We May Never See John Bolton’s Book

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Republican senator laments starkly partisan nature of the trial.

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New York Is Urged to Consider Surge Pricing for Taxis

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More American Troops Sustain Brain Injuries From Iran Missile Strike in Iraq

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Everyone Wants a Piece

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¿Hará el papa Francisco un milagro con la deuda de Argentina?

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Alexander asks about the differences in bipartisanship under Nixon and Trump.

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Day 9 of Trump’s Trial: Tedium and Tea-Leaf Reading

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Fred Silverman, 82, Is Dead; a TV Force When Three Networks Ruled

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Fotis Dulos, Connecticut Man Accused of Killing Jennifer Dulos, Is Dead

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Senators break for dinner.

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Navy SEAL Promoted After Choking Green Beret to Death

The U.S. Navy promoted Chief Petty Officer Tony DeDolph four months after he admitted to choking a Green Beret to death. DeDolph—who will be back in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing—was formally charged in November 2018 with felony murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, burglary, hazing, and involuntary manslaughter in the strangulation death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, a Special Forces soldier assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group.Melgar was nearing the end of his deployment when he was killed in the West African nation of Mali in June 2017. He was part of an intelligence operation in Mali supporting counterterrorism efforts against al Qaeda’s local affiliate, known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.Days after Melgar was strangled, DeDolph, at the time a petty officer first class, was sent back to his base in Virginia Beach under suspicion of murder. Despite that, DeDolph found himself on the promotion list for chief petty officer in August 2017; he was “frocked”—meaning he began wearing the insignia of the higher rank—on Sept. 15, 2017, according to defense officials. He didn’t start drawing chief’s pay until December.Slain Green Beret’s Widow Speaks: ‘I Knew They Were Lying’Three days before DeDolph’s promotion, the medical examiner’s report was signed. It concluded, based on a June 8, 2017, autopsy at Dover Air Force Base, that Melgar’s cause of death was asphyxiation and the manner of death was homicide, according to documents reviewed by The Daily Beast.A defense official familiar with the case said Naval Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as Seal Team 6, didn’t flag DeDolph because he was not formally charged or a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. He was a participant in the investigation but no charges were filed until November 2018.Retired Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, the former commander of Special Operations Command-Africa, told The Daily Beast this week that he authorized an investigation after he learned of Melgar’s death. Bolduc alerted Army Criminal Investigation Command and told commanders in Mali to preserve evidence. He didn’t understand why DeDolph was promoted when he returned to his unit in Virginia Beach.“It is another failure of leadership,” Bolduc said. “I mean senior leadership. It’s unfortunate. He should have never been promoted. The investigation was started right away. They whisked them out of there as fast as they could.”When asked if he was surprised by the news, Bolduc said no.“I’m disappointed,” he said. “But not surprised. It’s utter bullshit.”Navy prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Garcia declined to comment on the promotion because DeDolph is part of an ongoing investigation.“DeDolph has remained a member of Naval Special Warfare throughout this process,” said Navy Capt. Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman for Naval Special Warfare. “It is paramount that the rights of the service member are protected, thus any additional information regarding this case will not be discussed.”Phil Stackhouse, DeDolph's civilian attorney, did not return calls or text messages seeking comment. Melgar’s widow, Michelle, declined to comment on the story.DeDolph’s case is just one of several high-profile incidents that have exposed issues in the SEAL culture. Members of SEAL Team 7 were expelled from Iraq in 2019 after allegations of drinking and sexual assault. Six SEALs tested positive for cocaine last year. Then there’s the case of Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher, a former member of SEAL Team 7, who faced a court martial for war crimes charges including murder, but was convicted of posing for a picture with a dead body and granted clemency by President Trump in November 2019. Trump Tells Allies He Wants Absolved War Criminals to Campaign for HimSome of the same issues were present in Mali, where there was widespread alcohol use, partying, and prostitutes at the safehouse, according to sources familiar with the investigation. “It was like a frat house,” one source said, when asked to describe what the safe house in Bamako was like. In response to the recent incidents, Rear Adm. Collin Green, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, sent a memo last year to his subordinate units declaring the whole SEAL community has a problem.“Some of our subordinate formations have failed to maintain good order and discipline and as a result and for good reason, our NSW culture is being questioned,” Green wrote in the July 2019 memo. “I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately.”Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of Special Operations Command, ordered an ethics review last August following several high-profile incidents. He acknowledged in a memo to service members on Tuesday that “unacceptable conduct” had been allowed to occur as a result of “lack of leadership, discipline and accountability.” The 71-page report summing up the ethics review warned of what Clarke described as an emphasis on “force employment and mission accomplishment over the routine activities that ensure leadership, accountability, and discipline.”Chief Petty Officer Adam C. Matthews, who was in Mali doing an assessment of the mission there, testified in August he felt it was his duty to haze Melgar—on DeDolph’s recommendation—to teach him a lesson after Melgar “ditched” the team in Mali’s capital city of Bamako on his way to a party at the French embassy. Investigator of Green Beret’s Murder Had Romantic Relationship With Witness, Lawyer SaysDeDolph, Matthews and two Marine Raiders—Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez and Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell—spent the rest of the night plotting to choke Melgar into unconsciousness, pull his pants down and videotape the incident and then show it to him later to embarrass him. When Melgar became unresponsive, Matthews and DeDolph tried to resuscitate Melgar with CPR and opened a hole in his throat. The SEALS with Sergeant First Class James Morris, Melgar’s supervisor, then rushed Melgar to a French medical facility, where he was pronounced dead. At the clinic, DeDolph admitted to an embassy official he choked Melgar, according to NBC News and subsequent reports.Maxwell and Matthews have already pleaded guilty in exchange for plea agreements with prosecutors. Matthews, 33, pleaded guilty to hazing and assault charges and attempts to cover up what happened to Melgar. He was sentenced in May 2019 to one year in military prison. Maxwell, 29, was sentenced to four years of confinement after pleading guilty in connection with Melgar’s death in June 2019.DeDolph and Madera-Rodriguez are the last of the four men who carried out the attack to stand trial. Both men are expected to face courts martial this spring. An exact date has not been selected, according to Navy officials.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Iranian factory makes U.S. and Israeli flags to burn

Business is booming at Iran's largest flag factory which makes U.S., British and Israeli flags for Iranian protesters to burn. The factory produces about 2,000 U.S. and Israeli flags a month in its busiest periods, and more than 1.5 million square feet of flags a year. Tensions between the United States and Iran have reached the highest level in decades after top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3, prompting Iran to retaliate with a missile attack against a U.S. base in Iraq days later.

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Trial Date Set for Jeffrey Epstein Jail Guards

Two Manhattan jail guards charged with falsifying records after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell will face trial in June, a federal judge ruled Thursday.Tova Noel, 31, and Michael Thomas, 41, who worked inside Metropolitan Correctional Center’s (MCC) Special Housing Unit, are accused of failing to conduct mandated checks on inmates in the hours before the multi-millionaire sex-offender killed himself in August 2019. Both corrections officers have pleaded not guilty.In Manhattan federal court on Thursday, defense lawyers asked to delay the trial until October—a request U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres promptly denied. Torres set a trial date for June 22, despite the protestations of Noel’s lawyer, Jason Foy, who said the schedule would interfere with his family vacation. The defense attorneys also requested a later date because of what they described as “voluminous” discovery materials, including some they said they hadn’t received. “It’s necessary,” Foy told the court. “This isn’t about us laying back and taking our time.”Thomas’ attorney, Montell Figgins, added, “It took the federal government 90 days to investigate … it’s going to take us more than 90 days to do the same amount of work.”Indictment Against Jail Guards Reveals News Details From Jeffrey Epstein’s Final HoursFiggins also told Judge Torres he’d likely file a motion to dismiss the indictment due to selective prosecution, and that he needed to obtain a report from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General which, along with the FBI and Bureau of Prisons, was tasked with investigating Epstein’s death in a federal facility.Prosecutors had argued against delaying the trial—previously slated for April—which they said will last a week. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Lonergan said the facts in the criminal case only relate to a 14-hour period of time. “This is a very focused, single-incident indictment,” Lonergan said, adding that broader working conditions at MCC were “just not relevant.”Foy disagreed, saying MCC’s environs and alleged failures in security measures “are directly related” to his client’s case. (Both guards were working overtime shifts, and the union representing the officers told The Daily Beast that MCC is constantly understaffed, forcing some guards to work “mandatory overtime” shifts totaling 16 to 18 hours.)After Thursday’s court appearance, Figgins told reporters that the feds “want to put my client in jail for the same conduct that’s happening with other officers on a daily basis.” He said Thomas is on leave without pay pending an administrative hearing.He said his selective prosecution defense will center around the fact that other corrections officers within the Bureau of Prisons system, outside of the Epstein case, have also fallen short with required checks but without criminal consequences.The Bureau of Prisons allowed guards to work nearly 24 hours straight, creating a system where guards could fall asleep on the job, Figgins claimed; guards might end a shift only to be told they couldn’t go home for another eight hours because of staff shortages. “How can they allow that type of work to go on and not expect something like that [Epstein’s death] to happen?” he said.“Now when a billionaire dies, they want to make [Noel and Thomas] a scapegoat,” Figgins continued. He pointed out Noel and Thomas weren’t the only officers working the night before Epstein died; a lieutenant had to sign off on paperwork for their rounds, and a control room held other guards, too. “Why are these the only people charged?” Figgins asked.Last November, federal prosecutors charged Noel and Thomas each with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States. Noel is also charged with five counts of making false records, while Thomas was slapped with three counts of making false records. According to prosecutors, the corrections officers face five years in prison for each count of the charges.Prosecutors say the guards never conducted their mandated checks on inmates, including Epstein, on the night he hanged himself. “Instead, for substantial portions of their shifts, Noel and Thomas sat at their desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the common area of the SHU [Special Housing Unit],” the indictment alleged. “To conceal their failure to perform their duties, Noel and Thomas repeatedly signed false certifications attesting to having conducted multiple counts of inmates when, in truth and in fact, they never conducted such counts.”Epstein was found dead in his cell around 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10—one month after he was arrested for trafficking minor girls. He’d previously attempted to hang himself on July 23, officials said, but was taken off suicide watch after 24 hours. He was under psychological observation until July 30.  Later in August, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said a jail psychologist removed Epstein from suicide watch. In a letter to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Boyd said “a doctoral-level psychologist” had “determined that a suicide watch was no longer warranted.”According to the indictment, no SHU guards conducted counts from about 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 until Epstein’s body was discovered the next morning. Both Noel and Thomas had been working overtime shifts the day Epstein died. A cellmate of the multi-millionaire had been transferred out of MCC on Aug. 9, and “despite the MCC’s psychological staff’s direction that Epstein have a cellmate, no new cellmate was assigned to Epstein's cell,” the indictment stated.Noel worked a shift from 4 p.m. on Aug. 9 to 8 a.m. on Aug. 10, while Thomas started his shift at 12 a.m. on Aug. 10. They were the only corrections officers on duty in the Special Housing Unit from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Aug. 10, prosecutors say.The guards were collectively responsible for two prisoner checks on Aug. 9, at 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., as well as three checks on Aug. 10, at 12 a.m., 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.When a supervisor who’d just gotten to work responded to an alarm that went off in MCC at 6:33 a.m. on Aug. 10, Noel allegedly announced, “Epstein hung himself.” Noel was said to admit later, “We did not complete the 3 a.m. nor the 5 a.m. rounds.”“We messed up,” Thomas allegedly told a supervisor. “I messed up, she’s not to blame, we didn’t do any rounds.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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US hits Iran with new sanctions, keeps some waivers in place

The Trump administration said Thursday that it will continue — at least for now — its policy of not sanctioning foreign companies that work with Iran's civilian nuclear program. Brian Hook, U.S. envoy to Iran, said the U.S. would renew for 60 days sanctions waivers that permit Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran's civilian nuclear facilities without running afoul of U.S. sanctions.

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Trump, trying to head off testimony, says Bolton would have started 'World War Six'

As pressure mounts on senators to allow John Bolton’s testimony in President Trump’s impeachment trial, the president used Twitter to trash his former national security adviser.

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Erdogan Warns Russia Risks Split With Turkey on Syria Attack

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced rare recent criticism of Russia for its conduct in Syria, saying his “patience is running out” over the ongoing bombing of opposition Islamist forces in Idlib province.“As of now, Russia is loyal to neither Astana nor Sochi” agreements, Erdogan told reporters on his way back from a visit to African countries, according to Anadolu Agency.He was referring to accords struck by the two countries in recent years to curtail fighting in northern Syria. Russia and Turkey have stepped up their cooperation in the Syrian conflict while finding themselves on opposite sides of other Middle Eastern conflicts, such as the one in Libya.“If we are loyal partners, Russia will make its position clear,” Erdogan said. “Either it will have a different process with Syria, or it will have a different process with Turkey. There’s no other way.”The comments follow reports that Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, have taken control of Ma’arrat al-Nu’man, the biggest town in Idlib province. The strategically important area last changed hands in 2012, Anadolu reported on Wednesday.Russia responded to Erdogan’s comments by saying it’s committed to strictly implementing its obligations on Syria, the state-run Tass news service reported, citing the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.Millions of Syrians fleeing fighting in Syria over the years have headed for Turkey, and officials there have long warned of another major exodus as combat escalates in Idlib.(Updates with Russian Foreign Ministry in sixth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Firat Kozok in Ankara at fkozok@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Paul AbelskyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Mexican Narcos, More Brazen by the Day, Land Coke Plane on a Highway and Shoot a General

CALI, Colombia—Talk about a tough commute. Traffic was backed up for miles early Monday morning in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo after drug traffickers landed a twin engine prop plane on Highway 307, near the resort town of Bacalar.Mexican Police Chief Arrested in Mormon Massacre CaseThe flight—which originated in South America and had been tracked by radar since entering Mexican airspace—touched down at about 4:30 a.m. A task force led by the senior commander of military operations in that state moved out to intercept.When soldiers worked their way through the traffic jam caused by the plane they were met by a light cavalry force consisting of some 50 vehicles belonging to well-armed, ground-based accomplices who had been waiting for the delivery. The sicarios had also cut down roadside trees and signs to create a makeshift runway for the aircraft. By the time the army showed up, the traffickers already were hustling to offload more than a half ton of cocaine.In the pitched battle that followed, Mexican troops came under fire from military-grade weapons, including a high-powered .50 caliber sniper rifle. When the firefight was over the general in charge had been hit, his driver killed, and at least two more soldiers wounded. Two suspects were apprehended nearby. A portion of the contraband cargo, the .50 cal, a few other rifles, and two vehicles also were seized. The pilots and other traffickers, along with an unknown quantity of narcotics, apparently escaped.To make room for more marching powder, the plane had been gutted of all seats save the pilots’. Authorities retrieved 26 individually wrapped packages of cocaine in the raid, altogether weighing some 600 kilograms (1,320 pounds). Given that the average U.S. street price for the drug is about $96 per gram, that makes the captured haul worth some $57,600,000 dollars.Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a rather laconic statement later that day about the “confrontation,” confirming that the raid was indeed led by General José Luis Vásquez Araiza, who heads up the 34th military zone, and that “unfortunately they shot him.” Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquín González took to Twitter to offer his condolences to the soldiers and their families and to praise their “hard work and courage ensuring the security of Quintana Roo.”Boilerplate rhetoric aside, security in Quintana Roo is in relatively short supply of late, as cartels carry out turf wars in areas once safe for tourists. The Associated Press reported six people were killed in drug-related violence over the weekend in the popular beach town of Cancún, farther north on the same highway where the plane landed. This once placid region in southeast Mexico, near the border with Belize, is now part of a major smuggling corridor, which led to Quintana Roo’s murder rate nearly tripling in 2018. Though homicide rates fell slightly in 2019, decapitated and dismembered victims still draw unwelcome attention from the press, stoking fears that the steady stream of foreign visitors, so crucial to the local economy, might be scared away.The image of a drug plane blocking traffic on a national highway in broad daylight has drawn eyeballs throughout the hemisphere. But the incident also highlights just how bold and fearless the cartels have become.    * * *A GRIM NEW STANDARD* * *Most cocaine that enters the United States from South America makes a stopover in Mexico. It comes by land, sea, and air, in shipping containers and submarines and modified planes like the one captured this week. Cocaine production in the Andean nations is soaring, especially in Colombia, which now produces about 70 percent of the global supply. To enhance their profits, Mexican cartels have recently taken to importing raw coca paste and refining it in their own country, so as not to have to pay middlemen to cook it on site. As heroin and marijuana have steadily declined in value, thanks to synthetic opioids and legalization respectively, cocaine remains a more stable and valuable commodity—making the cartels “desperate” to obtain it, according to Robert Bunker, a security analyst with the U.S. Army War College.Why the Drug War Can’t Be Won—Cartel Corruption Goes All the Way to the TopWhat Bunker describes as “the cartels’ increasing brazenness” is also fueled by their growing power, it seems, to get away with just about anything, including colluding with senior Mexican officials. In the last month, U.S. prosecutors have charged two high-level Mexican national police officers with taking millions in bribes.  “They have become so used to operating with such high levels of impunity that this is becoming the new standard of their activities,”  Bunker told The Daily Beast.In reference to the airborne smuggling episode in Quintana Roo, a high-ranking source within one of Mexico’s cartels (who requested anonymity for security reasons) described the operation as daring to the point of being foolhardy.“I am surprised that a group with access to a plane and that amount of cocaine would land on a road instead of a more secure location,” the source said. He also said the tactics were “sloppy” and suggested the lack of “lookouts” and “exit routes” indicated the traffickers might be too cocky for their own good. “There should have been blockades ready in case they were under surveillance,” he said.Bunker said one of the more likely culprits behind the highway-as-tarmac plot is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel [CJNG]. Now one of the nation’s most powerful crime groups, the CJNG has been encroaching on Quintana Roo for the last few years, driving the surge in violence there.Bunker also said the presence of a .50 caliber rifle and other assault weapons is in line with the CJNG’s paramilitary profile. Additionally, one of the two men arrested at the scene was a Jalisco native.“The cartel unit was more than willing to go toe-to-toe with the Mexican armed forces in a tactical engagement,” said Bunker. That’s also in line with CJNG’s aggressive behavior, as the cartel has also shot down army helicopters and attacked military convoys in the past.* * *TROUBLE IN PARADISE* * *Quintana Roo isn’t the only tourist hotspot suffering from new and unusually high levels of violence in Mexico. Once the playground of Hollywood elites, Acapulco is now among the most dangerous cities in the Americas. Tijuana, on the border with California, was the site of a record-breaking 2,518 murders in 2018. Even Mexico City, long thought to be the safe-zone free from organized crime, has been rocked by gun battles among armed groups. Murders in Mexico reached an all-time high last year, with more than 35,500 victims.Part of the spike in killings is due to the cartel world fragmenting, meaning no one group can maintain order and hegemony—what Bunker calls a “Pax Mafiosa”—over its territory.Up until a few years ago, places like Quintana Roo had been relatively exempt from narco violence because government officials and powerful business owners—including wealthy investors from within established criminal organizations—wanted to keep the tourist dollars rolling in. But today’s new breed of next-gen narcos like the CJNG have shown themselves all too willing to challenge that hierarchy. In Quintana Roo, the move of CJNG into tourist safe havens “is slowly changing the ‘off-limits’ rules that once existed,” Bunker said.“These groups do not fear kicking over the old economic interests in Mexico or the power structure that exists behind them.”The cartel insider agreed that the security situation in places like Quintana Roo could continue to worsen.  “The narcos are getting bolder,” he said, “and it isn’t going to get better.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Get us out of here, plead foreign students at China virus epicenter

Foreign students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavurus outbreak, are launching social media campaigns, making phone calls and writing letters urging their governments to get them out as soon as possible. Governments globally are grappling with the challenge of how to get their citizens out of China's Hubei province, where 60 million residents now live under virtual lockdown. Pakistan said that quarantine regulations prevented it from flying out the more than 500 Pakistani students and their families from Wuhan.

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GOP wins handily a closely watched Texas special election

Republicans won handily a closely watched special election Tuesday to keep hold of a suburban Houston district that President Trump won easily four years ago, fending off a national blitz by Democrats in a Texas legislative race.

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Biden's campaign is reportedly seeking 'election-night alliances' with candidates who may not survive Iowa

Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign might be a little worried about Iowa.The first caucuses of the 2020 primary season are coming up in just four days, but Biden by no means has a lock on Iowa. So Biden's campaign is reaching out to lower-polling candidates in hopes of striking "election night alliances" to pick up their supporters if they don't make it past the first caucus ballots, Politico reports.Tom Steyer, the billionaire who's sitting at an average of 3.6 percent in the polls, was reportedly one of the targets of Biden's campaign. An aide to Steyer confirmed his campaign was approached by "multiple candidates," per Politico. Biden's team similarly talked with entrepreneur Andrew Yang's staffers, sources said. And three Biden staffers also "tentatively floated" a deal with a strategist for Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) campaign, The New York Times reported earlier this week. All the campaigns told Politico they'd "rebuffed advances" from other candidates.Biden's second-tier strategy isn't unusual for the Iowa caucuses. The state's system allows people who've supported candidates "who fail to reach 15 percent support in a precinct on the first ballot" to chose someone else for the next ballot, which eventually chooses the state's delegates, Politico writes. Yet it also makes it clear that Biden's campaign knows the Iowa race is far from settled. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Mitch McConnell's rare blunder John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi 7 witheringly funny cartoons about the GOP's John Bolton problem

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U.S. Farm Chief Presses EU to Throw Doors Open to American Foods

(Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signaled that a renewed transatlantic trade truce will require more ambitious European Union efforts to ease imports of American foods.Perdue criticized an idea being pursued by the bloc of a piecemeal accord that would scale back European regulatory barriers to individual American products such as shellfish, saying a U.S. farm-trade deficit with the EU of $10 billion to $12 billion was “unsustainable and unreasonable.”Instead, he said, Europe should reject the “political science of fear” over U.S. farm goods and ease market access for them in general.“We’re looking for real substance,” Perdue said from Rome on Thursday during a conference call with reporters. “It depends on recognizing international standards.”The comments challenge Europe’s better-safe-than-sorry approach to food safety -- a stance that has led to longstanding EU bans on hormone-treated beef and “chlorinated” chicken, and to a slow approval process in Europe for genetically modified foods.The remarks also highlight the obstacles to reviving a July 2018 transatlantic commercial truce. A fraying of that deal in recent months prompted U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen last week to pledge fresh efforts to reach a trade accord, which she said could also include matters related to energy and technology.Any failure could prompt an escalation in tit-for-tat tariffs that began in 2018 when Trump invoked national-security considerations to impose duties on steel and aluminum from Europe.Perdue described talks he held on Monday with EU officials in Brussels as “very productive.” And, while declining to speculate about the elements of any transatlantic farm deal because it is being handled in Washington by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Perdue held out the prospect of results within weeks.To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Nikos Chrysoloras, Peter ChapmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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विमान में यात्री साथ ले जा सकेंगे लाइसेंसी रिवाॅल्वर और 50 कारतूस, डीजीसीए ने एक साल के लिए दी मंजूरी

अनिल गुप्ता | भोपाल. हवाई यात्रा करने वाले पैसेंजर अब अपने सामान के साथ लाइसेंसी हथियार भी ले जा सकेंगे। यह रिवाॅल्वर, पिस्टल या शाॅट-गन हो सकती है। इन लाइसेंसी हथियार के साथ यात्री को असलहा यानी 50 कारतूस लेकर जाने की भी इजाजत होगी। नागर विमानन महानिदेशालय के डिप्टी डायरेक्टर सुनील कुमार ने यह देशभर के एयरपाेर्ट के लिए जारी किए हैं।

संभवत:पहली बार एेसा होगा, जब देश में विमान यात्रियों को हथियार ले जाने का परमिट मिलेगा। महानिदेशालय ने शर्तों के साथ एक साल के लिए यह मंजूरी जारी की है जो जनवरी 2020 से 31 दिसंबर 2020 तक रहेगी। बताया जा रहा है कि इस प्रयोग के अनुभव के बाद इसे नियमित रखने पर विचार होगा।

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Legal Pads, Photographs and a Podcast: How Senators Are Documenting Impeachment

By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2O6h7jy

10 held for protest bid on Lucknow outskirts

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BJP’s CAA campaign enters second phase, aims to reach out to 1 crore families in UP

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Grounded for long, Neeraj Chopra gets wings

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Anger, anguish as Congress govt stops Emergency pension

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Youth creates 20 fake profiles of woman on Instagram, held

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Make education relevant to social needs, says UGC chief in MSU

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Gujarat University: Back to college after 30 yrs, out with 4 gold medals

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Last lap, BJP mines Shaheen Bagh while AAP works to steer clear

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India vs New Zealand: People’s choice Award to pacer who gave 1 run in the last 4 balls

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Miandad x 2: Rohit Sharma brings back memories of Pakistan legend’s famous Sharjah heroics

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DRDO ‘keen on’ setting up technology centre at Gujarat University

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Jitu Vaghani: Congress should declare if it is with anti-nationals

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Gujarat: Anti-CAA protests turn violent in Surat, cop injured

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Agriculture as solution

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Four airlines ban Kunal Kamra for 6 months, rules say 30 days until probe

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What Budget 2020 can do to make healthcare more accessible

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Price Recovery: Not peanuts any more

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‘About 16% of potatoes produced in country dumped as waste’

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Gujarat: ‘Exotic’ red potatoes to be grown in state

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Railway electrification work in PM’s hometown done in 8 months

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Coronavirus outbreak: Hong Kong scientist who isolated SARS in 2003 says Wuhan milder

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Coronavirus outbreak: IndiGo, Air India suspend flights to China

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Venezuelan police capture fugitive Colombian senator who fled via dentist's office

Venezuelan special police detained a fugitive Colombian former senator who had illegally crossed the border, the force's chief said, four months after she escaped custody by climbing out of her dentist's office in Bogota. Aida Merlano, a former Conservative senator who was imprisoned last year for vote buying, made her theatrical escape in October, lowering herself with a rope and fleeing on the back of a delivery motorcycle. Jose Dominguez, head of Venezuela's FAES Special Action Force, wrote on his Instagram account late on Monday that officers detained her in the city of Maracaibo, capital of western Zulia state by the Colombian border.

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'My alarm bells went off': One witness offers his account of Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash

Scott Daehlin, who witnessed Kobe Bryant's fatal crash, said he heard the helicopter hovering in low cloud cover seconds before it crashed.

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The Latest: Fuss over Thai navy officers' return from China

A Thai navy spokesman says 20 officers sent to Wuhan to oversee construction of Thailand's first new submarine have returned home after the Chinese city was locked down to try to contain a viral outbreak. Navy spokesman Vice Adm. Prachachart Sirisawat said Tuesday the officers had left Wuhan during the Lunar New Year holiday at the shipyard where they were stationed. An expert says the sharp rise in the number of infections in a virus outbreak in China suggests there has been significant human-to-human spread of the virus.

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George Conway suggests Trump's impeachment lawyers knew exactly what was in Bolton's book

President Trump's impeachment defenders may have known the John Bolton bombshell was coming.After Sunday's report indicating Bolton's forthcoming book would allege Trump blatantly suggested withholding aid from Ukraine, Democrats have only strengthened their calls for a Bolton impeachment testimony, and some Republicans have drifted to their side. A Bolton testimony would be "devastating to Trump" — and his lawyers' opening arguments show they expected it all along, George Conway argues in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday. Conway is the husband of Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway and, unlike his wife, is constantly criticizing Trump and calling for his impeachment. He's been watching the Senate impeachment trial, and observed in his Post op-ed that so far, the president's lawyers have yet to mention the former national security adviser. "There's no need to speculate why," Conway wrote: "The news about what's in Bolton's forthcoming book is out — and it shows that his testimony would be devastating to Trump."The fact that Trump's defenders didn't bring up Bolton is further proof of Trump's wrongdoing, Conway continues to argue. "At least some members of the president's defense team have known exactly what Bolton would say if called to the stand," Conway theorizes: That Trump wanted to halt security assistance to Ukraine until it promised to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. "Quid. Pro. Quo," Conway succinctly sums it up.Read all of Conway's opinion at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi It's 2020 and women are exhausted All the president's turncoats

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Iran lawmakers call for debate on quitting nuclear arms treaty

A group of Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday asked parliament to debate a motion for Iran to quit a treaty governing global nuclear arms control, a move apparently aimed at pressuring European powers to salvage Tehran's own 2015 nuclear deal. A report on the assembly's news site ICANA said a minimum number of MPs had signed a request to parliament's managers to arrange a debate on the motion for Iran to take the far-reaching step of leaving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week that Iran could withdraw from the NPT if European countries refer the country to the U.N. Security Council over the 2015 deal, a move that would overturn diplomacy in Tehran's turbulent relations with Western powers.

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The USS Ford is in the Atlantic for first-of-its-kind aircraft testing — here's what the Navy is learning about its new carrier

Four kinds of Navy aircraft are getting their first go-round on takeoff and landing systems that only the USS Gerald R. Ford has.

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US says mystery crash in Afghanistan was US Air Force plane

An American military aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said, adding that there were no indications so far it'd been brought down by enemy fire. The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Col. Sonny Leggett, said that the military plane, a Bombardier E-11A, crashed in the Ghazni province and an investigation of its causes was ongoing. Monday's plane crash is not expected to derail U.S.-Taliban peace talks if it turns out to have been an accident.

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CDC Splits With China on Coronavirus Spread as Possible U.S. Cases Hit 110

As authorities in China scrambled to handle a coronavirus that has killed at least 81 people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday described a surging potential crisis even as they pushed back on the latest thinking from Beijing about just how easily it spreads.Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters that the number of confirmed cases stateside had reached five—and that there had been a total of 110 “persons under investigation” for the virus in 26 states over the past week.Thirty-two of those people tested negative, and there had been no confirmed person-to-person transmissions inside the country, Messonnier said on Monday. The confirmed cases in the U.S. include patients in Orange County, California; a man in his 30s in Washington state; a woman in her 60s in Chicago; a passenger who felt ill after flying into Los Angeles International Airport; and a student at Arizona State University who does not live in university housing, the CDC said on Sunday. All of the U.S. cases appeared to involve patients who had recently traveled from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the deadly virus. Seventy-three people were still being evaluated for the virus as of Monday.Fifth U.S. Case of Coronavirus Confirmed in Patient Who Traveled From Wuhan, China“We understand that many people in the United States are worried about this virus and how it will affect Americans,” Messonnier said, adding that “risk depends on exposure,” which for Americans remained “low” on Monday.In each U.S. case, health officials have said they will trace the patient’s contacts and identify anyone who may have had prolonged exposure, then monitor those individuals for symptoms. In the U.S., anyone who has had close contact with confirmed patients has not been quarantined unless and until they display symptoms.That policy came into question over the weekend, when China’s health minister Ma Xiaowei said “the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger” and that authorities in that country now believe the virus can spread during the incubation period—even before infected patients become symptomatic. A study published last week in the journal Lancet appeared to bolster that contention.But Messonnier said the CDC had not seen “any clear evidence of patients being infectious before symptom onset” as of Monday, even if authorities in the U.S. “are being very aggressive and very cautious in tracking close contacts” of infected individuals.“This outbreak is unfolding rapidly, and we are rapidly looking at how that impacts our posture at the border,” said Messonnier. “I expect that in the coming days, our travel recommendations will change.”Experts said that even as statements from Chinese health officials had to be viewed through a political lens, outright dismissal of asymptomatic transmission was premature.Eric Toner, a senior scientist with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the University’s School of Public Health, called the question “nuanced.” “It’s hard to know why the [Chinese] minister was so sure,” said Toner. “The evidence we have seen is quite suggestive of pre-symptomatic transmission, at least in some people, but not conclusive. He may have information that we do not.”For now, officials were still screening passengers at five American airports: Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Of course, fewer travelers are coming out of Wuhan in the wake of a travel lockdown late last week; Messonnier said the CDC had screened approximately 2,400 people in those airports so far but that “the number of people coming from Wuhan is declining.”Though Chinese authorities halted travel from Wuhan to stop the spread of the virus, the U.S. is among several countries—including France and Russia—that were given special permission to evacuate diplomats and private citizens. In addition to the 81 dead in China—76 of whom reportedly lived in Wuhan—nearly 3,000 people across the world, including a 9-month-old baby girl in Beijing, had confirmed cases of the virus as of Monday morning. Aside from the five cases in the U.S., more have been reported in Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, Macau, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, France, Canada, Vietnam, and Nepal. There had been no deaths from the virus reported outside of China as of Monday morning. But the new fatalities in that country over the weekend, including an 88-year-old man in Shanghai, stoked fears that the government had failed to contain the infection’s spread. Beijing announced Monday morning that it would push back the official end of the Lunar New Year holiday to Thursday from Sunday in order to “reduce mass gatherings” and “block the spread of the epidemic,” according to a statement from China’s cabinet.Meanwhile, Wuhan’s mayor, Zhou Xianwang, on Monday offered to step down, along with the city’s party secretary, Ma Guoqiang, in order to “appease public indignation.” He said the pair were prepared to take responsibility for the crisis after days of public outcries from citizens, on social media and elsewhere.“Our names will live in infamy, but as long as it is conducive to the control of the disease and to the people’s lives and safety, Comrade Ma Guoqiang and I will bear any responsibility,” Zhou reportedly said Monday.Dr. Adrian Hyzler, chief medical officer for Healix International, which provides medical information to travelers, told The Daily Beast the CDC will know much more about how easily the virus spreads once the incubation period—estimated at a maximum of 14 days—has passed in the five U.S. cases. “If, as the Chinese are saying, patients are contagious before symptoms develop, then it is much harder to control,” he said.Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the CDC cleared 32 people who tested negative for the virus out of 110 potential cases.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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Labour Front-Runner Starmer Warns Brexit Risks Breaking Up U.K.

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.Keir Starmer, the front-runner to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, said Brexit risks breaking up the U.K. as he called for a “radical” redistribution of power to towns and regions.In a series of broadcast interviews on Monday, Starmer, the party’s Brexit spokesman, said politicians have spent the past three years arguing about what sort of divorce agreement to strike with the European Union, without focusing on the underlying causes of Brexit. That risks creating a “vacuum” that’s filled by nationalism, he said.“There’s a very deep feeling, and this did come out in the referendum, that the power, the wealth, the resource, the opportunities are all in London and they’re not in the regions: We’ve got got address that,” Starmer told Sky News. He then told the BBC: “We are at risk of watching the breakup of the United Kingdom.”The U.K. is due to leave the EU on Friday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson stormed to an 80-seat majority last month, enabling him to push his withdrawal agreement through Parliament. With 2020 set to be dominated by negotiations on the shape of future economic ties with the bloc, the premier has also said he’s keen to move onto domestic priorities including the health service, public transport and policing.But Starmer argued that people around the U.K. want to see more decisions being taken locally. He said in an emailed statement he plans to tour the U.K. during the leadership contest -- scheduled to end on April 4 -- arguing “for a radical redistribution of power, wealth and opportunity based on a new federal structure.”Power Monopoly“We need to end the monopoly of power in Westminster and spread it across every town, city, region and nation of the United Kingdom,” Starmer said.Starmer’s message chimes with that of Lisa Nandy, another candidate for the leadership, whose campaign -- focused on empowering towns -- has turned her into a genuine contender in the contest.Starmer, Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey -- viewed as Corbyn’s preferred successor -- have all crossed the threshold of support from unions, affiliated groups and local parties they need to make it onto the final ballot paper, while the party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Emily Thornberry, has until Feb. 14 to get there.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Robert Hutton, Thomas PennyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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How to Prevent Coronavirus? Wash Your Hands

By BY ELISABETH ROSENTHAL from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/318i7sL

Explained: India’s imports of palm oil — dynamics of the trade with Malaysia

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Corrupt govt, ashamed to be part of it: JJP MLA

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Pune Municipal Corporation likely to explore possibility of owning reservoir, says civic chief

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Changed landscape of biotech sector, fiercely committed to India, says Department of Biotechnology secretary Dr Renu Swarup

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Shaurya Chakra awardee fighter pilot from Pune part of Republic Day flypast

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Pune: NIV rules out presence of novel coronavirus in 22 samples, says Officials

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How Budget 2020 can boost affordable housing

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Pawar kin’s firm at centre of police probe into sugar factory purchase

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Under-19 World Cup: Small-town boy Kartik Tyagi’s big leap

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Kamra heckles Arnab on board IndiGo, put on no-fly list; A-I follows suit

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Govt ringfences ‘prudent commercial decisions’ of top public sector bankers

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Under-19 World Cup: How Atharva Ankolekar tricked mother before his first game

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Ranji Trophy: Delhi pay the price for indisciplined batting

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Gantz Makes the Best of Being a Third Wheel at the White House

By BY ANNIE KARNI AND DAVID M. HALBFINGER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2O3Beio

A quick dinner break for Chick-fil-A and a podcast plug.

By BY PATRICIA MAZZEI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2RAjgGB

What Do We Owe the Dead?

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Sketches capture the action in the Senate.

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‘It’s a Done Deal’

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Listen Up, Liberals: You Aren’t Doing Politics Right

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Why the W.N.B.A. Loved Kobe Bryant

By BY TALIA CALDWELL from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2RYnlTG

In Iowa, Biden says he has nothing to defend.

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Explained: Why China has emerged as the epicentre of global outbreaks of disease

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CAA, NRC are BJP’s Hindutva project for 2024, says Prithviraj Chavan

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Departure announcement

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Explained: Why some states have Vidhan Parishads, why AP doesn’t want one

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Centre signs pact with Assam, Bodo outfits for ‘permanent solution’

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Execute Centre’s public schemes: I&B Joint Secy

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Water shortage: PCMC says will not restore daily supply, NCP to approach Ajit Pawar

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Sarfaraz Khan: A dangal against adversity

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US alert for India: 25,000 child porn cases uploaded in five months

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Bengal fourth state to pass resolution against CAA

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Maharashtra: Onion prices see downward trend as chorus grows for exports

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Pune: SPPU to host two-day investor meet from Jan 31

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The Kobe Bryant’s shot that wouldn’t fade away — his Fadeaway

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EU distances itself from its lawmakers’ anti-CAA move: Not our official position

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Implementation of BRTS likely to be reviewed: PMC chief

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6 Revelatory Moments From the Video of Trump’s Private Donor Dinner

By BY AIMEE ORTIZ, MICHAEL LEVENSON AND MIHIR ZAVERI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/36t8Dt5

French State’s Legal Adviser Warns Macron on Pension Reform

(Bloomberg) -- Explore what’s moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.France’s supreme administrative jurisdiction warned there are gaps in the financial forecasts of President Emmanuel Macron‘s pension reform and said that it can’t guarantee the legal certainty of the bills his cabinet approved on Friday.The criticism from the Council of State, which has an advisory role to the government, is a blow to Macron as he attempts a systemic overhaul of the nation’s pension system in the face of mass protests and strikes.It may galvanize the opposition to the pension reform, which had been easing in recent days as the Paris public transport system resumed to an almost normal service and turnout at marches was lower than at the peak.“I’ve never read such a negative study from the Council of State,” Valerie Rabault, leader of the socialist opposition at the National Assembly, said in a post on Twitter.The council’s overarching complaint is that it had insufficient time and “serenity” to guarantee the “legal security” of its examination of the pension bills.“This situation is all the more regrettable because the bills lead to a reform of the pension system that is unprecedented since 1945 and aims to transform for decades to come a system that is a major component of the social contract,” the council said.Regarding the financial impact of the reform, the council had already warned the government that its studies were insufficient. But an expanded investigation that the government submitted on Jan. 15 “is still incomplete,” it said, and more analysis is needed of how the pension reform could affect employment rates of senior workers and the unemployment welfare system.To contact the reporter on this story: William Horobin in Paris at whorobin@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Kasper ViitaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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What's new in the China virus outbreak

Almost 2,000 cases of a new viral respiratory illness have been confirmed since an outbreak began last month in the Chinese city of Wuhan. ___ The National Health Commission said the number of confirmed cases in China rose to nearly 2,000 and the death toll, to 56. All had traveled to Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak.

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China stiffens its defences against epidemic as death toll hits 56

China on Sunday expanded drastic travel restrictions to contain a viral epidemic that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000, as the United States, France and Japan prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreak's epicentre. China has locked down the hard-hit province of Hubei in the country's centre in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people to slow the spread of the respiratory illness. The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

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The US government will reportedly evacuate its diplomats and citizens from Wuhan on a chartered plane amid the coronavirus outbreak

A chartered Boeing 767 will transport US diplomats, citizens, and their families from Wuhan to some location in the US, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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From 'Trump train' to 'Yang Gang': Meet the conservatives and swing voters who have fallen hard for Andrew Yang

"We're not voting blue no matter who. We're Yangocrats," Russell Peterson, a former Trump supporter turned hardcore Yang backer, told Insider.

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Jeff Bezos’s girlfriend gave Amazon boss’s ‘flirtatious texts’ to brother who leaked to National Enquirer, report claims

Text messages allegedly sent by Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos may have been sold to tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer by his girlfriend’s brother, according to sources quoted by The Wall Street Journal.According to the paper, federal prosecutors are examining messages, including at least one photograph, first sent by the world’s richest man to news reporter Lauren Sanchez, with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

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