Thursday, 28 February 2019

Sen. Kamala Harris dismisses concerns about cost of the Green New Deal

Sen. Kamala Harris dismisses concerns about cost of the Green New DealNew report finds Green New Deal could cost as much as $93 trillion over 10 years; reaction from Fox News contributor Judy Miller and Dan Henninger.




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Elon Musk could face contempt charge over latest controversial tweet

Elon Musk could face contempt charge over latest controversial tweetTesla boss Elon Musk could be held in contempt if a tweet is found to have violated a settlement deal agreed last year. US stock market regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked a court in New York to hold the chief executive in contempt for violating a $40m (£30m) settlement he reached five months ago. Now the US financial regulator is alleging that Mr Musk broke the terms of that agreement with a tweet on 19 February which showed an aerial photo of thousands of new Tesla vehicles and said the company would make about 500,000 cars in 2019.




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Twitter bans Trump-supporting hoaxster after USA TODAY exposé

Twitter bans Trump-supporting hoaxster after USA TODAY exposéJacob Wohl left a career in finance amid fraud allegations to create deceitful schemes and spread false claims in support of President Trump




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Top strategists split from Bernie Sanders for his 2020 White House run

Top strategists split from Bernie Sanders for his 2020 White House runProminent consultants Tad Devine, Mark Longabaugh and Julian Mulvey, who played leading roles in Sanders' insurgent 2016 presidential campaign, said they would not work on the Vermont senator's 2020 bid for the Democratic nomination, which was launched last week. "We are leaving because we believe that Senator Sanders deserves to have media consultants who share his creative vision for the campaign," the three said in a joint statement. It also put together the video that Sanders used to launch his 2020 campaign, and advised Sanders on his announcement schedule and rollout, Longabaugh said.




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Key Asia-Europe Air Route Closed as India-Pakistan Tensions Rise

Key Asia-Europe Air Route Closed as India-Pakistan Tensions RiseA Singapore Airlines Ltd. flight to London was diverted to Dubai Wednesday to refuel before heading to its final destination, the carrier said in an email. Qantas Airways Ltd. had to change the flight path for its London-Singapore service, which is scheduled to arrive at the Asian city-state later Thursday, adding an extra 20 minutes to the journey. Thai Airways International Pcl scrapped all 10 flights from Europe to Bangkok as well as those to Pakistan that were due to depart late Wednesday and early Thursday, it said on its website.




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Pakistan 'captures Indian pilot after shooting down two jets in dogfight over Kashmir'

Pakistan 'captures Indian pilot after shooting down two jets in dogfight over Kashmir'Two planes shot down over Kashmir border Pakistan claims to have two pilots held Sources: jets shot down in 'four-on-four' dogfight Both countries dispute each other's claims Analysis: Pakistan and India need help climbing down, or risk another war over Kashmir ​ Pakistan has claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured a pilot after a dogfight over Kashmir, igniting fears of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.  Tensions remain high on the Asian Subcontinent where tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the disputed Kashmir boundary. There are competing claims regarding the exact details of what has taken place, but Pakistan's Major General Asif Ghafoor said a pilot was in Army custody. Pakistan had earlier said it was holding two pilots. Ghafoor said the jets had been shot down after Pakistani planes earlier Wednesday flew across the Line of Control, the de facto border in disputed Kashmir, to the Indian side in a show of strength, hitting non-military targets including supply depots. Although this version of events is disputed by India, the Pakistani official said: "The Pakistan Air Force was ready, they took them on, there was an engagement. As a result both the Indian planes were shot down and the wreckage of one fell on our side while the wreckage of the other fell on their side." Pulwama suicide attack - Map Initially, the Indian Air Force (IAF) denied Pakistani claims, despite videos of the two pilots in Pakistani captivity being broadcast by state media. The IAF is also decried claims that two Indian fighter aircraft had been shot down. But later on Wednesday a foreign ministry official told a press conference in Delhi that there was an "aerial engagement", conceding just one Indian jet was shot down.  IAF sources said that there were four Pakistani F-16 fighters against four IAF MiG-21 Bison combat aircraft and the dogfight happened in a chase. The four Pakistani fighters are believed to have tried attacking an ammunition dump at Nowshera near the Line of Control in Kashmir, when they were chased by four Indian planes. India claims it has also shot down one of the Pakistani fighter jets.  The incident is the latest in a dangerous sequence of events between the two countries, whose ties have been under intense strain since a February 14 suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir that killed 40 troops. Islamabad insisted the latest move was in self defence and officials said strikes had been taken at non-military targets avoiding civilian casualties. Ghafoor said: "We do not want escalation, we do not want to go towards war," at a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, calling for talks with New Delhi. Pakistan closed its airspace Wednesday, "until further notice", the civil aviation authority and the military said. A military spokesman said the decision had been taken "due to the environment". How did we get here? The claim came a little over 24 hours after Delhi said it had struck a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp near Balakot where it said militants were preparing for imminent terrorist attacks. Islamabad had denied any camp was struck, but on Tuesday warned India to prepare for a surprise and vowed a "befitting" response at a time and place of its choosing. In a statement headed "Pakistan strikes back", the foreign ministry said the action was not retaliation " to continued Indian belligerence". "Pakistan has therefore, taken strikes at non military target, avoiding human loss and collateral damage. Sole purpose being to demonstrate our right, will and capability for self defence.  Pakistani soldiers stand next to what Pakistan says is the wreckage of an Indian fighter jet shot down in Pakistan controled Kashmir at Somani area in Bhimbar district Credit: AFP A spokesman for Pakistan's military said that Indian jets had then crossed the line of control and the Pakistan air forces had gone on to shoot two of them down inside Pakistani airspace. "One of the aircraft fell inside Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while other fell inside Indian Occupied Kashmir. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area," said Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor. There was no immediate response from Delhi, but Indian media did report an Indian air force jet crashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Delhi said on Tuesday it had said it had struck a pre-emptive blow against the Pakistan-based militant group it blames for a suicide bomb that killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Kashmir earlier this month. The force of jets destroyed a hilltop training camp near Balakot where Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) jihadists were preparing an imminent attack, the country's foreign minister said. But Pakistan dismissed that claim as “fictitious” and “self-serving”, saying its own jets had intercepted the raiding force and seen it off. Pakistan's military said the Indian jets dropped their payload of bombs “in haste” as they fled and they caused no damage after landing in deserted forest. Indian soldiers gesture near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district, outside Srinagar on February 27, 2019 Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Villagers near Balakot said they had been woken by jets and four blasts in an area close to a JeM madrassa. But they denied heavy casualties and said the damage was largely to trees. One person was wounded. "We saw trees fallen down and one house damaged and four craters where the bombs had fallen," said Mohammad Ajmal, a 25-year-old who visited the site told Reuters. Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said JeM ran a nearby Islamic school. An Indian attack had been widely predicted as Narendra Modi faced domestic outrage over the bomb attack in Pulwama blamed on JeM. A history of trouble Pakistan has long been accused of harbouring and supporting militant groups as tools of its foreign policy in India, Kashmir and Afghanistan. JeM is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al Qaeda and has been on a UN terrorist list since 2001. India says the JeM was also behind the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and on an Indian air force base in 2016. Pakistan denies any involvement in the Pulwama attack and has challenged Delhi to deliver actionable intelligence on who carried out the attack. Indian and Pakistan: timeline of a testy relationship Western diplomats now fear any counter retaliation by Pakistan could dangerously escalate the stand-off and trigger an international crisis. One diplomat said both sides must try to carefully measure their action to satisfy domestic nationalist fervour, while not provoking all out war. However with an Indian general election only weeks away, Mr Modi had come under intense pressure to act. As news channels on both sides of the border became increasingly bellicose, a Pakistani military spokesman even alluded to its nuclear arsenal, highlighting the escalation in hostile rhetoric. Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP The spokesman said a command and control authority meeting, which decides over the use of nuclear weapons, had been convened for Wednesday, adding: "You all know what that means." The Indian strike 30 miles from the frontier was thought to be the first strike inside its neighbour's territory since their 1971 war. Indian military sources said 12 French Mirage 2000 fighters crossed the line of control dividing the adversaries in Kashmir on their raid into Pakistani territory at around 3.15am local time. Accompanied by an airborne early warning and control aircraft and a mid-air re-fueller, the Mirages reportedly employed 1,000kg precision guided munitions to hit their targets in a mission that lasted a few minutes. Kashmir: why the tension?  The Kashmir dispute dates from 1947. The partition of the Indian sub-continent along religious lines led to the formation of India and Pakistan. However, there remained the problem of over 650 states, run by princes, existing within the two newly independent countries. In theory, these princely states had the option of deciding which country to join, or of remaining independent. In practice, the restive population of each province proved decisive. As a result, both India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, but claim it in its entirety and have fought two wars over Kashmir since Partition in 1947. Where do we go now? Pakistan have claimed the two pilots are being treated well, according to its state media.  One is in hospital and one has been arrested, but there are question marks over where this tit-for-tat will go next.  Islamabad has said it does not want to escalate the situation to a full-blown war - a sentiment echoed by those around the world.  China is renewing calls for Pakistan and India to take steps to avoid a further deterioration of ties following the latest flare-up. Indian army soldiers arrive near the wreckage of an Indian aircraft after it crashed in Budgam area Credit: Mukhtar Khan/AP Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a daily briefing on Wednesday that "both Pakistan and India are important countries in the subcontinent of South Asia." He added that China hopes "they will keep in mind the regional peace and stability, exercise restraint, take effective measures to strengthen dialogue, and maintain two sides' fundamental interests and the regional peace and stability." Lu also said: "We hope they will avoid deterioration of the situation." China is longstanding close ally and arms supplier to Pakistan, but has also sought better ties with its southern neighbor and Asian rival India. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also urged the two countries to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost, and said in a statement he had spoken to foreign ministers from Indian and Pakistan to "encourage both ministers to prioritise direct communication and avoid further military activity."  Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.




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Trump meets North Korea's Kim in Vietnam for second nuclear summit

Trump meets North Korea's Kim in Vietnam for second nuclear summitKim and Trump shook hands and smiled briefly in front of a row of their countries' flags at the Metropole hotel in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.




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Australian Cardinal Pell convicted of molesting 2 choirboys

Australian Cardinal Pell convicted of molesting 2 choirboysMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The most senior Catholic cleric ever charged with child sex abuse has been convicted of molesting two choirboys moments after celebrating Mass, dealing a new blow to the Catholic hierarchy's credibility after a year of global revelations of abuse and cover-up.




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Risk of India-Pakistan War May Hang on the Fate of Downed Pilot

Risk of India-Pakistan War May Hang on the Fate of Downed PilotIndia and Pakistan, which have fought three major wars since the bloody partition of 1947, regularly exchange artillery and small-weapons fire across a disputed border. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi must contest a general election within weeks, while his counterpart, Imran Khan, faces a military that is seeking to assert its dominance when Pakistan is in the eye of a financial and economic storm.




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Wallace: Cohen's testimony indicates 'criminal exposure' for Trump

Wallace: Cohen's testimony indicates 'criminal exposure' for TrumpChris Wallace and Martha MacCallum share their analysis on Michael Cohen's testimony.




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Why Did Senate Democrats Refuse to Protect Infants?

Why Did Senate Democrats Refuse to Protect Infants?A moral catastrophe unfolded on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Monday. Forty-four Democratic senators voted against legislation that would have required doctors to give the same care to infants who survive abortion procedures that they would give to any other infant.One after another, Democratic senators took to the floor to smear the bill as an attack on women’s health care, a baseless criticism that they failed to substantiate. In the process, they revealed their belief that allowing unwanted infants to perish after birth constitutes a form of women’s health care.Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) reintroduced his Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in direct response to Virginia governor Ralph Northam’s endorsement of permitting mothers and doctors to let infants die of neglect. “The infant would be delivered,” Northam said, explaining a hypothetical case in which a woman in labor wanted an abortion. “The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”This “discussion” is what Democrats voted on Monday to preserve — a discussion not about health-care options for women but about whether or not to extend health care of any kind to newborn infants. With their votes and their speeches, 44 U.S. senators embraced Ralph Northam’s position, which, despite attempting to clarify, he has never retracted.“I want to ask each and every one of my colleagues whether or not we’re okay with infanticide,” Sasse said at the start of floor debate on Monday. “This language is blunt. I recognize that. It is too blunt for many people in this body. But frankly, that is what we’re talking about here today. Infanticide is what [the bill] is actually about.”Though Sasse’s bill failed to pass, it succeeded in forcing Democrats to take a stance on infanticide, and though they refused to do so explicitly, the reality of their disgraceful position was abundantly clear.During floor debate, Senator Tina Smith (D., Minn.) said that the bill “puts Congress in the middle of the important medical decisions that patients and doctors should make together without political interference.”Democratic senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said it represents the idea that “the moral judgment of right-wing politicians in Washington, D.C., should supersede a medical professional’s judgment and a woman’s decision.”“It makes no sense for Washington politicians who know nothing about these individual circumstances to say they know better than the doctors, patients, the family,” said Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). “The bill is solely meant to intimidate doctors and restrict patients’ access to care and has nothing, nothing, nothing to do with protecting children.”“This is how our medical system is supposed to work,” Smith added later in her remarks. “Physicians and patients making decisions together based on patients’ individual needs.”Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois labeled the bill an effort to “bully doctors out of giving reproductive care.” And Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) said the legislation “would interfere with the doctor–patient relationship and impose new obstacles to a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health.”“Conservative politicians should not be telling doctors how they should care for their patients,” Hirono said. “Instead, women, in consultation with their families and doctors, are in the best position to determine their best course of care.”All of these statements take as their premise a fundamental lie about the legislation. No part of the born-alive bill limits abortion access or regulates abortion methods in any way. It involves abortions only to the extent that the infants in question survived them. Nor does the bill mandate any particular kind of care for these infants; it merely requires that these nearly aborted newborns be afforded “the same degree” of care that “any other child born alive at the same gestational age” would receive.But these statements from Democrats are more than mere falsehoods. They expose a sinister reality: There is no daylight between their argument and that of Ralph Northam. They have admitted that they believe that denying medical care to infants can constitute legitimate women’s health care, classified under the untouchable umbrella of “reproductive rights.”That was the ultimate triumph of the attempt to pass the born-alive bill. Though Democrats managed to block the legislation, it forced the moral equivocators of the Democratic party to step out from behind their smokescreens. It demanded that they put their name to a vote permitting doctors to turn a blind eye to dying babies. It compelled them to defend Ralph Northam’s indefensible comments.This — and not because it would impede women’s “reproductive rights” — is why Democrats were so afraid of Ben Sasse’s bill. They knew that nothing in the text restricts access to abortion. But they knew, too, that it would expose them.To support the bill would betray a logical and philosophical inconsistency — Democrats would affirm the dignity and rights of a newborn infant, even as they dehumanize that same life, at the same stage of development, inside its mother’s womb. To oppose the bill would reveal the ghastly, consistent principle of the abortion-rights movement — that a child’s rights depend not on her size or location, but on whether she is wanted by her mother.The Democrats chose consistency, and consistency means infanticide.




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Pennsylvania teen found alive after five family members murdered

Pennsylvania teen found alive after five family members murderedA teen whose mother and twin 9-year-old sisters were among five family members killed in their Pennsylvania home was staying at a friend's house at the time of the murders and is safe, officials said on Tuesday. Joshua Campbell, 17, was not at home when his aunt Shana Decree, 45, and her daughter Dominique Decree, 19, are alleged to have murdered five relatives in their apartment in Morrisville, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Philadelphia, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said. After police found the bodies on Monday, relatives of the victims said they had begged authorities for weeks to check on Shana Decree due to concerns she might have fallen under the influence of a fringe religious group.




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Q&A: What's at stake as India-Pakistan tensions rise?

Q&A: What's at stake as India-Pakistan tensions rise?ISLAMABAD (AP) — Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan face their worst tension in years over the disputed region of Kashmir, with Islamabad saying they shot down two Indian warplanes Wednesday and captured a pilot. Pakistan, which previously said it captured two pilots, immediately shut down its civilian airspace in response.




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Can CBD Help Your Child?

Can CBD Help Your Child?When a child is sick and conventional medicine isn’t helping, parents understandably often turn to alternative treatments. Recently, that includes cannabidiol, aka CBD, which is a cannabis compou...




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Rep. Ilhan Omar deletes the controversial tweets that drew charges of anti-Semitism

Rep. Ilhan Omar deletes the controversial tweets that drew charges of anti-SemitismRep. Ilhan Omar apologized for the tweets the next day.




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India builds bunkers to protect families along Pakistan border

India builds bunkers to protect families along Pakistan borderOn Tuesday evening, Pakistan used heavy caliber weapons to shell 12 to 15 places along the Indian side of the de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed Kashmir region, a spokesman for the Indian defense forces said. The Indian army retaliated with its own shelling of the Pakistani side, he said. There have been frequent exchanges of fire along the actual and de facto borders in recent months, but Tuesday's firing marked a major escalation after India carried out an air strike on what it said was a training camp run by an Islamist militant group in Pakistan.




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Kashmir conflict heats up as India, Pakistan claim to down each other's jets

Kashmir conflict heats up as India, Pakistan claim to down each other's jetsBoth countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations. Tensions have been running high since at least 40 Indian paramilitary police died in a Feb. 14 suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base. Pakistan says no one died.




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Top strategists split from Bernie Sanders for his 2020 White House run

Top strategists split from Bernie Sanders for his 2020 White House runProminent consultants Tad Devine, Mark Longabaugh and Julian Mulvey, who played leading roles in Sanders' insurgent 2016 presidential campaign, said they would not work on the Vermont senator's 2020 bid for the Democratic nomination, which was launched last week. "We are leaving because we believe that Senator Sanders deserves to have media consultants who share his creative vision for the campaign," the three said in a joint statement. It also put together the video that Sanders used to launch his 2020 campaign, and advised Sanders on his announcement schedule and rollout, Longabaugh said.




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Why the Case against Cardinal George Pell Doesn’t Stand Up

Why the Case against Cardinal George Pell Doesn’t Stand UpWith the lifting of the trial judge’s order banning coverage of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell this past December on charges of “historical sexual abuse,” the facts can finally be laid out for those willing to consider them. (Disclosure: Cardinal Pell and I are longtime friends.)Victoria police commenced an investigation one year before any complaints had been filed. During that investigation, the police took out newspaper ads seeking information about any untoward behavior with minors at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne —without any hint of such misbehavior having been received by the authorities.Once charges had been laid and Cardinal Pell had returned to Australia from his post at the Vatican, a committal hearing (to determine whether the charges were capable of being tried) was held. The committal-hearing judge threw out several charges but allowed others to go forward — even though she observed that she would not vote to convict on several charges, she thought they should be tried anyway.In Cardinal Pell’s first trial, held under the media-suppression order, the defense dismantled the prosecution’s case while shedding light on the inadequacy of the police investigative process; that trial resulted in a hung jury, which voted 10–2 for acquittal. The foreman and several other members of the jury were in tears when the verdict was read.During the retrial, the defense demonstrated that, in order to sustain the charge that Pell had accosted and sexually abused two choirboys after Mass one Sunday, ten improbable things would have had to have happened and all within ten minutes:• Archbishop Pell abandoned his decades-long practice of greeting congregants outside the cathedral after Mass.• Pell, who was typically accompanied by a master of ceremonies or sacristan when he was vested for Mass, entered the carefully controlled space of the vesting sacristy alone.• The master of ceremonies, charged with helping the archbishop disrobe while removing his own liturgical vestments, had disappeared.• The sacristan, charged with the care of the locked sacristy, had also disappeared.• The sacristan did not go back and forth between the sacristy and the cathedral sanctuary, removing missals and Mass vessels, as was his responsibility and consistent practice.• The altar servers, like the sacristan, simply disappeared, rather than helping the sacristan clear the sanctuary by bringing liturgical vessels and books back to the sacristy.• The priests who concelebrated the Mass with Pell were not in the sacristy disrobing after the ceremony.• At least 40 people did not notice that two choirboys left the post-Mass procession.• Two choirboys entered the sacristy, started gulping altar wine, and were accosted and abused by Archbishop Pell — while the sacristy door was open and the archbishop was in full liturgical vestments.• The abused choirboys then entered the choir room, through two locked doors, without anyone noticing, and participated in a post-Mass rehearsal; no one asked why they had been missing for ten minutes.Before the trial, one of the complainants died, having told his mother that he had never been assaulted. During the trial, there was no corroboration of the surviving complainant’s charges. Other choirboys (now, of course, grown), as well as the choir director and his assistant, the adult members of the choir, the master of ceremonies, and the sacristan all testified, and from their testimony we learn the following: that no one recalled any choirboys bolting from the procession after Mass; that none of those in the immediate vicinity of the alleged abuse noticed anything; that indeed nothing could have happened in a secured space without someone noticing; and that there was neither gossip nor rumor about any such dramatic and vile incident afterward.Notwithstanding this evidence of Cardinal Pell’s innocence (an innocence affirmed by ten of the twelve members of the first trial jury), the second trial jury returned a verdict of 12–0 for conviction. Observers at the trial told me that the trial judge seemed surprised on hearing the verdict. The verdict and the finding of the first, hung jury suggest that, in the media circus surrounding Pell, a fair jury trial was virtually impossible. That point was recently conceded by the attorney general of the State of Victoria, who suggested that the law might be amended to permit bench trials by a judge alone in such cases — an option not afforded George Pell. (Shortly before the media-suppression order was lifted on February 25, the Victoria prosecutors dropped two more charges against Cardinal Pell, of even greater dubiety and dating back some four decades.)Cardinal Pell’s lawyers will of course appeal. The appeal will be heard by a panel of senior judges, who can decide that what is called in Australia an “unsafe verdict” — one that the jury could not rationally have reached on the basis of the evidence — was rendered and that therefore Pell’s conviction is null and void. For Cardinal Pell’s sake, and for the reputation of the justice system in the state of Victoria, one must hope that the appellate judges will do the right thing.




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Manafort sentencing hearing rescheduled to March 7: court filing

Manafort sentencing hearing rescheduled to March 7: court filingA federal judge in Virginia rescheduled the sentencing hearing for Paul Manafort, the former chairman of U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, to March 7, according to a court filing on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear why the sentencing hearing was rescheduled from March 8. Manafort was convicted in August of eight charges of bank and tax fraud as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.




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Why Do Some People Wish the Attack on Smollett Happened?

Why Do Some People Wish the Attack on Smollett Happened?The reactions of many on the left to the case of Jussie Smollett prove two important things: 1. There is little racism in America. 2. The Left -- white and black -- is morally and psychologically impaired.There is no doubt that most Americans on the left, including black Americans, are distraught over the fact that Smollett faked the “racist” attack on him. Apparently leftists, Democratic leaders, and, most depressingly, many of his fellow blacks wish Smollett had been attacked by white racist homophobes.Representative Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), a white leftist, tweeted, “I hope this was not something that Mr. Smollett did to himself, or created.”Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart told MSNBC there has been “an atmosphere of menace and hate” since Donald Trump was elected president, which made “people want to believe” Smollett’s story. Exactly. Capehart, a black leftist, wanted to believe that racists yelling “This is MAGA country” beat up blacks.Another black leftist who writes hate columns for the Washington Post, Nana Efua Mumford, wrote: “I wanted to believe Smollett. I really did.” Again, exactly. Mumford wanted to believe that racists yelling “This is MAGA country” beat up blacks.Corey Townsend, the social-media editor of The Root, a black-oriented website (founded in 2008 by Harvard black-studies scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.), opened his column on his private doubts that Smollett was attacked as he claimed with the words, “I wanted to be wrong.” Three paragraphs later: “But still, I wanted to be wrong.”This should tell you a great deal about how morally and psychologically sick the Left is. And their reactions prove how little racism there really is in America.Here’s the proof of both these assertions: When American Jews, even most left-wing Jews, heard of the mass killing of Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue, how many were hoping the shooter was truly an anti-Semite, and how many were hoping he was a mentally deranged individual who could have just as easily shot up a church? Or, if a well-known Jew had been beaten at 2 a.m. on a Chicago street, how many American Jews would have wanted the attackers to be Jew-haters, and how many would have wished they were just thugs who wanted money?As a Jew who has been deeply involved in Jewish culture all my life, I am pretty certain the majority of Jews -- certainly liberal and conservative Jews, and even most left-wing Jews -- would have wished that neither the Pittsburgh synagogue nor the theoretical attack on a Chicago street I conjured up were perpetrated by anti-Semites.Why is that? Why do almost all Jews wish attackers of Jews not be anti-Semites, but so many blacks and so many white leftists wish Smollett had been attacked by racists?Because Jews want to believe there is little anti-Semitism in America while most black leftists and most white leftists want to believe there is a lot of racism in America.And why is that? Because the Left and many American blacks are politically and personally dependent on one of the greatest mass libels in history -- namely, that America is a racist country. If just one one of five black Americans woke up tomorrow and announced, “You know, this a great country for anyone, including a black person, to live in, and the truth is the vast majority of white Americans bear no ill will toward blacks (or any other race or ethnicity),” that would end the Democrats’ chances of winning national elections. The Democratic party is dependent on nearly universal black acceptance of the leftist libel of America.And what about the personal? Why do so many black Americans, living in the freest country for all its citizens -- and in the least-racist multiracial, multiethnic country in history -- want to believe America is racist? That is one of the most important questions all Americans need to address at this time.And there is another one, which I posed in my column last week: Does the Left believe its own lies?




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All-New 2020 Toyota Corolla First-Drive Review

All-New 2020 Toyota Corolla First-Drive ReviewAll-New 2020 Toyota Corolla Adds Sizzle, Still Sensible The redesigned 2020 Toyota Corolla sedan joins the Corolla hatchback (which we’ve already tested), and it is offered for the first time as...




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The Latest: Pompeo urges restraint in India, Pakistan

The Latest: Pompeo urges restraint in India, PakistanISLAMABAD (AP) — The Latest on India-Pakistan tensions (all times local):




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Trump and Kim Jong Un might officially end the Korean War. Here's why that could matter.

Trump and Kim Jong Un might officially end the Korean War. Here's why that could matter.After 66 years, a peace declaration at the Vietnam summit could lead to negotiations and more normal relations between the two Koreas and America.




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Mother and adult daughter charged with killing 5 relatives

Mother and adult daughter charged with killing 5 relativesMORRISVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A mother and her adult daughter killed five of their close relatives, including three children, and were found "disoriented" after child welfare authorities arrived for a surprise visit to their trashed apartment outside Philadelphia, police and prosecutors said Tuesday.




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Univision team deported from Venezuela after Maduro interview

Univision team deported from Venezuela after Maduro interviewThe six-person team was held for more than two hours and had their equipment confiscated, Ramos told reporters on Monday evening after arriving back at his Caracas hotel which was surrounded by intelligence agents. Ramos and his team left the hotel on Tuesday morning guarded by personnel from the U.S. and Mexican embassies while intelligence agents escorted them to Caracas' Maiquetia airport. "They didn't give us a reason" for the deportation, Ramos told reporters as he arrived at the terminal.




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Southwest Airlines wing scrapes runway during aborted landing in Hartford

Southwest Airlines wing scrapes runway during aborted landing in HartfordA Southwest flight from Orlando to Hartford, Connecticut, ended up diverting to Rhode Island after trying to land three times in high winds.




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Highlights of Michael Cohen’s Testimony Before Congress


By SARAH STEIN KERR and AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2BVjQ9B

Patient Shoots Doctor at Florida Veterans Affairs Hospital, Officials Say


By JULIA JACOBS and MATT STEVENS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2EEhde9

Michael Cohen Says Trump Told Him to Threaten Schools Not to Release Grades


By GRACE ASHFORD from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2GQ7EuP

Washington Official Subpoenas Trump Inaugural Committee


By SHARON LaFRANIERE and MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2EAyQLM

Cohen Testimony Raises Questions About Trump’s Financial Disclosure


By KENNETH P. VOGEL from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2EDDo3X

Trump Trade Adviser Defends China Deal Before Congressional Skeptics


By ANA SWANSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2EgbDNA

Michael Cohen Accuses Trump of Expansive Pattern of Lies and Criminality


By PETER BAKER and NICHOLAS FANDOS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2VpyVaq

At Cohen Hearing, a Fixer and Washington’s Problems on Display


By MATT FLEGENHEIMER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2SwVetd

On Politics: Michael Cohen Testifies


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To Rebut Cohen, Republican Invites Black Appointee as Proof Trump’s No Racist


By ANNIE KARNI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2IIVV2R

Florida Bar Will Investigate Matt Gaetz’s Threat Against Cohen


By NICHOLAS FANDOS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2BVYRDz

Mueller’s Team Acknowledges New Information in Allegations That Manafort Lied


By SHARON LaFRANIERE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2UaPKWx

As Over 100 House Democrats Embrace ‘Medicare for All,’ a Party Division Appears


By ROBERT PEAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2tFn78l

House Passes First Major Gun Control Law in Decades


By CATIE EDMONDSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2SvtMMb

Questionable Assertions From Both Parties in the Cohen Hearing


By LINDA QIU from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2GM5xbe

Buoying Trump’s ‘Inflated’ Wealth: $4 Billion in ‘Brand Value,’ Cohen Says


By RUSS BUETTNER and SUSANNE CRAIG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2NwHJZC

Cohen’s Testimony Is a Test for Both Parties in the Year Ahead


By MICHAEL D. SHEAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2TkjCCB

Beto O’Rourke Says He Has ‘Made a Decision’ on a Presidential Run


By MAGGIE ASTOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2GP7qEc

White Man Who Shot Black Men After Hurricane Katrina Dies Days After Sentencing


By MATT STEVENS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2IQ7upc

Chicago’s Political Order Was Upended This Week. Here’s How.


By JULIE BOSMAN and MITCH SMITH from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2TjrC6R

Univision's Jorge Ramos details detainment, expulsion from Venezuela

Univision's Jorge Ramos details detainment, expulsion from VenezuelaUnivision anchor Jorge Ramos shared details in TV interviews Tuesday night on how Venezuelan authorities detained his team during an interview Monday.




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Trump and Kim Are Meeting One-on-One at This Historic Hanoi Hotel

Trump and Kim Are Meeting One-on-One at This Historic Hanoi HotelThe $300 a night Metropole is redolent with colonial history




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Justice Department loses appeal to block AT&T-Time Warner merger, won't appeal again

Justice Department loses appeal to block AT&T-Time Warner merger, won't appeal againThe Justice Department, which lost its latest attempt to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger, will not appeal the U.S. District Court of Appeals ruling.




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