| Uneasy Democrats still hope for a white knight to save them from Biden, Warren or Sanders Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:22 AM PDT  With questions about the former VP's fundraising and the general election viability of the two New England senators, the Democratic establishment is looking for a new option in the primary race.
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| 'A sad day': Louisiana deputy and his school teacher wife face 60 counts of child porn and child rape accusations Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:15 PM PDT  Sheriff's deputy Dennis Perkins and his wife Cynthia Thompson Perkins, a teacher, were arrested on child pornography and rape charges in Louisiana.
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| Russia's Lavrov says Norwegian spy could return home at 'any moment' Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:28 PM PDT  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a Norwegian man jailed for spying could return home at "any moment". Lavrov spoke briefly to Norwegian media when he arrived in the Arctic town of Kirkenes in Norway on the 75th anniversary of its liberation by the Red Army, according to video posted on Friday on the Russian foreign ministry's Telegram channel. A Russian commission on Thursday recommended President Vladimir Putin pardon Frode Berg, jailed for spying, spurring hopes in Norway that he may be released as part of a spy swap.
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| Drug lord delivers blunt Lebanon protest support Posted: 24 Oct 2019 04:27 AM PDT  A week into daily demonstrations that have gone on into the early hours, the Lebanese may be in need of a pick me up -- and the country's most famous drug dealer offered just that Thursday. Nouh Zaiter, a hashish dealer on the run from Lebanese authorities, delivered a blunt message in support of anti-corruption protests that have crippled the country. The self-styled Lebanese Robin Hood released a video on a local news site calling on protesters in the eastern Baalbek region to demonstrate on Thursday evening.
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| ISIS is staging attacks in symbolically important places to send a message: We're back Posted: 24 Oct 2019 09:02 AM PDT  "ISIS absolutely intends to rule terrain again," an analyst told Insider, and it's staging attacks on symbolically important places.
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| An Easy Way To Start World War III: Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:00 PM PDT  Just asking for it.
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| Gaetz Compares Dems to ‘Rabid Hyenas’ After Storming Impeachment Hearing Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:15 PM PDT  Hours after dozens of House Republicans literally stormed the closed-door witness deposition of Pentagon official Laura Cooper, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)—the ringleader of Wednesday's plan to derail the impeachment inquiry—defended his actions by calling Democrats "rabid hyenas" and claiming there are "no rules" when dealing with them. Appearing on Fox's Tucker Carlson Tonight, Gaetz was asked what the purpose was of barging into a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), a move that ultimately delayed Cooper's testimony by five hours. "We had the audacity to want to know what was going on behind closed doors where Democrats have engaged in a strategy of secret interviews, selective leaks, theatrical, weird performances of transcripts that never happened and lies about whistleblowers," Gaetz declared. "It's reasonable to suggest we would want more transparency on behalf of the millions of people we represent."Fox host Tucker Carlson, meanwhile, asked whether Gaetz and his colleagues have a right under congressional rules to demand more transparency. "There are no rules," the Florida lawmaker exclaimed. "If we had rules, Nancy Pelosi would have put this to a vote like established rules that happened with President Clinton, like happened with President Nixon.""The Democrats want to preserve the most, like, operational flexibility," he added. "So if they're going to have a world with no rules, we have to stop thinking we can use the Marquis of Queensberry rules of engagement when we're fighting against an angry pack of rabid hyenas. I think the president is right. As Republicans, we need to be tougher in exposing this for the kangaroo court that it is."While Gaetz and other GOP congressmen took a victory lap on Fox News Wednesday night, however, new reporting suggests that rather than this being a principled stand for transparency, the entire thing was a made-for-TV publicity stunt.It was reported that besides GOP leadership blessing the plan to storm the SCIF—which featured a number of congressmen bringing in their cell phones, which is not allowed—the president himself had advance knowledge of the protest and endorsed it. In recent days, Trump has grown visibly angry that Republicans on Capitol Hill aren't doing enough to defend him.Elsewhere on Fox News, host and Trump confidant Sean Hannity brought on both House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and two congressmen who took part in the protest—Reps. Michael Waltz and Lee Zeldin—and urged all of them to keep up the protests."I think you should do this every day," Hannity said.As Hannity was giving the game away on the air, one of his colleagues was reporting elsewhere that the whole thing was essentially a play by House Republicans to get a dramatic TV moment."Fox is told there was never any chance mbrs who barged into SCIF would be arrested by USCP," Fox News reporter Chad Pergram tweeted. "But some members asked to be arrested. They wanted the optic of being frog marched out of the SCIF in front of TV cameras. That would help w/GOP narrative of Dem process abuse."Pergram also said his sources noted that there really wasn't anything security officials could do in the end, adding that there's no "real punishment for breaking the rules" as House members are just "expected to adhere to the rules."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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| Wind-whipped fires rage across California as lights go dark Posted: 24 Oct 2019 05:23 PM PDT  Fast-growing fires throughout California forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes Thursday as dry winds and high heat fed both the flames and fears in a state still jittery from devastating wildfires in the last two years. Officials said they did not yet know how many homes had burned and that no immediate injuries were reported. In Northern California wine country, authorities ordered 2,000 people to evacuate as a wildfire exploded to more than 15 square miles (39 square kilometers), whipped up by the strong winds that prompted utilities statewide to impose blackouts to prevent such fires from igniting.
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| Medieval man's face reconstructed from 600-year-old skull Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:46 AM PDT ![Medieval man's face reconstructed from 600-year-old skull]( "Medieval man's face reconstructed from 600-year-old skull") Researchers found that Skeleton 125 was over the age of 46 years old and shorter than the average medieval man. He was around 5'2" or 5'3".
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| Driver arrested after 39 found dead in truck near London Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:43 AM PDT  British police found the bodies of 39 people inside a truck at an industrial estate near London on Wednesday and said they had arrested the driver on suspicion of murder. The discovery of the bodies - 38 adults and one teenager - was made in the early hours after emergency services were alerted to people in a truck container on an industrial site in Grays, about 20 miles (32 km) east of central London. Police said the trailer had arrived at nearby docks having travelled from Zeebrugge in Belgium and the bodies were found just over an hour later.
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| Ilhan Omar Misquotes Article, Falsely Claims Child ‘Died’ Due to Dropped Medicaid Coverage Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted a link to a New York Times article Thursday morning and falsely claimed a child "died as a direct result of Trump's cuts to Medicaid and CHIP," even though the article makes no such claim.After critics pointed out Omar's inaccuracy on Twitter, her account tweeted an addendum saying the child had "almost died."> almost died*> > -- Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) October 24, 2019The Times' article paints a fearful account of rising uninsurance rates among eligible Medicaid families due to amended paperwork requirements and deportation fears, and implies shifts in policy under the Trump administration are behind the decreasing enrollment. But HHS Administration for Children and Families spokesman told the paper that recent rises are due to factors in individual states."I went to the E.R. thinking he had insurance. If the receptionist had not seen him turning blue, she might have just said, 'He's not covered, so we can't see him today.' I do think about that.," Karen Johnson, the boy's mother, told The Times. The nine-month old was taken to the intensive care unit for a respiratory virus, treated successfully, and later released.The rest of the story also undercuts Omar's initial tweet, as the Times reports that "Trump administration officials have not explicitly tried to limit children's Medicaid coverage." After an appointment with an enrollment counselor, it was revealed that Johnson had missed a window to provide proof of income to re-enroll her three children.The Johnson's are now re-enrolled successfully, and Karen is counting on Medicaid to cover the hospital bills retroactively.Medicaid retroactively covers eligible patients up to three months after the month of application.
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| Putin and Erdogan agreed to a 'historic' deal to consolidate power in Syria and humble Kurdish forces. Here are the winners and losers. Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:56 AM PDT  Here are the winners and losers from the agreement reached Tuesday, and what it means for the region's future as it tries to rebuild.
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| The Army Wants to Bring the "Linebacker" Bradley Back from the Grave Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:00 PM PDT  A good idea?
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| China detains journalist who covered Hong Kong protests: sources Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:57 AM PDT  A Chinese journalist who covered democracy protests in Hong Kong has been detained after returning to the mainland, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told AFP on Thursday. Huang Xueqin, who became known for her support of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment in China last year, had travelled to Hong Kong this summer. When Huang returned to the mainland, authorities in the southeastern city of Guangzhou summoned her to a meeting and confiscated her travel documents, the sources said.
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| ‘Smoking Gun’ Testimony Accelerates Democrats Timeline on Impeaching Trump Posted: 24 Oct 2019 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The explosive testimony of senior U.S. diplomat William Taylor handed Democrats a key to unlock their impeachment case against President Donald Trump, which soon will be brought into public view.Even as the Trump administration attempts to block witnesses and withhold documents, the inquiry has managed to snare testimony that sketches out a back-channel outreach to Ukraine by the president and his closest advisers that appears to have focused on leveraging U.S. foreign policy to dig up dirt on a political rival."We have smoking gun sitting on top of smoking gun at this point. And there is no alternative story," Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said Wednesday. Taylor's statement on Tuesday "has dramatically accelerated the investigation."Taylor's testimony was a crucial piece of a puzzle that had already been partly assembled through other testimony, including from former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich and Fiona Hill, who had been Trump's top Russia and Europe adviser.Taylor's chronology, based on firsthand conversations and contemporaneous notes, helps fill in a picture of the president using congressionally allocated foreign aid and an Oval Office visit to pressure Ukraine for a political favor.The defense mounted by the president and his Republican allies so far mainly has focused on criticizing Democrats for keeping testimony private and selectively leaking the most damaging aspects -- and denying there was any quid pro quo sought by Trump in a July conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. To make their point, about two dozen GOP House members on Wednesday stormed into the secure hearing room, holding up questioning of a Pentagon official for more than five hours."We have a right as members of Congress to know what's going on in there," said Representative David Rouzer, a North Carolina Republican. "None of this is classified information whatsoever."Several Democrats who are taking part in the impeachment inquiry led by three House committees -- which include Republican lawmakers -- said they expect the closed-door interviews of witnesses to conclude in about two weeks. That would be followed by public hearings.Such hearings would blunt the Republican criticism of the closed-door proceedings so far -- Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a member of leadership, labeled it "a Soviet-style process" -- and give Democrats an opening to build public support, which polls show is already moving in favor of impeachment."A week or two of depositions, and then hearings," said Representative Jackie Speier of California, a member of both the Intelligence and Oversight and Reform committees.Another Democrat on the Oversight panel, Lacy Clay of Missouri, said that while Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff or other panel leaders haven't given specific dates, he expects the investigation might be wrapped up near Thanksgiving. That time frame that would put a vote on impeachment articles into December.There are concerns among some Democrats that extending the probe too far into December, or beyond into the 2020 election year, would open them up to Republican assertions that the effort is more about the election than the Constitution.'Appropriate Time'A Schiff spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment on the timetable. The California Democrat told his colleagues in a letter earlier this month that witness testimony would be given in public "at an appropriate time." He's argued that the initial interviews needed to be conducted privately so that witnesses couldn't coordinate testimony.Public hearings likely would include some of the same witnesses who've testified over the past two weeks about their concern about a shadow, parallel diplomacy with Ukraine being led by Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. That could include Taylor, whose testimony has even given some Republicans pause."The picture coming out of it based on the reporting that we've seen, is, yeah, I would say not a good one," South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune told reporters. "But I would say also that, again, until we have a process that allows for everybody to see this in full transparency, it's pretty hard to draw any hard, fast conclusions."Still, there's been no significant break in support for Trump among Republicans in Congress.Whistle-BlowerOne witness who may not testify is the anonymous whistle-blower from the intelligence community who spurred the Democrats to focus on Ukraine. The three top Republicans on the Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs committees -- Devin Nunes of California, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Michael McCaul of Texas -- released a letter Wednesday night expressing surprise that the whistle-blower isn't going to be called. Schiff spokesman Patrick Boland declined to comment.Trump has been encouraging Republicans to be more aggressive in countering the Democrats on impeachment and has questioned the credibility of witnesses and, especially, the whistle-blower. The president met with a group of GOP lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday and gave his support for Wednesday's protest, according to people familiar with the matter.Once the public hearings get under way, Democrats will come to a decision about whether more investigative work is needed before putting together articles of impeachment, a step that many lawmakers in both parties view as inevitable.House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear the House will move carefully."We're going to build a case," he said, "and if there is a case we will move forward."\--With assistance from Evan Sully, Laura Litvan and Erik Wasson.To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Ford Electric Crossover Will Be Unveiled on November 17 Posted: 24 Oct 2019 11:00 AM PDT  Most likely called the Mach E, the electric crossover will have 300 miles of driving range.
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| Hundreds told to flee, almost 200,000 without power in California wildfires Posted: 24 Oct 2019 01:58 AM PDT  A wind-driven wildfire roared across a swath of northern California wine country on Thursday, prompting the evacuation of some 2,000 Sonoma County residents, including the entire town of Geyserville, where about a dozen homes were destroyed. The Kincade fire was the most severe of several blazes raging throughout California as utility companies cut off electricity to nearly 200,000 homes and businesses across the state in precautionary outages to reduce wildfire risks from high winds. The Sonoma County blaze erupted late Wednesday night and by Thursday morning had scorched some 10,000 acres (4,047 hectares), the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported, as firefighters struggled to contain the spreading flames.
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| Federal NYC judges seem skeptical of Trump arguments in tax case Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:30 AM PDT  Three judges on a federal appeals panel appeared inclined Wednesday to reject arguments that President Trump's tax returns can't be given to a state grand jury, with Trump's lawyers suggesting that local authorities should even let the president get away with shooting someone.
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| AOC's reelection campaign says it refunded two mysterious $500 donations from former Facebook exec and Trump supporter Palmer Luckey Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:03 AM PDT  Oculus founder Palmer Luckey regularly donates to far-right causes, but he donated to AOC without explanation.
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| NYPD officer fired in chokehold death sues to get job back Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:04 PM PDT  The officer who was fired in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner is suing the New York Police Department and the police commissioner to be reinstated. Video of the confrontation between Garner, a black man, and the officers trying to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes drew outrage and was viewed millions of times online.
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| Pakistan, India sign deal on visa-free corridor for Sikh pilgrims Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:47 AM PDT  Islamabad and New Delhi signed an agreement Thursday on a visa-free corridor between the two countries that will allow Sikh pilgrims in India to visit the shrine to their religion's founder, which is in Pakistan. The Kartarpur Corridor deal -- a rare example of cooperation between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals -- follows months of heightened tensions, mainly over the disputed region of Kashmir. "Indian pilgrims of all faiths and persons of Indian origin... can use the corridor.
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| The World’s Most Beautifully Designed Ocean-Fed Pools Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:34 PM PDT |
| What's the dispute between Hillary Clinton and Tulsi Gabbard about? Posted: 24 Oct 2019 12:05 PM PDT  Much of the controversy is actually based on a misquote of Hillary Clinton's remarks about Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on a podcast.
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| Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters rally for Catalan separatists Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:10 PM PDT  Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters, some waving Catalan flags and banners urging "a fight for freedom together", rallied in support of a separate Catalonia on Thursday, broaching an issue that is anathema to Hong Kong's rulers in Beijing. In Hong Kong's demonstrations, millions have taken to the streets in sometimes violent clashes over what they see as China's tightening grip. Most protesters in the former British colony want greater democracy, among other demands, although a small minority is calling for independence.
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| Americans Are Unhappy at Work After Years of Economic Gains Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:52 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Pocket Cast or iTunes.The economy has added millions of jobs and pay gains have accelerated in recent years, but Americans aren't crazy about their work.A poll released Wednesday showed just 40% of employed Americans say they're in good jobs, versus 44% in mediocre jobs and 16% in bad jobs. How respondents ranked the quality of their job had a strong correlation with their quality of life: Seventy-nine percent of workers in good jobs report a high quality of life, versus only a third of those in bad jobs.The Gallup survey of 6,633 working adults to assess their current job on 10 dimensions of job quality such as benefits, pay and job security. More important aspects, as ranked by the respondent, were weighted more heavily in the final five-point score. A good job is a score of 4 or above. A bad job reflects a score at or below 3.About two-thirds of those making $143,000 or more a year -- in the top 10% of incomes -- categorized their job as "good," while less than a third of those making less than $24,000 said the same. Overall, just about half of workers are satisfied with their current pay, but this differs greatly by income. Eighty-nine percent of those in the top 10% income bracket were satisfied with their level of pay. That compares to less than half of that for those with incomes in the bottom half.Fewer than two-thirds of respondents said their pay has increased in the last five years, further underscoring how the record-long expansion has been uneven across income levels. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has emphasized the need to sustain the economy's growth so "that the strong job market reaches more of those left behind."As the labor market has tightened, companies have complained about a lack of qualified workers, and job postings currently exceed the number of unemployed Americans.Yet no more than 37% saw an improvement in any single aspect of work besides pay over the last five years, according to the report, which was funded by the Lumina Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Omidyar Network.About a fourth of Americans saw an improvement in their employee benefits, while only a third were enjoying their day-to-day work more.Looking across demographics, the study found race, ethnicity and gender to be strongly correlated with job quality.Black women were most likely to say they work in bad jobs, at 31%. White non-Hispanic men, followed by white non-Hispanic women, were least likely to be disappointed by job quality. Hispanic men and black women were the most likely to be disappointed. Asian workers, who had higher levels of income and education than white Americans, expressed lower job quality than white respondents.The survey was conducted via mail from Feb. 8 to April 1. The main results have a margin of error of 1.9 percentage point."We cannot rely on the unemployment rate alone to tell us what is happening with work in America," Jonathan Rothwell, Gallup principal economist, said in a statement released with the poll. "This survey offers a detailed look at what people value in their jobs and how they feel about their working lives, and it shows that people want more than just a job."(Updates to add economist quote in last paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Reade Pickert in Washington at epickert@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Jeff KearnsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why Iran's Navy Wouldn't Fare Well in a War Against America Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:00 PM PDT  Tehran has no chance.
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| Mountain skeleton may be man from Japanese internment camp Posted: 23 Oct 2019 06:02 PM PDT  In the closing days of World War II, a Japanese American set out with other men from the infamous internment camp at Manzanar on a trip to the mountains, where he went off on his own to paint a watercolor and got caught in a freak summer snowstorm. A hiker found Giichi Matsumura's body weeks later amid a jumble of boulders, and he was laid to rest in a spot marked only by a small stack of granite slabs. Over the years, as the little-known story faded along with memories, the location of Matsumura's burial in the remote and forbidding alpine landscape was lost to time, and he became a sort of ghost of Manzanar, the subject of searches, rumors and legends.
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| 'It's the jungle': Bosnian migrant camp in crisis Posted: 24 Oct 2019 01:07 AM PDT  No running water, putrid portable toilets and surrounding woods littered with land mines -- these are the bleak conditions of a camp where hundreds of migrants brace for winter in Bosnia. "It's the jungle," says Mohammad Nawaz, a 30-year-old Pakistani living in the tent-city built on a former garbage landfill in the northwest village of Vucjak. The camp was set up outside the city of Bihac in June after inhabitants became frustrated with the growing migrant presence.
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| Children are being sexually abused every seven minutes, NSPCC reveals as figures hit new high Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:57 PM PDT  Children are being sexually abused every seven minutes, according to police data obtained by the NSPCC. Reported sexual offences against children rose to 76,204 in the last 12 months, a record high, according to the figures from 44 of the 45 police forces released under Freedom of Information laws. That is a rise of 63 per cent compared to five years ago when there were 46,738 recorded child sexual offences. Analysis of the data also reveals that where age of victim was provided, a fifth of the offences - some 16,773 - were recorded against children aged ten and under, with 341 of the offences against babies under the age of one. The NSPCC say the rise in offences which include rape, sexual assault and grooming is partly explained by better recording and increased reporting but believe there has also been a rise fuelled by paedophiles exploiting social media to contact children. In 2018/19, there were 8,656 recorded child sexual offences flagged as involving an online element – an increase of 18 per cent from the previous year where there were 7,362. Duty of Care white paper Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "Record numbers of child sexual offences means we are facing a nationwide crisis in the help available for tens of thousands of children. "These children are bravely disclosing what happened to them but in too many cases there is not enough timely, joined up and child-friendly support. Instead they are shunted from overstretched service to service. "We need a radical rethink in the way we help these young people, otherwise they could struggle for the rest of their lives with long term, deep seated trauma." The charity is calling for the provision of specialised services around the UK, with an emphasis on early joined up support from police, local NHS services, children's services and advocacy for children who have experienced sexual abuse, offered in child-friendly spaces. Last year there were 69,543 recorded child sexual offences, more than three times the 20,698 when figures were first collected in 2007/08. Duty of Care white paper Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child protection, said: "Policing is doing all we can to pursue and prosecute criminals who exploit and abuse young people. "But much more must be done to stop this abuse happening in the first place. Social media and tech companies need to acknowledge their responsibility and do more to stop children accessing harmful content and prevent abuse on their platforms. "They have a social responsibility to design out this type of offending and to cooperate in full with police investigations into child abuse or exploitation."
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| South Carolina police find remains of 5-year-old girl missing since August in landfill Posted: 22 Oct 2019 07:18 PM PDT  The Sumter Police Department on Tuesday announced the remains of Nevaeh Lashy Adams were found after a search that began in August.
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| Ambassador's Ukraine testimony leaves Trump struggling to respond Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:01 AM PDT  President attempted to discredit Bill Taylor with quote from John Ratcliffe: 'You can't have a quid pro quo with no quo' * Chaos erupts as Republicans barge into Trump impeachment inquiry hearingDonald Trump at the White House in Washington DC, on 21 October. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty ImagesDonald Trump launched a relatively lackluster attack on Wednesday morning against the impeachment inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine and the devastating testimony on Capitol Hill the previous day of the most senior US diplomat in Kyiv, Bill Taylor.Unlike some of his aggressive and fiercely personal attacks on opponents, the US president appeared to be struggling early on Wednesday in any attempt to discredit the explosive account given by Taylor – a career diplomat who discussed his role in detail with the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, earlier this year before accepting the post of acting ambassador to Ukraine.Trump resorted to quoting, on Twitter, the Texas Republican congressman John Ratcliffe, who claimed on Fox News that Ukraine had not been aware that Trump was holding back congressionally approved military aid for the country when he requested an investigation into Joe Biden.> Neither he (Taylor) or any other witness has provided testimony that the Ukrainians were aware that military aid was being withheld. You can't have a quid pro quo with no quo." Congressman John Ratcliffe @foxandfriends Where is the Whistleblower? The Do Nothing Dems case is DEAD!> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2019However, news reports on Monday cast doubts on Trump's denials of a quid pro quo.The New York Times reported that Ukrainian officials were aware of the aid freeze beginning in early August, contradicting Trump's assertion that there could not have been a quid pro quo because Kyiv did not previously know the funding had been held up. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, voiced concern to advisers as early as May about Trump pressuring him to investigate Biden.Trump had earlier repeated one of his most common protests, that investigations against him, whether the Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry or the previous Trump-Russia investigation conducted by the special counsel Robert Mueller, add up to nothing more than a "witch-hunt".He then added on Twitter on Wednesday morning that the fight to regain the majority in the House of Representatives for the Republicans in the 2020 election – after losing control in the 2018 midterm elections – is on.> Republicans are going to fight harder than ever to win back the House because of what the Do Nothing Democrats have done to our Country!> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2019On Tuesday, in 10 hours of testimony behind closed doors, Taylor provided congressional committees conducting impeachment hearings a detailed account of how Trump repeatedly sought to make a summit meeting for Zelenskiy, at the White House and a military aid package to Ukraine conditional on Zelenskiy launching investigations into Trump's political opponents.Taylor's testimony was the latest in a series of depositions by serving and former administration officials, as part of the impeachment inquiry, about Trump's use of the presidency to put pressure on the Ukrainian government to procure compromising information on his political rivals. And it was the most detailed and damning to date.The veteran diplomat said that soon after arriving in Kyiv, he became concerned "our relationship with Ukraine was being fundamentally undermined by an irregular informal channel of US policymaking, and by the withholding of vital security assistance for domestic political reasons".Taylor said this irregular channel was run by Trump through several emissaries: his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; the departing energy secretary, Rick Perry; the ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland; and the special Ukraine envoy, Kurt Volker.They became focused solely on persuading Zelenskiy to announce investigations that would damage Democrats and especially Biden, the former vice-president and a leading contender to the be the 2020 Democratic nominee.Democrats declared it to be the clearest account to date of Trump's abuse of office in the Ukraine scandal.The White House spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, issued a statement late on Tuesday denouncing the congressional hearings as "a coordinated smear campaign from far-left lawmakers and radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the constitution".According to Taylor's statement, published by the Lawfare website, Sondland made clear that both aid and a White House summit were conditional on the launch of two investigations.One into a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, which had employed Biden's son Hunter. The second was into Ukraine's role in the 2016 presidential election, a reference to a conspiracy theory that – counter to the consensus view of US intelligence agencies – held that it was Ukraine that had interfered in the vote in the Democrats' favour, rather than Russia in favour of Trump.Joan E Greve contributed reporting
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| UPDATE 1-Chinese ship leaves Vietnam's waters after disputed South China Sea surveys Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:28 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Chinese ship leaves Vietnam's waters after disputed South China Sea surveys]( "UPDATE 1-Chinese ship leaves Vietnam's waters after disputed South China Sea surveys") A Chinese oil survey vessel that has been embroiled in a tense standoff with Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea left Vietnamese-controlled waters on Thursday after more than three months, marine data showed. The Chinese vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, was speeding away from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone towards China on Thursday under the escort of at least two Chinese ships, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels. China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea but neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.
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| Saudi Prince Tells U.S. Congress to Get Over Its Frustrations Posted: 24 Oct 2019 03:09 PM PDT ![Saudi Prince Tells U.S. Congress to Get Over Its Frustrations]( "Saudi Prince Tells U.S. Congress to Get Over Its Frustrations") (Bloomberg) -- Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and an influential royal family member, told U.S. lawmakers to get off their "high moralistic horses" as ties between the historical allies remain frayed a year after the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi.Prince Turki criticized congressional representatives on Wednesday for the "horror" and "disdain" they express for Saudi Arabia, saying U.S. lawmakers are unable to perform their jobs to address "issues of racism and racial inequality" and to reform gun ownership laws. He also said that most U.S. media has a "consistently blinkered view" of Saudi Arabia, one that portrays negative events in the kingdom as "being the norm."The murder last year of Khashoggi, a U.S resident and Washington Post columnist, as well as the long-running war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the detention of Saudi female activists have all strained the kingdom's relations with much of the Washington establishment outside the White House. Senior lawmakers in both parties remain unified on the issue of punishing the kingdom.Prince Turki spoke at an event in Washington about a week before Saudi Arabia hosts its annual investment forum, the Future Investment Initiative. The Oct. 29-31 event is set to attract some of Wall Street's top dealmakers, as well as representatives from major institutional investors across the globe, after many skipped the forum last year.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Jared Kushner, a White House adviser and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, plan to attend the investment event. Mnuchin last year boycotted the investment meeting after Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in Turkey.How many congressional leaders "have deigned to pay a visit to the kingdom?" Prince Turki said at the event. "Should they visit Riyadh they may learn something about universal health care, which the kingdom has provided for its citizens since its establishment" or "they may get an insight into our improving and evolving educational system."Saudi Arabia has been working hard to remake its image since the Khashoggi killing, marketing it as a tourist destination. It is building major tourism projects, transforming its Red Sea coastline to bring in holidaymakers and developing an entertainment city near the capital of Riyadh. The kingdom also said it plans to drop a requirement for men and women who visit to prove they're related in order to share a hotel room.Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it would drop its strict dress code for foreign women, who will no longer be required to wear an abaya, the flowing cloak that's been mandatory attire for decades. "Modest clothing" will still be called upon, according to Ahmed Al-Khateeb, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.Changes introduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were praised on Thursday by Timothy Lenderking, the deputy assistant secretary for Arabian Gulf Affairs. Prince Mohammed is leading "very dynamic change" inside Saudi Arabia, Lenderking said at the same event as Prince Turki on Thursday. "The change is real, it's beneficial. The Saudi population, by and large, is responding very positively to it."(Updates to add State Department official's comments in final two paragraphs)\--With assistance from Patrick Donahue.To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth WassermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Rep. Katie Hill admits relationship with campaign staffer Posted: 24 Oct 2019 07:23 AM PDT  The House Ethics Committee announced on Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into Rep. Katie Hill over allegations that she had an improper relationship with a congressional staffer, which would be an ethics violation.
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| Here are the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates who have qualified for the November debate Posted: 24 Oct 2019 05:35 AM PDT  Candidates need both 165,000 individual donors and to earn either 3% in four DNC-approved national polls or 5% in three approved early-state polls.
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| Texas Gov. Announces Investigation Into Custody Battle Over Boy’s Gender Transition Posted: 24 Oct 2019 06:30 AM PDT  Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday night that the Texas Attorney General's Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services are looking into a case involving a custody battle over a seven-year-old boy who is said to be transgender by his mother.> FYI the matter of 7 year old James Younger is being looked into by the Texas Attorney General's Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. JamesYounger> > -- Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 23, 2019On Tuesday, a Texas jury ruled against James's father, Jeff Younger, and awarded sole conservatorship to his mother, who has been encouraging James's "social transition" against his father's wishes.James's mother, Dr. Anne Georgulas, who is a pediatrician, separated from Younger several years ago after James and his brother were born, and was given exclusive rights and duties, while Younger's custody rights were limited.Georgulas has said that seven-year-old James began to show signs of identifying as a girl when he asked for a girls' toy from McDonald's, began imitating the female characters from Disney's "Frozen," and started asking to wear dresses.After being referred to a LGBT family therapist, Georgulas was advised to begin "affirming" James by calling him "Luna," as well as "socially transitioning" him at school. Medical records presented by the boy's pediatrician list James as "Luna Younger, female," and included a recommendation to visit GENecis clinic at Children's Hospital Center, which offers "hormone therapy" and "puberty suppression."Georgulas' legal team has brought several therapists and counselors as witnesses, all of whom testified that James told them that he was a girl and wanted to be called "Luna."Younger has contended in court that James is happy to present as a boy when they are together, referring to himself as "James" and wearing male clothing.He has also argued that the situation violates one of the two requirements for "gender dysphoria" in the DSM-V, the current manual used by the American Psychiatric Association. In addition to displaying characteristics related to gender expression, such as clothes, pronouns, etc., the patient must "display distress." Witnesses who testified in the case — including those who diagnosed James with gender dysphoria — said that he has not displayed any such distress, according to the Texan.Conservatives, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, voiced their concerns about the case on Twitter ahead of Abbott's announcement.> This is horrifying & tragic. For a parent to subject such a young child to life-altering hormone blockers to medically transition their sex is nothing less than child abuse.https://t.co/sl8VcBgfTD via @nypost> > -- Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 24, 2019Georgulas' legal representation told the Daily Caller in a statement Wednesday that a "completely distorted and untrue version of events in this case has been circling the media . . . The pleadings in this case are available online, including, but not limited to, the Court's prior annulment proceedings and the numerous findings of fraud that the Court made in this case against Mr. Younger."The lawyers said that Georgulas' case "is being viciously attacked and threatened by complete strangers based on false and untrue statements."The judge presiding over the case is expected to read the final ruling and order on Thursday, which may force Younger to call his son "Luna," and attend classes on transgenderism. He could also be barred from taking his son outside the home dressed as a boy.
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| Is the Army Getting Ready to Give Up on the A-10 Warthog? Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:00 PM PDT  It is all about the F-35 now.
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| Woman charged after gripe about ex on Facebook gets justice Posted: 24 Oct 2019 07:04 AM PDT ![Woman charged after gripe about ex on Facebook gets justice]( "Woman charged after gripe about ex on Facebook gets justice") A Georgia woman who was criminally charged after complaining about her ex-husband on Facebook said she feels like she's finally gotten justice. A few days after the post, Anne King found herself in front of judge, facing a charge of criminal defamation. "I was terrified," Anne King told the newspaper.
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| Support for Trump impeachment rises as 59% say he pursued personal interests in Ukraine, poll finds Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:16 AM PDT  Only 33% of voters said they believe Trump was acting in the national interest in Ukraine, while 59% say he was pursuing his own interests there.
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| "A better life somewhere else": Europe-bound African migrants wait in Rwanda Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:54 AM PDT !["A better life somewhere else": Europe-bound African migrants wait in Rwanda]( "\"A better life somewhere else\": Europe-bound African migrants wait in Rwanda") At the United Nations emergency transit centre next to a serene lake south of Rwanda's capital on Wednesday, the quiet mood was broken by the sobs of a group of female migrants from Ethiopia. "They were evacuated from Libya but they don't want to live here," said a U.N. refugee agency translator. "Brighter future is not only resettlement in Europe," said Elise Villechalane, a UNCHR spokeswoman in Rwanda.
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