Amarillo

Impeachment and a path to redemption for Trump

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. 

An ISIS preacher captured in Iraq was apparently so overweight that police had to take him away in the back of a pickup truck

Shifa al-Nima was captured in the Mansour neighborhood of Mosul by the Nineveh police command, according to Iraqi police.

Huawei exec set to fight Canada court battle against US extradition

A Canadian court on Monday will consider a US request to hand over Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou, whose arrest 13 months ago on fraud charges plunged Canada-China relations into a deep freeze. The extradition hearing comes after Beijing detained two Canadians and blocked billions of dollars worth of Canadian agricultural shipments in apparent retaliation for Meng's arrest. Taking her into custody also stuck Canada in the middle of a row between China and the US, which views Huawei as a security risk.

Wealthy CEOs complain about feeling 'unsafe' because of homeless people in San Francisco

A major healthcare conference in San Francisco this week has sparked a debate about the California city’s homeless crisis as wealthy executives and investors complain of feeling 'unsafe'.The city rakes in $51m (£39m) each year from the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference despite growing concerns about the city’s homeless population among attendees of the healthcare industry’s leading conference, according to Bloomberg News.

Woman pleads guilty to killing husband by putting eye drops in his water

A South Carolina woman pleaded guilty to fatally poisoning her husband by putting eye drops in his water for days. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Jordan, Meadows Send Letter to FISA Court Questioning Kris Appointment

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.”

'Days of God': A look at Iran's mounting crises

The Islamic Republic has been reeling from one crisis to another, from the targeted killing by the United States of its top general to the Revolutionary Guard's accidental shootdown of a passenger plane carrying scores of young people, most of them Iranians. U.S. sanctions have crippled its economy as tensions with America have soared. In a rare Friday sermon in Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stuck to the playbook Iran has relied on since 1979, blaming the country's woes on the U.S. and other Western powers, and proclaiming that Iranians still support the Islamic Revolution.

Princess Cruises responds after 'Marriage Story' actress speaks out, sues alleging bedbugs

A "Marriage Story" actress and her husband are suing Princess Cruises, alleging their room was infested with bedbugs.

Former U.S. Marine: Suleimani’s Killing Is the Apotheosis of American 'Strategy'

A strategy that has achieved the opposite of its promises is a failure. Before another moment is wasted, Americans need to ask their leaders the same question General David Petraeus plaintively asked at the height of the Iraq War: “Tell me how this ends.”

Parnas said he is speaking out because he is afraid of William Barr

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.

Meghan Markle's former LA mansion is still looking for a buyer, and the asking price just dropped — here's a look inside

Before Kensington Palace, Frogmore Cottage, and declaring a pursuit of financial independence, Meghan Markle already lived like a queen.

U.S., Japan May Invest in Indonesia Islands Near South China Sea

(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.

Republican tells female reporter 30 schoolboys ‘could have a lot of fun’ with her

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.

Life in a Troubled Mississippi Prison, Captured on Smuggled Phones

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

Town on edge in Colombia after 5 killed, 2 vehicles burned

A remote town was on edge Friday after at least five people were found shot to death, highlighting Colombia's struggle to bring peace to rural areas where drug crops are abundant and illegal armed groups are active. The killings happened overnight in an isolated part of the Jamundi municipality in southwestern Colombia and also left two vehicles incinerated, officials said. It was the third massacre in Jamundi in the past year.

Did Russian Prime Minister Medvedev Drop a Grim Hint About Putin’s Latest Power Grab?

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.

Secrets Stolen: What Will China Do With Data On Israel's Iron Dome Missile Defense?

If China can break into top-secret Israeli computers, they can break into America’s—and everybody else’s, too.

Trump administration to roll back school lunch regulations on fruits and vegetables

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.”

Myanmar president hails 'historic' visit as China's Xi arrives to fanfare

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".

The TSA apologized after an agent pulled a Native American passenger's braid and said "giddyup!" during a pat down

Tara Houska was going through security at the Minneapolis airport on Monday when she said an agent humiliated her by whipping her braids.

Off-duty Hong Kong police officer arrested for supporting protests

An off-duty Hong Kong police officer was arrested along with seven other people on Friday as they tried to put pro-democracy posters on a footbridge, police said. It's the first known case of a police officer being apprehended for supporting the massive demonstrations that have led to more than 6,500 arrests in the past seven months. The officer, 31, and the seven other people aged 14 to 61, were arrested at 3:00 am on Friday in Tuen Mun, a district in northwest Hong Kong.

Iranian general says officials lied about shooting down jet to defend national security

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.

EU border chief says migrant entries from Turkey on the rise

The number of migrants entering Europe from Turkey rose significantly last year as people fleeing strife in Syria and Afghanistan flooded into the country and then set out for Greece, the head of the European Union’s border agency said Friday. More than 82,000 migrants tried to enter Europe without authorization in 2019, an increase of 46% over the previous year, Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said in Brussels. “This was mainly due to the situation in Syria, but also instability in Afghanistan, and changing policies towards Afghan nationals by Iranian and Pakistani authorities,” Leggeri told reporters.

Camera Captures the Moment a Deer Sheds Its Antlers in the Middle of the Night

If you blink you might miss it

Israel's F-35I Adir Is Taking America's Stealth Fighter To A Whole Other Level

Israel has a history of improving America's weapons to fit its needs.

Royal Caribbean blames 'reckless' grandfather in toddler Chloe Wiegand's death

"His actions... were reckless and irresponsible and the sole reason why Chloe is no longer with her parents," Royal Caribbean said in court documents.

USS Abraham Lincoln shatters US Navy's record for longest post-Cold War carrier deployment with 10-month around-the-world tour

The Lincoln broke a cruise record set nearly two decades earlier, sailed around the world, and sent warnings to both Russia and Iran.

Davos Elite Take On Climate With Greta’s Help

(Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.It’s easy to scorn billionaires when they warn about global warming from their world of private jets and luxury yachts.That’s not deterring some of the most powerful people from focusing on climate change at their annual gathering in the Swiss resort of Davos next week.There’s always a risk the World Economic Forum’s focus could backfire by strengthening the idea that rising temperatures are something only elites can afford to care about. And despite progress on electric cars and clean energy, the planet is getting hotter.But, as Peter Coy writes, don’t underestimate the power of talk.Sipping champagne with their peers in the shadow of melting glaciers may attract public disdain, yet it can galvanize a sense of urgency among the titans of industry, presidents and prime ministers, big-name thinkers and other Davos delegates.As images of the devastating wildfires in Australia capture the world’s attention, this year may finally see a shift in thinking about climate change among those who have the power to do something about it.Whatever else, the Davos crowd can bank on a very public climate shaming from one of their number: A certain Greta Thunberg is on this year’s guest list.Global HeadlinesBiden in focus | President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will once again put an uncomfortable spotlight on Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. But the proceedings — set to begin in earnest on Tuesday — also offer the former vice president an exceptional opportunity to campaign in a less-crowded field while his biggest rivals are holed up in the Senate chamber.Click here for more on how the trial will transform the Senate into a hushed courtroom. Read more about Rudy Giuliani’s tangled role representing Trump.Still at odds | In a letter read out during Wednesday’s trade deal signing at the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked Trump to take steps to “enhance mutual trust and cooperation between us.” That won’t be easy: Apart from the trade agreement, Washington and Beijing are butting heads on everything from technology to human rights to territorial disputes.The Senate approved Trump’s U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement yesterday, a major political win for the president.Asymmetric warfare | Iran’s pinpoint attack on American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the Jan. 3 killing of General Qassem Soleimani showed its capabilities and limitations in striking its powerful foe. Marc Champion explains how Tehran must resort to using unconventional weapons, tactics and proxy forces to take on a far greater military might because it can’t afford to provoke a conventional conflict it would lose.Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Trump administration officials “clowns” in a sermon today, saying the U.S. and European powers want to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees. He also ordered a probe into the shooting down of a Ukraine International Airlines plane that killed all 176 people on board.Secret operation | Many of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies knew nothing of his plans to overhaul Russia’s constitution and replace the government, Evgenia Pismennaya, Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer report. The political whirlwind Putin unleashed shows the former KGB spy retains the ability to shock even after 20 years in power. With speculation growing over his plans when his term ends in 2024, one analyst mused, “There could be more surprises.”Mountain murder | The prime minister of the tiny southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, Thomas Thabane, says he’s planning to resign over a controversy sparked by the murder of his second wife. A key suspect is the woman he married two months after the slaying. The scandal has prompted the opposition and even a faction of the ruling party to call for Thabane to quit. His wife has been on the run since the police issued an arrest warrant last week.What to WatchEuropean Union trade commissioner Phil Hogan raised the prospect of a legal challenge to the U.S.-China trade deal for violating WTO rules. In a Bloomberg TV interview later in Washington, he also said next week will be key to resolving transatlantic tensions over a French digital tax that has prompted threats of tariff retaliation from Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to reject the resignation of his prime minister, who offered to step down after he was heard in a leaked recording criticizing the president’s knowledge of the economy. The White House budget office violated federal law when it withheld about $214 million in security aid to Ukraine, an independent congressional watchdog agency has concluded.Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Putin shocked the world with his government reshuffle this week, naming Mikhail Mishustin, an obscure technocrat with little political experience, as prime minister. What was Mishustin’s previous job? Send us your answers and  tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally … Greece and Turkey are at loggerheads over maritime boundaries as a result of a controversial deal struck between Ankara and the UN-backed government in Libya. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey will issue energy exploration licenses for what are contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis shot back that he wouldn’t accept any political solution for Libya that doesn’t annul the maritime deal, complicating this weekend’s Libya peace summit in Berlin. \--With assistance from Anthony Halpin and Karl Maier.To contact the author of this story: Michael Winfrey in Prague at mwinfrey@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Kathleen HunterFor 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.

USC officials doubted Lori Loughlin's daughters were 'serious' athletes, according to newly released emails in the college admissions scandal

Federal prosecutors released dozens of emails and call logs between Rick Singer and parents accused of taking part in the college admissions scandal.

Liberia souring on George Weah at two-year mark

Dominic Kpadeh heaves a hammer over his head to crack a half-tonne rock in a northern suburb of Liberia's capital Monrovia, knowing his hard labour earns him far less than a year ago. Stories such as Kpadeh's are common in Liberia, where rampant inflation has left many people struggling and increasingly turning their anger on President George Weah. A former football icon whose goals for AC Milan and Paris St Germain dazzled fans, Weah came to power in January 2018, promising to invest in education and create jobs.

Rollback proposed for Michelle Obama school lunch guidelines

The Trump administration on Friday took another step toward dismantling Michelle Obama's school nutrition guidelines, proposing a new rule that could lead to more pizza and fries and less fruit and a smaller variety of vegetables on school menus. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who announced the rule changes on Obama’s birthday, said they were needed to give schools more flexibility and reduce waste while still providing nutritious and appetizing meals. “What a shameless, embarrassing capitulation to lobbyists at the expense of American children and their well-being,” said Sam Kass, who served as executive director of Obama's “Let's Move" campaign to combat child obesity.

Is There a Hidden 'Super-Earth' Exoplanet Orbiting Our Closest Stellar Neighbor?

A new exoplanet only 4.2 light years away would prove that there's plenty left to discover in our own cosmic backyard.

How China Is Practicing—and Perfecting—an Amphibious Invasion of Taiwan

It takes a lot of hard work.

Trump Attaches Severe Restrictions to Puerto Rico's Long-Delayed Disaster Aid

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed severe restrictions on billions of dollars in emergency relief to Puerto Rico, including blocking spending on the island's electrical grid and suspending its $15-an-hour minimum wage for federally funded relief work.The nearly $16 billion in funding, released while Puerto Ricans still sleep on the streets for fear of aftershocks from last week's earthquake, is part of $20 billion that Congress allocated for disaster recovery and preparation more than a year ago, in response to the territory being hit by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.The Department of Housing and Urban Development had released only $1.5 billion of the congressional relief, citing concerns of political corruption. Of that, only $5 million has been allocated."In a great win for Puerto Ricans and U.S. taxpayers, the Administration has outlined reforms for the grant agreement to Puerto Rico in order to protect resources," said Chase Jennings, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget at the White House.Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the House, called the move disdainful and contemptuous."Why is Puerto Rico always subjected to different standards when it comes to this administration?" she demanded.President Donald Trump has clashed repeatedly with Puerto Rico's government. In 2018, he suggested the death toll from Hurricanes Irma and Maria had been inflated "in order to make me look as bad as possible." He has exaggerated the amount of federal relief allocated to the island and denounced the mayor of San Juan as "crazed and incompetent."Even as pressure has mounted for him to release emergency assistance, the president has maintained his assertions that the money will not be well spent. On Wednesday, the White House budget office made clear how those assertions had shaped relief.To access $8.2 billion in recovery money and $8.3 billion in disaster prevention funds, Puerto Rico will have to submit budget plans to the territory's federally mandated fiscal control board, which will track where the money goes. It will also have to bolster its property registration database.Puerto Rico will be barred from paying its $15-an-hour minimum wage to workers on federally funded projects. And none of the funds can be used on the electrical grid, although the Department of Housing and Urban Development has yet to release nearly $2 billion that was allocated for Puerto Rico's electrical system.White House officials acknowledged rolling blackouts continue on Puerto Rico but insisted there was no need for new money.The requirements were first reported by The Washington Post.A congressional aide involved in the issue said the White House and its budget office appeared to have chosen restrictions that would be politically difficult for Puerto Rican officials to carry out. That way, the aide suggested, the federal government would not appear responsible for withholding the aid.For example, the fiscal control board is viewed in Puerto Rico as unaccountable to the people. And Puerto Rican officials are not inclined to tell workers they will be paid less than the minimum wage. With regard to the property and deed registrations, Puerto Ricans have long used informal ownership records.The restriction relating to the electrical grid may just be a practical one: Congress has already appropriated a separate tranche of money specifically for the electrical grid, though it has yet to be allocated.Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, called the new restrictions "onerous and unprecedented" and said they "would add insult to injury for our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico reeling from multiple natural disasters."The White House announcement came four days after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked an island reeling from a series of earthquakes this month and still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Parts of the island have lost power, and some Puerto Ricans have set up camp in public spaces instead of returning to their homes."While it is a welcome development that the administration has released its hold on these funds, this step is inexcusably overdue," Velazquez said.Puerto Rico's government was already straining to spend federal money under earlier restrictions. The new conditions will make it much harder.The administration's disparate treatment of Puerto Rico is not new. In August, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would release billions of dollars in federal disaster mitigation funds in two funds: one for nine states on the mainland, and the other for territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The department also announced it would appoint a federal financial monitor to ensure that the money for Puerto Rico was managed properly."Recovery efforts in jurisdictions prepared to do their part should not be held back due to alleged corruption, fiscal irregularities and financial mismanagement occurring in Puerto Rico," Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, said at the time.Congressional Democrats are struck by how long the money has been delayed."As appropriators, we have fought for the release of the aid by questioning Secretary Carson, establishing a legal deadline for agency action, conducting an oversight hearing with HUD officials and the inspector general, and withholding money from the department in the most recent appropriations bill," said Rep. David E. Price, D-N.C. "It should never have come to this."Since 2017, the housing department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies have provided only a fraction of the $91 billion in aid Puerto Rico is estimated to have needed following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, leaving the island's critical infrastructure and homes in limbo.Trump has approved Puerto Rico's request for an emergency declaration but has not approved a major disaster declaration, which could pave the way for additional federal funding.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

These clothes use outlandish designs to trick facial recognition software into thinking you're not human

Privacy-focused designers, academics, and activists have designed wearable accessories and clothes meant to thwart facial recognition tech.

Rain douses some Australian bush fires but flash floods now threaten wildlife

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.

Justice Department Stonewalls Senate Democrats on Trump’s War-Crimes Clemency

More than a month after requesting information from the Department of Justice about the president’s decision to give clemency to convicted or accused war criminals, two Senate Democrats continue to be stonewalled by the administration, The Daily Beast has confirmed. In November, senior Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats Patrick Leahy (VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) wrote to acting Justice Department pardon attorney Rosalind Sargent-Burns inquiring about “what advice President Trump received—and from whom—in deciding to exercise his clemency powers” following his decision to pardon Army Lt. Clint Lorance; pardon and preempt the military trial of ex-Green Beret Maj. Matthew Golsteyn; and restore the rank of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher.Instead of an answer, they have been stonewalled, according to three sources familiar with the communication, only receiving a brief missive Tuesday that the DOJ intends to respond but providing no timeline as to when it will.One of these sources with knowledge of the situation added that Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are also considering introducing additional legislative recourse for addressing the lack of transparency regarding President Trump’s decisions on this matter.The lack of answers from the Justice Department, which is supposed to play a key role in pardon reviews, is likely to fuel allegations that Trump recklessly decided on a round of clemency that has disgusted many in the military community. Eugene Fidell, a prominent military attorney, told Military.com that Trump’s actions may have “blown a hole in the prosecution of war crimes by this country.” At the same time, clemency for Lorance, Golsteyn, Gallagher, and others accused or convicted of war crimes has become a cause célèbre on Fox News, where top talent have for many months publicly urged and privately counseled the president on war crimes pardons. “Congress would be correct to engage in further oversight activity and explore legislative options that would help provide more transparency regarding President Trump’s unusual decisions,” said Benjamin Haas, advocacy counsel at Human Rights First and a former Army intelligence officer. “Trump’s decision to intervene in these war crimes cases, as well as his contemplated actions on the Blackwater case, are a flagrant snub to human rights and the ideals that the U.S. military seeks to uphold.”The senators, in a Nov. 26 letter, asked Sargent-Burns if the White House “reach[ed] out to your office” about the clemency and, if so, what recommendation her office provided. They noted the strong opposition to the pardons from within the Pentagon—clemency to Gallagher led to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer losing his job—and asked if Sargent-Burns’ office coordinated any such recommendations with the Defense Department. The two senators cited a department manual instructing the pardon office to review “all petitions” for clemency and “in every case” prepare recommendations. They referred to the pardon office as an “institutional safeguard” against abuse of a broad presidential authority. “If your office did not provide recommendations in these three cases, why not?” their letter asked. Leahy and Whitehouse gave the Justice Department a deadline of Dec. 13 to respond, which came and went. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on this story on Wednesday.Soon after pardoning Lorance and Golsteyn and restoring Gallagher’s rank, Trump mused to associates about the three joining him at 2020 campaign appearances. Early this month, The Daily Beast also reported that Trump is still quietly considering additional pardons for crimes committed in war, including one for Nicholas Slatten, a Blackwater contractor and ex-soldier convicted of murder in a prosecutorially tainted case stemming from the 2007 Nisour Square massacre of Iraqi civilians. But the Justice Department’s response, or lack thereof, to Senate Democrats’ pardons inquiries thus far fit with Team Trump’s broader pattern of telling liberal lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get lost.The Trump administration and White House have a well-established track record of stiff-arming congressional investigators and Democratic lawmakers requesting documents and testimony, particularly on issues related to probes aimed at the president’s inner circle, Trump himself, and scandals and major catastrophes of the era such as Trump’s management of the response to the hurricanes that ravaged Puerto Rico. This tactic has even led to an article of impeachment for obstruction of Congress. And despite the domestic and international backlash to the president’s decision to grant clemency to alleged and convicted American war criminals, Trump is promoting his decision as a significant accomplishment of his administration. Indeed, he’s already firmly integrated the topic into his campaign-trail pitch to voters.“I will always stick up for our great fighters,” the president assured the crowd at a Florida rally in November. “People can sit there in air-conditioned offices and complain, but you know what? It doesn’t matter to me whatsoever.” 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.

Weinstein jury seated after prosecutors accuse defense of excluding white women

The jury, comprised of six white men, three black women, one black man and two white women, is set to hear opening arguments next week. Lawyers seated two white female jurors on Friday after Weinstein's defense team had exhausted their opportunity to eliminate potential jurors who did not exhibit explicit bias against the defendant or otherwise seem unfit to serve. Three legal experts said the defense appeared to assume white women would be more likely to sympathize with Weinstein's accusers.

WH press secretary tells Fox News she won't hold press briefings because reporters just 'want their moment on TV so they can peddle their books'

In a Thursday morning interview on "Fox & Friends," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said she doesn't want to hold televised press briefings because reporters "just want their moment to peddle their books."

Painting found in Italian museum wall is stolen Klimt

A painting found stashed inside a wall at an Italian museum has been confirmed as the stolen "Portrait of a Lady" by Austria's Gustav Klimt, prosecutors said on Friday, two decades after the artwork went missing. The century-old painting was discovered concealed in an external wall by gardeners at the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art in Piacenza, northeast Italy, last month. "It is with no small emotion that I can tell you the work is authentic," prosecutor Ornella Chicca told reporters.

The 1 Downside to Building Fake Islands China Didn't See Coming

Too much land to defend?

Justices to consider faithless electors, ahead of 2020 vote

The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide ahead of the 2020 election whether presidential electors are bound to support the popular vote winner in their states or can opt for someone else. Advocates for the court's intervention say the issue needs urgent resolution in an era of intense political polarization and the prospect of a razor-thin margin in a presidential election, although so-called faithless electors have been a footnote so far in American history. About 30 states require presidential electors to vote for the popular vote winner, and electors almost always do so anyway.

Some Weird Gas Balls Are Swirling Around Sagittarius A*

But they behave just like stars.

A 15-year-old orphan who lives with his grandparents is being kicked out of their senior living community because he's too young

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.

The United States' main allies are abandoning Trump as his threats to world leaders backfire

European leaders are talking openly about loosening Europe's alliance with the United States as President Donald Trump alienates long-standing allies.