| Parnas said he is speaking out because he is afraid of William Barr Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:08 PM PST  Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said he was giving media interviews about his role in President Trump's attempts convince Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden because he wanted to protect himself from Attorney General William Barr.
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| An ISIS preacher captured in Iraq was apparently so overweight that police had to take him away in the back of a pickup truck Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:36 AM PST  Shifa al-Nima was captured in the Mansour neighborhood of Mosul by the Nineveh police command, according to Iraqi police.
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| Therapist charged with killing family faced fraud probe Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:28 AM PST  A physical therapist charged with killing his wife, three children and dog in a home near Walt Disney World and leaving their bodies there for days was being investigated in Connecticut for health care fraud motivated by his need to pay off personal loans, according to court documents unsealed this week. Anthony Todt was being investigated for submitting fraudulent claims for physical therapy by the FBI and agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to an affidavit and criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Connecticut. According to agents, the allegations involved Todt and his Colchester, Connecticut-base clinics submitting claims to Medicaid and private insurers for physical therapy services that weren't given to patients.
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| Jordan, Meadows Send Letter to FISA Court Questioning Kris Appointment Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:10 PM PST  House Oversight Committee Republicans Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows issued nine demands to FISA Court presiding judge James Boasberg in a Thursday letter in response to the appointment of Obama Department of Justice lawyer David Kris to help oversee the FBI's reform of FISA applications.The letter, obtained by National Review, asked Boasberg to identify who else besides Kris was considered, whether Kris's past defense of the FISA application to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page was taken into account, and whether "the FISC bears any responsibility for the illegal surveillance of Carter Page," among other concerns."If the FISC's goal is to hold the FBI accountable for its serious misconduct, Mr. Kris does not appear to be an objective — or likely effective — amicus curiae for several reasons," the letter states. "At minimum, the selection of Mr. Kris creates a perception that he is too personally invested on the side of the FBI to ensure it effectuates meaningful reform."A Republican official with knowledge of the letter told National Review that the letter signaled a concerted Congressional effort to reform FISA."For too long, the FBI has remained largely un-checked when it comes to the FISA process. Congress must ensure that FISC stands ready to protect civil liberties without even the slightest indicia of political bias," he said.The letter appears to be a follow-up to Monday comments from Meadows, who said in an interview that Republicans were "appealing this to the Judge" regarding Kris's appointment. The North Carolina Congressman also slammed the move to appoint Kris, saying that "there's no way" Kris is the right man to address abuses "if he doesn't even acknowledge that there is a problem."Kris, a former assistant attorney general in the Obama DOJ's national security division, has extensive experience with the FISA Court, serving as an amicus curiae, or special adviser, since March 2016.A frequent contributor to Lawfare blog, Kris was an outspoken defender of the FBI's authority in surveilling Page, who was accused of being a Russian agent.Following the release of heavily-redacted FISA applications used to surveil Page in July 2018, Kris doubled down. "It seems to me very likely that if we get below the tip of the iceberg into the submerged parts and more is revealed, it will get worse, not better," for Page, he told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow at the time. The letter references Kris's comment to Maddow as evidence that he is biased in favor of the bureau and against Page.DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed in December that the FBI knowingly withheld information that Page was a CIA informant in order to obtain a FISA warrant against him, and even doctored an email to keep the information from the court. The report also revealed that the bureau did not inform the FISC of the partisan origins of the uncorroborated Steele dossier despite its playing a "central and essential" role in their application to surveil Page.In their letter, Jordan and Meadows also request that Boasberg give greater insight into the details surrounding the court's assessment of the Page applications, including when it "first received any indication that information contained in the FBI's surveillance applications for Carter Page was misleading or false."
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| Princess Cruises responds after 'Marriage Story' actress speaks out, sues alleging bedbugs Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:57 AM PST  A "Marriage Story" actress and her husband are suing Princess Cruises, alleging their room was infested with bedbugs.
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| Republican tells female reporter 30 schoolboys ‘could have a lot of fun’ with her Posted: 16 Jan 2020 05:09 AM PST  A Republican lawmaker is facing calls for a sexual harassment investigation after he told a young female reporter that a group of high school boys "could have a lot of fun" with her.Peter Lucido, a Michigan state senator, has been accused of making inappropriate comments to local reporter Allison Donahue during a tour of the state Capitol.
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| U.S., Japan May Invest in Indonesia Islands Near South China Sea Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:39 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S., Japan and South Korea are keen to invest in Indonesia's Natuna Islands as President Joko Widodo steps up efforts to rebuff Chinese claims over the resource-rich waters in the South China Sea.The countries are interested in building fisheries processing and manufacturing industries in Natuna, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan, told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. Indonesia can manage the sea dispute with China without going into a war, Pandjaitan, a former general, said."The U.S. investors have expressed their interest, along with investors from Japan, Korea and China," Padjaitan said. "For us, it doesn't matter where they come from."Widodo's efforts to lure foreign investment into the Natuna islands may ratchet up tension with Beijing following the intrusion of Chinese fishing vessels into an area claimed by Indonesia as an exclusive economic zone. Indonesia is not a claimant in the broader dispute over the South China Sea, but it does insist on its sovereign rights to waters around the Natunas.Beijing says while it has no territorial disputes with Jakarta, claims over maritime interests in certain waters in the South China Sea "overlap.""War is the last resort in our negotiation process," Pandjaitan said referring to the standoff with China on Natuna. "But under no circumstances will we negotiate our sovereignty and territorial rights."Jokowi, as Widodo is commonly known, visited the Natuna islands last week and asserted Indonesia's sovereignty over the waters after authorities deployed fighter jets and warships to push back the Chinese fishing vessels, which were accompanied by coast guard ships. The president also inaugurated a fisheries processing center in the region and days later invited Japan to invest in Natuna to develop the fishing industry.Indonesia is also seeking investment by Vietnamese marine processing companies. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met officials of Hai Nam Co., a seafood importer this week in Ho Chi Minh City, and asked it to explore a joint venture with Indonesian companies for a fisheries processing unit in areas including Natuna, according to a foreign ministry statement Thursday.It has identified a location in north Natuna for a fishing port, while southern Natuna will serve as a base for the navy, Pandjaitan said. The country will also soon acquire its first ocean-going vessel, probably from Denmark, to beef up its sea powers, he said.To contact the reporters on this story: Arys Aditya in Jakarta at aaditya5@bloomberg.net;Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at hsuhartono@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net, Thomas Kutty AbrahamFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. warship transits Taiwan Strait less than week after election Posted: 16 Jan 2020 04:29 PM PST  A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the island's defense ministry said, less than a week after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election by a landslide on a platform of standing up to China which claims the island. The ship sailed in a northerly direction through the sensitive waterway and Taiwan's armed forces monitored it throughout, the ministry said in a brief statement on Friday, describing the sailing as an "ordinary mission". Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial and diplomatic issue and Beijing has never ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.
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| Impeachment and a path to redemption for Trump Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:23 AM PST  President Trump's most effective path forward, not only to prevail in the impeachment proceedings but to end this ordeal and create a strong position from which to govern, is to follow the Clinton model rather than the Nixon path.
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| A 15-year-old orphan who lives with his grandparents is being kicked out of their senior living community because he's too young Posted: 17 Jan 2020 12:51 PM PST  Collin Clabaugh has been living with his grandparents in a 55-and-over gated community in Arizona since last year, when both of his parents died.
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| Life in a Troubled Mississippi Prison, Captured on Smuggled Phones Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:28 PM PST  ATLANTA -- The cellphone rang once before someone picked up. On the other end was an inmate inside Unit 29 of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. "Hello," he said.Then, in a steady voice that competed against a cacophony of rowdy conversations and a fuzzy signal, he urgently described to a complete stranger the turmoil he said existed on the inside. Some inmates needed medical attention, he said. All of them could use a hot shower."Mold everywhere, rats everywhere," said the inmate, who was serving time for armed robbery, aggravated assault and other charges.Then the line suddenly fell silent. When the inmate returned a moment later, he explained that an officer had walked past and that he had needed to quickly stash his phone. He had paid $600 for the smartphone -- contraband in prisons nationwide. If caught with it, years could be tacked onto his already lengthy sentence.He then handed the phone to another inmate. "They're treating us like animals," that inmate said, before passing the phone on yet again.And so it went, from one prisoner to the next, in a phone call with a reporter that stretched on for roughly an hour. The inmates complained about unreliable electricity and water, injuries that had not healed, and the vermin that forced them to hang leftover food from the ceiling. One inmate mentioned his girlfriend; another, the countdown to his release, now almost a month away.The meandering conversation was punctuated by lulls, as the phone was hidden or passed around, capturing the ambient noise of life inside the maximum-security prison.Parchman, the oldest prison in Mississippi, with a notorious reputation for harsh conditions, has descended into dilapidation and chaos, including a recent burst of violence that left several inmates dead.Inmates have used illegal cellphones to capture and transmit images -- inmates fighting, broken toilets, holes in prison walls, dangling wires and dead rodents caught in sticky traps -- that have come to define the crisis in Mississippi. Many photos were texted to The New York Times.Across the country, prisons are rife with smuggled cellphones, allowing inmates access to the internet, social media and their old lives outside the prison walls. But state officials said the phones have been used by inmates to propel unrest, and by gangs to orchestrate attacks on rivals, inside and outside of prison.Officials said the pervasiveness of cellphones -- nearly 12,000 were seized in Mississippi in 2018 -- has threatened prison security. And, by providing an uncontrolled link to the outside world, they also have undermined the very notion of incarceration."There is a lot of misinformation fanning the flames of fear in the community at large, especially on social media," Pelicia E. Hall, the state corrections commissioner, said in a recent statement. "Cellphones are contraband and have been instrumental in escalating the violence."Gang warfare, decrepit accommodations and a severe shortage of corrections officers has attracted widespread attention and come to dominate the state's political agenda. Activists and others say the problems are long-standing, but they credit the images with igniting a surge of outrage."The story never really would have broke" without cellphones, said Honey D. Ates, whose son is serving a 15-year sentence at the state prison in Wilkinson County."We can hear all about it," she said, "but actually seeing it, it's times a hundred."It has been nearly impossible for corrections officials to curb the use of cellphones, as they have been difficult to ferret out. "As fast as you take them out, they're back in," said Martin F. Horn, a former top corrections official in New York City and Pennsylvania, who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice."It sort of defeats the purpose of a prison wall, if you will," Horn said.In recent years, an inmate on death row in Texas used a smuggled phone to make threatening phone calls to a state senator. After an hourslong riot killed seven prisoners at a state prison in South Carolina, officials there blamed phones as a reason for the violence. Even Charles Manson, the closely guarded notorious mass killer who died in 2017, was repeatedly caught with phones.In Mississippi, inmates, their relatives and activists said that phones are often brought in by corrections officers and case managers, and the devices, usually pay-as-you-go burner phones, can cost upward of $300 inside. Elsewhere, visitors have sneaked them in, and there have been documented cases of phones being shot over prison fences with potato guns and deposited by drones.State officials in Mississippi have resorted to a range of measures, including seeking court orders to get service providers to shut down specific devices. In a statement, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said that it also used technology to interrupt cellular signals, regularly conducted shakedowns and used dogs to sniff out the devices.Mississippi's prisons have been rocked by an outbreak of violence and disorder in recent weeks. Five inmates have been killed, including three at Parchman, and many others have been injured. In the chaos, two inmates escaped but were later caught. For several days, all of the prisons were locked down.Critics said the unrest reflected a pattern of problems in state prisons, which are stretched thin under the weight of an inmate population still swollen from the tough-on-crime measures of the 1980s and 1990s. Some elected officials and civil rights groups, in a complaint calling for a federal investigation, described "extreme" staff vacancies despite having the third-highest incarceration rate in the country.State leaders have acknowledged the severity of the concerns, and corrections officials have warned of a brewing crisis as they press lawmakers for more funding. On Monday, Hall, the corrections commissioner, issued a statement reiterating concerns over Unit 29 at Parchman, quoting a letter she had sent in August describing a facility that was "unsafe for staff and inmates due to age and general deterioration."As the violence flared, inmates broadcast live on Facebook as fires raged inside one prison. They posted images of faucets spewing discolored water, and walls splotched with mold.Those images catapulted the crisis into public, coming at a pivotal moment as a new legislative session begins and Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, was sworn in on Tuesday.Officials and others have said that much of the unrest has quieted. The state Department of Corrections has lifted lockdowns at all of its facilities except for Parchman. But the recent turmoil has brought new scrutiny, including from the rappers Jay-Z and Yo Gotti, who filed a lawsuit on Tuesday on behalf of prisoners, assailing what they described as an "utter disregard" for inmates and their rights.State officials have countered that the depictions shared on social media only added to the discord. The outgoing governor, Phil Bryant, told reporters recently that the inmates craved limelight. "You're making them stars," he said, "and they're convicts."Albert Sykes, an activist on criminal justice issues, said many inmates feared repercussions over cellphones, a lifeline for staying in touch with families, especially as rolling lockdowns caused by staffing shortages have curtailed visitation.The inmates' fears have been fueled by the case of Willie Nash, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for having a cellphone in a county jail. He was being held on a misdemeanor count when he asked a jailer if he could charge his phone's battery, an inquiry that led to the new charge. The sentence was upheld last week by the Mississippi Supreme Court, even as justices noted that it was "obviously harsh" and "seems to demonstrate a failure of our criminal justice system."Ates said that her son had expressed his own fear, but that she had encouraged him to be defiant. "You can't shut all of us up," she said, "and you can't take all the cellphones." In recent weeks, she has become something of a switchboard operator, receiving messages on Facebook from inmates across the state.One video that has been widely shared showed an inmate at Parchman, who spoke on the phone briefly the other day, with an open wound that he said he had received after being struck by what he thought was a rubber bullet. His back was covered in blood and he walked over to a sink, where he turned the knobs but no water came out."Please try to help us," said the inmate, who was convicted on aggravated assault and gun possession charges. "Let the world know."He then passed the phone back to its owner. Its battery was draining, and the electricity had flickered out again. The inmate apologized for cutting the conversation short, but said he needed to go.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Florida woman who feeds alligators, vultures behind her home forced to pay $53K in fines Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:40 AM PST  The property owners association said the feedings attracted flocks of defecating, vomiting vultures, as well as raccoons, alligators and a bobcat.
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| Secrets Stolen: What Will China Do With Data On Israel's Iron Dome Missile Defense? Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:00 PM PST  If China can break into top-secret Israeli computers, they can break into America's—and everybody else's, too.
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| Myanmar president hails 'historic' visit as China's Xi arrives to fanfare Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:19 AM PST  Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into Myanmar on Friday for two days of talks to shore up massive infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian nation isolated by the West over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority. State counselor Aung San Suu Kyi greeted him with a handshake on the steps of the presidential palace after a ceremonial welcome by the president and a military marching band, on the first day of a two-day visit, Xi's first as leader and the first of any Chinese president in 19 years. Analysts say Xi will seek to reinvigorate stalled infrastructure projects central to his flagship Belt and Road Initiative described as a "21st century silk road".
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| Giuliani associate Lev Parnas trolled Trump by threatening to release a new photo of them together every time the president claims not to know him Posted: 17 Jan 2020 02:46 AM PST  President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed not to know Parnas. "Every time he says it, I'll show them another picture," Parnas told CNN.
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| Philippines reimposes ban on workers deploying to Kuwait Posted: 16 Jan 2020 04:16 PM PST  The Philippines said Friday it was reimposing a ban on its citizens going to work in Kuwait after a Filipina was allegedly killed by her employer, echoing a 2018 row between the two countries. President Rodrigo Duterte approved the ban as his government accused the emirate of covering up the killing of a maid, one of about 240,000 Filipinos working in the Gulf state. Duterte's government briefly banned Filipinos deploying for work in Kuwait two years ago amid a diplomatic row that began with the discovery of the remains of a murdered Filipina maid in her employers' freezer.
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| The TSA apologized after an agent pulled a Native American passenger's braid and said "giddyup!" during a pat down Posted: 17 Jan 2020 09:43 AM PST  Tara Houska was going through security at the Minneapolis airport on Monday when she said an agent humiliated her by whipping her braids.
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| Royal Caribbean blames 'reckless' grandfather in toddler Chloe Wiegand's death Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:48 AM PST  "His actions... were reckless and irresponsible and the sole reason why Chloe is no longer with her parents," Royal Caribbean said in court documents.
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| Israel's F-35I Adir Is Taking America's Stealth Fighter To A Whole Other Level Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:03 AM PST  Israel has a history of improving America's weapons to fit its needs.
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| Trump slams Virginia Democrats for pushing gun safety regulations as suspected white supremacists are arrested for discussing opening fire at a Richmond gun rally Posted: 17 Jan 2020 03:35 PM PST  "Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia," the president tweeted on Friday evening.
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| Guatemala's new president cuts ties with Venezuela, as promised Posted: 16 Jan 2020 01:19 PM PST  Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei cut diplomatic ties with the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday and ordered the closure of its embassy in Caracas. "We have instructed the foreign minister that the only person left in the embassy in Venezuela should return, and that we definitively end relations with the government of Venezuela," Giammattei said. The conservative Giammattei, who took office on Tuesday, had already indicated he would cut ties upon assuming power.
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| Reuters poll: Sanders climbs, now tied with Biden among registered voters Posted: 17 Jan 2020 10:32 AM PST  Sen. Bernie Sanders has been steadily climbing in popularity this year and is now tied with former Vice President Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination among registered voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll.
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| Georgia sets execution for man convicted of killing 2 people Posted: 17 Jan 2020 10:54 AM PST  Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, is scheduled to die Jan. 29 at the state prison in Jackson, state Attorney General Chris Carr and Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy Ward announced Friday. Lance has exhausted his standard appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court declined last year to hear his case, though three justices dissented. According to a Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case, Lance went to Wood's home the night of Nov. 8, 1997, kicked in the front door and shot Wood in the front and back with a shotgun and then beat Joy Lance to death with the butt of the shotgun, the summary says.
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| Is There a Hidden 'Super-Earth' Exoplanet Orbiting Our Closest Stellar Neighbor? Posted: 16 Jan 2020 08:31 AM PST  A new exoplanet only 4.2 light years away would prove that there's plenty left to discover in our own cosmic backyard.
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| A 'naked philanthropist' who says she raised $1 million for Australia's fires is now sending nudes to people who donate to Puerto Rico Posted: 17 Jan 2020 02:06 PM PST  Kaylen Ward says she raised $1 million for Australia, sending nudes to people who donated. Now she is doing the same, raising money for Puerto Rico.
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| Trump administration to roll back school lunch regulations on fruits and vegetables Posted: 17 Jan 2020 01:30 PM PST  The USDA announced they plan to roll back school lunch regulations championed by Michelle Obama to allow schools "more flexibility" in what they serve because "because they know their children best."
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| The 1 Downside to Building Fake Islands China Didn't See Coming Posted: 16 Jan 2020 11:48 PM PST  Too much land to defend?
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| Harry and Meghan may be heading to Canada but does Canada want them? Posted: 17 Jan 2020 01:30 AM PST  The royal couple could find privacy on Vancouver Island but questions have been raised about the cost of providing securityResidents of Vancouver Island say that its rugged beauty and tranquility make it one of the best places to live in Canada."The hiking is beautiful, the trees are beautiful, the ocean is beautiful. I can't say enough good things about it," said Sue Rogers, who moved to the east coast community of North Saanich seven years ago. "I have way more space than anywhere I've ever lived before – but I know my neighbours way better."Those neighbours may soon include Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, after Buckingham Palace confirmed that the couple plan to "spend time in Canada" once they step back from public life in the UK.Over Christmas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex rented a sprawling mansion in North Saanich, and Markle was spotted there again this week."There's a lot of excitement about it," Rogers said. "But people here also understand [the couple] wanting to have some of the peace and quiet we have here. It makes perfect sense."British Columbia's premier, John Horgan, has said that he was "giddy" at the prospect of the Sussexes' move. But a current of scepticism across the country has also emerged, as Canadians begin to tally up the potential costs of having royalty living among them.One focus for discontent is the potential cost of the extensive security detail the couple would require: estimates have ranged from C$1.3m (US$1m) to more than C$10m (US$7.7m) annually."Canadians do not have an appetite to pick up that bill," said Shachi Kurl, executive director at the Angus Reid Institute, whose polling firm found that nearly three-quarters of Canadians were unhappy at the prospect of tax dollars funding royal security.During royal visits, the Canadian government foots the bill. But questions have arisen over whether the couple would now qualify for official protection.Some have argued that Canada will just have to cough up. "It costs what it costs, and Canada should pay it. Grownup countries cost money to operate," said the National Post columnist Matt Gurney this week. "Complaining about it is all tootypical of us – Canadian cheapness at its worst."Others have questioned if the couple will face the same treatment as other prospective immigrants."[Harry's] going to have a very tough time," said Mario Bellissimo, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, who said the prince's age,35, and lack of postsecondary education both worked against his immigration application."This might surprise people, but Meghan would likely be the principal applicant – and not Harry," he said. Meghan lived in Toronto for several years, filming the show Suits – which makes her a candidate for self-employment, with her husband and son probably included as dependants on her application.The Beaverton, a satirical Canadian publication, poked fun at the pair of "unskilled foreigners" and asked if Harry might "illegally take away ceremonial jobs [such as ribbon-cutting and handshaking] from hard working Canadians".Meanwhile, the episode has cast a light Canada's complex relationship with the crown. Polls routinely show that Canadians are split on the question of whether to continue with the monarchy, but recent polling shows that 45% of the public wants to do away with it.And even those who support the institution have chafed at the idea of actually having members of the royal family living in the country."Canada welcomes people of all faiths, nationalities and races, but if you're a senior member of our Royal Family, this country cannot become your home," said an editorial in the centre-right Globe and Mail this week.The newspaper's opposition to the move was not an argument for becoming a republic, but for "maintaining Canada's unique and highly successful monarchy" – an institution more symbolic than literal.Back on Vancouver island, Rogers said she could see why her community would make a good fit for the young family. "Privacy is not something that they ever get. And I can understand why, after spending, a couple of days out here, you really just feel like you're secluded," she said. "There's just a sense wanting to leave them alone."
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| Why Chief Justice Roberts' role in impeachment trial is "critical" Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:03 PM PST  Roberts' role is to be a symbol of neutrality, "to be accepted by both sides as fair."
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| As Iran and Iraq simmer, giants of Shiite world vie for influence Posted: 17 Jan 2020 08:49 AM PST ![As Iran and Iraq simmer, giants of Shiite world vie for influence]( "As Iran and Iraq simmer, giants of Shiite world vie for influence") The separation of religion and state is splitting the Shiite world, pitting the supreme leader of Iran, a theocracy, against Iraq's grand ayatollah.
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| France to deploy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support Middle East operations Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:17 AM PST ![France to deploy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support Middle East operations]( "France to deploy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support Middle East operations") France will deploy the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its battle group from January to April to support French military operations in Middle East, Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday. "The aircraft carrier will support Chammal operations (in the Middle East) from January to April 2020 before deploying to the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea", Macron said at a New Year speech to the French military.
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| Report: Israeli home demolitions in east Jerusalem spiked Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:00 AM PST  Israeli authorities demolished homes in Palestinian areas of east Jerusalem at a significantly higher rate in 2019 than the previous year, according to an Israeli advocacy group. In a new report, Ir Amim said 104 housing units were demolished in 2019, compared() to 72 units in 2018. Aviv Tatarsky, the Ir Amim researcher who wrote the report released Wednesday, said the group found that only 7% of housing units advanced by city planners last year were for Palestinian neighborhoods.
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| Rain douses some Australian bush fires but flash floods now threaten wildlife Posted: 17 Jan 2020 08:19 AM PST  Heavy rains in fire-ravaged eastern Australia have brought welcome relief for firefighters and farmers, but sparked flash floods that have led to fresh scrambles to save native animals. As the rain hit on Thursday the New South Wales State Emergency Services department warned that the sudden heavy downpours in some areas would bring flash flooding, falling trees and landslides where the fires have wiped out vegetation. On Friday, the warnings were realised when flash floods hit the Australia Reptile Park on the NSW east coast, and the state's koalas - having lost thousands of their number and huge swathes of their habitat - needed to be rescued again as floods thundered down fire-blasted hills empty of vegetation. Park director Tim Faulkner told local media that the sudden floods on Friday morning were "incredible". "Just last week we were having daily meetings to discuss the imminent threat of bushfires," he said. "Today, we've had the whole team out there, drenched, acting fast to secure the safety of our animals and defend the park from the onslaught of water… We haven't seen flooding like this at the park for over 15 years." And while the rains have doused fires in some areas, blazes continue to rage across many other parts of the country where the weather stayed dry, including in other parts of New South Wales where 82 fires were still burning, with 30 out of control, and in the state of Victoria, to the south. Parts of the state's Alpine region were evacuated again as erratic winds caused spot fires around a large blaze at Mount Buffalo. The rain also completely missed Kangaroo Island, the nation's third biggest off the southern coast of the mainland, where fires have devastated the formerly wildlife-rich national park. The authorities have warned the crisis could worsen again with Australia only halfway through its summer. The unprecedented fires, fuelled by climate change and a years-long drought, have already claimed 28 lives over the past five months. They have scorched massive tracts of pristine forests in eastern and southern Australia, decimated livestock on already barren farms and destroyed 2,000 homes. In areas where rain has arrived, there are new concerns that muddy ash will be swept into rivers and lakes, exacerbating an emerging crisis as fish die in vast numbers due to ash poisoning the waterways. The NSW Department of Primary Industries has received reports of "hundreds of thousands" of fish dead in the Macleay river since December 2019.
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| 12-year sentence for jail phone is 'failure,' justice says Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:20 AM PST  The Mississippi Supreme Court's confirmation of a 12-year prison sentence for an African American man who carried his mobile phone into a county jail cell is being slammed as a brutal example of racial injustice. Justice Leslie King is currently the only African American justice on the nine-member court.
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| Tom Steyer draws a medieval symbol on his hand in pen every day to remind himself to always tell the truth Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:41 AM PST  Many viewers noticed Steyer sporting the unusual symbol — the Jerusalem Cross — during the Democratic debate Tuesday night in Des Moines, Iowa.
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| Germany's Air Force Has a Serious Problem Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:21 AM PST  And it's running out of time to fix it.
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| Boeing Is Way Behind Airbus in Race for China’s Next Big Order Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:23 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The long-awaited trade agreement between the U.S. and China may pave the way for Boeing Co. to resume sales to the world's second-largest aviation market, but the American giant has much catching up to do against European archrival Airbus SA.China Aviation Supplies Holding Co., which buys planes on behalf of the nation's airlines, has been in talks with Airbus since 2019 about purchasing jets for the country's next five-year economic plan that begins in 2021, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named discussing a private matter. Those talks began early last year, one of the people said. China's top economic planner, which needs to clear negotiations of this magnitude, hasn't even authorized the state procurement firm to begin talks with Boeing yet as trade tensions held back discussions, the person said.This means the Chicago-based aircraft maker is at least months behind Airbus in securing orders from China, which Boeing estimates will need more than 8,000 planes in the next two decades. Boeing is still reeling from the grounding of its best-selling 737 Max planes, which resulted in the company delivering fewer than half of the planes that Airbus did last year, the biggest defeat in the industry's 45-year duopoly.Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun on Wednesday voiced optimism that Boeing will continue to have a valued relationship with China. A representative at the company declined to comment beyond what the new CEO said. The National Development and Reform Commission, which is China's main economic planner, and China Aviation Supplies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Airbus declined to comment.Things may be looking up for Boeing. Aircraft were among the $200 billion in American purchases that China pledged to make as part of a phase-one accord, though details weren't disclosed. Also, it's unlikely that China would shun Boeing entirely because the country has historically split its orders evenly between the two manufacturers, Airbus doesn't have the capacity to meet all of China's needs and such a drastic move would require thousands of pilots to be retrained.Trade tensions have hindered Boeing's ability to capitalize on surging demand from a country that's expected to become the world's largest aviation market in the coming years. China will need to spend $2.9 trillion on new aircraft and ground services over the next two decades, Boeing predicted in September.The talks with Airbus are separate from an already-announced commitment from China to buy $35 billion worth of the Toulouse-based company's jets, according to the people.In China, which led the grounding of the 737 Max, airplane purchases need to be cleared by regulators before they are handed off to China Aviation Supplies. Sales are then often recorded as coming from unidentified customers by Boeing and Airbus, and may be unveiled at various stages of the approvals process.\--With assistance from Siddharth Philip and Miao Han.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Haze Fan in Beijing at hfan40@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Will DaviesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Did Russian Prime Minister Medvedev Drop a Grim Hint About Putin’s Latest Power Grab? Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:14 AM PST  At a celebration of the Russian Orthodox New Year on Tuesday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chose a grim message, the sarcasm of which left his audience on edge. But, then, Medvedev probably knew what Wednesday would bring—the resignation of his entire government—and the audience did not.Putin's Power Play: Shuffle the Cabinet But Keep CommandOn national television, the prime minister read at length from Anton Chekhov's story "A Night in the Cemetery," which suggests with ironic wit that celebrating the coming of the New Year is a foolish pursuit, unworthy of a properly functioning mind, since "every coming year is as bad as the previous one," and the newest year is bound to be even worse. Instead of celebrating the New Year, Chekhov wrote—and Medvedev read—one should suffer, cry and attempt suicide. Every new year brings you closer to death, makes you poorer, your bald spots larger and your wife older, he said.Medvedev's sour greetings brought on some awkward laughs and sparse applause from confused Russian bureaucrats in the studio audience, most of whom remained stone-faced. The prime minister seemed nervous and almost dropped his papers at the end of the speech.Then Wednesday dawned, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in his annual state of the nation address proposed a constitutional overhaul. It supposedly is designed to boost the powers of parliament and the cabinet, but more likely is intended to give Putin, 67, a firm grip on the country for many more years, even decades, to come. A few hours later, Medvedev submitted his resignation, and his entire cabinet submitted theirs as well. And while some of them may stay on, Medvedev, who once served a term as Putin's placeholder president, will move to a previously nonexistent post.Putin offered the prime minister slot to Mikhail Mishustin, the head of the Russian Tax Service, who has been described as "the taxman of the future," digitally acquiring receipts of every transaction in Russia within 90 seconds. It's unclear whether Mishustin will be a placeholder technocrat or assume other responsibilities currently known only to Putin. But in his annual address, Putin articulated the need to identify any persons with current or former double citizenships and foreign holdings, eliminating them from government service. Mishustin might become instrumental in such a reshuffling of Russia's power elites, who are perceived to be unpatriotic by maintaining residences or bank accounts abroad. The added pressure will also give Putin further leverage over them. In the past, Putin and Medvedev have choreographed moves that allowed Putin to remain in charge under different titles, swapping places to circumvent term limits.This time around, Medvedev will assume a newly created position as the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council and all current ministers will remain in an acting capacity until a new government is appointed.Meanwhile, the leader of Chechnya in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, Ramzan Kadyrov has declared himself to be "temporarily incapacitated," relegating his duties to the current prime minister of Chechnya, Muslim Khuchiyev.Putin's sweeping changes are widely interpreted as designed to weaken his successor, reshaping Russia's power structure in order to create additional opportunities for Putin's continued control over the government, even after the conclusion of his fourth presidential term in 2024. Putin proposed amending the Russian constitution to expand the powers of the legislative branch and investing additional powers in the State Council, leading to speculation Putin is contemplating his future return at the helm of a newly empowered Parliament, after the expiration of his current presidential term.Commentary on the Russian president's likely intention to carve out a new position for himself has been skillfully avoided by the Russian state media. Instead, Kremlin-controlled news outlets chose to focus on promised subsidies for families with young children, designed to address Russia's demographic crisis by boosting the birth rate, and the general claim that Putin has, as it were, made Russia great again.On the Russian state television show, The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, the host proclaimed, "The greatness of the country is indisputably tied to the name of Putin." Soloviev argued that the Russian president "restored respect" towards their country globally. His take was echoed by the State Duma Deputy Chair Irina Yarovaya, who pontificated that Putin, having achieved his foreign policy and national security objectives, could now move on to his domestic agenda. Yarovaya said, "We remember statements by [U.S. President Barack Obama] in 2014—very recently—that Russia is a regional power of minor importance. We remember all of that. We remember how the sanctions started. We remember how we weren't invited to the G8. And today there is a line of world leaders waiting just to talk to our president over the phone…"The sanctions started and Russia was disinvited after it seized and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, then incited and abetted a separatist war in Ukraine's east. They were intensified after Russia's flagrant interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.Russian state media also highlight Putin's promises of socioeconomic largesse and his prediction that "Russia's economy will grow faster than the global average in 2021." During the last decade, the Russian leader has promised in vain that Russia will become the world's fifth largest economy by 2024. It is currently ranked as the 11th largest economy in the world, with a smaller GDP than that of California. President Putin's current growth prediction is much more modest. It's still not realistic, but such promises had to be made as Russia's declining standards of living have led to political unrest and mass protests.Without providing any direct answers as to his own plans, the Russian leader—who has now been in power for 20 years—created new venues for his continued reign in yet-to-be-revealed future capacities.Amid all the uncertainties, maybe it shouldn't surprise us that Medvedev was reading Chekhov's story about a blind drunk civil servant who stumbles out of a New Year's celebration only to get lost in a graveyard—and then discovers in the morning he was somewhere else entirely.Russia Loves the Impeachment Hearings Because GOP Is Parroting Kremlin PropagandaRead 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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| The start of Trump's impeachment trial had solemn oaths, 'lengthy' yawns, 'pained expressions,' lots of lefties Posted: 16 Jan 2020 11:04 PM PST  The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump began on Thursday, with the House impeachment managers walking the two articles of impeachment to the Senate, lead House prosecutor Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) reading the articles to the full (and silent) Senate, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts taking an oath to administer "impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws," then asking the jury of all 100 senators to swear to the same. ABC News recapped the formal and solemn proceedings, noting that the impeachment trial is beginning even as new evidence emerges."After we were all sworn in, a surprise (at least for me): we were all requested to sign our names, one by one, in the trial's log book," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) recounted. "Afterward, one of my colleagues showed me his notes, where he had kept track of how many senators are left handed." And the number of southpaws — 13, by our count — does stand out as you watch the senators sign their names, sped up here by ABC News:> WATCH: Timelapse shows all Senators in attendance signing the Senate oath book, after being sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts for the impeachment trial of Pres. Trump. https://t.co/VzqoLhOsfn pic.twitter.com/JXiYp8Q4Th> > — ABC News (@ABC) January 17, 2020If you haven't perused the two articles of impeachment, you can read along as Schiff recited them for the Senate.As Schiff read the articles to the "deathly quiet" Senate, journalist Jon Ward observed from inside the Senate chamber, "all senators listened intently, but note-taking was far more prominent among the Democrats," and "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) let out a lengthy yawn, as did Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La)," while "Sen. Susan Collins [R-Maine] & Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-Alaska] sat next to one another, with somewhat pained expressions on their faces." Trump tweeted: "I JUST GOT IMPEACHED FOR MAKING A PERFECT PHONE CALL!"More stories from theweek.com Trump calls Iran's Supreme Leader 'not so supreme' in threatening tweet Ukraine gives Trump the corruption investigation he asked for Mindhunter just got Netflixed
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| Iranian general says officials lied about shooting down jet to defend national security Posted: 16 Jan 2020 05:03 AM PST  An Iranian general defended his government's decision to lie for days about whether it shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people onboard.
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| 'We can't wait': Maldives desperate for funds as islands risk going under Posted: 17 Jan 2020 01:23 AM PST  The tropical Maldives may lose entire islands unless it can quickly access cheap financing to fight the impact of climate change, its foreign minister said. The archipelago's former president Mohamed Nasheed famously held a cabinet meeting underwater to draw attention to submerging land and global warming a decade ago. "For small states, it is not easy," Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid told Reuters in New Delhi.
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| Rainstorms douse bushfires across eastern Australia Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:03 PM PST  Rain and thunderstorms doused long-burning bushfires across much of eastern Australia Saturday, but they also brought a new threat of flooding in some areas. Major bushfires continued to rage in regions of the south and southeast of the country that have so far missed out on the rain, including in wildlife-rich forests on Kangaroo Island off the southern coast. The fire service in New South Wales (NSW) state, the country's most populous and the hardest hit by the crisis, said 75 fires continued to burn Saturday, down from well over 100 a few days earlier.
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