EveryMintNews: October 2019

Thursday, 31 October 2019

Brazil wildfires: Blaze advances across Pantanal wetlands

The area is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, and a popular tourist destination.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2qbOtUY

Putin faces Syria money crunch after U.S. keeps control of oil fields

Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing an unwelcome new financial challenge in Syria after the U.S. pullback enabled his ally Bashar Assad to reclaim the biggest chunk of territory in the country still outside his control.

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A California couple who was forced to evacuate their home and winery share what it's really like to endure the wildfires engulfing the state

California's Sonoma wine country dealt with destructive wildfires in 2017. Here's how one winery is dealing with 2019's Kincade Fire.

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Pompeo: Trump–Zelensky Phone Conversation ‘Consistent’ With Administration’s Anti-Corruption Policy Goals

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday evening defended President Trump from accusations of corruption based on the contents of a phone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky."The call was consistent with what I had a long set of conversations with President Trump on our policy for an awfully long time," Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News. "Our policy has been very clear all along with respect to Ukraine."House Democrats are conducting an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump withheld military aid marked for Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate corruption allegations against political rival Joe Biden and his son. The inquiry is based in part on a July 25 conversation between Trump and Zelensky in which Trump repeatedly urges his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate the Bidens."I heard the President very clearly on that call talking about making sure that corruption – whether that corruption took place in the 2016 election, whether that corruption was continuing to take place, that the monies that were being provided would be used appropriately," he continued. "It was very consistent with what I’d understood President Trump and our administration to be doing all along."Pompeo asserted that State Department officials who have given testimony detrimental to Trump during House Democrats' impeachment inquiry were in fact on the same page as the President in regards to policy on Ukraine."My understanding is that every one of these individuals had the same Ukrainian policy that President Trump had," Pompeo said.The House is due to vote on formalizing the inquiry on Thursday.On Wednesday, National Security Council Ukraine expert Alexander Vindman, who listened to the call between Trump and Zelensky, testified to Congress that the transcript of the conversation released by the White House had been altered.

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2 women have been criminally charged over their partners' suicides. Why do men escape the same blame?

Experts told Insider they could not recall a similar instance of a man being charged with manslaughter in connection with his partner's suicide.

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Graphic: Examining the weapons and tactics used by police and protesters in Hong Kong

As the showdown between police and protesters in Hong Kong has intensified, officers have used increasing force, deploying an arsenal of crowd-control weapons, including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, sponge grenades and bean bag rounds. Protesters have also stepped up their actions, hurling petrol bombs, vandalizing mainland Chinese banks and businesses believed to be pro-Beijing, throwing bricks at police stations and battling officers in the streets, sometimes with metal bars. Reuters scrutinized hundreds of images of the protests, as well as dozens of police reports and video footage, and combined this research with reporting on the ground to document the weapons used by the police and protesters, and how the violence has increased from day to day.

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Latest Impeachment Witness Contradicts Vindman’s Claim That Key Details Were Left Out of Ukraine Call Transcript

A senior White House official who listened to President Trump's controversial phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky testified Thursday in a closed-door impeachment hearing that the White House did not omit any key details of the conversation from the publicly-released transcript.The official, Tim Morrison, also told House lawmakers he did not think Trump discussed anything illegal on the call.“I want to be clear, I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed,” Morrison said in remarks to Congress.Morrison's testimony contradicts that of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert, who testified on Tuesday that he believes the White House omitted from the transcript Trump's claim that recordings of vice president Joe Biden existed that implicated him in corrupt dealings.During a July 25 phone call with Zelensky, Trump asked the Ukrainian president to help the U.S. investigate allegations that Biden used his position as vice president to help Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings avoid a corruption probe soon after his son, Hunter Biden, was appointed to its board of directors. That phone conversation has become the crux of House Democrats' formal impeachment inquiry against Trump.Vindman added that he was concerned enough by Trump's call with Ukraine that he reported it to one of his superiors."I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government's support of Ukraine," Vindman said, according to his prepared testimony. "I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained."Morrison also disputed the account of a conversation that Ambassador Bill Taylor described in his testimony to Congress last week. Taylor recalled Morrison telling him about a separate conversation between U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and one of Zelensky's top advisers, in which Sondland told the adviser that the military aid was contingent on Zelensky's willingness to publicly announce a probe into Burisma.“My recollection is that Ambassador Sondland’s proposal to Yermak was that it could be sufficient if the new Ukrainian prosecutor general, not President Zelensky, would commit to pursue the Burisma investigation,” Morrison told lawmakers.The House voted Thursday along party lines to pass a resolution advancing the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

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How The B-1 Lancer Went From A Nuclear Bomber To an ISIS Killer

Priorities and capabilities change with time.

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Death sentence confirmed against four men in Morocco backpacker murders

A Moroccan appeals court upheld, late on Wednesday, death sentences against three Moroccan men for murdering two Scandinavian women in the Atlas mountains last December. A fourth man was also handed capital punishment after he was sentenced to life in prison by an anti-terrorism court on July 18. The other three were handed death sentences at the time.

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What Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot Citroën Merger Will Mean for U.S. Car Buyers

Now that FCA and PSA confirm they're doing a 50/50 merger, we're more likely to see technology being shared than cars being added to the U.S. market.

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House of Representatives votes to progress Donald Trump impeachment inquiry in historic moment

The US House of Representatives has voted to move forward its impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, putting a congressional stamp on the historic bid to remove him from office. The House, where the Democrats hold the majority, voted 232 to 196 on a resolution that spelled out the process for how the impeachment inquiry will progress. It is the first time in 21 years that the House has backed an impeachment inquiry, something that only three other US presidents have faced in history. The vote split down party lines, with every Republican opposing the resolution and all but two Democrats voting for it. The result means that the impeachment inquiry will soon enter a public phase, with open hearings due to take place with key witnesses in the Ukraine scandal. It will also give both Republican and Democrat members the chance to question those people giving testimony while the nation watches. Process of impeachment The resolution was a response to fierce criticism from Republicans, from Mr Trump down, about the behind-closed-doors nature of the probe to date. But it is also a symbolic and historic moment, the first time the House has voted on this impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump. Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton are the only other US presidents that have faced an inquiry tasked with considering whether they should be removed from office. The White House immediately released a statement condemning the vote, indicating it will not change its stance of non-cooperation with the investigation. Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said that Mr Trump had done “nothing wrong” and that the Democrats had an “unhinged obsession” with getting rid of the president. “The Democrats want to render a verdict without giving the Administration a chance to mount a defense. That is unfair, unconstitutional, and fundamentally un-American,” she said. Minutes after the vote, Mr Trump tweeted: "The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!" The top of the resolution which the US House of Representatives passed on Thursday The inquiry, which is investigating whether Mr Trump committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” by urging Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, has been running for 37 days. It was launched by the Democrats without a vote. Mr Biden, the former US vice president, is one of the front-runners to win the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election. The winner of that contest will face Mr Trump next November. The Democratic leadership will be pleased that all but two of its members backed the resolution to progress the inquiry. Around a third of House Democrats had been against such a move a few months ago. The two Democrats who voted against the resolution were Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. Both of their districts voted for Mr Trump in the 2016 election. However the White House will take heart from the fact that not a single Republican member backed the resolution. A vote split almost perfectly along party lines will help its attempt to portray the impeachment inquiry as being pursued for political reasons. One independent member, Justin Amash of Michigan, voted for the resolution. He was a Republican but left the party in July after repeatedly clashing with the party leadership. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, addressing House members as she called for a resolution progressing the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump to be passed The debate on the floor of the House on Thursday revealed the wide gap between Republicans and Democrats on the necessity of the inquiry. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, spoke standing next to an American flag as she urged her colleagues to vote to move forward with the impeachment process. "What is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy. I proudly stand next to the flag,” Ms Pelosi said. "So many have fought and died for this flag, which stands for our democracy.” Ms Pelosi, along with many of her Democratic colleagues, said that she took no “glee or comfort” from impeachment, framing the inquiry vote as a “solemn occasion” which amounted to protecting the US Constitution. Other Democrat House members argued there was “evidence” that Mr Trump has committed impeachable offences and urged others to consider what people would say in 100 years time if they voted to block the inquiry. Where now? | Next steps in the impeachment inquiry However Republican after Republican used the debate to dismiss the impeachment inquiry as a “show trial” and a “total sham”, calling the vote a “dark day” for American democracy. Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican member in the House, said that Democrats were pushing impeachment in an attempt to “influence” next year’s presidential election. "Democrats are trying to impeach the president because they are scared they cannot defeat him at the ballot box,” he said. He jokingly noted the vote was being held on Halloween as he framed the impeachment inquiry as a fiercely partisan attempt to overturn the 2016 election result. Steve Scalise, a senior Republican in the House, appeared alongside a red poster bearing a sickle and hammer and Red Square imagery as he derided the “Soviet-style” impeachment proceedings. Steve Scalise, one of the most senior Republicans in the House of Representatives, arguing against the resolution on Thursday Mr Scalise said that the Democrats were abusing their majority on the House committees which are leading the impeachment inquiry to “run roughshod” over convention. Mr Trump, who has been defiant in the face of the inquiry, tweeted “READ THE TRANSCRIPT!” as the debate went on. He has argued the transcript of a July 25 call he had with the Ukrainian president, where he urged an investigation into Mr Biden, was “perfect”. He later tweeted: The Impeachment Hoax is hurting our Stock Market. The Do Nothing Democrats don’t care!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2019

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How Boris Johnson’s Brexit Election Gamble Could Backfire

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.Boris Johnson has succeeded, finally, in getting Parliament to give him the general election that he wants. The polls have him far ahead: YouGov had 36% of voters backing his Conservatives, with Labour in second place on 23%. But his move is still a risky one. Here are the ways it could go wrong.Polling ErrorRemember the 2015 U.K. election shock? And the 2016 Brexit referendum shock? And the 2017 U.K. election shock? A common feature of all of them was a failure of the polling companies to properly detect a shift in public opinion.At the very time that we want faster, better data from them, pollsters face unprecedented challenges. In particular, they struggle to reach younger, more mobile voters, those who might be expected to oppose Johnson’s Conservatives and Brexit.Votes vs SeatsEven if the pollsters get close with the total vote share, translating it into the thing that matters, seats in Parliament, is very hard. Votes can pile up unevenly. In 2017, the Tories won 42% of the vote, but 49% of the seats. Labour won 40% of both.Tory FatigueThe Conservatives have now been in power for nine years, and even Cabinet ministers acknowledge privately that the last three of those years haven’t been a great advertisement for Tory government. The party’s recent discovery of unity behind Johnson might not outweigh years of infighting and indecision.Hard TimesIt’s not just that the Tories have been in power for a long time, they’ve been in power for a long time while people haven’t got any richer. According to the Office for National Statistics, median weekly earnings are still 2.9% below their 2008 level. That’s not a great backdrop for an election.Brexit FactorJohnson’s slogan, “Get Brexit Done,” feels like an appealing message to a public weary of months of knife-edge votes and reverses. But it’s also an admission that this government has had a single project since 2016, has failed to deliver on it, and everyone is sick of waiting.Johnson hopes to turn that frustration into votes for Conservatives. But voters could conclude that Brexit was a Conservative project -- a Johnson project, in fact -- and that if they’re tired of it, they need someone different in charge.The failure to complete the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU also leaves the door open to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party to take votes away from the Tories. If Farage does well enough to stop Tories winning key seats, Corbyn could ultimately benefit.Money’s TightJohnson’s other message is that by getting Brexit dealt with, he will be able to focus on spending money on things people do like, such as schools and hospitals. This too is an admission of failure.After nine years of spending restrictions, Britain’s public services are squeezed: libraries are closing, knife crime is rising, numbers of rough sleepers are increasing. Labour will be very happy to fight an election on the question of who is better at spending money on things.Character FlawsThe Conservatives are pinning a lot of their hopes on Johnson’s undoubted fame. Unlike his predecessor Theresa May, he enjoys campaigning. But that fame brings a problem. Most people have made up their minds what they think of Johnson, and a lot of them don’t like him.According to YouGov, 47% of people have a negative opinion of him, against 33% who have a positive one. Labour is pushing hard on Johnson’s tendency to go back on promises.The Conservatives, too, plan to make much of their opponent’s character: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has even worse scores than Johnson: 58% negative, against 23% positive. But at the last election, Corbyn was able to shrug off criticism of his past statements.Mixed MessagesJohnson risks losing a whole load of Conservative seats in places that don’t like Brexit too: southern England, and Scotland. According to Joe Twyman of Deltapoll, that leaves the prime minister trying to pull off a difficult trick.“He needs to convince Remain-leaning Conservative voters to forget Brexit and vote Conservative,” Twyman said. “At the same time convince Leave-leaning Labour voters to hold their noses about him and vote for Brexit.”Right Votes, Wrong PlacesA different version of the same problem is that the Conservatives’ strongly pro-Brexit message helps them do very well in areas they already hold. According to Twyman, of the 50 most “Leave” areas, 24 are already Conservative. Extra votes there don’t help.Accidents HappenConservative politicians are fond of saying that they’ll never run a campaign as bad as the one May ran in 2017. In particular they point to her announcement of a plan to fund care for the elderly from the value of their houses.But things can go wrong. The 2017 campaign was interrupted by terrorist attacks. Johnson could find himself unexpectedly tested. He may be just about the only politician known to everyone by his first name, but he’s also the only one to have had to apologize to an entire city -- Liverpool, in 2004.His team have been keen to keep him away from difficult questions. In the intense scrutiny of an election campaign, that will be harder than ever.To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-JacksonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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46 fire: Caused by fiery end to police chase, blaze grows to 300 acres - Los Angeles Times

46 fire: Caused by fiery end to police chase, blaze grows to 300 acres Los Angeles Times
California Fires Live Updates: Homes Burn in San Bernardino The New York Times
My father’s library will likely survive the fires, but the California of my youth is gone The Washington Post
Red Flag Warning May Be Extended for Parts of SoCal Through Friday, but Santa Anas Not Expected Next Week KTLA Los Angeles
California's on Fire, Unplugged and Out of Easy Answers. So Why Don't We…? Lost Coast Outpost
View full coverage on Google News

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Who Is John Eisenberg? Trump Lawyer Moved Ukraine Transcript to Classified Server After Vindman Complained - Newsweek

Who Is John Eisenberg? Trump Lawyer Moved Ukraine Transcript to Classified Server After Vindman Complained NewsweekView full coverage on Google News

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Senate Democrats block defense spending bill over Trump wall | TheHill - The Hill

Senate Democrats block defense spending bill over Trump wall | TheHill The Hill
Senate succeeds — then stumbles — on spending bills amid border wall fight POLITICO
Senate spending impasse sets up shutdown fight The Washington TImes
Senate passes first spending package as shutdown looms | TheHill The Hill
The Latest: Dems block Pentagon funding over border wall Washington Post
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Kevin Durant has a broader perspective after being sidelined with injury – Jay Williams | First Take - ESPN

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Won’t tolerate adultery, homosexuality: Army

The Army remains steadfast that it will not tolerate homosexuality or adultery in its ranks despite SC judgements decriminalizing them last year. The force is clear that action will be taken for “unbecoming conduct” under Section 45 of the Army Act of 1950. Lt Gen Ashwani Kumar said, "the Army will abide by the law of the land" but "something which is legal may not be ethical."

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2BZ7IUr

Fire in California: Latest news on Easy Fire in Simi Valley, Getty Fire in Los Angeles, Kincade Fire and evacuations today — live updates - CBS News

Fire in California: Latest news on Easy Fire in Simi Valley, Getty Fire in Los Angeles, Kincade Fire and evacuations today — live updates CBS NewsView full coverage on Google News

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'No further discussion': Talks halt between whistleblower lawyers and Schiff staff amid expectation he won't testify - Washington Examiner

'No further discussion': Talks halt between whistleblower lawyers and Schiff staff amid expectation he won't testify Washington Examiner
House approves rules for impeachment process CBS News
'Bigger problems': Republican lawmaker says Schiff should confirm name of whistleblower Washington Examiner
Judge Andrew Napolitano: Proof of Trump’s impeachable offenses plain to see Fox News
Adam Schiff denies impeachment rules are unfair CBS Evening News
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At least 73 dead in massive train fire in eastern Pakistan - The Washington Post

At least 73 dead in massive train fire in eastern Pakistan The Washington PostView full coverage on Google News

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WeWork, Former CEO Adam Neumann Accused of Rampant Pregnancy and Gender Discrimination - Gizmodo

WeWork, Former CEO Adam Neumann Accused of Rampant Pregnancy and Gender Discrimination Gizmodo
Ex-WeWork CEO accused of gender discrimination, smoking pot in front of pregnant staffer CNBC
WeWork’s Ousted C.E.O. Adam Neumann Is Accused of Pregnancy Discrimination The New York Times
Former chief of staff to WeWork founder claims discrimination Financial Times
WeWork, former CEO Adam Neumann accused of pregnancy discrimination Yahoo Finance
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Diablo 4 leak has good news for Diablo 2 fans - SlashGear

Diablo 4 leak has good news for Diablo 2 fans SlashGear
Diablo 4 is one big throwback to Diablo 2, according to latest BlizzCon 2019 leak GamesRadar
What to Expect from Blizzcon 2019: Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, Protests IGN
Why It’s Important That Gamers Are Calling to #BoycottBlizzard The New York Times
When Will Overwatch 2 Come Out? The Game Haus
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Ellen DeGeneres Transforms into 'Cardi E' for Halloween - Entertainment Tonight

Ellen DeGeneres Transforms into 'Cardi E' for Halloween Entertainment Tonight
Cardi B Meets Cardi E TheEllenShow
FYI—Ellen Degeneres Just Won Halloween With This Cardi B Costume Yahoo Lifestyle
Cardi B Teaches Ellen How To Twerk & Reveals She May Sign "Rhythm + Flow" Rappers HotNewHipHop
Cardi B Teams Up With Ellen DeGeneres for a Halloween Twerk Session E! NEWS
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Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Trump pick for Russia envoy grilled by senators on Ukraine

The No. 2 official at the State Department faced off Wednesday with senators demanding to know why he didn't know more about the Trump administration's backchannel diplomacy with Ukraine and the dismissal of the former U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, issues now at the heart of the impeachment inquiry into the president. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Russia, told senators at his confirmation hearing that he did not know of any attempt by the president or others to press Ukraine to open a corruption probe into Joe Biden's son, Hunter.

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Trump Administration Challenges California Sanctuary Law in Supreme Court

The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down California's "sanctuary law," which hinders cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.The administration is challenging several provisions in the California Values Act, or S.B. 54. The law prohibits officials from sharing information with ICE about a suspect's release from custody, eliminating any opportunity for ICE agents to take illegal immigrants into custody before they are released from local jails. It also prohibits local law-enforcement officers from sharing physical descriptions of suspects with immigration authorities."The practical consequences of California’s obstruction are not theoretical; as a result of SB 54, criminal aliens have evaded the detention and removal that Congress prescribed, and have instead returned to the civilian population, where they are disproportionately likely to commit additional crimes," the Trump administration argued in its petition, which was filed Monday.While the provisions of S.B. 54 do not technically apply to suspects with a violent criminal history, since the law effectively prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, immigration officials must stake out jails and police stations to await the release of non-citizen suspects from custody, and only then make arrests.Last week at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ICE official Timothy Robbins claimed that the Los Angeles police department was releasing as many as 100 illegal immigrants per day from custody."Cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies is critical to the agency’s efforts to identify and arrest removable aliens, and to protect the nation’s security,” Robbins said at the time. “Unfortunately, we are seeing more jurisdictions that refuse to work with our officers, or directly impede our public safety efforts."

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Biden's communion denial highlights faith-politics conflict

A Roman Catholic priest's denial of communion to Joe Biden in South Carolina on Sunday illustrates the fine line presidential candidates must walk as they talk about their faiths: balancing religious values with a campaign that asks them to choose a side in polarizing moral debates. The awkward moment for Biden came during a weekend campaign swing through South Carolina, a pivotal firewall in his hopes to claim the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice president on Sunday visited St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, a midsize city in the state's largely rural northeast.

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Cong asks how ‘broker’ Madi Sharma had PMO access

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2WreDzn

How to Eat Alone (and Like It)

By BY JESS MCHUGH from NYT Smarter Living https://ift.tt/31WLbCt

Georgia Plans to Purge 300,000 Names From Its Voter Rolls

By BY NICHOLAS CASEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2WrdJ5X

Stick to Sports? No Way. Deadspin Journalists Quit en Masse.

By BY MARC TRACY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/31YbsQz

Hundreds of U.S. Troops Leaving, and Also Arriving in, Syria

By BY ERIC SCHMITT AND HELENE COOPER from NYT World https://ift.tt/331hmlz

Iraq Prime Minister Pressed to Quit as Protests Clog Streets

By BY ALISSA J. RUBIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/2pqzoyQ

Photos from space show the Kincade Fire's spread across California wine country

Satellites in space observed the Kincade Fire burning through dry vegetation. Infrared images show scorched land.

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Tucker Carlson and Guest Blame Diversity and ‘Woke’ Culture for California Fires

Fox NewsFox News host Tucker Carlson and his guest, conservative YouTube personality Dave Rubin, both insisted Tuesday night that the wildfires burning across California are due largely to progressive ideology, “woke” culture, and diversity in hiring.During Tuesday’s broadcast of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson welcomed on Rubin, a political commentator and podcaster, to discuss the issues surrounding the large fires engulfing the state, including those related to the electrical grid and firefighting methods.“PG&E; strikes me as almost a metaphor for the destruction of the state,” Carlson said about the state’s power company. “Here’s the utility which doesn’t really know anything about its own infrastructure but knows everything about the race of its employees. How did we get there?”After noting that he lives near one of the fires in the Los Angeles area, Rubin immediately took aim at liberal politics as the main reason the wildfires have grown so large and dangerous.“The problem right now is that everything, EVERYTHING, from academia to public utilities to politics, everything that goes woke, that buys into this ridiculous progressive ideology that cares about what contractors are LGBT or how many black firemen we have or white this or Asian that, everything that goes that road eventually breaks down,” he declared.As Carlson nodded and said “that’s true,” Rubin continued, complaining that this isn’t how “freedom is supposed to operate.”“What is supposed to happen—imagine if your house was on fire,” he added. “Would you care what the public utility or what the fire company, what contractor they brought in, what gender or sexuality or any of those things he or she was? It’s just absolutely ridiculous.”The Fox News host continued to agree with Rubin, who went on to tie PG&E;’s preemptive blackouts to a lack of “libertarian or conservative-minded people in California to fight what the progressives are doing to the state.”“If you can’t keep the lights on and you can’t keep the place from burning down, you’ve reached the point where there is no kind of lying about it anymore,” Carlson concluded. “It’s falling apart. It’s a disaster. It’s not civilized anymore.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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US helicopter raid reported in Syria after trove of Baghdadi intelligence taken

The US is believed to have carried out fresh raids on suspected senior Islamic State members in Syria overnight, as officials assessed a treasure trove of intelligence gathered from Isil leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s final hideout. Helicopters reported to be from the US-led coalition flew late on Monday night into al-Shuyukh village south of Jarablus, around three miles from a raid the previous day that killed Isil’s spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. Donald Trump, the US president, tweeted on Tuesday that Baghdadi's "number one replacement" had been killed. He did not name who that was, but it is thought he was referring to Muhajir. Analysts do not agree that Muhajir would have been Baghdadi's natural successor. Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops. Most likely would have taken the top spot - Now he is also Dead!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2019 A spokesman for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is believed to have jointly conducted the mission, said there had been a “successful raid targeting and arresting senior Isil members” on Monday night without elaborating. Local sources reported that the mission lasted no more than 20 minutes and no clashes were heard. “An Iraqi family had moved there in recent times,” Aghiad al-Kheder, co-founder of anti-Isil activist group Sound and Picture, told the Telegraph. “We think two men were taken away by the helicopters.” The men’s identity, or relationship to Baghdadi, was not immediately known. “We think it's related to the Baghdadi raid,” said Mr Kheder, whose group has sources on the ground in the area. ”For sure US found important documents and maybe in the next few days we will see many operations like this.” Pentagon officials told the Washington Post that the documents and other information gathered during the raid on the compound in Barisha in Idlib province close to the Turkish border would prove useful in hunting down remaining senior Isil figures. The officials said two men were also captured alive in the raid who they hoped could provide intelligence about the group. Evidence was growing that Isil had an established smuggling ring, taking senior members from Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria and Qaim in western Iraqi to Idlib. The last moments of Islamic State leader Kurdish spies cultivated a source inside Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s inner circle who was able to steal the Islamic State leader’s underwear for DNA sampling and provide a detailed layout of his compound ahead of the US raid, the SDF commander said. Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the head of the SDF, told NBC his intelligence officers had turned one of Baghdadi’s security advisors who was able to give critical information about the jihadist leader’s house and the tunnels beneath it. The source took a pair of Baghdadi’s underwear and a blood sample to help US forces confirm who was hiding in the compound. The source was at the site on the night of the raid and was whisked out by US commandos. Polat Can, a senior adviser to the SDF, revealed more detailed information about the group's role in finding Baghdadi. "Since 15 May, we have been working together with the CIA,” said Polat Can, a senior adviser to the SDF. He said their surveillance tracked the 48-year-old reclusive leader moving to the village of Barisha in northern Idlib from northern Deir Ezzor in April. Iraqi officials confirmed to the Telegraph that they had arrested members of Baghdadi’s inner circle who were part of the ring and gave up the leader’s location. It is thought fighters with the Islamist group Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda-aligned group which is usually hostile to Isil, were also facilitating senior Isil leaders’ movement through rebel-held Idlib. Baghdadi was discovered at the house of one Hurras al-Din commander, Abu Mohamed al-Halabi, who was killed in the raid. Mustafa Bali, SDF’s spokesman, said that Muhajir, described as Baghdadi’s right-hand man, was believed to have been in the area in order to facilitate Baghdadi’s movements in Idlib and possibly on to Turkey. Muhajir was targeted in the village of Ain al-Baydah near Turkish-administered Jarablus with the help of SDF intelligence. Local sources said Muhajir had been travelling in a convoy made up of an oil tanker and a car. The SDF has questioned how Ankara was not aware of the presence of Baghdadi and other senior leaders so close to areas in Syria under its control.

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Exclusive: How Lebanon's Hariri defied Hezbollah

After hitting a dead end in efforts to defuse the crisis sweeping Lebanon, Saad al-Hariri informed a top Hezbollah official on Monday he had no choice but to quit as prime minister in defiance of the powerful Shi'ite group. The decision by the Sunni leader shocked Hussein al-Khalil, political advisor to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who advised him against giving in to protesters who wanted to see his coalition government toppled. The meeting described to Reuters by four senior sources from outside Hariri's Future Party captures a critical moment in the crisis that has swept Lebanon for the last two weeks as Hariri yielded to the massive street protests against the ruling elite.

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Frustration mounts as California is hit with more blackouts

Frustration and anger mounted across Northern California as the state's biggest utility began another round of fire-prevention blackouts Tuesday that could leave millions of people without electricity, some for five days or longer. The shut-offs, aimed at keeping windblown electrical equipment from sparking wildfires, came as fire crews raced to contain two major blazes in Northern and Southern California before the winds picked up dangerously again. The fires have destroyed dozens of homes in Sonoma County wine country and in the hills of Los Angeles.

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Former special counsel thinks Alexander Vindman will get Gordon Sondland in 'deep, deep legal trouble'

Things aren't looking good for U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, a former special counsel argues.Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, will testify Tuesday about his concerns about the Trump administration's interactions with Kyiv. Vindman's opening statement contradicts Sondland's claims that he never discussed former Vice President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter, with any White House or State Department official and that he never encouraged Ukraine to investigate the Bidens over Hunter Biden's ties to Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.Vindman's statement, on the other hand, claims Sondland stressed the importance of investigating the Bidens, Burisma, and Ukraine's role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election in the presence of Vindman and former NSC official Fiona Hill. Vindman will also testify that both he and Hill told Sondland his statements were inappropriate, which has been corroborated by testimony from both Hill and former U.S. diplomat to Ukraine Bill Taylor.Ryan Goodman, who once served as special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defense, thinks that spells bad news for Sondland, who could be in "deep, deep legal trouble" following Vindman's testimony. Stay tuned. > Sondland is in deep, deep legal trouble. > > On the left: Lieutenant Colonel Vindman's opening statement (corroborated by Fiona Hill's and Bill Taylor's testimony). > > On the right: Sondland's opening statement. > > 18 USC 1001 pic.twitter.com/rLgqx8hXiW> > -- Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) October 29, 2019

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Facebook Uncovers Russian Disinformation Campaign in Africa in Prelude to 2020 U.S. Elections

Facebook announced on Wednesday that it had removed three Russian-backed influence networks from its platform that targeted several African countries including Cameroon, Mozambique, Libya, and Sudan.The networks posted information in Arabic critical of U.S. and French policies in Africa, while praising Russian initiatives in the region. Russian operatives worked with local citizens to set up Facebook accounts that appeared more authentic."They are trying to make it harder for us and civil society to try and detect their operations," Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook’s cybersecurity policy, told the New York Times.Director of the Stanford Internet Observatory Alex Stamos, himself a former Facebook executive, said the Russian campaign in Africa will have implications for the 2020 presidential elections."We will see a model where American groups are used as proxies, where all the content is published under their accounts and their pages,” Stamos said.The Russian networks are linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for interfering in U.S. elections.When the State Department announced new sanctions on Prigozhin in September, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. will not tolerate any interference in the voting process.“We have been clear: We will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement. “The United States will continue to push back against malign actors who seek to subvert our democratic processes and we will not hesitate to impose further costs on Russia for its destabilizing and unacceptable activities.”

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Fox News Panel Speculates That Latest Trump Impeachment Witness Committed Espionage

Fox NewsFox News host Laura Ingraham and two of her guests Monday night suggested that White House national security official Alexander Vindman, who is set to testify before Congress that he heard President Trump press his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate his political opponents, is guilty of “espionage” and could be a Ukrainian double agent.During a panel discussion on The Ingraham Angle, Ingraham turned to law professor Alan Dershowitz and former Justice Department official John Yoo—author of the so-called “Torture Memos”—to weigh in on reports that Vindman will tell House impeachment investigators that he twice voiced objections to his superiors about Trump’s actions toward Ukraine.According to Ingraham, however, the really interesting part of the New York Times report on Vindman wasn’t that he raised concerns over Trump attempting to pressure a foreign government to investigate American citizens but rather that Vindman is a Ukrainian-American immigrant.“He’s a decorated colonel, by the way, in the Iraq War,” she said. “But because Colonel Vindman emigrated from Ukraine along with his family when he was a child and is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, Ukrainian officials sought advice from him about how to deal with Mr. Giuliani, though they typically communicated in English.”“Now, wait a second, John,” Ingraham continued, addressing Yoo. “Here we have a U.S. national security official who is advising Ukraine, while working inside the White House, apparently against the president’s interest, and usually, they spoke in English. Isn’t that kind of an interesting angle on this story?!”Yoo replied that he found it “astounding” before offering his own bit of astounding speculation.“You know, some people might call that espionage,” the former Bush administration official suggested.After floating the possibility that Vindman—an Iraq War veteran with a Purple Heart—was a Ukrainian spy, Yoo said he thought Vindman’s upcoming testimony wasn’t “breaking news” because it didn’t add “any new facts” since we can “all make our judgment” on Trump’s July 25 call with the Ukrainian president.“I think that is something the American people should decide rather than just the House,” he added. “And that is the next election.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Trump awards Medal of Honor to Green Beret who fought in Afghanistan - CNN

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Grenfell Tower Inquiry Criticized for Faulting Fire Brigade - The New York Times

Grenfell Tower Inquiry Criticized for Faulting Fire Brigade The New York Times
Jeremy Corbyn: Grenfell tower fire was an 'avoidable tragedy' Guardian News
How 59 senior fire officers sat through presentation on tower block blazes in 2016 Daily Mail
My uncle died at Grenfell. This report must lead to action The Guardian
London Fire Brigade faulted in new report on Grenfell Tower tragedy The Washington Post
View full coverage on Google News

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Apple Watch, AirPods and services are Apple's big winners, not iPhone - CNET

Apple Watch, AirPods and services are Apple's big winners, not iPhone CNETView full coverage on Google News

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The Pixel 4 is a disaster - CNET

The Pixel 4 is a disaster CNET
Apple Just Killed The Google Pixel's Killer Feature: Review Bloomberg
Google is right — and wrong — to focus on the camera Android Authority
Google Pixel 4 review: the best Pixel yet might not be good enough T3
Google Stadia expands to Pixel 2, 4, sign-in on iOS, Android SlashGear
View full coverage on Google News

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Trump judicial nominee breaks down during Senate hearing

Lawrence VanDyke broke down when asked whether he was biased against LGBT people.

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Comedian Kevin Hart shares emotional video after crash

The US comedian shared the video of his recovery after a severe car accident in September.

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Tuesday, 29 October 2019

UPDATE 6-PM Hariri resigns as Lebanon crisis turns violent

Saad al-Hariri resigned as Lebanon's prime minister on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a "dead end" in trying to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against the ruling elite and plunging the country deeper into turmoil. Hariri addressed the nation after a mob loyal to the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah and Amal movements attacked and destroyed a protest camp set up by anti-government demonstrators in Beirut.

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Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez Has Olive Branch Coffee Meeting With Macri

(Bloomberg) -- Alberto Fernandez doesn’t take over as Argentine president until Dec. 10, but how he interacts with outgoing leader Mauricio Macri in the meantime is key to an economy in turmoil. On Monday at least the two men were talking.Fernandez arrived at the presidential palace in downtown Buenos Aires without any staff, save for a spokesman. Television networks showed pictures of the men, both in suits, shaking hands before sitting in armchairs facing each other. They met for about an hour over coffee.Later on Fernandez smiled and waved as he entered a car to leave, but he did not comment.Even that is a start for what could be a tricky transition period from a market-friendly leader who tried to enact fiscal discipline, to a left-leaning populist who has promised to increase spending for a public tired of the high cost of living and lack of strong public services.Fernandez told Macri during the meeting that he will provide details of a team to work with the Macri administration through Dec. 10, a person familiar with their discussion said. Fernandez didn’t mention anyone specific and he did not hand over a list of names, the person said. Fernandez’s adviser Santiago Cafiero will coordinate the transition team, they added.Argentine Bonds Fall After Fernandez Wins Presidential VoteMacri has been grappling with a contracting economy, high inflation, a sliding currency and a tricky debt negotiation with the International Monetary Fund. The economy could be in even worse shape by the time Fernandez takes office, so statements of intent to work together in the interim could reassure markets, investors and the public alike.A surprisingly strong win by Fernandez in a primary vote in August spooked markets, with the currency slide that followed forcing Macri to enact capital controls. In the early hours of Monday after Macri conceded the election, Fernandez was giving little away.“Hopefully those who were our opponents during these four years are conscious of what they’re leaving behind and help us rebuild the country from the ashes,” he told supporters at his campaign bunker.Fernandez Wins in Argentina as Voters Rebuff Macri’s AusterityAnalysts argue Fernandez may need to moderate his rhetoric after Macri’s coalition fared better than expected in congressional races, setting the stage for potential gridlock.“That implies greater limitations for Alberto Fernandez’s future government,” said Camila Perochena, a political science professor at University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. “The need to reach consensus with the opposition is becoming more evident.”Investors are waiting for Fernandez to unveil his economic team and further clues to his policy direction. His team ranges from traditional economists to unorthodox policy makers. It’s unclear how Fernandez will renegotiate Argentina’s $56 billion credit line with the IMF, a deal that’s currently suspended due to policy uncertainty.“Alberto Fernandez will have little time to find the formula for an economic turnaround,” said Nicolas Solari, director of polling firm Real Time Data. “The coalition he’s bringing to the presidency is just as broad as it is unstable.”For his part, Macri’s government moved quickly overnight to limit the market fallout from his loss, significantly tightening capital controls to stabilize the peso. Argentines can only buy $200 in greenbacks per month, sharply down from the previous ceiling put in place Sept. 1 of $10,000. Before then, dollar purchases were unlimited.Argentina’s Election and Currency Controls: All You Need to KnowThe Argentine peso gained 0.8% on Monday after the controls. Bonds declined, with spreads between U.S. Treasury notes widening 98 basis points to the highest in nearly two months. Stocks also declined with a benchmark U.S.-listed ETF falling 2.4%. A key question will be how Fernandez interacts with his powerful deputy, former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She was president from 2007 to 2015 and handed Macri an economy damaged by years of Peronism -- an anti-elite political movement that traditionally favors workers over business owners.Some noted Fernandez’s left-leaning remarks in his victory speech, in particular expressing support for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, who is in jail. He also plans to travel soon to Mexico to meet its left-wing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.“We’ll have to see the tone of Fernandez’s administration to find consensus,” said Juan Germano, director of Argentina polling firm Isonomia. “The last four years showed there was no consensus between Kirchner’s and Macri’s parties, but with this election result, both sides have more incentives to reach consensus.”(Adds stocks trading in 14th paragraph. A previous version of the story corrected the exchange rate.)To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Gillespie in Buenos Aires at pgillespie29@bloomberg.net;Jorgelina do Rosario in Buenos Aires at jdorosario@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Rosalind MathiesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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As wildfires foul California air, residents don face masks. But they really need respirator masks

What kind of mask do you need for wildfire smoke? As wildfires blaze around San Francisco and Los Angeles, here's how to protect yourself from smoke

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English tourists seriously injured in Australia shark attack

An English tourist had his foot bitten off by a shark while another was bitten during the attack in the Whitsunday Islands near Australia's Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday, officials said. In the latest in a string of shark attacks in the tourist area, a 28-year-old man's right foot was bitten off while a 22-year-old man suffered serious lacerations to his lower left leg, according to Mackay Base Hospital. The pair were in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital after being airlifted from the resort town of Airlie Beach, an official told AFP.

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Schiff to handle impeachment witness testimony in break from precedent

Under past precedent in 1974 and 1998 — the last two times the House conducted an impeachment inquiry — the House Judiciary Committee was the hub for investigations, hearings, and a committee vote on articles of impeachment.

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Is Trump trying to unleash the Border Patrol on all of America?

Two in three Americans live in the "border zone," a 100-mile stretch inland where some constitutional due process and privacy protections are functionally canceled in the name of border security. The zone includes entire states -- Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, nearly all of New England, and all but a tiny sliver of Michigan -- as well as about three in four of our 20 largest metro areas. Is the Trump administration trying to make it bigger?The prospect seems obviously attractive to immigration hawks like White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, known to be the president's chief influence on border policy. Yet the possible suggestion of interest in expanding the border zone comes not from Miller but acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan, who joined President Trump on stage at a law enforcement conference in Chicago this week."We will be building 450 miles of big, beautiful wall by the end of 2020," Morgan said, implausibly. "With every mile of wall that's being built, I promise you, it's not just the cities and towns on the border. I always say: Every town, every city, every state is a border town, a border city, and border state."Is that just a figure of speech? Because it's blatantly untrue -- unless the border zone goes national.My suspicion here may seem unfounded, and I hope it is. But I think there are two good reasons to be wary.The first is the nature of the border zone, which too few Americans realize exists. The Fourth Amendment protects our right "to be secure in [our] persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" and requires specific probable cause before search warrants are issued. But at the border, CBP agents are allowed to conduct searches of bags and vehicles without meeting those requirements. And in 1953, the Justice Department issued a regulation saying these relaxed rules apply within a "reasonable distance" from the actual border, a term the DOJ defined as 100 miles.The 100-mile decision was made by unelected administrators. It wasn't open to public input, nor was it determined by our representatives in Congress. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the rule in 1976 in U.S. v Martinez-Fuerte, where the 7-2 majority wrote that usually law enforcement must have "individualized suspicion" to breach someone's privacy, but as long as the Border Patrol checkpoints are "reasonably located" (i.e. within the 100-mile range), agents can stop, search, and question motorists without any particular cause.As the minority opinion noted, there's "no principle in the jurisprudence of fundamental rights which permits constitutional limitations to be dispensed with merely because they cannot be conveniently satisfied." The fact that CBP agents typically won't be able to establish probable cause by looking at a moving vehicle should not mean they get to ignore the Constitution. That's not how rights work, and this "papers, please" style of law enforcement is fundamentally un-American.Yet even if you agree with the theory of the 100-mile rule, the practice is a disaster and sees CBP authority expanded well past what Martinez-Fuerte permitted. As Cato Institute scholar and former CIA analyst Patrick Eddington has detailed, CBP agents "elect to ignore the court's admonition in the Martinez-Fuerte ruling that 'any further detention ... must be based on consent or probable cause.'" They've "used violence to remove motorists from their vehicles when they decline to answer questions after asserting their rights;" expanded their searches to planes, buses, and trains; and used the checkpoints in service to the wars on drugs and terror. (No terrorists have ever been arrested this way.)The upshot, as the ACLU has reported in its extensive coverage of the border zone, is CBP "agents are stopping, interrogating, and searching Americans on an everyday basis with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing, and often in ways that our Constitution does not permit." And in the years since the 100-mile rule was created, Border Patrol agents have grown from a force of 1,100 to around 21,000, with an estimated 170 permanent "interior checkpoints." What may have been relatively innocuous at the start is now a major problem.That brings us to the second reason to be worried by Morgan's remark: The border zone as it exists today was implemented with remarkably little pushback. The Border Zone Reasonableness Restoration Act of 2019 would reduce the zone to 25 miles, but that would still include most major cities in the current designation -- and it has no legislative traction anyway.If neither Congress nor the Supreme Court objects to this status quo, why would we expect them to object to extending the border zone to include the final third of the population? If it's fine to have CBP infringing around 200 million people's Fourth Amendment rights, what's another 100 million?It's not true that every town, every city, every state is a border town, a border city, and border state. The unchallenged corruption of the border zone gives us good cause to be leery of any talk that suggests they are.

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Alexander Vindman's Trump-Ukraine testimony: five key takeaways

Army lieutenant colonel to describe his concerns Trump’s Biden plot was undermining US foreign policy in Ukraine * Ukraine expert to testify on Trump-Zelenskiy call – liveAlexander Vindman arrives for a closed-door deposition at the US Capitol in Washington DC, on 29 October. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty ImagesIn his opening statement before congressional impeachment investigators on Tuesday, Lt Col Alexander S Vindman planned to describe his concerns that Donald Trump’s plot to undermine Joe Biden was undermining US foreign policy in Ukraine.Here are five key takeaways: 1 White House call summary is accurateAs the top Ukraine expert on the national security council (NSC), Vindman was on the 25 July phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. He planned to testify that a call summary released by the White House is accurate: “As the transcript is in the public record, we are all aware of what was said.” 2 Vindman took concerns to NSC lawyerVindman planned to describe multiple scenes in which White House discussions about Ukraine policy, including discussions with Ukrainians, were interrupted by an insistence that Ukraine announce baseless investigations tied to Biden. “I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a US citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the US government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman planned to say. Vindman planned to describe how on multiple occasions he took his concerns to the top lawyer for the national security counsel, as at least one other colleague did. 3 Vindman’s testimony appears to conflict with Sondland’s claimsAs multiple witnesses have previously, Vindman planned to finger ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, as the Trump administration’s point man in extracting the “deliverable” – a Biden investigation announcement – from Ukraine. Vindman planned to say: “I stated to Ambassador Sondland that his statements were inappropriate, that the request to investigate Biden and his son had nothing to do with national security.” That testimony appears to conflict sharply with Sondland’s own claims to ignorance about any effort to negotiate a deal with Ukraine involving a Biden investigation. 4 Vindman’s family fled the former Soviet Union Vindman, a career public servant and soldier, arrived in the US at age three when his family fled the former Soviet Union. He is a US army officer, a lieutenant colonel, with two decades of experience in the military. He was decorated with a Purple Heart after being wounded in an improvised explosive device attack while deployed in Iraq. 5 White House accused Vindman of ‘espionage’ against TrumpThe White House and media allies have launched a character smear against Vindman, accusing him of disloyalty to the US and of “espionage” against Trump. Trump seemed surprised that Vindman was on the phone call and wondered on Twitter why so many people were listening: “I knew people were listening in on the call (why would I say something inappropriate?), which was fine with me, but why so many?” Trump tweeted. “Why are people that I never even heard of testifying about the call.”

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Residents flee, power cut as crews battle California fire

Cody Rodriguez never went to sleep the night two years ago when wildfire roared out of tinder-dry hills in Northern California wine country, trapping people unaware in their homes and forcing thousands of panicked residents to flee in the dark. "It has brought a lot of anxiety," Rodriguez said outside an evacuation center Sunday at Napa Valley College.

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Don’t award sentences in a cavalier manner: SC

Holding that punishment should be proportional to the seriousness of an offence and accused should not be let off lightly, the Supreme Court has expressed concern over the “cavalier manner” in which high courts and trial courts award insufficient or wrong sentence in some criminal cases.

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Off-duty pilot, staffer get sack for in-flight PDA

An off-duty pilot and a flight attendant who spiced up their flight with inflight nuzzling lost their jobs after a passenger complained to the airline about their public display of affection last month on a SpiceJet Delhi-Kolkata flight.

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