic, he's got a beautiful wife. He's a Rambo version of the same story Trump has been telling over and over: The deep state is trying to screw you, the media is bad and the rich people don't understand you. But I'll stick up for you."The partnership is valuable for Gallagher, too, Rieckhoff said, because in raising his profile in conservative circles, he can cash in on book deals, speaking engagements and other business opportunities.Gallagher has appeared regularly on Fox News and other outlets, but declined through his lawyer to speak with The New York Times about his current projects. In an email, his lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, said: "Chief Gallagher is happy to respond to inquiries by legitimate journalists looking to publish factual pieces, but has no time for propagandists who put out knowingly false statements masquerading as fact."On Instagram, the chief and his wife have been outspoken, touting both the president and the various consumer products they are backing. (Their Instagram account has twice blocked a New York Times correspondent who has covered his case over the past year.)"Brotherhood isn't just a statement, it's a way of life," Gallagher said in a statement explaining his apparel line, called Salty Frog Gear. Described as a "coastal lifestyle brand with an edge," it features T-shirts that read "stay salty," and hooded sweatshirts, with a custom front pocket designed to hold a beer bottle.Following the lead of many micro influencers, Gallagher's Instagram account has also endorsed veteran-owned coffee beans and muscle-building supplements with macabre names like Double Tap and Total War. Like a sponsored athlete of the world's most dangerous sport, he regularly shows off the logos and clothing of a number of right-wing veterans' groups that push a distinct brand of patriotism, including an apparel brand run by the SEAL veteran who made the knife Gallagher was accused of using to kill a captive. Along with all sorts of items emblazoned with the logo "KILL BAD DUDES," the site sells a "Waterboarding Instructor" shirt.Gallagher and his wife have also set up an online shop selling T-shirts that mock the Navy and the SEALs who testified against him in court, calling them "mean girls."Gallagher's lawyer said the SEAL was writing a book about his career, but declined to provide details about whether he had signed a publishing deal or with whom.To be sure, Gallagher is hardly the first Navy SEAL to market his past. So many SEALs have published war stories and booked public speaking gigs in recent years that the satirical news site, The Onion, published an article announcing "Navy Forms Elite New SEAL Team to Write Best-Selling Tell-All Books."But Gallagher is the first to do it in the wake of a war crime court-martial, and the only one who has sought to tie his public persona so closely to a political party and a divisive commander in chief.Gallagher, 40, sometimes went by the nickname Blade during his 20 years in the Navy. He served eight combat deployments and was awarded repeated medals for valor under fire.But he also ran into trouble over the years. He was investigated for shooting a small girl while targeting a suspected Taliban member in Afghanistan in 2010, and was arrested and accused of assaulting a Navy police officer in 2014. In both cases, no criminal charges were filed.Despite his past, Gallagher was respected in the SEAL teams as an aggressive operator. But when he was assigned to lead his first platoon in combat in 2017 in Mosul, Iraq, SEALs who served under him said he became fixated on getting in firefights, made bizarre and dangerous tactical decisions, seemed to not know how to do his job and killed people with little regard to the rules of engagement.In video interviews with investigators, multiple SEALs broke down in tears, describing their leader as "evil" and "toxic."Sometimes he would go on solo "gun runs," they said, emptying loads of heavy machine-gun fire into neighborhoods with no apparent targets."I think he just wants to kill anybody he can," Corey Scott, a medic from the platoon, told Navy investigators.Several members of the platoon eventually turned him in for murder.Gallagher has always denied charges of misconduct, saying he was accused by poor performers who could not meet his high standards. In a video posted on Instagram, he said the government "threw me in prison for doing my job."Nine Line Apparel, the clothing company he partnered with to make Salty Frog Gear, defended its collaboration."As someone who served with Eddie and other members of SEAL team 7 downrange, I know the truth about the character of a man unjustly targeted by a broken investigation and corrupt prosecution," the company's founder, Tyler Merritt, said in a statement. "Nike has their First Amendment right to make individuals such as Colin Kaepernick their brand ambassadors. We have the right to make patriots like Chief Gallagher one of ours."Nine Line's promotional photos and videos for the new clothing line show Gallagher shooting an AR-15 assault rifle. In closed online forums, several of the SEALs from his old platoon who he had accused of not being able to meet his high standards noted derisively that the holographic sight on his rifle had been put on backward.Trump has signaled he has few misgivings in associating with Gallagher. He said he would like to have Gallagher and other service members accused or convicted of war crimes campaign for him, and perhaps even appear at the Republican convention in 2020, according to The Daily BeastIn December, Gallagher attended the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit with his wife, Andrea, where he met with Donald Trump Jr. A short time later, he was at Mar-a-Lago with Trump.A few days after that, Gallagher posted a photo of himself giving the thumbs up, wearing a KILL BAD DUDES muscle shirt, while holding a mug that reads, "I love when I wake up in the morning and Donald Trump is president."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| A Condescending Anti-Gun Argument Posted: 01 Jan 2020 03:30 AM PST  My friend and former colleague Tom Nichols has been going on one of his regularly scheduled Twitter anti-gun rants over the past few days. In his latest, he slammed the "spread of gun worship" among conservatives. That Nichols's opinions on the subject, which resemble a progressive 17-year-old's knowledge of American gun culture, get a lot of attention from anti-gun types tells you something about the anti-gun movement: that it, too, has very limited experience with guns and the people who own them.Among Nichols's beliefs is that, as he put it this week, conservatives now "measure freedom by how many of us walk around with guns." He also believes that concealed carry culture is really just "conservative virtue-signaling" as a stand-in for real patriotism, that gun owners "measure [their] sense of worth" by whether or not they are carrying firearms, and that gun "worship" has become a "litmus test" for conservatives, to the detriment of conservatism itself.It is safe to say that none of this is true. What Nichols advances is a grossly distorted view of American gun culture, one that suggests he either has spoken to zero gun owners about guns or didn't listen to them when they did speak.In fact, the people whom Tom is clumsily describing — those of us who carry guns, who take a keen interest in gun policy, and who believe that it is fine for responsible and well-trained gun owners to carry their firearms in public places — do not actually "worship" guns. Nor do we tie these interests and habits into our sense of self-worth and patriotism. Here is the truth: Guns are many things, and one of the things they are is tools. Like any tool, guns have a good and meaningful application when used properly and correctly, e.g. when they are carried by trained, law-abiding citizens and used for proper defensive and life-saving measures. A good example of that is the recent shooting at the church in White Settlement, Texas, in which an armed parishioner shot and killed a murderous gunman before a rampage could really begin.Tom calls that scenario a "lucky break." But this is precisely the point. The vast majority of gun carriers will never have the need to draw their weapons. Virtually none of them (a few blustery dimwits aside) wants to draw his weapon. Tom's claim that the Right has undergone a "pornification of gun ownership" does not comport with the reality of those gun owners who would be happy to live out their lives without getting in a firefight.For these gun owners, carrying guns has nothing to do with some base desire to get in a shootout. They carry because they want to be able to protect themselves and other innocent people if an insane murderer decides to start shooting. It's not rocket science.Statistics are not on the side of Nichols's argument. In the past twelve years concealed permits have increased by over 300 percent; homicides, meanwhile, have been dropping since the early 90s, with the murder rate 5.3 percent lower than it was in 2009, at the beginning of the concealed-carry boom. Nichols's persistent prognostication notwithstanding, the rise of concealed carry has not actually led to more accidental gun deaths, either; such deaths are at historic lows.There are plenty of other reasons besides self-defense that many Americans enjoy guns: They are fascinating machines, they are fun to shoot for sport, they are both a potent symbol and a practical example of the unique American brand of civic and political freedom. Yes, we like guns. Yes, many people carry firearms for self-defense. No, we do not "worship" guns. Nichols and his friends would do well to get off their sneering Twitter feeds and actually talk to gun enthusiasts at length, as we are not the idiotic slack-jawed trigger-happy cowboys he so desperately wants us to be.
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| Former Google exec says he was 'sidelined' as the company refused to implement human rights policies while pushing into China Posted: 02 Jan 2020 10:44 AM PST  After 11 years at Google, Ross LaJeunesse says he was pushed out of the company for repeatedly raising human rights concerns.
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| Russia Is Having Trouble Building The Submarines It Needs Posted: 01 Jan 2020 06:30 PM PST  The Russian navy — already badly depleted since the collapse of the Soviet Union — can't quickly replace most of its existing nuclear submarine fleet, which is approaching the end of its collective lifespan.
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| Centrist Democrats need a 2020 reality check before it's too late Posted: 02 Jan 2020 02:00 AM PST  In obsessively pursuing white, middle-class midwestern voters, Democratic leaders are setting their party up for disaster • Julián Castro drops out of 2020 race, plus the rest of the day in US politics – live Let's start the new year with a reality check. Remember that dad, uncle or neighbor, who told you over Christmas how much he dislikes Trump's rude language and that he might vote for the Democrats, if only they nominate a "moderate" candidate and not a "socialist"?Well, he is going to vote for Trump.This election year will be (again) filled with columns and op-eds from NeverTrump Republicans giving (unsolicited) advice to the Democratic party. They will argue that the Democratic party can win the presidential elections, but only if they nominate a "moderate" Democrat, who can win over the many Republicans they know that are appalled by Trump. But you can forget about these Max Boots, Jennifer Rubins, and (particularly) Bret Stephenses. These pet conservatives of the liberal media represent no relevant electoral base.You can also ignore the reports from "non-partisan" thinktanks – like the Niskanen Center – which show that many Republicans are much more "centrist" than Trump and his Republican party. Polarization in the US is not about party policy but about party identification. In particular it is about negative party identification – and most of these "centrist" Republicans despise or distrust the Democratic party, irrespective of whether it is led by Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders.Moreover, as long as the US economy is doing well – however shallow the foundations of that prosperity – these people are going to go with Trump, who has provided them with lower taxes and a booming stock market.By focusing so much resource and strategy on pursuing the "Midwestern voter" (ie, centrist, middle-class whites), Democratic leaders are setting their party up for potentially disastrous failure. Trump is no longer the risky outsider he was in 2016. He is a known quantity; he may not be especially liked, but for many voters he has delivered where it matters: the pocketbook.Democrats are not going to win over enough "moderate Republicans" to defeat Trump. Nor will suburban white mothers do the trick. The only way to win in 2020 is by mobilizing (potential) new voters and (recent) non-voters. Fortunately, there are more than enough of them. Almost half of Americans do not vote.However, new voters and non-voters are disproportionately non-white and non-suburban. Many of them are not even registered, or – thanks to Republican purges of voting rolls – no longer registered. This is particularly relevant to African Americans, who – contrary to popular perception – actually have rather high voter turnout, higher than other minorities, but are disproportionately affected by voter suppression (including incarceration).Despite the efforts of some organizations, most notably Stacey Abrams' new group Fair Fight, Democrats devote most of their time to reaching already registered voters, rather than registering new voters. Imagine how much the millions of dollars of Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer could have achieved had they spent that money on registering new voters rather than vanity campaigns.For the Republicans, the 2020 strategy is simple and straightforward: discourage or even disenfranchise minority voters, and mobilize white voters. Both campaigns are well underway and so far very successful. The Democrats seem to take minority voters for granted, yet again, despite low turnout in the 2016 elections. While there is a lot of talk about immigration and racism, the campaign is getting whiter and whiter.Hispanics openly lament the neglect they experience from almost all Democratic candidates. Given their growing numbers – Hispanics are on track to become the largest group of non-white voters in 2020, and not just in traditionally Democratic states – ignoring them early in the campaign, just because early primary states are so white, is extremely short-sighted.Perhaps Democrats assume that Hispanics will automatically support any Democrat over Trump, because of his inhumane immigration policies and racist remarks about Mexican immigrants. But, while many Hispanics are concerned about their place in (Trump's) America, they are not single-issue voters.In fact, if you remove immigration as an issue, many Hispanics fit socio-culturally and socio-economically as well with Republicans as with Democrats. In fact, in the 2018 midterm elections, the gap was closing rapidly in some key (potential swing) states. Unsurprisingly, given the conservatism of the Cuban-American community, the gap was smallest in Florida – there, just 54% of Hispanics voted for the Democratic candidates for Senate and Governor. In the governor's races in Arizona and Texas, however, the percentages were the same.The 2020 elections will not be about changing minds about who to vote for but about whether to vote. The damage done to voter registration in the South alone, following the gutting of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, could swing elections. The Democratic electorate the Republicans will "allow" to vote in November will not be enough to defeat Trump; Democrats must protect and expand their base before it's too late. * Cas Mudde is a Guardian US columnist and the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. His latest book is The Far Right Today
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| By jumping bail, fugitive Ghosn burns bridges to Japan Posted: 01 Jan 2020 12:28 AM PST  By jumping bail, former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who had long insisted on his innocence, has now committed a clear crime and can never return to Japan without going to jail. "So he now has burnt his bridges to Japan," Stephen Givens, a lawyer and expert on Japan's legal and corporate systems, said Wednesday. How exactly Ghosn fled surveillance in Japan and popped up in Lebanon, or who might have directed the dramatic escape, remains unclear.
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| The US military ran the largest stress test of its sealift fleet in years. It’s in big trouble. Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:09 AM PST  Only 40 percent of the military's organic sealift fleet is fully ready for tasking, according to a new report.
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| Nigeria’s Buhari Reiterates He Won’t Seek Third Term Posted: 01 Jan 2020 01:06 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterNigerian President Muhammadu Buhari reaffirmed he will leave office in 2023, addressing concerns he wants to change the constitution to seek a third term.Buhari, 77, won a second four-year mandate in March, the last he's permitted under the constitution of Africa's largest oil producer. With speculation already mounting over who the ruling All Progressives Council and opposition People's Democratic Party will select to fight the next presidential contest, Buhari has repeatedly rebuffed suggestions that he plans to compete."I will be standing down in 2023 and will not be available in any future elections," Buhari said in a New Year's letter to Nigerians published on Wednesday. "But I am determined to help strengthen the electoral process both in Nigeria and across the region."Nigeria's rules make it difficult to modify the constitution. Any amendment requires backing from two-thirds of lawmakers in both chambers of parliament, as well as the approval of the House of Assembly in at least 24 of the country's 36 states.Other aging west African leaders have recently indicated they're considering staying on beyond two-term limits.Guinea's Alpha Conde, 81, announced a plan this month to introduce a new constitution that could enable him to extend his rule. And Ivory Coast's leader, Alassane Ouattara, 77, has said he'll stand for a third term if certain candidates from his generation also run, and that a constitutional change made in 2016 allows him to do so.To contact the reporter on this story: William Clowes in Abuja at wclowes@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Mike Cohen, Guy CollinsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Australia Faces Extinction but its Leaders Still Don’t Want to Know Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:38 AM PST  "The whole town is on fire! Head for the beaches!"But wait… aren't those fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge?Such are the mixed signals as Australia proves, once more, that living at the front line of climate change—i.e., half the place seems to be on fire—hasn't taught its politicians anything.In Mallacoota, a coastal resort in southeastern Australia, the fires came in the night, and 4,000 people fled for safety to the beach. Volunteer firefighters formed a last line of defense. At 8 a.m., one resident said, "It should have been daylight but it was black like midnight and we could hear the fire roaring… we were terrified for our lives." Ash was raining on the beach. At the same time the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, was fielding calls to cancel one of the city's most famous events, the New Year's Eve firework display launched from Sydney Harbour Bridge. Bush fires were ringing the city to the west, casting a pall in the sky, but she refused: The display would "give hope to people at a terrible time."A look at the current fire map shows the whole continent of Australia ringed with flame. This is the driest continent on earth, and it is now being cooked by global warming. After the driest spring on record it has had the hottest day, with average highs across the whole country above 107 degrees. As the apocalypse closed in on Mallacoota, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was AWOL: At first his office denied he was on holiday in Hawaii, but when a picture emerged of him there, drinking beer with tourists on a beach, he was forced to head back home.In New South Wales, the state that includes Sydney, nine million acres have been burned up since November and 900 homes destroyed.As well as being hot and dry, much of Australia is also largely flat. Alice Springs, a legendary town in the interior, is an exception, at 1,800 feet above sea level. Last week the temperature there reached 113 degrees. "That's pretty insane," said Dr. Andrew Watkins, head of long-range forecasting at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.Australia's politicians seem to have no learning curve. Morrison, declaring that this was no time to discuss climate policy, said, "We have been through these terrible disasters before, and we have come through the other side."Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said climate concerns were being stoked by "raving inner-city lefties."Australia remains heavily committed to coal-fired power stations and has one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas emission rates. In fact, the 2020 World Climate Change Performance Index, just released, ranks Australia last of the 57 countries it monitors for their climate policies and said that it was actually going backwards under Morrison's Conservative government. But the opposition Labour party has also been attacked for pro-coal policies. There is a bone-headed zealotry to climate denial in Australia. Morrison has even gone so far as suggesting that environmental protest groups should be outlawed if they stage demonstrations. Nonetheless there have been no Trump-style purges of scientists from government departments. Dr. Watkins, the long range forecaster, has explained that a warming of the atmosphere over Antarctica is exacerbating the Australian droughts: "There is nothing left to evaporatively cool the air."At the same time, Australia is actually planning increases in fossil fuel production that would mean that by 2030 Australia, with 0.3 percent of the global population, will be responsible for 13 percent of globally generated greenhouse gases.One of the people pushing this program is Gina Rinehart, the 65-year-old chair of a mining and extraction conglomerate with a net worth of $14.8 billion. With her coal mines producing more than 60 million tons a year, Rinehart has opposed carbon pollution taxes and has sponsored trips to Australia by climate change denier Christopher Monckton, a right wing British politician who is also an advocate for quack cures for multiple sclerosis, herpes, and flu. In 2012 Rinehart complained that Australia's workforce was not competitive enough and cited African workers as a shining example: "Africans want to work and are willing to work for less than two dollars a day. Such statistics make me worry for this country's future." Julia Gillard, who was then prime minister, responded: "It's not the Australian way to toss people two dollars and then ask them to work for a day."The magnetic physical beauty of Australia is based, literally, on its fragility. The continent lives very close to the fine line between supportable life and extinction. When you drive into the outback, as I have done, and into the endless flatness of red desert, and eventually come to a small road town, it's evident that this outpost of life can have no physical roots: It sits directly and rudely on the earth's crust.There is something gloriously defiant in the apparition, like a mirage that has suddenly become solid. A tin-roofed motel, a bar, a small school house, a few hundred people making a barely viable but happy life—and, usually, boasting one incongruous, well irrigated little piece of England, a soft, green cricket pitch.This is in miniature a diagram of how the whole country was built, from Sydney to Alice Springs—creating a fragile hold on a knowingly precarious basis. To endure, it needed a compact between the settlers and the hard face of nature. This was understood by the original inhabitants. Aboriginal culture worked out its own successful model of sustainable life.But no such compact has been made or even suggested by Australia's current political and industrial axis. There is something unique at work here, an ingrained cowboy hubris that is depressing to see—a kind of resurgent warrior philistinism in denial of irrefutable science.Nobody has better defined this species than the great Australian satirist Barry Humphries. No, not his best-known creation, the terrifying, ball-breaking matriarch Dame Edna Everage.I'm talking about the Honorable Les Patterson, the grandly titled Australian cultural attaché to the Court of St. James, whose job specification is to promote Australia as a place "with more culture than a penicillin factory" and as a "thinking organism." In this bibulous vulgarian, leering with unbridled testosterone and misogyny, Humphries identifies and impersonates a type—not a stereotype—that lives on in the country's political class.Nonetheless it would be an act of gross hypocrisy to see their behavior only as an Australian aberration. The country's obtuse political leaders set an example that other reactionary regimes in countries as varied as Brazil and Poland are all too ready to emulate as they, too, protect their fossil fuel interests. And then, of course, there is us. Our continent has far greater ecological resilience than Australia, but our stewardship of it is just as careless as theirs. Under Trump's calculated demolition of science-based regulations, America is on the same path to the apocalypse. It's simply happening a lot more slowly. 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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| British Airways cabin crew killed in New Year’s Eve crash Posted: 02 Jan 2020 08:55 AM PST  A British Airways cabin crew was killed in a crash with a truck while on their way to a New Year's Eve party.
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| U.S. defense secretary urges North Korea to negotiate on denuclearization Posted: 02 Jan 2020 07:37 AM PST  U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday said the United States still sees a political agreement on denuclearization as the best path forward on North Korea, but that American forces remained prepared to fight if necessary. "We would urge restraint by Kim Jong Un," Esper said in an interview on Fox News.
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