Monday, September 30, 2019

Judge Allows Cop to Use ‘Castle Doctrine’ Defense in Trial for Mistaken Apartment Killing

Judge Allows Cop to Use ‘Castle Doctrine’ Defense in Trial for Mistaken Apartment KillingThe jury in the trial of Amber Guyger, a former Dallas police officer who is charged with murdering her neighbor in his apartment, can consider the "Castle Doctrine" as part of Guyger's defense, Judge Tammy Kemp ruled Monday, hours before final deliberations in the murder trial.The Castle Doctrine, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2007, “presumes that the use of force is reasonable and necessary when someone is unlawfully and with force entering or attempting to enter your occupied home, car, or place of business, or when someone is committing or trying to commit a crime against you.”Guyger, who shot and killed Jean in his own apartment on Sept. 6, 2018, was initially charged with manslaughter, but the district attorney’s office subsequently reviewed the case and indicted her on murder charges, with the implication that the shooting could not be considered manslaughter because Guyger admitted it was intentional.The shift also allowed for Guyger’s defense to center its argument on the basis of “a mistake of fact,” as Guyger — who was returning from a 14-hour shift — claims she accidentally took Jean’s apartment to be her own, and mistakenly thought he was an intruder. Now, if jurors apply the Castle Doctrine, Guyger may walk free.“If a jury believes she was telling truth that she was mistaken, that is an excuse under Texas law,” defense attorney Brad Lollar told The Dallas Morning News last year in the buildup to the indictment. “By filing a manslaughter charge instead of murder, law enforcement is depriving her of defenses she would have under a murder charge.”The judge also announced in the meeting with lawyers on both sides that the jury would be allowed to consider manslaughter in any potential sentencing of Guyger.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2o4kNIg

Share:

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Rudy Giuliani reacts to subpoena on 'Hannity,' 9 pm ET

09/30/19 5:36 PM
Share:

Afghanistan to Taliban: Peace or 'we will continue to fight'

Afghanistan to Taliban: Peace or 'we will continue to fight'Monday morning's speeches came as this year's U.N. gathering of world leaders — marked by global worries over rising tensions in the Gulf region and the earth's warming temperature — was beginning to wind down. Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib spoke two days after Afghans voted in a presidential election in which hundreds of polling centers weren't opened because the country couldn't secure them against the Taliban.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2oCCTla

Share:

Trump: I want to meet my accuser

Trump: I want to meet my accuserUS President Donald Trump said on Sunday he wants and deserves to meet the anonymous whistleblower at the center of the fast-moving scandal that has triggered an impeachment probe against him. The whistleblower, who could testify soon before Congress, fears for their safety if their identity is revealed, according to a lawyers' letter released by CBS News. Battling the deepest crisis of his presidency, Trump in a series of tweets railed against accusations that he should be impeached for urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, his potential 2020 White House challenger.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m8TD2u

Share:

Mohammed bin Salman says he takes 'full responsibility' for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi but denies that he ordered it

Mohammed bin Salman says he takes 'full responsibility' for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi but denies that he ordered itSpeaking to CBS News' "60 Minutes," the Saudi Crown Prince admitted that Khashoggi's murder was a "heinous crime" but denied his involvement.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2n90hWV

Share:

California man arrested after leading police on 2-hour chase through corn maze

California man arrested after leading police on 2-hour chase through corn mazeA California man was caught and arrested by police Saturday morning, but not before he managed to elude them for two hours while hiding inside a corn maze.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mpwyst

Share:

Impeachment Doesn’t Shake Trump Voters But Sows Doubt on Biden

Impeachment Doesn’t Shake Trump Voters But Sows Doubt on Biden(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump may have risked impeachment in an attempt to tar Joe Biden with scandal, but he appears to have accomplished two political goals -- sowing doubts about a leading rival while incurring little damage among his most ardent supporters.Interviews with voters across the country in recent days found few have changed their minds about the president as a result of the Trump-Ukraine scandal.As with previous controversies, Trump’s supporters said they were sure he had done nothing wrong, while his critics said they thought it was obvious that he had. It was Biden who may suffer the most, as even some who support the impeachment inquiry said they now had questions about what Biden’s son, Hunter, did in Ukraine.Robin Wade, 58, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, voted for Trump in 2016 and plans to vote for him again. The former teacher, now on disability, thought Democrats were “making a mockery out of our country” by opening an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s pressuring of the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden.“What’s wrong with the president of the United States saying, ‘Check this guy out?’” she asked.Keith Justice, 54, of Dayton, Ohio, who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, was equally convinced that Trump had done something wrong. The owner of a center for people with developmental disabilities said the office of the presidency should be held to a higher standard.“President Trump is abusing the office bigly -- isn’t that the word he used?” he said.Polls show that views of Trump have long been hardened. His Gallup approval rating has stayed within an 11-point range, compared to the 30-point average difference between highs and lows for every other president since World War II during the same time in office.Trump’s strategy of focusing exclusively on his base is not without risk. An average of surveys taken after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement last week of an impeachment inquiry show 46% of Americans support impeachment while 42% oppose it.But Trump won in 2016 in large part because the Democratic nominee was dragged down by scandals he helped publicize. Clinton, who left her post as Secretary of State in 2013 with a 69% approval rating, ended up as the second-most unpopular major-party presidential nominee in modern history, just behind Trump.His attempt to repeat that zero-sum strategy in 2020 may already be working.Accountant Emsie Hapner, 25, of Dayton, voted for Clinton in 2016. She said she’s crossing her fingers that Trump is impeached.“It doesn’t excuse the use of the office of the presidency to find that information out for personal gain,” she said about Trump. “Whether or not Joe Biden has things to answer for is a separate issue.”Retiree Chuck Christiansen, 66, of Burlington, Wisconsin, said that Biden isn’t blameless, but compared to Trump any misdeeds of his would be “a grain of salt on the beach.”On the face of it, the questions raised about Trump and Biden aren’t comparable.Trump and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, have admitted that they repeatedly asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open an investigation that would damage Biden, an improper and possibly illegal request for a foreign government to help fight a political rival. And in a July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy, the request came right after a discussion of desperately needed military aid for Ukraine that had been put on hold.At the same time, there’s not much of a case against Biden. As vice president, he carried out Obama administration policy to join European countries and other entities in pressuring Ukraine to fire its prosecutor general. An investigation by that prosecutor into Burisma Holdings, an energy company Hunter Biden was a director of, had been dormant for a year at the time.But some voters said the dueling allegations are exactly what they dislike about politics.Caregiver Kathy Lowery, 61, of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, said that she hates the constant pettiness she sees politicians engaging in.“I’m just so sick of them -- of both parties. It’s like schoolyard bull. This one kicks dirt so that one has to kick more dirt,” said Lowery, who said she voted for Clinton in 2016, with misgivings. “That’s why I don’t even watch all that much news anymore. I had it on this morning and I was thinking ‘OK, all of you lie. Just shut up. Just shut up. I just can’t even.’”Polls show that trust in government is at a historic low, with only 17% of Americans telling the Pew Research Center this year that they trust Washington to do what’s right all or most of the time, down from three-fourths when the annual survey began in 1958.The perception that politicians are corrupt plays a big role in that. A 2018 survey by the Wall Street Journal found that 77% of registered voters ranked reducing the influence of special interests and corruption as a top issue.For many voters, the Trump-Ukraine scandal was just the latest example.Lana Weldon, 65, of Beavercreek, Ohio, is a Republican, but she didn’t vote in 2016 because she didn’t like Trump or Clinton.“The people have a right to find out the truth,” she said. “Can we really find out the truth though? I feel like politics has a way of hiding everything.”Weldon, a paralegal, said she isn’t sure that Trump should be president because he’s “kind of a hot head,” but she wasn’t sure what to believe about Biden.“Again, how do we know what’s the truth?” she said. “Is there anybody that tells the truth out there? I don’t know what to think about it. I’m confused about that too.”Vacationing in Venice Beach, California, Washington D.C. resident and Clinton voter Nor Villa, 28, was also jaded.“Politicians in general are liars, so you just do your best,” he said.\--With assistance from Emma Kinery, Jeff Green, Tyler Pager, Mario Parker and Mark Niquette.To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Teague Beckwith in New York at rbeckwith3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nMnka5

Share:

3 big reasons Biden is no longer the definitive 2020 Democratic primary frontrunner

3 big reasons Biden is no longer the definitive 2020 Democratic primary frontrunnerThe more voters see of Biden, the less they like him. And the more they see of his main rival, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the more they like her.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2n2suyU

Share:

Al-Shabaab attacks US base, EU convoy in Somalia

Al-Shabaab attacks US base, EU convoy in SomaliaThe Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for an attack on a US base in Somalia on Monday, as the European Union confirmed a separate strike against a convoy of Italian advisers. The raid on the base prompted a counter-attack by US forces who staged "two air strikes and used small arms fire targeting al-Shabaab terrorists," Major General William Gayler, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) director of operations said, adding that 10 "terrorists" died and a vehicle was destroyed.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nZ8rBd

Share:

Trump’s Claims About Biden Aren’t ‘Unsupported.’ They’re Lies.


By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2neddLi
Share:

China's Guangzhou rides economic change but keeps traditions

China's Guangzhou rides economic change but keeps traditionsChina's southern city of Guangzhou is at the heart of plans to link a cluster of cities in the Pearl River Delta, including Hong Kong and Macau, into a Greater Bay Area rivaling Silicon Valley and Greater Tokyo as an economic hub by 2035. Sprawling over 56,000 sq km (21,600 sq miles) with a population of more than 70 million, the Greater Bay Area is the centerpiece of a drive by China's ruling Communist Party to establish a hub of advanced manufacturing and technology.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2oBLBQt

Share:

Alberto Salazar: Mo Farah's former coach banned from athletics for four years after doping violations

Alberto Salazar, Mo Farah's former athletics coach, has been banned from the sport for four years after being found guilty of doping violations.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mstmfR
Share:

Floods kill 113 in north India in late monsoon burst, jail, hospital submerged

Floods kill 113 in north India in late monsoon burst, jail, hospital submergedHeavy rains have killed at least 113 people in India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states over the past three days, officials said on Monday, as flood waters swamped a major city, inundated hospital wards and forced the evacuation of inmates from a jail. India's monsoon season that begins in June usually starts to retreat by early September, but heavy rains have continued across parts of the country this year, triggering floods. An official said that at least 93 people had died in most populous Uttar Pradesh since Friday after its eastern areas were lashed by intense monsoon showers.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2oKdlTn

Share:

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Trump’s Big Lie About Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and Ukraine Falls Apart

Trump’s Big Lie About Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and Ukraine Falls ApartPhoto Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photo by Alex Wong/GettyThe big lie spouted by Donald Trump and his allies in the unfurling Ukraine affair—an unprecedented abuse of public trust, which has now led directly to an impeachment inquiry—is that former Vice President Joe Biden urged the Ukrainians to fire the Kyiv general prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, in order to save Biden’s son's hide. Many of Trump’s cronies and foot soldiers have already spun this line, from Donald Trump Jr. to Rudy Giuliani to Arthur Schwartz.Others have rightly pointed out that, in reality, Biden was not simply relaying the message pushed by the Obama administration, but that his position was supported by Ukrainian anti-corruption activists, European allies, and even groups like the International Monetary Foundation (IMF). As Tom Malinowski, former assistant secretary of state under Obama, recalled this week, “All of us working on Ukraine wanted this prosecutor gone, because he was NOT prosecuting corruption. So did the Europeans. So did the IMF. This didn't come from Joe Biden—he just delivered our message.”That’s all, of course, true. Anyone interested in the success of Ukraine’s democratic transition, and its efforts to clean up rampant corruption, wanted Shokin gone. But here’s something that seems to have been lost in this geopolitical shuffle. Not only was Biden not trying to protect his son, Hunter, who was then working at a Ukrainian energy company named Burisma. If anything, what the former vice president did was make the prosecution of his son’s company more likely, not less—a fact that seems to have been overlooked, but which flips Trump’s lies on their head. I’m not the first to make this point. A few months ago, when Giuliani first began laundering his accusations through friendly voices like The Hill’s John Solomon—a man with an outsized history of whitewashing post-Soviet kleptocracies—The Intercept’s Robert Mackey tried to untangle Giuliani’s ludicrous line of logic. Mackey’s conclusion: “By getting Shokin removed, Biden in fact made it more rather than less likely that the oligarch who employed his son would be subject to prosecution for corruption.”And it’s not difficult to see why. Shokin was, by any measure, a clear and present obstacle in Ukraine’s efforts to steer toward a transparent, democratic polity in the aftermath of the country’s successful 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution. Most charitably, Shokin’s work could have been described as ineffective; others would prefer the term “corrupt,” a hangover from the ancien régime, more accustomed to shakedowns and shirking his duties whenever it benefited him and his confidants. That reprehensible behavior could be seen, most pertinently, in the way Shokin treated an investigation into Burisma, the company on whose board Hunter Biden sat. Launched in 2014, the investigation focused specifically on the means and machinations of Burisma’s oligarchic owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. Initially, the investigation appeared a sign of Ukraine’s new ways, of a willingness to target all and sundry, regardless of political connection.But it quickly became apparent that Shokin had little interest in actually uprooting any corruption percolating within Burisma, or within Zlochevsky’s network. According to former members of Shokin’s staff—including one, Vitaliy Kasko, who reiterated a few months ago that Biden never pressured anyone to avoid looking into his son’s company—Shokin ignored offers of aid from foreign partners to track Zlochevsky’s international financial network. In particular, Shokin effectively ignored the U.K.’s move to freeze tens of millions of dollars allegedly attached to Zlochevsky, identified during a money-laundering investigation directly tied to the ousted Ukrainian regime. Even after Britain’s Serious Fraud Office pronounced that the funds linked to Zlochevsky were “believed to be the proceeds of… criminal conduct,” Shokin didn’t budge. He and his office declined, time and again, to send London the documents necessary to link the frozen funds to Zlochevsky’s kleptocratic malfeasance. Instead, even when the case went to a British court, those advocating for the funds to remain frozen found that someone in Shokin’s office—it was never quite clear who—had written a letter to the British judge claiming that Zlochevsky was not suspected in any crimes. The case was as clear as any to come out of post-2014 Ukraine. And then it collapsed. An arrest warrant for Zlochevsky lapsed. The funds were eventually unfrozen, and allowed to seep back into the offshore networks linked to Zlochevsky, unseen since. All because Shokin, and his office, thought it better to allow the previous regime’s kleptocratic methods to flood back in.  The Americans—and the Europeans, and the IMF, and all those in Ukraine who had marched and stood and demanded better—were livid. Shokin clearly didn’t “want to investigate” Burisma or Zlochevsky, as Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center and perhaps Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption voice, recently said. Or as then-U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt pronounced in 2015, “Those responsible for subverting the case by authorizing those letters should—at a minimum—be summarily terminated.” This was the world into which Biden stepped, when he became the point-man for all of those demanding Shokin’s removal. And he did so, with thunder and alacrity. As with so many things Biden has done with Ukraine, he wasn’t concerned with whose toes he stepped on. When it came to pushing for Washington to supply arms to Kyiv to fight off Russian revanchism, it didn’t matter if Biden stood at odds with the president for whom he served. And when it came to ousting a prosecutor who refused to do his job, it didn’t matter if his son’s company—a company Hunter Biden should, obviously, never have joined—got caught in the cross-fire. Biden, as the messenger for demanding a new, and more effective, prosecutor, succeeded. That success meant that Ukraine would be more likely to investigate his son’s company. And in that success, a conspiracy theory—that Biden was actually trying to protect his son, rather than push Ukraine to a more democratic path, no matter who got caught in the middle—was born. In the time since, Shokin has taken to rewriting history, claiming that he was on the warpath trying to take down Zlochevsky. (Shokin’s preferred mouthpiece for spouting this revisionism? Solomon, unsurprisingly.) But just like the president’s claims that Biden was up to something nefarious, there’s nothing to back up Shokin’s claims. As Oliver Bullough, a British journalist who covered the Zlochevsky saga, wrote earlier this year, Solomon and the rest of the pro-Trump sycophants are “putting two and two together—and coming up with 22.” That’s putting it kindly. More broadly, they’re taking a bludgeon to anything resembling fact. The lies and spin and rank illiberalism now being spun by the White House are all in an effort to undercut a looming impeachment by rewriting a history most Americans are only now discovering. In pushing to oust the former prosecutor, Biden did the right thing, no matter the personal cost. And in pushing for impeachment, in the face of Trump’s unprecedented move to pressure Kyiv to investigate Biden, House Democrats are pursuing the right tack, no matter the political cost. 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.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m77x5c

Share:

Be More Chill: The word-of-mouth hit musical now heading to London

Be More Chill was kept alive thanks to the cult following its soundtrack built up on streaming.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nL9W5U
Share:

Man Is Charged With Terrorism After Driving S.U.V. Through Illinois Mall


By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2mHfgHD
Share:

Yankees Turn Their Focus to the Playoffs, and Stifling the Twins


By BY JAMES WAGNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m4Qe4G
Share:

Iowa reporter who exposed charity fundraiser's historic racist tweets  fired for his own offensive posts

Iowa reporter who exposed charity fundraiser's historic racist tweets  fired for his own offensive postsAn Iowa newspaper reporter who exposed racist tweets by a charity fundraiser has found himself out of a job after his own offensive posts were uncovered.  Aaron Calvin, a journalist for the Des Moines Register, began looking into sports fan Carson King when his jovial plea for beer money turned into a national fundraiser for a children's hospital. But his profile of Mr King led to a public backlash and the newspaper was forced to hire extra security after receiving threats. Public scrutiny turned to Mr Calvin himself, who left the newspaper after it emerged he had made comments mocking same-sex marriage and used a racial slur. Mr King gained national fame on September 14, when his hand-drawn sign for donations for his "Busch Light Supply"  at an Iowa State University American football game was featured in the background of a TV broadcast.  He initially received around $600 (£488) from amused spectators but as donations topped $1 million (£814,650), Mr King said he would donate the money to a University of Iowa children's hospital. Carson King raised $1.8m for a local children's hospital The company behind Busch Light lager offered their own donation along with a year's supply of beer for Mr King in with his face printed on the limited-edition cans.  By way of thanks for the $1.8m (£1.5m) funding, Iowa's governor declared September 28 would be "Carson King Day", saying his "volunteerism and selflessness defines Iowans by nature". At around the same time, Mr Calvin began writing his profile on the 24-year-old casino security guard and found that Mr King had tweeted two racist jokes about black people while in high school.  Hey Everyone! Just a quick appreciation post for ya ☺️ ForTheKidspic.twitter.com/y0Gdj2V3Tl— Carson King (@CarsonKing2) September 26, 2019 Before the piece was published Mr King held a press conference to apologise, saying "I am so embarrassed and stunned to reflect on what I thought was funny when I was 16-years-old". He emphasised that the Des Moines Register "has been nothing but kind in all of their coverage, and I appreciate the reporter pointing out the post to me". "Thankfully, high school kids grow up and hopefully become responsible and caring adults," he added.  The Register is aware of reports of inappropriate social media posts by one of our staffers, and an investigation has begun.— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) September 25, 2019 The development led Busch Light to distance itself from Mr King, thought it said it would still honour its $350,000 donation. However online supporters of Mr King turned on the newspaper, criticising its decision to cover his teenage posts. Attention turned to Mr Calvin's own Twitter profile and it emerged the reporter himself had made offensive comments about race, same-sex marriage and domestic abuse. Mr Calvin deleted the tweets and apologised "for not holding myself to the same high standards as the Register holds others."  The paper's editor, Carol Hunter, announced that Mr Calvin was no longer with the paper and that its "social media vetting" for employees would be re-examined.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lTl7ZM

Share:

Pakistan Leader Warns of Kashmir 'Blood Bath' in Emotional U.N. Speech

Pakistan Leader Warns of Kashmir 'Blood Bath' in Emotional U.N. SpeechPakistan's leader castigated India over its Kashmir crackdown from the podium of the United Nations on Friday, warning of a "bloodbath" when and if Indian authorities lift a curfew over the disputed territory.The speech by Prime Minister Imran Khan at the United Nations General Assembly was partly directed at his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, who in his own speech earlier Friday omitted any reference to Kashmir.Last month India revoked the long-standing autonomy of the mountainous border region, the flashpoint of two wars with Pakistan since both achieved independence from Britain more than 70 years ago.Indian authorities arrested thousands of Kashmiris, severed most electronic access and imposed a curfew on the entire populace of about 8 million. While some curbs have been eased, the curfew remains in effect.Modi and his subordinates have described their move as an internal domestic matter aimed at making the region more prosperous.The Indian prime minister's shift on Kashmir was welcomed by his base of Hindu nationalists, who have long wanted to exert power in the Muslim-majority region and have long accused Pakistan of supporting militant separatists there.Khan has repeatedly denounced what he has described as Modi's reckless disregard of Pakistan's historic claims to the region.The Pakistani leader has frequently reminded the world that Pakistan and India are both nuclear powers. He has used terms like genocide to describe India's intentions for the disputed Kashmir region and has complained that Modi has ignored his entreaties for a dialogue.In an interview with The New York Times Editorial Board on Wednesday, Khan said Modi was leading India down an irrational path, a theme he reiterated in his General Assembly speech."Is it arrogance that has blinded him from what is going to happen when the curfew is lifted? Does he think the people of Kashmir will quietly accept the status quo?" Khan said. "What is going to happen when the curfew is lifted will be a bloodbath."The pent-up frustration of Kashmiris living under what Khan described as Indian military occupation would inevitably come back to haunt India, he said."Would I want to live like that?" Khan said. "I would pick up a gun."Khan, who has conspicuously avoided crossing paths with Modi while both are attending the annual gathering in New York, had said that he would be using his General Assembly speech to emphasize Kashmir and implore the United Nations to intervene.Modi, in his speech, sought to portray India as a peace-loving nation that he said had given the world Buddha's philosophy of serenity. His only reference to Pakistan and Kashmir was oblique, saying India had long been a victim of terrorism."Our voice against terrorism, to alert the world about this evil, rings with seriousness and the outrage," Modi said. "It is absolutely imperative that the world unites against terrorism."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mQscuK

Share:

How Ukraine envoy's resignation could affect his possible congressional testimony

How Ukraine envoy's resignation could affect his possible congressional testimonyKurt Volker, the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine, resigned Friday amid a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump and his communications with the Ukrainian government, including the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Volker did not provide a public explanation for leaving his post, but a source familiar with his decision said Volker concluded he could not perform the job effectively as a result of the recent developments.One person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Volker's resignation will likely enable him to be much freer in what he can say about his time at his post if he is called at some point to testify before Congress.The whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry alleges that Volker went to Kiev to help guide Ukrainian officials on how to handle Trump's alleged demands that the government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter. He also reportedly spoke with Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in an attempt to "contain the damage" to U.S. national security.Giuliani has said Volker encouraged him to meet with Ukrainian officials regarding the Biden family. That indeed appears to be the case, but The New York Times reports Volker was acting at the request of the Ukrainians, who were reportedly concerned about how Giuliani's attempts to procure information about the Bidens and other Democrats might affect their relationship with the U.S. Read more at NBC News and The New York Times.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2o5akwh

Share:

Terrorism charge filed against man who crashed car into Woodfield Mall near Chicago

Terrorism charge filed against man who crashed car into Woodfield Mall near ChicagoThe man who slammed his SUV into a suburban Chicago mall has been formally charged with terrorism and criminal damage to property, authorities said.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mR8Khs

Share:

Three more elephants killed in Sri Lanka, bringing toll to seven

Three more elephants killed in Sri Lanka, bringing toll to sevenWildlife officials found three more dead wild elephants in central Sri Lanka Saturday, raising the number believed to have been poisoned by angry villagers to seven. The animals were found at a forest reserve near Sigiriya, a fifth-century rock fortress and UNESCO-protected heritage site, police said. "Since Friday, we have found the remains of seven cow elephants, including a tusker," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nAUHMQ

Share:

Hong Kong protesters to rally after another night of violence

Hong Kong protesters to rally after another night of violenceHong Kong protesters are to join a global "anti-totalitarianism rally" on Sunday, following another night of violent clashes with police after weeks of pro-democracy unrest in the Chinese-ruled city. Police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday night to disperse protesters who threw petrol bombs and rocks, broke government office windows and blocked a key road near the local headquarters of China's People's Liberation Army. Thousands, young and old, gathered peacefully on Saturday at a harbourside park to mark the fifth anniversary of the "Umbrella" pro-democracy movement which gridlocked streets for 79 days in 2014.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nytw5z

Share:

Greece: Deadly fire triggers riots at Moria refugee camp

Police fire tear gas to control a crowd who say firefighters were too slow to respond to the fire.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mUORG7
Share:

Inequalities in heart attack care 'costing women's lives'

Thousands of women are dying needlessly because of delays in diagnosis and poor care, a report says.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2m82BwT
Share:

Amazon fires: The volunteer firefighters battling to save Brazil’s rainforest

A band of volunteer firefighters are on a mission to stop their stretch of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest from going up in flames.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nL7Gfi
Share:

Private schools say abolition would be vote-loser

Independent-school leaders hit back at Labour's plans to ban fee-paying schools.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mSRFDG
Share:

Cocaine and alcohol a 'deadly combination'

At least 13 self-inflicted deaths among people who took alcohol with cocaine have occurred in a year.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nGuTiE
Share:

'A great cop': NYPD Officer Brian Mulkeen killed in the Bronx, possibly with his own gun

'A great cop': NYPD Officer Brian Mulkeen killed in the Bronx, possibly with his own gunOfficer Brian Mulkeen was fatally shot, possibly with his own gun, in the Bronx during a struggle with an armed assailant, police said.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mDbhfb

Share:

Former British leader defends Biden Ukraine scenario

Former British leader defends Biden Ukraine scenarioFormer British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday supported the explanation offered as to why Vice President Joe Biden pressured the president of Ukraine in 2015 to crack down on corruption. Supporters of President Donald Trump — particularly his attorney Rudy Giuliani — have argued that Trump’s much-criticized July 25 phone call with the current president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was appropriate because Biden had been corrupt in pushing Poroshenko to get rid of the state prosecutor.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nHcAto

Share:

Jeff Flake: 'At least 35' GOP senators would vote to remove Trump if vote was private

Jeff Flake: 'At least 35' GOP senators would vote to remove Trump if vote was privateThe former Arizona Senator, who was one of Trump's most visible critics in the Senate, said if there was a secret vote, "there would be at least 35" GOP senators to vote for impeachment.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2myJhJk

Share:

Zimbabwe's Mugabe buried in home village, ending an era

Zimbabwe's Mugabe buried in home village, ending an eraZimbabwe's founding leader Robert Mugabe was buried on Saturday in his home village of Kutama, ending a dispute between his family and the government of his successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa over his final resting place. Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years from independence in 1980 but was a polarizing figure idolized by some for his role in the country's liberation struggle and hated by others for ruining a promising nation through disastrous economic policies and repression against opponents. After Mass by a Roman Catholic priest and speeches by family members, Mugabe was buried in the courtyard of his rural homestead without the pomp and fun fare usually reserved for national heroes.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2msG2n3

Share:

Trump reportedly worked with 2 'off the books' lawyers to pressure Ukraine

Trump reportedly worked with 2 'off the books' lawyers to pressure Ukraine"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace said that top U.S. officials confirmed President Trump was working with more than one personal lawyer "off the books" to pressure Ukrainian officials for damaging information on former Vice President Joe Biden.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mck9rU

Share:

China ‘poised to unveil new nuclear missile’ at military parade in warning to Trump

China ‘poised to unveil new nuclear missile’ at military parade in warning to TrumpA parade by China’s secretive military will offer a rare look at its rapidly developing arsenal, including possibly a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the United States in 30 minutes, as Beijing gets closer to matching Washington and other powers in weapons technology.The Dongfeng 41 is one of a series of new weapons Chinese media say might be unveiled during the parade marking the ruling Communist Party’s 70th anniversary in power.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ol3t2d

Share:

How Mitch McConnell could give impeachment the Merrick Garland treatment

How Mitch McConnell could give impeachment the Merrick Garland treatmentIt’s on track to be the trial of the century: President Donald Trump fighting to keep his job before a jury of 100 senators. Sure, it would be an unprecedented move in U.S. history for Republican leader Mitch McConnell to table Trump impeachment proceedings without allowing any significant debate or a vote to convict a president from his own party, thereby removing him from office. Conventional wisdom still says there has to be a Trump trial.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lQrOvH

Share:

Trailblazing Texas deputy who was first local Sikh officer 'ruthlessly' killed during traffic stop

Trailblazing Texas deputy who was first local Sikh officer 'ruthlessly' killed during traffic stopDeputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, the county's first Sikh officer, was killed Friday during a traffic stop near Houston. Police have arrested Robert Solis.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2npuFfz

Share:

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Ivory Coast Leader Wants to Hand Over Power to New Generation

Ivory Coast Leader Wants to Hand Over Power to New Generation(Bloomberg) -- Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is in favor of “handing over to the new generation” in next year’s presidential polls, but did not rule out running in the election.The 78-year-old, who has just over a year left of his second term in office, was addressing reporters in his hometown of Dimbroko after a four-day visit to the surrounding region.Ouattara addressed plans to amend the constitution to include an age limit for presidential hopefuls, saying “it’s part of the evolution of our country,” Seventy-five percent of the population is aged under 30 and “we can’t remain indifferent.” But he also said “don’t interpret this as me not being a candidate.”His fiercest political rivals include Henri Konan Bedie , 85, who broke away from the ruling coalition last year after Ouattara claimed a new constitution adopted in 2016 allows him to seek a third mandate if he wishes.Another, Laurent Gbagbo, 74, was acquitted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity committed after a disputed vote in 2010, but prosecutors are appealing the ruling.To contact the reporter on this story: Leanne de Bassompierre in Abidjan at ldebassompie@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline Mackenzie, Keith CampbellFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mIoenU

Share:

Democrats have a long list of possible witnesses in Trump impeachment inquiry

Democrats have a long list of possible witnesses in Trump impeachment inquiryThe list of people Democrats may seek information from regarding President Trump's attempt to obtain dirt on Joe Biden seems to grow by the minute.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nljKDO

Share:

Mets’ Pete Alonso Breaks Rookie Home-Run Record


By BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m3FfbW
Share:

‘You’re a Bad Police Officer’: Official Confronts Deputy at Awards Ceremony


By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2nxYdYq
Share:

Iran releases photo of Khamenei with Hezbollah chief

Iran releases photo of Khamenei with Hezbollah chiefIran has released a "never before seen" photo of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. The three men are shown in front of what appears to be a door covered by a curtain and surrounded by shelves stacked with books -- decor associated with Khamenei's Tehran office.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nsPaIr

Share:

View 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat / Scat Pack Widebody Photos

View 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat / Scat Pack Widebody Photos




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lSabLY

Share:

Could Elizabeth Warren end up the real winner from the Trump impeachment inquiry?

Could Elizabeth Warren end up the real winner from the Trump impeachment inquiry?Elizabeth Warren could be unintentionally benefit from the impeachment inquiry as claims over her Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden’s activities in Ukraine dominate the headlines, polling experts have predicted. The US senator for Massachusetts has enjoyed a remarkable surge in the polls of who Democrats want as their White House candidate at the 2020 election and is now neck-and-neck with Mr Biden, long seen as the front-runner.  Despite the impeachment probe targeting Donald Trump and his alleged abuses in office, some are predicting the drive could inadvertently rebound and politically damage Mr Biden, the former US vice president. At the heart of the impeachment inquiry are claims that Mr Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to look into Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s activities in the country.  Mr Biden, while in office, called for Ukraine’s prosecutor to step down. At the time his son Hunter worked for a Ukrainian gas company. The prosecutor was once investigating the head of that company. Joe Biden and his son Hunter at a basketball game in 2010 Credit: AP Photo/Nick Wass Mr Trump, his attorney Rudy Giuliani and other Republicans have made a string of unfounded allegations over the scenario, claiming it showed Mr Biden was somehow protecting his son. In fact Mr Biden’s calls were part of a drive supported by many Western countries at the time to replace the Ukrainian prosecutor, who was deemed to have not been tough enough on corruption. Both Mr Biden and his son have always denied any wrongdoing. The political problem, some election experts say, is that whatever the facts the coming months will see Mr Biden’s Ukraine actions and his son's job with a Ukrainian company put up in lights on cable TV news and in newspapers. It could draw attention to a potential weakness in Mr Biden’s hopes of winning the Democratic nomination – that he is viewed as a Washington insider after a half-century career in the capital whereas voters want change. Larry Sabuto, director of the Centre for Politics at the University of Virginia, told The Daily Telegraph: “It reinforces Biden’s problem, which is that he’s an old-style politician.” Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren shaking hands after a debate between Democrats hoping to reach the White House in 2020 Credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip Mr Biden could be more vulnerable than Ms Warren to Mr Trump’s “drain the swamp” attacks given he his career as a senator and then Barack Obama’s vice president. Ms Warren, by contrast, only joined the Senate in 2013 and shot to prominence challenging the Wall Street elites and pushing bold left-wing policies such as a wealth tax. “Her image is perfectly designed to take advantage of this Biden problem,” Mr Sabuto said. “She is seen as a squeaky clean, anti-corruption politician. And Biden is connected to the old ‘you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours’ politics.” Questions over the appropriateness of Hunter Biden having a job at a Ukrainian company while his father oversaw Ukrainian policy for the Obama administration have already been voiced.  Mr Trump has shown no sign of backing off from demanding the Bidens be investigated despite that being at the very heart of the impeachment proceedings he now faces. That will no doubt continue in the coming months, however unfounded the allegations. Whether Democrat voters now rally to Mr Biden’s side or get cold feet remains to be seen.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nrifUu

Share:

Parents plead not guilty to abandoning daughter. Records show they legally changed her age

Parents plead not guilty to abandoning daughter. Records show they legally changed her ageParents are accused of abandoning their adopted daughter and moving the rest of the family to Canada.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ngISeT

Share:

Hong Kong’s ‘Frontliners’ Say They’re Ready to Die for the Movement

Hong Kong’s ‘Frontliners’ Say They’re Ready to Die for the Movement(Bloomberg) -- Fung, a 24-year-old doctor, seems an unlikely candidate to stand on the front line of Hong Kong’s most violent civil unrest in half a century. Before this year, he never took part in a protest, and during Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy uprising, the 2014 Umbrella Movement, he only stopped by to take photos.Now, Fung is part of a cell of 20 protesters who face off each weekend against police on the streets of Hong Kong in clashes that have escalated from peaceful marches to flying bricks, tear gas, Molotov cocktails and, more recently, live ammunition fired into the sky. Fung, who acquired bullet-resistant body armor to wear under his black T-shirt, says the violence needs to escalate even further if protesters are to persuade Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam -- and her backers in Beijing -- to accede to their demands.“If you can’t give pressure to police, the police won’t give any stress to Carrie Lam,” Fung said in an interview in his home. “We, the frontliners, always lose when facing those police. We never win.” He shows his armored vest. “Maybe someone will die next week. I hope the one getting shot is me, since I got this. But not all the frontliners have this to protect them.”Fung’s willingness to accept a potentially bloody escalation and his belief that the movement will ultimately succeed show that the weeks of clashes have created a hard core of determined teams of protesters whose tactics are shifting as clashes become militarized. Fung, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be quoted by their full name for fear of arrest in a city where merely participating in an unauthorized protest could mean years in prison.The front-line protesters’ hardhats, gas masks and black clothing have become the movement’s uniform, lionized in street art and internet memes. But their hard-line tactics have also divided the former British colony: More moderate protesters credit them with forcing concessions from a recalcitrant government, while Chinese officials denounce them as “rioters,” showing signs of terrorism.Even some opposition leaders warn that the radicals risk alienating support from investors and citizens inconvenienced and endangered by the chaos. More extreme tactics, including smashing train station windows, attacking police officers with batons and lighting bonfires in the streets have helped damage Hong Kong’s reputation as one of Asia’s safest big cities.After some hard-line demonstrators detained and beat two men they suspected of being undercover cops during a protest at the airport last month, some activists circulated a proposed code of conduct for front-line protesters, including no beating medical personnel or journalists, on social media forums.Police have escalated, as well, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and, one night last month, pointing their fire arms at a larger crowd of protesters who were attacking them with sticks. Lam told reporters earlier this week that it was “remarkable” that no one had died, although many protesters blame the government for suicides among demonstrators and are suspicious that authorities are withholding information on other serious injuries.Although the protests have tapered off in recent weeks, tensions could flare again as Hong Kong confronts two politically fraught dates: The fifth anniversary of the Occupy movement Saturday and the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday. Both occasions -- one the government would like to forget and other it plans to celebrate -- will be marked by protests just the same.One of the key principles of the movement has been to abandon their roadblocks once police move in -- summed up in the slogan “Be water.” But Fung argues that there need to be more protesters who will stand their ground and fight back. “Why don’t you give a fight?” he said.Such fearlessness is not universal.“You have to know when to run and when to fight,” said Vincent, a 26-year-old designer who first joined political protests in Hong Kong at the start of the Umbrella Movement, the last major pro-democracy movement in the city. “You can’t stand face-to-face against the police.” Asked how he responds when police move in to attack, he laughed. “Run faster!”Vincent and Fung are part of separate teams, highlighting the leaderless nature of the current wave of protests, which have continued since June, despite more than 1,500 arrests. Those arrests have included high-profile pro-democracy figures such as Joshua Wong, leading some protesters to wonder whether the police are trying to identify leaders where there aren’t any.“I agree with the small-group strategy,” said Vincent. “Every time there is a leader, the leader gets arrested.”Vincent and Fung reveal a highly decentralized structure, where groups of about 20 protesters operate independently, yet share information and often copy each other’s tactics. When a proposal is made between groups for violent action, the key principle is respect for others’ decisions, Fung said.“If it really works, maybe we’ll follow you. That’s the most important principle in this movement,” Fung said. “If someone sees, ‘O.K., when I throw the Molotovs, the police really step back -- it’s useful. Why don’t we make more?’ It’s why you see more and more Molotovs in the front line.”Police said on Sept. 2 that at least 100 petrol bombs had been used by protesters on the previous Saturday. Two days later, Lam announced her intention to formally withdraw the contentious extradition bill that originally sparked the protests.The move did little to reduce the unrest. The following weekend the subway station in the city’s central business district became a target for arson and another 80 petrol bombs were thrown, according to police.Although police have arrested hundreds of protesters, including some on a strict rioting charge that carries a sentence as long as 10 years, many end up back on the street while awaiting trial. Only 14% of those arrested had undergone judicial proceedings.Protesters have elevated their injured members into martyrs, including a woman who was allegedly struck on Aug. 11 by a police bean-bag round that penetrated her goggles and injured her right eye. Initial reports said she lost the eye, although the South China Morning Post newspaper later reported, citing a hospital source, that she retains at least some some sight in it.“‘Eye for an eye’ is not just a slogan,” Vincent said. “It will have to be a fact to frighten the police.”Like other demonstrators, Fung’s journey from passive bystander to frontline protester was triggered by the escalating violence. He said he only became a frontliner after July 21, when TV footage showed passengers at a train station being attacked by white-shirted mobs, with no apparent help coming from the police,“We can’t accept this; white-shirt gangsters hitting people,” Fung said. “And I can’t accept why police” delayed for 39 minutes.Police later defended the delay in responding to emergency calls as a consequence of their limited resources that night, given the large-scale protest that was ongoing in another district of Hong Kong.In more recent weeks, Chinese authorities have attempted to distinguish between more moderate protesters who mustered hundreds of thousands to march peaceful and the “few thugs” who adopt the frontliners’ tactics. Protesters see the shift as part of a “divide and rule” strategy, assuming that people will eventually tire of the radicals and turn against them.But the do or die attitude of frontliners like Fung and Vincent is based on a feeling that this could be the endgame for Hong Kong’s democratic struggle.“The failure of the Umbrella Revolution gave some kind of lesson,” Vincent said. “Everyone knows if you fail this time, there will not be another chance. That’s why Hong Kongers fight like they’re not afraid, because they realize that if they fail, the only thing waiting for them is worse than death.”After guns were pointed at the protesters in Tsuen Wan, Fung decided to buy body armor. He insists that the movement must go on until the five demands are met, but acknowledges that he has written a will.“I have already prepared to die in this movement,” he said.To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Mc Nicholas in Hong Kong at amcnicholas2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Adam MajendieFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lLReun

Share:

Israel's Air Force Is Armed with F-35s and F-15s (And Now Supersonic Missiles)

Israel's Air Force Is Armed with F-35s and F-15s (And Now Supersonic Missiles)How good are they?




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lHNdak

Share:

Senate Republicans have barely challenged Trump over Ukraine. Don't expect them to turn against him in an impeachment trial.

Senate Republicans have barely challenged Trump over Ukraine. Don't expect them to turn against him in an impeachment trial.Barring more significant revelations, GOP senators are unlikely to support impeaching President Donald Trump,




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2o7cqMa

Share:

2020 Vision: Impeachment is gaining in the polls — and so is Warren

2020 Vision: Impeachment is gaining in the polls — and so is WarrenHow Trump impeachment is polling, Warren's continued rise, Gabbard qualifies for the fourth debate, and campaign cash troubles plague some Democrats.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nfbRj2

Share:

Democrats have a long list of possible witnesses in Trump impeachment inquiry

Democrats have a long list of possible witnesses in Trump impeachment inquiryThe list of people Democrats may seek information from regarding President Trump's attempt to obtain dirt on Joe Biden seems to grow by the minute.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nljKDO

Share:

Surprise! A U.S. F-22 Stealth Raptor 'Flew Under' Iran's F-4 Fighter

Surprise! A U.S. F-22 Stealth Raptor 'Flew Under' Iran's F-4 FighterNever had a chance.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lYiuGi

Share:

Barreling toward impeachment proceedings, Pelosi offers Trump her thoughts and prayers

Barreling toward impeachment proceedings, Pelosi offers Trump her thoughts and prayersHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump took to cable news and Twitter on Friday morning as the first week of the impeachment battle came to a close in Washington.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mmmhNN

Share:

Hong Kongers kick off days of rallies ahead of China's birthday

Hong Kongers kick off days of rallies ahead of China's birthdayThousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists on Friday night kicked off what is expected to be an intense period of protests, aiming to cast a shadow over communist China's momentous anniversary celebrations. Beijing is preparing a huge military parade on Tuesday to mark 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, revelling in its transformation into a global superpower. Four days of action are planned in the run-up to Tuesday with clashes almost certain after police denied permission for a march on the anniversary itself citing safety concerns.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mbmWSh

Share:

Pakistan warns of Kashmir bloodbath, India silent

Pakistan warns of Kashmir bloodbath, India silentIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denounced terrorism but avoided any mention of India's crackdown in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan denounced India's crackdown and warned of a "bloodbath." (Sept. 27)




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lWVbg0

Share:

Trump's Ukraine call sparks new questions over intelligence chief's firing

Trump's Ukraine call sparks new questions over intelligence chief's firingThe president removed Dan Coats days after his conversation with Zelenskiy and insisted that Coats’s deputy not get the jobDan Coats, seen in 2018, reportedly interrupted a meeting to convince his deputy to resign. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty ImagesThree days after his now infamous phone conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Donald Trump abruptly fired his director of national intelligence in favour of an inexperienced political loyalist.According to a New York Times report, the White House learned within days that the unorthodox call on 25 July with Zelenskiy had raised red flags among intelligence professionals and was likely to trigger an official complaint.That timeline has raised new questions over the timing of the Trump’s dismissal by tweet of the director of national intelligence (DNI), Dan Coats, on 28 July and his insistence that the deputy DNI, Sue Gordon, a career intelligence professional, did not step into the role, even in an acting capacity.Instead, Trump tried to install a Republican congressman, John Ratcliffe, who had minimal national security credentials but had been a fierce defender of the president in Congress. Trump had to drop the nomination after it emerged that Ratcliffe had exaggerated his national security credentials in his biography, wrongly claiming he had conducted prosecutions in terrorist financing cases.Despite the collapse of the Ratcliffe nomination, Gordon was forced out. She was reported to have been holding a meeting on election security on 8 August when Coats interrupted to convince her that she would have to resign.In a terse handwritten note to the president, Gordon said: “I offer this letter as an act of respect and patriotism, not preference. You should have your team.”The Office of the DNI (ODNI) and its inspector general has the authority to receive whistleblower complaints from across all US intelligence agencies and determine whether they should be referred to Congress.“We all knew Coats’ departure was coming because he had clashed with the president on several issues. What was weird was the president’s forcefulness in not wanting Sue Gordon to take over as acting director,” said Katrina Mulligan, a former official who worked in the ODNI, the national security council, and the justice department.“I was hearing at the time that Sue was getting actively excluded from things by the president that she would ordinarily have taken part in, and she was being made to feel uncomfortable,” said Mulligan, now managing director for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress.“And then the president tried to install someone who was clearly unqualified,” she added. “Now the timeline of the whistleblower in the White House raises a lot of questions about the Sue Gordon piece of this.”John McLaughlin, the former acting CIA director, said the fact that Ratcliffe’s nomination was dropped and the job of acting DNI ultimately went to an intelligence professional, Joseph Maguire, was a sign that the intelligence community was so far resisting political pressure from the White House.Maguire faced tough questioning in Congress this week about his initial refusal, on justice department guidance, to refer the whistleblower complaint to Congress.“On politicisation, my sense is that the community is holding the line against it although undoubtedly dealing with more or less constant pressure,” McLaughlin said. “I felt kind of bad for the acting DNI, an honourable man with impeccable service to the nation. I believe he made some honest errors in judgment rather than yielding to political pressure. Throwing him into this job in these circumstances on such short notice is a little like assigning me on a navy Seal mission.”




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nu67lE

Share:

New chapter opens in Pennsylvania in fight over suing church

New chapter opens in Pennsylvania in fight over suing churchWhen post offices close Monday, the last victim compensation funds at Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses will also close, hours before lawmakers plunge back into a years-old fight over whether to let long-ago victims of child sexual abuse sue perpetrators and institutions that may have covered it up. It comes more than a year after last year's landmark grand jury report that accused senior Catholic Church officials of hushing up the abuse for decades. In the report's wake, the Philadelphia archdiocese and six Pennsylvania dioceses opened victim compensation funds while state lawmakers fought to a standstill over giving now-adult victims of childhood sexual abuse a legal "window" to sue.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2o4IrV9

Share:

Joseph Wilson, U.S. diplomat who spoke out on Iraq War, dies at 69: NYT

Joseph Wilson, U.S. diplomat who spoke out on Iraq War, dies at 69: NYTWilson's ex-wife, Valerie Plame, a former CIA officer now running for Congress, told the Times his cause of death was organ failure. Wilson died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Times reported. Wilson served in several diplomatic posts during a 23-year career that began in 1976.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mqF8qP

Share:

Here's who will be onstage for the October 15 Democratic debate hosted by CNN and The New York Times, what time it'll start, and how to watch

Here's who will be onstage for the October 15 Democratic debate hosted by CNN and The New York Times, what time it'll start, and how to watchThe debate, which will feature 12 candidates all debating on one stage, will be hosted at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ngFS1X

Share:

How Ukraine envoy's resignation could affect his possible Congressional testimony

How Ukraine envoy's resignation could affect his possible Congressional testimonyKurt Volker, the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine, resigned Friday amid a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump and his communications with the Ukrainian government, including the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Volker did not provide a public explanation for leaving his post, but a source familiar with his decision said Volker concluded he could not perform the job effectively as a result of the recent developments.One person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Volker's resignation will likely enable him to be much freer in what he can say about his time at his post if he is called at some point to testify before Congress.The whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry alleges that Volker went to Kiev to help guide Ukrainian officials on how to handle Trump's alleged demands that the government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter. He also reportedly spoke with Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in an attempt to "contain the damage" to U.S. national security.Giuliani has said Volker encouraged him to meet with Ukrainian officials regarding the Biden family. That indeed appears to be the case, but The New York Times reports Volker was acting at the request of the Ukrainians, who were reportedly concerned about how Giuliani's attempts to procure information about the Bidens and other Democrats might affect their relationship with the U.S. Read more at NBC News and The New York Times.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2o5akwh

Share:

Blog Archive

Definition List

Unordered List

Support