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abcnews--2019-10-31--Virginia mom charged with murder in 2-year-old son's death

abcnews

Virginia mom charged with murder in 2-year-old son's death

The Virginia woman whose 2-year-old son was found in a trash incinerator has been charged with murder in his death. Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell told a news conference on Thursday that a warrant had been issued for 34-year-old Julia Leanna Tomlin, who also will be charged with unlawfully disposing of Noah Tomlin's body. Bell said skull fractures found on the toddler's body indicates a level of force so severe it was as if the child had fallen several stories from a building. Julia Tomlin reported her son missing in June, and searchers sifted through a landfill and steam plant over 10 days before the body was found on July 3. Tomlin is already jailed and charged with three counts of felony child neglect prior to reporting Noah missing.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/virginia-mom-charged-murder-year-sons-death-66673986

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 16:49:56 -0400

crime, law and justice

crime

abcnews--2019-11-07--2 escaped murder suspects arrested at US-Mexico border

abcnews

2 escaped murder suspects arrested at US-Mexico border

Authorities are trying to determine if anyone helped two inmates who escaped from a California jail, traveled hundreds of miles and crossed into Mexico before being captured trying to walk back into the United States. Jonathan Salazar, 20, and Santos Fonseca, 21, were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at a port of entry in San Ysidro — the nation's largest border crossing — early Wednesday, Monterey County Sheriff's Office Capt. John Thornburg said. Thornburg said the two are in the custody of Monterey County officials and have been returned to a jail in Salinas, a farming city of about 160,000 people roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of San Francisco. Salazar and Fonseca escaped Sunday from the lockup in Salinas after climbing through a hole they made in the ceiling of a bathroom, squeezing through a hollow wall and kicking open a hatch. Officials found their jail-issued jumpsuits outside the building. Inmates often wear their own clothes under the jumpsuits, Thornburg said. Investigators have not yet determined how long they worked on making the hole or if anyone else helped them escape or helped them after they were out. They were reported missing at 8:15 a.m. Sunday. Thornburg said authorities received a tip that the pair, both born and raised in Salinas, had been spotted in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, around 400 miles (644 kilometers) south of Monterey County, and alerted federal officials. CBP spokeswoman Jackie Wasiluk said the men didn't present any documents. They said they were U.S. citizens, and a check of law enforcement databases told border inspectors that they were wanted by authorities. How the pair made it to Mexico, why they decided to travel together since they allegedly belong to rival gangs and why they returned to the United States is under investigation, Thornburg said. "The good news here is they are in custody again," Thornburg said. Salazar and Fonseca will be housed separately in a different housing unit from the one they escaped, Thornburg said, adding that officials had already made security improvements to the jail. He said he couldn't provide details. Before being spotted in Tijuana, investigators received a credible tip from an employee at a motel in Marina about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the jail who told authorities Salazar had checked in there Tuesday morning, but authorities found no one in the room after a nearly eight-hour standoff, Thornburg said. "It all looked like we had Mr. Salazar in a motel," he said. "Unfortunately, last night he wasn't there." Both had been in custody since 2018 and were awaiting trial on murder counts and "numerous other felony charges" in separate cases. Salazar was arrested in the shooting death of 20-year-old Jaime Martinez as the victim drove in Salinas with his girlfriend and 18-month-old son. The woman was shot and treated at a hospital, while the child wasn't hurt. Police investigated the Oct. 12, 2017, shooting as gang-related. Officers said his tattoos, including the letter P on his cheek, refer to his Sureño offshoot gang, La Posada Trece, the Californian reported. His trial was scheduled to begin in January. Fonseca told police after his arrest on homicide charges that his gang leader told him to kill someone to prove he was still loyal to the Boronda Boys, a subset of the Norteño gang, Detective Gabriela Contreras testified. Fonseca is charged with shooting Lorenzo Gomez Acosta, 37, to death on June 2, 2018, while the victim sat in his car on a video call with his wife in Mexico, the Californian reported. She saw a scuffle, heard her husband screaming "no" and then gunshots rang out, Salinas police Officer Froylan Aranda said. Acosta was reportedly chosen at random. Three days later, Fonseca shot and killed Ernesto Garcia Cruz, 27, in a Salinas park, authorities said. He told police that the gang leader also ordered the slaying and that he picked his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend "to send him a message," Contreras said. Associated Press journalist Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/escaped-murder-suspects-arrested-us-mexico-border-66811005

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 00:13:12 -0500

crime, law and justice

crime

abcnews--2019-11-07--Family turns in escaped boy, 13, suspected in double murder

abcnews

Family turns in escaped boy, 13, suspected in double murder

A 13-year-old suspect in a double homicide who escaped custody has been returned to authorities. News outlets report the teen's mother, Nikki Jacobs, turned him over to U.S. Marshals in Lumberton on Wednesday night. The teen escaped from Juvenile Court around noon Tuesday. WRAL-TV reports Jacobs says her son spent Tuesday and Wednesday at his grandmother's old house, which is abandoned. He then found a bike and rode it to his uncle's home. The teen's uncle, Wayne Lambert, says he allowed the boy to shower and eat before calling authorities. The teen and a 19-year-old Derrick Deshawn Hunt are charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of two brothers found dead inside a home last month.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/family-turns-escaped-boy-13-suspected-double-murder-66816971

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 07:39:54 -0500

crime, law and justice

crime

abcnews--2019-12-02--Mother charged with murder in deaths of 2 young children

abcnews

Mother charged with murder in deaths of 2 young children

The mother of two young children found hanging in their Pennsylvania home has been charged with their murder. Medical personnel revived the 8-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, but they died three days later. An autopsy was inconclusive. The coroner has said forensic testing is needed before he can rule on the cause and manner of death. Berks County prosecutors announced Lisa Snyder’s arrest Monday. It’s not known if she’s retained an attorney. Snyder told authorities that she found her children, Conner and Brinley, in their Albany home on Sept. 23. Prosecutors say more details on the arrest would be announced at a news conference.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mother-charged-murder-deaths-young-children-67439903

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 11:30:59 -0500

crime, law and justice

crime

ageofautism--2019-04-12--Physician Father and Caretaker of 29 Year Old Autistic Man Found Brutally Murdered

ageofautism

Physician, Father and Caretaker of 29 Year Old Autistic Man Found Brutally Murdered

"One family member said Derek “can be violent and has attacked Rex in the past,” court documents stated. The family member also said Derek’s mother had died years ago and Rex was taking care of him alone." This grisly story offers another side to the shiny, happy portrayal of autism during the month of April. A Spokane, Washington widowed physician, age 61, was found brutally murdered and his 29 year old, preverbal autistic son living amid squalor. It appears that the son is at least, a suspect. If not, he is also a victim, left alone in the home without life skills.  Either version is a far cry from what we're spoon fed about autism. This kind of tragic story is going to repeat itself over and over, like the stories of autistic children wandering and drowning. Parents will age. Strong adult men (and women) with autism will rage. The future may be bleak and harsh. Meanwhile, we're told we are "allowed" to seek awareness, but not cure or even true treatment. Our loved ones must suffer a lifetime of... autism.  God bless Dr. Rex Porter and his son Derek. ### Detectives are investigating the death of a retired Spokane anesthesiologist whose body was found dismembered and burned in the backyard of his Dishman Hills area home. The victim, Dr. Rex C. Porter, 61, previously worked for Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. He was the caretaker of his son, Derek C. Porter, 29, who is autistic and nonverbal, according to court documents. They lived on an 11-acre property in the 2800 block of South Park Lane near the Iller Creek Conservation Area. On Saturday, a neighbor called 911 to report that Porter’s car had been sitting in the driveway for two days with a door open. A garage door had been left open, too. Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies responded Sunday to the house for a welfare check, according to a search warrant filed Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court. Deputies reported seeing the house in disarray as they looked through the windows, including broken glass on the floor. Attempts to call Rex Porter were unsuccessful, prompting deputies to enter the house. They smelled a strong odor they believed to be animal feces, according to court documents. Deputies continued their search downstairs to the basement and found more glass, along with blood and damaged items. They opened a door and “suddenly an adult male was standing in front of them with only shorts and a T-shirt,” according to court documents. Deputies detained the individual, believing he was squatting in the house, according to court records. In the bathroom, the toilet was full of feces and the sink held what deputies thought was the remains of a dead animal, court records stated....  Read more at Spokesman.com

Age of Autism

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ageofautism/~3/zc44EG7xWFM/physician-father-and-caretaker-of-29-year-old-autistic-man-found-brutally-murdered.html

2019-04-12 09:00:00+00:00

crime, law and justice

crime

aljazeera--2019-10-15--US: White officer charged with murder in shooting of black woman

aljazeera

US: White officer charged with murder in shooting of black woman

A white police officer who shot and killed an African American woman in her Fort Worth, Texas, home in the presence of her eight-year-old nephew was charged with murder on Monday after resigning from the force. The Fort Worth Police Department said its officers were responding to a call from a neighbour, who reported to a non-emergency line, that Atatiana Jefferson's front door had been left open. The responding officer fired a shot through a window, killing 28-year-old Jefferson. Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said at a news conference on Monday that the officer, Aaron Dean, resigned. He said if Dean had not stepped down, he would have been fired, adding that the officer acted inappropriately. The family had called for Dean's arrest. In a statement released over the weekend, Fort Worth police said officers saw someone near a window inside the home and that one of them drew his duty weapon and fired after "perceiving a threat". The body camera video released by police shows two officers searching the home from the outside with flashlights before one shouts, "Put your hands up, show me your hands." One shot is then fired through a window. In the video, the officer does not identify himself as police. "Nobody looked at this video and said that there's any doubt that this officer acted inappropriately," Kraus said. "I feel like we had some failures here," Fort Worth Police Officers Association President Manny Ramirez told reporters after the news conference. "It never should have happened." Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price called for "justice and closure" for Jefferson's family. Earlier on Monday, family members described Jefferson as a smart, nurturing woman who recently moved in with her mother to help care for her in her declining health. A sister, Ashley Carr, said Jefferson embodied, honour, integrity, commitment and service. "Any neighbourhood would be proud to have her as a neighbour and any city would be proud to have her as a citizen," Carr said. A single bullet hole was visible in the window of the single-story, freshly painted purple home and floral tributes and stuffed animals piled up in the street outside Jefferson's home. According to a demographics report released by the Fort Worth Police Department, nearly two-thirds of its 1,100 officers were white, as of June 30. Just over 20 percent were Hispanic or Latino and about 10 percent were black. Relations with the public have been strained after other recent Fort Worth police shootings. In June, the department released body camera footage of officers fatally shooting a man who ignored repeated orders to drop his handgun. He was the fourth person Fort Worth police had fired upon in 10 days. Ed Kraus took over as interim police chief in the city in May after the previous chief was fired. The Fort Worth Police Officers Association issued a statement on Sunday calling for "a thorough and transparent investigation" into the shooting. Fort Worth police said it released the bodycam footage soon after the shooting for transparency, but that any "camera footage inside the residence" could not be distributed due to state law. The bodycam video included blurred still frames showing a gun inside a bedroom. It is unclear if the firearm was found near Jefferson, and police have not said that the officer who shot her thought she was holding a gun. The police statement released Saturday said only that officers who entered the residence after the shooting found a firearm, and Lieutenant Brandon O'Neil would not answer reporters' questions Sunday on why police released images of the gun. O'Neil said the officer would meet with investigators from the Fort Worth Police Department on Monday about the shooting. Police previously said the officer, a white man, joined the department in April 2018. A large crowd gathered outside Jefferson's home Sunday night for a vigil after earlier demonstrations briefly stopped traffic on part of Interstate 35. Jefferson was a 2014 graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans and earned a bachelor's degree in biology, the university said. Merritt told the Star-Telegram that Jefferson was working in pharmaceutical equipment sales and was considering going back to medical school. Nearly 700 killed by police in 2019 Fort Worth is about 50km (30 miles) west of Dallas, where another high-profile police shooting occurred last year. In that case, white Dallas police officer Amber Guyger fatally shot her black neighbour Botham Jean inside his own apartment after Guyger said she mistook it for her own. Guyger, 31, was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison. In Georgia, a former white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, naked, black man was found not guilty of murder on Monday. Jurors did convict Robert "Chip" Olsen of aggravated assault, violation of oath of office and making a false statement. Olsen's face turned red and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly when the verdict was red. His wife, Kathy Olsen, began sobbing and had to be led from the court. Olsen, now 57, was a DeKalb County police officer in March 2015 when he responded to a call of a naked man behaving erratically outside an Atlanta-area apartment complex. Shortly after arriving, he fatally shot 26-year-old Anthony Hill, an Air Force veteran who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to the Washington Post's Fatal Force database, at least 689 people have been killed by police in the US so far in 2019. At least 992 people were killed by the police in 2018 and more than 980 people were killed by police the previous year. According to watchdog group The Sentencing Project, African American men are six times more likely to be arrested than white men. These disparities, particularly the killing of African Americans by police, has prompted the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, a popular civil rights campaign aimed at ending police violence and dismantling structural racism.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/texas-officer-resigns-fatally-shooting-black-woman-191014190505562.html

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 00:58:20 GMT

crime, law and justice

crime

aljazeera--2019-11-13--Australian police officer charged with murdering Aboriginal teen

aljazeera

Australian police officer charged with murdering Aboriginal teen

Australian police on Wednesday charged an officer with murder after widespread protests over the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old Aboriginal man in front of his family. The incident occurred on Saturday when police said they attempted to arrest Kumanjayi Walker for "alleged property and assault police offences" in the remote town of Yuendumu. According to the force's account, an altercation occurred and an officer who was stabbed in the shoulder "discharged his firearm". Walker later died at a police station, where his family alleged he was denied adequate medical treatment. "A 28-year old male Northern Territory police officer has been charged with one count of murder," police said in a statement. Walker was the second Aboriginal person to die in police custody in as many months. His death prompted rallies across Australia after family members and activists called for a "National Day of Action" on Wednesday. "We want justice for what they done, being shot in cold blood in front of the mother and wife," said Valerie Napaljarri Martin, a senior member of the same Warlpiri community as Walker. "Our black lives matter," she said before the demonstrations. "It's gone beyond too far."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/australian-police-officer-charged-murdering-aboriginal-teen-191113200055921.html

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 20:45:45 GMT

crime, law and justice

crime

bbc--2019-01-08--Uber shootings Driver pleads guilty to six murders

bbc

Uber shootings: Driver pleads guilty to six murders

An Uber driver accused of killing six people at random in a shooting spree in the US state of Michigan in 2016 has pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder and firearms offences. Four people were killed at a restaurant and two at a car dealership in the shootings in the city of Kalamazoo. Jason Dalton, 48, had initially blamed the app for controlling his "mind and body". But he changed his plea shortly before his trial was due to begin. No deal was offered to Mr Dalton for the guilty plea, prosecutors said. His charges consist of six counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and eight charges relating to firearms offences. He now faces a mandatory life sentence without parole. Mr Dalton, who submitted his plea while jury selection was taking place, did so despite the objections of his attorney. He told the judge at the Kalamazoo County court that he had made the decision of his own free will, adding that he had "wanted this for quite a while". Mr Dalton had earlier reportedly told police that he was made a "puppet" by the Uber application, which directed him to shoot people at random over a five-hour period in February 2016. Although none of the victims were Uber customers, police said Mr Dalton continued to pick up passengers during the shooting spree in Kalamazoo, a small city about 150 miles (241km) west of Detroit. The shootings took place on a Saturday evening at three locations - outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant, a Kia car dealership and an apartment block. Following his arrest that evening, Uber confirmed that Mr Dalton was a driver registered with the app-based cab-hailing company, issuing a statement saying that it was "horrified and heartbroken" at the violence. Mr Dalton had undergone background checks but passed because he had no criminal record, Uber said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46790540

2019-01-08 05:11:52+00:00

crime, law and justice

crime

bbc--2019-02-09--Tanzania witchcraft murders Our son was robbed of his future

bbc

Tanzania 'witchcraft' murders: 'Our son was robbed of his future'

"Witchcraft" and "superstitious beliefs" are being blamed for a spate of child abductions and murders in the Njombe region of Tanzania. At least six children have been murdered for their body parts, with a number of attempted abductions also reported. Some people believe that magic charms made from human body parts are more powerful. Goodluck Mfugale was just five years old when he was killed. His parents told the BBC their son had been robbed of his future.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47174329

2019-02-09 00:49:49+00:00

crime, law and justice

crime

bbc--2019-04-08--Chicago reports 24 shootings and five murders in one weekend

bbc

Chicago reports 24 shootings and five murders in one weekend

Twenty-four shootings and five murders took place across Chicago over the weekend amid a spike in gun violence in the third-largest US city, police say. Two children were hurt when gunmen opened fire at a gathering on Saturday. The most recent fatal shooting occurred on Sunday morning. A 52-year-old man was found dead with a bullet wound to the head. Last year Chicago recorded 561 murders, more than the two biggest US cities - New York and Los Angeles - combined. There were 44 murders in Chicago in the first two months of 2019. The two children shot on Saturday were injured while attending a baby shower in the South Side. They are in a critical but stable condition. Police say the shooting could have "stemmed from an ongoing gang conflict" in the area. Later on Saturday, a 19-year-old man was shot dead in the south of the city as he was standing outside with a friend. Shots were fired at him from a vehicle, the Chicago Sun Times reported. The friend is said to be in a good condition. On Sunday morning, a 32-year-old man was shot in the back, also in the South Side. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Last August, Chicago Police asked for more help to combat gun violence following a spate of shootings over one weekend. Chicago police say that as of 1 March, they had seized more than 1,600 illegal guns this year. The figures equate to one illegal gun taken off the street every 53 minutes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47856992

2019-04-08 18:15:35+00:00

crime, law and justice

crime

abcnews--2019-12-20--Suspect in student death will stand trial in assault case

abcnews

Suspect in student death will stand trial in assault case

SALT LAKE CITY -- A man accused of killing a Utah college student was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges he sexually assaulted another woman he met on a dating site more than a year before the slaying. Ayoola Ajayi, 31, pleaded not guilty to felony kidnapping and three counts of forcible sexual abuse. Defense attorneys had asked to cross-examine the woman, saying there there were inconsistencies between her written testimony and initial statements to police, but Judge Venice Trease denied the request, citing victims' rights law. Ajayi, shackled and in a yellow jail uniform, hung his head as the judge read the order, The Deseret News reported. He met the woman on a dating app for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and invited her to his house for dinner in March 2018, prosecutors have said. He pinned her arms and assaulted her as they were watching television but she was able to get away, charges stated. She reported the crime after seeing news stories about 23-year-old Mackenzie Lueck, whom authorities say disappeared after meeting up with Ajayi in a park in June. Ajayi is charged with murder and kidnapping in the death of Lueck, a University of Utah student from California. Her charred body was later found with her arms bound behind her back. Ajayi was also charged with sexual exploitation of a minor after investigators discovered child pornography on his computer. He has not yet entered pleas to those charges, and his lawyers have not commented.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suspect-student-death-stand-trial-assault-case-67860883

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 18:12:47 -0500

crime, law and justice

justice

abcnews--2019-12-24--Judge: Parolee will face murder trial in California stabbing

abcnews

Judge: Parolee will face murder trial in California stabbing

SAN FRANCISCO -- A judge has ruled that a 29-year-old parolee with a history of mental illness is mentally fit to stand trial for the slaying of a woman on an Oakland subway platform. Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer said Tuesday that John Lee Cowell will face trial starting in January for the unprovoked stabbing death of 18-year-old Nia Wilson in July 2018, KPIX-TV reported. Cowell has been charged with murder and attempted murder for the attack on Wilson and her sister, Letifah, 26, who was wounded in the attack. The trial had been in legal limbo as authorities sought to determine Cowell's mental competence. At a hearing Monday, Cramer said that Cowell was not cooperating with doctors appointed last month to evaluate him, for the latest in a series of evaluations. The judge said he understood Cowell has a history of mental illness but that doctors who had previously examined him felt he was “malingering”to avoid standing trial. The judge recessed the hearing, saying he needed 24 hours to reach his decision and announced his ruling Tuesday. Wilson's death was one of several violent or fatal attacks on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) lines that connect San Francisco to the cities of Berkeley, Oakland and others. BART has announced new safety measures and installed thousands of security cameras as part of an effort to increase safety. Prosecutors have said they will seek a life sentence against Cowell and are investigating if he was motivated by racial hate when he killed Wilson. The women are black and he is white.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-parolee-face-murder-trial-california-stabbing-67919745

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 18:53:17 -0500

crime, law and justice

justice

aljazeera--2019-01-10--Trial of Frenchman for Jewish museum attack opens in Brussels

aljazeera

Trial of Frenchman for Jewish museum attack opens in Brussels

The trial of a man accused of shooting dead four people at a Jewish museum in Belgium in 2014 has started in Brussels amid high security. Mehdi Nemmouche, 33, who was in court, faces a life sentence if convicted of the killings in the Belgian capital following his return from Syria where he allegedly fought alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters. Nemmouche's suspected accomplice in the May 24, 2014 attack, Nacer Bendrer, a fellow Frenchman aged 30, was also present in the Brussels courtroom on Thursday. Both have previously denied charges of "terrorist murder", the first of several attacks on European soil attributed to the ISIL. The shooting caused the death of four people: an Israeli couple, a Belgian man who worked at the museum and a French woman who volunteered there. Six days after the attack Nemmouche - born to a family of Algerian origin in the northern French town of Roubaix - was arrested in the southern French port city of Marseille, where he arrived on a bus from Brussels. Investigators said he was carrying a handgun and an assault rifle used in the shooting. They said he fought with an armed group in Syria from 2013 to 2014, where he met Najim Laachraoui, a member of the gang which went on to carry out suicide bombings in Brussels that killed 32 people in March 2016. The same Brussels cell is also alleged to have carried out the Paris gun attacks and bombings on November 13, 2015, in which 130 people were killed and hundreds more wounded. Both attacks were claimed by the ISIL group. Nemmouche and Bendrer, investigators say, met nearly a decade ago while in prison in southern France, where they were both described as "radicalised" inmates who tried to win others over. Bendrer was arrested in Marseille seven months after the Jewish museum attack and charged as Nemmouche's accomplice. Although he was jailed for five years in September by a French court for attempted extortion, he was transferred to Belgium for the trial. Nemmouche is expected to face a separate trial in France for holding French journalists hostage in Syria.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/trial-frenchman-jewish-museum-attack-opens-brussels-190110093851004.html

2019-01-10 12:34:08+00:00

crime, law and justice

justice

aljazeera--2019-03-11--Trial of prominent Saudi woman activist to start this week

aljazeera

Trial of prominent Saudi woman activist to start this week

The trial of Loujain al-Hathloul, one of nearly a dozen prominent Saudi Arabian women's rights activists jailed since last year, will begin on Wednesday, her family has said. Dozens of other activists, intellectuals and clerics have been arrested separately in the past two years in an apparent bid to stamp out opposition to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has consolidated power, including through a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. "My sister @LoujainHathloul will be having her first trial session next Wednesday at 8am at the specialised court in Riyadh. This is the court [that] deals with terrorism cases," her brother Walid wrote on Sunday on Twitter. He said she was not allowed to have a lawyer and had not been provided with a list of indictments. The public prosecutor said last June that five men and four women had been arrested and held on suspicion of harming the country's interests and offering support to hostile elements abroad. Saudi media widely denounced them as traitors. It was unclear if the other detainees will also stand trial this week. Activists claim some detainees, including 29-year-old Hathloul, were held in solitary confinement and subjected to mistreatment and torture, including electric shocks, flogging, and sexual assault. Saudi officials have denied those allegations as "false". The arrests have intensified international criticism of Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul sparked global outrage. Three dozen countries, including all 28 European Union members, called on Riyadh last week to release the activists, the first rebuke of the kingdom at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) since it was set up in 2006. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his British counterpart have also said they raised the issue with the Saudi authorities during recent visits. The Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the public prosecutor's office said earlier this month it had completed its investigations of the detainees and was preparing their trials. Hathloul, who advocated an end to a ban on women driving and the kingdom's male guardianship system, was previously jailed for 73 days in 2014 after she attempted to drive into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates. The driving ban was lifted in June, weeks after she was rearrested. The guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions, remains intact.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/trial-prominent-saudi-woman-activist-start-week-190311063636258.html

2019-03-11 06:47:36+00:00

crime, law and justice

justice

bbc--2019-04-19--Turpin trial Couple jailed for life for inhuman child abuse

bbc

Turpin trial: Couple jailed for life for 'inhuman' child abuse

A couple from the US state of California have been sentenced to life in prison for starving and torturing all but one of their 13 children. David and Louise Turpin were arrested in January 2018 when their 17-year-old daughter escaped their home in the city of Perris and raised the alarm. The children had been abused for at least nine years and some were found chained up in filthy conditions. But several of the children told the court they had forgiven their parents. The couple are expected to serve the rest of their lives behind bars, unless they are granted parole in 25 years. The Turpins wept as they heard victim-impact statements from four of their children at Friday's hearing. One child recounted being haunted by the ordeal. I cannot describe in words what we went through growing up," said his statement. "Sometimes I still have nightmares of things that had happened such as my siblings being chained up or getting beaten. "That is the past and this is now. "I love my parents and have forgiven them for a lot of the things they did to us." Another child, in a statement read by her brother, also forgave her parents for the abuse. "I love both of my parents so much," she said. "Although it may not have been the best way of raising us, I am glad that they did because it made me the person I am today." But not all the children were so conciliatory. One daughter, who was visibly shaking, said: "My parents took my whole life from me, but now I'm taking my life back. "I'm a fighter, I'm strong and I'm shooting through life like a rocket." She added: "I saw my dad change my mom. They almost changed me, but I realised what was happening." David and Louise Turpin cried as they apologised for the treatment of their children. The 57-year-old father's lawyer read a prepared statement on his behalf, saying: "My home schooling and discipline had good intentions. "I never intended for any harm to come to my children. I love my children and I believe my children love me." He was an engineer for major US defence contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Speaking directly to the court, housewife Louise Turpin, 50, said she was "truly sorry" for what she had done. "I love my children so much," she said. "I really look forward to the day I can see them, hug them and tell them I'm sorry." The couple sat stony-faced as the judge rebuked them for their "selfish, cruel and inhuman treatment". Judge Bernard Schwartz said: "You have severed the ability to interact and raise your children that you have created and brought into this world. "The only reason that your punishment is less than the maximum time in my opinion is because you accepted responsibility at an early stage in the proceeding. "And you spared your children having to relive the humiliation and the harm they endured in that house of horrors." The tidy exterior of the middle-class family home 70 miles (112km) south of Los Angeles offered a veneer of respectability that masked the squalor and stench of human waste found by authorities within. The children, between the ages of two to 29 at the time of the police raid, were severely malnourished. A 22-year-old son was discovered chained to a bed. His two sisters had just been released from shackles. The victims were forbidden to shower more than once a year, were unable to use the toilet and none of them had ever seen a dentist. Some of the adult siblings' growth had been so severely stunted by starvation that authorities at first mistook them for children. Newly released audio of their daughter's call to 911, obtained by ABC, provides a hint of the conditions in which the children lived. "Two of my sisters and one of my brothers... they're chained up to their bed", the 17-year-old girl, who did not know her own address, told the emergency operator. "Sometimes I wake up and I can't breathe because how dirty the house is." The girl was also unaware of the year or month, or the meaning of the word "medication". The children - whose names all begin with the letter J - were kept indoors, but were allowed out for Halloween, or on family trips to Disneyland and Las Vegas. About 20 people from across the country, including nurses and psychologists, have offered to care for the seven adult siblings and six children.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47991829

2019-04-19 20:57:59+00:00

crime, law and justice

justice

21stcenturywire--2019-01-01--Netflix Pulls Muslim Comedy Show After Saudi Complaint It was disrespectful to MBS

21stcenturywire

Netflix Pulls Muslim Comedy Show After Saudi Complaint – ‘It was disrespectful to MBS’

The  in Hollywood continues to eat itself, as the politically correct culture is now being used to protect the public images of despots and dictators – as long as the price is right. One can only imagine what the threat, or promise of future cash was which prompted this latest censorship move by the vapid cultural gatekeepers at Netflix. Netflix has removed an episode of comedy show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj for viewers in Saudi Arabia after the country complained about the host’s criticism of its war in Yemen and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. According to the FT, the streaming site confirmed it had removed the episode, which is described on the website as: “Hasan exposes grim truths about Saudi Arabia and the charismatic crown prince known as ‘MBS [Mohammed bin Salman].'” The decision followed a complaint made by Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission on the grounds that the episode violated the anti-cyber crime law against “material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy”. Under Article 6 of Saudi Arabia’s anti-cyber crime law, “production, preparation, transmission, or storage” of such material “through the information network or computers” is punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a 3m Saudi riyal ($800,000) fine. In the episode, the comedian takes aim at the kingdom in the aftermath of Khashoggi’s assassination inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Both the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which he calls “the biggest tragedy of the MBS era”, and the crown prince himself come in for criticism. Minhaj calls for American ties to the oil-rich kingdom to be placed under the spotlight. “Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And I mean that as a Muslim, and as an American,” he says in the episode. Netflix defended the decision in a statement, saying: “We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request – and to comply with local law.” The report has provoked a response from many prominent figures on social media. “Wow. When Netflix censors material on behalf of Mohammad bin Salman,” tweeted Iyad el-Baghdadi, a Norway-based human rights activist. “Many of us Arabs were very excited when Netflix launched its MENA division, because we thought this is a way in which we can bypass censorship. I guess there’s the end of that.” “Money always comes ahead of principles. Corporatism is a pillar of the structure of power that keeps us pinned down,” he added. Others on social media shared Baghdadi’s concern, wondering how much influence Mohammed bin Salman had over Netflix.

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/01/__trashed/

2019-01-01 16:22:00+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

abcnews--2019-12-10--Judge to consider delaying trial start in Parkland massacre

abcnews

Judge to consider delaying trial start in Parkland massacre

The judge overseeing the case of Florida school shooting defendant Nikolas Cruz said Tuesday she will consider a defense request to delay the start of trial beyond late January. Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer set a Dec. 19 date for arguments on the motion by defense lawyers who claim the case is moving much too swiftly and runs the risk of legal errors. That could mean a conviction of Cruz might be reversed on appeal, sending it back for another high-profile trial. Prosecutors have been pushing hard to start the trial with jury selection beginning Jan. 27. Broward State Attorney Mike Satz, who is the chief prosecutor on the case, said the motion to delay trial must be heard quickly. “We just can't wait until the last minute,” Satz said at a hearing. Cruz, 21, faces 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Valentine's Day 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He faces the death penalty if convicted, although his lawyers say he will plead guilty in return for a life prison sentence. In their motion, defense lawyers noted that of 38 capital punishment cases in Broward County since 1994, the average time they remained pending between arrest and trial was 52 months, or a little over four years. On the current schedule, Cruz's trial would begin less than two years after the mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. He was arrested that same day. Defense lawyers say that is far too fast for them to adequately prepare a defense in a case of such magnitude. “We want to make sure it's done once and it's done right,” said Gordon Weekes, chief assistant public defender in Broward County. “Expedience has taken precedence over the prudent disposition of this case.” The defense motion suggests that one reason for the accelerated schedule is tha t Satz, retiring in 2020 after 44 years as top prosecutor, wants to get a conviction of Cruz next year. Another reason, the defense says, is that Scherer is up for re-election, and a third is simply the massive media attention the massacre has received. Scherer sought Tuesday to keep the case on track for a Jan. 27 start by scheduling the December hearing on the motion for a continuance. “It's better to have it sooner rather than later,” the judge said. The defense motion notes that there are at least 1,000 witnesses identified by prosecutors in the case, and each of them must be interviewed by Cruz's lawyers. There are about 4 million pages of evidence, thousands of photos, videos, and social media posts and much more. There is still a huge amount of work to be done by the defense, Weekes said. “This court is pushing it forward at breakneck speed to acquiesce to the state,” he said.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-delaying-trial-start-parkland-massacre-67632158

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 17:00:33 -0500

crime, law and justice

justice

aljazeera--2019-02-12--Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman guilty in US trial

aljazeera

Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman guilty in US trial

Notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was found guilty in a US court on Tuesday of operating a criminal enterprise. Jurors in federal court in Brooklyn began delivering their verdict following an 11-week trial. Guzman, 61, now faces a possible sentence of life in prison. Guzman was convicted on all 10 criminal charges he was tried for. US prosecutors said he had amassed a $14bn fortune through bribery, murder and drug smuggling. Guzman, one of the major figures in Mexican drug wars that have roiled the country since 2006, was extradited to the United States for trial in 2017 after he was arrested in Mexico the year before. Though other high-ranking cartel figures had been extradited previously, Guzman was the first to go to trial instead of pleading guilty. Guzan's trial included nearly three months of testimony about a vast drug-smuggling conspiracy steeped in violence. Throughout the months-long trial, the jury has heard more than 200 hours of testimony about Guzman's rise to power as the head of the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors said he is responsible for smuggling at least 200 tonnes of cocaine into the US and a wave of killings in turf wars with other cartels. The 11-week trial, which featured testimony from more than 50 witnesses, offered the public an unprecedented look into the inner workings of the cartel, named after the state in northwest Mexico where Guzman was born in a poor mountain village. Prosecutors said he trafficked tonnes of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and methamphetamine into the US over more than two decades, consolidating his power in Mexico through murders and wars with rival cartels. The defence has argued that Chapo was set up as a "fall guy" by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a drug kingpin from Sinaloa who remains at large. Mexico has been mired for 12 years in a deadly military-led war against drug gangs. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was elected last year after promising a change, suggesting a negotiated peace and amnesty for non-violent drug dealers, traffickers and farmers. The most detailed evidence against Guzman came from more than a dozen former associates who struck deals to cooperate with US prosecutors. Through them, jurors heard how the Sinaloa Cartel gained power amid the shifting allegiances of the Mexican drug trade in the 1990s, eventually coming to control almost the entire Pacific coast of Mexico. They heard how Guzman made a name for himself in the 1980s as "El Rapido", the speedy one, by building cross-border tunnels that allowed him to move cocaine from Mexico into the US faster than anyone else. The witnesses, who included some of Guzman's top lieutenants, a communications engineer and a one-time mistress, described how he built a sophisticated organisation reminiscent of a multinational corporation. They described fleets of planes and boats, detailed accounting ledgers and an encrypted electronic communication system run through secret computer servers in Canada. A former bodyguard testified that he watched Guzman kill three rival drug cartel members, including one victim who he shot and then ordered to be buried even as he was still gasping for air. Estimates of how much money Guzman made from drugs vary. In 2009, Forbes Magazine put him on its list of the world's richest people, with an estimated one billion dollars. It later dropped him from the list, saying it was too difficult to quantify his assets. The US Justice Department said in 2017 it sought forfeiture of more than $14bn in drug proceeds and illicit profits from Guzman. The trial also featured extensive testimony about corruption in Mexico, most of it involving bribes to law enforcement, military and local government officials so the cartel could carry out its day-to-day drug shipping operations undisturbed. The most shocking allegation came from Guzman's former top aide Alex Cifuentes, who accused former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto of taking a $100m bribe from Guzman. A spokesman for the ex-president has denied the claim. In one of the trial's final days, Guzman told the judge he would not testify in his own defence. The same day, he grinned broadly at audience member Alejandro Edda, the Mexican actor who plays Guzman in the Netflix drama "Narcos". Despite his ties to government officials, Guzman often lived on the run. Imprisoned in Mexico in 1993, he escaped in 2001 hidden in a laundry cart and spent the following years moving from one hideout to another in the mountains of Sinaloa, guarded by a private army. He was seized and imprisoned again in 2014, but pulled off his best-known escape the following year when he disappeared into a tunnel dug into his cell in a maximum security prison. But the Mexican government says he blew his cover through a series of slip-ups, including an attempt to make a movie about his life. He was finally recaptured in January 2016 following a shoot-out in Sinaloa.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/mexican-drug-lord-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-guilty-trial-190212173553615.html

2019-02-12 19:05:36+00:00

crime, law and justice

justice

aljazeera--2019-05-21--Portugal police officers sentenced in unprecedented trial

aljazeera

Portugal police officers sentenced in unprecedented trial

Lisbon, Portugal - Eight police officers were on Monday convicted of crimes ranging from aggravated kidnapping to grievous bodily harm against eight young black people in Lisbon. It was the end - for now at least - of an unprecedented court case which saw seventeen agents on trial, bringing the issue of institutional racism and police violence in Portugal into the public eye. The sentences handed out, however, met disappointment, with both sides intending to appeal. The case was brought against PSP (Portuguese, public-facing) police officers by the Public Ministry, and concerned the events of February 5, 2015, when police carried out an operation in Cova da Moura, a Lisbon neighbourhood known for its proud, predominantly Cape Verdean community. Two women, Neuza Correia and Jailsa Sousa - both bystanders - were left wounded after being shot with rubber-coated ammunition. A series of police detentions during the operation were on Monday found to have been illegal, tantamount to aggravated kidnapping, and resulting in the grievous bodily harm of a further six people - Bruno Lopes, Rui Moniz, Celso Lopes, Flavio Almada, Paulo Veiga and Miguel Reis. During the trial, it also emerged that police officers had falsified documentation and testimony in attempt to justify the detentions, alleging that the victims had been trying to "storm" the police station. While illegally detained, victims incurred injuries from broken bones to missing teeth. One was denied medication for a heart condition, the court heard. In April, the Public Ministry dropped the accusation of "racial hatred", as well as an accusation of torture, in what was seen as a blow to the victims' case, which contained reports of repeated racial slurs and insults. All of the police officers in the case are white, and all of the defendants are black; however, racism is not a prosecutable criminal offence in Portugal. "The kind of discrimination they face every day because they're poor and from working-class communities, because they're black, because they work on the informal market, and so on - all of the prejudice they face in the streets, they also experienced, unfortunately, within the courtroom," Lucia Gomes, the victims' lawyer, told Al Jazeera. Monday's court session - the 34th since the trial got under way - began tensely, with at least 30 of the tiny courtroom's seats occupied quickly by off-duty police officers and police union reps, almost all of them men, who had been filling the corridors before the session began. That left only three seats for the victims. Their family and supporters - including the NGO SOS Racism - were forced to wait outside. When Judge Ester Pacheco entered the courtroom to read her final decision, there were only four black faces in the courtroom, including two of the victims - Flavio Almada and Celso Lopes - and their lawyer, Jose Semedo Fernandes. Judge Pacheco ruled that only one police officer would serve a prison sentence - of one year and six months - because he was already under a suspended sentence. The remaining seven convicted officers were given suspended prison sentences of between two months and five years, with the police station chief Luís Anunciacao receiving the longest sentence. The judge rejected the police officers' version of events almost in its entirety, referring in detail to the Police Code and to the Portuguese constitution to make her points about professionalism and human rights. However, it was the awarding of substantial compensation to the victims - which some officers will have to pay - that caused the most upset in the courtroom. Six of the victims were awarded payouts of around 10,000 euros ($11,160). Anunciacao received the largest bill, having been ordered to pay 50,000 euros ($55,780) to the victims. There were emotional scenes outside the courtroom as some victims and supporters cautiously celebrated a small but significant victory. Lawyer Lucia Gomes was clearly relieved yet reserved in her reaction: "I can't say that I'm happy," she told Al Jazeera. "The court had every possibility to go much further than it did." On social media, prominent members of Portuguese anti-racism movements denounced the sentences as "shameful" and "pitiful". "The fact that organised Black movements have emerged onto the public sphere in recent years may explain the small victory of today," Pedro Schacht Pereira, an associate professor of Portuguese at the Ohio State University, told Al Jazeera. "It is a ruling that gives an air of decency to the justice system, while preserving intact the idea that racism is not a Portuguese problem, since those charges were dropped." "It's bittersweet," said SOS Racism director Mamadou Ba after the session, calling the sentences "disproportionate" to the crimes committed. "Furthermore, the u-turn that the Public Ministry performed [on the charges of racism and torture] pose a serious challenge in the fight against institutional racism." The seventeen police officers were greeted with applause as they left the court building in Sintra - but many of them looked shaken. At least two have already made denouncements of slander against some of the victims. Peixoto Rodrigues, a police union leader, said they intended to appeal: "First, we're going to analyse the decision that's been made." The sentencing comes a year since the trial began - and more than four years after the events it dealt with. "I think they got off lightly," Flavio Almada told reporters outside the courthouse. "Our families, our friends, and our community have suffered greatly."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/portugal-police-officers-sentenced-unprecedented-trial-190521121012100.html

2019-05-21 14:46:54+00:00

crime, law and justice

justice

aljazeera--2019-08-06--Trial begins for priests accused of abusing Argentine students

aljazeera

Trial begins for priests accused of abusing Argentine students

Two priests and a gardener have appeared in court to face charges of sexually abusing deaf children in their care, in a case that has sent shockwaves through Argentina's Catholic church. Priests Nicola Corradi, an 83-year-old Italian, and 59-year-old Argentine Horacio Corbacho, as well as former gardener Armando Gomez, 63, are accused of sexual abuse, corruption of children and mistreatment at a Catholic school for deaf children. They face prison sentences of up to 20 years in some cases, up to 50 years in others. The case relates to the abuse of around 20 children from the Provolo Institute in the western town of Mendoza. Corradi headed the institute, founded in 1995, until his arrest in November 2016. As the three accused - Corbacho and Gomez in handcuffs - were led down a long corridor in Mendoza's Palace of Justice on Monday to a court where three judges awaited them, alleged victims and their relatives protested outside, with one sign saying "With Our Hands And Our Voices We Break The Silence," a reference to sign language. "I am super-nervous, anxious and I hope for justice; that this ends soon so my son can move on to a new stage because this is very hard," said Natalia Villalonga, whose 18-year-old son Ezequiel was one of the students abused at the Provolo Institute. The alleged abuse took place between 2004 and 2016, and the case gained world attention when it emerged that Corradi had faced similar accusations at the Antonio Provolo Institute in Verona, Italy, and Pope Francis had been notified the Italian priest was running a similar centre in Argentina. Corbacho has pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charges, while Corradi and Gomez have not entered pleas. The closed-doors trial, expected to last two months, will hear testimony from 13 victims who suffered abuse between the ages of four and 17. It is the first in a series of trials involving other former members of the now-closed school. Others implicated include two nuns who allegedly participated or knew about the abuses, as well as former directors and employees who are accused of knowing about the abuse but taking no action. Jorge Bordon, an institute employee, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 in a case of rape, sexual touching and corrupting minors. Corradi moved to Argentina in 1970 from the original Provolo Institute in Verona - which has also been shaken by a paedophilia scandal in recent years - to run the Provolo in La Plata, before transferring to the Mendoza institute in 1998. His name appeared in a letter addressed to the pope in 2014 in which the Italian accusers mentioned several allegedly abusive priests who continued to exercise the ministry and said that Corradi and three other priests were in Argentina. The Verona diocese sanctioned four of the 24 defendants, but not Corradi. There was no criminal case because of the elapsed time.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/priests-accused-sexually-abusing-argentine-students-trial-190806084805091.html

2019-08-06 13:34:48+00:00

crime, law and justice

justice

21stcenturywire--2019-01-06--Episode 263 Maddcow Syndrome with guest Basil Valentine

21stcenturywire

Episode #263 – ‘Maddcow Syndrome’ with guest Basil Valentine

Episode #263 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on Jan 6th 2018 with host Patrick Henningsen broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-7pm UK Time | 12pm-2pm ET (US) | 9am-11am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE with host Patrick Henningsen bringing you all the top stories from the US, Europe and internationally. In the first hour we’ll review our predictions for 2019 – some of which are already coming to fruition, as well as the latest media mayhem, bombshells (and nothing burgers) coming out Washington, and London. We’ll explain America’s national disease – a potentially fatal collective condition known as “Maddcow Syndrome.” In the final hour, we’ll connect with the Sunday Wire’s roving correspondent for culture and sport, Basil Valentine, for his take on this week’s madcap political circus, and the mavens get ready to unleash political chaos on both sides of the Atlantic – so hold on for Basil’s Magic Roundabout, to see who’s on and who’s off this week. All this and so much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/06/episode-263-maddcow-syndrome-with-guest-basil-valentine/

2019-01-06 16:09:04+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-01-13--Episode 264 The Wall with guests Mark Anderson Basil Valentine

21stcenturywire

Episode #264 – ‘The Wall’ with guests Mark Anderson, Basil Valentine

Episode #264 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on Jan 13th 2018 with host Patrick Henningsen broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-7pm UK Time | 12pm-2pm ET (US) | 9am-11am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE with host Patrick Henningsen bringing you all the top stories from the US, Europe and internationally. In the first hour we’ll breakdown and explain the latest trials and tribulations of Donald Trump including the the FBI’s newly disclosed counter-intelligence investigation against him, the notorious ‘Gov’t Shutdown!‘, and the apparent indecision behind the supposed Syria ‘pull-out’, as well as a look at ‘News Guard’ the Establishment’s latest initiative to try to censor and defame independent bloggers and websites. We’ll then connect our first guest live from down on the US southern border with Mexico, as reporter Mark Anderson explains what the mainstream media is not telling the public, and the true nature of the crisis facing America. In the final hour, we’ll connect with the Sunday Wire’s roving correspondent for culture and sport, Basil Valentine, for an original angle of the current political circus – so hold on for Basil’s Magic Roundabout, to see who’s on and who’s off this week. All this and so much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/13/episode-264-the-wall-with-guests-mark-anderson-basil-valentine/

2019-01-13 15:21:50+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-01-27--Episode 265 Globalist Coup dGrace hosts Basil Valentine Mike Robinson guest Vanessa Beeley

21stcenturywire

Episode #265 – ‘Globalist Coup d’Grâce?’ hosts Basil Valentine, Mike Robinson, guest Vanessa Beeley

Episode #265 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on Jan 27th 2018 with guest hosts Basil Valentine and Mike Robinson filling for Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-7pm UK Time | 12pm-2pm ET (US) | 9am-11am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE with host Basil Valentine, and riding shotgun, Mike Robinson, bringing you all the top stories from the US, Europe and internationally. In the first hour we’ll breakdown Donald Trump’s latest errant NeoCon conquest in Venezuela (“take the oil!”), as Elliot Abrams, John Bolton and other Jurassic Bush era holdouts try to figure out how to cash-in on a Civil War in Venezuela. Also, we’ll cover Roger Stone’s bizarre CNN-FBI media event, and the official Skripal narrative is rapidly unraveling as we approach the one year anniversary of Britain’s most zany espionage tale. Later in the first hour, we’ll connect with journalist Vanessa Beeley to discuss the incredible events in Paris over the weekend, as the Gilet Jaunes aka ‘Yellow Vests,’ draw even more blood at the hands of the Macron regime, pushing protests into their 12th consecutive week – and with no sign of abating. What will happen next? In the final hour, we’ll look at Basil’s Magic Roundabout, to see who’s on and who’s off this week, as well as a special tribute to one of music’s great performers. All this and so much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/27/episode-265-globalist-coup-d-grace-hosts-basil-valentine-mike-robinson-guest-vanessa-beeley/

2019-01-27 14:14:28+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-02-03--Episode 266 Groundhog Politics guests Teodrose Fikre Vanessa Beeley

21stcenturywire

Episode #266 – ‘Groundhog Politics’ guests Teodrose Fikre, Vanessa Beeley

Episode #266 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on February 3, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-7pm UK Time | 12pm-2pm ET (US) | 9am-11am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE with host Patrick Henningsen, and co-host Mike Robinson, bringing you all the top stories from the US, Europe and internationally. In the first hour we’ll breakdown the continuing NeoCon escalation against Venezuela, and the INF Treaty fall-out, MSNBC’s unhinged Cold Warrior Rachel Maddow’s latest Russian meltdown and how Roger Stone may actually end up derailing the Mueller Investigation. In the first hour, we’ll talk with guest Teodrose Fikre, founder and editor of The Ghion Journal, to discuss the state of politics and society in the United States and how the issue of race has been used by the Establishment to consolidate political power and divide society. Later in the second hour, we’ll connect with journalist Vanessa Beeley with coverage of an explosive “Act 11” of the Gilet Jaunes aka Yellow Vests movement in Paris, France over the weekend. Does the Macron regime have a future, and is France really drifting towards FREXIT? All this and so much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/02/03/episode-266-groundhog-politics-guests-teodrose-fikre-vanessa-beeley/

2019-02-03 15:43:21+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-02-10--Episode 267 The Secret Team with guest host Jay Dyer Basil Valentine

21stcenturywire

Episode #267 – ‘The Secret Team’ with guest host Jay Dyer, Basil Valentine

Episode #267 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on February 10, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-7pm UK Time | 12pm-2pm ET (US) | 9am-11am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE with guest host Jay Dyer from Jays Analysis and author of Esoteric Hollywood II, as he fills in for Patrick Henningsen. In light of the NeoCons’ recent foray into regime change in Venezuela, Jay breaks down the wild and often gruesome history of US clandestine meddling in foreign elections and the overthrow of elected governments – and the exploits of what writer Fletcher Prouty dubbed the CIA’s “Secret Team.”  Jay will also be joined by the Sunday Wire’s roving correspondent for Culture & Sport, Basil Valentine, for addition commentary on this and other related themes. All this and much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/02/10/episode-267-the-secret-team-guest-host-jay-dyer-basil-valentine/

2019-02-10 13:39:00+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-02-17--Episode 268 Empire of Lies with hosts Patrick Henningsen Mike Robinson

21stcenturywire

Episode #268 – ‘Empire of Lies’ with hosts Patrick Henningsen, Mike Robinson

Episode #268 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on February 17, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-7pm UK Time | 12pm-2pm ET (US) | 9am-11am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE on ACR as Patrick Henningsen is joined by co-host Mike Robinson from the UK Column to discuss all of the top stories from the US, Europe, the Middle East and globally. In the first hour we’ll discuss our recent presentation at last week’s Mot Dag media conference in Norway, as well as the latest wave “antisemitism” hysteria currently sweeping through US politics which appears be be following a similar trajectory as it did in the UK during 2017-2018 and consider the roll of the Israeli Lobby in Britain along with in The Lobby in America, as the true price of Israeli meddling in US, UK and European elections has yet to be realised – as Zionist Neocons hawks in Washington & Tel Aviv ramp-up the war rhetoric and provocations against Iran and Hezbollah. We’ll also review the current situation in Syria after this week’s talks in Sochi, and Trump’s threat to release 800 of his ISIS fighters if Europe won’t take them into ‘custody’ (social services), and the collapse of the west’s “chemical attack” narrative from #Douma Syria last April. Also, what we can expect in Venezuela following the Pence-Abrams-Bolton’s folly of coup and whether their puppet Juan Guaido can hold on much longer before he’s replaced by a new puppet. We’ll also cover actor Jussie Smollet’s #MAGA hoax and trolling transgender YouTuber who was shot at an LA synagogue (only in LA!). All this and much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/02/17/episode-268-empire-of-lies-with-hosts-patrick-henningsen-mike-robinson/

2019-02-17 14:52:41+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-02-24--Episode 269 Say Hello to My Little Friend with guest Basil Valentine more

21stcenturywire

Episode #269 – ‘Say Hello to My Little Friend’ with guest Basil Valentine & more

Episode #269 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on February 24, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 5pm-8pm UK Time | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12pm PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE on ACR as Patrick Henningsen is joined by co-host Mike Robinson from the UK Column to discuss all of the top stories from the US, Europe, the Middle East and globally. In the first hour we’ll discuss the week’s regime change circus in Venezuela, as the wheels come of Washington’s NeoCon folly, a cowboy operation which is looking more like ‘Maidan on Meth, led by a motley cast of white collar (and nosed) criminals led by the US Senate’s own Tony Montana, Little Marco Rubio, and PNAC pensioner John ‘The Walrus’ Bolton, and Virgin billionaire Richard ‘Stripe’ Branson – hoping to hoist this week’s CIA-backed puppet Juan Guaido on to the Neoliberal throne in Caracas. We’ll also run through the top #FakeNews and Agent Provocateur stunts being churned out by the mainstream media, designed to intentionally deceive not just US audiences, but the global population – in order to build the case for western intervention in South America. In the final hour, we’ll take a spin around Basil’s Magic Roundabout, with the Sunday Wire’s roving correspondent for Culture & Sport, Basil Valentine, to see who’s on and who’s off this week: Tony Blair’s attempt Labour Party coup could be a flop spawned from the contrived crisis of “Antisemitism in the Labour Party”, and across the pond the Democratic 2020 field is withering already and looks to degrade even further as Bernie Sanders jumped on the NeoCon regome change bandwagon with Venezuela. Also, Israel’s troubled Bibi Netanyahu goes hard-right forming a ‘Jewish Fascism‘ coalition in Israel. You literally couldn’t make it up . All this and so much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/02/24/episode-269-say-hello-to-my-little-marco-with-guest-basil-valentine-more/

2019-02-24 13:16:33+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-03-10--Episode 271 Killing the Constitution with guest Teodrose Fikre and more

21stcenturywire

Episode #271 – ‘Killing the Constitution’ with guest Teodrose Fikre and more

Episode #271 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on March 10, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 4pm-7pm UK Time* (Daylight Savings this week) | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12pm PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE on ACR as Patrick Henningsen is joined by co-host Mike Robinson from the UK Column to discuss all of the top stories from the US, Europe, the Middle East and globally. This week we discuss the recent jailing of whistleblower Chelsea Manning for refusing to turn on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and what this means to the free press going forward, and also we look at the electrical blackout in Venezuela, the geopolitical implications of last week’s botched OPCW Report on the alleged ‘Chemical Attack’ in Douma, Syria in 2018, and we also look back at the career of actor Jan Michael-Vincent who passed away in Feb. In the second hour we’ll be joined by guest Teodrose Fikre, editor of the Ghion Journal to discuss the current battle being waged by the US political system against Congresswomen Ilhan Omar over the issue of “antisemitism” and how the political establishment and its Zionist elements are attempting to conflate this term with criticism of Zionism or the policies of Israel – and why this might have grave implications for basic American Constitutional principles of free speech and political expression. All this and much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/03/10/episode-271-how-to-kill-constitution-with-guest-teodrose-fikre-and-more/

2019-03-10 14:31:16+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-03-17--Episode 272 Terror Down Under with guest Jay Dyer and more

21stcenturywire

Episode #272 – ‘Terror Down Under’ with guest Jay Dyer and more

Episode #272 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on March 10, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 4pm-7pm UK Time* (Daylight Savings this week) | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12pm PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE on ACR as Patrick Henningsen is joined by co-host Mike Robinson from the UK Column to discuss all of the top stories from the US, Europe, the Middle East and globally. This week we break down in detail the mass shooting and terrorist attack which unfolded over the weekend in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 50 Muslim worshipers were gunned down by an Australian terrorist. We look at the crime scene, the background of the event, as well as the reactions by government, mainstream media and social media. We’ll also be joined by Jay Dyer, author of Esoteric Hollywood I & II, to discuss some of the possible Neofascist and occult symbolism found in the shooter’s paraphernalia, as well as some of the eery parallels to the 2011 Norway Massacre. In the third hour we’ll be joined by the SUNDAY WIRE roving correspondent for Culture & Sport, Basil Valentine for an update on BREXIT’s two minute warning. All this and much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/03/17/episode-272-terror-down-under-with-guest-jay-dyer-and-more/

2019-03-17 14:43:03+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

21stcenturywire--2019-03-24--Episode 273 A Palestinian Spring with guest Robert Inlakesh and more

21stcenturywire

Episode #273 – ‘A Palestinian Spring?’ with guest Robert Inlakesh and more

Episode #273 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on March 24, 2019 with host Patrick Henningsen, broadcasting LIVE on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR)… LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES: 4pm-7pm UK Time* (Daylight Savings difference) | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12pm PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts LIVE on ACR as Patrick Henningsen is joined by co-host Mike Robinson from the UK Column to discuss all of the top stories from the US, Europe, the Middle East and globally. This week, we’ll discuss the collapse of the #MuellerReport and #RussiaGate, as well as the reemergence of the grudge match between Syria and Israel over Trump’s recent ‘blessing’ of Tel Aviv’s illegal land-grab in the Golan Heights region, along with a look at France ordering its military to ‘shoot’ Yellow Vest protesters. We’ll also talk about Patrick’s recent Imperialism on Trial tour in Northern Ireland and how this feeds into issues like Brexit, and even Palestine and Hezbollah too. Later, we’ll connect with Middle East correspondent Robert Inlakesh to discuss the incredible events unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine over these past two weeks, and the upcoming 1 year anniversary of the Right of Return March – and what the western media is deliberately trying to hide from you. In the segment of Overdrive, we’ll be joined by the SUNDAY WIRE roving correspondent for Culture & Sport, Basil Valentine for an update on two surprise breaking stories. All this and much more. Enjoy the show… HELP US KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO: DONATE TO 21WIRE *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/03/24/episode-273-a-palestinian-spring-with-guest-robert-inlakesh-and-more/

2019-03-24 14:36:28+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

mass media

bbc--2019-11-21--France Elodie Kulik murder trial after 17-year fight for justice

bbc

France Elodie Kulik murder trial after 17-year fight for justice

Elodie Kulik was heading home from a restaurant in January 2002 when she was abducted, raped and then murdered. A 24-year-old bank manager working in the northern French town of Péronne, her car was targeted in an ambush and as she tried to call emergency services she was dragged from her vehicle. Despite a huge inquiry, no arrests were made and the trail then went cold. Now, after a relentless campaign by her father and ingenious use of DNA, a man has gone on trial 17 years later. Willy Bardon, 45, denies kidnapping, rape and murder and sat beside his lawyer as the trial got under way at a court in Amiens. Elodie's father, Jacky Kulik, arrived early for Thursday's trial. He lost his first two children in a car accident when they were five and six years old. His wife died in 2011 after trying to take her life and ending up in a coma. Cameras were allowed in the court as the judges arrived. Why it took so long The Elodie Kulik murder case went cold for a decade, until advances in DNA helped identify one of her attackers. The victim's body was found by a farmer on 12 January 2002 on a disused airbase. What was found at the crime scene gave investigators evidence they were able to use 10 years later - even though it was unusable at the time. Elodie had been partly burned by her killers. Traces of semen were found in a condom along with four sets of incomplete DNA and a fingerprint. While police interviewed 10,000 people and analysed 14,000 phone records, the DNA samples they had gathered failed to come up with a match on the national crime database. There was no broader DNA database at the time and the samples did not match anyone tested as part of the inquiry. In January 2011, a gendarmerie captain, Emmanuel Pham-Hoai, came up with the idea of using a technique tried out in Wales and in the US but never before in France. Instead of looking for a direct DNA match he searched for similar matches that might indicate a relative within the system - known as familial DNA searching. • How familial DNA trapped a murderer for the first time Within days, the DNA from the condom matched a man already in prison. Detectives told Le Monde newspaper how they then approached his wife and were able to confirm that the sample matched their children. They narrowed down their search to Grégory Wiart, a heating engineer who had died in a car accident in 2003. His body was exhumed and police then said they were sure he was one of the killers. Shortly afterwards police detained seven members of the same family, including Willy Bardon, the man on trial. He originally came from the same village as Wiart. Mr Bardon was charged after his voice was linked to the phone call made by Elodie Kulik to the emergency services. Male voices had been audible in the background and police say when they played the tape to Wiart's relatives, five of them recognised his voice. The defendant denies the voice was his. One of his lawyers, Stéphane Daquo, told AFP news agency this was "the only trial where everyone who has their DNA at the scene of the crime is a witness and the only one who doesn't is accused". More on DNA and rape:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50502262

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 15:37:40 GMT

crime, law and justice

justice

21stcenturywire--2019-06-01--GAMER GASLIGHT Call of Duty Reboot Features Bad Russians White Helmet Heroes

21stcenturywire

GAMER GASLIGHT: ‘Call of Duty’ Reboot Features ‘Bad Russians’, White Helmet ‘Heroes’

A new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” video game is due out this October. The popular action game features some disturbing story lines including Russian soldiers ‘shooting and gassing’ civilians, and propagandistic scenes of White Helmets portrayed as heroes. RT’s Murad Gazdiev provides a scathing critique in his latest report. Watch: Critics of the new game point to Hollywood and the Pentagon’s ‘entertainment consultants’ collaborating on the reboot of a popular video game designed to condition next generation gamers for more war, destruction and imperialism. The shooter game’s Russophobia and distorted view of the Syrian conflict is hard to ignore:

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/06/01/gamer-gaslight-call-of-duty-reboot-features-bad-russians-white-helmet-heroes/

2019-06-01 21:02:49+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

abcnews--2019-10-19--Exhibit on Jefferson's architecture weaves in slavery's role

abcnews

Exhibit on Jefferson's architecture weaves in slavery's role

A new art exhibit explores Thomas Jefferson's highly influential architectural ideas and his vision for structures that symbolize liberty and democracy. But the exhibit also strives to spotlight some of the enslaved workers who helped construct many of the buildings that Jefferson designed. The exhibit opens Saturday at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. The show offers another reckoning over the founding father's legacy and the role of enslaved Americans in U.S. history. Exhibit curator Erik Neil says Jefferson envisioned buildings for a new republic, not old-world kings. The domes and columns in his designs purposefully recalled ancient Greece and Rome. But he said it's impossible to talk about Jefferson without talking about the issue of slavery and race in America.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/exhibit-jeffersons-architecture-weaves-slaverys-role-66387723

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 08:16:11 -0400

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

abcnews--2019-11-22--TV comedy greats take a bow, make ’em laugh at ceremony

abcnews

TV comedy greats take a bow, make ’em laugh at ceremony

“There’s nothing I believe more than this, that laughter adds time to one’s life,” Norman Lear told an audience gathered to honor him and other four other television comedy greats. “I believe that as much as I believe my mother loved me,” the writer-producer added. “She said she did. But I wasn’t sure.” Like the 97-year-old Lear, who made his name — and TV history — with groundbreaking sitcoms like “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” the other honorees at Thursday’s Paley Center for Media ceremony proved that talent is ageless. Carl Reiner, 97; Bob Newhart, 90; Carol Burnett, 86, and Lily Tomlin, 80, each won over the room with their humor and memories. “Guess this is a hell of a time to tell you no, we’re not coming to your Christmas party,” Newhart teased Conan O’Brien after the late-night host introduced him as “one of my all-time comedy heroes.” “He pulls off the hardest kind of comedy — timeless, human, clean and subversive. And he makes it all look effortless,” O’Brien said of Newhart. The onetime accountant became an instant sensation in 1960 with his debut album, the Grammy-winning “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” scored sitcom hits with “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s and “Newhart” in the ’80s and won an Emmy as Professor Proton on “The Big Bang Theory.” The sentimental moments included Rob Reiner’s introduction of his father, the writer-actor-producer whose TV career stretched from the 1950s variety series “Caesar’s Hour” to creating “The Dick Van Dyke Show” to a recent role in “Angie Tribeca.” “This is the nicest thing, to be able to do this for my dad,” said the younger Reiner, who gave him an arm for support as they walked onto the hotel ballroom stage at The Paley Honors: A Special Tribute to Television’s Comedy Legends. Carl Reiner, who credited a government-supported acting program with his childhood start in entertainment, charmed the audience by reciting lines from a Shakespeare soliloquy he learned as a kid and sharing an anecdote about another TV comedy force, Jack Benny. He called his children and grandchildren his greatest pride. Carol Burnett was introduced by Kristin Chenoweth, who lauded the singer-actress-comedian as one of the few who can do it all and always “with such heart.” Burnett, who starred on Broadway, as well as TV, recalled what preceded the 1967 arrival of “The Carol Burnett Show.” “As a woman in this business, it wasn’t always easy to do what the naysayers said couldn’t be done,” she said. When she sought to exercise a contract clause with CBS for an hour-long variety show, Burnett said executives told her, “and I quote, ‘It’s not for you gals.’” She punctuated the story with a derisive “huh.” Her long-running show won armloads of Emmy Awards on CBS. Tomlin, whose parade of characters made her a hit on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and who stars opposite Jane Fonda on “Grace and Frankie,” was self-effacing, saying she couldn’t match Newhart’s “sterling one-liners.” Instead, she delighted the audience by reciting some of her characters’ catchphrases, including telephone operator Ernestine’s “one ringy dingy.” “I’m so grateful for this great, great honor,” Tomlin said. Lear was introduced by “black-ish” star Anthony Anderson, who said Lear’s work forced audiences to confront difficult issues while shedding light on common bonds, and by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who said the producer used laughter to challenge “us to make progress.” The night’s last word went to Lear. “Bless you all, thank you all. To be continued,” he said, smiling. Lynn Elber can be reached at lelber@ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber This story has been corrected to quote Norman Lear as saying “Bless you, thank you all. To be continued,” not “Bless you all, thank you. Let me continue.”

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tv-comedy-greats-bow-make-em-laugh-ceremony-67222636

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 06:08:11 -0500

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

abcnews--2019-12-24--The top 10 movies on the iTunes Store

abcnews

The top 10 movies on the iTunes Store

The top 10 movies on the iTunes Store The top 10 movies on the iTunes Store

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/top-10-movies-itunes-store-67917469

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 13:44:02 -0500

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

activistpost--2019-09-11--Musicians Team Up With Fans And Fight For The Future To Ban Facial Recognition Technology At Concert

activistpost

Musicians Team Up With Fans And Fight For The Future To Ban Facial Recognition Technology At Concerts

Several musicians and festivals are coming together to call to an end to concert promoters using facial recognition at venues and music festivals, Vice News reported. Last year Live Nation announced it would begin deploying facial recognition at its concerts. The event organizer stated they would start having customers walk past facial recognition cameras instead of presenting their tickets, a horrifying first step for indoctrinating the public towards using the technology. This has spurred Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Glitch Mob’s Speedy Ortiz, and a growing number of dozens of other artists and festivals to team up with digital rights activist group, Fight For the Future, in a campaign. The campaign aims to call out Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, as well as other venues for using facial recognition on concert goers. The group of artists cite “dangers to their fans in the form of police harassment including — misidentification, deportation, arrests for outstanding charges during an event and drug use during an event, discrimination at their concerts, and fans in a permanent government database,” all very valid concerns. The other major concern by this writer that was left off the web page, is the technology would effectively turn every single person into a product, by venues and partner brands knowing what type of music each person likes. This could be abused in a variety of different ways including targeted advertising of groups of fans who like a certain genre of music, as well as email spam of up and coming concerts that a “fan” might like to see and hear. Lately, BIG brother has been pushing the use of surveillance technology, from Amazon helping law enforcement with its Facial Rekogntion software, DHS wanting to use it for border control, to the Olympics wanting to use the tech for security. Even retail is pushing for the technology as an anti-theft mechanism to be introduced in a thousands of stores using biometric facial recognition software FaceFirst to build a database of shoplifters, as Activist Post reported. Some of the biggest airports in the country — estimated at 16 airports across the U.S. — are now scanning us as we board international flights. While CBP (Customs And Border Patrol) expects to scale up the program to cover more than 97 percent of passengers flying outside of the U.S. by 2021 according to NextGov. Its all a part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Biometric exit” agenda, which was originally signed into law under the Obama administration, BuzzFeed News reported. Further, the policy director of U.S. CBP believes that facial recognition has already become essential. The agency’s head Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John Wagner has also hilariously said that its facial tracking technology isn’t surveillance, as Activist Post reported. In 2017, Homeland Security clarified their position on domestic spying stating Americans who don’t want faces scanned leaving the country “shouldn’t travel.” “The only way for an individual to ensure he or she is not subject to collection of biometric information when traveling internationally is to refrain from traveling,” the DHS wrote in a document. The NYPD adopted facial recognition technology eight years ago and dozens of other police departments have followed suit. The campaign website against using the technology at concerts reads: What can you do to stop this? According to the website, make some noise using social media, tweet at artists and click here for emails to top festivals/venues voicing your concerns demanding they don’t support the use of facial recognition. Here’s the default tweet, feel free to customize it a bit and make it unique while standing up for your rights with the hashtag: #BanFacialRecognition. Many likely laughed about the paranoid nature this writer has expressed when it comes to facial recognition technology; however, vindication came swiftly recently when Amazon announced it wanted to create a “Crime News Network” to monitor neighborhoods with its Ring doorbell facial recognition cameras. At this point, they are literally just creating George Orwell’s 1984 or reinventing the Stasi. The fight against facial recognition is just beginning, and this writer has been one of many attempting to champion that effort for years now. Don’t believe that we have already lost the battle, just because more and more facial recognition companies have been popping up. Doesn’t mean that we can’t stop the attempted nightmarish era of mass surveillance by the state and private companies. Already, we have had several wins in this long fight and there are signs of hope. First, San Francisco banned facial recognition technology being used by the government in May of this year, then Somerville, Massachusetts, and Oakland, California followed suit. The rapid growth of this technology has triggered a much-needed debate to slow down the roll out. Activists, politicians, academics and even police forces are expressing serious concerns over the impact facial recognition could have on our society. Several lawmakers have even chimed in to voice concerns about Amazon’s facial recognition software, expressing worry that it could be misused, The Hill reported. A Senate bill introduced in March would force companies who want to use facial recognition technology on consumers to first get their consent. If that happens as soon as the ink is dry Amazon’s Ring and Amazon’s Facial Rekognition which heavily relies on facial recognition technology could be banned across the U.S. Congress under the House Oversight Committee recently held a bipartisan discussion on the issue of regulating the use of facial recognition technology and biometric cameras. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said, “there are virtually no controls …. Whatever walk of life you come from, you may be a part of this [surveillance] process.” The committee’s top Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) also expressed “It’s time for a time out” on government use of the surveillance technology. Privacy advocate groups, attorneys, and even more recently Microsoft, which also markets its own facial recognition system, have all raised concerns over the technology, pointing to issues of consent, racial profiling, and the potential to use images gathered through facial recognition cameras as evidence of criminal guilt by law enforcement.

Aaron

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/09/musicians-team-up-with-fans-and-fight-for-the-future-to-ban-facial-recognition-technology-at-concerts.html

2019-09-11 17:05:35+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

adobochronicles--2019-11-09--Maria Ressa Exhibit Opens At Washington D.C.’s Spy Museum

adobochronicles

Maria Ressa Exhibit Opens At Washington D.C.’s Spy Museum

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – Visitors to the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. this coming Holiday season will get a very special treat! A new exhibit featuring Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s multi-awarded cyberespionage will open on Thanksgiving weekend this month. Highlight of the exhibit will be a display of Ressa’s collection of international awards for her efforts to spy on the government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte as well as scripts of her speeches and media interviews where she described the Philippines as the worst war zone she’s ever been in. The exhibit by the dual citizen blogger , tax evader and dealer in securities is funded by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Pol Pinoy

https://adobochronicles.com/2019/11/09/maria-ressa-exhibit-opens-at-washington-d-c-s-spy-museum/

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 09:04:15 +0000

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

aljazeera--2019-01-02--Famed Dutch artist Eschers exhibit launches in US

aljazeera

Famed Dutch artist Escher's exhibit launches in US

Rarely do the worlds of art and science intersect, but they did with famed Dutch artist Escher. Even if you do not recognize his name, it is likely you have seen his work without knowing it. One of the largest collections of his work is now on display in the US.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/famed-dutch-artist-eschers-exhibit-launches-190102154349009.html

2019-01-02 15:43:49+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

aljazeera--2019-01-06--Mauritanias musical tradition kept alive by the internet

aljazeera

Mauritania's musical tradition kept alive by the internet

A centuries-old musical tradition is being kept alive in Mauritania thanks to modern technology. It involves the use of an instrument, called the ardine, which is only played by women. Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reports from the outskirts of Nouakchott.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/mauritanias-musical-tradition-alive-internet-190106124752232.html

2019-01-06 12:47:52+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

aljazeera--2019-01-06--Mauritanias musical tradition kept alive by the internet

aljazeera

Mauritania's musical tradition kept alive by the internet

A centuries-old musical tradition is being kept alive in Mauritania thanks to modern technology. It involves the use of an instrument, called the ardine, which is only played by women. Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reports from the outskirts of Nouakchott.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/mauritanias-musical-tradition-alive-internet-190106124752232.html

2019-01-06 12:47:52+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

culture

aljazeera--2019-01-13--Iran artist puts spotlight on water shortage through music

aljazeera

Iran artist puts spotlight on water shortage through music

Images of glowing light danced to a slow electronic beat, as an indistinguishable instrument radiated sound resembling flowing water. No more than 100 people sat down in the darkened cavern in the northwest Iranian city of Qazvin, while listening to the tune played by the electronic musician, Saba Alizadeh, who came up with the idea to highlight the ongoing water shortage in Iran. A century ago, it would have been impossible for the artist to entertain his audience there. The facility, common across pre-modern Iran, was originally built to store drinking water underground for local residents in Qazvin, 140km northwest of the capital Tehran. But for years now, most of these reservoirs have dried up, turning the structures into relics of Iran's past. The brick-lined water reservoir, known as Ab-Anbar in Persian, is covered with a dome, protecting the stored water from evaporation and contamination. It is connected to a wind tower, known as badgir, which serves as a natural cooler of the water inside. These reservoirs were so important to life, particularly in the desert areas, that they became integrated into communities in arid regions of the country. Alizadeh, the musician, saw an opportunity to revisit these architectural icons, in an effort to raise awareness about the country's water crisis. "Metaphorically speaking, the concerts were a recollection of the water that did not exist there in the reservoirs any more," Alizadeh told Al Jazeera. "It is supposed to sound the alarm, reminding Iranians that in a place which used to be a depot for water, now there is only dirt." Recently, the research arm of the Iranian parliament warned that water shortage in the country could lead to social discontent. It added that by 2020, up to 80 percent of Iran's more than 80 million people could face water scarcity. So far, Alizadeh has performed his show, Elegy for Water, at reservoirs in the cities of Qazvin, Kerman and Shiraz. The 35-year-old musician plans to do more events in Kashan, Yazd and Isfahan, cities that in recent years have faced water shortages. The water problem in these major cities has been exacerbated by poor infrastructures and government policies. About 35 million Iranians, a little less than half of the total population, living across 334 cities faced water shortage during the summer of 2018, according to Iran's Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian. Lack of awareness about the issue has further added to the problem. "We are facing a severe drought ... We don't seem to pay attention to the things that are happening in this regard," Alizadeh said. "Perhaps this tour could be a very small gesture to remind people of water; so that they could appreciate it a bit more," he said, referring to the wastage of water in the country. Alizadeh came up with the idea of the musical piece in 2012, when he started to study music at the California Institute for Arts, after he finished his bachelor's degree in photography in Iran. It was only much later, when he decided to perform the piece at dried-up cisterns to highlight the growing water problem. The musician uses Zanjeer - which is made of small chains hanging off a wooden handle - as a source for musical notes. Zanjeer is mostly used during annual Ashura commemorations by Shia Muslims, who hit their bodies with the object to mourn the death of their third Imam. Alizadeh installed a microphone at the end of Zanjeer's handle to capture the granular sound made by the movement of the chains. The rattling of the chains is then processed by a computer to become a sound that is reminiscent of that of flowing water. "I wrote the harmonies within the sound of the water," he explained. The initial piece was completed with an overture that he wrote recently, turning Elegy for Water into a 40-45 minute-long musical number. The performance includes visuals created by artist Siavash Naghshbandi, who collaborated on the project. The images were an artistic perception of the reflections of water. They were projected on the walls of the water cisterns. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Naghshbandi referred to the "mysterious" quality of the forms that the flow of the water creates; as well as the irony of watching those visuals in a dried-up cistern. "The images were projected on the ceiling. It was as if you saw the reflections of the water when you take a look above, knowing there is no water in the reservoir," he said. Roshanka Sajadian, a Tehran-based architect, took a two-hour road trip to Qazvin to watch the show. "The combination of the concept, the music and the location turned this into a curious event," she told Al Jazeera. "It was as if I was nailed to my chair, wiping tears off my face as the music rose to a crescendo." Andreas Spechtl, an Austrian musician who collaborated with Alizadeh on the project, told Al Jazeera that the artist is "mourning the loss of water, while treating a highly traditional and religious device, Zanjeer, as an electronic instrument." "One could call it conceptual art. But it's not that easy, because there are no answers and no great solutions in his work. He is not making a big case. No. He's now and then dropping a question. And that's the noblest thing you can say about art."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/iran-artist-puts-spotlight-water-shortage-music-190109141059744.html

2019-01-13 20:54:55+00:00

arts, culture, entertainment and media

arts and entertainment

abcnews--2019-03-13--Manafort charged in New York with mortgage fraud and other New York state crimes

abcnews

Manafort charged in New York with mortgage fraud and other New York state crimes

The New York District Attorney's office on Wednesday unsealed an indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, shortly after he was sentenced in a case in a federal court in D.C. Add Russia Investigation as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Russia Investigation news, video, and analysis from ABC News. According to the indictment, Manafort was charged with residential mortgage fraud and other New York state crimes "which strike at the heart of New York's sovereign interests." This is a developing story. Please check back for details.

Abc News

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/paul-manafort-charged-york-mortgage-fraud-york-state/story?id=61657439

2019-03-13 17:11:38+00:00

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-01--Former Georgia officer convicted of aggravated assault, other crimes in killing of naked man gets 12

abcnews

Former Georgia officer convicted of aggravated assault, other crimes in killing of naked man gets 12 years in prison

Former Georgia officer convicted of aggravated assault, other crimes in killing of naked man gets 12 years in prison.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/georgia-officer-convicted-aggravated-assault-crimes-killing-naked-66697131

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 16:17:39 -0400

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-01--St. Louis, KC seek tougher gun laws amid violence uptick

abcnews

St. Louis, KC seek tougher gun laws amid violence uptick

A bill requiring St. Louis gun dealers to alert police when a firearms purchase is denied because of a criminal background check is the latest step in addressing violence in a city beset by gun crimes. St. Louis aldermen unanimously gave final approval to the bill Friday. Supporters say 30% of criminals who try to purchase guns but fail to do so because of background checks are arrested within five years. The bill awaits Democratic Mayor Lyda Krewson's signature. Missouri's big cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, have among the highest homicide rates in the nation. Both are seeking to address the problem through tougher local gun laws since statewide legislation is unlikely in the conservative-led state, where Republican Gov. Mike Parson has pledged "to protect the rights of the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens." A message left with Parson's office was not immediately returned Friday. In St. Louis, where Parson assigned highway patrol officers to help fight crime in September, the situation is made more tragic by the fact that 13 of those killed in shootings this year were children, all of them black. St. Louis aldermanic President Lewis Reed said the city law will help alert police to people with criminal records who are seeking guns. "This is one more piece to the puzzle, and it's an important piece," Reed said. "We're no longer going to wait for the state to do the right thing, or the federal government to do the right thing." It wasn't immediately clear if the attorney general's office in Missouri would challenge the law on grounds that it conflicts with state law. A spokesman for Attorney General Eric Schmitt declined comment, saying the office had not seen details. Another St. Louis measure under consideration would designate the city's parks as child care facilities so they're exempt from a Missouri law allowing people to carry concealed firearms without permits and training. Signs explaining the gun prohibition would be posted at park entrances, parking areas, playgrounds and sports fields. Several St. Louis killings have happened at parks or near them. Child cares, churches, hospitals and some other places can ban the carrying of guns under state law. But parks are not on the list. In Kansas City, the City Council approved two laws aimed at keeping guns away from children. One of the laws, passed in August, makes it a local offense for minors to have handguns. The other prohibits adults from recklessly giving minors guns without their parents' permission. Last week, Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas proposed an ordinance that would allow police to take firearms from domestic violence offenders or those who are the subject of restraining orders. A similar federal law exists but backers say a local law would help police and prosecutors pursue the cases. St. Louis has had 165 homicides in 2019 and is on pace to top last year's total of 186. In Kansas City, 122 homicides have occurred this year, and the city is on pace to top last year's 138 killings.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/st-louis-kc-seek-tougher-gun-laws-amid-66694945

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 17:11:56 -0400

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-04--City council to revisit law requiring panhandlers be jailed

abcnews

City council to revisit law requiring panhandlers be jailed

The Montgomery, Alabama, City Council is revisiting an ordinance that requires panhandlers be jailed for at least two days. It has been amended to criminalize passing money or objects through car windows to someone on a public road, making such acts punishable with fines or jail. The council is set to vote again on the ordinance on Tuesday. The Montgomery Advertiser reports the initial ordinance unanimously passed in July but has yet to be enforced or signed by Mayor Todd Strange. Homeless advocate Patrick Aitken says the ordinance would make his job impossible, barring him from distributing water and even his business card from his car. The Southern Poverty Law Center has threatened to sue if the ordinance isn't vetoed.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/city-council-revisit-law-requiring-panhandlers-jailed-66738054

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 09:00:41 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-04--Oklahoma Supreme Court blocks abortion law

abcnews

Oklahoma Supreme Court blocks abortion law

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a ban on a second-trimester abortion procedure. The high court acted Monday after an Oklahoma abortion clinic appealed a lower court judge's decision to uphold a ban on a second-trimester abortion procedure. The Tulsa Women's Reproductive Clinic requested the temporary injunction to put the law on hold, telling justices that the law would be detrimental for women. The 2015 law would restrict the use of instruments in dilation and evacuation abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy, except when needed to save the woman's life or prevent a serious risk to her health. It had been on hold while the legal challenge was pending. State numbers show nearly 7% of about 5,000 abortions performed in Oklahoma in 2018 were performed using this method.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oklahoma-supreme-court-blocks-abortion-law-66750987

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 18:02:39 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-06--Milwaukee DA: Hate crime charges weighed in acid attack

abcnews

Milwaukee DA: Hate crime charges weighed in acid attack

Milwaukee's district attorney says he's considering hate crime charges against a 61-year-old white man suspected of splashing battery acid on a Hispanic man's face. John Chisholm told Wisconsin Public Radio in an interview Wednesday morning that his office anticipates filing charges later in the day against Clifton Blackwell, the suspect in Friday night's acid attack . The victim, Mahud Villalaz, says his attacker approached him near a restaurant and accused him of being in the country illegally before asking why he was "invading" the U.S. Surveillance video from the restaurant recorded the attack. Chisholm says his office is looking to determine whether the attack was motivated "in whole or in part" based on the victim's race. Treating the case as a hate crime would enhance the possible sentence for the attack.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/milwaukee-da-hate-crime-charges-weighed-acid-attack-66791993

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 11:09:03 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-06--Prosecutors: Cop charged in shooting had disciplinary flaws

abcnews

Prosecutors: Cop charged in shooting had disciplinary flaws

Prosecutors say a former Texas police officer charged in the fatal shooting of a black man during a traffic stop last year had a disciplinary record with his department that showed "bad character." Bau Tran was fired from the Arlington Police Department after the Sept. 1, 2018, shooting of 24-year-old O'Shae Terry and was indicted for criminally negligent homicide. Last week, Tarrant County prosecutors filed a document in state district court in Fort Worth that they called evidence of Tran's "extraneous offenses, bad acts and bad character." Tran was helping another officer who had stopped Terry for a registration violation. Body camera video showed Tran grab the passenger side window as Terry's sport utility vehicle began to roll away, point his gun into the vehicle and fire.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/prosecutors-cop-charged-shooting-disciplinary-flaws-66803736

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 17:26:54 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-07--Prosecutors charge man with hate crime in acid attack

abcnews

Prosecutors charge man with hate crime in acid attack

A 61-year-old white Milwaukee man accused of throwing acid on a Hispanic man's face will be charged with a hate crime, increasing the possible sentence he may receive if convicted, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Prosecutors filed one charge against Clifton Blackwell — first-degree reckless injury — but added the sentencing enhancers of hate crime and use of a dangerous weapon. The two enhancers could add 10 years in prison if he's convicted of first-degree reckless injury, which is punishable by up to 25 years. The victim, Mahud Villalaz, 42, said his attacker approached him near a restaurant Friday night and confronted him about being parked too close to a bus stop, according to charging documents. Prosecutors said Blackwell then asked, "Why did you invade my country?" and "Why don't you respect my laws?" Villalaz said he moved his car but that Blackwell continued to berate him, calling him "illegal" and telling him to "go back, go back," followed by an expletive. Villalaz said he called Blackwell a racist, also using an expletive. Villalaz said Blackwell threw the acid on him after Villalaz said "everyone come from somewhere first" and that American Indians had been in the country the longest. Surveillance video from the restaurant recorded the attack, which left Villalaz with second-degree burns on his face. Villalaz is a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Peru. Blackwell made his first court appearance Wednesday to be advised of the charges he faces. Bond was set at $20,000 but it's on the condition he wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. He's still being held at the Milwaukee County jail and his public defender did not immediately return a call. The attack on Villalaz comes at a time when the Anti-Defamation League says extreme anti-immigrant views have become part of the political mainstream in recent years through sharp rhetoric by anti-immigration groups and politicians, including President Donald Trump. White House spokesman Judd Deere said Monday that the Trump administration has repeatedly condemned racism and violence. Investigators who searched Blackwell's home found among other things four bottles of sulfuric acid, muriatic acid, and two bottles of Kleen-Out drain opener that was 100 % lye, according to the search warrant. Additional conditions for his bond are that he have no contact with acids or large batteries, or possess dangerous weapons or firearms. His next court appearance is Nov. 15. Before filing the charge, Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm said during an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio that his office was looking to determine whether the attack was motivated "in whole or in part" based on the victim's race. He said prosecutors would look "very closely first at the underlying offenses and then we'll make a determination whether the facts support the hate crime." "But it's obviously a concern to many people not just in this community but really around the country right now," he said. Just as Blackwell was in court, Villalaz spoke briefly to reporters to say he was pleased with the charges and thankful for "the people that have worried about me." He said Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin called him to say she was "very sad" about what happened and offered to help however she can. His mother, Jacqueline P. Blackwell, of California, told the Journal Sentinel he had sought care with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Milwaukee for post-traumatic stress. "I was comfortable that he was getting good care with the VA," she told the newspaper. His brother, Arthur Eugene Blackwell of Evergreen, Colorado, told the AP that Clifton served nearly four years in the U.S. Marines and was stationed at the Panama Canal around the time Manuel Noriega was captured and removed in 1990. A Marine official told AP that the branch doesn't have a record matching Blackwell's name and birthdate. State court records show Blackwell was convicted in a 2006 Rusk County case of false imprisonment and pointing a gun at a person in a case where he held four hunters at gunpoint because they were on his property.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/prosecutors-charge-man-hate-crime-acid-attack-66835464

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 18:35:55 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-11--Lawsuit against flight school over fatal crash is dismissed

abcnews

Lawsuit against flight school over fatal crash is dismissed

A Connecticut judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against a flight school and its owner over a 2016 plane crash that killed a student pilot. Judge Matthew Budzik in Hartford ruled in favor of Arian Prevalla and his now-defunct American Flight Academy on Friday. Prevalla survived the small plane crash in East Hartford. He accused the student pilot, Feras Freitekh, of intentionally crashing the plane. Freitekh's father denied Prevalla's allegations and filed a lawsuit alleging there was a defect with the plane or Prevalla failed to take control of it before it crashed. Prevalla argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the lawyer for Freitekh's father, Michael Peck, could not identify expert witnesses who could help prove his case. Peck said Monday he is deciding whether to appeal.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawsuit-flight-school-fatal-crash-dismissed-66922517

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 16:46:39 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-13--NYPD kept database of juveniles’ fingerprints, violating law

abcnews

NYPD kept database of juveniles’ fingerprints, violating law

Until recently, New York City police secretly kept fingerprints of children arrested as juveniles on file permanently in a department database. It’s an illegal practice that raised alarms about the lengths the nation’s largest police force has taken to keep tabs on the city’s youth. The Legal Aid Society uncovered the years-long practice. The public defender organization pressured the police department to acknowledge it and threatened legal action to make it stop, citing a state law barring local police from stockpiling juveniles’ fingerprints. Now, after years of wrangling and resistance, the NYPD said Wednesday it has purged all juvenile fingerprints records from the database and will no longer keep them indefinitely. The Legal Aid Society said the database contained the fingerprints of tens of thousands of New York City youths.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nypd-database-juveniles-fingerprints-violating-law-66992092

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 18:36:19 -0500

crime, law and justice

law

abcnews--2019-11-21--Lawsuit alleges McDonald’s puts employees in physical danger

abcnews

Lawsuit alleges McDonald’s puts employees in physical danger

A group of employees from 13 McDonald’s restaurants in Chicago filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the company’s drive for profits puts workers at “daily risk” of physical attack by dangerous customers. In the lawsuit filed in Cook County court, the 17 workers say McDonald’s has failed to protect them from what they say is a “citywide and nationwide” pattern of violence and that police respond to more than 20 911 calls every day regarding Chicago McDonald’s restaurants. They cite several examples of the violence, including an incident in which a customer beat an employee with a sign and another in which a customer urinated on a worker. “McDonald’s has failed, at a systemic level, to protect its workers from violence in the workplace,” said Danny Rosenthal, an attorney for the workers. “Throughout the country, McDonald’s workers are regularly threatened, assaulted, and injured by customers.” McDonald’s did not respond to the lawsuit’s specific allegations, but it said in a statement that, “McDonald’s takes seriously its responsibility to provide and foster a safe working environment for our employees, and along with our franchisees, continue to make investments in training programs that uphold safe environments for customers and crew members.” The lawsuit contends that in its effort to increase profits, McDonald’s has taken steps that have made working at its restaurants more dangerous. For example, it alleges that by lowering and tearing down physical barriers at check-out counters, the company has made it easier for dangerous customers to attack workers. McDonald’s has also ignored the “recommended practice” of designing drive-thru windows so that customers cannot crawl through them, according to the lawsuit. Because McDonald’s does not allow workers to lock bathroom doors when they are sent there to clean them, the company puts workers at greater risk of sexual violence, the lawsuit asserts. One of the plaintiffs “was cleaning inside the men’s bathroom when men entered and exposed themselves to her in a sexual manner,” it states. The lawsuit marks the latest in a string of legal problems for the fast food giant. McDonald’s has faced protests and dozens of lawsuits over what workers call sexual harassment at its restaurants and the company’s failure to address their complaints. Earlier this month, a former employee sued McDonald’s and one of its Michigan franchisees, alleging that the general manager did nothing to stop a co-worker from groping and physically assaulting her. And just days before that lawsuit was filed, McDonald’s fired its CEO, Steve Easterbrook, for having a consensual romantic relationship with an employee.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawsuit-alleges-mcdonalds-puts-employees-physical-danger-67201280

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:09:53 -0500

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

abcnews--2019-11-26--The Latest: NYC lawmakers ban flavored vaping products

abcnews

The Latest: NYC lawmakers ban flavored vaping products

The Latest on a New York City measure to ban flavored vaping products (all times local): New York City lawmakers have voted to ban flavored electronic cigarettes. The City Council voted Tuesday to ban all e-cigarette and e-liquid flavors except tobacco. Backers of the ban said they were acting to protect young people whose use of e-cigarettes has surged in recent years. Democratic City Council member Mark Levine said there is “no higher obligation” than protecting the health of kids. Supporters of the vaping industry jeered and threw dollar bills from the balcony of the City Council chamber after the vote. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he supports the ban and will either sign the legislation into law or let it take effect automatically. This entry has been corrected to show that a vaping group official says the thrown dollar bills were real, not fake. New York City lawmakers are preparing to ban flavored electronic cigarettes. The bill before the City Council on Tuesday would ban all e-cigarette and e-liquid flavors except tobacco. More than half of the Council’s 51 members have signed on as co-sponsors. A spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio said the Democratic mayor supports the ban and will either sign the legislation into law or let it take effect automatically. New York state officials had already moved to implement a ban statewide, but that order has been halted by a court challenge. The move to ban flavored e-cigarettes comes amid nationwide concern about the growth of teenage vaping and fears about health risks.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-nyc-lawmakers-ban-flavored-vaping-products-67327858

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:24:24 -0500

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

abcnews--2019-12-04--Judge to hear bid to end John Dillinger exhumation lawsuit

abcnews

Judge to hear bid to end John Dillinger exhumation lawsuit

A judge will hear an Indianapolis cemetery's bid Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a relative of 1930s gangster John Dillinger who wants to exhume Dillinger’s gravesite to determine if the notorious criminal is actually buried there. A Marion County judge scheduled a hearing to consider Crown Hill Cemetery's motion to dismiss the lawsuit Michael Thompson filed in August against the cemetery. Thompson, who is Dillinger’s nephew, is seeking a court order allowing him to proceed with the exhumation. He obtained a permit in October from the Indiana State Department of Health that calls for the remains to be exhumed on Dec. 31. Thompson has said he has evidence Dillinger's body may not be buried there, and he may not have been the man FBI agents fatally shot outside a Chicago theater in on July 22, 1934. Attorneys for Crown Hill Cemetery call that “a decades-old conspiracy.” They oppose the exhumation, saying that Indiana’s Legislature has granted cemetery owners the right to “protect its gravesites from unwarranted disturbance.” They argue that state law specifies that a deceased person cannot be removed from a cemetery without the written consent of that cemetery, as well as a written order from the State Department authorizing the removal and the written consent of certain relatives of the deceased. In September, The History Channel dropped out of a planned documentary on Dillinger that would have included the exhumation. Thompson and another relative applied for the state exhumation permit after they obtained an earlier permit calling for a Sept. 16 exhumation. That exhumation did not occur after cemetery officials objected to the exhumation.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-hear-bid-end-john-dillinger-exhumation-lawsuit-67486040

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 06:53:15 -0500

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

abcnews--2019-12-11--US seeks dismissal of New Mexico's immigration lawsuit

abcnews

US seeks dismissal of New Mexico's immigration lawsuit

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- U.S. lawyers want a judge to dismiss claims by New Mexico that immigration officials shirked their duties earlier this year by quickly releasing thousands of mostly Central American migrants into communities after they crossed into the United States. New Mexico claimed in a lawsuit filed in June that the practice left Las Cruces, Deming and other communities to pick up the tab for housing and feeding the asylum-seekers until they moved on to find relatives or other hosts elsewhere in the U.S. In addition to seeking an end to the catch-and-release practice, the state sought reimbursement for humanitarian efforts to temporarily shelter migrants. The state resorted to issuing its own grants to help communities with the costs. U.S. District Judge James Browning heard arguments Wednesday but he noted that it could take a while before he issues a decision on whether the case will be allowed to move forward. He cited an ongoing backlog of federal cases in New Mexico. First-year Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and his immigration policies, cited a "derogation of duty" when she announced the lawsuit against then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and top immigration officials. The city of Albuquerque was listed as a co-plaintiff. The complaint resembled a suit filed by San Diego County in April that challenged the cancellation of a federal program that helped migrants with phone calls and other travel logistics as they sought final destinations across the U.S. The quick releases in New Mexico came as the border was inundated with migrants seeking asylum. At times, groups of 300 or more people showed up at remote outposts, including the crossings at Antelope Wells and at Sunland Park, closer to El Paso, Texas. Attorneys for the state and the city told the judge about the hundreds of people who were dropped off in Deming in the middle of summer. “It's not an option to ignore those people,” said Jonathan Guss, the governor's deputy general counsel. He pointed to state responsibilities for ensuring public health and safety for all people within its jurisdiction and argued that the federal government's actions forced New Mexico to step up. Deputy City Attorney Winter Torres said local officials had only 10 to 12 hours of notification before some 300 migrants were released on Easter weekend. She suggested that the federal government was targeting the city because of its immigrant-friendly policies. Federal officials have denied those claims, and attorneys for the government argued Wednesday that New Mexico and the city had no standing to bring the lawsuit because the previous safe release policy was not something that was ever formally adopted through regulations or statute and thus left to the discretion of immigration officials. Assistant U.S. Attorney Manuel Lucero told the judge that had Congress intended every discretionary decision an agency makes to be reviewed, government would grind to a halt and the courts would be flooded by complaints every time someone disagreed with a policy change. While acknowledging that the immigration and asylum system was overwhelmed, Lucero said the federal government never forced the state or city to spend their money on humanitarian efforts. “It's discretionary spending on their part. It's commendable. It really is,” he said, adding that no existing regulations, codes or statutes require the federal government to provide shelter, food or other humanitarian aid to all asylum-seekers and that it did not do so under the previous policy. Such aid, he said, is provided only on a case-by-case basis — for example if a migrant is ill and needs medical care. In May, at the height of immigrant apprehensions the El Paso Sector — which includes New Mexico’s stretch of the border — saw nearly 30,000 families come through. The numbers dropped quickly over the summer in the busiest crossing spots, the result of several policies making it nearly impossible to gain asylum in the U.S. New Mexico's congressional delegation was able to secure $30 million in grants for communities and organizations that aided asylum seekers. The first wave of supplemental funding came in October, but the state said Wednesday that its application for reimbursement from the U.S. government was still pending. Details on the amount of reimbursement being sought were not immediately available.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-seeks-dismissal-mexicos-immigration-lawsuit-67663084

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:22:04 -0500

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

abcnews--2019-12-12--Appeals court to rehear arguments in Trump hotel lawsuit

abcnews

Appeals court to rehear arguments in Trump hotel lawsuit

RICHMOND, Va. -- A federal appeals court is set to rehear arguments Thursday in a lawsuit that accuses President Donald Trump of illegally profiting off the presidency through his luxury Washington hotel. The state of Maryland and the District of Columbia will ask the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a ruling by a three-judge panel that directed a federal judge in Maryland to dismiss the lawsuit. The two jurisdictions allege that Trump has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting profits through foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District Attorney General Karl Racine have argued that hotels in their jurisdictions suffer “competitive injury” because officials hoping to curry favor with the president are more likely to stay at his hotel. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit ruled in July that the two jurisdictions lack standing to pursue their claims against the president. The court later granted a request to hold a rehearing before all 15 judges on the court. Trump's lawyers have said that Frosh and Racine — both Democrats — lack authority to sue the president in his official capacity. They've also argued that the emoluments clause only bars compensation made in connection with services provided in his official capacity or in "an employment-type relationship" with a foreign or domestic government. The hotel is just blocks from the White House. The iconic Old Post Office quickly became a hot spot for lobbyists and foreign officials after it reopened in 2016 as the Trump International Hotel shortly before Trump was elected.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/appeals-court-rehear-arguments-trump-hotel-lawsuit-67677047

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 04:27:52 -0500

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

21stcenturywire--2019-01-02--White House Lawyer Giuliani Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted

21stcenturywire

White House Lawyer Giuliani: ‘Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted’

This latest admission by White House legal counsel, Rudy Giuliani, is certain to send shock waves through the corridors of the deep state in both Washington and London. For years, the Anglo-American establishment has been trying to frame Julian Assange and WikiLeaks for a crime which was nonexistent. Once again, as the Russiagate narrative starts to disintegrate, common sense is beginning to fill the vacuum left by the hemorrhaging credibility of the political media establishment. Giuliani’s legal analysis will no doubt upset US officials who have repeatedly referred to WikiLeaks as “a non-state hostile intelligence service” This disingenuous claim has been dutifully repeatedly by US officials, and particularly by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who seems to be unable to grasp the basic concept that  Wikileaks is a publisher, and falls squarely under the auspices of press freedom protections. Could this be that elusive legal daylight that supporters of Julian Assange have been waiting for? Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had not done “anything wrong” and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major media does. “Let’s take the Pentagon Papers,” Giuliani told Fox News. “The Pentagon Papers were stolen property, weren’t they?  It was in The New York Times and The Washington Post.  Nobody went to jail at The New York Times and The Washington Post.” Giuliani said there were “revelations during the Bush administration” such as Abu Ghraib.  “All of that is stolen property taken from the government, it’s against the law. But once it gets to a media publication, they can publish it,” Giuliani said, “for the purpose of informing people.” “You can’t put Assange in a different position,” he said. “He was a guy who communicated.” Giuliani said, “We may not like what [Assange] communicates, but he was a media facility. He was putting that information out,” he said. “Every newspaper and station grabbed it, and published it.” The U.S. government has admitted that it has indicted Assange for publishing classified information, but it is battling in court to keep the details of the indictment secret. As a lawyer and close advisor to Trump, Giuliani could have influence on the president’s and the Justice Department’s thinking on Assange. Giuliani also said there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks. “I  was with Donald Trump day in and day out during the last four months of the campaign,” he said. “He was as surprised as I was about the WikiLeaks disclosures.  Sometimes surprised to the extent of ‘Oh my god, did they really say that?’ We were wondering if it was true. They [the Clinton campaign] never denied it.” Giuliani said: “The thing that really got Hillary is not so much that it was revealed, but they were true. They actually had people as bad as that and she really was cheating on the debates. She really was getting from Donna Brazile the questions before hand. She really did completely screw Bernie Sanders.” “Every bit of that was true,” he went on.  “Just like the Pentagon Papers put a different view on Vietnam, this put a different view on Hillary Clinton.” Giuliani said, “It was not right to hack. People who did it should go to jail, but no press person or person disseminating that for the purpose of informing did anything wrong.”

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/02/white-house-lawyer-giuliani-says-assange-should-not-be-prosecuted/

2019-01-02 23:53:54+00:00

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

21stcenturywire--2019-07-18--CIA Pushes for Expansion of Secrecy Laws to Shutdown Public Criticism

21stcenturywire

CIA Pushes for Expansion of Secrecy Laws to Shutdown Public Criticism

When the CIA and other agencies in the United States government pushed for the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) in 1981, it was crafted to exclude “covert agents” who resided in the U.S. There was consideration by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of how the legislation might “chill or stifle public criticism of intelligence activities or public debate concerning intelligence policy.” More than three decades later, the CIA is apparently unsatisfied with the protections the bill granted covert agents. It has enlisted a select group of senators and representatives to help expand the universe of individuals who are protected, making members of the press who cover intelligence matters more vulnerable to prosecution. Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, was involved in adding language to expand the IIPA to the Intelligence Authorization Act moving through Congress. The CIA put their specific request for what language they would like amended in writing and sent it to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Their request was essentially copied and pasted, with no changes, into the intelligence bill. Schiff supports the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and shares the CIA’s view that WikiLeaks is a “non-state hostile intelligence service,” not a media organization. In 2018, when Assange was willing to speak with investigators about the Russia probe, he replied, Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said he is concerned about how the bill expands the IIPA so that it applies indefinitely, including to individuals who have been in the United States for decades and have become senior management or have retired.” Gina Haspel, the CIA director, likely favors the law because she faced scrutiny over her role in the destruction of torture tapes that showed the waterboarding of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. She was still a “covert agent” when news of this scandal erupted, and the protection of her identity played a role in enabling her ascension to the top of the agency. Various groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Demand Progress, Human Rights Watch, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Physicians for Human Rights, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Society of Professional Journalists, wrote a letter objecting to the proposed expansion that was sent to both intelligence committees. The groups contend it would “harm congressional oversight of the intelligence community, making it much more difficult to obtain information about almost any individual’s relationship to intelligence agencies and allowing the executive branch to avoid oversight through arbitrary classification. Additionally, it would potentially make it more difficult for intelligence community whistleblowers to approach Congress with reports of fraud, waste, and abuse.” The letter further argues it would be “significantly damaging” because it is an “extremely broad expansion of felony criminal penalties and delegates authority to when those penalties apply to the executive branch.” When the IIPA was drafted in 1981, the ACLU initially opposed [PDF] it. Yet, as Angus MacKenzie described, ACLU attorney Jerry Berman and Morton Halperin, who became the ACLU director in 1984 after passage of the bill, worked with the CIA on a compromise in July 1981, which offered journalists some small measure of protection. Nonetheless, before the Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism, which was part of the Judiciary Committee, Halperin articulated a case against the IIPA on May 8, 1981. Halperin suggested it would be better for the government to focus on taking steps to “make it impossible for foreign terrorist groups or American citizens” to “identify covert agents.” Legislation impinging on the First Amendment should not be passed for a “symbolic purpose.” It should pass because it will have some “real effect on protecting lives.” The ACLU and other organizations believed the legislation, as it was drafted, would make it a crime “for the press to publish information which it lawfully acquires, whether it acquires that information from foreign intelligence sources, from foreign governments, from foreign newspapers, [or] from official publications of the United States government.” There was nothing in the language that required a “bad purpose” to exist in order for a person to be prosecuted. It is not like the law has not been abused by the U.S. government. In 2013, the Justice Department successfully prosecuted former CIA officer John Kiriakou for confirming the name of an officer involved in the CIA’s RDI program to a reporter, even though he did not have a “pattern of activity” which involved trying to out “covert agents.” Members of Congress specified in the IIPA that a person must be engaged in a “series” of acts or a “pattern of activity” that was intended to “impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States by the fact of such identification and exposure.” It was viewed as a kind of protection for journalists. However, in Kiriakou’s case, there was enough ambiguity to deploy it against a former officer who had a public record of opposing the agency’s use of waterboarding against detainees in the “war on terrorism.” The Justice Department did not use the law when CIA officer Valerie Plame had her cover blown by officials in President George W. Bush’s administration. Her outing was retaliation against her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, who exposed part of the fabricated case for regime change in Iraq. Former CIA case officer Philip Agee, who sought to reveal how the CIA was involved in “secretly intervening in country after country to corrupt politicians and to promote political repression,” was the key inspiration for the CIA push to pass the IIPA. Agee published a column, “Naming Names,” that outed agents allegedly involved in the activities he exposed. In 1975, Agee was blamed by the CIA for the murder of Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens, but Agee maintained the publication had nothing to do with the murder of Welch. Three decades ago, the CIA mobilized to protect itself from radical acts of transparency, and now, with the internet and organizations like WikiLeaks, it hopes to be able to further isolate and criminalize those who directly challenge the agency’s activities. *** Author Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” This article was originally published at Shadowproof

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/07/17/cia-pushes-for-expansion-of-secrecy-laws-to-shutdown-public-criticism/

2019-07-18 04:33:05+00:00

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

21stcenturywire--2019-08-31--Adam Schiffs New Law Expands Definition of Domestic Terrorism Promotes FBI Entrapment

21stcenturywire

Adam Schiff’s New Law Expands Definition of ‘Domestic Terrorism’, Promotes FBI Entrapment

Recently, the US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced a bill which intends to criminalize various new acts under the ever-expanding banner of domestic terrorism. Undoubtedly, this is an attempt by the government to broaden the definition of ‘domestic terrorism’ in order to make the interpretation more arbitrary, and thus qualifying more offenses for terrorism prosecutions. Schiff’s new law will give the US Attorney General new powers which would potentially charge any threat of violence or damage to property that “creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury” – as an act of domestic terrorism. Potentially, this might could also include the use of heated political rhetoric during a “planning meeting” (a conversation in person, or in an internet chat room), or even breaking a window during a protest. In theory, the Federal government could them pursue sentences up to 30-years in prison. Predictably, mainstream partisan pundits are cheering this authoritarian move by Schiff, as they believe that this legislation will give the state more power to crack down on what they perceive as their political enemies, namely ‘white supremacists’ and ‘white nationalists. It’s important to point out that this same reactionary, flawed logic was used by Neconservatives in the wake of 9/11 in order to target and ‘deal with’ the supposed ‘Muslim threat’ by rushing through Patriot Act I and II during the Bush Administration. Writing for The Hill, Michael German offers a few real-life scenarios, explaining, “If you think this possibility is absurd, keep in mind that in 2012 the Justice Department put two political activists in jail for months for refusing to testify before a grand jury about colleagues who may have participated in a Seattle May Day protest in which a federal courthouse window was broken,” adding that, “In 2017, the Justice Department charged more than 200 protesters at an anti-Trump rally with felony charges for allegedly conspiring to riot because someone broke windows and lit a limousine on fire while they were in the general vicinity. Prosecutors used selectively edited undercover recordings of protest planning meetings in which a speaker threatened to turn the inauguration into a “giant clusterf—” as evidence of a broad conspiracy.” “The prosecutions failed in these cases, which may partly explain why the Justice Department and FBI have been seeking to expand their domestic terrorism powers. If they were intent on using these new powers to target far-right militants, they could have simply amended current Justice Department policies that de-prioritize the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes,” said German. Schiff federal power-grab is a bi-partisan effort – because both the Republican and Democratic wings of the Establishment will want to use such broad powers in order to marginalize their perceived political opponents, or worse – use the FBI to fabricate terror plots in order to create and maintain an ongoing crisis through which it can reinforce convenient political and state-power narratives and also justify increasing departmental expenditures. In short, this breed of new legislation will only give the FBI increased license to continue and expand upon its highly shady practice of using handlers and informants to entrap and arrest unsuspecting dupes, and further boast to the press about the impressive number of “terror busts” it has referred to prosecution. All the while, short-sighted partisan lawmakers remain oblivious to the long-term consequences of reactionary such policy.

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/08/31/adam-schiffs-new-law-set-to-expand-the-definition-of-domestic-terrorism/

2019-08-31 10:32:01+00:00

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

21stcenturywire--2019-09-11--Remain Roadblock Scottish Court Rules PMs Suspension of Parliament Unlawful

21stcenturywire

Remain Roadblock: Scottish Court Rules PM’s Suspension of Parliament ‘Unlawful’

Scotland’s highest civil court has ruled today that Boris Johnson’s suspension of the UK Parliament is unlawful. A three judge panel at the Court of Session in Ednburgh ruled in favour of a cross-party group of politicians, stating that the Prime Minister’s prorogation is an attempt to ‘prevent Parliament holding the government to account ahead of Brexit.’ Both Labour and Scottish National Party (SNP) are demanding an immediate recall of Parliament. However, this latest Scottish ruling appears to contradict previous statements made by judges in London, as well as the initial findings by the same Edinburgh court last Wednesday when Lord Doherty stated that PM Johnson’s prorogation was lawful. In response, Johnson’s government has said it will appeal the ruling in the country’s Supreme Court in London who will make the final decision on the matter. The case will be heard next Tuesday. As of Wednesday, no final decision has been made to immediately reverse the PM’s suspension of Parliament, but according to the House Speaker’s office, Parliament can only be recalled if the government so chooses. According earlier reports from The Guardian in London, Sir Ed Davey, the deputy Liberal Democrat leader, this ruling could lead to the resignation of Boris Johnson: “It could well do. If he has been found to have misled the Queen, I think the whole nation will be deeply shocked and alarmed. This is a prime minister we already know has said he might obey a law in parliament, so he is behaving in the most disgraceful way. Now it may be that the supreme court next week overturns the decision. But that three judges, independent judges, could come to this conclusion today is a real blow to the government, and it also backs what Liberal Democrats and others have been saying, this government should not have silenced parliament.” Fresh attacks against the Prime Minister are also coming from the Tory rebel’s camp, as Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative attorney general (and one of the 21 MPs who had the whip removed last week), said to BBC News that, if Boris Johnson misled the Queen about the reasons for prorogation, then he should resign: The Guardian added that, “Grieve was also the MP who tabled by standing order 24 motion passed by MPs on Monday demanding the release of private messages from Johnson’s aides relating to the prorogation of parliament. In the debate he said government whistleblowers who had told him what really happened thought the affair “smacked of scandal”.

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/09/11/remain-roadblock-scottish-court-rules-pms-suspension-of-parliament-unlawful/

2019-09-11 12:17:49+00:00

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

abcnews--2019-01-03--Law enforcement unions frustrated over members missing pay amid shutdown

abcnews

Law enforcement unions frustrated over members missing pay amid shutdown

The heads of unions representing federal law enforcement have some choice words for President Donald Trump amid the government shutdown. The chief of the union that represents officers working for the Transportation Security Administration, whose members are responsible for securing airline travelers, expressed strong frustration Thursday at the prospect of missing paychecks if the government shutdown drags on. "How can you protect people who fly when you're worried about paying your bills?" Hydrick Thomas, TSA Council President, told ABC News. Thomas said that 45,000 TSA employees aren't getting paid, and there is nothing that they can do about it. "That is our Christmas gift from our president, not going to get paid," Thomas continued. He added that he hoped the president would "wake up." While Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker effusively praised the president Wednesday for "giving up" his holiday to deal with the government shutdown, he failed to mention the thousands of federal agents in the Department of Justice were also working -- and not getting paid. One of those agencies that Whitaker oversees is the Federal Bureau of Prisons. “We just passed New Year's and New Year's for most of us is when we pay our mortgages, our rents and many people have been expressing through and on social media, that they went to their landlords and their landlords stated they have got to get the bills paid, and if they don’t, they’re going to come and find their stuff out on the front lawn,” Eric Young, the head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Union, told ABC News. “In prisons, you can’t cut back on services. The results are more violence, unsafe prisons, people being killed -- the inmates and also the staff. So, when you have them being distracted now from not getting paid, worrying about whether they can put their kid in daycare, that brings undue stress on them from what they need to do inside our prisons,” Young said. The FBI Agents Association is blasting both sides in the shutdown. “As the country celebrates the New Year, the American public can be assured that the FBIAA’s membership -- which includes nearly 13,000 Special Agents of the FBI -- are on the job 24-hours a day, seven days a week to protect our country from criminal and terrorist threats. These men and women are doing so while facing a confluence of policies and gridlock that are causing financial hardship for Agents and their families," President Tom O'Connor said in a statement. "FBIAA members and others are currently working without pay or paid leave because of a fourth government shutdown in five years. The FBIAA calls on elected officials to work together to end the shutdown and restore Agents’ pay," O'Connor said.

Luke Barr

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/law-enforcement-unions-frustrated-members-missing-pay-amid/story?id=60141079

2019-01-03 22:56:32+00:00

crime, law and justice

law enforcement

21stcenturywire--2019-01-31--France Germany UK Launch a New Non-Dollar Mechanism to Trade with Iran But Will it Work

21stcenturywire

France, Germany, UK Launch a New ‘Non-Dollar’ Mechanism to Trade with Iran, But Will it Work?

Money talks, and no one knows this better than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s how the Trump Administration communicates with its enemies, as well as with its allies – through the application powerful long-range financial instruments. But Europe is moving in for another attempt at breaking Washington’s blockade of Iran. After ripping up the JCPOA Iran Nuclear Deal in May 2018, the US began constructing a comprehensive global economic blockade designed to starve and break the Iranian economy. Of course, no one is happier about this than Israel (arguably, the architect of the JCPOA sabotage), along with regional rival Saudi Arabia. If Washington choking-off Iran wasn’t enough, it has also also vowed to sanction anyone who dared to trade with Iran. In the fall of 2018, Europe tried to bypass this by devising an alternative clearing mechanism for financial transactions for avoiding using the US dollar, called the “Special Purpose Vehicle” (SPV). When the US nixed it, it seemed any chance for an economic lifeline for Iran was off the table. Still, Europe seems to be determined to try and bypass the ramparts of American economic statecraft. This week France, Germany and the UK have announced the creation of a new payment system is called INSTEX – short for ‘Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges’, to be based in Paris. This new improved version of the previous ‘SPV’ vehicle, now ready to facilitate “legitimate trade” with Iran by bypassing any US dollar transactions, and with an initial focus on crucial goods like food and medical supplies. Later on, organisers hope to expand its capabilities to cover all goods and services. In their official joint statement, the working group have indicated that they will seek to expand the number of countries using this new channel. In light of this week’s INSTEX announcement, the question now remains whether of not Mnuchin’s sanctions armada will pursue European countries attempting to bust Washington’s unilateral measures. While the INSTEX may provide the framework for a viable work-around, it is still yet to be seen just how many companies will want to risk drawing the gaze of Washington’s financial eye of mordor. In other words, a company like Thyssenkrupp could deliver product to Iran via INSTEX, but by doing so they may risk losing their access to the lucrative US market – should Washington decide to punish the German corporation for its insubordination. No doubt firms will be deploying teams of lobbyists to Washington in search of exemption wavers. This same risk applies to small to medium size enterprises too, although smaller players cannot afford Washington’s pay-to-play lobby game. Immediately after the initial Special Purpose Vehicle, or “SPV” idea was floated in Brussels this past fall, the US immediately began threatening to sanction anyone who defied its decree by continuing to trade with Iran. France, Germany and the EU itself, had vowed to bust Trump’s Iran sanctions through the SPV.  This is an important concept, because it signals the first deliberate move by major state actors to move away from the US dollar as a world reserve currency. The reserve currency issue is paramount because it’s one of the fundamental prerequisites in transitioning from a unipolar world order with America in the cat bird seat, to establishing what many analysts and international relations scholars refer to as a ‘multipolar world order’ with power-sharing arrangements among ‘multiple equals.’ Naturally, the US was having none of it, and proceeded to threatened to sanction the international inter-bank financial messaging clearing system known as SWIFT, based in Belgium. Trump’s éminence grise and master of the coin, the US Treasury Secretary Dept’s resident Little Finger, Steve Mnuchin, then threw down the gauntlet to the Brussels rebellion saying, “We have advised SWIFT that it must disconnect any Iranian financial institutions that we designate as soon as technologically feasible to avoid sanctions exposure.” And that was that. No more SPV for the Europe’s multipolar crusaders. Will INSTEX meet a similar fate? That depends on whether the European partners have the political will and determination to see this initiative through to the end. Washington is certain to launch a counter move in order to try and intimidate western corporations from participating in trade with Iran, so onus is really on France, Germany and the UK to prove they have the stones to stand to Trump and be ready to elevate this issue to the UNSC level – and openly challenge the US on principle, and international law, something they have not yet been willing to do, and thus reducing any independent EU actions to remain merely symbolic and ‘good natured’, but never implemented to the point of being effective. They could start by asking Washington and Tel Aviv to present the evidence that they claim to have and which proves that Iran is in breach of the JCPOA by still pursuing a nuclear weapon. To date, no such evidence has been produced, other than a bizarre off-Broadway show and Powerpoint presentation delivered by Bibi Netanyahu. Team Europe has to be ready to tell Trump: put up, or shut up, and we’ll see you in court. If they aren’t, then their status as an offshore outpost of the US will persist. Worse than that, the EU will continue to be a paper tiger in terms of its federalist foreign policy aspirations. If Brussels and its member states are unable to pursue a foreign policy independent of Washington’s, then it will be another nail in the coffin of the European Project. *** Author Patrick Henningsen is an American writer and global affairs analyst and founder of independent news and analysis site 21st Century Wire, and is host of the SUNDAY WIRE weekly radio show broadcast globally over the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR). He has written for a number of international publications and has done extensive on-the-ground reporting in the Middle East including work in Syria and Iraq.

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/31/france-germany-uk-launch-non-dollar-mechanism-to-trade-with-iran/

2019-01-31 21:43:14+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

21stcenturywire--2019-09-06--DISCUSSION Hong Kong China and Trumps Trade War

21stcenturywire

DISCUSSION: Hong Kong, China and Trump’s Trade War

In the last six months months, China has been re-positioned ahead of Russia by Washington as America’s supposed top existential and geopolitical adversary. What sort of risks does this new unofficial war pose to America’s economy? SUNDAY WIRE radio host Patrick Henningsen talks with roving correspondent for Culture & Sport, Basil Valentine, about the highly dubious “democracy” protests in Hong Kong, as well as the real underlying problems with Trump’s US vs China trade war. Is Trump trying to engineer and economic boom just in time for the U.S. 2020 election? Listen:

21wire

https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/09/06/discussion-hong-kong-china-and-trumps-trade-war/

2019-09-06 19:23:35+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-01-28--US sanctions Venezuelas state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

abcnews

US sanctions Venezuela's state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

The Trump administration announced Monday it is sanctioning Venezuela's state-owned oil company, blocking $7 billion in assets and potentially costing the country $11 billion in oil revenues, according to National Security Adviser John Bolton. The move is meant to put the squeeze on President Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president and has tried to force Maduro to exit after what the U.S. says is his political crackdown, consolidation of power, and corrupt mismanagement of the country. The sanctions block all U.S. persons or businesses from working with Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., known by the acronym PDVSA, and funds from any purchases of Venezuelan oil will now have to go into special accounts Maduro's government is blocked from accessing, according to the Treasury Department. Some licenses will be granted to continue work with PDVSA, including for Citgo -- the U.S. energy company that PDVSA owns -- but those revenues will be held in a blocked account, too, according to Mnuchin, who said Guaidó should be given access to those funds. That's a big boost to his fledgling self-declared government, and Mnuchin said these oil sanctions could be completely lifted once Guaidó has full control of PDVSA: "When there is a recognition that the company is the property of, the rightful rulers, the rightful leaders, then indeed that money will be available to Guaido. We will be working with them on the money in the blocked account and whether that can be used for them." The move is sure to even further disrupt Maduro's government, which maintains the loyalty of Venezuela's military top brass but could be left unable to pay them. While a handful of military and diplomatic officials have sworn allegiance to Guaidó in the last week, losing access to Venezuela's coffers could unleash a wave of defections. Maduro seemed to be moving to reassert his authority on Monday, offering to meet with President Donald Trump for talks, according to his foreign minister Jorge Arreaza. In a news conference Monday, Arreaza asserted that the U.S. continues to have diplomatic relations with Maduro's government after recognizing Guaidó, even reading some of the diplomatic notes the U.S. has sent and showing a photo of U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Jimmy Story's meeting with the Vice Chancellor on Saturday. "Diplomatic relations are not simply about statements," he added, a dismissal of the U.S. recognition of Guaidó. The White House has not responded yet to that offer to meet. But Bolton painted a picture of weakening Maduro control on Monday, saying the U.S. knows through "numerous contacts on the ground" that the military's rank and file are "acutely aware of the desperate economic conditions in the country and we think they look for ways to support the National Assembly government." Even among the top brass, he said, there are high-level contacts between the general officers and the opposition -- including among those that posed with the Defense Minister last week as he reiterated his allegiance to Maduro: "What [the Maduro government] didn't know was how many of them were already talking to the National Assembly," he said of that photo-op. A handful of senior Venezuelan military and diplomatic officials in the U.S. have already turned. Maduro said he would break diplomatic ties with the U.S. and close the country's embassy and consulates and ordered all diplomats home. But a handful instead defected to join Guaidó's government, which has promised amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Maduro and even floated it for Maduro himself. Col. José Luis Silva, the military attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, announced he was breaking with Maduro in an interview with the Miami Herald on Saturday, adding, "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people. We are also part of the people, and we've had enough of supporting a government that has betrayed the most basic principles and sold itself to other countries." On Sunday, another senior official joined him -- the deputy chief of the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, Scarlet Salazar -- posting in a video online where she added, "This decision abides by my democratic principles and values as a career diplomatic officer serving Venezuela for more than 18 uninterrupted years." The U.S. has maintained its own diplomatic presence in the country, even after Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomats 72 hours to leave. The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff and families out of concern for their safety, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would not obey the full order because Maduro was the "former" president and his commands were "illegitimate." He left behind a small crew of 25 or so employees, including Chargé d'Affaires Story. That set up a showdown by Sunday morning, with Bolton threatening action: "Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guiadó, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," he tweeted. But Maduro backed down, suspending his order and giving the U.S. 30 days to negotiate or withdraw its remaining personnel. Arreazza added Monday that all Venezuelan diplomats had left the U.S. and the U.S. should also respect the 30-day deadline, too. The State Department also announced another staffing change Friday, bringing on Elliott Abrams as a special envoy for Venezuela. Abrams was an Assistant Secretary of State under President Reagan and a Deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, making him a controversial choice for his role in Reagan's support for Latin American dictatorships, his cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair, and his support for the Iraq War. Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for withholding evidence to Congress, but was later pardoned by George H.W. Bush. ABC News's Davi Merchan contributed to this report from Cúcuta, Colombia.

Conor Finnegan

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/venezuelas-maduro-seeks-talks-trump-us-plans-empower/story?id=60677368

2019-01-28 22:32:10+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-01-28--US sanctions Venezuelas state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

abcnews

US sanctions Venezuela's state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

The Trump administration announced Monday it is sanctioning Venezuela's state-owned oil company, blocking $7 billion in assets and potentially costing the country $11 billion in oil revenues, according to National Security Adviser John Bolton. The move is meant to put the squeeze on President Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president and has tried to force Maduro to exit after what the U.S. says is his political crackdown, consolidation of power, and corrupt mismanagement of the country. The sanctions block all U.S. persons or businesses from working with Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., known by the acronym PDVSA, and funds from any purchases of Venezuelan oil will now have to go into special accounts Maduro's government is blocked from accessing, according to the Treasury Department. Some licenses will be granted to continue work with PDVSA, including for Citgo -- the U.S. energy company that PDVSA owns -- but those revenues will be held in a blocked account, too, according to Mnuchin, who said Guaidó should be given access to those funds. That's a big boost to his fledgling self-declared government, and Mnuchin said these oil sanctions could be completely lifted once Guaidó has full control of PDVSA: "When there is a recognition that the company is the property of, the rightful rulers, the rightful leaders, then indeed that money will be available to Guaido. We will be working with them on the money in the blocked account and whether that can be used for them." The move is sure to even further disrupt Maduro's government, which maintains the loyalty of Venezuela's military top brass but could be left unable to pay them. While a handful of military and diplomatic officials have sworn allegiance to Guaidó in the last week, losing access to Venezuela's coffers could unleash a wave of defections. Maduro seemed to be moving to reassert his authority on Monday, offering to meet with President Donald Trump for talks, according to his foreign minister Jorge Arreaza. In a news conference Monday, Arreaza asserted that the U.S. continues to have diplomatic relations with Maduro's government after recognizing Guaidó, even reading some of the diplomatic notes the U.S. has sent and showing a photo of U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Jimmy Story's meeting with the Vice Chancellor on Saturday. "Diplomatic relations are not simply about statements," he added, a dismissal of the U.S. recognition of Guaidó. The White House has not responded yet to that offer to meet. But Bolton painted a picture of weakening Maduro control on Monday, saying the U.S. knows through "numerous contacts on the ground" that the military's rank and file are "acutely aware of the desperate economic conditions in the country and we think they look for ways to support the National Assembly government." Even among the top brass, he said, there are high-level contacts between the general officers and the opposition -- including among those that posed with the Defense Minister last week as he reiterated his allegiance to Maduro: "What [the Maduro government] didn't know was how many of them were already talking to the National Assembly," he said of that photo-op. A handful of senior Venezuelan military and diplomatic officials in the U.S. have already turned. Maduro said he would break diplomatic ties with the U.S. and close the country's embassy and consulates and ordered all diplomats home. But a handful instead defected to join Guaidó's government, which has promised amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Maduro and even floated it for Maduro himself. Col. José Luis Silva, the military attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, announced he was breaking with Maduro in an interview with the Miami Herald on Saturday, adding, "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people. We are also part of the people, and we've had enough of supporting a government that has betrayed the most basic principles and sold itself to other countries." On Sunday, another senior official joined him -- the deputy chief of the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, Scarlet Salazar -- posting in a video online where she added, "This decision abides by my democratic principles and values as a career diplomatic officer serving Venezuela for more than 18 uninterrupted years." The U.S. has maintained its own diplomatic presence in the country, even after Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomats 72 hours to leave. The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff and families out of concern for their safety, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would not obey the full order because Maduro was the "former" president and his commands were "illegitimate." He left behind a small crew of 25 or so employees, including Chargé d'Affaires Story. That set up a showdown by Sunday morning, with Bolton threatening action: "Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guiadó, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," he tweeted. But Maduro backed down, suspending his order and giving the U.S. 30 days to negotiate or withdraw its remaining personnel. Arreazza added Monday that all Venezuelan diplomats had left the U.S. and the U.S. should also respect the 30-day deadline, too. The State Department also announced another staffing change Friday, bringing on Elliott Abrams as a special envoy for Venezuela. Abrams was an Assistant Secretary of State under President Reagan and a Deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, making him a controversial choice for his role in Reagan's support for Latin American dictatorships, his cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair, and his support for the Iraq War. Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for withholding evidence to Congress, but was later pardoned by George H.W. Bush. ABC News's Davi Merchan contributed to this report from Cúcuta, Colombia.

Conor Finnegan

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/venezuelas-maduro-seeks-talks-trump-us-plans-empower/story?id=60677368

2019-01-28 22:32:10+00:00

economy, business and finance

market and exchange

abcnews--2019-01-28--Venezuelas Maduro seeks talks with Trump as US sanctions state-owned oil firm

abcnews

Venezuela's Maduro seeks talks with Trump as US sanctions state-owned oil firm

The Trump administration announced Monday it is sanctioning Venezuela's state-owned oil company, blocking $7 billion in assets and costing the country $11 billion of oil revenues, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The move was meant to put the squeeze on President Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president. Maduro is open to talks with President Donald Trump, his foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, said Monday. There was no immediate public response from the White House to that offer. While the U.S. has recognized Guaidó as interim president, Maduro's government has tried to reassert its authority and prove that the U.S. is still working with Maduro's faction. That may become even more difficult in the days to come, as the Trump administration considers giving Guaidó's government access to Venezuela's financial assets overseas. The administration has declined to comment on any potential future plans, but a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement Friday that the U.S. "will use its economic and diplomatic tools to ensure that commercial transactions by the Venezuelan Government, including those involving its state-owned enterprises and international reserves, are consistent with this recognition" of Guaidó as interim president. Guaidó has called for this financial move, which would undermine Maduro, who maintains the loyalty of Venezuela's military top brass but could be left unable to pay them. While a handful of military and diplomatic officials have sworn allegiance to Guaidó in the last week, losing access to Venezuela's coffers could unleash a wave of defections. In a press conference Monday, Arreaza asserted that the U.S. continues to have diplomatic relations with Maduro's government after recognizing Guaidó, even reading some of the diplomatic notes the U.S. has set and showing a photo of U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Jimmy Story's meeting with the Vice Chancellor on Saturday. "Diplomatic relations are not simply about statements," he added. Chargé Story is one of a handful of American diplomats still in Venezuela after the State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff and families out of concern for their safety. Last Wednesday, Maduro had ordered the U.S. to remove all its diplomats within 72 hours, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would not obey the order because Maduro was the "former" president and his commands were "illegitimate." That set up a showdown by Sunday morning, with National Security Adviser John Bolton threatening action: "Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guiadó, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," he tweeted. But Maduro backed down, suspending his order and giving the U.S. 30 days to negotiate or withdraw its remaining personnel. Arreazza added Monday that all Venezuelan diplomats had left the U.S. and the U.S. should also respect the 30-day deadline, too. A handful of senior military and diplomatic officials, however, have not departed, instead defecting to join Guaidó's fledgling government, which has promised amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Maduro and even floated it for Maduro himself. Col. José Luis Silva, the military attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, announced he was breaking with Maduro in an interview with the Miami Herald on Saturday, adding, "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people. We are also part of the people, and we've had enough of supporting a government that has betrayed the most basic principles and sold itself to other countries." On Sunday, another senior official joined him -- the deputy chief of the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, Scarlet Salazar -- posting in a video online where she added, "This decision abides by my democratic principles and values as a career diplomatic officer serving Venezuela for more than 18 uninterrupted years." The State Department announced its own staffing changes Friday, bringing on Elliott Abrams as a special envoy for Venezuela. Abrams was an Assistant Secretary of State under President Reagan and a Deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, making him a controversial choice for his role in Reagan's support for Latin American dictatorships, his cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair, and his support for the Iraq War. Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for withholding evidence to Congress, but was later pardoned by George H.W. Bush. ABC News's Davi Merchan contributed to this report from Cúcuta, Colombia.

Conor Finnegan

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/venezuelas-maduro-seeks-talks-trump-us-plans-empower/story?id=60677368

2019-01-28 21:05:16+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-01-28--Venezuelas Maduro seeks talks with Trump as US sanctions state-owned oil firm

abcnews

Venezuela's Maduro seeks talks with Trump as US sanctions state-owned oil firm

The Trump administration announced Monday it is sanctioning Venezuela's state-owned oil company, blocking $7 billion in assets and costing the country $11 billion of oil revenues, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The move was meant to put the squeeze on President Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president. Maduro is open to talks with President Donald Trump, his foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, said Monday. There was no immediate public response from the White House to that offer. While the U.S. has recognized Guaidó as interim president, Maduro's government has tried to reassert its authority and prove that the U.S. is still working with Maduro's faction. That may become even more difficult in the days to come, as the Trump administration considers giving Guaidó's government access to Venezuela's financial assets overseas. The administration has declined to comment on any potential future plans, but a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement Friday that the U.S. "will use its economic and diplomatic tools to ensure that commercial transactions by the Venezuelan Government, including those involving its state-owned enterprises and international reserves, are consistent with this recognition" of Guaidó as interim president. Guaidó has called for this financial move, which would undermine Maduro, who maintains the loyalty of Venezuela's military top brass but could be left unable to pay them. While a handful of military and diplomatic officials have sworn allegiance to Guaidó in the last week, losing access to Venezuela's coffers could unleash a wave of defections. In a press conference Monday, Arreaza asserted that the U.S. continues to have diplomatic relations with Maduro's government after recognizing Guaidó, even reading some of the diplomatic notes the U.S. has set and showing a photo of U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Jimmy Story's meeting with the Vice Chancellor on Saturday. "Diplomatic relations are not simply about statements," he added. Chargé Story is one of a handful of American diplomats still in Venezuela after the State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff and families out of concern for their safety. Last Wednesday, Maduro had ordered the U.S. to remove all its diplomats within 72 hours, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would not obey the order because Maduro was the "former" president and his commands were "illegitimate." That set up a showdown by Sunday morning, with National Security Adviser John Bolton threatening action: "Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guiadó, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," he tweeted. But Maduro backed down, suspending his order and giving the U.S. 30 days to negotiate or withdraw its remaining personnel. Arreazza added Monday that all Venezuelan diplomats had left the U.S. and the U.S. should also respect the 30-day deadline, too. A handful of senior military and diplomatic officials, however, have not departed, instead defecting to join Guaidó's fledgling government, which has promised amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Maduro and even floated it for Maduro himself. Col. José Luis Silva, the military attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, announced he was breaking with Maduro in an interview with the Miami Herald on Saturday, adding, "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people. We are also part of the people, and we've had enough of supporting a government that has betrayed the most basic principles and sold itself to other countries." On Sunday, another senior official joined him -- the deputy chief of the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, Scarlet Salazar -- posting in a video online where she added, "This decision abides by my democratic principles and values as a career diplomatic officer serving Venezuela for more than 18 uninterrupted years." The State Department announced its own staffing changes Friday, bringing on Elliott Abrams as a special envoy for Venezuela. Abrams was an Assistant Secretary of State under President Reagan and a Deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, making him a controversial choice for his role in Reagan's support for Latin American dictatorships, his cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair, and his support for the Iraq War. Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for withholding evidence to Congress, but was later pardoned by George H.W. Bush. ABC News's Davi Merchan contributed to this report from Cúcuta, Colombia.

Conor Finnegan

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/venezuelas-maduro-seeks-talks-trump-us-plans-empower/story?id=60677368

2019-01-28 21:05:16+00:00

economy, business and finance

market and exchange

abcnews--2019-01-29--US sanctions Venezuelas state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

abcnews

US sanctions Venezuela's state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

The Trump administration announced Monday it is sanctioning Venezuela's state-owned oil company, blocking $7 billion in assets and potentially costing the country $11 billion in oil revenues, according to National Security Adviser John Bolton. The move is meant to put the squeeze on President Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president and has tried to force Maduro to exit after what the U.S. says is his political crackdown, consolidation of power, and corrupt mismanagement of the country. The sanctions block all U.S. persons or businesses from working with Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., known by the acronym PDVSA, and funds from any purchases of Venezuelan oil will now have to go into special accounts Maduro's government is blocked from accessing, according to the Treasury Department. Some licenses will be granted to continue work with PDVSA, including for Citgo -- the U.S. energy company that PDVSA owns -- but those revenues will be held in a blocked account, too, according to Mnuchin, who said Guaidó should be given access to those funds. That's a big boost to his fledgling self-declared government, and Mnuchin said these oil sanctions could be completely lifted once Guaidó has full control of PDVSA: "When there is a recognition that the company is the property of, the rightful rulers, the rightful leaders, then indeed that money will be available to Guaido. We will be working with them on the money in the blocked account and whether that can be used for them." The move is sure to even further disrupt Maduro's government, which maintains the loyalty of Venezuela's military top brass but could be left unable to pay them. While a handful of military and diplomatic officials have sworn allegiance to Guaidó in the last week, losing access to Venezuela's coffers could unleash a wave of defections. Maduro seemed to be moving to reassert his authority on Monday, offering to meet with President Donald Trump for talks, according to his foreign minister Jorge Arreaza. In a news conference Monday, Arreaza asserted that the U.S. continues to have diplomatic relations with Maduro's government after recognizing Guaidó, even reading some of the diplomatic notes the U.S. has sent and showing a photo of U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Jimmy Story's meeting with the Vice Chancellor on Saturday. "Diplomatic relations are not simply about statements," he added, a dismissal of the U.S. recognition of Guaidó. The White House has not responded yet to that offer to meet. But Bolton painted a picture of weakening Maduro control on Monday, saying the U.S. knows through "numerous contacts on the ground" that the military's rank and file are "acutely aware of the desperate economic conditions in the country and we think they look for ways to support the National Assembly government." Even among the top brass, he said, there are high-level contacts between the general officers and the opposition -- including among those that posed with the Defense Minister last week as he reiterated his allegiance to Maduro: "What [the Maduro government] didn't know was how many of them were already talking to the National Assembly," he said of that photo-op. A handful of senior Venezuelan military and diplomatic officials in the U.S. have already turned. Maduro said he would break diplomatic ties with the U.S. and close the country's embassy and consulates and ordered all diplomats home. But a handful instead defected to join Guaidó's government, which has promised amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Maduro and even floated it for Maduro himself. Col. José Luis Silva, the military attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, announced he was breaking with Maduro in an interview with the Miami Herald on Saturday, adding, "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people. We are also part of the people, and we've had enough of supporting a government that has betrayed the most basic principles and sold itself to other countries." On Sunday, another senior official joined him -- the deputy chief of the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, Scarlet Salazar -- posting in a video online where she added, "This decision abides by my democratic principles and values as a career diplomatic officer serving Venezuela for more than 18 uninterrupted years." The U.S. has maintained its own diplomatic presence in the country, even after Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomats 72 hours to leave. The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff and families out of concern for their safety, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would not obey the full order because Maduro was the "former" president and his commands were "illegitimate." He left behind a small crew of 25 or so employees, including Chargé d'Affaires Story. That set up a showdown by Sunday morning, with Bolton threatening action: "Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guiadó, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," he tweeted. But Maduro backed down, suspending his order and giving the U.S. 30 days to negotiate or withdraw its remaining personnel. Arreazza added Monday that all Venezuelan diplomats had left the U.S. and the U.S. should also respect the 30-day deadline, too. The State Department also announced another staffing change Friday, bringing on Elliott Abrams as a special envoy for Venezuela. Abrams was an Assistant Secretary of State under President Reagan and a Deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, making him a controversial choice for his role in Reagan's support for Latin American dictatorships, his cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair, and his support for the Iraq War. Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for withholding evidence to Congress, but was later pardoned by George H.W. Bush. ABC News's Davi Merchan contributed to this report from Cúcuta, Colombia.

Conor Finnegan

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/venezuelas-maduro-seeks-talks-trump-us-plans-empower/story?id=60677368

2019-01-29 12:04:00+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-01-29--US sanctions Venezuelas state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

abcnews

US sanctions Venezuela's state-owned oil firm as Maduro seeks talks with Trump

The Trump administration announced Monday it is sanctioning Venezuela's state-owned oil company, blocking $7 billion in assets and potentially costing the country $11 billion in oil revenues, according to National Security Adviser John Bolton. The move is meant to put the squeeze on President Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president and has tried to force Maduro to exit after what the U.S. says is his political crackdown, consolidation of power, and corrupt mismanagement of the country. The sanctions block all U.S. persons or businesses from working with Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., known by the acronym PDVSA, and funds from any purchases of Venezuelan oil will now have to go into special accounts Maduro's government is blocked from accessing, according to the Treasury Department. Some licenses will be granted to continue work with PDVSA, including for Citgo -- the U.S. energy company that PDVSA owns -- but those revenues will be held in a blocked account, too, according to Mnuchin, who said Guaidó should be given access to those funds. That's a big boost to his fledgling self-declared government, and Mnuchin said these oil sanctions could be completely lifted once Guaidó has full control of PDVSA: "When there is a recognition that the company is the property of, the rightful rulers, the rightful leaders, then indeed that money will be available to Guaido. We will be working with them on the money in the blocked account and whether that can be used for them." The move is sure to even further disrupt Maduro's government, which maintains the loyalty of Venezuela's military top brass but could be left unable to pay them. While a handful of military and diplomatic officials have sworn allegiance to Guaidó in the last week, losing access to Venezuela's coffers could unleash a wave of defections. Maduro seemed to be moving to reassert his authority on Monday, offering to meet with President Donald Trump for talks, according to his foreign minister Jorge Arreaza. In a news conference Monday, Arreaza asserted that the U.S. continues to have diplomatic relations with Maduro's government after recognizing Guaidó, even reading some of the diplomatic notes the U.S. has sent and showing a photo of U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Jimmy Story's meeting with the Vice Chancellor on Saturday. "Diplomatic relations are not simply about statements," he added, a dismissal of the U.S. recognition of Guaidó. The White House has not responded yet to that offer to meet. But Bolton painted a picture of weakening Maduro control on Monday, saying the U.S. knows through "numerous contacts on the ground" that the military's rank and file are "acutely aware of the desperate economic conditions in the country and we think they look for ways to support the National Assembly government." Even among the top brass, he said, there are high-level contacts between the general officers and the opposition -- including among those that posed with the Defense Minister last week as he reiterated his allegiance to Maduro: "What [the Maduro government] didn't know was how many of them were already talking to the National Assembly," he said of that photo-op. A handful of senior Venezuelan military and diplomatic officials in the U.S. have already turned. Maduro said he would break diplomatic ties with the U.S. and close the country's embassy and consulates and ordered all diplomats home. But a handful instead defected to join Guaidó's government, which has promised amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Maduro and even floated it for Maduro himself. Col. José Luis Silva, the military attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, announced he was breaking with Maduro in an interview with the Miami Herald on Saturday, adding, "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people. We are also part of the people, and we've had enough of supporting a government that has betrayed the most basic principles and sold itself to other countries." On Sunday, another senior official joined him -- the deputy chief of the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, Scarlet Salazar -- posting in a video online where she added, "This decision abides by my democratic principles and values as a career diplomatic officer serving Venezuela for more than 18 uninterrupted years." The U.S. has maintained its own diplomatic presence in the country, even after Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomats 72 hours to leave. The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff and families out of concern for their safety, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would not obey the full order because Maduro was the "former" president and his commands were "illegitimate." He left behind a small crew of 25 or so employees, including Chargé d'Affaires Story. That set up a showdown by Sunday morning, with Bolton threatening action: "Any violence and intimidation against U.S. diplomatic personnel, Venezuela's democratic leader, Juan Guiadó, or the National Assembly itself would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response," he tweeted. But Maduro backed down, suspending his order and giving the U.S. 30 days to negotiate or withdraw its remaining personnel. Arreazza added Monday that all Venezuelan diplomats had left the U.S. and the U.S. should also respect the 30-day deadline, too. The State Department also announced another staffing change Friday, bringing on Elliott Abrams as a special envoy for Venezuela. Abrams was an Assistant Secretary of State under President Reagan and a Deputy National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, making him a controversial choice for his role in Reagan's support for Latin American dictatorships, his cover-up of the Iran-Contra affair, and his support for the Iraq War. Abrams pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for withholding evidence to Congress, but was later pardoned by George H.W. Bush. ABC News's Davi Merchan contributed to this report from Cúcuta, Colombia.

Conor Finnegan

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/venezuelas-maduro-seeks-talks-trump-us-plans-empower/story?id=60677368

2019-01-29 12:04:00+00:00

economy, business and finance

market and exchange

abcnews--2019-01-30--High stakes trade negotiations between China and United States underway

abcnews

High stakes trade negotiations between China and United States underway

High-stakes meetings between the United States and China began Wednesday at the White House as negotiators attempt to beat the clock in a 90-day trade war truce agreed to by President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month at the G-20 in Argentina. The negotiations come just days after a 13-count indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn criminally charging four defendants — Huawei Technologies, two Huawei affiliates -- Huawei Device USA and Skycom Tech -- and Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. The charges include stealing U.S. trade secrets and violating Iran sanctions. The United States and China have been involved in months of tariff tit-for-tat that has slowed the Chinese economy and has had a serious economic impact on U.S. manufacturing and agriculture. The nearly month-long partial government shutdown left the United States little economic wiggle room. The negotiations in Washington, led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, kicked off in the Diplomatic Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. They were joined by Chinese diplomats and Trump administration officials including Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, trade adviser Peter Navarro and economic adviser Larry Kudlow. Mnuchin told Fox Business he expected "significant progress" to trade and market access between the two countries. But he added that the criminal charges brought against Huawei are not a part of negotiations. Trump has been optimistic about the talks, as pressure builds from Congress to Wall Street for the White House to strike a deal. He said that if no deal is made by March 1st -- the end of the 90-day period -- he will increase the tariffs on Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. "I think China would like to make a deal," Trump told members of Congress last week. "We'd like to make a deal." Still, Trump made reinvigorating the manufacturing industry -- largely devastated in many parts of the United States -- a top priority during his presidential campaign. "We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing," Trump said at a rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana. "It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world." Trump is expected to meet with the Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Thursday as the talks conclude, according to a White House official.

Meridith Mcgraw

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/high-stakes-trade-negotiations-china-united-states-underway/story?id=60725171

2019-01-30 23:20:25+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-03-11--Agency highlights in the budget proposal from the White House

abcnews

Agency highlights in the budget proposal from the White House

In his proposed 2020 budget released Monday, President Donald Trump indicated there would be major cuts in domestic programs and boosts to spending at the Department of Defense. Trump is also calling for 5 percent cuts to non-defense spending. Under the plan, the Environmental Protection Agency would see a 31 percent decrease in funding, the Education Department would take a 12 percent cut and the Department of Energy an 11 percent decrease. Here are some highlights from the White House's proposal. The proposed budget contains massive cuts to the agency overall and various environmental programs. According to the proposal, the cuts are to "voluntary and lower-priority activities," so that the agency could focus on finalizing replacements to Obama-era policies, improving the agency's toxic chemicals program, cleaning up contaminated sites, helping communities remove hazards at schools like lead and asbestos and providing more money to improve water infrastructure. The proposal eliminates $650 million in programs, including programs focused on areas the agency says are a priority: - Multiple programs specifically focused on reducing risks of lead exposure and improving water quality - The program that researches health risks from endocrine disrupting chemicals like BPA, the agency says it will be absorbed into the pesticides program - A partnership between federal agencies, states, and advocacy groups to improve the Gulf of Mexico - Locally focused programs including the Long Island Sound, San Francisco Bay, and Everglades and Florida Keys - A program that addresses indoor pollution and asthma triggers like secondhand smoke, mold, and pests - $10 million in infrastructure programs to improve waster facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border. Local programs focused on the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes face 90 percent cuts to their budgets. In previous years Congress has rejected similar cuts and kept EPA's funding mostly consistent or increased funding for some programs. Trump's budget proposal hits the State Department again with deep cuts, even after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised to get the department's "swagger" back and "get the team on the field." This is the first proposal under Pompeo, but the budget still calls for a nearly 24 percent decrease in funding for State and USAID. The proposal provides an additional $13.6 million for human resources and $11 million for the Foreign Service Institute, which trains diplomats. However, despite the department's empty senior positions and chronic vacancies overseas, as documented in a new government report, the budget proposal largely keeps staff levels even, according to budget director Douglas Pitkin. The cuts instead would come from U.S. contributions to international organizations like the United Nations, peacekeeping missions overseas in places like Darfur and Haiti, global health and refugee programs and a reorganization of USAID and how it distributes humanitarian assistance. Those have been part of Trump's foreign policy for two years now, although other positions are contrasted by the budget request: While Trump has threatened to slash aid to Central American countries over immigration, the budget proposal calls for increased economic assistance to enhance "governance and boost local economies to discourage illegal immigration," according to Deputy Secretary John Sullivan. Last month, Trump announced a new initiative to "defeat AIDS in America and beyond," yet his budget calls for major cuts to programs that treat and combat HIV/AIDS overseas. Congress has rejected these proposed cuts for the past two years when Republicans controlled both chambers. Now, with Democrats in charge of the House, this year's proposal is even less likely to be enacted. Rep. Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has already released a statement calling it "dead on arrival." Trump wants the government to cut some $1.4 trillion in the next 10 years from federal Medicaid spending and shift most of that money to state-run grant programs. The federal program provides medical assistance to millions of low-income and disabled Americans and the move would essentially wipe out the expansion effort led under President Barack Obama, in favor of limited block grants. According to the administration, the plan is provide “additional flexibility to states” and put Medicaid “on a path to fiscal stability by restructuring its financing and reducing waste.” The budget proposal aims to ramp up immigration enforcement on the border and within the U.S. In addition to $8.6 billion more for the border wall, the plan would fund 5,000 new Border Patrol Agents, allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to add 10,000 officers and investigators and expand detention centers, according to the White House budget office. When Trump first came into office, ICE facilities held an average of 34,376 people on any given day. Last week that number topped 50,000 and the new proposed budget would allow for further increases. The proposal also includes proposals aimed at “sanctuary cities.” The measures would allow the administration to withhold funding from cities that don’t “cooperate with specific federal immigration enforcement activities and requests.” The Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on these jurisdictions have been stopped by appellate courts multiple times. The proposal would also increase Justice Department funding to grow the number of immigration judges by nearly 20 percent, the budget office says. The judges face a record backlog of cases, made worse by the government shutdown earlier this year. The Trump administration is looking to cut $7.1 billion from the department compared to what it was given last year. The cuts would include eliminating 29 programs that "do not address national needs, duplicate other programs, are ineffective, are poorly targeted, or are more appropriately supported by State, local, or private funds." You can read more about the proposal for the Education Department here.

Abc News

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/agency-highlights-budget-proposal-white-house/story?id=61612701

2019-03-11 22:41:04+00:00

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-10-16--Workers celebrate deal with GM, show union power in industry

abcnews

Workers celebrate deal with GM, show union power in industry

On the picket lines at a General Motors transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio, passing cars honked and striking workers celebrated a tentative contract deal by munching on 10 pizzas dropped off by a supporter. They had carried signs for 31 days and demonstrated the muscle the United Auto Workers union still has over Detroit's three manufacturers. Details of the four-year pact weren't released, but GM's latest offer to end the monthlong strike included wage increases and lump-sum payments, top-notch health insurance at little cost to workers, promises of new products for many U.S. factories and a path to full-time work for temporary workers. That's a big difference from what GM wanted going into the talks: to slash total labor costs at its factories, which are about $13 per hour higher than at foreign automakers in the U.S. Terry Dittes, the UAW's chief bargainer with GM, said the deal offers "major gains" for 49,000 union workers who have been walking picket lines since Sept. 16. They'll stay off work for at least a couple more days while union committees decide if they will bless the deal. Then workers will have to vote on it. The deal shows that the union, with less than one-third of the 1.5 million members it had at its peak in 1979, still has a lot of clout with GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. "I think economically the UAW will do just fine in this agreement," said Art Schwartz, a former GM negotiator who now is a labor consultant in Michigan. "The union certainly still has power in this industry." President Donald Trump called UAW President Gary Jones on Wednesday night, but union spokesman Brian Rothenberg said he did not know what the men discussed. The strike immediately brought GM's U.S. factories to a halt, and within a week, started to hamper production in Mexico and Canada. Analysts at KeyBanc investment services estimated the stoppage cut GM vehicle production by 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles. That's too much for the company to make up with overtime or increased assembly line speeds. Analysts say the costs to GM will hit around $2 billion. Workers, on the other hand, lost north of $3,000 each on average, the difference between their base wages and $250 per week in strike pay from the union. "It's nice to see there's a deal, but without knowing the details I'm a little skeptical because we don't know the highlights or the lowlights," said worker Nick Kuhlman, who was among the strikers huddled around a burn barrel on a blustery, gray Toledo afternoon. "I just hope it gets done," said Toledo worker Mark Nichols, who thought the strike would last only a week or two and was ready to get back to work because his savings are running low. GM apparently was able to close three of four factories that it wanted to shutter to get rid of excess capacity in slow-selling cars and components. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant will get a new electric pickup truck and stay open, but factories in Lordstown, Ohio; Warren, Michigan; and near Baltimore are to be closed. The Lordstown area will get an electric vehicle battery factory, but it won't have nearly as many workers as the assembly plant that for years made compact GM cars. The deal now will be used as a template for talks with GM's crosstown rivals, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Normally the major provisions carry over to the other two companies and cover about 140,000 auto workers nationwide. It wasn't clear which company the union would bargain with next, or whether there would be another strike. Schwartz said depending on the contents, the GM contract could influence wages and benefits in other industries. But he said foreign automakers with U.S. factories, mainly in the South, will give modest pay raises regardless of the GM contract, and shouldn't be affected much. Clarence Trinity, a worker at GM's engine and transmission plant in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, Michigan, said the deal sounds good, "but I have to see it in writing or hear from the leaders." Trinity said he can't figure out why it took 31 days for the strike to end. "I don't understand what General Motors was expecting to get out of us. Maybe they didn't expect us to strike. Maybe they didn't expect us to strike this long." If all of the committees bless the deal, it's likely to take several days for GM to get its factories restarted. Matt Himes, a worker at the GM plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, heard news of the deal in Ohio, where he's trying to help his wife sell their house after the Lordstown GM plant where he used to work was shuttered. He hopes good news keeps coming. If they can sell their house, his wife can finally move south with him. "I'm proud that we stuck our ground and everybody stuck together," Himes said of the union workers during a phone interview. "And I'm relieved that hopefully it worked out, got us a good contract and we can move on and get back to work making cars like we should be." Wall Street investors liked news that the strike could end. GM shares jumped 2.6% just after the news broke, but eased back to close up 1% at $36.65. GM and the union have been negotiating at a time of troubling uncertainty for the U.S. auto industry. Driven up by the longest economic expansion in American history, auto sales appear to have peaked and are now heading in the other direction. GM and other carmakers are also struggling to make the transition to electric and autonomous vehicles. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's trade war with China and his tariffs on imported steel and aluminum have raised costs for auto companies. A revamped North American free trade deal is stalled in Congress, raising doubts about the future of America's trade in autos and auto parts with Canada and Mexico, which last year came to $257 billion. Amid that uncertainty, GM workers have wanted to lock in as much as they can before things get ugly. They argue that they had given up pay raises and made other concessions to keep GM afloat during its 2009 trip through bankruptcy protection. Now that GM has been nursed back to health — earning $2.42 billion in its latest quarter — they wanted a bigger share. The union's bargainers have voted to recommend the deal to the UAW International Executive Board, which will vote on the agreement. Union leaders from factories nationwide will travel to Detroit for a vote on Thursday. The earliest workers could return would be after that. In past years, it's taken a minimum of three or four days and as long as several weeks for the national ratification vote. This time around — with a federal corruption investigation that has implicated the past two UAW presidents and brought convictions of five union officials — many union members don't trust the leadership. But they're also tired of striking and may return before they vote on the deal themselves. The strike had shut down 33 GM manufacturing plants in nine states across the U.S., and also took down factories in Canada and Mexico. It was the first national strike by the union since a two-day walkout in 2007, and the longest since a 54-day strike in Flint, Michigan, in 1998 that also halted most of GM's production. Associated Press writers Mike Householder in Detroit, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gm-union-reach-tentative-deal-end-strike-66319917

Wed, 16 Oct 2019 23:18:51 -0400

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-06--Supply company accused of diluting spices sold to prisons

abcnews

Supply company accused of diluting spices sold to prisons

A Pennsylvania-based supply company is accused of diluting spices sold to prisons across the country. The Post and Courier reports federal prosecutors in South Carolina have filed a false claims lawsuit against FlavorPros LLC. It says FlavorPros cut spices with flour, starch and other fillers to underbid competitors for $500,000 in federal procurement contracts. FlavorPros was owned by Charlene Brach, of New Jersey. She was charged last year with adulterating and misbranding spices sold to 122 prisons nationwide. Brach denied guilt on Tuesday and said her company wouldn't have been responsible if spices were diluted. Brach later started another supply company, Artisan Foods LLC, allegedly to avoid scrutiny of FlavorPros. Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/supply-company-accused-diluting-spices-sold-prisons-66790774

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 11:08:46 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-12--Navajo leader: Tribe won't back energy company's new mines

abcnews

Navajo leader: Tribe won't back energy company's new mines

The Navajo Nation will not financially back bonds a tribal energy company needs for a trio of newly acquired coal mines off the reservation, the tribal president said Tuesday, explaining that it's too risky and his administration wants the company to move away from coal. The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. recently bought Montana's largest coal mine and two mines in Wyoming at auction after Cloud Peak Energy declared bankruptcy. The mines can keep operating for now because more than $370 million in reclamation bonds posted by Cloud Peak remain in place, state officials said. Tribal President Jonathan Nez said he canceled agreements the energy company might have relied on to seek the Navajo Nation's financial backing for the bonds. He said the company wasn't forthcoming about information related to acquiring and operating the mines, and he wants to protect the tribe's finances as revenues decline from the loss of a coal plant and mine on the reservation. Tribal lawmakers had been considering legislation to do the same thing. "The Navajo Nation's financial portfolio as well as our resources would be placed in a state of uncertainty if we allowed NTEC to proceed with finalizing the bonds needed to operate these three mines using the (Navajo) Nation's consent ..." Nez wrote in a statement. The development marks the latest turmoil to hit the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, the nation's largest coal-producing region, where bankruptcies and declining demand have put a pall over a once-vibrant industry. Hundreds of people in the region were put out of work for months after another bankrupt company, Blackjewel, drastically scaled back operations at two of the biggest coal mines in the U.S. The tribal energy company was created in 2013 to buy a coal mine in New Mexico on the reservation. It also owns a 7 percent stake in the nearby Four Corners Power Plant. While it was organized under the tribal government, it operates somewhat independently. Nez said the legal documents creating the company gave the tribe's executive branch unilateral authority to administer what are known as general indemnity agreements. He said the bonds in place for the Navajo Mine and the Four Corners power plant won't be affected by his decision. The energy company has said terminating the indemnity agreements could have serious impacts on the company's operations and increase the costs to secure reclamation and other bonds. It urged tribal lawmakers last week to seek other solutions to support bonds for the Cloud Peak purchases. "NTEC has always considered these acquisitions to be highly advantageous and profitable," company spokesman Erny Zah wrote Tuesday in response to questions from The Associated Press. "While we understand the president's decision with regard to the indemnity agreements, we continue to see very successful operations and prospects ahead." The Cloud Peak deal made the Navajo company the third-largest coal producer in the U.S. The deal covers Wyoming's Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines and Montana's Spring Creek mine. About 1,200 people are employed at the mines, which combined produced almost 50 million tons of coal last year. Antelope is the third-largest coal mine in the U.S., while Spring Creek ranks eighth and Cordero Rojo is 11th. Lining up bonds on its own could be a challenge for the tribal energy company, given the state of the coal industry, said Joe Aldina, a coal industry analyst at the research firm S&P Global Platts. A succession of coal company bankruptcies already put state regulators on "high alert" to make sure companies have the financial wherewithal to conduct cleanups, he said. Also, a decade-long wave of coal-fired power plant retirements has decreased demand for the inexpensive but heavily polluting fuel, which could make financial firms hesitant to get involved with reclamation bonds. "Bonding companies are going to be more skeptical," Aldina said. "They are going to require more collateral or higher interest rates or they're just not going to extend these surety guarantees." State regulators are unlikely to release the Cloud Peak bonds until the mines' new operator can come up with bonds on its own. That means taxpayers in Montana and Wyoming won't be left on the hook for future reclamation or cleanup costs. "They can operate like this as long as they like, because Cloud Peak has the permit," said Keith Guille with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. "We cannot review the permit until they show they have bonds in place." At Spring Creek, NTEC has indicated it will cover for now the fees needed to maintain the existing $109 million reclamation bond that was in place when it bought Cloud Peak's assets, said Montana Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Rebecca Harbage. Those fees amount to about 1% of the bond total, or about $1 million annually, Harbage said. She did not know if any payments have been made to date.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/navajo-leader-tribe-back-energy-companys-mines-66956403

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 23:06:44 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-12--Navajo leader: Tribe won't back energy company's new mines

abcnews

Navajo leader: Tribe won't back energy company's new mines

The Navajo Nation will not financially back bonds a tribal energy company needs for a trio of newly acquired coal mines off the reservation, the tribal president said Tuesday, explaining that it's too risky and his administration wants the company to move away from coal. The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. recently bought Montana's largest coal mine and two mines in Wyoming at auction after Cloud Peak Energy declared bankruptcy. The mines can keep operating for now because more than $370 million in reclamation bonds posted by Cloud Peak remain in place, state officials said. Tribal President Jonathan Nez said he canceled agreements the energy company might have relied on to seek the Navajo Nation's financial backing for the bonds. He said the company wasn't forthcoming about information related to acquiring and operating the mines, and he wants to protect the tribe's finances as revenues decline from the loss of a coal plant and mine on the reservation. Tribal lawmakers had been considering legislation to do the same thing. "The Navajo Nation's financial portfolio as well as our resources would be placed in a state of uncertainty if we allowed NTEC to proceed with finalizing the bonds needed to operate these three mines using the (Navajo) Nation's consent ..." Nez wrote in a statement. The development marks the latest turmoil to hit the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, the nation's largest coal-producing region, where bankruptcies and declining demand have put a pall over a once-vibrant industry. Hundreds of people in the region were put out of work for months after another bankrupt company, Blackjewel, drastically scaled back operations at two of the biggest coal mines in the U.S. The tribal energy company was created in 2013 to buy a coal mine in New Mexico on the reservation. It also owns a 7 percent stake in the nearby Four Corners Power Plant. While it was organized under the tribal government, it operates somewhat independently. Nez said the legal documents creating the company gave the tribe's executive branch unilateral authority to administer what are known as general indemnity agreements. He said the bonds in place for the Navajo Mine and the Four Corners power plant won't be affected by his decision. The energy company has said terminating the indemnity agreements could have serious impacts on the company's operations and increase the costs to secure reclamation and other bonds. It urged tribal lawmakers last week to seek other solutions to support bonds for the Cloud Peak purchases. "NTEC has always considered these acquisitions to be highly advantageous and profitable," company spokesman Erny Zah wrote Tuesday in response to questions from The Associated Press. "While we understand the president's decision with regard to the indemnity agreements, we continue to see very successful operations and prospects ahead." The Cloud Peak deal made the Navajo company the third-largest coal producer in the U.S. The deal covers Wyoming's Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines and Montana's Spring Creek mine. About 1,200 people are employed at the mines, which combined produced almost 50 million tons of coal last year. Antelope is the third-largest coal mine in the U.S., while Spring Creek ranks eighth and Cordero Rojo is 11th. Lining up bonds on its own could be a challenge for the tribal energy company, given the state of the coal industry, said Joe Aldina, a coal industry analyst at the research firm S&P Global Platts. A succession of coal company bankruptcies already put state regulators on "high alert" to make sure companies have the financial wherewithal to conduct cleanups, he said. Also, a decade-long wave of coal-fired power plant retirements has decreased demand for the inexpensive but heavily polluting fuel, which could make financial firms hesitant to get involved with reclamation bonds. "Bonding companies are going to be more skeptical," Aldina said. "They are going to require more collateral or higher interest rates or they're just not going to extend these surety guarantees." State regulators are unlikely to release the Cloud Peak bonds until the mines' new operator can come up with bonds on its own. That means taxpayers in Montana and Wyoming won't be left on the hook for future reclamation or cleanup costs. "They can operate like this as long as they like, because Cloud Peak has the permit," said Keith Guille with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. "We cannot review the permit until they show they have bonds in place." At Spring Creek, NTEC has indicated it will cover for now the fees needed to maintain the existing $109 million reclamation bond that was in place when it bought Cloud Peak's assets, said Montana Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Rebecca Harbage. Those fees amount to about 1% of the bond total, or about $1 million annually, Harbage said. She did not know if any payments have been made to date.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/navajo-leader-tribe-back-energy-companys-mines-66956403

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 23:06:44 -0500

economy, business and finance

market and exchange

abcnews--2019-11-13--Sour grapes: Trade war puts cork in US wine sales to China

abcnews

Sour grapes: Trade war puts cork in US wine sales to China

Caught in the crossfire of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, U.S. vineyards are struggling to sell Syrah in Shanghai and Chardonnay in Shenzhen. They risk losing their foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing wine markets. The 16-month dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has nothing to do with wine. The Trump administration accuses China of stealing U.S. technology and forcing American companies to hand over trade secrets and has slapped tariffs on more than $360 billion worth of Chinese imports. China disputes the allegations. When the Chinese hit back with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, they put a bull’s eye on American wine. Since June, China has been imposing 93% tariffs and taxes on American wine, up from 48% before the hostilities began, according to the Wine Institute, a trade group for 1,000 California wineries and related businesses. Unless the two countries reach a ceasefire — and they’re working on it — the levies on U.S. wine in China will ratchet up to 106% on Dec. 15. By contrast, Chinese levies amount to 41% on wines from the European Union and 23% on those from Australia, Chile and New Zealand. "We could no longer compete, especially with countries with free trade agreements like Chile and Australia, our two largest competitors,” said Michael Parr, vice president of international sales at Livermore, California-based Wente Vineyards, one of the first U.S. winemakers to export to China 25 years ago. Parr said that Wente has “not shipped a single bottle of wine to China’’ since the latest Chinese tariffs took effect in June. Overall, U.S. wine exports to China fell 25% in 2018, measured by volume, according to the Wine Institute. Calculated by dollars, the picture is just as ugly: U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show that U.S. wine exports to China fell 25% last year to $59.2 million and are down another 48% so far this year compared to January-September 2018. “China continues to be an important market for California wines, but exceptionally high tariffs put our products at a price disadvantage,” said Robert Koch, president of the Wine Institute. Over the past 25 years, China’s rapid economic growth has created a middle class with a taste for luxuries and the country has come out of nowhere to become the No. 5 export market for U.S. wine. In 1994, U.S. wine exports to China barely registered at $123,000. From there, they rose mostly steadily, peaking at $81.5 million in 2016, then dipping to $78.7 million in 2017 before plunging last year after the tariff war broke out. California, home to Napa Valley and other famous wine-growing regions, produces about 95% of U.S. wine exports. Wente exports wine to more than 70 countries, and China is among its top 10 export markets, Parr said, so the tariffs are hurting overall sales. "Short term, it amounts to loss of revenues,” Parr said. “But long term it was lost opportunities. All the time, the money that we have spent building that market.” Chinese wine lovers are also feeling the pinch. Wen Xin, who runs a wine shop in Beijing, said American wines used to sell very well, but sales have fallen steeply because of the tariffs. “California is great wine country,” Wen said. “But because of recent trade issues, they raised the tariffs. So now American wines are very expensive. They cost one-third to two-thirds more expensive than before. So, sales have fallen a lot.” Paul Wiseman reported from Washington. Dake Kang and Fu Ting in Beijing contributed to this story. This story has been updated to correct the value of wine exports to China in 2017. It was $78.7 million, not $78.7 billion.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sour-grapes-trade-war-puts-cork-us-wine-66976807

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 20:10:38 -0500

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-11-14--Nation’s largest utility in long-term deals to sell power

abcnews

Nation’s largest utility in long-term deals to sell power

Most of the local companies that receive power generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority have signed long-term partnership agreements, but some larger customers still have not agreed to the 20-year deals, officials said Thursday. TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash said during a Board of Directors meeting in Memphis that 85% of the 154 local companies that buy TVA power in the South have agreed to the new deals, which carry a 3.1% monthly rebate on wholesale power rates. Lyash said the local companies could pass on those savings to their customers, invest in infrastructure and give companies flexibility to receive some of their power through locally sourced options. The 20-year deals were rolled out this year. They’ll replace existing agreements of varying lengths, or follow expiring ones, TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said. TVA officials say many smaller utilities have agreed, as have larger ones, including Nashville Electric Service. But TVA’s biggest customer, Memphis, Light, Gas & Water, has not signed a long-term deal. The Memphis utility is exploring other power generation options, including alternate suppliers. Memphis has been a TVA customer for 85 years and represents about 10% of TVA’s revenue, Lyash said. Consultant reports provided to the Memphis utility have suggested it could save hundreds of millions of dollars per year than under its current agreement with TVA. The Memphis company has received reports discussing alternate power sources, including the MISO transmission system, which delivers power across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. A report by consultant The Brattle Group for the Friends of the Earth environmental organization said a local mix of gas and solar power and battery storage, combined with energy efficiency and other strategies, “would result in wholesale power supply costs substantially below the current TVA rate.” TVA supports Memphis’ “very broad approach to considering what their energy future looks like,” Lyash said after the meeting. But he said TVA’s reliability, support of economic and community development, risk mitigation and other factors make it the best option. “Our objective is to keep this public power model intact,” he said. “We think it’s a strategic advantage for the whole Tennessee Valley in the decades to come.” Memphis, Light, Gas & Water did not immediately comment on the status of its decision-making process Thursday. Across the state, the Knoxville Utility Board was mulling the deal. “Moving from a five-year contract to a twenty-year contract is a big decision that KUB does not take lightly,” the east Tennessee city’s utility said in a statement Thursday. “The proposal must be fully vetted before a decision can be reached.” The Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corp., which provides service to Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford, Cannon and surrounding counties, also has not agreed to a long-term deal, TVA officials said. Critics of TVA’s long-term agreements say they hurt a local company’s ability to seek other power sources. “TVA wants to limit cities like Memphis' options, even as renewables become cheaper to run than TVA's aging coal fleet,” said Amanda Garcia, managing attorney of the Southern Environmental Law Center, an environmental public interest law firm. Other issues discussed during the meeting was the removal of coal ash from the retired Allen coal plant in Memphis and the departures of Ron Walter and Virginia Lodge, two directors whose terms are ending. TVA is the nation's largest public utility, providing power to more than 10 million people in parts of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nations-largest-utility-long-term-deals-sell-power-67021289

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 18:49:39 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-14--Nation’s largest utility in long-term deals to sell power

abcnews

Nation’s largest utility in long-term deals to sell power

Most of the local companies that receive power generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority have signed long-term partnership agreements, but some larger customers still have not agreed to the 20-year deals, officials said Thursday. TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash said during a Board of Directors meeting in Memphis that 85% of the 154 local companies that buy TVA power in the South have agreed to the new deals, which carry a 3.1% monthly rebate on wholesale power rates. Lyash said the local companies could pass on those savings to their customers, invest in infrastructure and give companies flexibility to receive some of their power through locally sourced options. The 20-year deals were rolled out this year. They’ll replace existing agreements of varying lengths, or follow expiring ones, TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said. TVA officials say many smaller utilities have agreed, as have larger ones, including Nashville Electric Service. But TVA’s biggest customer, Memphis, Light, Gas & Water, has not signed a long-term deal. The Memphis utility is exploring other power generation options, including alternate suppliers. Memphis has been a TVA customer for 85 years and represents about 10% of TVA’s revenue, Lyash said. Consultant reports provided to the Memphis utility have suggested it could save hundreds of millions of dollars per year than under its current agreement with TVA. The Memphis company has received reports discussing alternate power sources, including the MISO transmission system, which delivers power across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. A report by consultant The Brattle Group for the Friends of the Earth environmental organization said a local mix of gas and solar power and battery storage, combined with energy efficiency and other strategies, “would result in wholesale power supply costs substantially below the current TVA rate.” TVA supports Memphis’ “very broad approach to considering what their energy future looks like,” Lyash said after the meeting. But he said TVA’s reliability, support of economic and community development, risk mitigation and other factors make it the best option. “Our objective is to keep this public power model intact,” he said. “We think it’s a strategic advantage for the whole Tennessee Valley in the decades to come.” Memphis, Light, Gas & Water did not immediately comment on the status of its decision-making process Thursday. Across the state, the Knoxville Utility Board was mulling the deal. “Moving from a five-year contract to a twenty-year contract is a big decision that KUB does not take lightly,” the east Tennessee city’s utility said in a statement Thursday. “The proposal must be fully vetted before a decision can be reached.” The Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corp., which provides service to Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford, Cannon and surrounding counties, also has not agreed to a long-term deal, TVA officials said. Critics of TVA’s long-term agreements say they hurt a local company’s ability to seek other power sources. “TVA wants to limit cities like Memphis' options, even as renewables become cheaper to run than TVA's aging coal fleet,” said Amanda Garcia, managing attorney of the Southern Environmental Law Center, an environmental public interest law firm. Other issues discussed during the meeting was the removal of coal ash from the retired Allen coal plant in Memphis and the departures of Ron Walter and Virginia Lodge, two directors whose terms are ending. TVA is the nation's largest public utility, providing power to more than 10 million people in parts of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nations-largest-utility-long-term-deals-sell-power-67021289

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 18:49:39 -0500

economy, business and finance

market and exchange

abcnews--2019-11-15--Louisiana fishing industry hit with $258M in flooding losses

abcnews

Louisiana fishing industry hit with $258M in flooding losses

The governor says the Louisiana fishing industry has been hit with $258 million in losses due to historic flooding this year. In a news release Friday, Gov. John Bel Edwards says the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries conducted an economic impact analysis to determine the flooding impacts. The analysis was submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help the state qualify for part of the fisheries disaster assistance. Edwards also asked the state’s congressional delegation for help in a letter Friday. According to the analysis, the private lease oyster industry was the hardest hit with $121 million in losses. Heavy rains in the Midwest kept the Mississippi River at flood stage for extended periods of time and forced the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway two times.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/louisiana-fishing-industry-hit-258m-flooding-losses-67057558

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 20:25:54 -0500

economy, business and finance

economic sector

abcnews--2019-11-15--Louisiana fishing industry hit with $258M in flooding losses

abcnews

Louisiana fishing industry hit with $258M in flooding losses

The governor says the Louisiana fishing industry has been hit with $258 million in losses due to historic flooding this year. In a news release Friday, Gov. John Bel Edwards says the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries conducted an economic impact analysis to determine the flooding impacts. The analysis was submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help the state qualify for part of the fisheries disaster assistance. Edwards also asked the state’s congressional delegation for help in a letter Friday. According to the analysis, the private lease oyster industry was the hardest hit with $121 million in losses. Heavy rains in the Midwest kept the Mississippi River at flood stage for extended periods of time and forced the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway two times.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/louisiana-fishing-industry-hit-258m-flooding-losses-67057558

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 20:25:54 -0500

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-11-22--China’s Xi says Beijing wants trade deal, can ‘fight back’

abcnews

China’s Xi says Beijing wants trade deal, can ‘fight back’

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that Beijing wants to work for a trade deal with the United States but is not afraid to “fight back” to protect its own interests. Echoing the upbeat tone adopted by other Chinese officials in recent days, Xi told a visiting U.S. business delegation that China holds a “positive attitude” toward the trade talks. “As we always said we don’t want to start the trade war, but we are not afraid,” Xi said. “When necessary we will fight back but we have been working actively to try not to have a trade war.” The U.S. delegation from Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, a conference held in Beijing this week, included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, former U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman and other dignitaries. The latest flareup in trade tensions came after President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs last year on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese exports to the U.S., seeking to ramp up pressure for changes in Chinese trade and investment policies. China has retaliated with tariff hikes of its own. Sanctions have gradually escalated and trade talks have made only halting progress. But the two sides are working toward what they say will be a preliminary agreement to pave the way for tackling more complex issues. During the meeting at Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People, Xi reiterated to the group China’s stance that a deal requires “mutual respect and equality.” “We want to work for a Phase 1 agreement on the basis of mutual respect and equality," Xi told the group. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that China’s lead negotiator in the talks, Vice Premier Liu He, has invited his U.S. counterparts to Beijing for more talks, suggesting there may be some progress. However, the prospects even for a more general deal look uncertain, given that China has said it wants a promise from the U.S. side to gradually reduce the tariffs already in place. It’s unclear if the U.S. side would be willing to do that. Pressure is building as financial markets grow increasingly jittery over prospects for a breakthrough. Trump agreed to hold off on raising tariffs further last month while the two sides talked. But the Washington is still due to hike tariffs on $160 billion worth of imports from China next month. That increase would boost prices on smartphones, laptops and many common household goods, right before Christmas. Ultimately, the U.S. side wants China to scrap a blueprint for state-led development of industrial leadership in advanced technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence. Foreign companies also object to policies and practices they say force them to hand over technology in return for access to the vast Chinese domestic market. In the meeting Friday, Xi emphasized that Beijing will not yield its own “financial sovereignty,” hinting at limits to China’s flexibility on issues the ruling party considers vital for the country’s future. He drew from historical references, perhaps mindful of the important role Kissinger played along with the late Premier Zhou Enlai in brokering the rapprochement between Washington and Beijing in the early 1970s after decades of Cold War alienation. China is finding its way “just like feeling the stones while crossing a river,” Xi said, in an expression famously used by Deng Xiaoping, the revolutionary leader who led the “reform and opening up” era beginning in the late 1970s. “We are working to realize the Chinese dream of renewal of our nation,” Xi said.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chinas-xi-beijing-trade-deal-fight-back-67220553

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 05:01:40 -0500

economy, business and finance

economy

abcnews--2019-11-22--Washington state deals setback to massive methanol plant

abcnews

Washington state deals setback to massive methanol plant

Washington state dealt a setback Friday to efforts to build one of the world’s biggest methanol plants on the Columbia River, saying that five years in, its backers had failed to provide enough information about its greenhouse gas emissions and how they would be offset. The $2 billion Northwest Innovation Works project would take natural gas from Canada and convert it into methanol, which would be shipped to China to make olefins — compounds used in everything from fabrics and contact lenses to iPhones and medical equipment. Backers, including Cowlitz County and the Port of Kalama, said the project would reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by displacing China’s use of coal to make methanol. They provided regulators with a third-party analysis suggesting that over the project’s life it would reduce global emissions by at least 10 million metric tons per year. They called that the single largest initiative in Washington for reducing emissions — equivalent to removing more than 2 million cars from the road. But environmental groups said there was no evidence to support that statement and that the project would create huge emissions of its own. In its decision Friday, the Washington Department of Ecology said further review was necessary “to determine the adequacy of the proposed mitigation for the Project.” The review is expected to take about a year. “The company continues to rely on this very dubious claim that their methanol is going to replace dirtier methanol made from coal,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of the conservation group Columbia Riverkeeper. “There’s just no justification for that. The Department of Ecology is doing its job.” In emailed statements, Northwest Innovation Works said Friday it was disappointed but “prepared for the long haul” and ready to prove its project will reduce global emissions. The company, which is backed by the Chinese government, has noted that it offered to mitigate for all greenhouse gas emissions it generates in the state, and that it was investing in technology that would eliminate all water discharge from its facility into the Columbia River. The company says that because producing methanol from natural gas costs about half what it costs to make from coal, it would have a competitive advantage — as well as an environmental one — over Chinese methanol production. “If this doesn’t get built, the result will not be less material produced in the world,” Kent Caputo, general counsel of Northwest Innovation Works, said earlier this week. “It will be that those materials will be produced in countries that do not adhere to the environmental and regulatory standards that Washington state has.” Ecology requested additional information about the emissions in its comments on a draft environmental impact statement last year. The backers then filed a supplemental environmental impact statement in August. Ecology again requested more information in October and gave supporters 30 days to produce it. They responded on Nov. 4, objecting that some of the information sought had already been provided or was beyond what state law required. Ecology’s decision Friday came about a week after conservation and public health groups, including Columbia Riverkeeper, the Sierra Club and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, sued in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to invalidate key federal permits for the project. The groups said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not properly consider the huge amount of greenhouse gases the project would emit — more than 1 million tons per year, an amount that would increase Washington's greenhouse gas emissions by 1%. They also said federal reviews had failed to properly consider the project's effects on threatened salmon runs and on endangered orcas. Local officials have supported the project, noting it would bring about 1,000 construction jobs and 190 longer-term positions to the region. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee used to support it, saying it would help clean up China's plastics industry. He changed his mind last May amid his short-lived presidential run, which centered on combatting climate change. He said that because of the urgency of the threat from global warming, he could no longer support launching massive new fossil-fuel infrastructure in the state.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/washington-state-deals-setback-massive-methanol-plant-67233581

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 17:45:43 -0500

economy, business and finance

economic sector

abcnews--2019-11-25--4 health company executives accused in $1B fraud scheme

abcnews

4 health company executives accused in $1B fraud scheme

Four former executives of a Chicago-based health-information company are accused in a $1 billion fraud scheme. An indictment unsealed Monday in Chicago federal court says Outcome Health billed clients for full ad campaigns when only some ads were placed. The company allegedly falsified ad performance statements, later using them to help secure millions in loans. Those charged with mail, wire and bank fraud include 33-year-old CEO Rishi Shah and 34-year-old president Shradha Agarwal, both of Chicago. Shah and Agarwal co-founded Outcome Health, then ContextMedia, in 2006 when they were Northwestern University students. Shah’s attorney says Shah “is being scapegoated for the wrongdoing of others.” Agarwal’s lawyer says she’ll “fight to protect her good name.” Outcome Health mainly works with pharmaceutical companies whose ads appeared on tablets in doctors’ waiting rooms.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/health-company-executives-accused-1b-fraud-scheme-67302500

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 18:14:54 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-25--Charles Schwab buys TD Ameritrade in brokerage blockbuster

abcnews

Charles Schwab buys TD Ameritrade in brokerage blockbuster

Charles Schwab is buying rival TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion stock swap, a blockbuster agreement accelerated by massive disruption in the online brokerage industry. Competitive pressure has already forced brokerages to make it free for customers to trade U.S. stocks online, and Schwab’s buyout combines two of the biggest players in the industry. The tie-up creates a company so big, however, that it may draw sharp scrutiny from antitrust regulators. The combined company would have more than $5 trillion in client assets under management. “With this transaction, we will capitalize on the unique opportunity to build a firm with the soul of a challenger and the resources of a large financial services institution that will be uniquely positioned to serve the investment, trading and wealth management needs of investors across every phase of their financial journeys,” Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said in a prepared statement. TD Ameritrade stockholders would receive 1.0837 Schwab shares for each TD Ameritrade share they own. The transaction gives Schwab about 12 million client accounts, $1.3 trillion in client assets and approximately $5 billion in annual revenue. The combined company is expected to control 24 million client accounts. By itself, Schwab may control close to half the market for acting as a custodian for money managed by registered investment advisers, for example, while TD Ameritrade may control about 15% to 20%, according to Kyle Voigt, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The rewards for passing regulatory muster would be lucrative: A combined company “makes strong strategic sense,” would be able to cut costs and could bump up Schwab’s earnings per share by more than 25% over the long term, Voigt said. The deal could also herald more mergers across the industry. Schwab sent shockwaves through the industry less than two months ago when it said it would do away with commissions for online trading of U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds, fees that have long fueled the industry. All major brokerages have followed suit, but fees had been falling for years. Beyond players like Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity and E-Trade Financial, apps like robinhood.com out of Palo Alto, California, have also entered the fray to help customers get invested in the market. That has increased the pressure on San Francisco’s Schwab Corp. and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., of Omaha, Nebraska, the biggest publicly traded brokerages. Schwab had $3.85 trillion in total client assets at the start of the month, while TD Ameritrade had $1.3 trillion at the end of September. The deal is expected to close in the second half of next year. It’s anticipated to take 18 to 36 months to integrate the two businesses once the transaction is complete. The corporate headquarters of the combined company will eventually relocate to Schwab’s new campus in Westlake, Texas. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, which currently holds approximately 43% of TD Ameritrade’s stock, will have an ownership position of approximately 13% in the combined company, with other TD Ameritrade stockholders and existing Schwab stockholders holding approximately 18% and 69%, respectively. TD Ameritrade suspended its search for a CEO, naming Chief Financial Officer Stephen Boyle as interim CEO. The current CEO, Tim Hockey, announced in July that he would be stepping down early next year. Trading in shares of both companies was muted before the opening bell after wild swings last week when CNBC first reported that the companies were pursuing a deal.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/charles-schwab-buys-td-ameritrade-brokerage-blockbuster-67287287

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 08:13:48 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-25--Charles Schwab will buy TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in drastically altered stock brokerage sector

abcnews

Charles Schwab will buy TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in drastically altered stock brokerage sector

Charles Schwab will buy TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in drastically altered stock brokerage sector Charles Schwab will buy TD Ameritrade for $26 billion in drastically altered stock brokerage sector

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/charles-schwab-buy-td-ameritrade-26-billion-drastically-67287060

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 06:10:16 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-30--Fiat Chrysler, auto union reach tentative deal on contract

abcnews

Fiat Chrysler, auto union reach tentative deal on contract

The United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler reached a tentative agreement Saturday on a new four-year contract, which includes a total of $9 billion in investments but still needs final approval from workers. Both sides declined to offer details on the deal, but it includes a $9,000 bonus for workers when the agreement is ratified, a promise not to close any factories where vehicles are assembled for the next four years, and a commitment to keep making vehicles at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois, according to a person briefed on the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. The UAW-FCA national council will meet Dec. 4 to go over the details of the tentative deal. If adopted, it would go to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ 47,000 union workers, and a vote by hourly and salary workers could begin on Dec. 6. Fiat Chrysler is the last company to settle on a new contract with the union. GM settled Oct. 31 after a bitter 40-day strike that paralyzed the company’s U.S. factories, but Ford reached a deal quickly and settled in mid-November. Talks have focused on Fiat Chrysler for almost two weeks, and both sides negotiated into the early morning hours earlier this week before taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Illinois factory west of Chicago now makes the Jeep Cherokee small SUV and employs about 3,700 union workers on two shifts. Of the $9 billion in total investments included in the deal, half were newly announced Saturday, and the other $4.5 billion are investments announced earlier this year. The $9,000 ratification bonus isn’t as much as the $11,000 that GM workers got, but it’s equal to the money paid to Ford workers. Both companies gave workers a mix of pay raises and lump-sum payments, ratification bonuses, an end to a two-tier pay scale for full-time workers and a clear path for temporary workers to go full-time. The union also got commitments for new vehicles to be built at several GM and Ford factories. Even if union leaders approve the deal, ratification isn’t guaranteed. In 2015, workers voted down the first deal reached with Fiat Chrysler but approved a second one. Fiat Chrysler apparently is agreeing to the “pattern” agreement reached with GM and Ford even though the company’s CEO said earlier this month that all of the companies are in different labor circumstances. Following the same deal would cost Fiat Chrysler more because the makeup of its workforce is different. FCA has more temporary workers than either GM or Ford, and it also has more so-called “second tier” workers hired after 2007 who now make less than longtime workers. The deal with Ford and GM gives pay raises to workers hired after 2007, so they reach top UAW production wages of more than $32 per hour within four years. It also gives temporary workers a path to full-time jobs within three years. Ford has about 18,500 workers hired after 2007 who will get big pay raises with the new contract, compared with GM's 17,000. Fiat Chrysler has over 20,000 union employees hired after 2007. In addition, about 11% of Fiat Chrysler’s UAW workforce is temporary, while Ford has a cap at 8% and GM is around 7%. Fiat Chrysler in past years has enjoyed a labor-cost advantage compared with Ford and GM. FCA’s labor costs, including wages and benefits, amounted to $55 per hour going into the contract talks, while they were $61 at Ford and $63 at GM, according to the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank. That compares with an average of $50 per hour at U.S. plants owned by foreign-based automakers. General Motors last week filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against FCA, alleging that the company bribed UAW officials to get more favorable contract terms than GM. Fiat Chrysler has called the lawsuit “meritless.” General Motors alleges that the move, which it contends cost it billions of dollars, was aimed at forcing a merger with Fiat Chrysler that was desperately sought by FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, who died in 2018. Last month, Fiat Chrysler announced plans to merge with France’s PSA, which will create the world’s fourth-largest auto company worth $50 billion. The Fiat Chrysler talks could be complicated by an ongoing federal bribery and embezzlement investigation into some of the UAW’s leadership, which started at Fiat Chrysler. Many workers at the company have been suspicious of the union’s leadership since the scandal became public in 2017. Union President Gary Jones, whose home was raided by federal agents and is implicated in the scandal, resigned from the union last week. He has not been charged but has been linked to a plot to embezzle union conference funds to buy expensive cigars, wines, rounds of golf and stays at exclusive villas. Jones lawyer J. Bruce Maffeo says all the expenses were reported in detail and never questioned by the union’s accounting department or executive board. Vice President Rory Gamble, who negotiated the contract with Ford, is now acting president. This story has been updated to correct that the deal includes a promise not to close any assembly factories for the next four years, rather than not to close any factories at all for the next four years.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-source-fiat-chrysler-auto-union-close-contract-67404341

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 12:53:54 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-11-30--The Latest: Fiat Chrysler, auto union agree tentative deal

abcnews

The Latest: Fiat Chrysler, auto union agree tentative deal

The Latest on contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and Fiat Chrysler (all times local): The United Auto Workers union says it has reached a tentative deal with Fiat Chrysler. The agreement reached Saturday still needs to get approval from workers. A person briefed on the matter says the deal includes a $9,000 ratification bonus, a promise not to close any assembly factories for the next four years and a commitment to keep making vehicles at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Top union leaders still have to approve the deal, as do factory-level officials who are likely to gather next week to vote on it. Then it must be ratified by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ 47,000 union workers. Fiat Chrysler is the last company to settle on a new contract with the union. GM settled Oct. 31, which Ford settled in mid-November. This item has been updated to correct that the deal includes a promise not to close any assembly factories for the next four years, rather than not to close any factories at all for the next four years. A person briefed on the matter says the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler are close to reaching a tentative contract agreement. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private, says the deal could be finalized Saturday. The person says it includes a $9,000 ratification bonus, a promise not to close any assembly factories for the next four years and a commitment to keep making vehicles at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois. If the deal becomes final, top union leaders and factory-level officials likely will gather next week to vote on it. Then it must be ratified by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ 47,000 union workers. Fiat Chrysler is the last company to settle on a new contract with the union. GM settled in October and Ford reached a deal earlier this month. This item has been updated to correct that the deal includes a promise not to close any assembly factories for the next four years, rather than not to close any factories at all for the next four years.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-fiat-chrysler-auto-union-agree-tentative-deal-67405306

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 12:51:09 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

abcnews--2019-12-03--Company to pay $1M for selling Army subpar grenade launchers

abcnews

Company to pay $1M for selling Army subpar grenade launchers

A Colorado weapons manufacturer has agreed to a $1 million settlement for allegedly shipping subpar grenade launchers to the U.S. Army, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Capco LLC supplied the Army with M320 grenade launchers between July 2016 and March 2018 even though company officials knew the launchers’ barrels did not meet specifications, U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn said. The company also knew that two shipments included launchers with firing pins made of the wrong type of steel but did not tell the Army after conducting an internal investigation, prosecutors said. “We entrust our defense contractors to manufacture equipment of the highest quality for the men and women who serve our country in the U.S. Armed Forces,” Dunn said. Capco did not admit any liability in the settlement and said in a statement Tuesday it has no reason to believe its products were unsafe or ineffective. “As a company, this chapter has made us smarter and stronger,” Capco CEO Cordell Bennigson said. He added that the company has improved its quality and compliance systems. The government was alerted to concerns about Capco’s production process by James Cole, who was a quality engineer at the company. He told the company’s vice president of operations and a manager about the faulty parts in April 2017 but was ignored, The Denver Post reported. Cole said Capco retaliated by laying him off five months later, according to a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act in November 2017. He will receive about $235,000 of the $1,025,429 settlement. Capco’s statement did not mention Cole. Capco is based in the western Colorado city of Grand Junction.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/company-pay-1m-selling-army-subpar-grenade-launchers-67474065

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 17:26:24 -0500

economy, business and finance

business information

aljazeera--2019-01-15--Flooding in northern Argentina expected to continue

aljazeera

Flooding in northern Argentina expected to continue

It has been a wet year so far in the low Pampas of South America. Northeast Argentina and the adjacent parts of Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil have been hit with extensive flooding. Since the beginning of the year, the area has received about five times the long-term expected average rainfall. On January 8, the Argentine city of Resistencia recorded 224mm rainfall. This is a new 24-hour rainfall record, much higher than the previous highest of 206mm, recorded in January 1994. Eastern Pampas has good farming land but the first soybean crop was a complete loss in some areas because of the rain. The ground is still water-logged. In the province of Corrientes, water is nearly two metres deep, displacing the herds of cattle. In Paso de Los Libres, a border city in what is known as the Argentine Mesopotamia, January brought 483mm of rain so far. The average rainfall for January is 128mm. The likely reason for this excessively wet spring and early summer is the state of the Pacific. The forecast from the end of southern hemisphere winter gave a 90 percent chance of El Nino conditions developing. Warm water did flood the eastern equatorial Pacific, but in the last month has drawn back a little. There is now a 65 percent chance of a proper El Nino developing, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and it is El Nino conditions that tend to disrupt the normal rainfall pattern in this part of the world. The Atacama Desert in Chile benefits from El Nino rains, but the Peruvian fishing industry suffers. Even though the Pacific waters are not much warmer than usual at the moment, it may be the driving force behind the current weather conditions. The forecast for the next week suggests another 250mm of rain in the Argentine province of Corrientes and the northern parts of Uruguay.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/flooding-northern-argentina-expected-continue-190115070053229.html

2019-01-15 14:37:03+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

aljazeera--2019-01-17--Five die in California as storms bring flooding snow mudslides

aljazeera

Five die in California as storms bring flooding, snow, mudslides

At least five people have died in severe rain and snowstorms that blanketed parts of California with at least five feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains this week, and triggered flooding and mudslides, officials said. The storms have also left thousands without power and forcing wildfire victims threatened by floods to flee their homes. Forecasters expect the bitter weather to push eastwards into the Rockies and US Midwest through the weekend, while the California Highway Patrol said rain-slicked highways led to two fatal accidents that killed four people. A family of three, including a one-year-old baby, died in El Dorado County on Tuesday, after their car spun across a rain-soaked freeway to hit another car, the San Francisco Chronicle said. Another man died in a storm-related car wreck on Wednesday in Napa County, highway patrol dispatchers said, but no further details were immediately available. A 42-year-old man in Oakland was killed after being struck by a tree, uprooted by the wind and rain, that fell on a homeless encampment, media said. Southern California authorities concerned with rising streams and excessive runoff ordered evacuations in parts of Malibu and other areas scarred by wildfires. Malibu schools canceled classes. In harder-hit Northern California, authorities warned of imminent floods and debris flows in the wildfire-ravished city of Paradise and the surrounding region denuded of protective trees and vegetation, telling residents to prepare to flee their homes on a moment's notice. Tens of thousands of people were without electricity in Pacific Gas & Electric utility areas, including more than 15,000 in San Jose late on Wednesday night. "Flash flooding is a dangerous and life-threating situation," the Butte County sheriff's department said. "Due to the dynamic nature of debris flow and flash flood events, residents should not wait for an evacuation order to take action." High winds could topple more trees as the soil gets wetter and more saturated, the National Weather Service warned. In Southern California, fog on a mountain highway triggered a 19-vehicle crash. Thirty-five people were evaluated for injuries after the pileup on Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass, but most declined to be taken to hospitals, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said. In areas recently scarred by wildfires, authorities feared small rivers and creeks would flood their banks and cause massive mudslides, further damaging communities struggling to recover from a historically bad fire season. Police in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties ordered evacuations on Tuesday from areas damaged by last year's wildfires because of the risk that heavy rain could trigger mud and debris flows on charred hillsides. The blazes stripped hillsides of trees and other vegetation that stabilise soil and prevent mudslides, putting at risk thousands of people living in foothill and canyon areas devastated by wildfires. The hillsides were holding but people in burn areas were urged to remain alert. The snow and rain were brought by a one-two punch of weather, after one Pacific storm hit California on Monday and a second, larger storm arrived on Wednesday, forecasters said. Both are expected to sweep back-to-back through the Rockies and Midwest, gathering more strength from moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said, before hitting the Ohio Valley and the Northeast early next week. Significant road closures and travel delays remain likely in the Los Angeles area through to Friday as storm remnants linger, said Marc Chenard, a forecaster with the NWS' Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The risk of flash flooding and rockslides persist, he said. "Some areas in the Sierras will get another five inches of rain after the three inches that already fell, with significant snow fall above 6,000 feet [1,828 metres]." The weather is a boon for farmers and ski areas, however, as most of California is recovering from years of drought, the United States Drought Monitor said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/die-california-storms-bring-flooding-snow-mudslides-190117192806267.html

2019-01-17 21:21:36+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

aljazeera--2019-01-22--Flooding in Mozambique as Tropical Cyclone Desmond makes landfall

aljazeera

Flooding in Mozambique as Tropical Cyclone Desmond makes landfall

Mozambique's fourth-largest city has been inundated by flooding after being hit by a tropical cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Desmond formed in the Mozambique Channel on Sunday night and drifted slowly northwest towards the coast. Fortunately, the winds in the upper atmosphere were much stronger than those near the surface, which hampered the storm's growth and prevented it from becoming too intense. This ensured the winds were not too strong when the storm made landfall, but the rain was still extremely heavy and the seas very rough. The storm hit the coast about 40km to the south of Chinde, 200km to the north of Beira, but the worst of the rain was to the west of the storm's centre. Biera, the fourth largest city in Mozambique, was badly hit. Some 277 millimetres of rain was reported in Biera in the 24 hours until 06:00 GMT on Tuesday, more than the 250mm expected in the entire month of January. And the rain continues to fall. Large waves smashed over the top of sea defences and the torrential rain transformed roads into rivers. Cars were submerged up to their windows and dirty floodwater rushed into people's homes and businesses. The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Desmond are expected to bring more flooding to central Mozambique and southern Malawi as it disintegrates above the region. Over the next 24 hours, some places could see as much as 200mm more rain, and it looks like Madagascar could be hit by even worse conditions. Tropical Cyclone Desmond did not hit Madagascar, but it did enhance the rains in the northwest of the island and there is more severe weather on its way. Another circulation in the Mozambique Channel is expected to develop over the coming days. This system is expected to track south, off the coast of Madagascar, and is likely to pull a trail of heavy downpours across the northwest of the island. This would bring further torrential rain to a region that is already waterlogged, which could easily lead to flooding and landslides.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/flooding-mozambique-tropical-cyclone-desmond-landfall-190122093541944.html

2019-01-22 10:58:19+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

aljazeera--2019-03-20--Cyclone Idai Death tolls rises to 200 people in Mozambique

aljazeera

Cyclone Idai: Death tolls rises to 200 people in Mozambique

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi has confirmed that more than 200 people died and close to 350,000 are “at risk” after Cyclone Idai. The United Nations says Idai could be one of the worst weather disasters to hit the southern hemisphere. Al Jazeera's Fahmida Miller reports from Beira, where she met victims struggling to cope with the storm's impact.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/cyclone-idai-death-tolls-rises-200-people-mozambique-190320094845716.html

2019-03-20 09:48:45+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

aljazeera--2019-03-20--Evacuations on Australian island ahead of Tropical Cyclone Trevor

aljazeera

Evacuations on Australian island ahead of Tropical Cyclone Trevor

Authorities in Australia have begun evacuations for the 1,600 residents of Groote Eylandt, an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, as Tropical Cyclone Trevor approaches. The severe storm spent most of Wednesday crossing Cape York, having made landfall on Tuesday evening near Lockhart River on the east coast. It brought down trees, electricity poles and fences, registering wind gusts of up to 133 kilometres per hour and a rainfall collection of 333mm. Trevor's wind strength was the equivalent of a Category-2 hurricane at first landfall. It left the Cape York Peninsula as a much-weakened storm, but near the town of Aurukun it met the warm feed waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria and started strengthening again. Todd Smith, the BoM's Northern Territory manager, said the weather system would be severe and residents needed to be prepared. Trevor is expected to make land again on Saturday, somewhere between Groote Eylandt and Borroloola. The cyclone is expected to strengthen to a "catastrophic" Category 4 as it passes Groote Eylandt, registering winds of a steady 210km/h, with gusts to 260km/h. Ross McDonald, an environmental officer at Anindilyakwa Land Council, said cyclones were not uncommon in the area but had never seen Groote Eylandt evacuated. "I've been here for 15 years and ... we have a lot of cyclones ... but this is definitely the one we've had the most concern about," he said. "And that being the case a lot of the properties aren't built for Category-4 cyclones." Even as a young storm in the Coral Sea, Trevor generated four-metre waves. With three days winding up over the Gulf of Carpentaria, it could generate much larger waves and a significant storm surge - a general rising of the sea level in advance of the cyclone.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/evacuations-australian-island-tropical-cyclone-trevor-190320115905386.html

2019-03-20 13:44:07+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

bbc--2019-03-21--Cyclone Idai 15000 people still need to be rescued

bbc

Cyclone Idai: '15,000 people still need to be rescued'

Some 15,000 people still need to be rescued from the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai, Mozambique officials say. The cyclone victims there are stranded by catastrophic flooding and are clinging to roofs or stuck in trees, charities say. In the port city of Beira, aid workers say there are only two to three days of clean water left. Some 300 people are confirmed dead in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, but the toll is expected to rise. The powerful cyclone swept in to Beira last Thursday, with winds of more than 177km/h (106 mph). It left a trail of devastation as it moved inland. Oxfam has told the BBC that an area of about 3,000 sq km (1,864 sq miles) is now under water. Medical agencies are warning that the shortage of food and clean drinking water is increasing the threat of disease. "The first thing you see when you arrive is destruction and a lot of water," said Get Verdonck, an emergency co-ordinator with the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). "People are using well water with no chlorination, and that water is unlikely to be clean... pneumonia and other respiratory diseases are going to be a problem," he told Reuters from Beira. Aid groups said Mozambique had borne the brunt of flooding from rivers that flow downstream from neighbouring countries. A total of 217 people are confirmed dead in the country, but many areas have still not been reached. Caroline Haga, an official with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the worst-hit areas were close to the Buzi river west of Beira. She said rescue teams were dropping high-energy biscuits, water purification tablets and other supplies to people surrounded by water and mud. "We have thousands of people... in roofs and trees waiting for rescue," Ms Haga told AFP news agency. "We are running out of time. People have been waiting for rescue for more than three days now. We can't pick up all the people so our priority is children, pregnant women, injured people." Celso Correia, Mozambique's minister of land and environment, confirmed this, telling Reuters the number of people still needing to be rescued was thought to be about 15,000. He added that 3,000 people had already been rescued so far. Deborah Nguyen, of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the priorities were reaching people trapped in the flooded areas and then organising temporary shelter for those rescued. "Relief operations are progressing, but there is still a lot of work," she told AFP. Mozambique President Felipe Nyusi has said more than 100,000 people are at risk. Wilker de Assis de Sousa Dias, a survivor in Beira, speaks to BBC Focus on Africa The winds started on Wednesday, but only around 60km/h. On Thursday, at around 14:00 it started getting at worse, and at around 19:00, the show really started, if I can say that. The cyclone was already starting to cause damage, picking up everything in its path. It was just destroying everything. In the parts of the city which are near the sea, there is almost nothing left. My house has two floors, and there's basically nothing there now. The roof has given way, and water is coming in from every corner. I was in my house during the storm. I actually didn't have any way of leaving, even if I'd wanted to. All of the roads near the sea, where my house is, were flooded. The wind was so strong it was picking up stones and hurling them around. I saw stones flying, zinc sheets flying, even pieces of cars. The debris smashed all of the windows in my house. I was able to walk around some of the affected areas shortly after the storm. I would say that 75% of the city is totally destroyed. We're still waiting for help. We need food, certainly, and we urgently need construction materials. In Zimbabwe, at least 98 people have died and 217 people are missing in the east and south, the government said. In Malawi, the UN says more than 80,000 people have been displaced by the cyclone. Amid the devastation, people in Zimbabwe are doing everything they can to help survivors. Videos and pictures have emerged of people queuing - not to collect fuel or bread, but to donate food, clothes and other goods to the relief effort. The BBC's Shingai Nyoka says the country is in the middle of an economic crisis but this has not stopped an unprecedented community aid effort. Reporters from BBC Africa have visited a Presbyterian church in the capital Harare, where volunteers have been sorting through donations. One woman turned up having walked for about two hours to bring her donation. Volunteer Natalie Detering told BBC News the donor said she could not afford her bus fare, but decided to walk from home because Jesus had told her to. Among her donations was a pot, a blanket, some of her clothes and a towel. The generosity shown by ordinary Zimbabweans has prompted President Emmerson Mnangagwa to tweet his appreciation. Are you in the area? Tell us about your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47647804

2019-03-21 11:54:19+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

bbc--2019-03-30--Afghanistan Deadly flash floods destroy homes and lives

bbc

Afghanistan: Deadly flash floods destroy homes and lives

Flash floods in western Afghanistan have killed at least 32 people. Thousands of homes have been destroyed by heavy rains, as have makeshift shelters housing displaced families. Seven provinces have been affected by the flooding, with Faryab, Bagdhis and Herat bearing the brunt of the damage. The disaster has added to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people who were forced out of their homes because of severe drought in the region last year. Aid workers have been struggling to deliver assistance to the people who need it. Poor infrastructure makes it hard for humanitarian workers to reach isolated areas. Shir Ahmad, who lives in the Enjil district of Herat, told Reuters news agency: "My house and my farmland have been destroyed by the floods. If you go and see the destruction, it makes you want to cry."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47760358

2019-03-30 16:30:45+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

bbc--2019-07-02--Russia Siberia At least 18 people killed by floods

bbc

Russia Siberia: At least 18 people killed by floods

At least 18 people have been killed by floods in Russia's Irkutsk region. Thousands of homes have also been damaged, but authorities have been accused of failing to provide enough help for those affected.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48844812

2019-07-02 16:40:37+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

bbc--2019-08-25--Floods kill more than 60 in Sudan

bbc

Floods kill more than 60 in Sudan

Torrential rain and floods have killed 62 people in Sudan, according to the official state news agency. The country has been battered by heavy rains since early July, affecting almost 200,000 people across 15 states. White Nile state in the south of the country has been hit hardest. The UN said that more than 37,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged while more flashfloods are expected. The rainy season continues until the end of October.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49466722

2019-08-25 21:49:40+00:00

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

bbc--2019-10-14--Typhoon Hagibis: Satellites show Japan rivers in flood

bbc

Typhoon Hagibis: Satellites show Japan rivers in flood

The biggest typhoon to hit Japan in decades has left a trail of destruction in its wake. More than 40 people died as a result of Typhoon Hagibis and hundreds have been rescued after being stranded by flooded rivers and landslides. Satellite images show how the river Naka in Hinuma burst its banks, flooding nearby homes. The typhoon battered eight prefectures across Japan, with wind speeds of up to 225km/h (140mph). Akigase Park, on the Arakawa River flood plain near Saitama City, was submerged after the typhoon. Industrial areas in Yoshinodai, near Kawagoe, were protected by flood defences as water levels rose along the Iruma River. Thousands of police officers, fire fighters, coastguards and military personnel are taking part in search and rescue operations to find people trapped by flooding and landslides.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-50043180

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 12:28:43 GMT

disaster, accident and emergency incident

disaster

cnsnews--2019-08-14--Trumps Tough Trade Dealings with China Hinge on Venezuela

cnsnews

Trump’s Tough Trade Dealings with China Hinge on … Venezuela

It is certainly no secret how President Trump is playing very tough with China these days by enforcing a series of hard-hitting trade sanctions, all with a goal of establishing fairer trade between China and the U.S. But the President might be eroding his own, hard fought progress with China if he allows the Chinese government direct control of the world’s largest oil reserves which are located in Venezuela. The president can prevent these vast oil supplies from falling under Chinese control if he allows American energy companies to continue operating in partnership with Venezuela, as they have done for decades. The United States has been operating in Venezuela since the 1920’s, but China, Russia and other nations have slowly gained more influence and a foothold in the troubled socialist nation. Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has virtually run his oil rich country into the ground, and the people of Venezuela are in despair. Socialism has completely devastated Venezuela. Once a South American paradise, the country is now awash in drug cartel crime and violence from brutal Cuban gangs that make ANTIFA look tame; the economy has collapsed; their currency is virtually worthless. More than four million have fled as there are few jobs and unimaginable inflation. China and Russia have been sending in tens of billions into Venezuela to help Maduro’s ruthless government maintain control. Why would Russia and China want to bankroll Maduro? The answer is simple – both countries want Venezuela’s oil fields estimated at between 300 and 500 billion barrels of recoverable oil and with a conservative market value of $25 trillion dollars. It is vital that President Trump allow American energy companies permission to continue operations in Venezuela. Some within the Trump Administration believe that if we simply remove all American businesses from Venezuela, Maduro’s regime will collapse quickly. However, that thinking is myopic and would set up an embarrassing foreign policy mistake for the President. If American energy companies are forced to cease operations and forfeit billions in equipment and other assets, the Chinese and Russians will simply move in to take control – and bolster Maduro. American energy companies are already in place and stand ready to help a new government with a democratic president. The U.S. has a decades-long presence in this poor nation and the U.S. can help Venezuela invigorate its energy industry and rebuild Venezuela’s infrastructure. Such activity would also allow the U.S. to provide much needed humanitarian relief. The oil fields in Venezuela, if properly developed, could exceed those of any other oil field in the world. President Trump’s administration has rightly imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to dislodge Maduro’s corrupt regime, and many believe it’s only a matter of time before former President Maduro is in exile. The Trump Administration recently granted several energy companies a temporary waiver which allows them to continue operations in country for a few more months. Such a waver should be extended for as long as necessary in order to protect American business assets and ensure the security of a vast, global energy resource. The Trump Administration is making substantial headway with his Chinese trade negotiations, but allowing China access to the world’s largest oil supply will immediately undermine his own policies – his own efforts to establish fair trade with China. Gaining access to Venezuela’s oil and a multi-trillion-dollar payout would no doubt embolden the Chinese to take a harder stance against the U.S. regarding trade and give China the upper hand in negotiating power. This simply can’t be allowed to occur. It’s imperative the president protect American interests in Venezuela, and forfeiting trillions to the Chinese is surely no way to win a trade war. Pulling American energy companies out of Venezuela now is not only a strategic mistake, it would jeopardize American energy security and would leave Venezuela with no real hope for economic and social recovery. Ken Blackwell, a domestic policy advisor to the Trump Transition Team, formerly served as United States Ambassador to United Nations Human Rights Commission.

Ken Blackwell

https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/ken-blackwell/trumps-tough-trade-dealings-china-hinge-venezuela

2019-08-14 17:28:41+00:00

economy, business and finance

market and exchange

globalresearch--2019-04-09--Even Saudi Arabia Threatens to Ditch Dollar for Oil Trade over US Bullying Policies

globalresearch

Even Saudi Arabia Threatens to Ditch Dollar for Oil Trade over US Bullying Policies

Saudi Arabia threatens to sell oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passes a bill exposing the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to U.S. antitrust lawsuits. The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC), which was introduced by Democrat Senator Herb Kohl in 2000 and received backing from Donald Trump in 2011, has never been approved and has little chance of being passed. This legislative proposal aims to allow OPEC oil companies to be sued under the U.S. antitrust law for their attempts to set international prices by limiting oil supplies, a practice which has been regularly applied as a way of stabilizing the global market. The Saudi Arabian threat makes visible a growing discontent over the way the U.S. treats OPEC countries. According to Reuters, senior Saudi energy officials have been analyzing the ditching-dollar-oil-trades possibility for several months and would have already mentioned reported it to U.S. officials. In the unlikely event that Saudi Arabia were to adopt this new policy, it would undermine the dollar status as an international reserve currency, which could weaken in turn the U.S. ability to enforce economic sanctions on nation states. Russia, China and some European countries have been calling for reducing the dollar’s influence in international trade. If this happens, the U.S. would lose a significant part of its ability to control both the world economy and its own growth. Due to President Trump’s aggressive foreign policy, however, Russia, Venezuela and Iran, all of which are being placed under harsh U.s. economic sanctions have been selling their oil in Euros, Yuans or other traditional or virtual currencies. Non-dollar oil contracts are concrete challenges to the U.S. hegemony at the oil market. If Saudi Arabia makes a move in that sense, it would also mean a heavy blow to the U.S. geopolitical strategies. Saudi Arabia, which controls a 10th of global production, made oil deals for US$356 billion in 2018, which made it the world’s biggest oil exporter. At a price of US$70 per barrel, the global oil output is estimated to be about US$2.5 trillion. At least 60 percent of this amount is now being traded in dollars. In addition, oil futures and options trading reached a nominal value of US$5 trillion in 2018, as reported by Reuters. Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Telesur

https://www.globalresearch.ca/saudi-arabia-threatens-ditch-dollar-oil-trade/5673957

2019-04-09 11:09:12+00:00

economy, business and finance

market and exchange