| Dorian isn't moving because the upper atmosphere is too calm Posted: 02 Sep 2019 04:12 PM PDT  Powerful Hurricane Dorian has been going nowhere because nothing high up is making it budge. While this has been horrible for the Bahamas, where the storm's pounding has been relentless, it may help spare Florida a bit, meteorologists said. After reaching record-tying wind speeds on landfall in the Bahamas, the storm just stalled.
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| Bahamas government warns tourists and residents to shelter as Dorian bears down on Georgia and the Carolinas Posted: 31 Aug 2019 11:25 PM PDT  Authorities in the Bahamas made a last-minute plea to residents and tourists on Saturday to seek shelter as time ran out before powerful Hurricane Dorian hits, warning those that refused to move that their lives were at risk. "Hurricane Dorian is a devastating, dangerous storm approaching our islands," Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a nationally televised news conference. Packing maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph), the Category 4 storm was forecast to hit the Bahamas on Sunday with more than two feet of rainfall in places, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Dorian was later due to threaten Georgia and the Carolinas, possibly sparing Florida a direct hit, as communities in those states raised alert levels. In its direct, immediate path the monster storm was headed for the Bahamian northwestern islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco. Vero Beach is in the possible path of Hurricane Dorian Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP Minnis said that 73,000 people and 21,000 homes were at risk to storm surges of up to 15 feet (4.6 meters). "Dorian will now create prolonged periods of large swells, surges along the north coast of Grand Bahama and the north and east coast of Abaco," said Jeffery Simmons, the deputy director of Bahamas' department of meteorology. "We are asking residents in those areas to leave the coastline, we expect a storm surge of up to 15 feet, in addition to that we have a spring tide that can increase the surge by 2 to 3 feet," Simmons added. Once the storm unleashes its fury on the archipelago nation, people will have to ride out Dorian before first responders can venture outside to rescue anyone. Rescue workers "will not be able to move with 145 or 150 mile per hour winds ... so those individuals that want to move I advise that they move now," said Minnis. Grand Bahama and Abaco are hubs for the Bahamas' thriving tourism industry. The nation owes nearly 30% of its direct gross domestic product and half of its jobs to the industry, Joy Jibrilu, director general of the Ministry of Tourism, said. The country is still reeling from Hurricane Matthew, which ripped into the Bahamas in 2016, as some hotels have taken years to make repairs. In 2017, the Bahamas tourism industry sagged when hurricanes Irma and Maria cut a deadly path across the Caribbean, though they largely spared the archipelago. The World Travel and Tourism Council said the two storms caused an estimated drop of 826,100 visitors across the region. "I want you to remember: homes, houses, structures can be replaced. Lives cannot be replaced," Minnis warned.
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| Saudi-led coalition says unaware prisoners held at Yemen target site Posted: 02 Sep 2019 08:04 AM PDT  The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Huthi rebels said Monday it was unaware that prisoners were held at a detention site it targeted with air strikes that killed dozens of people. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have condemned the attack on a former college in the city of Dhamar that the Huthis used to hold their opponents. "The (facility) was not on the 'no strike list' of sites in the city of Dhamar," he told a press conference in Riyadh.
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| Kevin Hart Could Require Back Surgery After Malibu Horror Crash, But Docs Are Optimistic Posted: 02 Sep 2019 05:20 AM PDT  Instagram / KevinHart4realComedian Kevin Hart is being assessed to see if he will require back surgery following his dramatic crash in the Malibu hills in the early hours of Sunday morning. Hart, miraculously, walked away from the crash, and was able to go back home before checking himself into an L.A.-area hospital, where he is now under observation. The other two passengers in the car appear to have also had lucky escapes, despite being trapped in the vehicle for some time: Hart's friend Jared Black (who was driving) and personal trainer Rebecca Broxterman are both expected to make full recoveries.Hart could, however, need surgery for major back injuries he suffered in the crash, which saw his vintage Plymouth Barracuda veer off a Mulholland Highway canyon, crashing to the ground ten feet below. Pictures showed the roof of the car completely sheared off. Doctors are optimistic that Hart will make a full recovery as he has not suffered "a spinal cord injury," The Blast reports, adding that he is "able to walk and move his extremities."Hart was a passenger in the vintage muscle car, which he bought in July to mark his 40th birthday, when it went off the road and rolled down an embankment.California Highway Patrol officers said the driver was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, which happened at around around 12:45 a.m. Sunday.The car was turning when the driver "immediately lost control of the vehicle, and the Plymouth left the road and rolled over down the northern embankment," TMZ said, quoting cops.Just hours before the crash, Hart had posted a video on Instagram of himself sitting in the car. 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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| Bolsonaro ambassador threatens to choke Macron and insults wife Brigitte amid Amazon fires row: 'He sleeps with a dragon' Posted: 02 Sep 2019 02:56 AM PDT  Brazil's tourism ambassador has threatened to choke Emmanuel Macron and called his wife Brigitte "ugly" amid a continuing war of words between the French president and the Brazilian government over the fires in the Amazon rainforest.In a video posted on social media, Renzo Gracie accused Mr Macron, who has criticised Brazil's response to the devastating blazes, of "talking rubbish" about his country.
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| Texas gunman fired from job before massacre; victim IDs emerge: media Posted: 02 Sep 2019 12:58 AM PDT  Police continued to comb through 15 different crime scenes in neighboring Midland and Odessa, Texas. The gunman, identified by police as Seth Aaron Ator, 36, of Odessa, had been fired from his truck-driving job in Odessa on Saturday morning, the New York Times and other media reported. Hours later, Ator was pulled over in Midland by Texas state troopers on Interstate 20 for failing to use a turn signal, police said.
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| National Weather Service appears to correct Trump on Hurricane Dorian hitting Alabama Posted: 01 Sep 2019 11:12 AM PDT ![National Weather Service appears to correct Trump on Hurricane Dorian hitting Alabama]( "National Weather Service appears to correct Trump on Hurricane Dorian hitting Alabama") "Alabama will NOT see any impacts from Dorian.," wrote the NWS. "We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across Alabama."
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| Santa Cruz Island boat fire: dozens of people feared dead off California coast Posted: 02 Sep 2019 12:19 PM PDT  Up to 39 people were onboard a diving boat that caught fire in the early hours of the morning, and five have been confirmed rescuedFirefighters respond to a boat fire off the coast of southern California Monday. Photograph: APUp to 34 people have been reported missing and are feared dead off the coast of southern California after a diving boat caught fire in the early hours of Monday morning, with crew members jumping off the deck to escape, while passengers were asleep below decks.The US Coast Guard confirmed up to 39 people were onboard the commercial scuba diving vessel at the time of the blaze. Five have been confirmed rescued, while dozens remain unaccounted for, with reports of multiple fatalities remaining unconfirmed early on Monday afternoon.The boat at the time was docked near Santa Cruz Island, which is located off the coast of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. It has since sunk.Firefighters respond to a boat fire off the coast of southern California Monday. Photograph: APThe Los Angeles Coast Guard sector responded to a mayday call coming from the boat at approximately 3.15am local time, when it was dark and later misty, reporting simply that a vessel was engulfed in flames. Over an hour later, the US Coast Guard of Los Angeles announced on Twitter that a rescue operation for "more than 30 people in distress" was launched.In a follow-up tweet, the coast guard said the crew members of the ship were rescued. At least one crew member sustained minor injuries.The bodies of four people involved in the tragedy were recovered on Monday afternoon, but more than two dozen people were still missing and feared dead.Coast Guard official Matthew Kroll said the four bodies had signs consistent with drowning.At the Coast Guard station in Oxnard, law enforcement officials had minimal information to share to crowds of reporters that had gathered by mid-morning local time.US Congresswoman Julia Brownley, who represents the area, was on the scene and met with authorities, who were working to locate missing people and had sent out helicopters."What's happening here is just about deployment and search and rescue," she said, adding, "They have a mission."She noted that the region had already been through so much devastation with last year's deadly wildfires: "Sadly, we've been through two major California fires ... [but] never had this particular kind of emergency."Audio of the frantic mayday call captured someone on board shouting, "I can't breathe," before the call was cut off.A nearby "good Samaritan" pleasure craft evacuated the crew members who were able to escape the ship.The passengers reported missing were below deck and sleeping when the fire started, US Coast Guard official Monica Rochester said at a press briefing, as a search and rescue mission was still in full flow on Monday. The five crew members were on the bridge of the vessel, awake at the time flames were spotted, and were able to jump off the boat when the fire erupted.While firefighters tamed the blaze, the vessel sank 20 yards off the shore in more than 50ft of water, the US Coast Guard reported.By Monday afternoon, the vessel had just a portion of its bow sticking out of the water. Rochester said the US Coast Guard is still in a response phase and is still conducting shoreline searches for survivors.The Ventura County Fire Department released dramatic pictures of the blaze on Twitter on Monday morning, depicting the ship engulfed in smoke and bright orange flames in the early morning darkness.> CoastInc: @VCFD responded to boat fire off the north side of Santa Cruz Island at approximately 3:28am. @USCG helping support rescue operations for people aboard a dive boat. ChannelIslands @USCGLosAngeles @CountyVentura @SBCOUNTYFIRE pic.twitter.com/DwoPGfBjtA> > — VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) September 2, 2019Coast guard senior official Aaron Bemis told CNN that the fire kept resisting being extinguished, appearing to die out and then bursing back into flames, possibly because of the amount of fuel on the ship. He said that it kept "being put out and re-flashing"."The report that we got is that they were trapped by the fire," Bemis told CNN of the missing passengers. "The fire was so intense that even after it was put out, we were not able to actually embark the vessel and look for survivors at [that] point."The vessel was named Conception, a diving tour boat. The boat is owned by a company called Truth Aquatics, a local boat rental service that offers diving tours off the coast of southern California.The boat was being used for a three-day diving tour of islands, including Santa Cruz Island, just off the coast of Santa Barbara, according to Truth Aquatics website. Passengers boarded the boat at Santa Barbara Harbor Friday night, and the vessel was set to return to Santa Barbara late on Monday afternoon. The trip cost the boat's passengers $665 each, which included "gourmet cuisine" cooked on the ship, according to the website.California Diving, a local diving publication, described the boat as "California's crown jewel of live-aboard dive boats" when it was built in 1981.Rochester said the boat was in "full compliance" with regulations.The US Coast Guard is "working deliberately with the vessel owner/operator, who is with us at the time working on a plan to conduct further assistance for his vessel," she said.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| Warren, Biden Reject Trump Plan to Speed Executions for Slayings Posted: 02 Sep 2019 03:09 PM PDT ![Warren, Biden Reject Trump Plan to Speed Executions for Slayings]( "Warren, Biden Reject Trump Plan to Speed Executions for Slayings") (Bloomberg) -- Leading Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden rejected the idea of speeding up executions for mass slayings, a measure the Trump administration plans to pursue.The White House will back legislation drafted by the Justice Department to expedite the death penalty for people convicted of mass murder, Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence told reporters traveling with Pence between Poland and Ireland on Monday.Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren rolled her eyes at the idea when asked at an event in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire."I don't support the death penalty," she said during a gaggle with reporters.She said she'd support a government buyback of weapons."We need to treat this as the public health emergency that it is," Warren said. "And it's going to take a lot of pieces and a lot of changes that we need to do to bring down deaths from gun violence."Former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading Democratic candidate to contest Trump's re-election, said Monday that he didn't believe the death penalty proposal advocated by Pence would have stopped mass shooters like the one responsible for the El Paso attack.Pence's proposal was "what you do when you can't get something done that's rational -- you increase the penalty for the irrational," Biden said during a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.In July, Biden released a criminal justice plan that called for abolishing the death penalty, a policy he advocated for during his decades-long political career.To contact the reporters on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net;Tyler Pager in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at tpager1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Jon MorganFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kenya park suspends gorge visits after flash flood kills 7 Posted: 02 Sep 2019 10:45 AM PDT  Authorities called off search and rescue operations after seven bodies were recovered from a flash flood that killed at least six tourists and their driver visiting the gorges of the famous Hell's Gate National park. Five Kenyans of Indian descent, an Indian national and their Kenyan driver died in the Sunday evening tragedy, said Paul Udoto, spokesman for the Kenya Wildlife Service. The park was also closed, authorities said.
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| Hurricane pounds Bahamas with record fury Posted: 01 Sep 2019 10:44 AM PDT  Dorian tied the record for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever to come ashore.
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| Hong Kong protesters clash with police in airport and shut down roads as calls grow for British protection Posted: 01 Sep 2019 08:43 AM PDT  Pro-democracy protesters obstructed access to the Hong Kong airport on Sunday after police arrested dozens the night before and deployed water cannon and tear gas in response to activists lobbing petrol bombs and bricks. Activists snarled road and rail links, erecting barriers and flooding stations en route to the airport, while shouting: "Stand with Hong Kong, fight for freedom!" Others drove slowly on purposes to hinder traffic. Some built barricades outside the airport, dispersing in a flash when riot police charged and aggressively pinned people down to make arrests. The plan was to re-create mass chaos last seen in mid-August when a five-day occupation of the airport – one of the world's busiest transport hubs – led to hundreds of flight cancellations. Scenes briefly turned violent when protesters assaulted two men from mainland China and clashed with riot police. "The Hong Kong airport is extremely important to the city in terms of the economy, and tourism," said Toby Pun, 23. "I hope this will force the government to respond." Hong Kong - How the protests spread Although some flights were cancelled, most still took off as scheduled on Sunday, the planes roaring above protesters' heads. Sunday's actions came just one day after some of the city's most intense clashes this summer. Activists marched in the rain through several neighbourhoods before chucking Molotov cocktails and projectiles at government offices and police headquarters. Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon laced with blue dye to help identify, and possibly arrest, protesters later. By nightfall, officers shot two live rounds into the sky as warnings while protesters lit a strip of stadium seats on fire, setting ablaze a main road and sending black smoke billowing around brightly lit skyscrapers. Protests first kicked off early June against an extradition proposal that would have sent people to face trial in mainland China, where Communist Party influence contributes to a 99.9 per cent conviction rate. Demands have since expanded to include greater political accountability and wider democratic freedoms, plunging Hong Kong into its worst political crisis in decades. After largely being reactive and at times blindsided by protesters' flash mob tactics, police in recent days seem to be getting better at anticipating and thwarting them. Hundreds of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists attempted to block transport routes to the city's airport Credit: LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images Police stood on guard at the airport Sunday morning, placing heavy water barriers around entrances and only allowing passengers through. Later in the day, several teams were spotted at ferry piers and train stations in efforts to catch retreating protesters. The nearly 1,000 arrests made are starting to weigh on protesters, with many encouraging each other to flee quickly when police arrive to prevent being cuffed themselves. Closures of the city's subway stations have also impeded protesters' mobility to arrive at rallies and to flee the scene. By early afternoon Sunday, the city's subway operator shut the airport express line and a number of bus links were down, forcing demonstrators, passengers, flight attendants, and journalists to walk more than three miles to the airport from the closest subway station that remained open. A visitor from Taiwan rushing to return home said the disruption didn't bother him. "Protesting is the right of citizens," said Mr Liu, 35, declining to give a full name. "If the flight is delayed, then we will stay at the airport and support the protesters," said Peter, a Hong Konger who left early and walked nearly an hour to get to the airport. A policeman beats a protester in the men's toilet inside Hong Kong International Airport Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Despite escalating violence and disruption to daily life in Hong Kong, known for being an efficient global business centre, the youth-driven political movement has until now continued to draw wide public support. "I've attended most protests since June," said a woman who gave her name as Miu, 58. "Those teenagers – they have been really kind. One day when police threw lots of tear gas, a really young protester, only 20, took off her gas mask and gave it to me." But that may not remain the case with increasing disruptions to regular life and school due to star this week, which could keep activists – many of whom are students – off the streets. To prevent that, a citywide strike has been called as well as a boycott on the first few days of university and secondary school classes. Calls are also growing for the UK to pressure Beijing to uphold the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which kicked in when Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule and guaranteed the Communist system would not be practiced in the territory for at least 50 years. Firefighters extinguish a fire at a road block during a protest in Hong Kong Credit: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg In the central business district, hundreds also gathered Sunday outside the British Consulate, waving the Union Jack flag and holding signs that read "SOS," calling on the UK to recognise that freedoms were disappearing. "The UK government is not standing up or doing enough, and just lets the Chinese government speak," said Shirley Lo, 22, "I feel like they left us behind here and didn't take enough action for us." Some also chanted, "Make Hong Kong British again!" and "We love British, we are British, equal rights for BNO!" demanding the right to live and work in the UK for holders of the British National Overseas passport. Introduced in the last decade of colonial rule, the BNO passport, with its burgundy cover and coat of arms, looks like a regular British passport but doesn't provide holders with the right of abode, long a point of contention. "If people from the EU leave the UK because of Brexit, we can fill in the labour market," said Rex Wong, 42, whose entire family of four holds BNO passports. "Hong Kong people are hard-working, intelligent… We can help make the UK better." Many at the rally, however, avoided questions from the Telegraph about why they looked to the UK for support, even though life under British rule was harsh for some Hong Kong people. But it was clear that they remembered the colonial era with a more positive lens than that of current Chinese rule. Hong Kong has long had a complicated relationship with the UK, though many have long attributed a robust capitalist system and strong rule of law to the British. MP Tom Tugendhat, and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has called on the UK to treat BNO holders as UK citizens. "It would right a wrong we should never have implemented, and give people living there options," he wrote in a comment piece for the Telegraph last month. Additional reporting by Michael Zhang
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| Hurricane Dorian path update shows storm track could turn, potentially impact Carolinas Posted: 01 Sep 2019 05:08 AM PDT  Slow-moving Hurricane Dorian remains an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm. Latest models show Dorian turning before landfall in Florida meaning possible impact near the NC coast later this week.
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| Afghan killer sparks far-right criticism in France Posted: 01 Sep 2019 10:04 AM PDT  Jacquet said the knifeman had been first registered in France in 2009 as a minor, but travelled to Germany, Norway, Britain and Italy before returning to France in 2016 where he was granted temporary residency rights. France has been the victim of a string of Islamist-inspired terror attacks since 2015 that have cost hundreds of lives.
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| Photos of Volvo Truck with Banksy's Artwork Posted: 02 Sep 2019 11:15 AM PDT |
| ‘We are one’: Community vows to heal as police investigate motive for West Texas shootings Posted: 02 Sep 2019 04:57 PM PDT  The West Texas rampage left seven people dead and 25 people injured, including a 17-month-old girl who suffered major facial injuries but survived.
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| UPDATE 1-China lodges tariff case at WTO against the U.S. Posted: 02 Sep 2019 07:27 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-China lodges tariff case at WTO against the U.S.]( "UPDATE 1-China lodges tariff case at WTO against the U.S.") HONG KONG/GENEVA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - China has lodged a complaint against the United States at the World Trade Organization over U.S. import duties, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Monday. The United States began imposing 15% tariffs on a variety of Chinese goods on Sunday and China began imposing new duties on U.S. crude oil, the latest escalation in their trade war. China did not release details of its legal case but said the U.S. tariffs affected $300 billion of Chinese exports.
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| Iranian official mocks Trump with 'good morning selfie' after president tweets out image from secret intelligence briefing Posted: 01 Sep 2019 06:41 AM PDT  Donald Trump has found himself trolled on Twitter by a top Iranian official after he controversially tweeted a classified photograph taken by a US surveillance satellite.The US president posted the high-resolution aerial image of a smouldering launch pad surrounded by a plume of black smoke - complete with annotations - late on Friday, apparently the result of a failed rocket catching fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province.
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| Dorian triggers massive flooding in Bahamas; at least 5 dead Posted: 02 Sep 2019 05:00 PM PDT  Hurricane Dorian unleashed massive flooding across the Bahamas on Monday, pummeling the islands with so much wind and water that authorities urged people to find floatation devices and grab hammers to break out of their attics if necessary. "We are in the midst of a historic tragedy," Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in announcing the fatalities. The fearsome Category 4 storm slowed almost to a standstill as it shredded roofs, hurled cars and forced even rescue crews to take shelter until the onslaught passed.
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| Residents, protesters converge on Mong Kok Police Station to vent anger at Hong Kong officers Posted: 02 Sep 2019 07:32 AM PDT  The tense scene followed a stand-off earlier near Tamar Park in Admiralty.
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| We need Unions for All. It's a bold agenda for helping everyone get ahead in our economy. Posted: 02 Sep 2019 05:43 AM PDT  We need serious plans to empower all workers to form unions, no matter what job they do. 'Unions for All' is our litmus test for 2020 candidates.
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| Seventh illegal immigrant accused of sex crimes in Maryland county in 5 weeks Posted: 02 Sep 2019 03:48 AM PDT  A seventh suspect in the U.S. illegally has been accused of sexual assault in Maryland's sanctuary Montgomery County. Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins sounds off..
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| ICC prosecutor ordered to reopen Gaza flotilla case Posted: 02 Sep 2019 04:17 AM PDT  The International Criminal Court on Monday ordered the tribunal's prosecutor for a second time to reconsider whether to press charges over a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza in 2010. In the latest step in a long-running legal battle at the court in The Hague, appeals judges told prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to decide by December whether to reopen the case. Nine Turkish citizens died in May 2010 when Israeli marines stormed the Mavi Marmara, among eight ships trying to break a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
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| Johnson Threatens Oct. 14 Election Over No-Deal: Brexit Update Posted: 02 Sep 2019 11:29 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. Boris Johnson is planning for a general election on Oct. 14 if he loses a crucial vote over a no-deal Brexit in Parliament this week, a senior U.K. official said. The prime minister said he will not delay leaving the European Union in a speech after a short-notice meeting with his cabinet. Members of Parliament are planning to pass legislation to force the prime minister to delay Brexit until Jan. 31 unless he can get a new agreement with the European Union by mid-October.Key Developments:Johnson will start process for Oct. 14 general election if he loses No-deal Brexit vote in Parliament, a senior U.K. official saysJohnson met with his cabinet over expected House of Commons rebellionCross-party alliance of MPs draws up plan to seize the agenda in Parliament on Tuesday to force through legislation blocking a no-deal divorcePound falls by as much as 0.98%Johnson Planning For Oct. 14 election: Official (7:15 p.m.)Boris Johnson will start the process for calling a general election on October 14 if his government loses a vote intended to block a no-deal Brexit, a U.K. official said.If the House of Commons votes this week to order the prime minister to delay Brexit until Jan. 31, Johnson will propose a motion under the Fixed-Term Parliament Act for a general election.For an election to be called, that motion would need to be supported by at least two-thirds of MPs.Johnson: 'No Circumstances' I Would Ask for Delay (6:07 p.m.)Boris Johnson said the chances of a new Brexit deal with Brussels by Oct. 31 are increasing as he made a pitch for MPs to support the government against a rebel motion opposing a no-deal Brexit on Tuesday. If Parliament blocks a no-deal divorce, it will weaken the U.K.'s negotiating position, he said."I want everybody to know there are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay," he said. "We're leaving on 31 October, no ifs or buts. We will not accept any attempt to go back on our promises or to scrub that referendum.""Let's let our negotiators get on with their work, without that sword of Damocles over their necks and without an election," he said. "I don't want an election. You don't want an election," he added, hinting that one might be necessary if Parliament doesn't get behind his plan.Johnson to Make Public Statement (5.45 p.m.)Johnson will make a public statement at 6 p.m. on Monday, his office said.No-Deal Opponents Publish Draft Bill (5.30 p.m.)A cross-party group of MPs led by Philip Hammond and Hilary Benn published a draft bill that they'll use to try and prevent a no-deal Brexit. It would require Johnson to extend exit day to Jan. 31 if he doesn't either reach a deal with the EU that's approved by Parliament or secure Parliament's agreement for leaving the bloc with no deal.A motion will be used on Tuesday to take control of the order paper from 3 p.m. the following day. That's after Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid's Spending Review.They'll then debate a four-page bill that demands the government meet one of the two conditions by Oct. 19. If neither condition is met, the prime minister must write to the EU to ask for a three-month extension to negotiations, the motion says.Tory Rebels Asked Johnson to Reassure Markets (4:20 p.m.)The 21 potential Tory rebels who were due to meet Johnson on Monday (see 3:35 p.m.) asked him to reassure the currency markets by confirming he was still committed to a deal with the EU in a letter dated Aug. 12 made public today.The letter, signed by Hammond and former cabinet ministers Rory Stewart, David Lidington, David Gauke and Greg Clark, said they were "alarmed" by Johnson's Brexit red lines, which "appear to eliminate" the chances of striking a deal with Brussels."We would therefore greatly appreciate your confirmation that you remain committed to doing a deal, that you accept any such deal will require compromise and that it remains your view that the chance of No Deal is 'less than a million to one'," they said, quoting his line during the leadership campaign. "This will reassure not only us, but also the currency markets."Hammond Demands Answers from Johnson (3:25 p.m.)Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond wrote to Boris Johnson to demand answers about his progress on a Brexit deal after the prime minister canceled a meeting with 21 potential Tory rebels scheduled for Monday.Hammond, who has said he'll do everything he can to stop a no-deal Brexit, asked the premier to provide specific details of his talks with the EU and explain how he thinks he's closer to a new agreement. He also asked Johnson to publish his proposals to replace the Irish border backstop and any other revisions to the Withdrawal Agreement before Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday.Johnson has tried to convince Tory MPs that he's close to agreeing a deal with the bloc to stop them voting against him. Hammond said in his letter that many of the 21 Tories due to attend the meeting had planned to decide their next steps after hearing from the prime minister.Details of Rebel Plan Emerge (3:15 p.m.)Details of the rebel plans to stop a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31 by pushing legislation through Parliament are beginning to emerge.Two people familiar with the draft law told Bloomberg it would compel Johnson to seek a three-month delay if he's been unable to get a new Brexit deal through the House of Commons by Oct. 19 or to persuade lawmakers to back a no-deal departure.That would set Jan. 31 as the new deadline for Brexit.Goldman Sachs Weighs in on Election Speculation (2:45 p.m.)There is still scope for an election on or around Oct. 17 if Boris Johnson "decides this week that a pre-Brexit general election is his best response to a legislative lock on "no deal," Goldman Sachs said in a note to investors.Its view is that going down that route would be difficult, as it would require more than 100 opposition MPs to garner the necessary two-thirds majority. Goldman said the price those opposition lawmakers would charge would be to see "concrete evidence that PM Johnson has already sought EU permission for an Article 50 extension beyond 31 October.""Traditionally, the date of a general election is in the gift of the prime minister," the note said. "In our view, it would be sub optimal for Labour MPs to allow the Conservative government to call an October election that characterizes the Labour front-bench as a Brexit saboteur. That said, the Labour leadership would certainly find itself in a difficult position."Irish PM Says Unionist Proposals Interesting (2:20 p.m.)Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar signaled his willingness to consider alternatives to the backstop, by describing some proposals from the Ulster Unionist Party as "interesting."The UUP proposals include the creation of a criminal offense of transporting non-compliant goods through the U.K. to the EU, and creating a cross-border trade body, the BBC reported.While Varadkar told reporters these wouldn't solve all the problems at the frontier, they shouldn't be dismissed "out of hand."Johnson Election Threat in Bid to Quell Rebellion (1:05 p.m.)Boris Johnson would treat a vote in Parliament to block a no-deal Brexit as a vote of no-confidence in his government, according to a person familiar with his thinking, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.Johnson's official spokesman, James Slack, said on Monday morning that Johnson doesn't want an election.Under British conventions, a vote of no-confidence can trigger a general election and the fact that Johnson is invoking these conventions suggests he has his eye on a snap poll.As the timetable currently stands, the next election is not due until 2022. If he wanted to hold an election early, Johnson would need to win the support of members of Parliament in a special vote.Johnson Convenes Meeting of Cabinet (12:30 p.m.)Boris Johnson will meet his cabinet ministers for talks as he draws up plans to counter a threat by parliamentarians to block a no-deal split from the EU.A government official confirmed a BBC report that the cabinet will meet later on Monday. The BBC also said one option -- among many under discussion -- could be for Johnson to call for a snap general election later this week.Varadkar, Johnson Could Meet Next Week (12:20 p.m.)Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he may meet with Boris Johnson next week, with two possible dates being worked on.Speaking to reporters, Varadkar said he's always ready to listen to potential U.K. proposals to break the Brexit impasse.Labour Could Back Leave in Repeat Referendum (11:55 a.m.)Jeremy Corbyn left his options open for a second referendum, reiterating the party wouldn't necessarily back Remain if the government brought back a deal from Brussels.Asked if he could support a Labour leave position in a ballot, Corbyn said Labour would only definitely back Remain if the alternative was a no-deal split from the EU.Labour would include the promise of a public vote in its next manifesto, Corbyn said. "If it's no-deal then we will vote to Remain, if it's any other deal then our party's democratic process will decide what position we take," he told his audience in Salford.Corbyn has been reluctant to turn Labour into the anti-Brexit party, though he has vowed to do everything he can to prevent a no-deal exit from the bloc.Johnson's Drinks With MPs As Showdown Looms (11:45 a.m.)Boris Johnson will host his Conservative colleagues at a drinks reception on Monday evening ahead of a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, his spokesman James Slack told reporters.Slack said it would be "entirely unreasonable" for members of Parliament -- who rejected Theresa May's deal three times -- to bind the prime minister's hands by blocking a no-deal Brexit just as he goes into fresh negotiations with the EU.It's another warning to potential Conservative rebels after they were threatened with deselection if they break ranks. Johnson himself voted against May's deal.Corbyn: 'Last Chance' to Stop No Deal Brexit (11:35 a.m.)Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn warned that this week could be the last chance to prevent a no-deal breakup with the EU. Speaking in Salford, northwest England, Corbyn said he's finalizing plans with other members of Parliament for how to stop Johnson pushing ahead."We must come together to stop no deal," Corbyn said. "This week could be our last chance. We are working with other parties to do everything necessary to pull our country back from the brink."After stopping Johnson, Britain needs a general election, Corbyn said. In a rehearsal for that election campaign, he framed his argument in wider political terms, repeatedly portraying Johnson and his Tory party as friends of a wealthy elite who won't pay the price of a no-deal split from the EU.Rees-Mogg Accuses Doctor Of 'Fear-mongering,' (10:30 a.m.)In a bad-tempered exchange on LBC radio Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg was asked by a doctor involved in planning for a no-deal Brexit what level of patient mortality he would be happy to accept.In reply Rees-Mogg accused the doctor of "fear-mongering," adding "I don't think there is any reason to suppose a no-deal Brexit should lead to a mortality rate; this is the worst excess of Project Fear."No-Deal a 95% Chance if Parliament Fails, Gauke Says (Earlier)Former Justice Secretary David Gauke said there's a 95% chance of a No-Deal split with the EU on Oct. 31 if Parliament fails to pass legislation blocking it.The former minister, who voted three times for Theresa May's deal with the EU and favors leaving with an agreement, accused Boris Johnson of "goading people to vote against the government" as part of a strategy aimed at provoking a general election.Gauke told the BBC that Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings, who isn't a member of the Conservative Party, is behind the "unusual" and "confrontational" strategy. There has been no approach to rebels to persuade them to change their minds, just threats of being thrown out of the party and banned as election candidates, he said.No-Deal Opponents Coalesce Around Short Extension (Earlier)Opponents of a no-deal Brexit have coalesced around a short extension to Britain's membership as this week's goal, former Tory Lawmaker Nick Boles told BBC radio.Rebel Tories and opposition MPs want to pass a law requiring Johnson to seek an extension -- assuming he can't get a revised deal or persuade Parliament to back a no-deal Brexit by Oct. 31, Boles said.According to Boles, the extension wouldn't be more than "a few more months." That's "not long enough crucially for a referendum, so this is not an attempt to somehow sneak a second referendum in," he said.Chuka Umunna, a Liberal Democrat who quit the Labour Party earlier this year, agreed that stopping a no-deal Brexit is this week's goal, but his party sees it as a stepping stone to stopping Brexit altogether.Long-Bailey Says Bill Designed for Broad Appeal (Earlier)Rebecca Long-Bailey, Business spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, said a proposed bill aimed at blocking a no-deal split from the EU -- which she said will be introduced on Tuesday -- will be kept "as short and simple as possible" to give it broad appeal across the political spectrum in Parliament.This week is the "last chance" to stop a "disastrous" no-deal divorce, she told BBC Radio.Earlier:U.K. INSIGHT: How Boris Johnson Could Ruffle the Housing MarketFate of Brexit Is Up in the Air as Johnson Delivers SurprisesJohnson Is Campaigning Again, But What Exactly Is He Selling?\--With assistance from Dara Doyle, Flavia Krause-Jackson, Tim Ross, Alex Morales and Kitty Donaldson.To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Caroline AlexanderFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Police detain Russian opposition activist after Moscow protest Posted: 02 Sep 2019 02:25 PM PDT ![Police detain Russian opposition activist after Moscow protest]( "Police detain Russian opposition activist after Moscow protest") Russian opposition activist Lyubov Sobol, an ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, was detained by police on Monday after a weekend protest in Moscow, Navalny's spokeswoman said on Twitter. A few thousand Russians took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday to demand free elections to the capital's city legislature on Sept. 8, defying a ban enforced by detentions during previous protests. Protesters have been calling for the release of activists detained in earlier rallies, and Sobol on Saturday described the arrests as "mayhem," blaming it on the city government.
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| Costco is closed for Labor Day, but here are the stores and restaurants staying open Posted: 02 Sep 2019 02:25 PM PDT  Most major retailers and restaurant chains are open Monday, though some will have special holiday hours. Many pharmacies will be closed.
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| Amazon fires: Almost 4,000 new blazes started across Brazil in 48 hours after ban on burning forest land Posted: 02 Sep 2019 02:30 AM PDT  Almost 4,000 new forest fires were started in Brazil in the two days after the government banned deliberate burning of the Amazon, officials have revealed.Some 3,859 outbreaks were recorded by the country's National Space Research Institute (Inpe) in the 48 hours following the 60-day prohibition on setting trees alight.
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| The Latest: Dorian focuses fury, barely budges over Bahamas Posted: 02 Sep 2019 04:56 PM PDT  Hurricane Dorian is grinding down hard and focusing its fury as it continues to maul the Bahamas. At 8 p.m. EDT Monday, the ferocious storm's center was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Freeport Grand Bahama Island. On Sunday, Dorian blasted the Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (297 kph).
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| REFILE-UPDATE 1-Lithuania raps Chinese diplomats for role at pro-Hong Kong protest Posted: 02 Sep 2019 08:06 AM PDT ![REFILE-UPDATE 1-Lithuania raps Chinese diplomats for role at pro-Hong Kong protest]( "REFILE-UPDATE 1-Lithuania raps Chinese diplomats for role at pro-Hong Kong protest") Lithuania said on Monday it had lodged a protest to the Chinese embassy after some of its diplomats were involved in disruptions at a pro-Hong Kong protest in the capital Vilnius last month. Lithuania's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Chinese diplomats acted "in violation of public order" at the Aug. 23 event, which was organised to show solidarity with anti-Beijing protesters in Hong Kong. A police spokesman told Reuters that two Chinese citizens were detained and fined 15 euros ($17) each after people waving Chinese flags agitated at the protest.
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| Trump rips into actress Debra Messing after the 'Will & Grace' star praised signs trashing the president Posted: 01 Sep 2019 11:01 AM PDT  President Trump took a swipe at Hollywood actress Debra Messing after the "Will & Grace" star praised an Alabama church sign that read "A black vote for Trump is mental illness."
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| See Photos of the 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S Posted: 02 Sep 2019 04:59 AM PDT |
| 15 years on, relatives of Beslan massacre victims demand answers Posted: 01 Sep 2019 09:39 AM PDT  Relatives of victims of the Beslan massacre on Sunday said they were still waiting for answers, 15 years after the tragedy that left over 330 dead including 186 children. Sunday marks the anniversary of the school siege in the town of Beslan in the Russian Caucasus when Chechen militants stormed the school, herding over 1,100 people into a gymnasium and rigging the building with explosives. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2017 that Russia's handling of the siege had "serious failings" in terms of its failure to prevent the attack and its use of excessive lethal force and called on Moscow to take measures to establish the truth.
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| The CAR Murders: A Critical Cold Case in the New Cold War Points to ‘Putin’s Chef’ Posted: 02 Sep 2019 02:23 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyST. PETERSBURG, Russia–It's been more than a year now since someone murdered three Russian journalists on a dark road in a remote corner of the Central African Republic.Within days of the killings on the night of July 30-31, 2018, as The Daily Beast reported at the time, there were suspicions the journalists had been set up. Since then, the official investigations have gone nowhere or been diverted down blind alleys, and if the Kremlin and its front men have their way—which they normally do in the Central African Republic—the case will go completely cold. But the families of the victims, their colleagues, and the exiled Russian tycoon who sent the journalists on their fatal mission in the first place say they are determined to see justice done. Their investigations have peeled back layer after layer of an ostensibly private "company" noteworthy for conspiracy and corruption, which Russian President Vladimir Putin evidently employs to extend his influence around the world.Russian Journalists Murdered in Africa May Have Been Set UpAmericans concerned about the ruthlessness of Moscow's operations to subvert or dominate other countries should take note as evidence mounts that some of the central figures in the cyberattacks on the U.S. presidential election in 2016 may also be implicated in the Africa homicides. The victims were Orkhan Dzhemal, 51, a famous Russian war correspondent; Alexander Rastorguyev, 47, a film director; and Kirill Radchenko, 33, a cameraman. They had traveled to Africa to make a documentary about the "Wagner Group," a highly secretive private military contractor allegedly created by the infamous Russian billionaire and Putin crony, Yevgeny Prigozhin.He is the same figure named in a detailed indictment by the Mueller probe in February 2018 and in the subsequent Mueller Report released this year as the money man behind the Internet Research Agency, a troll factory here in St. Petersburg that set out to defeat Hillary Clinton, then help elect Donald Trump in 2016. (Prigozhin told a Russian state news agency that he was not upset about his indictment. "Americans see what they want to see," he said.) But the troll factory is just one of many operations that are part of what his underlings refer to as "The Company."Prigozhin, often given the anodyne sobriquet "Putin's chef," initially built his fortune on huge Russian government catering contracts, but the tentacles of his organization are spread far and wide, and in some surprising places. He even has a firm that makes candy, and there are many here who would tell you the sweets have a sinister background. "These are bloody chocolates, produced by the same people who attack and kill journalists," claims Yegor Alekseyev, a blogger from St. Petersburg. "Two men broke my nose and smashed my teeth in 2016 after I published stories about Prigozhin's 'troll factory.' These are dangerous people backed up by the [Russian government's] special services."In 2014, when Putin made his move to take the Crimean peninsula away from Ukraine and launch covertly a separatist revolution in the east of that country that has now cost more than 13,000 lives, combatants linked to a mysterious organization of mercenaries started showing up. Many of its recruits appeared to have come from Russian military intelligence, the GRU, especially the special forces component known as Spetsnaz. They answered to a former officer named Dmitry Utkin, nicknamed "Wagner." These operatives also surfaced in Syria, in Sudan, and in the Central African Republic. Their objective was not only to extend Russian influence, but to take control of industries and especially natural resources, further enriching their backer, who was soon reported to be Prigozhin. He has issued pro forma denials, but evidence of Prigozhin's ties to the group has continued to mount, especially in the private investigations of those trying to get to the bottom of the Central African murders. * * *DUELING INVESTIGATIONS* * *Mikhail Khodorkovsky was once reputedly the richest man in Russia–an oligarch so wealthy and powerful that Putin felt threatened, and finally managed to put him away in prison for almost a decade. When Khodorkovsky was released in 2013, he went to Britain and has since worked as one of Putin's most active opponents in exile.It was Khodorkovsky who funded the fatal trip to the Central African Republic by Dzhemal, Rastorguyev, and Radchenko to report on the Wagner Group's activities, and it is Khodorkovsky who has underwritten the most exhaustive investigation of their murder. "Somebody has to put evidence together for the day Putin's crooks end up in court," Khodorkovsky told The Daily Beast last year. He hired journalists, military experts, private detectives and others to delve into the killings, and issued a "final report" under the auspices of his Dossier Center on the anniversary of the murders.The picture that emerges over the course of almost 80 pages is highly detailed and deeply disturbing. For starters, the Dossier investigators addressed the official version put forth by Russian authorities and the CAR security forces, many of them trained and funded by the Kremlin directly and also by Wagner personnel. Their claim is that the Russian documentary makers were ambushed on a back road at night by bandits wearing turbans and speaking Arabic who shot all three of them dead. The killers let the local driver, named as Bienvenue Douvokama, escape in his car and the sketchy account of the attack came from Douvokama. When the official version failed to satisfy the victims' families, friends, or colleagues in the independent press, a Prigozhin-backed news agency, RIA FAN, conducted its own investigation of the murder and named Dominique Christophe Raineteau as the mastermind, claiming that he was a French mercenary or agent in league with terrorists."We have our vision of what happened in CAR," RIA FAN editor Yevgeny Zubarev wrote in an email to The Daily Beast. "It was a planned provocation but you are never going to publish our conclusions… Your publication is neither going to mention in a negative light Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the main suspect of this crime; nor the Western (French) special services, the possible accomplices," wrote Zubarev.Actually, the RIA FAN conclusions are quite interesting, because they do not agree at all with the official government versions blaming unknown Arabic-speaking thieves. The general thrust of the RIA FAN report is that the Russian journalists were killed in order to embarrass Russia (if not indeed to blame Prigozhin and Putin). The agent who organized the murders, according to RIA FAN, was Raineteau, a French mercenary who is protected by the French secret services, and Khodorkovsky himself, who supposedly paid Raineteau to set up the team Khodorkovsky had sent. RIA FAN notes the extensive French-Russian rivalry for resources and dominance in Africa as the motive for the French plot, and says Khodorkovsky's motive is to "discredit any activity of Russia abroad, particularly in Africa and the revenge directed at the Russian Federation."All of this makes for a fascinating narrative of conspiracy, and is typical of disinformation that tries to ascribe presumed motives—"who benefits from the crime"—as proof when it is really self-serving conjecture. There is some hearsay in the RIA FAN report, but the documentary evidence linking Raineteau to the killing is virtually nonexistent, while the account compiled by Khodorkovsky's investigators appears to be based largely on minute examination of phone records and emails (albeit without any explanation of how they were obtained). The narrative developed by the investigators for Khodorkovsky's Dossier Centre goes roughly like this:The three journalists made a critical mistake when they were looking for a "fixer" to set up appointments, transportation, lodging, translation and the like while they were in the CAR. Even though they were investigating one Prigozhin operation, Wagner, they asked a journalist working for another Prigozhin company, RIA FAN, for help. This may not be quite as unusual as it sounds, because journalists working for conflicting media often believe they have more common bonds as professionals in the field than as servants for their bosses in the home offices. That may have been the case where the request for advice from FAN journalist Kirill Romanovsky was concerned.He in turn suggested they contact by text message a Dutch man with experience in the CAR as a United Nations employee or contractor who went by the name of "Martin."The RIA FAN report would later suggest Martin was none other than the mysterious French operative Raineteau. But the Dossier Centre investigation concludes "with a high degree of probability that the fixer 'Martin'… never existed." Rather, "he was invented by the coordinators of a thoroughly planned operation.""Martin" did not show up at the airport as expected, when the crew arrived, and they never once laid eyes on him or, for that matter, spoke to him on the phone. Everything was handled by text messages, including Martin's claim that he was 376 kilometers from the CAR capital Bangui in the town of Bambari, where they were headed initially the day they were killed. According to the Dossier Centre report, cell phone records show "Martin," or at least that phone, never left the capital.The Dossier Centre investigation notes that the local driver the crew hired, Bienvenue Douvokama, is believed to be an agent or informer for the local gendarmerie, and was in "constant operational contact with gendarme Emmanuel Kotofio" who "tracked the journalists' movements and was in their immediate vicinity." (Kotofio is quoted by RIA FAN saying he and Douvokama are old friends and just like to shoot the breeze.)Kotofio, in turn, "maintained contact with a man identified by the Dossier Centre as an 'instructor in surveillance, counter-surveillance, recruitment and intelligence work'" from another Prigozhin company, M-Finans, run by one Aleksandr Sotov, who then reported to Valery Zakharov, a Russian adviser to the president of the CAR and head of a team of instructors in Prigozhin's "Company."On the fatal night of July 30, according to the Dossier Centre, Kotofio the gendarme passed through a military checkpoint at the town of Sibut, on the same road the journalists would take only minutes later. With Kotofio were three Caucasians, "presumably Russians," according to the Dossier Centre report. Kotofio drove back to the checkpoint later at 8 p.m. The journalists' driver reported their murder about 45 minutes later at a village near the scene.The following day, according to the Dossier Centre, a "disinformation campaign" began to confuse and impede any outside investigation.According to emails obtained by the Dossier Centre, which cannot be independently verified, Prigozhin is personally involved in running the Company's projects in the Central African Republic.* * *THE PAIN OF THE FAMILIES* * * The Kremlin remains deaf to the victims' families' demands to question Prigozhin and his men on the ground, including commanders of the Russian militia working for CAR's leadership. Alexander Radchenko's, the father of the cameraman, says it is easy for him to connect the dots identifying the main suspects. Since July 30, 2018, the day his son's body was found in CAR, Radchenko has been analyzing reports by private investigators and journalists, and read and watched interviews with Moscow's key man in CAR, Valery Zakharov, a former Russian military intelligence officer, who is now the country's main security adviser. "The investigators–along with Russian diplomats, FSB, GRU–back up the Russian military instructors working in CAR instead of questioning the main guy, Zakharov,and his bosses," Radchenko told The Daily Beast on Tuesday.The heartbroken father has written more than 30 petitions to Russian state detectives investigating the criminal case. Some of his requests ostensibly were taken into consideration, but most of them were ignored. Radchenko told The Daily Beast that in his opinion the murder was "undoubtedly a set up." Over the last six months, the father says, he has seen enough evidence collected by independent reporters to conclude that "Yevgeny Prigozhin, Valery Zakharov and his aide Alexander Sotov are the principal suspects to be questioned about the murder of my son." But Radchenko sounds hopeless: "Every time I ask the state detective on this case, Igor Zolotov, to call them for questioning, he seems too shy and tells me: 'We should not bother such important men, they must be busy.'"Putin's Man in the Central African Republic: Is Valery Zakharov at the Heart of Russian Skulduggery? Khodorkovsky's team has tried to fill that investigative gap. "We have done our part of the job, presented mobile phone billing to demonstrate that Zakharov, his aid Alexander Sotov, the gendarme they trained and the crew called each other dozens of times during the two days before the murder," Maxim Dbar, Khodorkovsly's spokesman, told The Daily Beast. "We have no authority to question the key suspects."Irina Gordiyenko, a reporter for independent Novaya Gazeta, especially wants to know who killed Orkhan Dzhemal, the father of her son. "I want to ask both Zakharov and Sotov about the billing data, what sort of actions they coordinated from the moment of the journalists' arrival in CAR," Gordiyenko said in a recent interview with The Daily Beast. "I have questions for Zakharov about CAR gendarmes being trained in Russia. I want to ask the Russian MID [ministry of foreign affairs] why the journalists' belongings have not been moved to Russia, why our diplomats consult with Prigozhin's Wagner about the official version of the murder to give to the public."Somebody shot Rostorguyev from a 7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle. Two bullets hit the journalist's heart. "Only a professional could fire so accurately in the dark," Gordiyenko added her doubts. The United States imposed sanctions against billionaire Prigozhin and his Concord holding company in 2016 for constructing a military base for Russian forces near Ukraine. But neither the sanctions, nor the links to the CAR murder that shook the entire country, has slowed the growth of Prigozhin's business empire. Concord keeps working on immense state contracts, his Zinger Development group is planning to build an artificial island in the Gulf of Finland, and foreign tourists keep buying his chocolates at Eliseyev Emporium, a historic architectural landmark on Nevsky Prospect. Jessica from Vermont was purchasing Marzipans shaped as carrots, half a pound of Lukum and chocolates with lime taste. "I am not sure I know who Prigozhin is, I am sorry," the tourist told The Daily Beast.Prigozhin has access to the highest offices in the Kremlin and cooperates closely with the defense ministries of both Russia and the CAR. The power is on his side. "The murder of the three journalists is not going to be investigated, at least there will never be public knowledge of who ordered the killing," a political analyst close to the Kremlin, Sergei Markov, told The Daily Beast. "Prigozhin has created private military forces to help Russia, he is fighting the war against Russia's enemies that are constantly undermining our power, so of course Moscow will not go against him to support the dossier created by Putin's enemy, Khodorkovsky." In the eyes of much of the world, however, Putin's name will be linked forever to the murder of the three journalists just as it is linked to the killing of journalists Anna Politkovskaya or Natalia Estemirova.Dzhamal, Rastorguyev, and Radchenko were—and remain—important symbols for Russians who still believe the search for solid facts and the truth is the only way to combat corruption and the disinformation used to disguise it, even if the quest costs you your life.Anna Nemtsova reported from St. Petersburg, Christopher Dickey from Paris.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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| Hong Kong police target commuters with batons Posted: 01 Sep 2019 02:04 AM PDT ![Hong Kong police target commuters with batons]( "Hong Kong police target commuters with batons")
Local television footage showed police using batons and pepper spray at the Prince Edward MTR station before making arrests. Some suspects were seen being beaten as they cowered on the floor. Hong Kong's MTR network has been the source of numerous controversies since the night of July 21, when more than 100 white-shirted men stormed Yuen Long station hours after protesters had marched through central Hong Kong and defaced China's Liaison Office. Chinese state media has also alleged that the MTR corporation facilitates protesters by providing convenient transportation before and after violent clashes with the police. Police said they arrested 40 people inside the metro station on suspicion of obstructing officers, unlawful assembly and criminal damage. Three stations stayed shut on Sunday (September 1).
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| As many evacuate for Dorian, a 'hurricane bar' caters to those who stay Posted: 02 Sep 2019 02:00 PM PDT  The Hunkerdown Hideaway calls itself "the hurricane bar." There locals who aren't evacuating have gathered during major storms for years.
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| Sri Lanka church bomber's remains exhumed after protests Posted: 02 Sep 2019 07:16 AM PDT ![Sri Lanka church bomber's remains exhumed after protests]( "Sri Lanka church bomber's remains exhumed after protests") The remains of a suicide bomber who attacked a church in eastern Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday were exhumed on Monday after a court order that they be reburied elsewhere following public protests. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said the remains were removed from Kalliyankadu cemetery in the presence of a judge, a medical officer and police and were taken to a hospital morgue. An official last week said the remains consisted only of a head, but Gunasekara said they also included some other body parts.
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| ANALYSIS-Biden seen as weak front-runner as 2020 U.S. Democratic race heats up Posted: 02 Sep 2019 03:00 AM PDT ![ANALYSIS-Biden seen as weak front-runner as 2020 U.S. Democratic race heats up]( "ANALYSIS-Biden seen as weak front-runner as 2020 U.S. Democratic race heats up") As summer ends and the race for the 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential nomination shifts into a higher gear, former Vice President Joe Biden's perilous position atop the vast field stands to be tested under even more pressure. Biden, 76, has consistently maintained a comfortable lead over his rivals. Labor Day serves as the traditional marker for the White House race to intensify, with five months to go until the first nominating contest - February in Iowa - in the state-by-state process of picking the party's nominee to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.
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| Dorian kills five in Bahamas, US evacuates coast Posted: 02 Sep 2019 05:12 PM PDT  Monster storm Dorian hovered over the Bahamas Monday as surging seawaters and ferocious winds sowed chaos in low-lying island communities, killing at least five people and spurring mass evacuations on the US east coast. Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis termed the hurricane a "historic tragedy" for the archipelago. "Thus far, the Royal Bahamas Police Force has confirmed that there are five deaths in Abaco," Minnis told a news conference, referring to the islands where Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 storm on Sunday, packing blistering winds of 290 kilometers per hour (185 miles per hour).
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| The Latest: Iran, France race to save nuclear deal Posted: 02 Sep 2019 08:12 AM PDT  French and Iranian experts were huddling in Paris as the clock ticks on an end-of-the-week deadline for Europe to come up with a way for Iran to sell its oil despite U.S. sanctions — or face a new scaling back of the 2015 nuclear accord. A visit on Monday by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and a team of economists was wrapped in discretion. The meeting coincided with a Moscow visit by Iran's foreign minister, who made an exceptional appearance in Biarritz last week on the sidelines of the G-7 summit.
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| Which of These Doomsday Scenarios Is Most Likely to Kill Us All? Posted: 02 Sep 2019 06:00 AM PDT |
| Russia’s Deputy Premier Rips New Space Center Posted: 02 Sep 2019 06:12 AM PDT ![Russia's Deputy Premier Rips New Space Center]( "Russia's Deputy Premier Rips New Space Center") (Bloomberg) -- A series of corruption scandals, cost overruns and mishaps at Russia's new Vostochny Cosmodrome have brought long-simmering questions about the leadership of the country's space agency into public view."The situation is unacceptable for everyone, including the construction of the first stage and the second stage" of the space center, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov told Vedomosti newspaper in an interview published Monday, adding that the Defense Ministry may take over part of the work.Borisov, formerly a powerful and secretive official responsible for procurement at the Defense Ministry, became deputy prime minister last year in place of Dmitry Rogozin, who was appointed to head Roscosmos by President Vladimir Putin. While Russia views the cosmodrome as a national security priority, with its current Soviet-era launch base located at Baikonur in neighboring Kazakhstan, the $3 billion project has been plagued by controversy.Rogozin, who's frequently highlighted the threat posed by Elon Musk's SpaceX venture to Russia's launch industry, quickly took to Twitter to defend himself. "It's always been this way: some build, while others criticize," Rogozin wrote. "It's part of the business."Splits within the Kremlin elite have become more visible since Putin's re-election last year to what may be his final presidential term under Russia's constitution, amid jostling by rival factions. Last month, for example, Rostec State Corp. chief Sergey Chemezov, a longtime Putin ally and fellow spy, contradicted the official line that recent Moscow election protests should be put down forcefully, warning instead that the country risked stagnation without a healthy opposition.Putin ordered Russia's Investigative Committee to examine construction at Vostochny during a visit to the space center after a planned first rocket launch was delayed in 2015. Months earlier, workers who hadn't been paid for months went on hunger strike and appealed to Putin for help by painting a message on the roof of their barracks.The Prosecutor General's Office has opened a series of criminal cases after uncovering 10 billion rubles ($150 million) in losses during construction at Vostochny. In one sparkling example of corruption, a contractor accused of stealing 4 million rubles was detained in Minsk, Belarus, while driving a Mercedes covered in Swarovski crystals.While the space center went into operation in 2016, officials uncovered a critical defect on one of Vostochny's launchpads as recently as last November, RBC news website reported. In 2017, a satellite launch failed after the rocket was programmed with coordinates for takeoff from another launch pad.Alexei Kudrin, the head of Russia's Audit Chamber, told lawmakers last year that he had found 760 billion rubles ($11.4 billion) of financial violations in Roscosmos's books, including several billion that had been "basically stolen," describing the space agency as "the champion in terms of the scale of such violations." Roscosmos said the criticism related to a 2017 audit, before Rogozin's appointment.Rogozin, who was responsible as deputy premier for the space industry, threatened in 2015 to "rip off the heads" of construction staff involved in corruption after Vostochny risked having its electricity cut off over unpaid bills, according to the Interfax news service.\--With assistance from Ilya Arkhipov and Stepan Kravchenko.To contact the reporter on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Paul AbelskyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Hurricane Dorian: ‘It’s Going to be Extremely Close’ Says Hurricane Specialist Posted: 01 Sep 2019 06:48 PM PDT  Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters> Hurricane Dorian's winds have howled with gusts of up to 220 mph across the Caribbean, with sustained winds at 185 mph, making it the strongest storm to ever hover east of Florida, or that far north in the Atlantic Ocean, and tying it in second for highest winds ever recorded in the Atlantic. The merciless storm hit the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas with that force on Sunday, leaving total devastation. The landfall officially tied Dorian with the decades-old record held by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest winds of any storm to hit land. The slowly encroaching Hurricane was moved to Category 5 on Sunday—the highest category on the Saffir–Simpson scale, which classifies hurricanes based off of sustained wind speed.With just 205 miles between Dorian and the Florida coastline, President Trump made the declaration on Twitter on Sunday that 2019's Labor Day storm "is looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever." Later in the day, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R) ordered a mandatory evacuation of the state's entire coastline in the possibility that Dorian sweeps northward on Wednesday.Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University's Department of Atmospheric Science specializing in Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecasts, talked to The Daily Beast about the likelihood that Dorian's wrath could reach the United States, and the devastation it could cause.What are the chances that Dorian will hit the United States at the 185 mph speed it is sustaining right now? As it approaches the United States, it should encounter some stronger vertical wind shear which should begin to weaken the storm somewhat. It's still forecast to turn north just before it gets to Florida. It's going to be extremely close, but at this point, an actual landfall seems relatively low. If it tracks close enough to the coast though, there could still be very substantial impacts including high winds and some storm surge. There could still be a landfall further up the coast in either Georgia or the Carolinas.What does a Category 5 storm entail?That generally means pretty much complete destruction for everything in its path. If Dorian does make landfall on the U.S., what kind of impact could it have on affected states?It all depends on how close the storm gets. It is going to be tracking perpendicular to the coastline when it approaches, so small angle of approach changes could make huge differences in impacts. The Slower Hurricane Dorian Moves, the More Dangerous It IsWhat makes Dorian different from other recent storms?Dorian is an extremely powerful hurricane. It has maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. In the Atlantic basin, there's only been one hurricane with stronger winds: Hurricane Allen in 1980. How does climate change, the warming ocean, affect hurricanes or specifically this one?In the area where Dorian underwent its strongest intensification, water temperatures were near average. It's just that waters near the Bahamas are super hot on average. Currently they're 85-88°F. Hurricanes live off of warm ocean hot water, and those kinds of temperatures are like jet fuel for hurricanes. Sea level rise is likely to exacerbate storm surge, since the background sea level will be higher. A warmer atmosphere means more rainfall, since a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor. Hurricanes may get a bit stronger (e.g., higher winds) in the future too, although there is a lot of uncertainty there. 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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| Ten children wounded after shooting at high school football match Posted: 02 Sep 2019 03:02 AM PDT  A shooting at a high school football game in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday night wounded at least 10 people, police said.The city's police chief, Lawrence Battiste, said at a news conference Friday that the victims were between 15 and 18 years old, according to local station WKRG 5. Their conditions were not immediately available.
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| Floridians evacuate and grumble as Hurricane Dorian slowly nears Posted: 02 Sep 2019 11:38 AM PDT  At a retirement community in central Florida, elderly residents waited for a bus on Monday to take them to a shelter as one of the most monstrous Atlantic hurricanes on record crawled toward the state. Mary McNiff, 92, sat in her wheelchair waiting to board at the Good Samaritan Society in Kissimmee, near Orlando, one of more than a million people under evacuation orders along the U.S. East Coast on the Labor Day holiday. Forecasters warned it could still be dangerous as it drew closer to Florida even if its eye did not make landfall in the state.
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| Indonesia deports four Australians for demonstrating in Papua Posted: 02 Sep 2019 03:17 AM PDT  Four Australians were deported from Indonesia's Papua region on Monday, the immigration department said, after they allegedly took part in demonstrations demanding independence for the restive province. Impoverished Papua, where a low-level insurgency against Indonesian control has simmered for decades, has seen two weeks of mass protests and deadly riots sparked by anger over racism and fresh calls for self-rule. The four foreigners entered the island region on a yacht through the port of Sorong on August 10, Indonesian immigration official Erlangga Dwi Saputra told AFP.
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| Here's What A $9,500 GMC Typhoon Looks Like Posted: 02 Sep 2019 06:51 AM PDT ![Here's What A $9,500 GMC Typhoon Looks Like]( "Here's What A $9,500 GMC Typhoon Looks Like") Spoiler alert: it's in great shape!Despite being known for auctions of seven- and eight-figure price tags for cars, the 2019 Monterey Car Week, surprisingly, had no shortage of cars exchanging hands for four-figure amounts. The same can be said for this rare teal 1992 GMC Typhoon, although you weren't going to find this high-performance SUV crossing any auction blocks.Before heading to the Pebble Beach festivities, Tyler Hoover, of the Hoovie's Garage YouTube channel, bought the teal Typhoon from another YouTuber for the amazingly low sum of just $9,500. While it's not impossible to find a Typhoon in this type of price range, said examples are usually abused or modified and they are definitely not one of the Typhoon's rare colors as this one is. Unlike the Syclone pickup truck, the Typhoon was available in colors other than black, although black was, by far, the most popular color for this SUV.Teal with gray cladding was one of nine color combinations available on the Typhoon for the 1992 model year, and the video says that of the almost 2,500 Typhoons made that year, just 135 had this paint color. This model looks absolutely amazing, and it even still has the factory wheels. It's a really clean and straight truck considering the years and the price. Only available for the 1992 and 1993 model years, the GMC Typhoon – along with the 1991 Syclone – was one of the fastest vehicles of the era, and it was famous for having quicker acceleration than a Ferrari 348 or Corvette. That's thanks to the turbocharged 4.3-liter V6 and the standard all-wheel drive system allowing this compact SUV to rocket off the line.It's safe to assume that some of the low price can be accounted to a little exposure on the seller's behalf, but this is still a great deal for one of GM's greatest vehicles of the '90s. Read More... * A Storm Is Brewing Thanks To A 1993 GMC Typhoon * Another 1991 GMC Syclone Is Ready For A New Owner
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