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Dec 08, 2019
The US economy didn't tumble into a recession during 2010s — and experts say the extremely slow recovery itself was a factor.
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Dec 08, 2019
The children, who were dressed just in socks and light clothing, both received cold-related injuries
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Dec 08, 2019
Marc Mukasey has deep, personal connections within President Trump's orbit, and he has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving the president.
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Dec 08, 2019
Authorities have charged two children with involuntary manslaughter after another child was hit by a car and killed, apparently following an argument.Police said they charged the suspects, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, after interviewing them at a police station in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Dec 08, 2019
Rep. Matt Gaetz said it would play to the "president's advantage" to have his top administration officials testify in the upcoming impeachment hearings.
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Dec 08, 2019
(Bloomberg) -- Szymon Holownia, a TV show host and writer known for his Catholic views, announced plans to run against incumbent Andrzej Duda in next year's presidential election.The 43-year-old political newcomer focused his announcement on social solidarity, climate protection and higher standards in Polish politics, characterized by what he called "a devouring clinch" between the ruling Law & Justice and the main opposition party Civic Platform."It's time for a man coming from the bottom to fix what's broken at the top," he said in his announcement speech delivered in a theater in Gdansk, north of Poland. "I want a Poland in which there's no "either-or," but "and-and," and where both sides can be right."Holownia rose to fame as the co-host of Poland's edition of "Got Talent," a TV show he quit last month after 12 seasons. Holownia is an activist, writer and journalist supporting the liberal wing of Poland's Catholic church. In his announcement speech, Holownia called for "friendly separation" of the church and the state.Holownia is likely to be one of at least a handful of challengers to Duda in the 2020 vote. The current president, who has the backing of the ruling camp which won the general election this year, tops all presidential and trust polls. The Civic Platform is still to pick its presidential candidate.To contact the reporter on this story: Maciej Onoszko in Warsaw at monoszko@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Hannah Benjamin at hbenjamin1@bloomberg.net, Andrew DavisFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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Dec 08, 2019
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday a "budget of resistance" against US sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment. Rouhani said the aim was to reduce "hardships" in Iran where a shock fuel price hike last month triggered nationwide demonstrations that turned deadly. After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of "maximum pressure". Iran has suffered a sharp economic downturn, with a plummeting currency sending inflation skyrocketing. Rouhani told parliament that the budget of 4,845 trillion rials, or $36 billion at the current street rate, was devised to help Iran's people overcome difficulty. "We know that under the situation of sanctions and pressure, people are in hardship. We know people's purchasing power has declined," he said. The budget would benefit from a $5 billion "investment" from Russia which was still being finalised, said Rouhani. "We hope that $5 billion in capital will enter the country, either through plans that have already been finalised or which will be finalised next year," he said. Iran and Russia have strengthened ties in recent years, with both backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war. Rouhani told lawmakers the budget, which includes a 15-percent public sector wage hike, "is a budget of resistance and perseverance against sanct
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Dec 08, 2019
Around 2,000 US Army soldiers have been banned from one of the main streets in the Italian city of Vicenza after a brawl between soldiers and locals. The temporary ban, which affects members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in the city, involves the quaint via Contra' Pescherie Vecchie, where two young Vicenza men say they were surrounded and beaten by several soldiers after a verbal exchange just outside a popular watering hole for off duty combat paratroopers. "This is not my face. I was not like this before," Riccardo Passaro, 21, told La Repubblica from the hospital where he is recovering from reconstructive facial surgery after his jaw was shattered. City authorities are studying CCTV images to identify the culprits of the latest violent episode, which prompted Mayor Francesco Rucco to request special restrictive measures from the base commander. Col. Kenneth Burgess issued a memo warning that personnel caught entering the restricted zone during the 45-day ban faced disciplinary sanctions. "It is a decree without precedent in Vicenza and for this we thank the American authorities," Mayor Rucco said. The US military presence in Vicenza has been expanding for the last decade, with construction of the large Del Din annex north of the historic Ederle garrison to help lodge US Africa Command and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, which conducts contingency response and NATO ally training in Europe. Vicenza's 113,000 inhabitants now intermingle, mostly peacefully, with more
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Dec 08, 2019
Hundreds of Syrian Kurds have returned home over recent weeks despite fears for their safety, amid complaints that thousands have been ‘imprisoned' in refugee camps in Iraq with little access to food, healthcare and work. Over the past month, around 100 people have been voluntarily returning each week from camps in Iraq after fleeing northern Syria at the start of a Turkish offensive in October designed to force out Kurdish forces. With winter setting in and resources dwindling, the numbers are likely to grow. Despite an official ceasefire, violence has continued in northeast Syria. The withdrawal of Kurdish forces has allowed the Assad regime to return to some areas, with many fearing it may carry out revenge attacks on its opponents. Human Rights Watch has also accused Turkish-backed forces of human rights abuses against the local population in the so-called 'safe zone' declared by the Turkish government. Some 17,000 Kurds have sought refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan since the early days of the operation. Thousands have fled a Turkish-led offensive that has led to accusations of ethnic cleansing against Kurds in northern Syria Credit: Anadolu Bardarash Camp, which is home to 9,500 newly displaced Syrian Kurds, is under strict security protocols. People are only allowed to step foot outside of the camp if they have a relative already living in the region who will sponsor them and are not allowed to return once they have left. Unable to leave the camp to work, food is scarce and many h
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Dec 08, 2019
A week after Meet the Press host Chuck Todd accused Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) of pushing Russian propaganda on Ukraine, the NBC News anchor forcefully confronted GOP Sen. Ted Cruz over the Texas lawmaker's belief that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.With the House of Representatives heading towards an impeachment vote, Cruz argued on Sunday that Democrats haven't yet proven that the president violated any laws, insisting that Trump was just concerned about "investigating corruption" when he pressured Ukraine to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden."What I don't understand is why do you believe that if an American is committing corruption we should have a foreign government to announce an investigation," Todd wondered aloud. "Is that appropriate or do you go to American authorities?""So, I believe any president, any Justice Department has the authority to investigate corruption," Crus responded. "In this case, there was serious evidence on the face of corruption. The reason Hunter Biden got that position is because his daddy was vice president."Fiona Hill Blasts GOP ‘Alternate Narrative' on UkraineTodd, meanwhile, pressed forward and asked the conservative senator whether or not he believed that Ukraine meddled in the election—a talking point that has gained more traction among Republicans lately."I do. And I think there is considerable evidence," Cruz replied."You do?" Todd shot back, expressing shock. "You do?!"Earlier this fall, the intelligence community briefe
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Dec 08, 2019
Asiye Abdulaheb told the Dutch De Volkskrant newspaper that she had a role in disseminating the explosive internal documents on Xinjiang.
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Dec 08, 2019
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday welcomed a Lebanese-born Swiss real estate mogul who purchased Nazi memorabilia at a German auction and is donating the items to Israel. Chatila, a Lebanese Christian who has lived in Switzerland for decades, paid some 600,000 euros ($660,000) for the items at the Munich auction last month, intending to destroy them after reading of Jewish groups' objections to the sale. Among the items he bought were Adolf Hitler's top hat, a silver-plated edition of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and a typewriter used by the dictator's secretary.
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Dec 08, 2019
Piero Terracina, one of the last survivors of Italy's tiny Jewish community who were deported to Nazi death camps during World War II, has died. Terracina died on Sunday, Rome's Jewish Community said. As a 15-year-old, he escaped the roundup by German occupying troops of Rome's Jews in 1943 and went into hiding with his family.
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Dec 08, 2019
The murders in Florida come at an already tense time. The kingdom's role in the 2018 slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi remains a festering wound.
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Dec 08, 2019
Six people have been arrested after an off-duty firefighter was killed in an altercation between two couples and a group of young men in the southern German city of Augsburg, authorities said Sunday. The couples had just left a Christmas market late Friday when they ran into the seven-strong group and an argument started, according to police. Dozens of Augsburg firefighters held a vigil Sunday for their colleague and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer voiced his dismay at the killing.
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Dec 08, 2019
At least 43 people were killed Sunday in a devastating fire that ripped through a bag factory in the congested old quarter of the Indian capital New Delhi, with survivors describing the screams of scores of trapped workers who were sleeping inside. The blaze was the worst in Delhi since 59 movie-goers died in a cinema in 1997, with the city's poor planning and enforcement of building and safety regulations often responsible for such deadly incidents. Tearful relatives spoke of receiving desperate calls from factory workers begging to be freed from the inferno in the dark, poorly lit premises in the commercial hub of Sadar Bazar from around 5:00am (23:30 GMT).
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Dec 08, 2019
Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician, Saad al-Hariri, re-emerged as a candidate for prime minister on Sunday when businessman Samir Khatib withdrew his candidacy to lead a government that must tackle an acute economic crisis. Hariri quit as prime minister on Oct. 29, prompted by mass protests against an entire political class blamed for state corruption and steering Lebanon into the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. Under the country's power sharing system, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim.
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Dec 08, 2019
A Uighur woman living in the Netherlands has gone public about helping to leak secret Chinese government documents regarding human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang province because of fears for her safety. Asiye Abdulaheb told Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that she was involved in last month's leak of papers to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which highlighted the Chinese government's crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang. The reveal, which followed an earlier document leak to the New York Times, showed how the Chinese government has indoctrinated and punished over a million Muslims, mainly members of the Uighur ethnic minority, in internment camps. Ms Abdulaheb, 46, told the New York Times that she went public to dissuade Chinese authorities from harming her, her ex-husband Jasur Abibula and the former couple's two children. She said that after tweeting an excerpt from the documents in June she received a message on Facebook saying: "If you don't stop, you'll end up cut into pieces in the black trash can in front of your doorway." Ms Abdulaheb and Mr Abibula are Dutch citizens and have lived in the Netherlands since 2009. Ms Abdulaheb said she had worked in a government office in Xinjiang, and was sent the secret documents electronically by an unnamed source or sources in June. Mr Abibula was convinced by a Xinjiang-based friend to travel to Dubai in September where, according to Ms Abdulaheb, he was met by Chine
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Dec 08, 2019
Two years after Finland launched a basic-income trial for unemployed residents, many of the recipients remained jobless.
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Dec 08, 2019
(Bloomberg) -- The standoff in Venezuela briefly took a new twist, according to a report from the Spanish newspaper ABC.People close to both President Nicolas Maduro and his rival Juan Guaido plotted to push both men aside and end the nation's crisis with the rule of a temporary junta, the newspaper reported without citing where it got the information.The article didn't cite sources by name, nor was it completely clear how deeply embedded the plan was before it was discovered and fell apart. But the story suggests a strong desire within the camps of both men to end the standoff between Maduro and Guaido almost a year old. Guaido, the National Assembly president, has been recognized by more than 50 countries, including the U.S., as Venezuela's leader.Third WayThe ABC story suggested a third way, which the paper reported was born out of talks between emissaries of high-ranking Venezuelan officials with opposition leaders, in four countries between April and October this year, after huge rallies demanding Maduro's exit.The key figure appears to be Humberto Calderon Berti, then the designated ambassador to Colombia who Guaido dismissed last month. He was the main Guaido negotiator in the talks with the emissaries for Venezuelan officials who defied Maduro.At some point in the talks, the paper said, Calderon Berti was approached to head a "transitional junta" -- a small group of powerful men who would lead the nation for 18 months. The paper said that an agreement was drafted by August, with the document outlining the political changes to oust Maduro, sideline Guaido and install the junta sent around to the key players.The Venezuelan officials who sent emissaries for the secret talks included presiden
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Dec 08, 2019
A TV reporter said she was left "violated" and "embarrassed" after being smacked on the bottom during a live broadcast.Alex Bozarjian, of WSAV News, was reporting roadside from a 10km race in Savannah, Georgia, when a male participant ran up behind and struck her.
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Dec 08, 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron this week faces the first major test of his policy of directly engaging with Russia that has disturbed some European allies, as he hosts a summit seeking progress in ending the Ukraine conflict. Joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Macron will bring together Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for their first face-to-face meeting at an afternoon summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday. The stakes are high: this will be the first such summit in three years and while diplomats caution against expecting a major breakthrough, a failure to agree concrete confidence-building steps would be seen as a major blow to hopes for peace and also Macron's personal prestige.
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Dec 08, 2019
A game-changer or just some really cool marketing?
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Dec 08, 2019
Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect — and that means ensuring no one faces unfair treatment because of their LGBTQ identity.
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Dec 08, 2019
The body of a Japanese doctor killed in a roadside shooting in Afghanistan arrived back home Sunday, with government officials on hand to lead a brief ceremony of mourning at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. Tetsu Nakamura was killed last week, along with five Afghans who had been traveling with him. Keisuke Suzuki, Japan's state minister of foreign affairs, joined other officials in bowing their heads in prayer after laying flowers by the coffin, draped in white, in a solemn ceremony in honor of Nakamura at the airport.
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Dec 08, 2019
Though China's brutal campaign is most active in Xinjiang, many Uighurs living abroad say they've been targeted by Chinese agents.
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Dec 08, 2019
Iran's president said on Sunday his country will depend less on oil revenue next year, in a new budget that is designed to resist crippling U.S. trade embargoes. Iran is in the grip of an economic crisis. The U.S. re-imposed sanctions that block Iran from selling its crude oil abroad, following President Trump's decision to withdraw from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
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Dec 07, 2019
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators crammed into Hong Kong's streets on Sunday, their chants echoing off high-rises, in a mass show of support for a protest movement that shows no signs of flagging as it enters a seventh month. Chanting "Fight for freedom" and "Stand with Hong Kong," a sea of protesters formed a huge human snake winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone, a distance of more than 2 kilometers (1 1/4 miles). Protesters spilled into narrow side streets, crying "Revolution in our times." One protester crawled part of the route prostrated on her hands and knees, dragging bricks and empty soda cans behind her.
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Dec 07, 2019
Indian authorities were investigating the cause of a devastating fire that killed at least 43 people in a factory in central New Delhi early Sunday, as relatives of the workers who were trapped inside waited outside a hospital mortuary to identify the dead. Firefighters had to fight the blaze from 100 meters (yards) away because it broke out in one of the area's many alleyways, tangled in electrical wire and too narrow for vehicles to access, authorities said. A resident of the area, Mohammed Naushad, said he was woken by people wailing at around 4:30 a.m. He went outside to find smoke and flames shooting out of a building near Sadar Bazaar, New Delhi's largest wholesale market for household goods.
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Dec 07, 2019
China's trade surplus with the United States for November stood at $24.60 billion, Reuters calculation based on Chinese customs data showed on Sunday, easing from the previous month's surplus of $26.45 billion. China's January-November trade surplus with the United States stood at $272.5 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on Chinese customs data. Customs said China's total trade with the United States fell 15.2% for the first 11 months of 2019, with exports dropping 12.5% and imports slipping 23.3%.
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Dec 07, 2019
The gunman was a Saudi national living in the US as an aviation student. 'Nonimmigrant aliens' are typically barred from buying guns.
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Dec 07, 2019
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore's agreement to establish a fighter jet training detachment on Guam "sets the trajectory" in which the city-state sees itself in partnership with the U.S, its defense chief said.Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper signed the agreement, which followed the recent renewal of a pact that allows American forces use of Singapore bases, according to a statement on the Singapore Ministry of Defence's website.Most leaders and people in Asia would say they want America's presence to be continued, Ng said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. "They don't want to choose between great power rivalry between the U.S. and China, but they also both want to be involved, including other powers."Ng said U.S. domestic politics, which he described as "not business as usual" and "hard not to notice," are causing an adjustment in policy, without elaborating.To contact the reporters on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net;Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Keith GosmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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Dec 07, 2019
Seema Verma wrote in her claim that none of the jewelry was insured, and that the items were appraised by a jeweler several weeks after the theft.
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Dec 07, 2019
North Korea has carried out a "very important" test at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media KCNA reported on Sunday, a rocket testing ground that U.S. officials once said Pyongyang had promised to close. The reported test comes as a year-end deadline North Korea has imposed nears, warning it could take a "new path" amid stalled denuclearization talks with the United States. The KCNA report called it a "successful test of great significance" on Saturday but did not specify what was tested.
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Dec 07, 2019
Hundreds of legal scholars have concluded there is "overwhelming evidence" that Donald Trump engaged in impeachable conductIn an open letter to congress, more than 600 academics from law schools including Yale, Rutgers and Harvard said it would be constitutional to remove the president.
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Dec 07, 2019
Public transport in France was crippled for a fourth day Sunday as the government prepared to respond to anger over pension reforms that brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets as workers embarked on open-ended protest. President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and senior cabinet ministers are scheduled to hold a "working meeting" late Sunday to discuss a government project which the country's powerful labour unions claim will force many to work longer for a smaller retirement payout. The strikes, which began Thursday over plans for a single, points-based pension scheme, recalled the winter of 1995, when three weeks of stoppages forced a social policy U-turn by the then-government.
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Dec 07, 2019
Thousands of black-clad protesters from all walks of life thronged the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in a sign of broad support for anti-government demonstrations that have roiled the Chinese-ruled city for six months. Authorities gave the green light to Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) - organizer of largely peaceful million-strong marches in June - to hold the rally, the first time the group has been granted permission for a protest since Aug. 18. "I will fight for freedom until I die because I am a Hong Konger," said June, a 40-year-old mother dressed in black seated on the grass in Victoria Park.
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Dec 07, 2019
Four people were killed and two injured in a shooting on Saturday near Mexico's National Palace, the presidential residence in the capital's historic downtown, officials said. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was traveling outside of Mexico City on Saturday. Preliminary reports indicated an armed man entered a building on a small street near the palace looking to relieve himself, Mexico City police said.
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Dec 07, 2019
Four people were killed and two injured in a shooting on Saturday near Mexico's National Palace, the presidential residence in the capital's historic downtown, officials said. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was traveling outside of Mexico City on Saturday. Preliminary reports indicated an armed man entered a building on a small street near the palace looking to relieve himself, Mexico City police said.
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Dec 07, 2019
"That's not their fault. That's on us," the Marine Corps commandant said of concerns over the app, adding, "I don't blame them for that."
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Dec 07, 2019
Former Rep. Katie Hill now says that she has "to keep going forward, and be part of the fight to create the change" to protect young women.
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Dec 07, 2019
Following reports that Amazon plans to open a new office in New York City, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the Trump administration "should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families."
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Dec 07, 2019
The Trump impeachment is about protecting our freedom and right to vote from lawless foreign election manipulation invited by a dangerous president.
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Dec 07, 2019
Democrats are meeting this weekend to prepare impeachment charges against Donald Trump, as he railed against the process on Twitter and declared himself "greatest of all presidents".The Judiciary Committee is expected to draft at least three articles of impeachment -- essentially charges of wrongdoing -- against Mr Trump which the whole House of Representatives is expected to vote on before Christmas.
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Dec 07, 2019
Maybe, but Russia has its own problem.
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Dec 07, 2019
Omoyele Sowore, imprisoned in his home country of Nigeria since August, has been freed from government custody, but still has to stand trial.
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Dec 07, 2019
Could this work?
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Dec 07, 2019
Israeli aircraft bombed several militants' sites in Gaza early Sunday, hours after three rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave toward southern Israel. On Saturday evening, Israel announced that its air defenses, known as "Iron Dome," intercepted two of three missiles coming from Gaza.
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Dec 07, 2019
Austrian writer Peter Handke devoted his Nobel Academy speech to literary questions Saturday, avoiding the controversy over his pro-Serbian views that led Kosovo to announce a boycott of next week's awards ceremony. The winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature discussed the role of memories in his work, in a speech ahead of the awards ceremony on Tuesday. Earlier Saturday, Kosovo's Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli said his country's envoy to Sweden would not attend the awards ceremony in Stockholm on Tuesday, in protest at Handke's support for Serbs in the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia.
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Dec 07, 2019
The suspect for the rape and murder of a young woman in northern France almost two decades ago was slowly emerging from a coma while under guard in hospital Saturday after he swallowed pesticide in an apparent suicide bid following his conviction. Willy Bardon, on trial over the murder of Elodie Kulik in 2002 in a case that has attracted strong interest in France for years, ingested the substance at the courthouse in the northern city of Amiens late on Friday. Bardon, 45, is under round-the-clock police surveillance in hospital.
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Dec 07, 2019
A CIA detainee's drawings detail the brutal reach of torture. They are part of a new Seton Hall report called "How America Tortures."
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Dec 07, 2019
Gambian President Adama Barrow on Saturday vowed to punish people traffickers as he mourned the deaths of 60 Europe-bound migrants who drowned off Mauritania when their boat capsized. "To lose 60 young lives at sea is a national tragedy and a matter of grave concern to my government," he said on national television. Barrow said 60 people were confirmed dead in Wednesday's tragedy.
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Dec 07, 2019
Killed were Chief Warrant Officer 2 James A. Rogers Jr., age 28; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charles P. Nord, 30; and Sgt. Kort M. Plantenberg, 28.
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Dec 07, 2019
Joshua Kaleb Watson, an Alabama native and Naval Academy graduate was identified as one of the victims of the Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting.
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Dec 07, 2019
A British caver who last year helped in the rescue of a Thai football team remains "a hero" and should have won his libel case against the "publicity-seeking" Elon Musk, his friends and fellow rescuers have said. Vernon Unsworth sought £145m in damages from the Tesla founder, arguing in court that his "defamatory" tweet calling him a "pedo guy" after the rescue of the 12 boys and their football coach damaged his reputation. However, a Los Angeles court on Friday unanimously ruled in favour of Mr Musk, worth an estimated £18 billion, as the judge said that the comments did not meet the legal standard for defamation. The pair became embroiled in a row after Mr Unsworth, an experienced cave explorer, branded Mr Musk's offer of a small submarine to help with the rescue effort a "PR stunt". Mr Musk responded by tweeting to his 22.5 million followers: "sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it" , before deleting it off his account. Tim Acton, part of the British diving supply team who brought oxygen tanks to the football team in June 2018, yesterday told The Telegraph that Mr Musk's proposal did in fact amount to a "publicity stunt". "Musk was trying to send a glorified scuba tank that probably would not have been able to go through the ceiling anyway," he said. "The feeling among many of the rescuers and volunteers was that he was getting involved as part of a publicity stunt." Elon Musk attends the closing arguments of his trial in the defamation case Credit: Mona Shafer Edwards/Reuters Tim'
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Dec 07, 2019
More than 2,000 people are expected at a ceremony Saturday to remember those killed when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor 78 years ago and launched the U.S. into World War II. Organizers of the public event at the Hawaii naval base say attendees will include about a dozen survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, the youngest of whom are now in their late 90s. U.S. Air Force fighter jets flying overhead in missing man formation will break the quiet.
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Dec 07, 2019
Tory Ojeda is a 20-year-old woman from Jacksonville, Fla., who is in a polyamorous relationship with four men. She is now expecting her first child with one of her partners. Ojeda told Barcroft Media that while the baby is biologically one of her partner's, the five of them plan on raising the child together as a family.
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Dec 07, 2019
Moscow can't afford it.
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Dec 07, 2019
The drone attack, which caused little damage and left no casualties, followed a deadly attack by armed men near Baghdad's main protest site on Friday night, which left at least 23 dead, police and medical sources said. Nearly 130 others were wounded by gunfire and stabbings targeting anti-government protesters at the Sinak bridge near Tahrir Square, the sources said. Thousands of Iraqis have occupied the central square and three nearby bridges which lead to the city's Green Zone, Iraq's political centre, for more than two months, calling for a complete uprooting of the political system.
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Dec 07, 2019
The Saudi student who fatally shot three sailors at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday. Officials investigating the deadly attack were working Saturday to determine whether it was motivated by terrorism, while President Donald Trump indicated he would review policies governing foreign military training in the United States. The Navy on Saturday identified the three victims and hailed them as heroes for trying to stop the shooter and flagging down first responders after being shot.
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Dec 07, 2019
Iran has released an American student who has spent the past three years in jail on spying charges in a prisoner swap.Xiyue Wang, a Princeton University graduate student, had been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted on charges of "spying under the cover of research".
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Dec 07, 2019
Roughly 1,000 Belarusians joined an unauthorised demonstration on Saturday against the prospect of a closer union with Russia. Long-time ruler Alexander Lukashenko was meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on Saturday to discuss "key issues in our bilateral relations, including the prospects for deepening integration", according to the Kremlin. Police quickly intervened to oversee the demonstration but made no arrests.
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Dec 07, 2019
Explaining that the president is "very concerned" about the Ford, Modly said that he is making fixing this flattop a top priority for the Navy.
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Dec 07, 2019
Iraq's anti-regime protesters gathered in the capital and south on Saturday, grieving but defiant after 17 were killed in an attack demonstrators described as "slaughter". The dramatic developments have threatened to derail the anti-government rallies rocking Iraq since October, the largest and deadliest grassroots movement in decades. Late Friday, at least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded when unidentified gunmen attacked a large building where protesters had camped out for weeks, medics said.
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Dec 07, 2019
Pelosi touched on a number of topics at the town hall, namely Trump's impeachment, bills passed by the House, and health care.
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Dec 07, 2019
Johnson wrote a column for the Spectator magazine in 1995 calling for free healthcare to be restricted to the "genuinely sick and for the elderly."
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Dec 07, 2019
An Iranian held in the US and an American held in Iran have been freed, the two sides said on Saturday, in an apparent prisoner swap at a time of heightened tensions. Tehran announced the release of Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani from the United States shortly before Washington declared American researcher Xiyue Wang was returning home. "Glad that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Mr. Xiyue Wang will be joining their families shortly," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted. "Many thanks to all engaged, particularly the Swiss government," which has looked after US interests in Iran in the absence of diplomatic ties, Mr Zarif added. n this Wednesday, May 9, 2018 file photo, Hua Qu, the wife of detained Chinese-American Xiyue Wang, poses for a photograph with a portrait of her family in Princeton, N.J Credit: AP State news agency IRNA said Mr Soleimani had been "freed moments ago after one year of illegal detention and was handed over to Iranian officials in Switzerland". In a statement issued in Washington, US President Donald Trump said that "after more than three years of being held prisoner in Iran, Xiyue Wang is returning to the United States". Mr Wang, a Chinese-born American, was serving 10 years on espionage charges in Iran. A doctoral candidate in history at Princeton University, he had been researching Iran's Qajar dynasty when he was imprisoned in August 2016. Rising tensions between UK, US and Iran Mr Soleimani is a professor and senior stem cell researcher at Tehran's Tarbiat Modares University who left for the United States on October 22,
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Dec 07, 2019
A top Indian rights group on Saturday launched an investigation into the police shooting of four rape-murder suspects after accusations they were gunned down in cold blood to assuage public anger. The launch of the investigation by the National Human Rights Commission comes as India also reeled from the death of another woman on Friday, set on fire on her way to a sexual assault court hearing in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
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Dec 07, 2019
"I probably shouldn't have used the word, but I could just tell you he is a friend of mine," Bloomberg said.
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Dec 07, 2019
Once feted by the West as a human rights heroine, Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to the Hague this week to defend her regime over accusations of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority, in one of the most-high profile international legal cases in a generation. Myanmar rejects the allegations which stem from the military's savage ethnic cleansing campaign in Rakhine state in 2017 that forced 740,000 people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they now live in squalid refugee camps. Ms Suu Kyi, who will personally represent her fledgling democracy when the first hearings kick off on Tuesday at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, has vowed to "defend the national interest." In doing so, she will be defending the military who once held her under house arrest for many years to keep her out of power. The Myanmar public have rallied to support Aung San Suu Kyi as she travels to the Hague Credit: Lynn Bo/REX Her decision to brush aside concerns that backing the military's brutality against the Rohingya will further tarnish her now sullied international reputation, has won her plaudits at home for once again championing the cause of her people. Myanmar tour companies have organised discount holiday packages to supporters who wish to attend the hearings, with Myanmar citizens in the Netherlands offering homestays and logistical support. Daw July, responsible for the visa service at one of the companies, said it was trying to sell the tickets as cheaply as possible. "It is a way to show
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Dec 07, 2019
An Iranian held in the US and an American held in Iran have been freed, the two sides said Saturday, in an apparent prisoner swap at a time of heightened tensions. Tehran announced the release of Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani from the United States shortly before Washington declared American researcher Xiyue Wang was returning home. "Glad that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Mr. Xiyue Wang will be joining their families shortly," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.
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Dec 07, 2019
China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a phone call on Saturday that the United States should stop interfering in China's internal affairs, according to a report by state TV. Citing the passing of the Uighur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, Yang said the United States had seriously violated international relations, and urged Washington to "correct its mistakes" and "immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs".
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Dec 07, 2019
The documents were cited by the UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to attack Prime Minister Boris Johnson over a planned US trade deal.
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Dec 07, 2019
Today, half of all phone calls are automated scams. Is there any way to stop this incessant bombardment? Here's everything you need to know:Why so many robocalls? Automated telephone calls might be America's most prevalent form of lawbreaking, with more than 180 million such calls every day. A 2009 law that banned unsolicited, prerecorded telemarketing has failed to stem the explosion of calls seeking to steal information or scare people into scams. In 2017, about 4 percent of U.S. phone calls were spam. But now, thanks to cheap software allowing crooks to blast millions of calls from disguised numbers, roughly 50 percent of all calls are junk. Just the time wasted dealing with robocalls costs Americans $3 billion per year, the FCC estimates, on top of untold billions lost from businesses that depend on real phone calls; 70 percent of Americans don't answer calls from unfamiliar numbers anymore, according to Consumer Reports. October was the worst month on record, with an estimated 5.7 billion robocalls. Hunting robocallers is like playing Whack-a-Mole, said Janice Kopec, a staff attorney for the Federal Trade Commission. "We shut down an operation, and another one springs up almost instantaneously."How do robocallers work? Two inventions are behind the robocall scourge. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) dialing — the technology used by apps like Skype — lets scammers place millions of calls a day, costing just $0.006 per minute if a call is answered. The other breakthrough is "neighborhood spoofing," which disguises robocalls to appear on caller ID with the same area code as the number being dialed, instead of an 800 number or distant area code. By one estimate, 90 percent of scam calls from
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Dec 07, 2019
Pundits have a ready explanation when one of their favorites loses or ends a campaign: The voters just didn't get to know the candidate the way media do. He or she was too wonky, or eager to please, or insular, or revealing, or uncertain for the masses. The electoral process made it impossible for him or her to connect with voters. The classic example is Hillary Clinton, who has reintroduced herself to the public umpteen times over the decades. A friend who knows her once told me I would like Clinton if only I got to meet her informally. I had a good laugh at that one.A similar lament greeted the news that Kamala Harris had dropped out of the Democratic primary. Last year, CNN ranked Harris first among the contenders. Now it's back to the Senate. The Washington Free Beacon compiled a short video of media types saddened by Harris's departure. A New York Times op-ed asked, "Did We Ever Know the Real Kamala Harris?" Writers for the Washington Post said that Harris failed because she lacked "a theory of the case" and wasn't able "to explain why she was running for president." Yes, it helps to have a reason for your candidacy beyond media reports that you check all the right boxes. But the argument that Harris flopped because of a failure to communicate lets her off easy.The Times piece didn't mention the policy initiative upon which Harris launched her campaign: Bernie Sanders's Medicare-for-All legislation, which would eliminate private and employer-based health insurance. Harris signed on as a cosponsor to the bill last April. It's hau
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Dec 07, 2019
Scientists warn that ocean deoxygenation will have widespread global effects on marine ecosystems and the people that rely on them.
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Dec 07, 2019
A Saudi trainee military pilot reportedly condemned the United States as a "nation of evil" before carrying out a mass shooting at a top US Navy base in Florida. Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani killed three people and injured eight before being shot dead himself by police at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Saudi Air Force officer, who was on a US-sponsored training programme, reportedly posted a manifesto on Twitter in which he wrote: "I'm against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil." It went on: "I'm not against you for just being American, I don't hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity." According to the the SITE intelligence group, which monitors jihadist activity, the messages were posted hours before the shooting, and quoted Osama bin Laden. The FBI was investigating whether the postings were made by Alshamrani, and whether he was part of a wider group. Navy Capt. Tim Kinsella briefs members of the media following a shooting at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The US Navy is confirming that a shooter is dead and several injured after gunfire at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Credit: Pensacola News Journal Agents detained six other Saudis for questioning, three of whom reportedly started filing after the attack. It was not clear whether they had any connection to the gunman or wer
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Dec 07, 2019
At the Trinchera Blanca Ranch in Colorado, a massive tree-eating machine called the feller buncher is used to thin out trees
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Dec 07, 2019
Indian border officials and embassies have issued an alert for a fugitive guru accused of rape, the government said, days after the holy man announced the creation of his own "cosmic" country. Swami Nithyananda -- one of many self-styled Indian "godmen" with thousands of followers and a chequered past -- is wanted by police for alleged rape, sexual abuse, and abduction of children. Earlier this week, he announced online that he has created his own new country -- reportedly off Ecuador's coast -- complete with cabinet, golden passports, and even a department of homeland security.
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Dec 07, 2019
The news that Senator Kamala Harris has dropped out of the race highlights the fact that the Democratic field is growing less diverse with each passing month. It's now reached the point where a field that showed such promising diversity at first has been whittled down essentially to four people with first-tier status, and they're all white. There is diversity within than foursome--a gay man, a Jewish man, a woman. But in a party so dependent on voters of color, this is striking--and not in a good way. Of course, there is nothing wrong with Democrats selecting a white presidential candidate to represent the party. But that should be up to the voters, and not the DNC by means of their debate inclusion practices.Those candidates can, however strike a blow for diversity. They should band together and threaten to boycott the December Democratic debate unless the DNC and media partners agree to not exclude candidates who have shown measurable public support before the voting begins. That includes, at the very least, Cory Booker and Julian Castro, and could also include Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard, who have managed to make the most recent debate stage despite long odds.Although Harris had qualified for the December debate, her exit could create an unacceptable scenario on December 19 when the candidates gather in Los Angeles. Booker and Castro's exclusion, coupled with the probable exclusion of other candidates of color including Yang and Gabbard, means the December debate cou
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Dec 07, 2019
Toxicology and post-mortem reports done by the medical examiner's office indicated she had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.28, more than three times the legal limit in New Mexico.
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Dec 07, 2019
Richard Nixon was the first president in more than a century to face impeachment. Donald Trump is the third. A look at why impeachment is more common.
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Dec 07, 2019
Meet the H-20 and JH-XX
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Dec 07, 2019
Able-bodied adults will have to look for jobs.
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Dec 07, 2019
Iraqi officials said Saturday the casualty toll had risen to 25 dead and 130 wounded after a bloody night of attacks by unknown gunmen that targeted anti-government demonstrators in the capital. Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of parliament's Sairoon bloc, said a drone had targeted his home in the holy city of Najaf on Saturday, according to statements from the political party. The attack Friday was among the deadliest since Oct. 1, when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets calling for sweeping political reforms and the end of Iran's influence in Iraqi affairs.
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Dec 07, 2019
That's what one fictional article that went viral last week suggests. Could it come true?
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Dec 07, 2019
The state - which leads the way as US output of oil and gas is forecast to rise 25% in the next decade - is intensifying its production pipeline by pipelineIn the same month that Greta Thunberg addressed a UN summit and millions of people took part in a global climate strike, lawmakers in America's leading oil- and gas-producing state of Texas made a statement of their own.Texas's Critical Infrastructure Protection Act went into effect on 1 September, stiffening civil and criminal penalties specifically for protesters who interrupt operations or damage oil and gas pipelines and other energy facilities.Within a couple of weeks, two dozen Greenpeace activists who dangled off a bridge over the Houston ship channel became the first people charged under the new law, which allows for prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up to $500,000 for protest groups.The new Texas law is emblematic of the unyielding loyalty of conservative lawmakers to the fossil fuel industry in a state stacked with influential climate science deniers or sceptics such as the US senator and former Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz and which named a pipeline tycoon to its parks and wildlife conservation commission.With kindred spirits in the Trump White House, Texas is now intensifying its support of the fossil fuel industry and, pipeline by pipeline, literally laying the groundwork for production to ramp up even more in the next decade.The scale of new production is "staggering", according to an analysis by Globa
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Dec 07, 2019
The Imperial Japanese Army asked the government to provide one "comfort woman" for every 70 soldiers, Japan's Kyodo news agency said, citing wartime government documents it had reviewed, shedding a fresh light on Tokyo's involvement in the practice. "Comfort women" is a euphemism for the girls and women - many of them Korean - forced into prostitution at Japanese military brothels. The issue has plagued Japan's ties with South Korea for decades.
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Dec 06, 2019
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden said Friday he would not rule out appointing donors as ambassadors, but wouldn't make decisions about those roles based on someone's financial contributions."Nobody in fact will be appointed by me based on anything they contributed," he told a group of reporters aboard his "No Malarkey" bus in Decorah, Iowa."But, for example, you have some of the people who are out there that are prepared to in fact, that are fully qualified — head of everything from being the ambassador to NATO to be the ambassador to France or any other country — who may or may not have contributed, but that will not be any basis upon which I in fact would appoint anybody."Other Democratic presidential candidates, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have criticized the longstanding practice of appointing donors to governmental positions. Warren, who has sworn off high-dollar fundraisers, has vowed to not nominate wealthy contributors as ambassadors.In a wide-ranging 20-minute interview, Biden also defended his response to an Iowa voter who confronted him Wednesday over his son's work in Ukraine, which has come into sharp focus during the U.S. House impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump. He said he wanted to keep the focus on Trump, but reacted because the man made accusations that were false.Biden said his son did nothing wrong and referred to a statement by Hunter Biden that he exercised "poor judgment" in joining the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings."My son speaks for h
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Dec 06, 2019
A Saudi military student reportedly condemned America as a "nation of evil" in an online manifesto prior to opening fire Friday at a US naval base, killing three people before being shot dead by police. The shooting, which took place in a classroom building at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, left eight others wounded, including two sheriff's deputies who responded to the attack. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the shooter was from Saudi Arabia -- the same nationality as 15 of the 19 men involved in the 9/11 attacks, some of whom attended civilian flight school in Florida.
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Dec 06, 2019
The United States has better alternatives to deal with this crisis than abandoning its asylum laws and treating asylum seekers like criminals.
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Dec 06, 2019
Say hello to the Battle of Taranto.
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Dec 06, 2019
Samoa said on Saturday nearly 90% of eligible people had been vaccinated against measles as it lifted a two-day curfew imposed amid an outbreak that has killed 65 in recent weeks. There were, however, 103 new cases of measles reported since Friday, Samoa's Health Ministry said it a statement. The measles virus has infected almost 4,500 people in the South Pacific nation of just 200,000 since late October.
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Dec 06, 2019
(Bloomberg) -- Sanctions aimed at blocking the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany were included by U.S. lawmakers a must-pass defense bill, according to two people familiar with the legislation.The sanctions, which would apply to companies building the pipeline project of Russian energy company Gazprom PJSC, are modeled after a bill introduced earlier this year by Senators Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat.The measure targets vessels that lay the pipeline as well as executives from companies linked to those vessels, who could be denied visas and have transactions related to their U.S.-based property or interests blocked.The sanctions, which are attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, are intended to force a halt of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to a Senate Republican aide. Cruz said earlier this week that the project was within 60 days of completion. Lawmakers have pushed for the sanctions as they say they were growing frustrated with President Donald Trump's failure to act on his own authority to block the project, which U.S. officials fear would give Russia new leverage in Europe. Cruz has in recent days mounted an all-out push for the inclusion of the legislation in the defense bill. He has argued completion of the pipeline would "generate billions of dollars for Russia that will be used to fund military aggression against America and against Europe."The Nord Stream 2 project has divided the
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Dec 06, 2019
Hint: It's a certain type of bomb.
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Dec 06, 2019
A 23-year-old rape victim died in a hospital in the Indian capital two days after she was set on fire by a gang of men, including her alleged rapist, Reuters partner ANI reported on Saturday. The woman was on her way to board a train in Unnao district of northern Uttar Pradesh state to attend a court hearing when she was doused with kerosene and set on fire on Thursday, according to the police. Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state and has become notorious for its poor record regarding crimes against women, with more than 4,200 cases of rape reported there in 2017 - the highest in the country.
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Dec 06, 2019
A federal judge in McAllen, Texas, has temporarily blocked a plan for a construction firm favored by President Trump to build a privately funded segment of border wall along the banks of the Rio Grande River.
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Dec 06, 2019
Oil and gas groups were accused Saturday of seeking to influence climate talks in Madrid by paying millions in sponsorship and sending dozens of lobbyists to delay what scientists say is a necessary and rapid cut in fossil fuel use. A day after tens of thousands marched in the Spanish capital demanding climate action, seven environmental groups raised concerns to AFP over the role of fossil fuel representatives at the COP25 summit. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations agreed to limit global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and as close to 1.5C as possible.
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