| Police: Man with rifle, bulletproof vest arrested at Springfield, Missouri, Walmart store Posted: 08 Aug 2019 05:22 PM PDT  Springfield, Missouri, police said the man had body armor and entered the Walmart store carrying a "tactical rifle" and another gun.
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| Pakistan halts train service to India, bans films over Kashmir change Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:49 PM PDT  ISLAMABAD/SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Pakistan halted its main train service to India on Thursday and banned Indian films as it exerted diplomatic pressure on New Delhi for revoking the special status of Kashmir, the region at the heart of 70 years of hostility between them. Seeking to tighten its grip over the contested region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government this week withdrew Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir's right to frame its own laws and allowed people from outside the state to buy property there. Kashmir remained under a communications blackout on Thursday with mobile networks and internet services suspended and at least 300 politicians and separatists in detention to prevent protests, according to police, media and political leaders.
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| Chicago mayor calls out Ivanka Trump's 'nonsense tweets' about her city Posted: 07 Aug 2019 12:16 PM PDT  After the president's eldest daughter compares gun violence in Chicago to the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot responds.
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| Wife of US student held in Iran says husband 'not a spy' Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:18 PM PDT  The wife of a Princeton University graduate student imprisoned in Iran said Thursday that her husband is not a spy as she appealed for international cooperation to secure his release. "I plead for the gate of mercy to be opened for him, and I hope he can come back to us as soon as possible," Hua Qu said in a speech marking the third anniversary of her husband's detention. Hua also said there have been no recent productive conversations between the United States and the Iranian government about Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American history researcher who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of "infiltrating" Iran and sending confidential material abroad.
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| Judge greenlights libel suit against NPR over Seth Rich reports Posted: 07 Aug 2019 06:06 PM PDT  The lawsuit will proceed to the discovery process, including demands for documents and depositions from the journalists involved.
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| I grew up a white nationalist. We never blamed ourselves for mass shootings like El Paso. Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:06 PM PDT  My white nationalist family thought we weren't culpable for violence committed by lone-wolf racists. But we weren't guiltless. And neither is Trump.
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| American Volunteer Branded 'Enemy of State' and Shot Outside His Home in the Philippines Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:44 AM PDT  He volunteers with a group fighting against a hydropower project
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| NOAA increases chance for 2019 to be above-normal Atlantic hurricane season Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:03 AM PDT  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration increased its prediction for the 2019 Hurricane season from 9-15 named storms to 10-17 and from 4-8 hurricanes to 5-9.
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| UN report: Climate change threatens our food supply. Here's how we can fix it Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:53 PM PDT  The report from United Nations scientists describes a cycle in which the problems of land degradation and climate change exacerbate each other.
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| Thailand's fugitive ex-premier gets Serbian citizenship Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:29 AM PDT  Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was sentenced in Thailand to five years in prison on graft-related charges, has received Serbian citizenship. State news agency Tanjug reported Thursday that the Serbian government granted her the citizenship "because it could be in the interest of Serbia." Serbian officials did not comment on the reason behind the decision. A government decree confirming she was granted citizenship was published in June in Serbia's official gazette.
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| Radiation 'spike' and two killed in blast at Russian missile testing base Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:53 AM PDT  Two people have been killed when an engine exploded and burned at a Russian missile testing base, the third major fire involving the country's military this summer. The defence ministry said six employees of the military and a weapons developer were injured in a blast during testing of a "liquid-fuel reactive propulsion system," which then reportedly caught fire. State media have reported that 15 people were injured. The accident took place in the Arkhangelsk region in the far north. Reports placed it at a base near the town of Nyonoksa where the navy tests ballistic missiles. The town is south of Russia's main submarine-building facilities in Severodvinsk. Authorities in the city said radiation levels had shot up briefly on Thursday before decreasing, while the defence ministry said they had remained normal. The Arkhangelsk port said the bay near the base where the explosion occurred would be closed to shipping for the next month. An earlier picture of the missile testing base where the explosion reportedly occurred Credit: AFP/Getty In 2015, a missile fell near a home in Nyonoksa during tests. Interfax news agency quoted a source as saying the incident was caused by safety violations. The incident was only the latest deadly conflagration for Russia's armed forces. On Monday, a massive fire set off explosions in an arms depot at a base in Siberia. One person was killed and 16,000 had to be evacuated. A fireball rises from an ammunition depot in Siberia that caught fire on Monday Credit: Dmitry Dub/Reuters In July, a fire on a nuclear-powered deep-sea submersible killed 14 sailors and nearly caused a "global catastrophe," a naval officer said at their funeral. Russia has been pouring billions of dollars a year into modernising its military, which still relies heavily on Soviet-era equipment.
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| Badass Planes, Ranked Posted: 07 Aug 2019 06:50 AM PDT |
| A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:43 AM PDT ![A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power]( "A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Events in Kyrgyzstan, a poor nation of 6 million on China's western border, show why post-Soviet leaders are so reluctant to part with power peacefully: It's hard for any of them to get any kind of credible guarantee that his successor won't try to lock him up, or worse.On Wednesday night, Kyrgyz special forces tried to arrest the country's former president, Almazbek Atambayev, at his residence near the capital, Bishkek. Atambayev, wanted on corruption charges, wasn't easy to take, though. He'd barricaded himself in his house, and he reportedly fired shots at the troopers who'd come for him. He was aided by about 1,000 supporters, who managed to repel the attack; one officer was killed and 80 people were injured. Atambayev's successor, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, took 12 hours to respond publicly to the events, a sure sign that he hadn't expected this kind of resistance. He chose to pretend he could have overcome the rebels, but not at the cost of more lives. At the time of this writing, the standoff continues; more Atambayev supporters have surrounded his residence, and more special forces have been sent to get him. Internet access has been shut off in the area. Jeenbekov was Atambayev's chosen successor as president (in Kyrgyzstan, leaders are limited to one six-year term – an exception in post-Soviet Central Asia, where rulers usually remain in office until they die). In 2017, he won an election European observers described as competitive and praised as a peaceful power transfer. This was the first time an elected Kyrgyz leader had left his post without being overthrown.Problems arose, however, when Atambayev refused to recede quietly into the background and Jeenbekov showed a reluctance to share power with him. A split in the ruling Social Democratic Party followed; Atambayev allies were fired from government jobs and mutual corruption allegations flew. In April, the parliament stripped ex-presidents of immunity from prosecution, clearly a move directed against Atambayev. Criminal cases in which he was officially only a witness escalated; the ex-leader refused to show up for interrogations. The conflict blew up into Wednesday's violence.Jeenbekov appears to have the upper hand for now since the military, police and special forces are still on his side. But the bigger issue is not who wins the standoff in tiny Kyrgyzstan, one of the 50 poorest countries in the world. It's whether any post-Soviet leader can safely hand off power after an election.That's also a question Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko must be asking himself. Poroshenko lost an election to former comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy in April. Late last month, Roman Truba, head of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations, said the ex-leader was a person of interest in 11 criminal cases, mostly involving corruption. Zelenskiy has mentioned at times he'd like to hold Poroshenko responsible for misruling the country, and though, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general (a Poroshenko appointee), the ex-president is only seen as a witness so far, the Atambayev case shows that can quickly change. A peaceful, democratic (or at least relatively democratic) power transition isn't everything. With post-Soviet justice systems largely unreformed and law enforcement agencies serving each master individually rather than the state, a ruler who gives up power is in grave danger, especially if he continues to dabble in politics and speak his mind. There will always be past transgressions for which he can be held responsible.In Ukraine and in Russia, ex-presidents have usually done their best to keep out of their successor's way. (Current Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, who kept the presidential chair warm for Vladimir Putin between 2008 and 2012, is a kind of exception, but then he's always faithfully served Putin.) Poroshenko, however, vocally opposes Zelenskiy as head of a parliamentary faction; as a result, a Atambayev-style scene in the future is not entirely unimaginable.All this has a direct bearing on Putin's plans for 2024, when his last constitutionally allowed presidential term ends. He has few workable options for staying in power without changing the constitution to extend his rule, a scenario he's vowed to avoid. Watching the events in Kyrgyzstan must make him wonder about the feasibility of handing off to a supposedly tame successor, as Atambayev thought he was doing in 2017. Whatever Putin invents for 2024 will have to be less risky for him and his family. To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| NRSC Suspends Twitter Advertising after McConnell’s Account Is Locked Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:00 AM PDT  The National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP's campaign arm, terminated its spending on Twitter advertisements Thursday, expressing outrage that Senator Mitch McConnell's Twitter account was locked after his team shared a video of protesters making threats against him outside his house.The NRSC called the mammoth social-media platform's move "outrageous" and said ad spending would be cut off indefinitely."Twitter's hostile actions toward Leader McConnell's campaign are outrageous, and we will not tolerate it," NRSC spokesman Jesse Hunt said. "The NRSC will suspend all spending with Twitter until further notice. We will not spend our resources on a platform that silences conservatives."The Kentucky Republican's account was locked on Wednesday for posting footage of protesters shouting obscenities and making violent threats outside of his home, which the company said violates its "violent threats policy."A woman identified as Black Lives Matter Louisville leader Chanelle Helm can be heard saying in the video that McConnell "should have broken his little, raggedy, wrinkled-a*s neck," in the recent fall that resulted in a broken shoulder from which he is currently recovering. Another woman can be heard talking about stabbing McConnell in the heart."This is a problem with the speech police in America today," McConnell's campaign manager, Kevin Golden, said in a statement. "Twitter will allow the words of 'Massacre Mitch' to trend nationally on their platform but locks our account for posting actual threats against us. We appealed and Twitter stood by their decision, saying our account will remain locked until we delete the video.""Silicon Valley is trying to silence conservatives," read a fundraising email from the Committee, adding that supporters should "push back."Other Republican lawmakers expressed their support for the Senate leader, with some pledging to join the NRSC in ceasing to spend money on Twitter ads until his account is restored."Agree with the NRSC. Team Marsha won't spend resources on Twitter until the Team Mitch account is back. StopTheBias," read a tweet from Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn's account.
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| Police shootings are a leading cause of death for young American men, new research shows Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:12 AM PDT  The phrase "leading causes of death" might bring to mind cancer, heart disease, suicide and drug overdose.But new research published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that young American men are at a surprisingly high risk of being killed by a police officer.Among men of all races, ages 25 to 29, police killings are the sixth-leading cause of death, according to a study led by Frank Edwards of Rutgers University, with a total annual mortality risk of 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people.Accidental death, a category that includes automotive accidents and drug overdoses, was the biggest cause at 76.6 deaths per 100,000, and followed by suicide (26.7), other homicides (22.0), heart disease (7.0), and cancer (6.3).The data used in this study do not differentiate between police killings that were later determined to be justified and those that were not. FBI data, which is widely acknowledged to be incomplete, shows that 400 to 500 homicides each year are determined to be justified, which is defined as "the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty". Those deaths represent about half of the roughly 1,000 annual police killings that independent tallies, including those by The Washington Post and The Guardian, have found.For a black man, the risk of being killed by a police officer is about 2.5 times higher than that of a white man. "Our models predict that about 1 in 1,000 black men and boys will be killed by police over the life course," the authors write.In the 20 to 24 age group, black men represent nearly 2 per cent of such deaths, compared with 0.5 per cent for whites. A 40-year-old black man has about the same risk of being killed by a police officer as a 20-year-old white man.Because no reliable federal data exists for police killings, the authors turned to the data compiled by Fatal Encounters, a project that uses news reports, public records requests and crowdsourced information to tally officer-involved fatalities.The authors note that Fatal Encounters was "endorsed as a sound source of data" by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics in a 2016 report, but they warn that the data likely undercounts the number of officer-involved killings: "If any death is not covered by news organisations or is not documented in searchable public records," they note, "it will not appear in the data."The study excludes police-involved deaths determined to be a suicide, the result of a car accident or an accident, like an overdose or fall.Police killings are far more common in the United States than in other advanced democracies. That is partly because the US has a much higher homicide rate – "25.2 times higher" – than economically similar countries, according to a 2016 study.One of the prime drivers of that difference, research shows, is the nation's high rate of gun ownership: Americans make up 4 per cent of the global population, but own nearly half the guns in the world.The nation's high rates of violence and gun ownership make many police fearful for their lives, research shows. Data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows that, in recent years, 100 to 200 officers are killed annually in the line of duty. And other research shows that police are more likely to be killed in the line of duty in states with more permissive gun laws.Officers can respond to the threat of violence by using lethal force of their own: more than half of the 544 people shot and killed by police to date in 2019 were found to be carrying firearms, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.The authors of the PNAS report note another factor at play in the country's high rate of police shootings: "Austerity in social welfare and public health programmes has led to police and prisons becoming catchall responses to social problems," they wrote.In his recent book, "The End of Policing," sociologist Alex Vitale of Brooklyn College argues that police often end up being the de facto first responders for mental health issues because of "a decision that's been made by political leaders not to fund adequate community-based mental health services".At least 20 per cent of people fatally shot by police so far this year had documented mental health issues, according to The Post's data.The study's authors say their findings reinforce calls "to treat police violence as a public health issue" with "profound consequences for public health, democracy, and racial stratification".The Washington Post
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| Gazans too poor to afford sheep for Eid sacrifice under blockade, Israel cash row Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:08 AM PDT ![Gazans too poor to afford sheep for Eid sacrifice under blockade, Israel cash row]( "Gazans too poor to afford sheep for Eid sacrifice under blockade, Israel cash row") Ali usually marks the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha with his family in the Gaza Strip by sacrificing a sheep, a customary annual ritual for those who can spare the cost. Gaza has suffered under years of blockade by Israel and Egypt, which cite security concerns for restrictions the World Bank says have severely damaged its economy. Ali said that in March, the PA cut his monthly salary in half, leaving him with of 1,500 shekels ($431).
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| Yang surpasses Beto in Iowa poll, qualifies for fall debates Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:00 AM PDT  Yang is the ninth candidate to qualify for a pair of debates in September and October.
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| Popeyes is launching a new fried chicken sandwich nationwide Aug. 12 Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:24 AM PDT  Fried chicken fans will soon be able to get Popeyes chicken on a brioche bun for $3.99 nationwide.
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| View Photos of the 2019 Fiat 500X Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT |
| Emotions Erupt During Court Hearing for DUI Vehicular Homicide Suspect Posted: 07 Aug 2019 02:38 PM PDT  A 62-year-old Washington state woman who has a history of driving while under the influence has pleaded not guilty in the death of a 24-year-old man.
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| Former SS guard of Nazi camp, 92, to go on trial in Germany Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:36 AM PDT  A 92-year-old former SS private will go on trial this fall in Germany on 5,230 counts of being an accessory to murder, accused of helping the Nazis' Stutthof concentration camp function, a Hamburg court said Thursday. "Surveillance was necessary for the concentration camp to function, and the camp was made to kill people," Hamburg state court spokesman Kai Wantzen said of the prosecution's argument. Wantzen said the suspect did not deny to authorities that he had served in Stutthof and said he was aware people were being killed.
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| Manhunt after Israeli off-duty soldier killed in West Bank Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:07 PM PDT  An off-duty Israeli soldier was found dead with stab wounds near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a "terrorist" attack, sparking a manhunt. The killing between Bethlehem and the flashpoint city of Hebron risked raising Israeli-Palestinian tensions weeks ahead of September 17 polls in Israel. The body of 19-year-old Dvir Sorek was found in the early hours of Thursday "with stabbing marks", the Israeli army said in a statement.
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| U.S. Holds Off on Huawei Licenses as China Halts Crop-Buying Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:45 PM PDT ![U.S. Holds Off on Huawei Licenses as China Halts Crop-Buying]( "U.S. Holds Off on Huawei Licenses as China Halts Crop-Buying") (Bloomberg) -- The White House is holding off on a decision about licenses for U.S. companies to restart business with Huawei Technologies Co. after Beijing said it was halting purchases of U.S. farming goods, according to people familiar with the matter.Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose department has vetted the applications to resume sales, said last week he's received 50 requests and that a decision on them was pending. American businesses require a special license to supply goods to Huawei after the U.S. added the Chinese telecommunications giant to a trade blacklist in May over national-security concerns.Huawei suppliers Micron Technology Inc. and Western Digital Corp. declined as much as 2.2% after the news on the delay in license approvals. The Australian dollar and offshore yuan fell versus the greenback and the yen gained.Trade TrucePresident Donald Trump said in late June after agreeing to a now-broken trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Japan that some restrictions on Huawei would be loosened. But that promise was contingent upon China beefing up its purchases from American farmers, which Trump has complained the country has failed to do.In the past week tensions have escalated further as Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports as of Sept. 1 and his Treasury Department formally labeled China a currency manipulator.Still, Trump said last week there were no plans to reverse the decision he made in Japan to allow more sales by U.S. suppliers of non-sensitive products to Huawei. He said the issue of Huawei is not related to the trade talks.The White House had no immediate comment, and the Commerce Department declined to comment.Tech PitchTechnology companies have already made their pitch to the White House for a rapid granting of licenses that would allow them to resume some shipments of components to Huawei.The Chinese company is one of the world's biggest purchasers of semiconductors. Continuing access to that market is crucial to the fortunes of chipmakers such as Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Inc. who sent their chief executives to meet with Trump in July.Companies such as Xilinx Inc. and Micron have publicly said they've applied for licenses and called on the U.S. to allow them to resume doing business with Huawei. They argue that many of their products are easily obtainable from their overseas rivals, making a ban ineffective and also harmful to the industry that the trade dispute with China is supposed to be helping.Some U.S.-based makers of electronic components have already reported earnings and given forecasts that show the negative effects of the trade dispute.(Updates with share price moves in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Adam Haigh and Jeran Wittenstein.To contact the reporters on this story: Jenny Leonard in Washington at jleonard67@bloomberg.net;Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, ;Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, ;Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Scott LanmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| New Mexico faces extreme water scarcity on par with the United Arab Emirates. Experts warn more 'day zeros' are looming. Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:03 AM PDT  The global water crisis will bring more "day zeros," when a city's taps run dry, a new report says. Worldwide, 17 countries face extreme water stress.
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| U.S. calls China 'thuggish regime' for singling out U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:58 AM PDT  A U.S. State Department spokeswoman on Thursday called China a "thuggish regime" for disclosing the photographs and personal details of a U.S. diplomat who met with student leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. The Hong Kong office of China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday asked the United States to explain reports in Communist Party-controlled media that its diplomats are in contact with student leaders of protests that have convulsed Hong Kong for nine weeks.
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| Google is getting better at making sure you book the cheapest possible flight Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:29 PM PDT  For the past few years, I have been almost exclusively using Google's online travel tools to book flights. It's often the most convenient way to sort through dozens of flight options at once, and the interface is decidedly more manageable than what most competitors have to offer. That said, it does lack some features that other sites provide, but this week, the platform came one step closer to being the ultimate online travel companion.Google has been updating its travel tools rather frequently in recent years, highlighted by the launch of a travel portal in May which unified all of the features and menus into a single webpage. But that was just the beginning, as the new features arriving this week seem built to convince users never to book travel anywhere else.As Google Travel's Richard Holden noted in a blog post on Thursday, Google already shows you if prices for a flight you're about to book are high, low, or typical. But starting today, you will see all the same information for your exact itinerary. Google will also show you how the price has changed over the past few months on some flights, and will even warn you when it expects the price to go up or predicts the price won't go any lower.For a limited time, Google is offering a price guarantee for flights it predicts won't drop in price. If you book a flight on Google Flights between August 13th and September 2nd with Google's price guarantee, and the price drops, Google will refund you the difference. You don't even have to check -- Google will do the work for you.Other new features include recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and activities at destinations you're flying in to, and suggestions for which neighborhoods to stay in depending on how much you'll willing to spend, what you plan to do on your trip, and more. These should all roll out to Google Travel in the coming weeks.
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| Family of Dayton mass shooter 'shocked and devastated' by Sunday deaths Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:04 AM PDT  For the first time, the family of the Dayton mass shooter issued a statement to the public, read by Bellbrook Police Chief Doug Doherty.
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| 'More than 100' immigrants tear gassed by ICE in US detention centre Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:15 AM PDT  American immigration officials used tear gas and allegedly fired rubber bullets on more than 100 immigrants conducting a hunger strike at a detention facility in Louisiana over the weekend, just a day after as many as 40 detainees who were demonstrating against their detention conditions were reportedly pepper sprayed at a separate facility in the state.The spraying occurred at a facility in Pine Prairie, where more than 1,000 detainees are held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a time, according to legal representatives for detainees in the facility who spoke to The Independent.According to a legal representative with the Southern Poverty Law Centre representing a detainee who witnessed the incident, more than 100 detainees were sprayed and hit with tear gas by law enforcement "in riot gear" on Saturday in a central yard of the facility. Many were then taken to a separate facility for decontamination, and legal representatives have since indicated they believe those impacted are being moved to different facilities.Another legal representative with a different immigrant legal group told The Independent that their clients reported seeing the use of "rubber bullets, which is painful but not deadly"."When an individual in detention goes on hunger strike, it means the person is willing to put their body on the line just to be heard," Sofia Casini, the southern regional co-ordinator for the group Freedom for Immigrants, said in a statement. "Multiple hunger strikes happening simultaneously are no coincidence: they are indicative of the desperation and suffering that immigrants are facing inside these human cages."When contacted for comment, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox confirmed that an incident had taken place, and said the pepper spray was deployed after the detainees refused to disperse from the outdoor recreation at the facility."Facility staff and ICE officers gave the detainees multiple opportunities to disperse and allow for the restoration of orderly operations. When the ICE detainees refused to comply, facility staff and ICE officers deployed pepper spray to disperse the group," Mr Cox said in an email.Mr Cox continued: "Medical staff evaluated all individuals who came in contact with the pepper spray; no detainee or staff injuries were reported."The incident came just days after dozens of immigrants were allegedly pepper sprayed and beaten at a facility in Bossier Parish, about 30 miles north of Shreveport."There are lots of cops who came from another prison, they beat up the Cubans, they pepper spray them and handcuff them," one of the men inside of the jail later texted his lawyer, according to Mother Jones, which was able to access those messages.Another text message from the same man claimed that the Cuban immigrants were attacked after they requested to be released on bond, and "to change the judge because he's violating our rights".The incident at Pine Prairie has once again drawn attention to the facility, which is operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group, which runs many of the jails that ICE relies upon for immigrant detention.
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| 57 people are dead and 18,000 were hospitalized in Japan as the country grapples with a stifling heat wave Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:58 AM PDT  Scorching temperatures have plagued Japan for weeks, resulting in scores of heat-related deaths this summer.
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| 2nd ex-New Orleans cop takes plea deal in Hispanic beating Posted: 07 Aug 2019 02:48 PM PDT  WDSU-TV reports that Spencer Sutton pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace. John Galman, the other officer in the case, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in February. Both officers, who are white and were off-duty at the time of the incident, had been on the force less than a year and both were fired a day after the July 24, 2018, beating.
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| US border detentions plunge in July after Mexico deal Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:39 PM PDT  US southern border detentions plunged for the second straight month in July after a deal with Mexico to block Central American migrants, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday. US Border Patrol agents detained or blocked 82,049 migrants at the frontier with Mexico last month, down from 104,367 in June and a 13-year peak of 144,266 in May, they said. The Department of Homeland Security attributed the fall to a deal signed with Mexico in June to stem the flow of migrants traveling northward to the United States from Central America, mainly Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
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| U.S. Sanction Plan for Russian Pipe Could Repeat Reagan Failures Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:10 AM PDT ![U.S. Sanction Plan for Russian Pipe Could Repeat Reagan Failures]( "U.S. Sanction Plan for Russian Pipe Could Repeat Reagan Failures") (Bloomberg) -- Efforts by the U.S. Senate to hamper a controversial natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have probably come too late.The Senate is yet to vote on a bill to impose sanctions on construction of the undersea part of the 750-mile Nord Stream 2 link under the Baltic Sea, but the project is already almost complete and scheduled to be finished this year.The faltering U.S. attempt to prevent the pipeline mimics similarly unsuccessful moves to limit Soviet gas exports to Europe during the Reagan era in the early 1980s, according to Jonathan Stern, a senior research fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies."They were resisted and ineffective then and I think we can expect the same result today," he said. "This all looks likely to be too late to be very significant since most of these pipelines have already been laid, unless the U.S. attempts retroactive sanctions, which I think could really raise a storm on this side of the Atlantic."The project has split the European Union, with nations including Poland concerned about Russia's Gazprom PJSC, already the region's dominant supplier, boosting its influence in the region when the link is finished. It also raised trade tension with the U.S., with President Donald Trump warning that the project would boost dependence on Russia and Energy Secretary Rick Perry touting "freedom gas" from North America.It's not so much that this year's attempts by the senators will stop the project, but there "might be a bit of disruption," said Wayne Bryan, a trader and analyst at Alfa Energy Ltd. in London. Gas prices for 2020 in the Netherlands are 55% higher than for delivery next month, signaling the market's assessment of heightened supply risk next year.Germany and other backers of Nord Stream 2 say the pipeline is needed to replace coal and nuclear plants being shuttered across Europe in order to help back up intermittent renewable supply and meet climate goals.The legislation creating the sanctions sponsored by Texas Republican Ted Cruz and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen would target vessels that lay the pipeline and sanction executives from companies linked to those vessels. Shaheen said that the only companies that would be affected are Allseas Group SA of Switzerland and Saipem SpA."Saipem does not believe this legislation as drafted applies to Saipem's existing contractual commitments for this project," said Vincenzo Romeo Tramontano, a spokesman for the Milan-based company. "Saipem understands that this legislation is aimed at imposing future sanctions on certain vessels providing construction support" to the pipeline.Allseas, which is laying the twin pipelines, declined to "speculate on potential impacts of proposed sanctions," the company said by email.While the U.S. had few objections to the first, almost identical, Nord Stream link that started operations in 2011, two subsequent events may help explain the current opposition.The first is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a key transit nation for Gazprom's gas that stands to lose billions of dollars if supplies go via Nord Stream 2 instead, which culminated in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the imposition of sanctions by the U.S. and European Union. The second is the start of U.S. shale gas exports in 2016, which have since boomed to make the nation the third-largest liquefied natural gas exporter.With plunging renewable-energy costs the U.S. may be worried about the future of global gas demand, said Laurent Segalen, a former commodities banker who is now a partner at Megawatt-X in London, advising on financing wind and solar projects."In Asia, U.S. LNG is undercut by the Qataris and the Aussies -- Germany is the prize, and the U.S. LNG industry want to snap it from the Russians," he said. "If Nord Stream 2 goes through, the U.S. LNG exporters can kiss goodbye to hundreds of LNG cargoes to Germany in the coming years."\--With assistance from Daniel Flatley.To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Rob Verdonck, Lars PaulssonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Man in anthem attack convinced Trump ordered it, lawyer says Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:41 AM PDT  A Montana man charged with assaulting a 13-year-old boy who refused to remove his hat during the national anthem believed he was doing what President Donald Trump wanted him to do, his attorney said. Attorney Lance Jasper told the Missoulian he will seek a mental health evaluation for Curt Brockway, a U.S. Army veteran who became caught up in the heightened animosity and rhetoric gripping the nation, and convinced himself that he was following the president's orders. Brockway suffered a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle crash in 2000 that has affected his decision making, and Jasper said he plans to raise that in his client's defense.
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| The U.S. is Close to a Peace Deal With the Taliban, Officials Say Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:07 PM PDT  American troops could leave Afghanistan by November 2020, but hurdles remain and some critics are skeptical
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| China surprises with best export growth since March, but imports remain weak Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:49 PM PDT  China's exports unexpectedly returned to growth in July on improved global demand despite escalating U.S. trade pressure, but the rebound may be short-lived as Washington prepares to slap even more tariffs on Chinese goods. Analysts say a sharp drop in the yuan currency this week may offer only limited help for Chinese exporters, who are facing additional U.S. levies next month, shrinking profit margins, and sputtering demand worldwide.
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| Former Boy Scout leader had 10,000 photos and 600 videos of child porn Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:55 AM PDT ![Former Boy Scout leader had 10,000 photos and 600 videos of child porn]( "Former Boy Scout leader had 10,000 photos and 600 videos of child porn") A former Boy Scout leader was sentenced Wednesday for possession of thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child pornography.
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| Police should prioritise animal welfare over protesters' rights, says Countryside Alliance after activists accused of killing thousands of pheasant chicks Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:52 AM PDT  The police should prioritise animal welfare over the rights of protesters who storm farms and upset livestock, the Countryside Alliance has said, after activists were accused of causing the deaths of thousands of pheasant chicks. Direct action from animal rights campaigners, in which they storm farms, is on the rise, according to Tim Bonner, the chief executive of the organisation. Over the last year, activists have been accused of disturbing and even killing animals including piglets and turkeys. Last month, pheasant farmer Eloise McDonald, 23, found dead chicks with hundreds of birds huddled together after a raid on her family farm near Ashford, Kent. She wrote on Facebook: "Some lowlife scumbag so-called 'animal lovers' let out 20,000 of my birds, cut all the fencing, cut gas pipes, hundreds of week-old birds dead, gasping for water and starving!" Ms McDonald estimated that around 3,000 birds had perished. Mr Bonner said that while hunt saboteurs have engaged in forms of direct action for decades, there is a new wave of vegan activists who storm farms in order to get pictures for social media and raise awareness of their cause. He told The Telegraph: "It's a relatively new phenomenon, the farm invasions isn't something we've seen much of before. "Another prominent one is vigils at abattoirs and I understand people take views and don't like animals being killed but all they are doing is increasing the amount of time they are spending on the vehicle and are making things more stressful. "Obviously people can protest about whatever they want, but when animal welfare is impacted that is not acceptable." While the Countryside Alliance had found that police took the game farm vandalism seriously, the chief executive said there are issues with farm invasions. He explained: "With the farm invasion sometimes the policing does tend to be slightly biased towards ensuring people can protest - but if those protests are having an impact on the welfare of animals, if suffering is caused by that "There's a level of cynicism among the hardcore extremists and among the new generation of activists there's a level of ignorance. Making your views known - there's nothing wrong with that - but make sure you demonstrate in a way that doesn't impact the welfare of animals."
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| Man leads police on chase from Missouri to Tennessee after stealing car full of kittens Posted: 07 Aug 2019 12:00 PM PDT  A man accused of stealing a car full of cats led police through at least fourdifferent states before he was finally arrested Monday, according to WTVF
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| Pentagon chief makes rare visit to Mongolia Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:40 AM PDT  US Defense Secretary Mark Esper made a rare visit to Mongolia on Thursday –- the latest leg of an Asian tour aimed at shoring up partnerships to counter China's growing influence in the region. Esper has visited several regional US allies including Japan and Australia in his maiden tour abroad following his confirmation as Pentagon chief last month. Including Mongolia in his trip is partly a reflection of the landlocked country's geo-strategic importance -- sandwiched between China and Russia.
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| Modi Promises New Era in Kashmir After Scrapping Autonomy Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:39 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- India's government rid Kashmir of dynastic politics and entrenched corruption by revoking its seven decades of autonomy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an address to the nation late Thursday.Modi's address came after rival Pakistan cut diplomatic and trade ties and sought to garner international support for its opposition to what New Delhi has called "entirely the internal affairs" of India.The federal government will look at ways to reduce the state deficit in Kashmir, Modi said, seeking to reassure Kashmiris that governance will continue as normal without undue influence from the capital, New Delhi. Several leaders, including former state chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti who belong to prominent political families, have been arrested in the recent days.Under Article 370 of India's constitution, the state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed complete autonomy and the state legislature was free to draft its own laws except in the areas of communications, defense, finance, and foreign affairs, while Indian citizens, living outside the state, were prohibited from purchasing land."A new era has been started in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," Modi said. "Article 370 did not give the people anything apart from separatism and terrorism and kept them from progress -- it was being used as a weapon by Pakistan."Modi made not more than a couple of references to Pakistan in his 40-minute speech which aimed to explain the decision to scrap Article 370. Instead, he kept the focus firmly on jobs and governance in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh."For decades, the political dynasties have kept my Kashmiri youth from the opportunity to govern," Modi said. "I appeal to young men and women to come forward and lead their own areas."The government would immediately begin hiring for posts in police, the armed forces and federal government-run businesses, Modi said. Promises of job benefits like rent and travel allowances -- not as yet available to local government employees -- and extending scholarships to students and sportspeople also took up a large part of his speech.He emphasized that Kashmir would revert to full-statehood under India's federal structure, although Ladakh would continue to be administered by the federal government. Modi also indicated that restrictions on movement and communication in Kashmir would be lifted soon.His Kashmir move fulfilled a campaign promise made to his Hindu base, which opposed special treatment for the region. The state has been the main flashpoint between the two nuclear powers, which have fought three wars since the British left the subcontinent in 1947.Yet the manner in which the decision was implemented -- imposing restrictions on movement, cutting telephone and Internet connectivity, evacuating tourists and Hindu pilgrims and arresting local political leaders -- has raised concerns.Pakistan TiesThe Indian decision triggered Pakistan into downgrading diplomatic relations and suspend bilateral trade with India.As Modi was delivering his address, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted criticisms of India's treatment of citizens living in Kashmir. "The whole world is waiting to see what happens to oppressed Kashmiris in IOK when curfew is lifted," Khan said. "What should be obvious is the international community will be witnessing the genocide of the Kashmiris."His government announced a series of measures on Wednesday to oppose what it called "unilateral and illegal actions" by India. He also said Pakistan will take the matter to the United Nations Security Council and ensure the army remains vigilant. It also canceled a two-decade-old bi-weekly train service between the two countries.New Delhi urged Pakistan to review its actions so "that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved," foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.'Undermines Sovereignty'China has also criticized India's actions.A strongly-worded statement released by Beijing was most critical of the impact of India's actions on the mainly Buddhist region of Ladakh -- an area of strategic importance nestled between Tibet and Pakistan."The recent unilateral revision of domestic laws by the Indian side continues to undermine China's territorial sovereignty, which is unacceptable and will not have any effect," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswomen Hua Chunying said in the statement Tuesday.To contact the reporters on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.net;Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni KrishnanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Judge: Anti-Kushner bias not cause of Jersey City dispute Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:28 PM PDT ![Judge: Anti-Kushner bias not cause of Jersey City dispute]( "Judge: Anti-Kushner bias not cause of Jersey City dispute") Jersey City wasn't animated by political bias when it took action last year against a real estate project connected to President Donald Trump's son-in-law, a federal judge ruled Thursday in dismissing a lawsuit brought by a group of real estate companies. One Journal Square Partners Urban Renewal Co. and affiliates claimed in a lawsuit filed last year that officials in the heavily Democratic city issued a notice of default on the $900 million project out of political retribution because of its connections to Jared Kushner. Before he was named a senior adviser to Trump in early 2017, Kushner was CEO of the Kushner Companies, a major investor in the companies seeking to build two residential towers and a parking garage in the city's Journal Square neighborhood.
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| Gaez: Democrats are trying to relitigate Kavanaugh confirmation after failing with Mueller hearing Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:55 PM PDT  Nadler demands Kavanaugh emails from Bush White House; Fox News correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera and Rep. Matt Gaetz react.
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| China continued Iran oil imports in July in teeth of U.S. sanctions: analysts Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:15 AM PDT  SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - China imported Iranian crude oil in July for the second month since a U.S. sanctions waiver ended, according to research from three data firms, with one estimate showing some oil entered tanks holding the country's strategic reserves. According to the firms, which track tanker movements, between 4.4 million and 11 million barrels of Iranian crude were discharged into China last month, or 142,000 to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd). The imports are continuing at a precarious moment in U.S.-China relations: The flow is hampering U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to choke off oil exports vital to Iran through sanctions, just as tensions rise in the festering U.S.-China trade dispute that has cast a pall over the global economy.
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| Ohio officials team up for bipartisan gun reform push Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:34 PM PDT  Ohio's Republican governor and Dayton's Democratic mayor pledged Thursday they will work together in a bipartisan push for gun reforms as the city focuses on recovering from the nation's latest mass shooting. Mike DeWine and Nan Whaley announced their legislative plan while visiting the downtown entertainment district where a gunman killed nine people and injured dozens more early Sunday. Whaley says she's pleased with how the Dayton community is coming together in a nonpartisan way in wake of the tragedy.
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| Airline pilot flies dad's remains home from Vietnam 52 years after seeing him off at same Dallas airport Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:53 PM PDT  When Air Force Maj. Roy Knight, Jr., left Dallas for Vietnam 52 years ago, his 5-year-old son, Bryan, came to Dallas Love field to see him off. On Thursday, Bryan, now a captain for Southwest Airlines, brought back his father's remains aboard a flight to the same Dallas airport.
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