| 2020 Vision Thursday: How a tough impeachment vote could threaten the GOP's Senate majority Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:14 AM PDT  For a small group of endangered GOP senators, their votes on impeachment may eventually decide their electoral fates — and control of the Senate itself.
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| Second man found guilty in the murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee in Chicago Posted: 04 Oct 2019 12:39 PM PDT  On Friday, Corey Morgan was found guilty of first degree murder in the killing of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee in Chicago.
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| Could Israel's Missile Defenses Withstand a Swarm or Missile Attack from Iran? Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:41 AM PDT  Who wins in a showdown? Here is all we can tell you about Israel's missile defenses.
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| 'This looks so bad,' says white Texas cop on horseback, leading black man on a rope Posted: 04 Oct 2019 03:51 AM PDT  The spectacle was caught on body cameras worn by the two officers during their Aug. 3 trespassing arrest of Donald Neely, who family lawyers have said is known to city police as someone who suffers from mental illness and regularly sleeps on the streets. Barnett said the chief also has suspended all mounted police patrols in Galveston, a Gulf Coast island resort city and port southeast of Houston.
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| Sweden’s Anti-Immigrant Party Draws Even With Social Democrats in Poll for First Time Posted: 04 Oct 2019 12:39 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Support for the nationalist Sweden Democrats and the Social Democrats is almost equal for the first time in an Expressen/Demoskop poll, adding to Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's burden as he steers his minority government.His Social Democrats, the largest political party in Sweden for most of the past century, have lost voters to anti-immigration party Sweden Democrats, the survey showed."The result stands out," Demoskop spokesman Peter Santesson told Expressen. "The loss of voters to the Sweden Democrats is the main reason for the decline in support for the Social Democrats".Recent shootings and gang violence may be the reason for the rising concern and frustration among voters, Social Democrats spokeswoman Lena Radstrom Baastad told Expressen.Support for the Social Democrats declined by 0.9 percentage point from a month earlier to 23.1%, while the Sweden Democrats gained 1.5 percentage point to 22.9%. The other parties saw marginal changes.To contact the reporter on this story: Veronica Ek in Stockholm at vek@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edith Moy at echan10@bloomberg.net, Jonas BergmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Jeffrey Epstein mysteriously made $200 million with a new start-up after taking a hit from the financial crisis, registering as a sex offender, and losing his biggest client Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:44 PM PDT  Jeffrey Epstein had no problem making millions, even after the 2008 financial crisis, losing his biggest client, and registering as a sex offender.
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| View Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato Photos Posted: 04 Oct 2019 09:05 AM PDT |
| Judge finds no bias from Jussie Smollett special prosecutor Posted: 04 Oct 2019 03:08 PM PDT  A Chicago judge said Friday he won't replace a special prosecutor looking into why the state's attorney's office abruptly dismissed charges against actor Jussie Smollett, rejecting concerns that campaign money could taint the findings. The judge's decision during a hearing days after the special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, disclosed in a filing that he co-hosted a 2016 fundraiser for Kim Foxx and wrote her campaign a $1,000 check during her successful run for Cook County state's attorney. It was Foxx's office that in March surprised and angered many in Chicago by dropping charges that accused the former "Empire" actor of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself.
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| Warren turns 'cougar' accusation into a talking point for her college debt plan Posted: 03 Oct 2019 02:03 PM PDT  Sen. Elizabeth Warren turned an unfounded personal attack into an opportunity to promote her college debt forgiveness plan.
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| Lou Dobbs Stands By as Joe diGenova Trashes His Colleague Chris Wallace Posted: 04 Oct 2019 12:53 PM PDT  Days after Fox News anchor Chris Wallace dropped a scoop that two frequent Fox guests—husband-wife lawyer team Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing—worked "off the books" with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to dig up Ukrainian dirt on Joe Biden, the two attorneys roasted Wallace during a Fox Business Network appearance—and Trump-boosting host Lou Dobbs largely stood by.Appearing on Thursday night's broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight, the pro-Trump lawyers were asked about the Wallace report as well as the recent revelation that conservative columnist and Hannity regular John Solomon—who is at the center of the Ukraine-Biden mess—emailed them a completed copy of one of his Ukraine stories hours before it was published.Toensing, meanwhile, defended the email, claiming he was just sending them the entire draft for fact-checking purposes because that's what good journalists do. She also claimed that Solomon is being attacked "relentlessly" because he's getting "deep into the cases" surrounding Ukraine, something diGenova and Dobbs agreed on."Those attacks, it seems, multiplying as this impeachment inquiry gets hotter and hotter," Dobbs added before pivoting to Wallace's story, stating he wanted to "get this out of the way."Noting that he'd spoken to the Fox News anchor beforehand, Dobbs asked diGenova to respond to the report that the pair were working with Giuliani on Ukraine-Biden and only Trump knew about the plan."First of all, I don't know what 'off the books' means," diGenova insisted. "Chris did not explain it when he made his statement about us and it was clearly designed as a smear to make it sound like we were doing something improper or unethical."The frequent Dobbs guest went on to say that "this may come as a shock to" Wallace but the pair are lawyers and they've represented people all over the world, adding that they were once asked by Giuliani to possibly represent Ukrainian whistleblowers but that was the extent of any arrangement."We never went to the Ukraine," he exclaimed. "We never represented anybody. But somebody lied to Chris Wallace and said that we did and we told the president all about it, which is absolutely false."Toensing, for her part, jumped in to state that Wallace had called the pair and talked to them about it and that she went "off the record" with him, something Dobbs softly noted Wallace had told him about. "I dealt with journalists for so many years," she continued. "I always, when I'm explaining something, say this is off the record. If they want something particular they come back. Chris never did that. He never said I am going to accuse you of a crime and violating attorney-client privilege. If he had said that I certainly would have given him a statement."Dobbs, meanwhile, plainly noted that he appreciated that they had given their statement, adding: "Chris Wallace, I'm sure he appreciates it as well.""A particular coincidence of off-the-record and lost opportunities for denials," Dobbs said with a smile. "And a smear job? Eh, nobody is going to try to smear you guys. You are too bright and too effective. I don't believe that for a minute." Within a day of the release of Wallace's bombshell, Fox News appeared to quietly forget about its own scoop, discussing it only a few times on the air Monday and downplaying it on the network's website. This came in the wake of the New York Times' Ken Vogel claiming he first broke the diGenova-Toensing angle in May and Giuliani and diGenova offering forceful denials to Wallace's scoop. Wallace, through a Fox News spokesperson, has said he stands by his reporting.Interestingly, during a Friday morning appearance on Fox News' America's Newsroom, Wallace wasn't asked about his story nor offered a chance to rebut diGenova's and Toensing's fiery attacks on him.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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| Iraq cleric Sadr demands government resign as deadly protests spike Posted: 04 Oct 2019 02:55 PM PDT  Iraqi firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr called on the government to resign as violence spiked Friday across the country and protesters clashed with police on the fourth day of deadly demonstrations against corruption and unemployment. The former Shiite militia leader, whose bloc is the biggest in parliament, said in a statement that in order to avoid further deaths "the government should resign and early elections should be held under UN supervision". At least 60 people have died over four days of bloody protest across Iraq, the Iraqi Human Rights Commission said late Friday, without specifying how many were civilians or security forces.
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| Paris Knife Attacker Converted to Islam 18 Months Before Attack: Report Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:14 AM PDT  The French police employee who killed four of his colleagues at the Paris police headquarters on Thursday was a recent convert to Islam, according to French television BFM TV.The 45-year-old attacker killed three police officers and an administrative worker, three men and one woman, before being shot and killed by police. Officials so far have not publicly released a motive, and are trying to discover if there was a terrorism link. The man's wife has been taken in custody.Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took to Twitter to offer her condolences to the victim's families."During the Paris Council, we will pay tribute to the victims and will salute the unfailing commitment of police forces serving the security of Parisians. We know what we owe them," she wrote.The attack comes on the heels of a period of unrest within French police, who staged a massive protest on Wednesday as thousands marched and demanded better working conditions. Police have also seen an uptick in suicides this year, coming on the heels of months of unpaid overtime and anti-police press surrounding the "Yellow Vest" protests.The attack marks the fourth public Islamic stabbing incident in France since October 2017.In March, an inmate stabbed two prison guards while reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar." The attack was labelled a "terrorist incident" by the French Interior Minister.In September, British church leaders called for the government to "take urgent measures to promote the sale of safe kitchen knife designs and restrict those designs which have been used in so many acts of violence."
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| Russia's New Submarines Are Dangerous. But How Would They Be Used in War? Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:33 PM PDT  Where the Russian navy is all but abandoning the production of new aircraft carriers, cruisers and other "blue-water" surface warships, it has recommitted to sustaining a large fleet of big, long-range submarines. Why?
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| Iran says it will release Russian journalist accused of espionage Posted: 04 Oct 2019 09:22 AM PDT  Iran agreed to release a Russian journalist detained on suspicion of spying for Israel, in a rare concession that defused a potentially damaging diplomatic rift with its key ally. The announcement came just hours after Russia's foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Iranian ambassador in Moscow to account for the arrest of Yulia Yuzik, who was seized from her Tehran hotel room by members of the Revolutionary Guards Corps earlier this week. Iran has been accused by several Western governments of systematically detaining foreign dual nationals and charging them with espionage to use as leverage in diplomatic disputes. It is rare for a citizen of Russia, a close ally, to be detained. Iran denies following a policy of diplomatic hostage taking, saying that all detainees are facing legitimate criminal investigations. Ms Yuzik, a specialist on the North Caucasus who has written for dozens of Russian and Western publications, arrived in Iran on Sunday but immediately ran into trouble when her passport was confiscated at the airport. "She was there for several days without documents. Then men came to her hotel, kicked in the door and took her away," her former husband Boris Voitsekhovsky told the Telegraph. In a brief call with her mother on Thursday evening, she said she was being held in a prison cell and was due to appear in court on charges of working with Israeli intelligence on Saturday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in Iran since 2016. Credit: The Free Nazanin campaign Mr Voitsekhovsky said Ms Yuzik, 34, spent several months working in Iran in 2017, and had returned this week on a "private trip" to see local journalists she had met while there. He said he was unaware of any reason to believe she was under suspicion in Iran. Iran's foreign ministry told Russian news agencies late on Friday that Ms Yuzhik had been detained for questioning and would be released "shortly", but did not give further details. Jason Rezaian, a former Tehran bureau chief of the Washington post who spent a year and a half in Iranian detention after being accused of espionage in 2014, wrote on Twitter: "that's what they said about me and so many others." The rapid response to Russia's complaints contrasts with the long-running disputes over several dual nationals from Western countries. They include Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, the mother of one from Hampstead who has been held on espionage charges since 2016 and whose case has become a matter of fierce diplomatic contention between Iran and Britain. "Will be released soon".. that's what they said about me and so many others. https://t.co/tDuAZs9ASn— Jason Rezaian (@jrezaian) October 4, 2019 Richard Ratcliffe, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, said Ms Yuzik's detention appeared to fit the same pattern as that of his wife. "More and more people are being taken, including from countries with ostensibly good relations with Iran. It is a clear escalation in an increasingly overt tactic of hostage diplomacy," he said. "State hostage taking is an issue that needs to be on the table at the United Nations Security Council. It really does need to be something that the great powers are sitting down and working out. This is getting out of control." In a separate case, Iran on Friday accused France of "unacceptable interference in its domestic affairs" after diplomats sought access to Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian academic who has been held since summer. Ms Adelkhah, 60, is a research director at the Centre for International Studies and Research at Sciences Po University in Paris who specializes in Shiia Islam. She was arrested by Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel in June or July. France said on Thursday that it had "repeatedly" sought consular access to Ms Adelkhah and called on Iran to show "transparency" in her case. Iran does not recognise dual citizenship and rejects requests for consular access to dual nationals. Russia is an ally of Iran and the two countries' militaries have fought side-by side to prop-up Bashar Assad's regime in Syria. But they are at odds on a number of issues including delineation of oil resources in the Caspian Sea. Vladimir Putin signed a law ratifying a 2018 convention dividing the sea between the five Caspian littoral states on Monday. Iran's parliament has so far refused to ratify it, amid public criticism that it surrenders a large chunk of territory.
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| Gandhi’s ashes stolen and photo vandalized after 150th birthday celebrations, reports say Posted: 03 Oct 2019 01:19 PM PDT  An urn containing some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes was reportedly stolen from a government building in India, according to the Wire, an Indian news site.
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| Finns Accept Their President Becoming a Prop in the Trump Show Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:35 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Finnish President Sauli Niinisto's photo session with Donald Trump became a meme -- the Nordic leader brushing away the U.S. president's attempt to pat him on the left knee.That became an apt image to the Finnish media, which noted that their leader became a prop in the Trump show. Even former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt weighed in.Niinisto's "role was to play the admiring and grateful leader of a small country," the newspaper Aamulehti's editor Matti Posio observed."It was obvious that Niinisto was going to be a bystander" given Trump was in the middle of the Ukraine scandal, which blew up into an impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House of Representatives, state-broadcaster YLE said.Finland's biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat dryly observed that the atmosphere was "charged" amid Trump's tirades against Democrats, the Biden family, the impeachment inquiry, and the media, leaving Niinisto listening silently.Finnish media also noted the abrupt end to the press conference, with Trump storming out of the room instead of shaking hands and posing for final photos with Niinisto, as is customary."It was very pleasant," Niinisto later told Finnish media.To contact the reporter on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, James HertlingFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The Supreme Court has accepted a potentially landmark abortion case Posted: 04 Oct 2019 08:09 AM PDT ![The Supreme Court has accepted a potentially landmark abortion case]( "The Supreme Court has accepted a potentially landmark abortion case") Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is receiving his biggest abortion test yet.The Supreme Court announced Friday it would hear a case involving a Louisiana law that restricts which doctors can perform abortions. It's essentially the same law the court struck down in 2016, but this time around, there's an additional conservative justice on the bench, The Washington Post reports.The law in question, enacted in 2014, requires that abortion providers also have surgical privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. It also sets hospital-like standards for clinics, including mandating their hallways are a minimum width and that they have certain expensive equipment, per NPR. Louisiana has said that its law is just like the Texas mandate that the court struck down three years ago, but this time, the consistent swing voter Justice Anthony Kennedy has retired and been replaced with Kavanaugh.Kavanaugh isn't skirting around his position on the case. The Louisiana case already came to the Supreme Court last year after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld it and Louisiana abortion clinics appealed. But the top court didn't issue a full ruling, with Chief Justice John Roberts only joining liberals in a 5-4 vote to block the law from taking effect for the time being.Kavanaugh wrote the court's dissent in last year's Louisiana decision, implying he'll do the same this time around. Roberts meanwhile voted with the minority conservatives in the 2016 Texas case, and if he does the same again, he'll solidify a conservative majority and open up the possibility of more state laws that make it harder for abortion providers to do their jobs.
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| Giuliani Says Some of the Documents State Dept IG Handed to Congress Came From Him Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:39 AM PDT  Shannon Stapleton/ReutersAfter State Department Inspector General Steve Linnick briefed Congress on Wednesday and handed over materials that some Democrats said amounted to a packet of "propaganda" apparently designed to smear former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani proudly told CNN that some of these documents originated with him."What Giuliani told me is that he somehow routed this information—this is at the end of March, earlier this year—he says he routed that to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo," reporter Michael Warren said on CNN Wednesday night. "He did say that he received a call a couple of days later from Pompeo who said that he had gotten these documents and that he would refer it for investigation.""Giuliani telling me he was frustrated he never heard anything back from the State Department thereafter," Warren added.The chairs of the House Intelligence, House Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees released a joint statement hours earlier expressing concerns about the "urgent" briefing that they had been summoned to by the State Department. The documents given to lawmakers at that briefing "raise troubling questions about apparent efforts inside and outside the Trump Administration to target specific officials," the statement said, including former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Biden's son Hunter."The documents provided by the Inspector General included a package of disinformation, debunked conspiracy theories, and baseless allegations in an envelope marked 'White House' and containing folders labeled 'Trump Hotel,'" the statement read. "These documents also reinforce concern that the President and his allies sought to use the machinery of the State Department to further the President's personal political interests."The committee chairmen further noted that the IG "stated that his office interviewed Secretary Pompeo's Counselor, Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl, who informed the Inspector General that Secretary Pompeo told him the packet 'came over,' and that Brechbuhl presumed it was from the White House."Giuliani later appeared on Fox News' Hannity, where he boasted about the Ukrainian documents he had fed to the State Department in the spring. "And the committees, I guess, they were sitting there figuring out how they can do impeachment based on nothing and what they got shoved down their throats, it's a complete, total absolutely terrific prosecutorial outline of why Joe Biden is so guilty," Giuliani exclaimed to Trump-boosting host Sean Hannity. "It's a joke for me to describe it to you."Giuliani also credited conservative columnist John Solomon—who apparently shared his Ukraine stories with Giuliani's allies before publication—with helping to get his Ukraine-Biden narrative to the forefront."Ultimately it was John Solomon, who should get a Pulitzer Prize, by the way, put them all on tape, so it's all memorialized on videotape," he declared, referencing Solomon's interviews with Ukrainian figures. "This is as solid as it can get."Earlier this week, Congress subpoenaed Giuliani for records relating to the Ukraine controversy that blew up following a whistleblower's complaint about the infamous July 25 call in which President Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate the Bidens. The president's attorney has since hired a lawyer to represent him during the congressional investigation.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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| Canadian police illegally shared info on Huawei exec: lawyers Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:34 PM PDT  Canadian police illegally shared details of Meng Wanzhou's phone with US authorities, lawyers said Thursday, in a bid to have an extradition case against the top Huawei executive thrown out. The United States wants to put Meng on trial for fraud for allegedly violating Iran sanctions and lying about it to US banks -- accusations her lawyers dispute. Meng's lawyers alleged that Canadian border agents and police conducted a "covert criminal investigation" of the Huawei executive on behalf of the American Federal Bureau of Investigations.
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| RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter: Amazing to Look At (But a Massive Failure) Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT  Waste of money.
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| Beto O’Rourke: Buttigieg Opposes Gun Confiscation Because He’s ‘Afraid to Do the Right Thing’ Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:50 AM PDT  Democratic presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg sparred over the merits of mandatory gun confiscation during a gun control advocacy event in Las Vegas on Wednesday.During a one-on-one with Today Show anchor Craig Melvin, Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., was asked a question about mandatory assault weapon "buybacks," to which he responded that "as a policy, it's had mixed results. It's a healthy debate to have, but we've got to do something now." Buttigieg went on to say the issue could potentially distract Democrats from areas where they could make real advances in gun control.Buttigieg has called for a ban on the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles, but has joined the rest of the Democratic primary field in resisting O'Rourke's call for a "mandatory buyback," which would require gun owners to sell their semi-automatic rifles to the government and hold those who refuse criminally liable.Later in the event, Beto O'Rourke, who has made past headlines with his outspoken support of mandatory gun confiscation, challenged Buttigieg as a candidate "worried about the polls" and who "probably wants to get to the right place, but is afraid of doing the right thing right now."After the event in a news conference with reporters, O'Rourke went further."What Pete has been saying is that a mandatory buyback is the 'shiny object' that is distracting us. How in the world can you say that to March for Our Lives? How can you say that to survivors of mass shootings across this country?" O'Rourke stated. "How can you say that to the majority of Hispanics in America, certainly in Texas, who fear that they will be the victims of a mass shooting inspired by racism and hatred that has been welcomed into the open by this president, and has been armed with weapons of war."I was really offended by [Buttigieg's] comments. I think he represents a kind of politics that is focused on poll testing and focus group driving, and triangulating, and listening to consultants before you arrive at a position," he continued. "I think our politics has to be about doing the right thing, saying the right thing."According to the latest RealClear Politics national polling average, Buttigieg leads O'Rourke by just over three percentage points.
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| Arrested Minn. girl, 13, faces juvenile assault charge Posted: 04 Oct 2019 04:15 PM PDT  A Minnesota girl whose arrest sparked an angry backlash on social media is facing an assault allegation in juvenile court.
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| Elizabeth Warren campaign staffer fired for unspecified 'inappropriate behavior' Posted: 04 Oct 2019 03:02 PM PDT  The campaign launched an investigation into the allegations over the past two weeks, which resulted in the staffer's termination.
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| Thousands protest mask ban as HK leader toughens stance Posted: 04 Oct 2019 08:06 AM PDT  Violence erupted across Hong Kong as defiant masked protesters rampaged and police fired tear gas Friday, hours after the city's embattled leader invoked rarely used emergency powers to ban masks at rallies in a hardening of her stance after four months of anti-government demonstrations. Challenging the ban, set to take effect Saturday, thousands of protesters crammed streets in the central business district and other areas, shouting "Hong Kong people, resist." Pockets of angry protesters later attacked Chinese bank outlets, vandalized subway stations and set street fires, prompting police to respond with tear gas in many areas.
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| EXCLUSIVE-Iran not 'drawing back' militarily after Saudi attack-US admiral Posted: 04 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT ![EXCLUSIVE-Iran not 'drawing back' militarily after Saudi attack-US admiral]( "EXCLUSIVE-Iran not 'drawing back' militarily after Saudi attack-US admiral") Iran has not drawn back to a less threatening military posture in the region following the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Arabia, the top U.S. admiral in the Middle East told Reuters, suggesting persistent concern despite a lull in violence. "I don't believe that they're drawing back at all," Vice Admiral Jim Malloy, commander of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, said in an interview. The United States, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany have publicly blamed the attack on Iran, which denies involvement in the strike on the world's biggest crude oil-processing facility.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Subaru Impreza Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:02 PM PDT |
| Teacher suspended for Confederate flag message Posted: 04 Oct 2019 02:26 AM PDT  "Think of it like a white trash 'Save the Date' card," the message said
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| Will P&G split its stock? It hasn't happened in 15 years Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT  The longest P&G; has allowed the stock to remain above $100 before a stock split: 11 months. We're at six months, 10 days and counting.
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| Palestinians to receive $430 mn Israeli transfer: officials Posted: 04 Oct 2019 10:28 AM PDT  The Palestinian Authority will receive a transfer of 1.5 billion shekels ($430 million) from Israel, officials from the two governments said Friday, in a step towards resolving a months-long standoff between them. Israel will continue to deduct money from the transfers to account for the PA's payments to prisoners, a decision that sparked the row, but the two sides have agreed to further talks to resolve that issue, Palestinian civil affair minister Hussein al-Sheikh said. Shai Babad, director general of Israel's finance ministry, told AFP the transfer would be made on Sunday to the PA government, which is facing a crippling financial crisis caused by the dispute.
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| Meet John Durham, The Man Tasked With 'Investigating the Investigators' Posted: 04 Oct 2019 02:09 PM PDT  Donald Trump's fixation on the Mueller investigation and Ukraine's role in the 2016 election is filled with dubious characters, pitched Twitter spats and bombastic TV…
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| Indictment: ‘Party and play’ sex and drug use turned deadly Posted: 03 Oct 2019 07:18 AM PDT  Wealthy California political donor Ed Buck was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for two overdose deaths in his West Hollywood apartment and charged with providing methamphetamine to three other men, one of whom survived two overdoses. The indictment returned in U.S. District Court charged Buck with distributing meth resulting in the deaths of Timothy Dean in January and Gemmel Moore in 2017. Buck had previously been charged in Moore's death after his arrest last month.
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| 18 Famous Authors’ Houses Worth Seeing Posted: 04 Oct 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Unkempt? Presidential spokesman tells critics Duterte smells 'refreshing' Posted: 03 Oct 2019 01:57 AM PDT  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman defended him against critics who described him as looking unkempt when he met with Russia's prime minister, saying he is "very hygienic" and that "his body emits a refreshing scent". Salvador Panelo, who is traveling with Duterte in Russia, challenged "kibitzers" to try to be close to the president to find out how he smells. "That's what ladies tell me when they kiss PRRD, that he smells good", Panelo said, referring to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who is in Russia for a working visit.
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| NATO Had Only 1 Cold War Plan To Stop a Russian Invasion: Nuclear War Posted: 03 Oct 2019 06:43 AM PDT  NATO expected to liberally use tactical nuclear weapons to slow the Soviet advance...
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| Camp Shelby accident: What you need to know about the camp where 22 paratroopers were hurt Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:12 AM PDT  Camp Shelby, where an accident occurred Wednesday, is unfamiliar to many. What is it? Where is it? What happens there? Find answers to your questions.
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| Hannity takes shot at Fox News colleagues: ‘We have a few resistance people on the channel’ Posted: 04 Oct 2019 07:03 AM PDT  During Thursday night's broadcast of Sean Hannity's Fox News show, the host took a shot at some of his colleagues.
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| Iran claims 'victory' after bank compensated by Britain Posted: 04 Oct 2019 12:42 PM PDT  Iran claimed a "victory" on Friday after one of its banks received compensation from British authorities over "illegal" sanctions. According to the UK daily The Times, London paid Bank Mellat "1.25 billion pounds sterling ($1.54 million) with interest". The settlement was announced on Twitter by Tehran's ambassador to London Hamid Baeidinejad.
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| MIT scientists have figured out a way to tell if a nuclear weapon is real or fake — a crucial step toward reducing the number of nukes in the world Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:44 AM PDT  The technology encrypts its data, so weapons inspectors wouldn't have access to military secrets about how a nuke was designed or built.
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| Behind Ukraine Reopening Investigation Into Hunter Biden Company Posted: 04 Oct 2019 01:10 PM PDT  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APKYIV–Ukraine is reviewing 15 probes related to Burisma Holdings, the energy firm where, for five years, Hunter Biden served on the board. This might look like "favor" that President Donald Trump asked Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky for in a now-infamous July 25 phone call. But it is far too early for Trump to rejoice. Things are never simple in Ukraine's evolving, reforming institutions.Ukraine's new Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka told reporters on Friday that he was "auditing" cases handled by previous prosecutors, including those related to Burisma, but he insisted that the investigation in Ukraine should be "independent from politics." At a news conference he said, somewhat coyly, "the key words were not Biden and not Burisma," the question was whether investigations were closed by previous prosecutors as part of what amount to corrupt proceedings. In the array of cases to be looked at, he would say only that "Burisma" and "Biden" might figure.It's worth remembering that this is the prosecutor Zelensky told Trump would be "100 percent my person." But it's also important to know responsibility for the audit will soon be taken away from him.The official government statement on Friday said that as of November 20 this year the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine loses investigative powers due to amendments to the law previously signed by President Zelensky. Trump and Giuliani Connections to Ukraine Corruption Go Back Years"Ryaboshapka has at least four Burisma cases at the prosecutor's office, which two Prosecutor Generals before him have put on hold," Daria Kaleniuk, a corruption fighter and one of Ukraine's leading experts on Burisma told The Daily Beast. "He will review them before November 20 and pass on to various investigative authorities, supposedly including police and the national anti-corruption agency," Prosecutor Ryboshapka explained on Friday that Ukraine had many cases related to businessmen and senior officials of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych regime overthrown in the popular Maidan Revolution of 2014. Burisma and its founder Mykola Zlochevsky, a minister of natural resources under Yanukovych, figured in 15 criminal proceedings, which have been closed "in violation of the law," the official statement said. In other words, past prosecutors failed to detail corruption and punish anybody at Burisma. Kaleniuk was one of the most aggressive voices pushing for investigations into Zlochevsky's corruption. Back in 2011-2012 he allegedly violated his authority as minister by "giving his own company licenses for gas production," Kaleniuk told The Daily Beast. "But today I am a strong believer that the probes should not have anything to do with the American presidential elections. … The proceedings should not be fit in any political agendas or deadlines." Zlochevsky put Hunter Biden on the Burisma's board in May 2014, soon after Zlochevsky's money was frozen in the United Kingdom. A few months later Ukraine began to look into Zlochevsky and Burisma's alleged corruption. In January 2015 the court in London lifted the freeze on $23 million of Zlochevsky money. The U.K. asked Ukraine to investigate whether Burisma's founder had benefited from criminal dealings with Sergei Kurchenko, a shadowy billionaire who acted as the alleged frontman for the money of Viktor Yanukovych and his older son, Oleksander Yanukovych. Prosecutor General Vityaly Yarema ordered Zlochevsky brought to court, which put him on what Ukrainians call their "wanted list."Notwithstanding the allegations and controversy Burisma continued–and continues–to operate. Is, for instance, a major support of the annual Energy Security Forum in Monaco together with one of Burisma's long time directors, former Polish Presiden Aleksandr Kwasniewski.The most criticized past prosecutor general of Ukraine, Viktor Shokin, did not push for the investigation of the Burisma Group, so by 2016 the case was effectively in limbo. Vice President Joe Biden insisted on the dismissal of Viktor Shokin. But the national anti-corruption agency, NABU, continued some of the Burisma investigative proceedings. In September 2016, Kyiv's court made a decision to stop looking into Zlochevsky.Enter the figure of Andrei Artemenko. He won a seat in Ukraine's post-Maidan parliament, the Rada, in 2014 as member of the populist Radical Party, and soon became known for staking out controversial position. He was officially expelled from the parliament in 2017 and deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship after passing his widely criticized peace plan to resolve the conflict with Russia to Donald Trump through his then-attorney Michael Cohen. Artemenko, who is now based in Washington, D.C., often appears on Russia 1, the Kremlin's propagandistic television channel, leveling criticism at Ukraine. He tells the Daily Beast that he is a "good friend of Sam Kislin," a rich former exile from Ukraine who has long-standing ties to Trump and Giuliani, and that he has "provided Sam Kislin with the same evidence and documents that have previously been given to the FBI." Sam Kislin visited Kyiv last summer and had meetings with the Ukrainian presidential administration and the Ukrainian Security Service. The House of Representatives impeachment committees have "requested" multiple documents from Kislin that may relate to President Trump's alleged corruption or abuse of power. Ukraine Likely to Reopen Probe of Hunter Biden Firm: SourcesThere are attempts both in Kyiv and Washington to blame ex-President Petro Poroshenko for the failed Burisma investigations and for not looking into Hunter Biden's participation in Zlochevsky's business. Artemenko is one of the political entrepreneurs pushing for the probe to please Trump. Artemenko, who has a Canadian passport, says he is a consultant for private businesses and has no plans to return to live in Kyiv. But nevertheless, he pushes for investigations against Poroshenko. In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Artemenko said, "Everything is very simple. Zlochevsky was supplying free gas for President Poroshenko's companies and for his entourage. In exchange Ukraine had to close criminal investigations against him." Artemenko did not supply documentary evidence supporting this claim.Sam Kislin, who came to Kyiv ostensibly to condemn corruption, and Artemenko, who may have passed some documents to the FBI, are among the aggressive voices in both Washington and Kyiv pushing for investigations against ex-President Petro Poroshenko. He is their target, Hunter Biden, in a sense, is potential collateral damage.But there are also many liberal voices warning President Zelensky and U.S. investigators against taking the wrong lead. A senior Ukrainian diplomat and expert on the country's integration into Europe, Vasil Filipchuk, tells The Daily Beast, "Any prosecution of ex-President Poroshenko to punish him for putting Burisma and other corruption probes on hold will look like selective justice, the ugliest manifestation of non-developed states.""The new Ukrainian leadership should not start down the road of politics with criminal prosecutions of ex-politicians," he said. "It should act only in accordance with the rule of law, respect for justice." It's not clear that Trump ever got that message.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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| Some see rush to forgive as rush to forget racial violence Posted: 03 Oct 2019 02:16 PM PDT  When a white Dallas police officer who killed an innocent black man in his own living room was sent off to prison this week with a hug from the victim's brother and the black judge on the case, some saw it as a moment of amazing grace and redemption. Many black Americans, though, saw something all too familiar and were offended. Some saw the rush to forgive as a rush to forget racial violence.
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| Mexico Minister Signals Challenge to AMLO’s Halt of Oil Auctions Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:50 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said the country should debate how to exploit its deep-water hydrocarbon riches, in an apparent challenge to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's decision to suspend private oil auctions to explore these deposits."We need to have a profound discussion about what we are going to do with deep water, because in deep water, technology is needed that we probably don't have and there's a risk level that I'm not sure Pemex should run," Herrera said during a testimony before the Senate in Mexico City.The minister added that those fields take seven years to explore, three years to develop and then produce for 20 or 30 years, meaning that their benefits would only materialize in the long term. These discoveries would have an impact for Mexico in years to come, Herrera said."It would be very important for the country, and that's the discussion we need to have," he said.Read More: Mexico's Pemex Scramble: Doing Just Enough to Placate RatersAfter taking office in December, Lopez Obrador halted oil auctions begun by the previous administration of Enrique Pena Nieto arguing that opening the energy industry to private drillers didn't result in an increase in oil output. The president has said many times that he'd only restart those auctions, where oil companies get rights to explore deposits in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, once he sees the firms that have already won permits produce a significant amount of crude.Herrera's comments on Thursday seem to be explaining why those blocks aren't yet producing as much as the President is expecting, while also signaling the long-term benefits of such exploration that Mexico is limited in carrying out itself.Pemex's oil production has declined every year since 2004 and is now half of what it once was at 1.68 million barrels of oil a day.\--With assistance from Amy Stillman.To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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