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Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing an unwelcome new financial challenge in Syria after the U.S. pullback enabled his ally Bashar Assad to reclaim the biggest chunk of territory in the country still outside his control.

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Authorities say a man was arrested and accused of arson after a crew responded to a report of a wildfire in Northern California. A CalFire statement said engine crews were able to quickly contain the small fire in the Sonoma County community of Geyserville and identified a potential suspect. Authorities reported progress Wednesday in battling the Kincade fire in Sonoma County that started last week outside of Geyserville and forced the evacuation of the entire community, home to about 900 people.

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American Airlines' flight attendants union still has safety concerns about the Boeing 737 MAX and is demanding an active role in the relaunch of the grounded aircraft, its president told Boeing Co's chief executive in a letter seen by Reuters. "The 28,000 flight attendants working for American Airlines refuse to walk onto a plane that may not be safe and are calling for the highest possible safety standards to avoid another tragedy," Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Lori Bassani said in the letter.

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Cybersecurity experts told NBC that Giuliani going to a third-party location for technical help violated basic security protocols.

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Israeli forces on Thursday rearrested a Palestinian lawmaker who was freed in February after being held without trial for 20 months over links to an outlawed leftist group, her daughter said. "My mother Khalida Jarrar was arrested from our house in Ramallah" at about 3:00 am (0100 GMT), Jarrar's daughter Yafa posted on Facebook. Spokespeople for Israel's Shin Bet security service, which generally directs such arrests, could not immediately be reached for comment.

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A Moroccan appeals court upheld, late on Wednesday, death sentences against three Moroccan men for murdering two Scandinavian women in the Atlas mountains last December. A fourth man was also handed capital punishment after he was sentenced to life in prison by an anti-terrorism court on July 18. The other three were handed death sentences at the time.

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California's Sonoma wine country dealt with destructive wildfires in 2017. Here's how one winery is dealing with 2019's Kincade Fire.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi is subverting rule of law, write former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

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The Kentucky Supreme Court handed a victory Thursday to Lexington promotional print shop owner Blaine Adamson.

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Residents of a San Francisco Bay Area housing complex for seniors encountered pitch-black stairwells and hallways, and elevators that shut down during a two-day power outage aimed at preventing wildfires.

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The Security Council has voted unanimously to keep the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in hopes the new civilian-led government can restore peace, and the troops can be replaced by civilians who focus on the country's development.

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A former top White House aide tells impeachment investigators he saw nothing illegal in Trump's call with Ukraine president.

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Snow has forced the cancellation of more than 300 flights at Chicago's international airports on Halloween and Midway cancelled 126 flights.

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Philadelphia center Joel Embiid and Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns have each been suspended two games without pay for an on-court altercation and continued escalation.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would end Cameroon's preferential trade benefits from Jan. 1, citing what he...

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SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean fire department helicopter carrying seven people crashed into the sea off the disputed islets of Dokdo on late...

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Federal prosecutors say high-ranking United Auto Workers officials conspired to steal $1.5 million from the union.

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Northern California police say they are investigating the death of a man shot by officers Thursday.

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Two Californians who were caught with nearly 22 pounds of methamphetamine during a traffic stop in southern Wyoming have been sentenced.

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A lawyer has entered not guilty pleas on behalf of a man charged with terrorism and criminal damage to property for driving an SUV through a suburban Chicago shopping mall.

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Subtropical Storm Rebekah is losing organization is it spins far out over the Atlantic Ocean.

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A federal appeals court says the Trump administration can't require Los Angeles police to cooperate with immigration agents in order to receive public safety grants.

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Authorities say a mother shot her three young children before shooting herself in their suburban Houston home.

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Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield says he's 'frustrated' by losing, abruptly ends interview session.

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An advocacy group wants an ambitious set of Arizona elections reforms on the 2020 ballot.

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Malaysian financier to give up claims to hundreds of millions of dollars in settlement with US government.

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After calories were added to fast-food menus, people in three US states cut back a little bit on what they ordered. But it didn't last.

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Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch is all for letting the young kids play loud and celebrate.

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TOKYO (Reuters) - A fire broke out at Shuri Castle, a World Heritage Site on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, early on Thursday, completely...

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Authorities say a fire chief in east-central Arizona who was reported missing after a hike has been located and doesn't appear to be injured.

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An informant who provided crucial details on the movements of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader killed in a US commando raid, is likely to scoop up some or all of a $25 million reward, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The Post said the informant was a well-placed Islamic State operative who facilitated al-Baghdadi's movements around Syria and helped oversee the construction of his Syrian hideout.

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The shark attack occurred in Hook Passage in the Whitsunday Islands off Australia's Queensland coast, rescuers say.

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Cody Rodriguez never went to sleep the night two years ago when wildfire roared out of tinder-dry hills in Northern California wine country, trapping people unaware in their homes and forcing thousands of panicked residents to flee in the dark. "It has brought a lot of anxiety," Rodriguez said outside an evacuation center Sunday at Napa Valley College.

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How could that happen?

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From budgeting for rural weddings to dressing appropriately and avoiding online porn, China's Communist Party has issued new guidelines to improve the "moral quality" of its citizens. Officials have released several sets of guidelines this week alongside a secretive conclave of high-ranking officials in Beijing which discusses the country's future direction. Public institutions like libraries and youth centres must carry out "targeted moral education" to improve people's ideological awareness and moral standards, according to the rules.

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A US government official has reportedly told politicians leading the impeachment hearings against Donald Trump that she was urged by a Republican-linked lobbyist to remove the US ambassador to Ukraine from her post, as the president's allies launched a smear campaign against her.Catherine Croft, a Ukraine expert who worked at the US State Department, said she was repeatedly contacted by lobbyist Robert Livingston about ousting Marie Yovanovitch, according to prepared remarks obtained by NPR.

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A gunman who opened fire from an alley into a party killed three people and wounded nine others in California before fleeing in a vehicle, police said Wednesday. Police Chief Robert Luna called the shooter a coward and urged residents to come forward with any information that might lead to an arrest. Three men were killed, and seven women and two men were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds.

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One reason: nuclear weapons.

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(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Matteo Salvini is back with a vengeance.The leader of Italy’s right-wing League had disappeared from the political limelight after he tried and failed to force a new election in August, falling out of government. A triumph in a local election on Sunday shows he’s primed for a return.Italy’s right-of-center coalition — made up of the League, the Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia — stormed to victory in the small central region of Umbria, traditionally a stronghold of the left. A number of local scandals assisted the parties in pulling off their unprecedented win. But the result is a warning shot to the ruling Democratic Party and Five Star Movement, and a sign that Salvini remains extremely popular with voters.In the past two months the left-of-center Democrats and their populist coalition partners Five Star have reassured international investors that Italy has no intention of clashing with the European Union (as it did under Salvini’s rule), let alone of leaving the single currency. A prudent budget has helped slash the country’s borrowing costs, pushing 10-year bond yields to 1%. But the two parties have failed to strike a chord with the electorate, as the budget also included tax hikes and new administrative burdens, some of which had to be reversed.The Democrats and Five Star have spent much of their time in government arguing with each other, leaving voters to wonder what they can achieve. These divisions have given Salvini heart after a difficult summer. The League leader had pulled the plug on the previous League-Five Star coalition government as he’d hoped this would trigger an election. He was outmaneuvered by his opponents and saw his poll ratings dip.Since then he has regrouped, rebuilding an alliance with his former partners in Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the far right Brothers of Italy, and attacking the government for its tax hikes. The League is now back at about 33% in the polls and the right of center parties look on course for an absolute majority in any future election.The “yellow-red” coalition between Five Star and the Democrats always looked like a bad idea. The two parties had spent years trading insults, especially after Five Star teamed up with the League. It would have been better to have given Salvini his election this year. He would have almost certainly won, but that would have provided a true test of governing alone.The League would have had to resolve its ambiguity over Italy’s membership of the euro, a vagueness it was allowed to maintain so long as it was (in name at least) the junior partner to Five Star in government. The Democrats and other parties would have had time to build a credible alternative from opposition.Five Star and the Democrats have a difficult road ahead. Luigi Di Maio, Five Star’s leader, is presiding over a number of internal revolts after his party slumped below 10% in Umbria. Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of the Democrats, faces an equally tough challenge from his predecessor Matteo Renzi, who has set up his own centrist party and could destabilize the government. Fear of Salvini is keeping this coalition together but that won’t be enough to glue together a cohesive and resolute governing agenda.Italy has found a short-term fix to the risk of market instability through this coalition government, but it is not a long-term solution. Slow growth, towering debt and highly uncertain politics will continue to daunt Rome.To contact the author of this story: Ferdinando Giugliano at fgiugliano@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Ferdinando Giugliano writes columns on European economics for Bloomberg Opinion. He is also an economics columnist for La Repubblica and was a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Not only have the U.S. and foreign governments spent money at properties owned by Donald Trump, but the president’s own political campaign and affiliated political committees have also spent about $16.8 million at his businesses since he launched his 2016 bid for the presidency, according to an analysis of federal election spending records.

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The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down California's "sanctuary law," which hinders cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.The administration is challenging several provisions in the California Values Act, or S.B. 54. The law prohibits officials from sharing information with ICE about a suspect's release from custody, eliminating any opportunity for ICE agents to take illegal immigrants into custody before they are released from local jails. It also prohibits local law-enforcement officers from sharing physical descriptions of suspects with immigration authorities."The practical consequences of California’s obstruction are not theoretical; as a result of SB 54, criminal aliens have evaded the detention and removal that Congress prescribed, and have instead returned to the civilian population, where they are disproportionately likely to commit additional crimes," the Trump administration argued in its petition, which was filed Monday.While the provisions of S.B. 54 do not technically apply to suspects with a violent criminal history, since the law effectively prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, immigration officials must stake out jails and police stations to await the release of non-citizen suspects from custody, and only then make arrests.Last week at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ICE official Timothy Robbins claimed that the Los Angeles police department was releasing as many as 100 illegal immigrants per day from custody."Cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies is critical to the agency’s efforts to identify and arrest removable aliens, and to protect the nation’s security,” Robbins said at the time. “Unfortunately, we are seeing more jurisdictions that refuse to work with our officers, or directly impede our public safety efforts."

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(Bloomberg) -- Ten days of riots, protests and reprisals claimed their first political victims Monday as Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera fired eight ministers, including the biggest hitters in the cabinet.The interior, finance and economy ministers were all dismissed, with Pinera naming a younger, more centrist team to convince protesters that their voice has been heard.A wave of riots, looting and protests has caused more than a billion dollars of damage this month, before spawning the largest peaceful demonstration in the country’s history. Yet, today’s announcement is unlikely to placate a movement that has demands ranging from tax reform to constitutional change, via the resignation of the billionaire president himself.“These have been difficult days,” Pinera said at a ceremony in the presidential palace. “Our government has heard the loud and clear message of the Chilean people who want a more fair and more inclusive society.”The president’s approval rating slumped to 14% last week as the protests all but paralyzed the country’s largest cities, according to a survey by pollster Cadem. Opposition lawmakers have announced a constitutional accusation against Pinera on the grounds of human rights violations.Outgoing CousinPinera appointed Gonzalo Blumel as interior minister and Ignacio Briones as finance minister.Briones is dean of the school of government at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez. He has a PhD in political economy from Institut d´Etudes Politiques de Paris and was a senior adviser to the Finance Minister during Pinera’s first term in office.“I have a very positive opinion of Briones as an academic and an expert in public policy, but he doesn’t have much experience in the political arena and this may eventually show,” said Tomas Izquierdo, an economist and chief executive officer of research firm Gemines Consultores.Today’s firings also included Andres Chadwick, the interior minister and Economy Minister Juan Andres Fontaine.Chadwick was a particular source of anger because of the violent suppression of the protests and the fact he is Pinera’s cousin. His replacement, Blumel, 41, was until now minister of the presidency, coordinating the passing of government bills with Congress.Fontaine was another target of protesters after remarking that to avoid the higher subway prices, people should just get up earlier to take the subway at non-peak hours. A study earlier this year showed that Santiago residents face commutes as long as two hours.Mounting AngerThe firings are unlikely to quell mounting anger over how Pinera has dealt with the protests. More than 1,000 people have been injured and over 3,000 arrested, according to the Chilean Human Rights Institute. Police and the armed forces between them are responsible for five deaths for which it is bringing homicide charges, the institute said on Oct. 22.Protests resumed in front of the government’s Moneda palace after the announcement, according to images on TV.“Chileans have been marching against Pinera’s agenda and the new interior minister is precisely the person that was in charge of pushing that agenda,” said Yasna Provoste, a senator for the opposition Christian Democrats party. “Pinera’s government just can’t get a grasp of the citizens’ demands.”The extent of the protests shows the challenge facing Pinera’s center-right government. Pinera initially tackled the violence as a law-and-order matter, stating the country was at war with criminals. That only made things worse. He then apologized for failing to recognize genuine grievances and announced measures including raising taxes for high-income earners and lifting basic pensions.While more than 600 supermarkets have been looted, the occurrence of serious violence has slowed. Losses for Chile’s retail sector due to looting and lost sales reached $1.4 billion since the protests began, according to the Santiago Chamber of Commerce.Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, now the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she would send a team to look into allegations of human-rights violations, a move the government welcomed.(Updates with comment from opposition senator in 13th paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Eduardo Thomson in Santiago at ethomson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Philip SandersFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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An elected official in Arizona was suspended Monday after he was charged with running a human smuggling scheme that brought pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. to give birth and then paid them to give up their children for adoption. Leaders in Arizona's most populous county suspended Assessor Paul Petersen without pay for 120 days. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors doesn't have the power to permanently remove him from his office, which determines the value of properties for tax purposes in Phoenix and its suburbs.

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Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos GettyIt’s been more than two months since Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, but the investigation into possible accomplices is still very much alive. In recent days, federal prosecutors probing the financier’s sex-trafficking ring have been asking Epstein victims if they could serve as witnesses in the criminal case they are building.Representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York traveled to Florida for an Oct. 15 meeting with several of Epstein’s victims and their counsel. The staffers, who worked in the victim services unit, held a similar meeting in New York on Oct. 23, lawyers for the women and a law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.Two people familiar with the investigation said that prosecutors have heard from “dozens” of witnesses or victims since Epstein’s arrest in July.Following Epstein’s death in August, which was ruled a suicide by hanging, the Department of Justice said that it would continue to investigate anyone who helped Epstein procure underage girls or helped him to cover up crimes. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on where the probe stands, only saying that the “investigation is continuing.”The Biggest Bombshells in Newly Unsealed Epstein DocumentsSpencer Kuvin, a Palm Beach attorney who represents two women who were abused by Epstein, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York offered counseling services to the group of victims who gathered in Miramar, Florida.The representatives also worked to debunk conspiracy theories, which the victims have encountered online, related to Epstein’s jailhouse suicide. According to Kuvin, prosecutors continue to battle wild speculation on how the 66-year-old money-manager died, along with rumors that he isn’t dead at all.“The U.S. Attorney’s Office wanted to put to rest some of those conspiracy theories—that he was killed, that he’s still alive. There are people still talking about that,” Kuvin told The Daily Beast. “There are still people that think this was an absolute ruse and he’s sitting pretty in another part of the world.” Kuvin said investigators assured the women that their probe into Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators was ongoing. The lawyer declined to comment on the identities of those suspected accomplices.“They wanted to meet with some of the victims to discuss whether or not they could be potential witnesses in that ongoing investigation,” Kuvin said. “One of my clients is going to meet with them privately about that issue.”Epstein Victim: Ghislaine Maxwell Made Me Recruit ‘Youngest-Looking’ Girls for EpsteinDuring the Florida meeting, coordinators for federal prosecutors answered questions from the women, some of whom felt burned over their treatment 12 years ago, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami secretly negotiated a cushy plea deal for Epstein. Back then, the feds promised the women they’d prosecute the creepy multimillionaire; instead, they collaborated with his legal team to downgrade the charges.“The focus really is: What are you doing now and are you honestly going to pursue the co-conspirators or are those just words?” Kuvin said.“They’ve been wronged by the system numerous times,” Kuvin added of his clients and other victims of Epstein, “from the late 2000s all the way up to him killing himself. Every time an official comes forward and says, ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to do the right thing,’ they shake their heads and say, ‘We’ll see.’”In New York last week, prosecutors met with victims at a federal building downtown where local FBI headquarters is housed to inform the women of their rights and offer counseling services.Duncan Levin, a former assistant U.S. Attorney and chief of asset forfeiture at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, said Epstein’s inner circle shouldn’t rest easy. “There is at least some evidence that other people facilitated his crimes, and there’s obviously enough public interest in the case that [prosecutors] aren’t going to drop it just because he’s dead,” said Levin, managing partner at Tucker Levin, PLLC.Levin said prosecutors are likely to thoroughly investigate Epstein’s alleged enablers and seek forfeiture of Epstein’s properties that were used to facilitate the sex crimes. Jeffrey Epstein Reveals His Fortune Includes $56 Million in CashA bare-bones rundown of Epstein’s assets submitted by his lawyers following his arrest, and bank records obtained by prosecutors, provided a glimpse into Epstein’s net worth which is estimated at more than $550 million, but it may not be a complete accounting. The listed assets included $56 million in cash and another $500 million in properties and investments.The properties include $85 million worth of real estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands—including his own private island—an $8.6 million Paris apartment, a $12 million Palm Beach estate, a $17 million New Mexico ranch, and his Manhattan mansion—which Epstein claimed is worth $55 million but prosecutors have said is worth $77 million.“Justice is a slow-moving train,” Levin said. “This is par for the course. Investigations are measured in months and years not days and weeks.”“I would be very nervous if I were somebody who helped Jeffrey Epstein at this point and would be seeking legal counsel,” Levin added.Epstein was arrested on July 6 and charged with sex-trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex-trafficking. The indictment referred to three victims and three unnamed employees of Epstein who allegedly assisted in the sex pyramid scheme.According to the complaint, Epstein created a “network of minor victims in multiple states to sexually abuse and exploit” and “worked and conspired with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with Epstein.”From 2002 to 2005, the indictment states, Epstein “enticed and recruited” minor girls as young as 14 to visit his mansions and engage in sex acts with him, after which he or his assistants gave the victims hundreds of dollars in cash.It’s unclear which alleged co-conspirators prosecutors are targeting.In one July court filing, prosecutors requested a protective order, indicating they planned to produce certain documents and materials that “would impede, if prematurely disclosed, the Government’s ongoing investigation of uncharged individuals.”In 2008, when Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges, his non-prosecution agreement with the feds granted immunity to his alleged accomplices, “including but not limited to Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, or Nadia Marcinkova.”Where Are Jeffrey Epstein’s Alleged Accomplices Now?Groff’s lawyer, Michael Bachner, previously told The Daily Beast: “At no time during Lesley’s employment with Epstein did she ever engage in any misconduct.”Attorneys for Marcinkova told CNN last month that she was a victim herself and “is and has been severely traumatized.” They added: “She needs time to process and make sense of what she has been through before she is able to speak out.”According to the report, Kellen’s spokeswoman had a similar explanation. “Very soon after Sarah was brought into Epstein's world, he began to sexually abuse her, and this abuse went on for years. Sarah continues to struggle with the trauma of her experiences and has chosen not to speak publicly at this time.”Ross hasn’t spoken publicly on the allegations.One lawsuit, filed by a Jane Doe in September against Epstein’s estate, describes Kellen and Groff as a pair of adult employees who “specifically facilitated his abuse.” The women scheduled the girl’s visits to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and “often asked Doe to bring other girls with her,” paying her every time she did so.Meanwhile, Groff, a former assistant to Epstein, is facing a lawsuit from Jennifer Araoz, who says she was in high school when Epstein raped and abused her. A second assistant, Cimberly Espinosa, is also listed as a defendant in the case.Araoz’s complaint also targets Epstein’s alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell—who’s kept a low profile since the hedge-funder’s arrest and has long faced accusations of recruiting underage girls and taking part in sexual abuse herself.Ghislaine Maxwell.Mark Mainz/GettyAnother lawsuit, recently filed by Priscilla Doe, alleges that “in addition to providing sexual instruction, Ghislaine Maxwell further made sure that Plaintiff and the other young females were constantly on call to sexually service Jeffrey Epstein.”Maxwell isn’t the only Epstein friend under scrutiny in the press. Authorities in France are looking into sexual misconduct claims against talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel, accused in civil court filings of procuring young models for Epstein to exploit.“Jeffrey Epstein has told me that he has slept with over 1,000 of Brunel’s girls, and everything that I have seen confirms this claim,” said accuser Virginia Giuffre in a 2015 affidavit. Giuffre says she was 16 when Maxwell recruited her into Epstein’s trafficking ring.In response, Brunel issued a statement denying Giuffre’s claims, saying he never participated “directly nor indirectly, in the actions Mr. Jeffrey Epstein is being accused of.”Models Say Jeffrey Epstein’s Closest Pal Drugged, Raped ThemLast year, Epstein may have attempted to buy the silence of alleged co-conspirators just as his name re-emerged in the press.Prosecutors say Epstein wired payments to two unnamed women—one received $250,000 while the other got $100,000—shortly after the Miami Herald’s exposé on Epstein’s 2007 sweetheart deal. Those individuals were listed as possible co-conspirators in Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in July.At a bail hearing that month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller told the court that “after seven days of this case being public following months of a covert investigation, the evidence is already significantly stronger and getting stronger every single day.“Many individuals identifying themselves as victims and witnesses have contacted the government,” Rossmiller continued, “and we are in the process of receiving and corroborating this additional evidence.”Brad Edwards, an attorney who sued the government on behalf of victims over Epstein’s lenient plea deal, said, “I assume that if there are others that should be held accountable for crimes that can still be prosecuted, then they will.”Edwards said he trusts that New York prosecutors “are trying to leave no stone unturned.”Last month, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra refused to scrap the non-prosecution agreement that shielded Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators from facing serious charges—despite Marra’s ruling that the agreement was illegal. Marra also denied the victims’ requests for other relief: attorneys’ fees, a hearing where victims could speak, and the release of documents including grand jury materials. The decision was part of a 2008 lawsuit Jane Does 1 and 2 filed against the United States, alleging the feds violated the Crime Victims’ Right Act. Courtney Wild, who has come forward as Jane Doe 1, has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Oral arguments are scheduled for January.“A ruling rescinding the immunity provisions would have permitted the victims to confer with government prosecutors about the possibility of obtaining prosecution of Epstein’s co-conspirators in the Southern District of Florida — i.e., would have afforded them their rights under the CVRA,” Wild’s appeal states.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. 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Populist Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has invited his biggest political rival to work with him on ousting the country's prime minister as thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets for a fifth day. In a statement on Tuesday Sadr, who leads parliament's largest bloc, asked Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the second-largest, to help him introduce a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. "To answer brother Abdul Mahdi, I thought asking you to call an early election would preserve your dignity but as you have refused, I invite brother Amiri to work with me on withdrawing confidence from you immediately," he said.

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Under past precedent in 1974 and 1998 — the last two times the House conducted an impeachment inquiry — the House Judiciary Committee was the hub for investigations, hearings, and a committee vote on articles of impeachment.

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"Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching." Rev. Robert Morey said in a statement.

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A perfect storm of conditions have created an environment ripe for fire.

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Saad al-Hariri resigned as Lebanon's prime minister on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a "dead end" in trying to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against the ruling elite and plunging the country deeper into turmoil. Hariri addressed the nation after a mob loyal to the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah and Amal movements attacked and destroyed a protest camp set up by anti-government demonstrators in Beirut.

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Gen. Mark A. Milley, who watched the raid with Trump in the Situation Room, told reporters at the Pentagon that he doesn't know "what the source of that was."

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(Bloomberg) -- Alberto Fernandez doesn’t take over as Argentine president until Dec. 10, but how he interacts with outgoing leader Mauricio Macri in the meantime is key to an economy in turmoil. On Monday at least the two men were talking.Fernandez arrived at the presidential palace in downtown Buenos Aires without any staff, save for a spokesman. Television networks showed pictures of the men, both in suits, shaking hands before sitting in armchairs facing each other. They met for about an hour over coffee.Later on Fernandez smiled and waved as he entered a car to leave, but he did not comment.Even that is a start for what could be a tricky transition period from a market-friendly leader who tried to enact fiscal discipline, to a left-leaning populist who has promised to increase spending for a public tired of the high cost of living and lack of strong public services.Fernandez told Macri during the meeting that he will provide details of a team to work with the Macri administration through Dec. 10, a person familiar with their discussion said. Fernandez didn’t mention anyone specific and he did not hand over a list of names, the person said. Fernandez’s adviser Santiago Cafiero will coordinate the transition team, they added.Argentine Bonds Fall After Fernandez Wins Presidential VoteMacri has been grappling with a contracting economy, high inflation, a sliding currency and a tricky debt negotiation with the International Monetary Fund. The economy could be in even worse shape by the time Fernandez takes office, so statements of intent to work together in the interim could reassure markets, investors and the public alike.A surprisingly strong win by Fernandez in a primary vote in August spooked markets, with the currency slide that followed forcing Macri to enact capital controls. In the early hours of Monday after Macri conceded the election, Fernandez was giving little away.“Hopefully those who were our opponents during these four years are conscious of what they’re leaving behind and help us rebuild the country from the ashes,” he told supporters at his campaign bunker.Fernandez Wins in Argentina as Voters Rebuff Macri’s AusterityAnalysts argue Fernandez may need to moderate his rhetoric after Macri’s coalition fared better than expected in congressional races, setting the stage for potential gridlock.“That implies greater limitations for Alberto Fernandez’s future government,” said Camila Perochena, a political science professor at University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. “The need to reach consensus with the opposition is becoming more evident.”Investors are waiting for Fernandez to unveil his economic team and further clues to his policy direction. His team ranges from traditional economists to unorthodox policy makers. It’s unclear how Fernandez will renegotiate Argentina’s $56 billion credit line with the IMF, a deal that’s currently suspended due to policy uncertainty.“Alberto Fernandez will have little time to find the formula for an economic turnaround,” said Nicolas Solari, director of polling firm Real Time Data. “The coalition he’s bringing to the presidency is just as broad as it is unstable.”For his part, Macri’s government moved quickly overnight to limit the market fallout from his loss, significantly tightening capital controls to stabilize the peso. Argentines can only buy $200 in greenbacks per month, sharply down from the previous ceiling put in place Sept. 1 of $10,000. Before then, dollar purchases were unlimited.Argentina’s Election and Currency Controls: All You Need to KnowThe Argentine peso gained 0.8% on Monday after the controls. Bonds declined, with spreads between U.S. Treasury notes widening 98 basis points to the highest in nearly two months. Stocks also declined with a benchmark U.S.-listed ETF falling 2.4%. A key question will be how Fernandez interacts with his powerful deputy, former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She was president from 2007 to 2015 and handed Macri an economy damaged by years of Peronism -- an anti-elite political movement that traditionally favors workers over business owners.Some noted Fernandez’s left-leaning remarks in his victory speech, in particular expressing support for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, who is in jail. He also plans to travel soon to Mexico to meet its left-wing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.“We’ll have to see the tone of Fernandez’s administration to find consensus,” said Juan Germano, director of Argentina polling firm Isonomia. “The last four years showed there was no consensus between Kirchner’s and Macri’s parties, but with this election result, both sides have more incentives to reach consensus.”(Adds stocks trading in 14th paragraph. A previous version of the story corrected the exchange rate.)To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Gillespie in Buenos Aires at pgillespie29@bloomberg.net;Jorgelina do Rosario in Buenos Aires at jdorosario@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Rosalind MathiesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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An English tourist had his foot bitten off by a shark while another was bitten during the attack in the Whitsunday Islands near Australia's Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday, officials said. In the latest in a string of shark attacks in the tourist area, a 28-year-old man's right foot was bitten off while a 22-year-old man suffered serious lacerations to his lower left leg, according to Mackay Base Hospital. The pair were in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital after being airlifted from the resort town of Airlie Beach, an official told AFP.

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Two in three Americans live in the "border zone," a 100-mile stretch inland where some constitutional due process and privacy protections are functionally canceled in the name of border security. The zone includes entire states -- Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, nearly all of New England, and all but a tiny sliver of Michigan -- as well as about three in four of our 20 largest metro areas. Is the Trump administration trying to make it bigger?The prospect seems obviously attractive to immigration hawks like White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, known to be the president's chief influence on border policy. Yet the possible suggestion of interest in expanding the border zone comes not from Miller but acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan, who joined President Trump on stage at a law enforcement conference in Chicago this week."We will be building 450 miles of big, beautiful wall by the end of 2020," Morgan said, implausibly. "With every mile of wall that's being built, I promise you, it's not just the cities and towns on the border. I always say: Every town, every city, every state is a border town, a border city, and border state."Is that just a figure of speech? Because it's blatantly untrue -- unless the border zone goes national.My suspicion here may seem unfounded, and I hope it is. But I think there are two good reasons to be wary.The first is the nature of the border zone, which too few Americans realize exists. The Fourth Amendment protects our right "to be secure in [our] persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" and requires specific probable cause before search warrants are issued. But at the border, CBP agents are allowed to conduct searches of bags and vehicles without meeting those requirements. And in 1953, the Justice Department issued a regulation saying these relaxed rules apply within a "reasonable distance" from the actual border, a term the DOJ defined as 100 miles.The 100-mile decision was made by unelected administrators. It wasn't open to public input, nor was it determined by our representatives in Congress. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the rule in 1976 in U.S. v Martinez-Fuerte, where the 7-2 majority wrote that usually law enforcement must have "individualized suspicion" to breach someone's privacy, but as long as the Border Patrol checkpoints are "reasonably located" (i.e. within the 100-mile range), agents can stop, search, and question motorists without any particular cause.As the minority opinion noted, there's "no principle in the jurisprudence of fundamental rights which permits constitutional limitations to be dispensed with merely because they cannot be conveniently satisfied." The fact that CBP agents typically won't be able to establish probable cause by looking at a moving vehicle should not mean they get to ignore the Constitution. That's not how rights work, and this "papers, please" style of law enforcement is fundamentally un-American.Yet even if you agree with the theory of the 100-mile rule, the practice is a disaster and sees CBP authority expanded well past what Martinez-Fuerte permitted. As Cato Institute scholar and former CIA analyst Patrick Eddington has detailed, CBP agents "elect to ignore the court's admonition in the Martinez-Fuerte ruling that 'any further detention ... must be based on consent or probable cause.'" They've "used violence to remove motorists from their vehicles when they decline to answer questions after asserting their rights;" expanded their searches to planes, buses, and trains; and used the checkpoints in service to the wars on drugs and terror. (No terrorists have ever been arrested this way.)The upshot, as the ACLU has reported in its extensive coverage of the border zone, is CBP "agents are stopping, interrogating, and searching Americans on an everyday basis with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing, and often in ways that our Constitution does not permit." And in the years since the 100-mile rule was created, Border Patrol agents have grown from a force of 1,100 to around 21,000, with an estimated 170 permanent "interior checkpoints." What may have been relatively innocuous at the start is now a major problem.That brings us to the second reason to be worried by Morgan's remark: The border zone as it exists today was implemented with remarkably little pushback. The Border Zone Reasonableness Restoration Act of 2019 would reduce the zone to 25 miles, but that would still include most major cities in the current designation -- and it has no legislative traction anyway.If neither Congress nor the Supreme Court objects to this status quo, why would we expect them to object to extending the border zone to include the final third of the population? If it's fine to have CBP infringing around 200 million people's Fourth Amendment rights, what's another 100 million?It's not true that every town, every city, every state is a border town, a border city, and border state. The unchallenged corruption of the border zone gives us good cause to be leery of any talk that suggests they are.

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A judge has issued a gag order in the case of a couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter in Indiana and moving to Canada.

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Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and Democratic challenger Andy Beshear are sticking to their main campaign themes in a televised debate coming a week before their election showdown in Kentucky.

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An Anchorage man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of the head gardener at the Alaska Zoo.

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities have found the remains of 42 people in a vacant lot in the northern border state of Sonora, a group...

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged Lebanon's political leaders to help form a new government responsive to...

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(Reuters) - The question of statehood for Puerto Rico would be put to voters of the U.S. commonwealth for a third time since 2012 under legislation...

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Officials fears the groups could be using American-made weapons to conduct potential war crimes

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Nearly 200,000 people in Northern California are under mandatory evacuation orders as the wind whips up, making the Kincade Fire even more dangerous.

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Federal prosecutors say two brothers charged with conspiring to export drone parts and technology from the U.S. to Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon are "dangerous" and should remain in custody while they await trial, according to a court document filed Monday. Usama and Issam Hamade are charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws. Usama Hamade is also charged with smuggling.

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The United States will repel any attempt to take Syria's oil fields away from U.S.-backed Syrian militia with "overwhelming force," whether the opponent is Islamic State or even forces backed by Russia or Syria, the Pentagon said on Monday. The U.S. military announced last week it was reinforcing its position in Syria with additional assets, including mechanized forces, to prevent oilfields from being taken over by remnants of the Islamic State militant group or others. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper offered some of his most detailed remarks to date about the mission at a news briefing on Monday.

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A former U.S. Postal Service worker is going to federal prison for helping rob Los Angeles-area mail trucks of nearly $240,000.

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The 'Maleficent' sequel overtakes 'Joker' for the weekend box-office crown in North America.

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Three school board members in a tiny Navajo community in New Mexico are facing federal charges amid accusations they claimed thousands of dollars in travel reimbursements for meetings that did not occur or that the trio did not attend.

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A Mississippi woman who vanished on a visit to Sequoia National Park in California has been found safe after three days.

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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have handed out candy to hundreds of military families and local schoolchildren as the White House got a head start on Halloween.

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U.S. immigration authorities are testing a program to speed up reviews of asylum claims at a Texas Border Patrol station, offering a glimpse of how the Trump administration may enforce its partial asylum ban.

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The demise of IS leader ushers in a new phase for the group: choosing a new leadership and priorities.

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The Boeing CEO says the aircraft company knows it made mistakes and "got some things wrong" with its 737 Max jet.

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Virginia voters have already returned more absentee ballots in 2019 than in the November 2015 election -- the last time all 140 seats in the General Assembly were up for reelection.

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A registered nurse has pleaded not guilty to killing a friend in Southern California who'd asked her to help him die after a romantic break-up.

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A western Wisconsin woman accused of fatally stabbing her ex-boyfriend says she was afraid he was going to kill her.

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Authorities say a 33-year-old Mexican woman died this weekend, nearly two weeks after she was found on the side of a road in southern Arizona.

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Activists and relatives of a 13-year-old girl struck by a police officer trying to break up a fight say the officer's actions were part of a pattern of using excessive force against Native Americans in South Dakota.

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Alberto Safra, one of the sons of Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire banker Joseph Safra, has left Banco Safra SA's board of...

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North Carolina state judges have upheld all the remapping that they ordered Republicans to perform on General Assembly districts after declaring previous House and Senate maps were unlawfully tainted by bias favoring the GOP.

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Bon Voyage: Road teams win 1st 5 World Series games for 3rd time.

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Google parent Alphabet reports third quarter financial results.

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By Keith CoffmanDENVER (Reuters) - Jury selection started on Monday in the murder trial of a Colorado man accused of beating to death his fiancée...

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October 27, 2019NATURE AND WORLDNo comments

Joe Girardi a big hit in 1st appearance as Philadelphia Phillies manager.

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BOGOTA (Reuters) - Voters in Colombia's capital Bogota elected a woman as mayor for the first time on Sunday in local and regional contests marked...

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Lucas Jackson/ReutersIt’s the oldest trick in the book: dump a piece of embarrassing news late on a Friday night and hope people will forget about it over the weekend. It’s highly likely that’s what NBC’s strategy was when it had Rachel Maddow announce what sounded like a release of former employees from sexual harassment non-disclosure agreements. But if Comcast/NBC execs think this will bury the scandal, they have miscalculated: It’s only opening the floodgates to more questions.The late-Friday-night announcement said, “Any former NBC News employee who believes that they cannot disclose their experience with sexual harassment as a result of a confidentiality or non-disparagement provision in their separation agreement should contact NBCUniversal and we will release them from that perceived obligation.” Reporters immediately jumped on this with questions, and here are some they should be asking:Why is NBC making victims, who have already endured trauma, come crawling on their hands and knees to ask the company to release them from confidentiality agreements? Play out the scenario: a woman with no representation or money calls the company and asks, “Will you let me speak?” NBC then tells her to cough up all the information she has. Then what happens? Does the company just say, “You’re free to talk”? Or do they retain the right to deny her—or stipulate that she can talk about x but not about y? This seems to be evidence that the company is re-traumatizing victims and still trying to keep them under its thumb. How many women are really likely to volunteer for this cattle call?If NBC genuinely wants to root out the harassment and cover-up problem, it should issue a blanket statement automatically allowing everyone with a secret agreement of any type involving NBC/MSNBC to speak freely and publicly about harassment, retaliation, and tangential gender-based issues. Importantly, the statement should release ALL current and former employees AS WELL AS individuals related to them. Because there are people still inside the company, not just former staffers, who need and want to speak. Furthermore, a declaration from NBC should cover all secret documents, not only NDA’s relating to separation agreements. Companies like NBC frequently hide NDAs by calling them something else, such as “confidential information agreements” or “sensitive information agreements.” They all bar victims and others from providing potentially explosive information about NBC/MSNBC execs and on-air talent. And importantly, a blanket release should allow any individual to speak publicly about information not just regarding sexual harassment, but also gender harassment, retaliation, silencing and cover-ups. Because the rot at NBC is not just confined to sexual misconduct; it’s the protection and enabling of perpetrators and the backlash against victims or anyone who dares to complain.Then there is the nagging question: If NBC is suddenly deciding to offer victims the chance to maybe speak out, isn’t this a backdoor admission that it does, in fact have secrets it is hiding? Why, then, does parent company Comcast still refuse to open an investigation using independent, outside counsel—when NBC Universal has just now indicated there is something to investigate?While reporters ask these hard questions, Silence Breakers Alliance is pledging to assist any current or former NBC employee who wishes to provide information about the years-long scandal at the company. It will be held in strictest confidence; we can be reached through our website, silencebreakersalliance.org.Linda Vester was an anchor and correspondent for NBC News and Fox News Channel. In 2017 she publicly accused NBC’s Tom Brokaw of sexual harassment—Brokaw has publicly denied the allegations. Vester founded Silence Breakers Alliance, a foundation to financially support efforts to end harassment in the workplace.It’s Not Just Ronan Farrow: NBC News Killed My Rape-Allegation Story TooRead 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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U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during a daring overnight raid by elite U.S. special operations forces in Syria, in a major victory as he fights a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry. Baghdadi died alongside three of his children by detonating an explosives-laden vest when he fled U.S. forces into a dead-end tunnel during the attack, which took place in the Idlib region in northwest Syria, the Republican president said in a televised address to the nation from the White House.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency as wildfires and extreme weather conditions forced almost 200,000 people from their homes. The flames came dangerously close to homes in Vallejo. In the south, a wildfire in the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles has destroyed 18 structures, threatened homes and critical infrastructure.

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Ethiopia's influential Orthodox church on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's response to ethnic and religious clashes that left nearly 70 dead, saying he was failing to protect its members. Violence erupted in the capital Addis Ababa and the outlying Oromia region on Wednesday after a prominent activist accused security forces of trying to orchestrate an attack against him -- a claim police officials denied. It quickly morphed into clashes and a police official said Friday that 67 people had died in Oromia.

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