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

If Donald Trump is her tutor on tactics, Rashida Tlaib is doing it wrong. Neither of them serve Americans well by appealing to their coarser appetites.

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Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers to Travel to Ukraine this Week

REUTERSA delegation of Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee is traveling to Ukraine this week, a Democratic aide to the committee confirmed to The Daily Beast on Monday.The trip has been in the works for some time and includes stops elsewhere in Europe, but it is moving forward at a moment when Ukraine is dominating American politics. In the last week, an anonymous whistleblower’s allegation that President Trump repeatedly pressed the president of Ukraine to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden has gone public, and the expanding congressional probe into those claims is forming the basis of an official impeachment inquiry from House Democrats. The delegation is the first group of U.S. lawmakers to travel to Ukraine since early September, before any details of the whistleblower’s complaint were publicly known. The Democratic committee aide affirmed the trip is unrelated to the current Ukraine news, and said that lawmakers are heading there to perform oversight over the U.S. military’s European area of command, or EUCOM. The aide declined to go into more detail about the trip. Of course, a key detail of the  Trump-Ukraine saga falls under the purview of Armed Services Committee members: the Trump administration sat on $250 million in security assistance to the country—which has been sent without incident for each of the last four years—while the president and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, pressed the newly-elected administration of Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens. After bipartisan outcry, the administration suddenly released the aid on Sept. 12. Whether or not the security aid was the center of a quid-pro-quo arrangement sought by Trump remains a key question in Democrats’ investigation. Lawmakers on the House Appropriations and Budget Committees sent letters to the administration last Friday demanding a full explanation of how and why the funds were withheld.Send The Daily Beast a TipRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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USA TODAY's Harrison Hill tells migrant stories through portraits

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

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

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

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

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

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Rudy Giuliani reacts to subpoena on 'Hannity,' 9 pm ET

09/30/19 5:36 PM

Al-Shabaab attacks US base, EU convoy in Somalia

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

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

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

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Trump: I want to meet my accuser

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he wants and deserves to meet the anonymous whistleblower at the center of the fast-moving scandal that has triggered an impeachment probe against him. The whistleblower, who could testify soon before Congress, fears for their safety if their identity is revealed, according to a lawyers' letter released by CBS News. Battling the deepest crisis of his presidency, Trump in a series of tweets railed against accusations that he should be impeached for urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, his potential 2020 White House challenger.

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Jessye Norman, Grammy-winning star of opera, dies at 74

Norman was one of the rare black singers to reach fame in the opera world.

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Jet fuel from thin air: Aviation's hope or hype?

A pilot project at Rotterdam airport plans to capture CO2 from the air and turn it into jet fuel.

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Trump’s Claims About Biden Aren’t ‘Unsupported.’ They’re Lies.

By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2neddLi

China to mark 70 years of communism with massive show of force in Beijing

China will celebrate seven decades of communist rule on Tuesday with a display of power through central Beijing, showing off goose-stepping troops, new missiles and floats celebrating the country's technological prowess.

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New York cop killed by friendly fire while investigating gangs: police

A New York police officer was shot and killed by "friendly fire" on Sunday while investigating gang activity in the Bronx and a suspect also died in the incident, police said on Monday.

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Floods kill 113 in north India in late monsoon burst, jail, hospital submerged

Heavy rains have killed at least 113 people in India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states over the past three days, officials said on Monday, as flood waters swamped a major city, inundated hospital wards and forced the evacuation of inmates from a jail. India's monsoon season that begins in June usually starts to retreat by early September, but heavy rains have continued across parts of the country this year, triggering floods. An official said that at least 93 people had died in most populous Uttar Pradesh since Friday after its eastern areas were lashed by intense monsoon showers.

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Jack Charles: 'I'd rob to collect rent for stolen Aboriginal land'

He was stolen from his family, then he stole from "posh homes" - now actor Jack Charles wants closure.

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The imam who died fighting racism in South Africa

Relatives of Abdullah Haron, who died in detention 50 years ago, are still traumatised by his death.

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U.S. Officials Warn of Rising Threat From Qaeda Branch in Northwest Syria

By BY ERIC SCHMITT from NYT World https://ift.tt/2nFx4D9

Giuliani said Mike Pompeo knew he pushed Ukraine to investigate Biden

Giuliani added to allegations that Trump pressured foreign officials to investigate his potential 2020 Democratic opponent for his own political gain.

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

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

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Bodyguard of Saudi king killed in shooting

A prominent bodyguard of Saudi Arabia's King Salman has been shot and killed at a friend's house in what has been described as a personal dispute, according to state media. Major General Abdelaziz al-Fagham's death triggered an outpouring of emotion on Twitter, with some condemning the killing of the Saudi ruler's "guardian angel". Fagham, who was frequently seen by the king's side, died Saturday evening in the western city of Jeddah, police in Mecca said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

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US Department of Justice supports Indianapolis Archdiocese in firing of gay teacher

The U.S. Justice Department filed a statement saying the First Amendment protects the right of the Archdiocese to apply Catholic doctrine.

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Trump can do more damage than Nixon. His impeachment is imperative

Watergate brought down a second-term president. If Trump survives and wins the White House again, all bets are offComposite of Richard Nixon and Donald Trump Composite: GettyAmid the impeachment furor, don’t lose sight of the renewed importance of protecting the integrity of the 2020 election.The difference between Richard Nixon’s abuse of power (trying to get dirt on political opponents to help with his 1972 re-election, and then covering it up) and Donald Trump’s abuse (trying to get Ukraine’s president to get dirt on a political opponent to help with his 2020 reelection, and then covering it up) isn’t just that Nixon’s involved a botched robbery at the Watergate while Trump’s involves a foreign nation.It’s that Nixon’s abuse of power was discovered during his second term, after he was re-elected. He was still a dangerous crook, but by that time he had no reason to inflict still more damage on American democracy.Trump’s abuse has been uncovered 14 months before the 2020 election, at a time when he still has every incentive to do whatever he can to win.If special counsel Robert Mueller had found concrete evidence that Trump asked Vladimir Putin for help in digging up dirt on Hillary Clinton in 2016, that would have been the “smoking gun” that could have ended the Trump presidency.> William Barr is working for Trump, just like Rudy Giuliani and all the other lapdogs, toadies and sycophantsNow Trump is revealed to have asked Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, for dirt on Joe Biden in the 2020 election, who’s to say he isn’t also soliciting Vladimir Putin’s help this time around?The Washington Post reports that Trump told two Russian officials in a 2017 meeting in the Oval Office he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the US election because the US did the same in other countries. This prompted White House officials to limit access to Trump’s remarks.Trump is in a better position to make such deals than he was in 2016 because as president he’s got a pile of US military aid and international loans and grants that could make a foreign rulers’ life very comfortable, or, if withheld, exceedingly difficult.As we’ve learned, Trump uses whatever leverage he can get, for personal gain. That’s the art of the deal.Who can we count on to protect our election process in 2020?Certainly not William Barr. We’ve seen the transcript of Trump’s phone call where he urges Zelenskiy to work with the attorney general to investigate Biden – even telling Zelenskiy Barr will follow up with his own call.We also know Barr’s justice department decided Trump had not acted illegally, and told the acting director of national intelligence to keep the whistleblower complaint from Congress.This is the same attorney general, not incidentally, who said Mueller’s report had cleared the Trump campaign of conspiring with Russia when in fact Mueller had found that the campaign welcomed Russia’s help, and who said Mueller had absolved Trump of obstructing justice when Mueller specifically declined to decide the matter.Barr is not working for the United States. He’s working for Trump, just like Rudy Giuliani and all the other lapdogs, toadies and sycophants.Fortunately, some government appointees still understand their responsibilities. We’re indebted to the anonymous intelligence officer who complained about Trump’s calls to the president of Ukraine, and to Michael Atkinson, inspector general of the intelligence community, who deemed the complaint of “urgent concern”.But if the 2020 election is going to be – and to be seen as – legitimate, the nation will need many more whistleblowers and officials with integrity.All of us will need to be vigilant.Over the last two and a half years, Trump has shown himself willing to trample any aspect of our democracy that gets in his way – attacking the media, using the presidency for personal profit, packing the federal courts, verbally attacking judges, blasting the head of the Federal Reserve, spending money in ways Congress did not authorize, and subverting the separation of powers.He believes he’s invincible. He’s now daring our entire constitutional and political system to stop him.The real value of the formal impeachment now under way is to put Trump on notice that he can’t necessarily get away with abusing his presidential power to win re-election. He will still try, of course. But at least a line has been drawn. And now everyone is watching.Regardless of how the impeachment turns out, Trump’s predation can be constrained as long as his presidency can be ended with the 2020 election. If that election is distorted, and if this man is re-elected, all bets are off. * Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. He is also a columnist for Guardian US

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Trump impeachment: Majority of Americans say Ukraine issue is ‘serious’ as president fumes over inquiry

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of Americans believe that Donald Trump pressuring the leader of Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 presidential rival is a serious issue, according to a new poll.A total of 43 per cent of respondents to the ABC/Ipsos survey said the allegations were “very serious” while 21 per cent agreed the situation was at least “somewhat serious".

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Sydney and Taiwan kick off global protests for Hong Kong

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

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White House adviser says Trump 'is the whistleblower’

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

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

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

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Hong Kong’s Status as Neutral Ground at Risk as China Asserts Power

By BY PETER S. GOODMAN AND AUSTIN RAMZY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2oqI2g4

M.L.B.’s Juggernauts Set to Clash After a Season of Extraordinary Numbers

By BY TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2nGnFLy

Will virtual clothes transform how we shop?

A smartphone app can make a detailed virtual avatar allowing you to try on a whole range of clothes.

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

Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, the county's first Sikh officer, was killed Friday during a traffic stop near Houston. Police have arrested Robert Solis.

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

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

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

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

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

The man who slammed his SUV into a suburban Chicago mall has been formally charged with terrorism and criminal damage to property, authorities said.

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

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

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Hong Kong protesters to rally after another night of violence

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

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How about a Bipartisan Treaty against the Criminalization of Elections?

Back home in the Bronx is where I first heard the old saw about the Irishman who, coming upon a donnybrook at the local pub, asks a bystander: “Is this a private fight or can anybody join?”I was a much younger fellow then. The prospect becomes less alluring with age, so I have some trepidation stepping in between two old friends, Andrew Napolitano and Joe DiGenova. Through intermediary hosts, the pair -- Napolitano a former New Jersey Superior Court jurist and law professor, DiGenova a former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and prominent defense lawyer -- brawled this week on Fox News (where I, like they, contribute regularly).I’m going to steer clear of the pugnacious to-ing and fro-ing. Let’s consider the intriguing legal issue that ignited it.Judge Napolitano argues that the July 25 conversation between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky contains the makings of a campaign-finance crime. He highlights Trump’s request for Ukraine’s help in investigating then–vice president Joe Biden. In 2016, Biden pressured Kyiv to drop a corruption investigation of Burisma, a natural gas company that paid Biden’s son, Hunter, big bucks to sit on its board.Biden, of course, is one of the favorites for the Democratic presidential nomination. Napolitano reasons that the information Trump sought from Ukraine would be a form of “opposition research” that could be seen as an in-kind donation to Trump’s reelection campaign, which should be deemed illegal because the law prohibits foreign contributions and attempts to acquire them. (Napolitano also raised the “arguable” possibility of a bribery offense, on the theory that Trump was withholding defense aid as a corrupt quid pro quo to get the Biden information. But he emphasized the foreign contribution issue. That is his stronger argument, and I am focusing on it, given that the Trump-Zelensky transcript does not support a quid pro quo demand; plus bribery, in any event, raises the same “thing of value” proof problems addressed below.)DiGenova strongly disagrees. Though there wasn’t much time to elaborate, he is clearly relying on the lack of past campaign-law prosecutions on similar facts. DiGenova is also voicing the prudent conservative hostility to campaign-finance laws: Any expansion of criminal liability would necessarily restrict political speech, the core of First Amendment liberty.I’m with DiGenova on this, but it’s a closer question than he suggests. Napolitano’s construction of the campaign laws, while not wholly implausible, is purely academic. It ignores real-world concerns about free speech and the prosecutor’s burden to prove intent.Most of the commentary on this has been very politicized (surprise!). For dyed-in-the-wool anti-Trumpers, no technicality is too trifling to be a felony. For the Trump base, it’s all a witch hunt. In light of this, the most helpful source we can turn to is the Mueller Report. (File in: Sentences I’d Have Bet My Life I’d Never Write.)Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team overflowed with partisan Democrats, and their report could have been entitled “Roadmap to Impeachment.” While they faced complications (that I’ve addressed) in making a case against the president, the prosecutors were not inhibited when it came to other subjects of the investigation. They’d have loved to nail Donald Trump Jr. But the only thing they had was the notorious Trump Tower Meeting of June 2016, when Don Jr. orchestrated a meeting with a Kremlin-tied lawyer (Natalya Veselnitskaya) in an effort to obtain Russian dirt to be used against Hillary Clinton. Veselnitskaya supplied information, but it was a dud.The campaign-finance offense that Napolitano urges be charged against President Trump appears to be the same one Mueller considered charging against Don Jr. The Mueller team’s analysis (Vol. 1, pp. 186-187) is thus on point. And it is frustratingly ambiguous -- as befits the constitutionally dubious campaign-finance laws.Two offense elements proved to be stumbling blocks for the prosecutors. The first is the question whether opposition research is a “thing of value” under federal law. Mueller’s team assumed that, in theory, it might be (the Napolitano view), but that to interpret it as such would break new ground and raise troubling First Amendment issues (the DiGenova position).The second problem was the intent element. As I’ve observed before, regulatory crimes are not innately wrong (in contrast to, say, murder or robbery). They are illegal only because we choose to make them illegal (for you Latinists out there, they are malum prohibitum). Because the conduct is not wrong in itself (malum in se), the law requires a higher degree of malevolent intent before it can be criminalized. Prosecutors must prove willfulness, which very nearly reverses the adage that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” The defendant must be shown to have known that his intentional conduct was illegal -- not merely unsavory but actually prohibited by law. The Mueller team concluded that they could not have hoped to prove willfulness beyond a reasonable doubt.So, while there might be some conceivable scenario in which acquiring information from a foreign source for use in a campaign could be a federal crime, it is highly unlikely -- so unlikely that some Type A prosecutors wisely decided that the huzzahs they’d have gotten for indicting the president’s son were outweighed by the humiliation they’d endure when the case inevitably got thrown out of court.The Mueller report is also worth considering because the campaign-finance charge the prosecutors rejected is stronger than would be any similar charge against President Trump arising out of the Zelensky call. That, no doubt, is why the Justice Department summarily declined prosecution.To hear the media-Democrat complex tell it, DOJ declined because it is beholden to the president and Attorney General Barr is acting as Trump’s lawyer, not the government’s chief prosecutor. No one who actually took five minutes to read the relevant section of the Mueller Report would see it that way. Moreover, the fact that the president is president complicates matters not only politically but legally.Trump detractors hyper-focus on the president’s request that President Zelensky provide Attorney General Barr with any information Ukraine might have about Biden twisting arms to quash an investigation involving his son’s cashing in on dad’s influence. I say “hyper-focus” because there was a lot more to it than that. Long before the conversation came around to the Biden topic, the “favor” that Trump asked for was Zelensky’s assistance in Barr’s ongoing investigation of the genesis of the Trump-Russia investigation.No matter how much Democrats seek to discredit that probe and the AG overseeing it, it is a legitimate investigation conducted by the United States Department of Justice, which has prosecutors assigned and grand jury subpoena power. It is examining questionable Justice Department and FBI conduct. It is considering whether irregularities rise to the level of crimes. It will be essential to Congress’s consideration of whether laws need to be enacted or modified to insulate our election campaigns from politicized use of the government’s counterintelligence and law-enforcement powers.I mention all this because it is a commonplace for the government to seek assistance from foreign counterparts for ongoing federal investigations.Indeed, as Marc Thiessen pointed out this week in an important Washington Post column, Democratic senators pressured Ukraine to cooperate with the Mueller probe -- notwithstanding the obvious potential electoral ramifications and the specter of “foreign interference in our democracy.” These requests for assistance often occur at the head-of-state level. When I was a federal prosecutor in the mid-nineties, for example, the FBI and Justice Department asked President Clinton to intervene with Saudi authorities to assist the investigation of Iranian complicity in the Khobar Towers bombing.There is nothing wrong with our government’s requesting the assistance of foreign governments that have access to witnesses and evidence relevant to an ongoing Justice Department investigation. The president is the democratically elected, constitutionally empowered chief executive: There is nothing his subordinates may properly do that he may not do himself (it is his power that they exercise). And the president is never conflicted out of executive branch business due to his political interests. There is no legal or ethical requirement that the Justice Department be denied potentially probative evidence because obtaining it might affect the president’s political fortunes.There was no impropriety in President Trump’s asking Ukraine’s president to assist the Justice Department’s investigation of Russiagate’s origins. Okay, you say, but what does that have to do with Biden?Well, Biden was the Obama administration’s point man in dealing with Kyiv after Viktor Yanukovych fled in 2014. That course of dealing came to include Obama administration agencies leaning on Ukraine to assist the FBI in the investigation of Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman. So, Biden’s interaction with Ukraine is germane: The fact that he had sufficient influence to coerce the firing of a prosecutor; the fact that, while Biden was strongly influencing international economic aid for Kyiv, a significant Ukrainian energy company thought it expedient to bring Biden’s son onto its board and compensate him lavishly -- although Hunter Biden had no experience in the industry.That aside, I do not understand why there has not been more public discussion of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in light of the instances of Hunter Biden conveniently cashing in with foreign firms while his dad was shaping American policy toward those firm’s governments. As we saw with the collusion caper, it does not take much evidence of any crime for the FBI and the Justice Department to open an investigation and scorch the earth in conducting it. And if it would have been legit for the Justice Department to open an FCPA investigation of one or both of the Bidens, then it was appropriate for President Trump to ask President Zelensky to help the Justice Department determine if an FCPA crime took place – even if doing so could have affected the 2020 fortunes of Biden and Trump.Don’t get me wrong: I am not rooting for Joe Biden or his son to be subjected to investigation and prosecution. I agree with Attorney General Barr that there has been too much politicization of law enforcement and intelligence. In the absence of a concrete, patent, and serious violation of the criminal law, I want the Justice Department and the FBI out of politics – which would be better for them and for politics. If you think there is an indecorous heavy-handedness to the way Donald Trump and Joe Biden conduct foreign policy, that’s fine – go vote against them on Election Day. We don’t need creative prosecutors deciding elections by testing the boundaries of abstruse statutes.Neither, however, do I believe in unilateral disarmament. There is at least as much basis for opening an FCPA investigation against the Bidens as for opening campaign-finance investigations against the Trumps. If I had my druthers, all of this nonsense would end. But as I detailed earlier this week, we have one candidate for the presidency -- a once-serious legal scholar and practitioner -- who publicly and straight-faced says Trump’s call with Zelensky could rate the death penalty. As we saw in the late 1990s, when Bill Clinton got to experience the independent-counsel statute up close and personal, maybe it takes Democrats being hoisted on their own petard before we finally say: This has to stop.

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A former diet cola addict built a $100m firm

Kara Goldin, the founder of US flavoured water company Hint, used to drink 10 cans of cola a day.

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Man Is Charged With Terrorism After Driving S.U.V. Through Illinois Mall

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Yankees Turn Their Focus to the Playoffs, and Stifling the Twins

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Ivory Coast Leader Wants to Hand Over Power to New Generation

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

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Democrats have a long list of possible witnesses in Trump impeachment inquiry

The list of people Democrats may seek information from regarding President Trump's attempt to obtain dirt on Joe Biden seems to grow by the minute.

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Iran releases photo of Khamenei with Hezbollah chief

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

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View 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat / Scat Pack Widebody Photos

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

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

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

Parents are accused of abandoning their adopted daughter and moving the rest of the family to Canada.

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Hong Kong’s ‘Frontliners’ Say They’re Ready to Die for the Movement

(Bloomberg) -- Fung, a 24-year-old doctor, seems an unlikely candidate to stand on the front line of Hong Kong’s most violent civil unrest in half a century. Before this year, he never took part in a protest, and during Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy uprising, the 2014 Umbrella Movement, he only stopped by to take photos.Now, Fung is part of a cell of 20 protesters who face off each weekend against police on the streets of Hong Kong in clashes that have escalated from peaceful marches to flying bricks, tear gas, Molotov cocktails and, more recently, live ammunition fired into the sky. Fung, who acquired bullet-resistant body armor to wear under his black T-shirt, says the violence needs to escalate even further if protesters are to persuade Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam -- and her backers in Beijing -- to accede to their demands.“If you can’t give pressure to police, the police won’t give any stress to Carrie Lam,” Fung said in an interview in his home. “We, the frontliners, always lose when facing those police. We never win.” He shows his armored vest. “Maybe someone will die next week. I hope the one getting shot is me, since I got this. But not all the frontliners have this to protect them.”Fung’s willingness to accept a potentially bloody escalation and his belief that the movement will ultimately succeed show that the weeks of clashes have created a hard core of determined teams of protesters whose tactics are shifting as clashes become militarized. Fung, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be quoted by their full name for fear of arrest in a city where merely participating in an unauthorized protest could mean years in prison.The front-line protesters’ hardhats, gas masks and black clothing have become the movement’s uniform, lionized in street art and internet memes. But their hard-line tactics have also divided the former British colony: More moderate protesters credit them with forcing concessions from a recalcitrant government, while Chinese officials denounce them as “rioters,” showing signs of terrorism.Even some opposition leaders warn that the radicals risk alienating support from investors and citizens inconvenienced and endangered by the chaos. More extreme tactics, including smashing train station windows, attacking police officers with batons and lighting bonfires in the streets have helped damage Hong Kong’s reputation as one of Asia’s safest big cities.After some hard-line demonstrators detained and beat two men they suspected of being undercover cops during a protest at the airport last month, some activists circulated a proposed code of conduct for front-line protesters, including no beating medical personnel or journalists, on social media forums.Police have escalated, as well, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and, one night last month, pointing their fire arms at a larger crowd of protesters who were attacking them with sticks. Lam told reporters earlier this week that it was “remarkable” that no one had died, although many protesters blame the government for suicides among demonstrators and are suspicious that authorities are withholding information on other serious injuries.Although the protests have tapered off in recent weeks, tensions could flare again as Hong Kong confronts two politically fraught dates: The fifth anniversary of the Occupy movement Saturday and the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday. Both occasions -- one the government would like to forget and other it plans to celebrate -- will be marked by protests just the same.One of the key principles of the movement has been to abandon their roadblocks once police move in -- summed up in the slogan “Be water.” But Fung argues that there need to be more protesters who will stand their ground and fight back. “Why don’t you give a fight?” he said.Such fearlessness is not universal.“You have to know when to run and when to fight,” said Vincent, a 26-year-old designer who first joined political protests in Hong Kong at the start of the Umbrella Movement, the last major pro-democracy movement in the city. “You can’t stand face-to-face against the police.” Asked how he responds when police move in to attack, he laughed. “Run faster!”Vincent and Fung are part of separate teams, highlighting the leaderless nature of the current wave of protests, which have continued since June, despite more than 1,500 arrests. Those arrests have included high-profile pro-democracy figures such as Joshua Wong, leading some protesters to wonder whether the police are trying to identify leaders where there aren’t any.“I agree with the small-group strategy,” said Vincent. “Every time there is a leader, the leader gets arrested.”Vincent and Fung reveal a highly decentralized structure, where groups of about 20 protesters operate independently, yet share information and often copy each other’s tactics. When a proposal is made between groups for violent action, the key principle is respect for others’ decisions, Fung said.“If it really works, maybe we’ll follow you. That’s the most important principle in this movement,” Fung said. “If someone sees, ‘O.K., when I throw the Molotovs, the police really step back -- it’s useful. Why don’t we make more?’ It’s why you see more and more Molotovs in the front line.”Police said on Sept. 2 that at least 100 petrol bombs had been used by protesters on the previous Saturday. Two days later, Lam announced her intention to formally withdraw the contentious extradition bill that originally sparked the protests.The move did little to reduce the unrest. The following weekend the subway station in the city’s central business district became a target for arson and another 80 petrol bombs were thrown, according to police.Although police have arrested hundreds of protesters, including some on a strict rioting charge that carries a sentence as long as 10 years, many end up back on the street while awaiting trial. Only 14% of those arrested had undergone judicial proceedings.Protesters have elevated their injured members into martyrs, including a woman who was allegedly struck on Aug. 11 by a police bean-bag round that penetrated her goggles and injured her right eye. Initial reports said she lost the eye, although the South China Morning Post newspaper later reported, citing a hospital source, that she retains at least some some sight in it.“‘Eye for an eye’ is not just a slogan,” Vincent said. “It will have to be a fact to frighten the police.”Like other demonstrators, Fung’s journey from passive bystander to frontline protester was triggered by the escalating violence. He said he only became a frontliner after July 21, when TV footage showed passengers at a train station being attacked by white-shirted mobs, with no apparent help coming from the police,“We can’t accept this; white-shirt gangsters hitting people,” Fung said. “And I can’t accept why police” delayed for 39 minutes.Police later defended the delay in responding to emergency calls as a consequence of their limited resources that night, given the large-scale protest that was ongoing in another district of Hong Kong.In more recent weeks, Chinese authorities have attempted to distinguish between more moderate protesters who mustered hundreds of thousands to march peaceful and the “few thugs” who adopt the frontliners’ tactics. Protesters see the shift as part of a “divide and rule” strategy, assuming that people will eventually tire of the radicals and turn against them.But the do or die attitude of frontliners like Fung and Vincent is based on a feeling that this could be the endgame for Hong Kong’s democratic struggle.“The failure of the Umbrella Revolution gave some kind of lesson,” Vincent said. “Everyone knows if you fail this time, there will not be another chance. That’s why Hong Kongers fight like they’re not afraid, because they realize that if they fail, the only thing waiting for them is worse than death.”After guns were pointed at the protesters in Tsuen Wan, Fung decided to buy body armor. He insists that the movement must go on until the five demands are met, but acknowledges that he has written a will.“I have already prepared to die in this movement,” he said.To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Mc Nicholas in Hong Kong at amcnicholas2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Adam MajendieFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Israel's Air Force Is Armed with F-35s and F-15s (And Now Supersonic Missiles)

How good are they?

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Senate Republicans have barely challenged Trump over Ukraine. Don't expect them to turn against him in an impeachment trial.

Barring more significant revelations, GOP senators are unlikely to support impeaching President Donald Trump,

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Mets’ Pete Alonso Breaks Rookie Home-Run Record

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‘You’re a Bad Police Officer’: Official Confronts Deputy at Awards Ceremony

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