Big Time News Blog: 12/27/19

Friday, December 27, 2019

Neal R. Peirce, Who Put Spotlight on Urban Innovation, Dies at 87

By BY KEITH SCHNEIDER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Zurbr7

American Contractor Killed in Rocket Attack in Iraq

By BY JULIAN E. BARNES from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2MxXwrC

Russia Deploys Hypersonic Weapon, Potentially Renewing Arms Race

By BY JULIAN E. BARNES AND DAVID E. SANGER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Zwuv5e

Arthur Singer Jr., Who Set the Stage for Public TV, Dies at 90

By BY SAM ROBERTS from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2MBoP4B

The Patriarchy of Alcoholics Anonymous

By BY HOLLY WHITAKER from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/365eyVM

‘There Is No Excuse.’ Methodist Pastor, Accused of Sexual Harassment, Steps Down.

By BY JACK HEALY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/357W2et

Mexico says Spanish diplomats' cars blocked by Bolivia at La Paz embassy

Mexico's government said Bolivian police had impeded the departure of Spanish officials visiting the Mexican ambassador in La Paz on Friday, widening a spat over Bolivia's surveillance of its diplomatic facilities that has rumbled on for days.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2Qo6PvG

Sizzling temperatures hit Australia as wildfires persist

A code red was issued in South Australia on Friday as temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) in the state’s capital, while firefighters battling wildfires in New South Wales established containment lines in cooler conditions ahead of an expected heatwave this weekend. South Australia last week had 86 homes destroyed after wildfires flared in catastrophic conditions, as its capital Adelaide endured a heatwave peaking at a sizzling 46 C (115 F). The heatwave has prompted the South Australian government to declare a code red, which aims to ensure the homeless kept cool and hydrated.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2srl22J

Norwegian woman told to leave India after joining citizenship law protest

A Norwegian woman on holiday in India's southern state of Kerala has been told to leave the country after she joined a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new citizenship law, authorities said on Friday.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2QqX1Rp

U.S. appeals court voids 'shockingly low' 17-year sentence in NY terrorism case

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Fareed Mumuni's trial judge abused her discretion in imposing a term that was 80% below the 85 years recommended by federal guidelines, and even below the 18-year term for co-defendant Munther Omar Saleh, who was not accused of attempted murder. In a 2-1 decision, the court said U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie improperly second-guessed whether Mumuni, 25, intended to kill FBI Special Agent Kevin Coughlin in June 2015 by stabbing him repeatedly with an 8-inch kitchen knife in Mumuni's home.

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

Families of Soldiers Fallen or Wounded in Afghanistan Sue Contractors for Allegedly Paying Protection Money to Taliban

Families of 143 American troops and contractors killed or wounded in Afghanistan have sued U.S. and international contractors involved in Afghan reconstruction projects for allegedly paying protection money to the Taliban.The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court, claims certain contracting companies often paid the Taliban through subcontractors, which allowed the the companies to save money on security personnel. The Taliban then used the money, according to the lawsuit, to fund attacks on other companies that didn't make payments to the insurgent group."The defendants are large corporations that had lucrative businesses in Afghanistan," said Joshua Branson, a lawyer for the case, in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. "Those protection payments, as alleged, redirected attacks away from the defendants’ own interests while financing a terrorist insurgency that killed and injured thousands of Americans, including our clients."It has been widely known for years that money from American defense contractors has found its way to local Afghan warlords in the wake of the U.S. invasion of the country. A 2010 congressional investigation found that funds from Pentagon-backed contractors were fueling a "protection racket" by bribing local officials and possibly Taliban members in exchange for safe passage of goods.No U.S. or international companies have been successfully prosecuted for aiding the Taliban. The current lawsuit is a civil suit, which will enable a conviction if prosecutors can convince a jury of a preponderance of evidence in their favor, as opposed to a criminal suit which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.The war in Afghanistan, now 18 years old, came under increased scrutiny after the Washington Post published a trove of documents it dubbed the "Afganistan Papers." The records are from a federal investigation into the war effort and contain reflections of U.S. officials and troops in which they express doubts about the success of the war and the clarity of the military's mission. The officials also indicated the U.S. repeatedly misrepresented progress in the war to the government and the American people.The U.S. has been attempting peace negotiations with the Taliban, but talks have proceeded slowly as insurgents have continued to attack American targets.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Q2ZiTP

The lawyer who shaped Boeing's response to the 737 Max crisis announced his retirement just 3 days after CEO Dennis Muilenburg was fired

Boeing's handling of legal elements of the 737 Max crisis has been subject to sharp criticism, including from Congress.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37pkE3V

2 passengers say they were sexually assaulted during their flights. They're suing the airline for allegedly ignoring their reports.

One woman alleged in the lawsuit that she immediately notified a flight attendant when she was assaulted, but she was not allowed to switch seats.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37h9Kgx

Thousands protest in rival demonstrations over new India law

Thousands protested in rival demonstrations in India Friday as tensions deepen over a citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, with authorities deploying huge numbers of riot police in the country. Twenty-seven people have died in two weeks of at times violent demonstrations after Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government made it easier for non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to be naturalised. Coupled with a mooted citizens register, it has stoked fears -- including in Washington and the UN rights office -- about the marginalisation of Muslims who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37iHIkr

Young girl from Delta flight has cardiac arrest, dies at LAX

The airline says the flight to Seattle returned to the airport shortly after takeoff due to the medical emergency

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2t60IEh

Trump sparked a tourism boom in Ghana when he told congresswomen to 'go back' to where they came from

President Trump's tweets telling four freshmen congresswomen to "go back" to the "totally broken and crime infested places from which they came" had an unexpected and surprising upside: a massive tourism boom in Ghana.Akwasi Agyeman, the chief executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority, told The Washington Post that after Trump's July tweets, interest in visiting the West African nation surged: "People spoke of booking a trip, he said, as a way to strike back at Trump's words." Applications to visit Ghana this year have reportedly risen from 1,000 per week to 10,000.Trump's tweets had been directed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), all of whom are U.S. citizens. Omar, a Somali refugee and the only one in the group to have actually been born abroad, was visiting Ghana at the time of Trump's attack. She'd tweeted in response: "So grateful for the honor to return to Mother Africa."In addition to retaliation to Trump, tourists flocked to Ghana in 2019 to honor the "Year of Return," which marked 400 years since the first slave ship reached the state of Virginia; the nation expected "some 500,000 visitors this year, up from 350,000 in 2018," the Christian Science Monitor reports. Celebrity interest, including posts by Cardi B, also enticed Americans across the Atlantic. Many have even moved to Ghana permanently."When I think about going home to the States," one Boston emigrant, Pierre Delva, told the Post, "it almost makes me want to cry."More stories from theweek.com A more honest evangelical defense of Trump 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's holiday season Democratic leadership should be afraid of McKayla Wilkes

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34YLG09

Netanyahu’s Big Win Means His Party Is in Real Trouble

JERUSALEM—After weeks of bad news, Thursday was a very good night for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faced the first serious challenge to his leadership of the Likud party since 2005.At the end of a tense, stormy primary day, in which Netanyahu’s side emitted text messages with invented commandments—“thou shalt not betray”—and supporters of his opponent, Gideon Saar, cried foul over electoral misbehavior, Netanyahu won, convincingly.The final result was 72.5 percent for Netanyahu, and 27.5 percent for Saar, a former minister who ran on a nationalist agenda a notch harsher than Netanyahu’s and argued for a return to civility and decency in politics.The only way to guarantee the continuation of the right-wing’s monopoly over the Israeli government was for new leadership to take over in the Likud, Saar said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Will Be Indicted. But Will He Step Down?Netanyahu failed to win a majority of votes in two successive elections held this year, in April and in September, and has presided over the Israeli government as an interim prime minister, with limited powers, for a full year.A ruthless political operator, Netanyahu has never nurtured successors. Most of the men who have served him, including former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and former Education Minister Naftali Bennet found themselves out of the Likud when their popularity began to threaten Netanyahu.Saar is the only prominent Likud figure with the courage to state out loud what the Israeli public already knows: there is no path for Netanyahu to form a new government after the national elections on March 2, 2020.In fact, the exuberance at this victory among the party faithful could fade as early as Sunday, when Avichai Mandelblit, the Israeli attorney general, has been forced to produce his opinion on a legal conundrum never before seen here.In November, Mandelblit announced a raft of corruption charges against Netanyahu, including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.In order to protect a legally elected head of government from frivolous legal challenges, an Israeli Basic Law—a constitutional act—allows an indicted prime minister to serve out his or her term in office even while facing trial.But another law legislated by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, does not allow any indicted person to be appointed to high office.Neither of these laws has ever been tested. Israel’s Supreme Court, which is grappling with several petitions claiming Netanyahu cannot legally remain in office, has compelled Mandelblit to present his decision on Netanyahu’s ability to continue in office, a sort of forced amicae curiae, by Sunday.In the coming months, the court will rule on Netanyahu’s fitness for office as a candidate under criminal indictment.Blue and White—the Likud’s opposition in the general election, which bested Netanyahu’s party in September—is led by the centrist former army chief, Benny Gantz, who ran on clean government platform. Throughout the failed coalition talks, he said his party hoped to form a broad national unity government with the Likud— but would not serve with an indicted criminal.Saar, during the primary, claimed that Gantz would win the March vote if the Likud was not able to renew its leadership, offering a new coalition government, and that Netanyahu’s stubborn hold on power would bring defeat.Knowing he faced serious charges, Netanyahu has been scrambling to evade judgement. The law allows him to remain in office, but not to evade trial. During the last year, Netanyahu has tried to pass a personal immunity law through the Knesset and, created an even greater public uproar, tried to pass a law that would override supreme court decisions.But having failed, but he will now run a scorched earth campaign aimed at a single target: a large enough parliamentary majority to pass an immunity law.Before the primary results were even announced, Netanyahu confidant Miki Zohar, a rambunctious Knesset member for the Likud, said, “Netanyahu got the answer about whether he should ask for immunity.”But Netanyanhu’s big night may result in very bad news for his party, the Likud, who will be running an indicted candidate who’s twice lost and wants only one thing: legal immunity, which the voters hate. Israelis are generally indulgent about Netanyahu’s various offences and peccadillos, but deeply oppose parliamentary immunity, and Gantz accuses him of seeking only an “immunity government,” not a real governing coalition, and of holding the nation hostage to his legal imbroglios. Netanyahu Is Using Trump's Tactics to Try to Survive His Corruption and Bribery ScandalIn May, when Netanyahu presented the initial bills, 62% of the Israel public opposed immunity for Netanyahu. Recent polls show that figure now above 70%, from voters across the political spectrum.Netanyahu has until January 1 to request immunity against the criminal charges, but would need a majority of members to support it—and, for now, he hasn’t got it. The primary victory is expected to emboldened him to demand parliamentary support from the entire right wing block.If Netanyahu does not succeed whipping a majority of Israel's 120 lawmakers to support immunity, he will be put on trial in Jerusalem immediately after the next government is formed.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.

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

Big Time News Blog