| Some of the many people Trump has denied knowing Posted: 03 Dec 2019 04:49 PM PST  Donald Trump said Tuesday that he "didn't know Prince Andrew." It's not the first person he has had trouble remembering.
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| Russia Has Something To Fear From The Royal Navy's Astute-Class Submarines Posted: 04 Dec 2019 03:36 AM PST  Taking a deeper look at NATO's antisubmarine capabilities.
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| US forces kill jihadist leader in Syria with precision 'ninja' missile that chops up targets with blades Posted: 04 Dec 2019 10:48 AM PST  US forces are thought to have killed a senior jihadist leader in northern Syria using a rarely deployed "Ninja" missile which attacks targets with precision sword-like blades. The Hellfire missile, or AGM-114R9X, which has a set of six folding blades instead of a warhead for minimum collateral damage, is believed to have been used to take out a commander in the al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) in the province of Idlib. The leader, named locally by his nom-de-guerre Abu Ahmad al-Muhajir, was reported to have been killed on Tuesday night when the car he was travelling in was hit by missiles in the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border, 10 miles from the US raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last month. He was said to be a high-profile foreign trainer of an elite force within HTS, known as "The Red Bands". Another, unidentified fighter who had been in car was also killed. This fragment is reported to have been found at the site of what may have been an RX9 (Hellfire with frikken swords) strike. If you looks closely, you can see what appear to be hinges, as well as being and twisted projections from those hinges. H/T @obretix, who found this. pic.twitter.com/db7ZOE6S1x— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) December 4, 2019 Images of the scene shared on social media show a hole in the driver's seat of the Mutsubishi Delica, which is otherwise largely intact. Inside the car, flesh and blood can be seen and a number of large identical cut marks. Experts point to the windows, which have not been blown out, as evidence the "Ninja" or so-called "flying Ginsu" was used. The missile has only been deployed on a handful of occasions in the eight-year conflict in Syria, with at least one other reported use in the killing of Abu Khayr al-Masri, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, in February 2017. The Hellfire AGM-114R9X "ninja" missile substitutes the explosive warhead found on standard missiles for a set of six folding sword-like blades, designed to smash through buildings and vehicles with minimal civilian casualties. Masri was killed while driving a car in al-Mastouma, 30 miles south of Atmeh, in Idlib. US unmanned aircraft, such as MQ-9 Reapers, can carry Hellfire missiles and are known to carry out targeted strikes. The missile has various pros and cons; while its precision helps to minimise the risk of civilian casualties, it relies on detailed intelligence that requires a lot of human resources. Nick Waters, a former infantry officer and investigator at Bellingcat who analysed pictures from the scene, said he could clearly see four cuts in the roof, one in the windscreen and one through the door: "you've got six: the same number of blades an R9X has," he said. Al-Qaeda deputy Abu Khayr al-Masri's car was targeted by a Hellfire missile. Pictures from the scene in 2017 show minimal damage to the rest of the car - a trademark of the AGM-114R9X, Credit: Twitter "This strike is very distinctive and although the coalition have denied carrying it out, it is possible that other US agencies not under the control of the coalition, such as the CIA, may have carried out this strike unilaterally," he told the Telegraph. The US-led coalition said it did not carry out the strike. The Telegraph approached US Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment. The US has focused on targeting Isil leaders in northern Syria and has largely avoided HTS in Idlib in the northwest. The Islamist group rules control most of the province, pushing out more moderate groups who had previously been dominant. It would be the first US strike on an HTS leader since 2017. The skies above Idlib are crowded as the Syrian government and its Russian allies carry out an offensive to regain the last-remaining rebel stronghold in the country.
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| You just lived through the warmest decade on record – and it's only going to get hotter Posted: 03 Dec 2019 09:45 AM PST  And 2019 is on course to be the second- or third-warmest year on record, with 2016 still holding the all-time temperature record.
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| Police chief firing puts spotlight on cops who let him go Posted: 04 Dec 2019 03:11 PM PST  When fellow officers discovered Chicago's police chief asleep behind the wheel of his running SUV, they did not conduct any sobriety tests and let their boss drive home — a decision that has thrown a spotlight on what happens when one officer confronts another on patrol. "It's a worst-nightmare situation for a police officer to encounter their superior or chief who has been drinking," said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
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| Look at This Very Good, Very Old Boy Posted: 03 Dec 2019 09:22 AM PST  Researchers found the 18,000-year-old puppy in permafrost with fur, whiskers, and teeth intact.
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| Thousands of animals sacrificed in Nepal Hindu ritual amid outcry Posted: 04 Dec 2019 05:31 AM PST ![Thousands of animals sacrificed in Nepal Hindu ritual amid outcry]( "Thousands of animals sacrificed in Nepal Hindu ritual amid outcry") Tens of thousands of devout Hindus thronged a temple in southern Nepal where thousands of animals and birds were sacrificed this week, amid an outcry from animal rights activists who said the ritual was a cruel and gruesome spectacle. The ceremony, held every five years at the Gadhimai temple in Bara in southern Nepal, is believed to be the largest such mass-slaughter event in the world and animal rights activists have been campaigning to end the practice for years. About 80% of Nepal's 30 million population are Hindus and many sacrifice animals to appease deities during festivals.
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| What if Democrats win impeachment battle? President Pence may be tougher than they think Posted: 04 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  Pence is popular amongst Trump supporters and more traditional conservatives. Democrats should have a healthy fear for a unification of those groups.
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| Navy warship seizes suspected Iran missile parts set for Yemen Posted: 04 Dec 2019 01:51 PM PST  A Navy warship has seized a "significant cache" of suspected Iranian guided missile parts headed to rebels in Yemen, U.S. officials said Wednesday, marking the first time that such sophisticated components have been taken en route to the war there.
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| Doomsday Testing: These 6 Huge Nuclear Weapons Tests Changed The World Posted: 04 Dec 2019 07:38 AM PST  You don't want to be nearby.
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| Wisconsin special education teacher restrained student who pulled a gun, wife says Posted: 03 Dec 2019 01:10 PM PST  Brett Hart, a special education teacher in Wisconsin, is "the kind of person you want to have in a situation like that," his wife said.
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| George Nader Used Straw Donor for Over $3M in Illegal Campaign Contributions in 2016: Feds Posted: 03 Dec 2019 06:15 PM PST  George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman and a witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into 2016 Russian interference, has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to pour more than $3 million in illegal campaign contributions into the 2016 presidential election. According to the Justice Department, Andy Khawaja—the CEO of a California-based credit card processing company—conspired with Nader to conceal the source of over $3.5 million in contributions made to the political committees linked to a 2016 presidential candidate. The Justice Department did not specify which presidential candidate or committees received the donations. While the donations were made under the names of Khawaja, his wife, and his business, the contributions were allegedly funded by Nader.As Khawaja and Nader arranged these payments, Nader is accused of reporting to an official of a foreign government on his efforts to gain influence with the unnamed candidate and other political figures with the donations.The Associated Press reported that Khawaja gave over $4 million to Clinton's campaign and to other Democrats, but he pivoted to throwing money at President Trump after he won the 2016 election, donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee—which got him an Oval Office picture with Trump. Nader, who is currently in prison on child porn charges, forged ties with the Trump campaign in 2016 and was known to act as an intermediary in setting up meetings between members of Trump's campaign and foreign officials. Federal prosecutors say Khawaja also conspired with six other men to hide his own excessive contributions to a number of political committees. Khawaja allegedly attempted to hide over $1.8 million in contributions between March 2016 through 2018 with those six men, identified by the Justice Department as Roy Boulos, Rudy Dekermenjian, Mohammad Diab, Rani El-Saadi, Stevan Hill and Thayne Whipple.The Justice Department alleges that these donations enabled Khawaja to host a private fundraiser for a 2016 presidential candidate and a fundraising dinner for one elected official in 2018. Neither the candidate nor the official were named by federal prosecutors. Khawaja is currently a commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. According to the website, he was appointed to the commission by Sen. Chuck Shumer (D-NY). His company, Allied Wallet, had previously come under scrutiny over accusations it helped shady businesses get past banking systems through the use of "sham websites and dummy companies."Khawaja was charged with 35 counts in the 53-count Nov. 7 indictment, including counts of conspiracy, making conduit contributions, making false statements, and obstruction of a grand jury investigation. Nader was also charged with conspiring to make conduit contributions. He was questioned extensively as part of Mueller's investigation due to his connections and efforts to sway the Trump White House. He was later arrested and charged with sex trafficking.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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| Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas requests release of 'voluminous' electronic records to House impeachment inquiry Posted: 02 Dec 2019 09:47 PM PST  An attorney representing Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas has asked a federal court to release electronic devices containing "voluminous" materials to House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, during a court appearance ahead of his client's trial.Joseph Bondy, who is representing Mr Parnas, asked a federal court in Manhattan on Monday for an update on discovery in his client's case, specifically whether devices seized during his October arrest at Dulles International Airport in Washington might be handed over to those House committees.
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| ICE: Protest at Louisiana jail ends after pepper spray used Posted: 04 Dec 2019 08:58 AM PST ![ICE: Protest at Louisiana jail ends after pepper spray used]( "ICE: Protest at Louisiana jail ends after pepper spray used") U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said officers inside one of its Louisiana jails pepper-sprayed migrants to end their protest over prolonged detention. Spokesman Bryan Cox said Wednesday that "a brief, calculated use of pepper spray was employed" during a Tuesday protest at the Winn Correctional Center in rural Winnfield. Cox said about 50 migrants were pepper-sprayed and the protesters "subsequently became compliant." Cox said medical staff evaluated anyone who came into contact with the pepper spray and no injuries were reported.
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| George Zimmerman is suing Trayvon Martin's family Posted: 04 Dec 2019 12:35 PM PST  George Zimmerman, who in 2013 was acquitted of charges in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, is suing Martin's family and others for $100 million, the Miami Herald reports.Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, is the lead defendant in Zimmerman's lawsuit filed in Polk County Circuit Court. Also being sued are the former prosecutors in the previous Zimmerman case, and Harper Collins, which published a book written by Ben Crump, the attorney who represented Martin's family.Prosecutors during the 2013 trial said that Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was not justified in shooting and killing the unarmed black teenager, while Zimmerman claims he was acting in self-defense. The jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder.Zimmerman's new lawsuit, the Herald reports, cites "information in a documentary about the case that accuses the Martin family of engineering false testimony." He's reportedly seeking $100 million in civil damages and alleging defamation, abuse of civil process, and conspiracy.Crump in a statement described the lawsuit as "reckless" and "another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others."More stories from theweek.com Rudy Giuliani is literally in Ukraine right now Trump's pathological obsession with being laughed at Impeachment witness Pamela Karlan unloads on GOP Rep. Doug Collins in opening statement: 'I'm insulted'
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| NATO allies just want the United States to subsidize European defense Posted: 04 Dec 2019 02:11 PM PST  Reform NATO. China is our foremost adversary, not Russia, writes Jordan Schachtel, an investigative journalist based in Washington, D.C.
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| Melania Trump slams impeachment witness: 'you should be ashamed' Posted: 04 Dec 2019 03:05 PM PST  Karlan "should be ashamed of [her] very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it," Trump wrote on Twitter.
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| France vows strong retaliation after U.S. threatens sanctions Posted: 03 Dec 2019 04:11 AM PST  France has warned the U.S. of strong European Union retaliation if it imposes tariffs on key French products ranging from sparkling wine to cheese to handbags, in an intensifying row over taxing digital giants that risks spiraling into a new trade war.
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| Gaza fields, ravaged by Israeli herbicides, bloom again Posted: 03 Dec 2019 06:03 PM PST  For four years, he said, Israeli planes regularly sprayed herbicides along the border which scorched his crops, and he fears it could resume at any time. Israel says it sprays only on its side of the border, to clear a buffer zone of hiding places for potential Palestinian attackers. Israel and the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas, which controls the strip, have fought three wars since 2008, with regular cross-border clashes since the last round in 2014.
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| Sen. Paul offering bill to combat student loan debt Posted: 03 Dec 2019 01:35 AM PST  U.S. Sen. Rand Paul wants to combat the rising debt load engulfing college students by allowing families to use their retirement savings to pay off their loans. The Kentucky Republican introduced federal legislation late Monday that would allow students to dip into retirement accounts to help pay for college or make monthly debt payments. Americans collectively owe about $1.5 trillion in student loans — more than twice the total of a decade ago.
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| Texas Deer Hunters Tell Tale of Kidnapping After Deadly Mexican Cartel Shootout Posted: 04 Dec 2019 01:36 AM PST  A Thanksgiving weekend deer-hunting trip to Mexico took a terrifying turn for two Texans who say they suddenly found themselves the ones with rifles pointed at them.Donald Chapman and his nephew, Colby Williams, said the gunmen who appeared before them on Sunday apparently had been part of a convoy of cartel sicarios that rolled into the nearby town of Villa Union the day before.The sicarios had mounted a surprise attack on the town hall and killed four police officers. But the hitmen got a surprise of their own and found themselves the target of a fierce government response that included Mexican marines and military helicopters. Photos posted online showed several bullet-riddled and abandoned pick-up trucks bearing the letters C.D.N., for Cartel del Noreste, the Cartel of the Northeast. The occupants not among the 10 sicarios killed in the first hour seem to have fled into the surrounding countryside.The government pursued the remaining sicarios on into Sunday, killing at least seven more. It appears that's when a number of the hunted gunmen then encountered the hunting Texans.A New Twist in the Horrific Massacre of American Moms and Kids in MexicoChapman, 62, and Williams, 30, were out on a 10,000-acre ranch they had leased with a single purpose."It's just really good deer hunting," Williams told The Daily Beast.As they faced the sicarios, Williams and Chapman also faced the possibility of being as dead as a bagged buck. But they said that as soon as they obeyed a command to get down on the ground, the Mexicans threw their guns over their shoulders. The Texans said their captors took their rifles and their cellphones. But that was just a precaution. What they really wanted was Chapman's pick-up along with Williams' pick-up, which they had left back at the ranch house."They were walking," Chapman later said. "They were lost." They were also hungry and thirsty. The two Texans said they gave them food and water."You do those kind of things if you have a weapon at you," Williams noted.Another thing you do is get in a car when instructed. By Chapman and Williams' account, they all rode off in the two vehicles. "They used us to get where they wanted to be, which was home and their families," Williams said.The Texans said their captors treated them surprisingly well."They were nice to me, and to be honest with you, did not hurt us in any way," Williams reported.Chapman recalled, "Every other word out of their mouth was, 'No problem, you'll be OK. We don't hurt Americans.'"After 11 hours, the captors had arrived where they wanted to go. They gave the Texans back their cellphones and the rest of their property. "Everything that had been taken," Williams said.But that was not the biggest surprise."It seems wild, but they washed our vehicles and put fuel in them," Williams said.Chapman recalled that they only washed his nephew's truck."And detailed it," Chapman told The Daily Beast. "Mine's still dirty."The Mexican Cartels vs. a Mormon Sect: Behind the Horrific Massacre of American Moms and ChildrenThe gunmen had made it back to their families and now they were freeing the Texans to go back to theirs.Their gas tanks full, the Texans headed straight for the border."We got across as soon as possible," Wiliams said.Chapman said he checked his phone and saw missed calls and messages from seemingly every law enforcement outfit."The FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security, all the agencies," Chapman told The Daily Beast. "Apparently, I was important to be found."Reports of their disappearance had already surfaced in the Mexican media and on social media, and their families had seen a report online that they had both been murdered. When Williams and Chapman called home to say they were on their way back, Caller ID was the first signal to their loved ones the two were alive."They were excited to see our call," Williams said with a Texas boy's understatement.Nobody from anywhere was ever happier to be returning home. He pulled up to his house in his gleaming, detailed pick-up. "I've got three kids under age 4," Williams said. "I wanted to enjoy every minute I had with him."He understood how easily that news report could have proven true. "We were just lucky the good Lord above took care of us," he said. "I've been on my knees ever since."Williams was asked on Tuesday if he expected to go deer hunting in Mexico again."No, sir," he answered.Chapman was headed to Kansas in his still-dirty pick-up."I'm deer hunting north this time," he said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| UPDATE 1-Hungary to block Ukraine's NATO membership over language law Posted: 04 Dec 2019 07:50 AM PST ![UPDATE 1-Hungary to block Ukraine's NATO membership over language law]( "UPDATE 1-Hungary to block Ukraine's NATO membership over language law") Hungary's foreign minister on Wednesday said Budapest would block Ukraine's membership in NATO until Kiev restored the rights that ethnic Hungarians had before a language law curbed minorities' access to education in their mother tongues. Hungary has clashed with Ukraine over what it says are curbs on the rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians to use their native tongue, especially in education, after Ukraine passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages. "We ask for no extra rights to Hungarians in Transcarpathia, only those rights they had before," Szijjarto told state news agency MTI at the NATO summit in London.
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| Why is Elizabeth Warren falling in the polls? Blame Medicare-for-all. Posted: 04 Dec 2019 02:55 AM PST ![Why is Elizabeth Warren falling in the polls? Blame Medicare-for-all.]( "Why is Elizabeth Warren falling in the polls? Blame Medicare-for-all.") Before Elizabeth Warren had "a plan for that," the GOP had its own man with a plan. A decade ago, Paul Ryan championed a "roadmap" to curb the national debt and rein in entitlement spending through free-market reforms of the big programs that benefit the elderly. Republicans seemed to buy in: Despite Democrats labeling his "Path to Prosperity" plan a cruel austerity program that would hurt seniors, Ryan rode this ambitious budget blueprint to two committee chairmanships, a vice presidential nomination and the House speakership.But the triumph of the Ryan plan did not last long. The former speaker is out of Congress and Republicans no longer control the House. The Republican president of the United States, Donald Trump, pointedly rejected Ryan's proposals to retool Social Security and Medicare. Entitlement reform is once again the third rail of American politics; Democrats want to expand rather than cut these programs to cover still more people.History may be about to repeat itself in the form of Warren, the senator from Massachusetts vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination with her promise of "Medicare-for-all" and a move away from most private health insurance. Warren rocketed to near-frontrunner status only to fall in recent polls. There are many factors driving her decline, but it undeniably coincides with the increasing unpopularity of replacing existing health-care arrangements with an expanded Medicare (as opposed to letting people choose to buy into a public option).As Warren soared, Democrats who haggled with her over the price tag of "Medicare-for-all" and the feasibility of her progressive policy agenda -- with the significant exception of former Vice President Joe Biden -- appeared doomed to also-ran status. Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney lost his eligibility for the debate stage as Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar struggled to hang on. But by the end of November, Warren toppled by 14 points to a virtual tie for third place in Quinnipiac's national poll with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as Biden reclaimed the lead, with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg -- newly re-tacking to the center -- rounding into second. Warren has also tumbled to third place in the RealClearPolitics polling averages for Iowa and New Hampshire while trailing Biden in both Nevada and South Carolina.At the same time, according to Quinnipiac, only 36 percent of voters deem Warren's version of Medicare-for-all a "good idea," and 52 percent think it is a "bad idea." As recently as August 2017, the split was 51-38 in Warren's favor.Indeed, the same problem that plagued Ryan's big ideas seem to be plaguing Warren's: People don't like it when their existing entitlements are disrupted. This is especially true of health care, whether it is interrupted by more government (think ObamaCare) or by attempts to reduce government (think Trump-era efforts to repeal ObamaCare). As Ryan's downfall shows, no matter how gradual the proposed phase-in of new such policies, voters simply are not convinced they won't get stung, and Warren is grappling with this reality now.Now, just as establishment Republicans began to entertain second thoughts about following Ryan's roadmap, the public's turn on Medicare-for-all has spooked other Democratic contenders. The candidates who have jumped in late, such as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, are skeptics of this leftward economic shift. The party knows it can run to the left of Bill Clinton and win nationally -- Barack Obama did it twice. Democrats are now grappling with whether they can run to the left of Obama and do the same. Polling might suggest they cannot: Quinnipiac found that only 14 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters think Obama was not liberal enough, while 80 percent found the 44th president "just right."One of Warren's problems is that she has been unwilling to acknowledge the middle-class tax increases her plans will certainly entail, refusing to give her opponents the televised "gotcha moment" as she remains steadfast the insurance cost savings will offset this burden. Yes, Warren is right that Americans are unsatisfied with the costs of the current health-care system. And Ryan was correct that the math of our existing entitlement programs doesn't add up. But whether your solution is a greater federal role or better functioning markets, the transition is politically challenging, no matter how good your plan.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Trump's pathological obsession with being laughed at The most important day of the impeachment inquiry Jerry Falwell Jr.'s false gospel of memes
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| China Built The DF-26 Missile To Take Down America's Prized Aircraft Carriers Posted: 04 Dec 2019 08:30 AM PST  Don't underestimate these missiles.
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| Democrats See USMCA Deal Near, Urge Mexico to Accept Compromise Posted: 04 Dec 2019 04:28 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. House Democrats said Wednesday that a deal on the stalled U.S.-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement is within reach and urged Mexico to accept a compromise on labor-rights enforcement."We are on the 2 1/2-yard line," Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said about efforts to wrap up negotiations on the replacement for Nafta and clear the way for approval in Congress.Mexico's top trade negotiator, Jesus Seade, met Wednesday in Washington with his Trump administration counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, in an attempt to resolve final details.Leaving the meeting, Seade said there were still outstanding issues and that he'd return on Thursday to continue negotiations. He pointed out that Mexico has already accepted a lot of changes as negotiators try to accommodate the demands of House Democrats who will decide whether and when Congress will vote on the trade agreement.One of the concerns raised by Democrats includes enforcement of stricter labor standards, especially in Mexico. Seade said there were still details to be worked out, but bringing in U.S. inspectors to monitor Mexican companies was off the table.Mexico's SovereigntyCalifornia Representative Jimmy Gomez, a member of the House Democrats negotiating team, said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Lighthizer have offered Mexico a compromise on labor enforcement that "respects Mexico's sovereignty.""If they want a deal, it is ripe now," Gomez said. "It's a good deal. That's my message to the Mexicans and that's my message to Democrats."While Seade ruled out U.S. inspectors in Mexican factories, he told reporters that Mexico was open to a fast-track arbitration process to address labor-rights violations. Gomez said the compromise does not involve "rogue" U.S. inspections, but that there is an element of monitoring involved to ensure compliance.According to people briefed on the deal in Mexico, the labor proposal aims to make dispute settlement more effective. Disputes could take into account enforcement of Mexico's overhaul to improve labor conditions, but wouldn't allow investigators to just show up on any day to a factory unannounced, the "lone ranger" type of inspections that Seade has rejected.On another sticking point for Mexico, the White House and Democrats suggested removing a provision guaranteeing 10 years of data protection for biologic drugs, according to people briefed on the deal. That would be a victory for both Democrats and Mexico, which had opposed including the protection in the USMCA before it was signed one year ago.(Updates with Seade comments beginning in the fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net;Eric Martin in Mexico City at emartin21@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Two of four teens who escaped juvenile detention center found outside Tennessee apartments Posted: 04 Dec 2019 08:10 AM PST  Metro Nashville police arrested the teens, who escaped Saturday, outside an apartment complex in Madison, Tennessee. Two are still on the loose.
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| Georgia Governor Appoints Kelly Loeffler to Senate in Defiance of Trump Posted: 04 Dec 2019 07:45 AM PST  Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, appointed his preferred candidate to the state's vacated Senate seat on Wednesday in defiance of President Trump.Kemp chose multimillionaire businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to replace Senator Johnny Isakson, who stepped down today due to recurring health issues. Kemp reportedly believes Loeffler will help the GOP with suburban voters and women in particular, but some conservatives have criticized Loeffler's membership on the board of Grady Memorial Hospital, the largest provider of abortions in Georgia.President Trump and allies have made it clear to Kemp that they preferred Representative Doug Collins for the appointment. Collins is a staunch supporter of Trump and is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee."I stand with hardworking Georgians and @POTUS," Kemp wrote on Twitter in November. "The idea that I would appoint someone to the U.S. Senate that is NOT pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment, pro-freedom, and 100% supportive of our President (and his plan to Keep America Great) is ridiculous."The announcement came as Rep. Collins was in the midst of impeachment hearings in the House. Collins in a Sunday interview did not rule out the possibility of running for the senate seat in 2020 even if Loeffler was appointed.According to Politico, Loeffler plans to use $20 million of her own fortune on the 2020 special election, where she would campaign to complete Isakson's term. That sum may be enough to make potential challengers to her campaign think twice.Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), who earlier criticized Kemp for his intention to stick by Loeffler, attacked the governor again on Twitter when a press conference to announce Kemp's appointment of Loeffler was confirmed."Governor Kemp announces the funeral time & location for his political career," Gaetz wrote.
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| French police clear 600 Tibetan migrants from camp outside Paris Posted: 03 Dec 2019 05:54 AM PST  French authorities said Tuesday that they removed some 600 asylum-seekers from Tibet from a camp on the edge of a forest outside Paris, which had grown into a rallying point for Tibetans in exile in recent years. The camp sprang up last August, the latest to emerge after several others were evacuated near Acheres, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) northwest of the capital. The area began attracting Tibetans after 2010, when a local aid association started offering meals, showers and help with their asylum requests.
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| Trump taps consultant who urged food ban on homeless to lead council Posted: 04 Dec 2019 03:44 PM PST  The administration last month pushed out an Obama appointee.
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| Cory Booker Bets $100 Billion on Historically Black Colleges and Universities Posted: 03 Dec 2019 12:03 PM PST  Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey on Tuesday proposed investing $100 billion in historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions, a broad proposal in a Democratic field that has offered varying plans to prop up this long-standing yet struggling arm of the educational system.Many HBCUs, as historically black colleges and universities are commonly known, have faced widespread financial woes recently, with some schools losing accreditation and facing plummeting enrollment.Booker's proposal comes at a precarious time for his presidential campaign: Despite crossing the 200,000 individual-donor threshold last month, he is still short four qualifying polls for the December debate and is in real danger of being left off the stage.While many candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; former Vice President Joe Biden; and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, of South Bend, Indiana, have already rolled out proposals to invest billions into HBCUs, an anchor of Booker's proposal is dedicating at least $40 billion to those institutions for climate change research.Booker's plan also calls for an additional $30 billion in grants to expand and improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- known as STEM education -- at HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, and another $30 billion in grants to upgrade facilities and infrastructure at the schools."HBCUs make our country stronger and more reflective of the diversity that makes us so great," Booker said in a statement announcing the proposal. "I am here today because of the power of these institutions to uplift and bring about opportunity to black Americans."More than 70% of students at HBCUs and minority-serving institutions rely on Pell Grants, according to Marybeth Gasman, an education professor at Rutgers University. The Booker campaign aims to expand access to college by doubling the value of Pell Grants to $12,400 from $6,200 and require that 10% of Second Chance Pell Grant programs are given to HBCUs and minority-serving institutions."It's the most aggressive plan," Gasman said. "Of course it's coming out after the others, so I think that's a smart and bold move on his part."Indeed, discussion about the many ways the Democratic candidates have proposed to bolster HBCUs has become a central topic in the Democratic presidential primary.Warren committed to investing a minimum of $50 billion into HBCUs, paid for by her wealth tax proposal, within her overarching plan to make public college free and to cancel most student loan debt. She said she would seek to increase the budget with her secretary of education to ensure equity in spending per student compared with other colleges in a given area.Sanders, who also proposed universal free public college and canceling all student loan debt, pledged to make similar investments in HBCUs with a focus on educating teachers and those in the medical field. In addition, Sanders also proposed canceling the $1.6 billion in existing loan debt HBCUs face through the current Capital Financing Program.Last month, Buttigieg wrote an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun, also promising to invest $50 billion in HBCUs.Biden proposed more than $70 billion in investments for HBCUs, with dedicated funds to specific needs, such as $10 billion to create at least 200 new research incubators; $20 billion in high-tech labs, facilities and digital infrastructure; and another $18 billion in grants to help with tuition at four-year colleges, equivalent to up to two years of tuition per low-income and middle-class students.Some experts, while lauding the financial scope of Booker's plan, questioned whether focusing so much of the funding on STEM programs and climate change studies was the best solution for many of the HBCUs around the country."There are maybe 10 to 20 HBCUs facing being shuttered that don't have those fields," said Jerry Crawford II, a professor of journalism and a director of the multicultural scholars program at the University of Kansas.Of course, underpinning all of these proposals is the difficulty in paying for them. Booker's campaign said he would request $100 billion over 10 years from Congress in his first budget and has identified other sources of new revenue in previous policy proposals, such as undoing President Donald Trump's tax cuts and restoring the estate tax to 2009 levels."If Sen. Booker could pull off this kind of investment in HBCUs," said Gasman, "it would be historic."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Huawei urging suppliers to break the law by moving offshore - U.S. Commerce chief Posted: 03 Dec 2019 02:05 PM PST ![Huawei urging suppliers to break the law by moving offshore - U.S. Commerce chief]( "Huawei urging suppliers to break the law by moving offshore - U.S. Commerce chief") China's telecoms giant Huawei has been encouraging its suppliers to violate U.S. law by telling them to move operations offshore in a bid to avoid U.S. sanctions, Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross told Reuters on Tuesday. In May, the U.S. government placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on a trade blacklist known as the entity list, over national security concerns, forcing some suppliers to apply for special licenses to sell equipment to the company. On Tuesday, Ross said in an interview that those frustrations extended to a push from Huawei to move its supply chain overseas.
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| Iran leader calls for ‘Islamic mercy’ after bloody crackdown Posted: 04 Dec 2019 07:15 AM PST  Iran's supreme leader called Wednesday for those detained in recent gasoline price protests to be treated with "Islamic mercy" even after authorities acknowledged government forces shot and killed demonstrators nationwide in unrest that reportedly killed over 200 people. The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say over all state matters in the Islamic Republic, appear to signal how much the mid-November protests shook the pillars of power in the theocracy. Amnesty International believes at least 208 people were killed in the protests and security force crackdown that followed.
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| Learn About Russia's 'Version' of the B-52 Bomber Posted: 03 Dec 2019 03:30 PM PST  The Tu-95 might be sixty years old, but it's still in use because it does the job few planes can.
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| Nine dead in South Dakota plane crash Posted: 02 Dec 2019 08:35 PM PST  The plane was carrying a family returning from a weekend hunting trip.
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| Widow who offered $25,000 reward in husband's 2006 death arrested in connection with murder Posted: 03 Dec 2019 10:21 AM PST  Marathon County authorities said they arrested Cindy Shulz-Juedes of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on Nov. 27 in connection with her husband's death.
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| Trump's demands for NATO is a 'very rough way to play,' a former top commander of the alliance says Posted: 03 Dec 2019 12:19 PM PST  "I'm going to be discussing that today, and it's a very interesting question, isn't it," Trump said to reporters about the possibility on Tuesday.
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| Jim Banks Asks Graham to Subpoena Adam Schiff’s Call Records in Letter Posted: 04 Dec 2019 02:01 PM PST  Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) sent a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Wednesday asking the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman to subpoena the call records of House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), a day after Democrats revealed they subpoenaed AT&T phone records showing contact between Representative Devin Nunes (R., Calif.) and Lev Parnas.Banks also called for the phone records of Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the whistleblower's lawyer Mark Zaid, in order to determine the extent of communication between Schiff and potential Republican impeachment witnesses. On Wednesday, House Democrats quickly shut down Republicans' request during the first Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing on to have Schiff testify."The public has a right to know with whom Rep. Adam Schiff has coordinated his impeachment effort and if America's national security is at risk in any way as a result of Rep. Schiff's actions," Banks's letter reads. " . . . This quixotic impeachment inquiry must be shelved, Mr. Chairman. And Rep. Adam Schiff should be held to the same standard to which he holds others. It is time to see his phone records."In its release of an impeachment report Tuesday, the House Intelligence Committee revealed new information of call records showing communication between Trump 'spersonal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his associate Lev Parnas, and House Intelligence ranking member Nunes in April.House Intelligence member Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) told CNN that the committee "subpoenaed outside third-party phone records, and that kind of weaves together the timeline and corroborates a lot of what the witnesses testified to who did come in."Following the release of the call records, Parnas's lawyer said the Ukrainian-American had "no idea" Democrats had records of his calls, but added that "Devin Nunes was definitely part of an attempt to gather information about the Bidens.""He was definitely involved in Ukraine," Joseph Bondy said. "He definitely had involvement in the GOP shadow diplomacy efforts in Ukraine, contrary to his claims."
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| Elon Musk tells court tweet calling British cave diver ‘pedo guy’ was not meant literally Posted: 04 Dec 2019 02:36 AM PST  Elon Musk has appeared in court to testify in a defamation lawsuit brought by a British cave diver who he called a "pedo guy" on Twitter.Giving evidence in Los Angeles, the Tesla founder insisted his slur was not meant to be taken literally and was only a "taunt" aimed at Vernon Unsworth during a war of words over his offer to help rescue a schoolboy football team from a flooded cave in Thailand.
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| American forces kill jihadi leader in Syria with precision 'Ninja' missile that chops up targets with blades Posted: 04 Dec 2019 10:47 AM PST  U.S. forces are thought to have killed a senior jihadi leader in northern Syria using a rarely deployed "Ninja" missile, which attacks targets with precision swordlike blades.
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| Tennessee governor not stopping planned execution Thursday Posted: 04 Dec 2019 10:58 AM PST  Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Wednesday that he won't stop the state from putting a blind inmate to death in the electric chair later this week, clearing the way for the execution unless a federal court intervenes. Lee Hall, a 53-year-old inmate who became blind from glaucoma during is decades in prison, is scheduled to be electrocuted Thursday for his conviction in the 1991 killing of his estranged girlfriend. Earlier this year, Hall chose the electric chair over lethal injection as allowed under state law.
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| F-15X: A Few Billions Dollars Down the Drain (Why Not More F-35s Instead?) Posted: 03 Dec 2019 10:30 PM PST  Stealth really matters against modern air defenses.
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