Monday, 30 September 2019

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

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




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Nigerian police free 19 women and girls from Lagos 'baby factory': statement

Nigerian police free 19 women and girls from Lagos 'baby factory': statementPolice in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, have freed 19 women and girls who had mostly been abducted and impregnated by captors planning to sell their babies. The girls and women, aged from 15 to 28, had been brought from all over Nigeria with promises of work, Lagos police said on Monday. "Baby factories", as such premises are widely known, are most common in parts of eastern Nigeria.




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

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




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GOP Congressman Says ‘Troubling Issues’ in Whistleblower’s Report Should Be Investigated

GOP Congressman Says ‘Troubling Issues’ in Whistleblower’s Report Should Be InvestigatedRepublican congressman Will Hurd said Sunday that lawmakers should investigate the "troubling" allegations in the whistleblower report against President Trump but cautioned against a rush to impeachment.“Having laws in place to ensure that folks throughout the government are able to get to the right committees information where they think may be wrongdoing is important," the Texas Republican said on CBS. "There are troubling issues within the whistleblower’s report, but they are allegations, and I think that’s why we should explore these allegations through hearings.”Hurd added that a top priority should be protecting the whistleblower, although he said he finds it "highly unlikely in this incredibly partisan environment" that the individual's identity will be protected, an "unfortunate" result.The former undercover CIA officer noted the secondhand nature of some of the whistleblower's information and said investigators must "be methodical" and not "rush it" in order to "get to the bottom" of the accusations against Trump.House speaker Nancy Pelosi last week announced the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump, amid accusations that he withheld military aid from Ukraine in an effort to prompt a Ukrainian investigation of Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden."An impeachment inquiry, I think this is wordplay being used by Speaker Pelosi in order to placate some of the extreme wings of her party," Hurd said. "The last three times there was an impeachment inquiry of a president it was a vote on the House floor and it was done in a bipartisan way."“Anybody who thinks that we have enough information to make a statement on impeachment, that’s incredibly premature,” the congressman warned.Some Democrats have been attempting to launch impeachment since Trump's inauguration, he noted.Hurd, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, also took a shot at committee chairman Adam Schiff, saying Schiff is conducting the impeachment investigation like a "tribal council on 'Survivor' and we're voting somebody off the island," referring to the hit reality television show.The whistleblower, an anonymous member of the intelligence community, is expected to appear soon before the intelligence committee.




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

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




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Trump impeachment T-shirts? Grow up, Rep. Tlaib. Removing a president is serious business.

Trump impeachment T-shirts? Grow up, Rep. Tlaib. Removing a president is serious business.If Donald Trump is her tutor on tactics, Rashida Tlaib is doing it wrong. Neither of them serve Americans well by appealing to their coarser appetites.




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UPDATE 3-San Francisco tour guide charged with carrying U.S. secrets to China

UPDATE 3-San Francisco tour guide charged with carrying U.S. secrets to ChinaA San Francisco tour guide has been charged with being an agent of the Chinese government, accused of picking up U.S. national security secrets from furtive locations and delivering them cloak and dagger style to Beijing, federal prosecutors said on Monday. Xuehua Peng, also known as Edward Peng, was arrested on Friday in the San Francisco suburb of Hayward, California, and was denied bail during an initial court appearance by a U.S. magistrate judge that same day, federal prosecutors said at a Monday morning news conference. "Defendant Xuehua (Edward) Peng is charged with executing dead drops, delivering payments, and personally carrying to Beijing, China, secure digital cards containing classified information related to the national security of the United States," Anderson said.




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

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




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USA TODAY's Harrison Hill tells migrant stories through portraits

USA TODAY's Harrison Hill tells migrant stories through portraitsHarrison Hill, a photographer for USA TODAY, documented the migrant crisis outside LA immigration court for USA TODAY's project "The Migrants."




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

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




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Al-Shabaab attacks US base, EU convoy in Somalia

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




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CNN's Jake Tapper politely shreds GOP Rep. Jim Jordan's Trump-Ukraine talking points

CNN's Jake Tapper politely shreds GOP Rep. Jim Jordan's Trump-Ukraine talking pointsActing White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney "is on shaky ground in the wake of a bad week for President Trump," CNN reports, largely because he didn't immediately "have a strategy for defending and explaining the contents" of a reconstructed transcript of Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tried his hand Sunday with the White House's subsequent talking points. CNN's Jake Tapper wasn't having it.Jordan alleged that former Vice President Joe Biden had pressured Ukraine to fire top prosecutor Viktor Shokin to help out his lawyer son, Hunter Biden, who had recently gotten a seat on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma. "That's not what happened," Tapper said, noting repeatedly that Shokin was ousted because he wasn't prosecuting people and the Ukrainian investigations related to Burisma's owner were dormant when Hunter Biden was hired. Shokin "wasn't going after corruption -- do you understand what I'm saying?" Tapper asked.Jordan kept hitting on the younger Biden's reported salary, and Tapper eventually stopped him. "If you want to push a law saying that the children of presidents and vice presidents should not be doing international business deals, I'm all for it," Tapper said. "But you're setting a standard that is not being met right now." He gave examples from Trump's children."I'm just telling you what happened," Jordan said. "No, you're not," Tapper said. "It's amazing the gymnastics you'll go through to defend what --" Jordan began, and Tapper brought up accusations from Ohio State wresters that Jordan turned a blind eye to sexual abuse by the team doctor: "Sir, it's not gymnastics -- it's facts! And I would think somebody who's been accused of things in the last year and two would be more sensitive about throwing out wild allegations against people.""I understand you want to change the subject," Tapper said, after Jordan began jumping down 2016 rabbit holes, "but the president was pushing the president of Ukraine to investigate a political rival. I cannot believe that that is okay with you."If you are interested in the Hunter Biden story, a former New York Times reporter runs down at The Intercept how Trump, Giuliani, and "the right-wing spin machine" inverted his 2015 reporting on the Bidens, and The Washington Post has a longer look at the Bidens in Ukraine and this helpful explainer.




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China's Guangzhou rides economic change but keeps traditions

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




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McConnell warns countries that interfere in 2020 election will 'have a serious problem'

McConnell warns countries that interfere in 2020 election will 'have a serious problem'Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday warned against foreign interference in U.S. elections, threatening that nations seeking to meddle in the 2020 races will “have a serious problem” on their hands. “Look, 2018 was a big success story,” the Kentucky Republican told CNBC, praising the Trump administration’s efforts to safeguard last year’s midterm elections. Critics have branded the Senate leader as “Moscow Mitch” in recent months for his refusal to to bring election security legislation to the floor.




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As Gwyneth Paltrow celebrates her 47th birthday, here's a look at her massive net worth

As Gwyneth Paltrow celebrates her 47th birthday, here's a look at her massive net worthThe Academy Award-winning actress and founder of Goop turns 47 this month. Here's a look back at her career and the wealth she's amassed.




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Robert Jeffress to CBN News: 'If the President is Removed from Office, It's Going to Cause Lasting Wounds in Our Country'

Trump supporter Pastor Robert Jeffress is speaking out again to oppose the Democrat effort to impeach the president.  

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Sunday, 29 September 2019

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

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




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Sydney and Taiwan kick off global protests for Hong Kong

Sydney and Taiwan kick off global protests for Hong KongThousands rallied in Sydney and Taipei to support Hong Kong democracy protesters Sunday, kicking off a day of planned "anti-totalitarianism" demonstrations globally. In one of the largest solidarity marches in Australia since Hong Kong's latest pro-democracy movement began in June, black-clad participants took to the streets chanting "Add oil", a protest slogan denoting encouragement. Some Sydney protesters held signs that read "Save Hong Kong" and "Stop tyranny", while others carried yellow umbrellas or handed out paper cranes in scenes that played out in other major cities across the country Sunday.




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White House adviser says Trump 'is the whistleblower’

White House adviser says Trump 'is the whistleblower’White House senior adviser Stephen Miller defended President Trump’s attempts to have the Ukrainian president open an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, claiming on Sunday that the scandal was a “political hit job” by the “deep state” and that Trump was really the “whistleblower.”




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Rudy Giuliani: Trump lawyer immediately contradicts himself after claiming he would not cooperate with impeachment investigation

Rudy Giuliani: Trump lawyer immediately contradicts himself after claiming he would not cooperate with impeachment investigationDonald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said he would not cooperate with House Democrat impeachment enquiries, before immediately contradicting himself when pressed.Mr Giuliani was being interviewed on ABC News when he said that he would not cooperate with investigations in the House Intelligence Committee while representative Adam Schiff was in charge.




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

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




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Trump-Supporting Lawyers diGenova and Toensing Teamed Up With Giuliani to Dig Up Ukraine Dirt on Biden: Report

Trump-Supporting Lawyers diGenova and Toensing Teamed Up With Giuliani to Dig Up Ukraine Dirt on Biden: ReportFox NewsIn a bombshell report Sunday morning, Fox News reported that two frequent guests on the right-leaning cable news channel were “working off the books” to help former New York City mayor and current presidential attorney Rudy Giuliani dig up dirt on President Donald Trump’s leading Democratic opponent—and that the only person who knew about their involvement was the president himself.Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace broke the news that Giuliani wasn’t acting alone when it came to digging up Ukrainian dirt on Trump’s potential 2020 presidential opponent Joe Biden.“Two high-profile Washington lawyers, Joe diGenova, who’s been a fierce critic of the Democratic investigation, and his wife Victoria Toensing were working with Giuliani to get oppo research on Biden,” Wallace said at the top of his broadcast.“According to a top U.S. official, all three were working off the books apart from the administration,” Wallace added. “The only person in government who knows what they were doing is President Trump.”Giuliani has denied working with any other attorneys in his quest for Ukrainian-provided information on the Biden family in recent appearances on Fox News, denials that the network’s own reporting now call into question.“No,” Giuliani told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures, when asked if he had worked with other attorneys. “I didn’t work with anybody to try and get dirt on Joe Biden.”Requests for comment in response to Wallace’s report from diGenova & Toensing, LLP, their eponymous D.C.-based law firm, were not immediately returned. Requests to Giuliani and the White House have also not been returned. Both diGenova and Toensing have been frequent guests on Fox’s opinion shows, specifically Hannity and Lou Dobbs Tonight. This week, during an appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, diGenova blasted Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano as “a fool” for assessing that Trump had committed a crime during his July 25 call with the Ukrainian president.The remarks sparked a multi-day, on-air scuffle between Fox News anchor Shepard Smith and Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Wallace also appeared to join in the internecine fighting over the network’s coverage of the growing scandal, implicitly criticizing the on-air commentary of some of his Fox News colleagues in recent days.Chris Wallace Clashes With Fox News Colleague Over Trump Defenders’ ‘Deeply Misleading’ Spin on UkraineBoth Toensing and diGenova have been two of the president’s fiercest defenders for years. Along with being frequent guests on Fox opinion shows and other conservative media outlets, the husband-wife team has had a close relationship with the president for a while.In March 2018, they were briefly tapped to join Trump’s special counsel legal team. Days later, however, the president decided against hiring the pair.“The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said at the time. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.”Revelations this week that Giuliani had been tasked by Trump to coordinate with Attorney General William Barr and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in investigating unproven allegations of corruption involving Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company have pushed long-simmering Democratic support for an impeachment inquiry against the president to a rolling boil.“I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call, and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it,” Trump told Zelensky on a July 25 phone call, according to a rough transcript of the conversation released by the White House this week.Trump and Giuliani have, without providing evidence, accused the former vice president and frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination of supporting the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect Burisma, an energy company advised by his youngest son, Hunter. “A lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great,” Trump said on the call with Zelensky, after asking the newly elected president of Ukraine for a “favor.”“Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution, so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me.”This story is developing.Pompeo Grapples for Ways to Outlast Hurricane RudyRead 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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Founders: Removal from Office Is Not the Only Purpose of Impeachment

Founders: Removal from Office Is Not the Only Purpose of ImpeachmentBenjamin Franklin was a leading voice in the debates framing the Constitution.




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Iran's iconic anti-US murals make way for a new generation of artwork

Iran's iconic anti-US murals make way for a new generation of artworkFamous murals celebrating Iran's Islamic revolution daubed on walls of the former US embassy in Tehran have been erased to make way for new paintings to be unveiled on the fortieth anniversary of the hostage crisis. Three workers were on Sunday afternoon seen removing the original artwork with a sandblaster against the wall of Taleqani avenue, bordering the south side of what was once dubbed a US "spy nest" in central Tehran. On November 4, 1979, less than nine months after Iran's last shah was toppled, pro-revolution students took Americans hostage at the embassy to protest the ex-shah's admission to hospital in the US.




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

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




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

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




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

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




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

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




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

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




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

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




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Hong Kong protesters to rally after another night of violence

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




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

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




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Former British leader defends Biden Ukraine scenario

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




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

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




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

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




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

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




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

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




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How Mitch McConnell could give impeachment the Merrick Garland treatment

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




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

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




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Saturday, 28 September 2019

Trump calls out CNN for missing punctuation mark as impeachment looms

Trump calls out CNN for missing punctuation mark as impeachment loomsAn impeachment inquiry is looming, and the revelations in the whistleblower scandal pop up hour by hour, but President Trump took CNN to task on Friday over the use of the word “liddle.”




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Rwanda welcomes first group of African refugees from Libya

Rwanda welcomes first group of African refugees from LibyaA group of 66 African refugees and asylum-seekers arrived in Kigali late Thursday, the UN said, the first of what could be thousands relocated from Libya under a new programme. Earlier this month, Rwanda signed a deal with the African Union (AU) and the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR agreeing to take in African refugees and asylum-seekers stranded in Libya.




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

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




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First Republican member of Congress voices support for Trump impeachment probe

First Republican member of Congress voices support for Trump impeachment probeRep. Mark Amodei became the first GOP member of Congress to back the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.




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Ivory Coast Leader Wants to Hand Over Power to New Generation

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




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Sixth-Grade Boys Allegedly Attack, Cut Girl’s ‘Ugly’ Dreadlocks at Private Christian School

Sixth-Grade Boys Allegedly Attack, Cut Girl’s ‘Ugly’ Dreadlocks at Private Christian SchoolPhoto Illustration by The Daily Beast/Courtesy Cynthia AllenAmari Allen was about to use the slide at the Immanuel Christian School playground on Monday when three white classmates appeared. Within “seconds,” the 12-year-old said, she was pushed down, her hands held behind her back as the boys called her names and cut off patches of her “ugly, nappy” dreadlocks. “One of the boys put his hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream while they used scissors on my hair,” she recalled to The Daily Beast on Thursday. "They were all laughing, calling me ugly, and saying I should have never been born.”The alleged assault only lasted “a minute or two” before the bell rang to signal the end of recess, the sixth grader said. The three boys took off running to go into their math class while Amari stayed on the slide, trying to collect herself before following behind. “They ran off laughing, and I was just sitting there,” the soft-spoken teenager said. “I’m hurt that it happened. All I want to ask them is, Why?”The Monday afternoon racist attack at the private Immanuel Christian School—an already controversial school where Karen Pence, the second lady of the United States, teaches art class part-time—has “destroyed” the Allen family, and they are now seeking legal and administrative retributions. Courtesy of Cynthia AllenAmari’s mother, Cynthia Allen, told The Daily Beast that the family met with school officials on Thursday morning to demand the three boys be removed and updated policies be put into place to ensure “this doesn’t happen again.” Allen also said Amari filed a police report. “We take seriously the emotional and physical well-being of all our students, and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of bullying or abuse. We are deeply disturbed by the allegations being made, and are in communication with the family of the alleged victim to gather information and provide whatever support we can,” the school said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “We have also reached out to law enforcement to ask them to conduct a thorough investigation, and further inquiries should be directed to the Fairfax County Police Department.”“All I am asking for is this to be resolved, if they can’t leave school, then I will,” Amari said. Her mother agreed, adding, “She’s in real pain but she wants justice.”The 53-year-old mom said it took two days for Amari to finally admit the attack even happened. At first, the 12-year-old told her mother that the missing parts of her hair were the result of playing “beauty salon” with another friend. “We continued to press her on it because it just didn’t sound like something she would do,” Cynthia Allen said. “Then she started breaking down crying, trembling, and shaking before telling us what happened.”Amari said she “instantly felt better” when she told her family about how the three sixth-grade boys pinned her down on the playground. She said while one boy covered her mouth, a second boy put her hands behind her back, and a third boy cut her dreadlocks while calling her names.“They called her ‘ugly,’ told her she was an ‘attention seeker,’ called her hair ‘nappy,’ all of these horrible things,” her mother said. “And when they ran away laughing, she just had to sit there and get herself together.” Amari admitted she initially denied that anyone cut her hair out of fear of retaliation. The three boys—including one that used to be her friend—are in six of her classes and she said she was afraid they “would come after me.”“They had scissors, so they could have done anything to me,” the sixth grader said. “I was afraid if I told the teacher they wouldn’t care.”Amari’s mom explained that this was not the first time her daughter had been subjected to bullying by these three classmates. Throughout the school year, the boys have allegedly been “taking her lunch every single day and calling her names.”“My concern is, how did they not see what was taking place, on the playground and all year,” Allen said. “Karen Pence, the vice president’s wife, works at the school. There is security and secret service everywhere. How did they not know!”The Immanuel Christian School, which enrolls kindergartners through eighth graders at its campus in Springfield, Virginia, has been previously embroiled in controversy after its school banned LGBT students and demanded all employees affirm the belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.According to The New York Times, the school’s employment application requires prospective teachers to describe their faith and sign their initials next to a list of beliefs, including Immanuel Christian’s definition of marriage and stances on sexual identity.“I understand that the term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning; the uniting of one man and one woman,” the application reads, detailing that certain “moral misconduct” considered disqualifying includes “heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female.”Pence, 62, has had a long history with the school, having taught from 2001 to 2013 while her husband served in Congress. And in December, the second lady decided to return twice a week to the private school as an art teacher. Cynthia Allen said despite the school’s recent controversies, she is more concerned with its future and said she is planning to speak to administrators further about preventing another racist attack. But for now, she said, Amari will not return to school. “Amari is surviving, but this can’t happen again,” she said. “She is terrified, she has not been able to sleep. And she is strong, I can’t imagine if this happened to somebody else.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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Barreling toward impeachment proceedings, Pelosi offers Trump her thoughts and prayers

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




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UPDATE 3-Yemen's Houthis say attacked Saudi border frontline, no immediate Saudi confirmation

UPDATE 3-Yemen's Houthis say attacked Saudi border frontline, no immediate Saudi confirmationYemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday it had carried out a major attack near the border with the southern Saudi region of Najran and captured many troops and vehicles, but there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabian authorities. The Houthis' military spokesman said in a statement that three "enemy military brigades had fallen" in the attack, which he said was launched 72 hours ago and supported by the group's drone, missile and air defence units.




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Iran releases photo of Khamenei with Hezbollah chief

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




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Trump calls out CNN for missing punctuation mark as impeachment looms

Trump calls out CNN for missing punctuation mark as impeachment loomsAn impeachment inquiry is looming, and the revelations in the whistleblower scandal pop up hour by hour, but President Trump took CNN to task on Friday over the use of the word “liddle.”




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

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




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

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




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