| China extends Lunar New Year holiday as new virus toll rises Posted: 26 Jan 2020 05:04 PM PST  China extended its Lunar New Year holiday three more days to discourage people from traveling as it tries to contain the spread of a viral illness that has caused 80 deaths, the government said Monday. There were 2,744 confirmed cases by midnight Sunday, the National Health Commission announced. Tens of millions of Chinese who visited their hometowns or tourist spots were due to return home this week in the world's largest movement of humanity, raising the risk the virus might spread in crowded trains and planes.
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| Report: Bolton says Trump tied Ukraine funds to Biden probe Posted: 26 Jan 2020 04:42 PM PST |
| Bloomberg Opposed Iran Nuclear Deal But Also Trump’s Withdrawal Posted: 26 Jan 2020 03:18 PM PST ![Bloomberg Opposed Iran Nuclear Deal But Also Trump's Withdrawal]( "Bloomberg Opposed Iran Nuclear Deal But Also Trump's Withdrawal") (Bloomberg) -- Michael Bloomberg said Sunday that despite his opposition to the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran, he also opposed the way President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, saying it was "tantamount to giving Iran permission to re-launch its nuclear program."In a speech in Miami to launch his outreach to Jewish voters, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said he spoke out against the 2015 deal at the time because it should have done more to address Iran's ballistic missile program and other concerns. But Trump shouldn't have left the deal made with the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany because Iran is once again moving toward the development of a nuclear weapon after years of compliance, he said."As president, I will work to make the strongest deal possible to constrain the Iranian regime's aggression and territorial ambitions, and put an end to their nuclear program, because the world must never allow Iran to threaten Israel and the whole region with a nuclear attack," Bloomberg said in his prepared remarks.Bloomberg also addressed the rise in anti-Semitic violence in America. He said that while one person can't be blamed for it, Trump's rhetoric, support of conspiracy theories and silence about racist groups means "there is just no escaping the direct line between his conduct in office and the rise of violent attacks targeted at minority groups." He vowed to launch a national effort to crack down on violent extremists.The former New York mayor also said Trump was harming the U.S. relationship with Israel because the president is "trying to use Israel as a wedge issue for his own electoral purposes.""We must never let Israel be a football that American politicians kick around in an effort to score points," Bloomberg said. Bloomberg also vowed never to impose conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel, including missile defense, and said he wouldn't wait three years to release an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. His remarks came just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main election challenger, former Israeli military chief Benny Gantz accepted invitations to the White House this week ahead of Trump's planned release of his long-awaited plan.It was a public embrace of his Judaism by Bloomberg, who launched a "United for Mike" national coalition Sunday with a council of Jewish community leaders to rally support from Jewish voters in his bid for the Democratic nomination. In his speech Bloomberg discussed the connection between his faith and American values and the 2020 race against Trump."Sometimes democracy is a birthright," Bloomberg said. "Sometimes it is a gift. And sometimes it is a fight. Today, it's a fight -- and I'm asking you to stand and fight with me as proud Americans, and as proud Jews."Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg. (Updates with additional comments from fifth paragraph.) To contact the author of this story: Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan SherzaiRos KrasnyFor 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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| Bloomberg Opposed Trump’s Iran Deal Withdrawal: Campaign Update Posted: 26 Jan 2020 01:16 PM PST ![Bloomberg Opposed Trump's Iran Deal Withdrawal: Campaign Update]( "Bloomberg Opposed Trump's Iran Deal Withdrawal: Campaign Update") (Bloomberg) -- Michael Bloomberg, in a speech designed to attract Jewish voters to his Democratic presidential campaign, said Sunday that despite his opposition to the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran, he also opposed the way President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it, saying it was "tantamount to giving Iran permission to re-launch its nuclear program."In remarks prepared for delivery, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said he spoke out against the 2015 deal at the time because it should have done more to address Iran's ballistic missile program and other concerns. But Trump shouldn't have left the deal made with the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany because Iran is once again moving toward the development of a nuclear weapon after years of compliance, he said."As president, I will work to make the strongest deal possible to constrain the Iranian regime's aggression and territorial ambitions, and put an end to their nuclear program, because the world must never allow Iran to threaten Israel and the whole region with a nuclear attack," Bloomberg said in his prepared remarks.Bloomberg also addressed the rise in anti-Semitic violence in America. He said that while one person can't be blamed for it, Trump's rhetoric, support of conspiracy theories and silence about racist groups means "there is just no escaping the direct line between his conduct in office and the rise of violent attacks targeted at minority groups." He vowed to launch a national effort to crack down on violent extremists.The former New York mayor also said Trump is harming the U.S. relationship with Israel because the president is "trying to use Israel as a wedge issue for his own electoral purposes," adding, "We must never let Israel be a football that American politicians kick around in an effort to score points."Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.Sanders goes after JPMorgan's Dimon in new ad (13:51 p.m.)Bernie Sanders goes after Jamie Dimon in a new campaign ad, labeling the JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer "the biggest corporate socialist in America today."The jab continues criticism by the Vermont senator and presidential candidate after Dimon knocked socialism in an op-ed published last week in Time magazine as part of its coverage of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland."Are you kidding me?" a Sanders aide exclaims in the ad, which was posted on Twitter. The spot cites Dimon's pay, including $31.5 million last year, and says JPMorgan received bailouts after the global financial crisis 12 years ago.Dimon, a 63-year-old billionaire, has previously said JPMorgan, which expanded during the crisis by acquiring collapsing rivals, didn't need a bailout to survive at the time. In 2012, he said his firm temporarily accepted money from a Treasury Department program because "we were asked to" so weaker rivals could tap it without being singled out.CBS Says Iowa Race Tight, Fluid in Final Days (12:56 p.m.)Bernie Sanders, with 26% support, and Joe Biden, with 25%, are at the top of the Democratic pack in Iowa but the race is tight and fluid heading into the final week of campaigning for the state's first-in-the-nation caucus, CBS News said Sunday.In addition to hoping for a strong showing, candidates are in a battle for delegates, with Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren also in the hunt, according to results of the YouGov survey, which was conducted Jan. 16-23 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.Biden, the former vice president, could get a boost from his status as the second choice of those backing Amy Klobuchar, polling at 7%, if they switch to him on caucus night, CBS said. After months of candidate visits, events and TV advertising only a little over a third of Iowa voters surveyed said they've "definitely" made up their minds.Sanders had the most solidly committed supporters, at 48%, the poll showed. That compared with Warren at 40% and Biden backers at just 27% committed. Warren picked up an endorsement Saturday from the Des Moines Register, the state's largest newspaper.Biden scored high marks on the question of being prepared to be commander in chief, at 84% among Iowa Democrats. Sanders outpaced the field on the measure of being seen as someone who "fights for people like you." -- Ros KrasnyYang Makes February Democratic Debate Stage (12:06 p.m.)Businessman and outsider Democratic candidate for president Andrew Yang has earned a spot in the upcoming eighth democratic debate in New Hampshire.In order to make the stage for the debate on Feb. 7, candidates have to receive at least 5% in four Democratic National Committee--approved polls or 7% in two early-state polls. Candidates also have to receive at least 225,000 individual contributions. Yang had already met the donor threshold. He earned 7% in a national poll from a Washington Post and ABC News poll and 5% in a Fox News poll, both released Sunday.He had received 5% in a December NPR/PBS/Marist national poll and 5% in an early January Quinnipiac University national poll.Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren have already qualified. Candidates who come out of the Iowa caucus with at least one pledged delegate to the Democratic convention also automatically qualify for the debate.The entrepreneur did not qualify for the last debate in Des Moines. He's currently on a 17-day bus tour of Iowa ahead of the Feb. 3 caucus in that state. -- Emma KineryBiden, Sanders ahead in ABC-WaPost Poll: (10:53 a.m.)Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, representing rival visions for the Democratic Party, are solidifying their status as frontrunners in the crowded presidential field, according to a Washington Post-ABC News national poll.Just a week before voters finally get to have their say in the Iowa caucuses, the polls show Biden with 32% overall among registered voters who lean Democratic, while Sanders registered support from 23%. Both are doing slightly better than in the same poll in October.Senator Elizabeth Warren, once considered a front-runner and with endorsements from the New York Times a week ago and the Des Moines Register in Iowa on Saturday, has seen a significant drop in her support. She was at 12% in this poll, down from 23% in October.Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent $250 million on advertising since getting a late start in the race and will not compete in the first contests, pulled in support from 8%. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.Businessman Andrew Yang, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was also endorsed by The New York Times, were all mired in single digits. The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone January 20-23, 2020. Results have an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.Separately, an NBC News/Marist poll for New Hampshire released on Sunday showed Sanders and Buttigieg leading in the state. -- Magan KraneCOMING UP:Some of the Democratic candidates will debate again in New Hampshire on Feb. 7.The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will be held Feb. 3. The New Hampshire primary is Feb. 11. Nevada holds its caucuses on Feb. 22 and South Carolina has a primary on Feb. 29.CNN will host town halls featuring eight presidential candidates in New Hampshire on Feb. 5 and 6.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)\--With assistance from Ros Krasny, Magan Crane, Emma Kinery and Todd Shields.To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Magan CraneFor 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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| In divided America, some voters tuning out impeachment trial Posted: 26 Jan 2020 11:46 AM PST  For all the gravity of a presidential impeachment trial, Americans don't seem to be giving it much weight. As House impeachment managers make their case to remove President Donald Trump from office, voters in several states said in interviews with The Associated Press that they're only casually following the Senate trial, or avoiding it altogether — too busy to pay close attention, bored of the legal arguments, convinced the outcome is preordained or just plain tired of the whole partisan saga. Web traffic and TV ratings tell a similar story, with public interest seeming to flag after the House voted last month to impeach a president for only the third time in U.S. history.
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| The Final Battle for Syria Has Begun Posted: 26 Jan 2020 11:09 AM PST  GAZIANTEP, Turkey—Syrian activists report that the Assad regime has launched its most intense assault since the beginning of the war almost nine years ago. The target is Idlib, the last opposition holdout in northwestern Syria. All indicators suggest that the campaign will produce a new humanitarian disaster and be the beginning of a final confrontation between the Syrian National Army (SNA)—an alliance of Turkish-backed armed opposition forces—and Russian-Iranian-backed pro-Assad units.Amid Iran Crisis, Russia's Mideast Presence Just Keeps GrowingThe fighting undermines the perception of a seamless Turkish-Russian rapprochement and reveals the hidden gridlock that exists even after years of negotiations over key issues that are critical to Turkey's security and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's political prospects. The unbridgeable gap between Moscow and Ankara has created space for the United States to acquire more leverage in its relationship with Turkey by acting as a counterweight to Moscow's ambitions, if the Trump administration chooses to do so. "The situation here is shit," says Abd al-Rahman al-Aissawi a local activist in the town of Mara'at al-Nu'aman, which has iconic status as a holdout against the regime. "In nine years of war, this is the worst bombing we've ever seen. This is worse than the regime's assault on east Aleppo [in 2016]. At least then, we negotiated a way out. This time, there's nowhere to go, we have to fight. The regime knows this, and is paving the way for a truly scorched earth."In addition to a stepped up Syrian-Russian air campaign, the war zone in Idlib looks further set to escalate due to increased involvement by powers with ties to the Syrian opposition, in particular Turkey and to a lesser extent the United States. Since the most recent reboot of hostilities on January 16, SNA units reportedly received a new influx of American-made TOW anti-tank missiles that they used to repel regime advances around the town of Abu Jurayf, about 10 miles northeast of the rebel stronghold of Mara'at al-Nu'aman. (TOW stands for Tube launched, Optically tracked, Wire data link auto-guided missile.)"We've since been able to take back the towns of Samaka, al-Barsa and Mushaymis and destroy a large number of regime firepower with the recent influx of TOW missiles," says Abu Muhammad, a high ranking SNA commander. Rumors circulating at the time suggested that meetings held between Turkish defense officials and SNA leaders were attended by representatives from the United States as well.Mustafa Sayjari, a prominent leader within the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) fighting against regime forces in Idlib, has his own history of working with the United States. He told Syrian opposition television that he could confirm "via direct meetings I've had with the Americans, that Washington will support all Turkish efforts [with regards to Idlib]." Expectations are that the U.S., Turkey and other western countries will take joint efforts to stave off a Syrian regime advance in order to prevent a new influx of refugees pouring across the Turkish border. As al-Aissawi noted Syrian displaced persons in Idlib have nowhere to flee in the event Idlib falls except to Turkey. Throughout 2018, Idlib became the final refuge for an outpouring of SNA and opposition activists from key rebel strongholds in Homs, Damascus and the southern Dara'a province that fell to pro-Assad forces. Now, as the saying goes, "There's no Idlib for Idlib." But the prospect of further refugees is one President Erdoğan is keen to avoid. Turkey's assault on northeast Syria three months ago, in addition to removing the threat of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces along its border, was supposed to carve out a safe zone Ankara could use to relocate an unspecified percentage of Turkey's 5 million Syrian refugees. The long-term presence of Syrian refugees in Turkey has recently stoked xenophobic sentiments in the country, with populists blaming them for Turkey's recent economic downturn.Last June, Erdoğan's AK Party lost Istanbul in municipal elections for the first time since 2002. The defeat was seen as a major blow to Erdoğan personally that was partially brought about by the latter's perceived lax stance towards refugees. Shortly after coming to power, the opposition CHP party in Istanbul launched a new wave of arrests and deportations of Syrian refugees in a series of high profile cases that sparked outrage at home and abroad. With these high stakes, Turkey has signaled that it takes the latest escalation by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad very seriously. On Friday, sources told The Daily Beast, Erdoğan convened a closed meeting with Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and high-ranking SNA commanders declaring that ongoing Turkish attempts since July 2018 to reach a political solution with Russia over the status of Idlib had reached an impasse. "Erdoğan called in to the meeting convened with Hakan Fidan, effectively telling us that the political process in Syria was over," claimed SNA commander Abu Muhammad, who attended the meeting. "The President advised us to make final preparations to take a final stand and defend ourselves, giving assurances as well that Turkey would not abandon the SNA." The arrival of TOW missiles and Erdoğan's acknowledgement of the failure of more than a year and a half of talks could signal a potential shakeup in the much-touted Turkish-Russian rapprochement that since 2015 has seen both countries significantly expand cooperation in the defense and energy sectors. This also occurs nearly two weeks after news that Ankara sent 2,000 SNA fighters and an unspecified number of Turkish troops to the Libyan capital of Tripoli to halt the advance of Russian-backed rebel general Khalifa Haftar against the beleaguered Turkish-backed Libyan government of Fayez al-Sarraj.After years of seeking common ground, in recent weeks Turkey finally appears willing to get tougher on Moscow. But the lengths to which Ankara is willing to go actually to hold off the regime advance in Idlib remain in question.In Syria, as in Other 'Frozen' Conflicts, Putin Plays Peacemaker But Wants Controlled ChaosOver the weekend, the tide on the battlefield appears to have turned once again, with regime forces and their Russian and Iranian allies unleashing an unprecedented wave of bombing and advancing to Wadi Dayf, a town directly adjacent to and on the outskirts of Mara'at al-Nu'aman. Russian, Iranian and pro-Assad forces are said to be mobilizing for a renewed push on the outskirts of the city that will begin within days. The widespread presence throughout Idlib province of Ha'it Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, provides a convenient pretext for the Russian and Iranian assault, and hobbles the American ability to intervene more directly.If Mara'at al-Nu'aman falls, it would represent the third major victory for regime forces in Idlib in the last six months, following the December 25 fall of Jarjanaz, and the capture on August 22 of Khan Sheikhoun (photo above was taken during that assault). Khan Sheikhoun was the site of the regime's chemical attack in April 2017 that prompted U.S. airstrikes on the Syrian Shayrat airbase. The prospect of such a fall, for now, appears plausible. "Other than the TOW missiles, the situation on the ground is the same as it was before, we haven't received any new support from our allies," claimed Abu Muhammad. When asked on television about the SNA's ability to repel further regime advances, SNA leader Mustafa al-Sayjari made sure to say, "We're confident that keeping the city of Idlib in the hands of the opposition isn't just a Syrian priority, but a Turkish one as well."The city of Idlib, located nearly 30 miles north of Mara'at al-Nu'aman, is the main population center in the rebel held province of the same name, and for now remains largely outside the scope of regime attacks. But Sayhari's omission of the names of the frontline towns that are threatened by the regime was ominous. Lastly, the heavy presence of Iranian-backed militias on the front lines in Idlib suggests that Tehran's projection throughout the region has not been scaled back since Trump's January 2 assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Many suspect that the U.S. strikes may in fact be pushing Tehran to assert itself further in order to avoid appearing weak. Although Russia is believed to hold the upper hand in military decisions on the ground in Syria, the significance of Iranian forces cannot be overstated: the Russians attempts on their own to advance on Idlib throughout 2018 and early 2019 fell short and failed to achieve any major successes. The fall of Khan Sheikhoun in late August 2019 was largely made possible by the arrival of a large contingent of Iranian-backed forces following new power sharing agreements between Tehran and Moscow on the frontlines. Now, Iranian backed Lebanese Hezbollah and Afghan Fatimiyun Shi'a militias are the shock troops leading the assault on Mara'at al-Nu'aman under the cover of Russian air power. Sitting in a small operations room in a town outside Mara'at al-Nua'man, activist Abd al-Rahman al-Aissawi combs through a database of enemy military communications between Afghans speaking Dari that have been intercepted and leaked in real time by Turkish-backed SNA forces. Unfortunately, neither he nor anyone else can do much with them. In a last ditch effort on social media, he sends out a blast to anyone willing to listen, "Does anyone speak or know anyone who speaks Afghan? We need translators in Idlib; are willing to pay money."As The Daily Beast went to press, he had failed to get any responses. 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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| Three Jordanians charged for IS-inspired attack in court Posted: 26 Jan 2020 10:59 AM PST ![Three Jordanians charged for IS-inspired attack in court]( "Three Jordanians charged for IS-inspired attack in court") Three Jordanian men appeared in court Sunday to face charges connected to the stabbing of eight people at a popular archaeological site in northern Jordan in November in an attack allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group. The military judge presiding over the trial accused the men of supporting Islamic State ideology and carrying out the attack at Jerash to avenge the death of late IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. November's incident took place in Jerash, one of Jordan's most visited archaeological sites, an ancient city whose ruins include a Roman amphitheater and a columned road.
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| Libya’s Fragile Truce Clouded Further by Fresh Assaults Posted: 26 Jan 2020 10:43 AM PST ![Libya's Fragile Truce Clouded Further by Fresh Assaults]( "Libya's Fragile Truce Clouded Further by Fresh Assaults") (Bloomberg) -- Libya's internationally recognized government said Sunday that repeated attacks by rival commander Khalifa Haftar have rendered a fragile truce all but meaningless, as the United Nations warned that foreign powers were setting the stage for even more fighting in the OPEC nation.The Tripoli government said that its forces had repelled an attack by Haftar's Libyan National Army around 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the city of Misrata. "We affirm, once again, that we did not start this war, but it is us who will determine its duration and where it ends," the government said on its official Volcano of Anger Facebook page.Repeated violations of the truce mean the cease-fire is now no better than the lack of one, it said.Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for Haftar, said in a press conference, "Our operations are preemptive and a message to the militias. It's not a violation to the cease-fire agreement."Dueling AccusationsBoth sides have repeatedly accused the other of breaching the cease-fire, which they agreed to earlier this month. A conference in Berlin, convened by Germany's chancellor, had sought to cement the deal and pave the way for an end to what has become a proxy war of regional powers in the North African nation. However, the United Nations on Saturday said none of the parties involved in the Berlin conference --- which also grouped Turkey, Russia and Egypt -- was honoring terms of the deal.Frailty of Libya Accord on Display In Merkel-Erdogan SquabbleThe conflict has battered Libya's crucial oil output, dragging it down to 284,000 barrels a day as a result of "illegal blockades," the state-run National Oil Corp. said on Twitter. The country holds Africa's largest crude reserves, and NOC said it was pumping 1.22 million barrels a day until it declared force majeure on Jan. 18."This fragile truce is now threatened by the ongoing transfer of foreign fighters, weapons, ammunition and advanced systems to the parties by member states, including several who participated in the Berlin Conference," the UN mission said in a statement. "The mission condemns these ongoing violations, which risk plunging the country into a renewed and intensified round of fighting."An attempt to bring the Libyan rivals to the table failed in Moscow earlier this month when Haftar left Russia without signing a permanent cease-fire. That refusal was backed by the U.A.E. and Egypt, which oppose Turkish gains in Libya, including a maritime agreement supporting Turkey's claims to gas-rich Mediterranean waters.Turkey's DoubtsPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has dispatched military advisers, armed drones and Syrian militiamen, has cast doubt on Haftar's commitment to peace -- claims which have been dismissed as self-serving by Egypt and other Arab states.In his latest rebuke, Erdogan said Sunday that he didn't expect Haftar to respect the truce. "Haftar fled Moscow and hid in a hotel in Berlin," he said. "It's not possible to expect mercy about a truce from such a person."Mismari, the Haftar spokesman, called Erdogan's comments provocative and possibly aimed at breaking the cease-fire.Turkey's deployment sought to bolster the Tripoli-based government against Haftar, whose push on Tripoli has increasingly been spearheaded by Russian mercenaries.(Adds Haftar spokesman in paragraphs 4 and 11.)\--With assistance from Samer Khalil Al-Atrush.To contact the reporters on this story: Taylan Bilgic in Istanbul at tbilgic2@bloomberg.net;Mohammed Abdusamee in Tripoli at mabdusamee@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net, Bruce Stanley, Tarek El-TablawyFor 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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| GOP Senator, military veteran defends Trump's comments on soldiers' brain injuries Posted: 26 Jan 2020 10:31 AM PST  Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a U.S. military veteran, stood by President Trump in wake of the backlash against the commander-in-chief's comments describing brain injuries suffered by U.S. troops after an Iranian missile attack on a base in Iraq earlier this month as "headaches" and "not very serious."CBS' Margaret Brennan asked Cotton during Sunday's edition of Face the Nation if Trump should apologize to the soldiers, 34 of whom it turned out suffered traumatic brain injuries. She pointed out that Veterans of Foreign Wars, a prominent U.S. veterans advocacy group, called on Trump to apologize for his "misguided" comments about potentially dangerous injuries, while also noting Cotton likely knew several people who suffered from similar injuries during his time in the military, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.Cotton, though, argued Trump wasn't "dismissing" the soldiers' injuries, but simply "describing them." > NEW: @SenTomCotton defends @realdonaldtrump 's comments about soldiers impacted by the Iran strike, says Trump wasn't "dismissing" traumatic brain injuries by calling them "headaches" pic.twitter.com/HH8daFhsIv> > -- Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 26, 2020More stories from theweek.com The Grammys are America's worst awards show 9 dead in helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant Trump is winning the impeachment battle — but losing the war
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| Defense resumes in key impeachment week; Dems seek witnesses Posted: 26 Jan 2020 09:50 AM PST  President Donald Trump's impeachment trial enters a pivotal week as his defense team resumes its case and senators face a critical vote on whether to hear witnesses or proceed directly to a vote that is widely expected to end in his acquittal. The debate over witnesses received a jolt Sunday night when The New York Times reported that Trump told his national security adviser he wanted to maintain a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine until it launched political investigations into his Democratic rivals. The newspaper said John Bolton's description of his exchange with Trump appears in drafts of his forthcoming book.
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| Iran's military knew it accidentally shot down a passenger plane moments after it happened, and a stunning new report details how it was covered up — even from Iran's president Posted: 26 Jan 2020 09:25 AM PST  Iran knew almost immediately that it was responsible for shooting down a passenger plane with 176 people on board, according to a new report.
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| Iran's President Rouhani reportedly threatened to resign over attempts to cover up downing of airliner Posted: 26 Jan 2020 09:24 AM PST  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened to resign over the downing of a Ukrainian jet carrying 176 passengers earlier this month, The New York Times reports.Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accidentally shot down the passenger plane amid heightened tensions with the United States that have since cooled a bit. A series of communication errors reportedly led to an officer firing missiles at the plane, believing it was a hostile U.S. aircraft. Upon realizing what had actually happened, the IRGC began to cover their tracks, refusing to even tell Rouhani the truth for days.Rouhani, left in the dark, reportedly deflected phone calls from other world leaders because he had no answers for them, and military commanders were doing the same thing to him when he tried to reach them. When finally informed of the truth, officials close to Rouhani told the Times, the president was "livid," demanding that Tehran admit the mistake and face the consequences. Military officials reportedly argued with Rouhani out of fear that the news would destabilize the country. That's when Rouhani said he would resign.Eventually, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei got a message to the military, siding with Rouhani and ordering a public statement acknowledging what happened. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com The Grammys are America's worst awards show 9 dead in helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant Trump is winning the impeachment battle — but losing the war
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| Anatomy of a Lie: How Iran Covered Up the Downing of an Airliner Posted: 26 Jan 2020 08:52 AM PST  When the Revolutionary Guard officer spotted what he thought was an unidentified aircraft near Tehran's international airport in Iran, he had seconds to decide whether to pull the trigger.Iran had just fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at U.S. forces, the country was on high alert for an American counterattack, and the Iranian military was warning of incoming cruise missiles.The officer tried to reach the command center for authorization to shoot but couldn't get through. So he fired an anti-aircraft missile. Then another.The plane, which turned out to be a Ukrainian jetliner with 176 people on board, crashed and exploded in a ball of fire.Within minutes, the top commanders of the Guard realized what they had done. And at that moment, they began to cover it up.For days, they refused to tell even President Hassan Rouhani, whose government was publicly denying that the plane had been shot down. When they finally told him, he gave them an ultimatum: come clean or he would resign.Only then, 72 hours after the plane crashed, did Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, step in and order the government to acknowledge its fatal mistake.The New York Times pieced together a chronology of those three days by interviewing Iranian diplomats, current and former government officials, ranking members of the Guard and people close to the supreme leader's inner circle and by examining official public statements and state media reports.The reporting exposes the government's behind-the-scenes debate over covering up Iran's responsibility for the crash while shocked Iranians, grieving relatives and countries with citizens aboard the plane waited for the truth.The new details also demonstrate the outsize power of the Guard, which effectively sidelined the elected government in a moment of national crisis, and could deepen what many Iranians already see as a crisis of legitimacy for the Guard and the government.The bitter divisions in Iran's government persist and are bound to affect the investigation into the crash, negotiations over compensation and the unresolved debate over accountability.TUESDAYAround midnight on Jan. 7, as Iran was preparing to launch a ballistic-missile attack on U.S. military posts in Iraq, senior members of the Guard deployed mobile anti-aircraft defense units around a sensitive military area near Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport.Iran was about to retaliate for the American drone strike that had killed Iran's top military commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad five days earlier, and the military was bracing for an American counterstrike. The armed forces were on "at war" status, the highest alert level.But in a tragic miscalculation, the government continued to allow civilian commercial flights to land and take off from the Tehran airport.Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Guard's Aerospace Force, said later that his units had asked officials in Tehran to close Iran's airspace and ground all flights, to no avail.Iranian officials feared that shutting down the airport would create mass panic that war with the U.S. was imminent, members of the Guard and other officials told The Times. They also hoped that the presence of passenger jets could act as a deterrent against an American attack on the airport or the nearby military base, effectively turning planeloads of unsuspecting travelers into human shields.WEDNESDAYAfter Iran's missile attack began, the central air defense command issued an alert that American warplanes had taken off from the United Arab Emirates and that cruise missiles were headed toward Iran.The officer on the missile launcher near the airport heard the warnings but did not hear a later message that the cruise missile alert was a false alarm.The warning about American warplanes may have also been wrong. U.S. military officials have said that no American planes were in or near Iranian airspace that night.When the officer spotted the Ukrainian jet, he sought permission to fire. But he was unable to communicate with his commanders because the network had been disrupted or jammed, Hajizadeh said later.The officer, who has not been publicly identified, fired two missiles, less than 30 seconds apart.Hajizadeh, who was in western Iran supervising the attack on the Americans, received a phone call with the news."I called the officials and told them this has happened and it's highly possible we hit our own plane," he said later in a televised statement.By the time Hajizadeh arrived in Tehran, he had informed Iran's top three military commanders: Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the army's commander in chief, who is also the chief of the central air defense command; Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Armed Forces; and Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Guard.The Guard, an elite force charged with defending Iran's clerical rule at home and abroad, is separate from the regular army and answers only to the supreme leader. At this point, the leaders of both militaries knew the truth.Hajizadeh advised the generals not to tell the rank-and-file air defense units for fear that it could hamper their ability to react quickly if the U.S. did attack."It was for the benefit of our national security because then our air defense system would be compromised," Hajizadeh said in an interview with Iranian news media this week. "The ranks would be suspicious of everything."The military leaders created a secret investigative committee drawn from the Guard's aerospace forces, from the army's air defense, and from intelligence and cyberexperts. The committee and the officers involved in the shooting were sequestered and ordered not to speak to anyone.The committee examined data from the airport, the flight path, radar networks, and alerts and messages from the missile operator and central command. Witnesses -- the officer who had pulled the trigger, his supervisors and everyone involved -- were interrogated for hours.The group also investigated the possibility that the U.S. or Israel may have hacked Iran's defense system or jammed the airwaves.By Wednesday night, the committee had concluded that the plane was shot down because of human error."We were not confident about what happened until Wednesday around sunset," Salami, the commander in chief of the Guard, said later in a televised address to the Parliament. "Our investigative team concluded then that the plane crashed because of human errors."Khamenei was informed. But they still did not inform the president, other elected officials or the public.Senior commanders discussed keeping the shooting secret until the plane's black boxes -- the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- were examined and formal aviation investigations completed, according to members of the Guard, diplomats and officials with knowledge of the deliberations. That process could take months, they argued, and it would buy time to manage the domestic and international fallout that would ensue when the truth came out.The government had violently crushed an anti-government uprising in November. But the American killing of Soleimani, followed by the strikes against the U.S., had turned public opinion around. Iranians were galvanized in a moment of national unity.Authorities feared that admitting shooting down the passenger plane would undercut that momentum and prompt a new wave of anti-government protests."They advocated covering it up because they thought the country couldn't handle more crisis," said a ranking member of the Guard who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "At the end, safeguarding the Islamic Republic is our ultimate goal, at any cost."That evening, the spokesman for the Joint Armed Forces, Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, told Iranian news media that suggestions that missiles struck the plane were "an absolute lie."THURSDAYOn Thursday, as Ukrainian investigators began to arrive in Tehran, Western officials were saying publicly that they had evidence that Iran had accidentally shot down the plane.A chorus of senior Iranian officials -- from the director of civil aviation to the chief government spokesman -- issued statement after statement rejecting the allegations, their claims amplified on state media.The suggestion that Iran would shoot down a passenger plane was a "Western plot," they said, "psychological warfare" aimed at weakening Iran just as it had exercised its military muscle against the U.S.But in private, government officials were alarmed and questioning whether there was any truth to the Western claims. Rouhani, a seasoned military strategist himself, and his foreign minister, Javad Zarif, deflected phone calls from world leaders and foreign ministers seeking answers. Ignorant of what their own military had done, they had none to give.Domestically, public pressure was building for the government to address the allegations.Among the plane's passengers were some of Iran's best and brightest. They included prominent scientists and physicians, dozens of Iran's top young scholars and graduates of elite universities, and six gold and silver medal winners of international physics and math Olympiads.There were two newlywed couples who had traveled from Canada to Tehran for their weddings just days earlier. There were families and young children.Their relatives demanded answers. Iranian social media began to explode with emotional commentary, some accusing Iran of murdering its own citizens and others calling such allegations treason.Persian-language satellite channels operating from abroad, the main source of news for most Iranians, broadcast blanket coverage of the crash, including reports from Western governments that Iran had shot down the plane.Rouhani tried several times to call military commanders, officials said, but they did not return his calls. Members of his government called their contacts in the military and were told the allegations were false. Iran's civil aviation agency called military officials with similar results."Thursday was frantic," Ali Rabiei, the government spokesman, said later in a news conference. "The government made back-to-back phone calls and contacted the armed forces asking what happened, and the answer to all the questions was that no missile had been fired."FRIDAYOn Friday morning, Rabiei issued a statement saying the allegation that Iran had shot down the plane was "a big lie."Several hours later, the nation's top military commanders called a private meeting and told Rouhani the truth.Rouhani was livid, according to officials close to him. He demanded that Iran immediately announce that it had made a tragic mistake and accept the consequences.The military officials pushed back, arguing that the fallout could destabilize the country.Rouhani threatened to resign.Canada, which had the most foreign citizens on board the plane, and the U.S., which as Boeing's home country was invited to investigate the crash, would eventually reveal their evidence, Rouhani said. The damage to Iran's reputation and the public trust in the government would create an enormous crisis at a time when Iran could not bear more pressure.As the standoff escalated, a member of Khamenei's inner circle who was in the meeting informed the supreme leader. The ayatollah sent a message back to the group, ordering the government to prepare a public statement acknowledging what had happened.Rouhani briefed a few senior members of his government. They were rattled.Rabiei, the government spokesman who had issued a denial just that morning, broke down. Abbas Abdi, a prominent critic of Iran's clerical establishment, said that when he spoke to Rabiei that evening, Rabiei was distraught and crying."Everything is a lie," Rabiei said, according to Abdi. "The whole thing is a lie. What should I do? My honor is gone."Abdi said the government's actions had gone "far beyond" just a lie."There was a systematic cover-up at the highest levels that makes it impossible to get out of this crisis," he said.Iran's National Security Council held an emergency meeting and drafted two statements, the first to be issued by the Joint Armed Forces followed by a second one from Rouhani.As they debated the wording, some suggested claiming that the U.S. or Israel may have contributed to the accident by jamming Iran's radars or hacking its communications networks.But the military commanders opposed it. Hajizadeh said the shame of human error paled compared with admitting his air defense system was vulnerable to hacking by the enemy.Iran's Civil Aviation Agency later said that it had found no evidence of jamming or hacking.SATURDAYAt 7 a.m., the military released a statement admitting that Iran had shot down the plane because of "human error."The bombshell revelation has not ended the division within the government. The Guard want to pin the blame on those involved in firing the missiles and be done with it, officials said. The missile operator and up to 10 others have been arrested but officials have not identified them or said whether they had been charged.Rouhani has demanded a broader accounting, including an investigation of the entire chain of command. The Guard's accepting responsibility, he said, is "the first step and needs to be completed with other steps." His spokesman and lawmakers have demanded to know why Rouhani was not immediately informed.Rouhani touched on that concern when he put out his statement an hour and 15 minutes later. The first line said that he had found out about the investigative committee's conclusion about cause of the crash "a few hours ago."It was a stunning admission, an acknowledgment that even the nation's highest elected official had been shut out from the truth and that as Iranians, and the world, turned to the government for answers, it had peddled lies."What we thought was news was a lie. What we thought was a lie was news," said Hesamedin Ashna, Rouhani's top adviser, on Twitter. "Why? Why? Beware of cover-ups and military rule."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| North Korean Leader's Aunt Re-Emerges After Husband's Execution Posted: 26 Jan 2020 08:49 AM PST  SEOUL, South Korea -- The aunt of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has re-emerged in Pyongyang, the capital, the country's media said Sunday, dispelling rumors that she was purged after her powerful husband was executed on charges of plotting a coup to topple Kim in 2013.North Korea's state-run media said Kim Kyong Hui, the only sister of Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, accompanied her nephew to an orchestra performance Saturday for Lunar New Year's Day. Photos released in state media showed her dressed in black and sitting with her nephew, his wife, his sister and other top leaders in the front row at a theater in Pyongyang.The fate of Kim Kyong Hui has been a subject of intense speculation since her husband, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the second most powerful man in Pyongyang, was executed in 2013. North Korean media last mentioned her name a few days after her husband's execution when she was appointed to a committee for the state funeral of another top party official.She then disappeared from public view, triggering rumors that she may have been executed, too. South Korean intelligence officials dismissed such rumors, saying that she was hospitalized for poor health but not purged.She remains the closest blood link that Kim Jong Un has to his father and paternal grandfather, both of whom ruled North Korea before him.Kim Jong Un's grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, is still revered like a god among North Koreans. The current leader often stresses his bloodline when he needs to legitimize his rule or wants to consolidate his people around him in the face of an external crisis. The public appearance of his aunt, a daughter of Kim Il Sung, reminds North Koreans of that blood link.Kim Jong Un needs his people's loyalty more than ever. After a year and a half of largely fruitless diplomacy with President Donald Trump, Kim said late last month that his country would no longer hope for a diplomatic breakthrough with Washington. Instead, he said his country should prepare to endure international sanctions by tightening its belt and building a "self-reliant" economy.Until her husband, Jang, was executed, Kim Kyong Hui had been the pre-eminent female face of the Kim family that has ruled North Korea since its founding seven decades ago.The current leader's father, Kim Jong Il, allowed his sister to hold key jobs in his government. But the diminutive, frail and reportedly sick sister seldom appeared in public during her brother's rule.But that changed after Kim Jong Il fell ill with a stroke in 2008. She and her husband raised their public profile and acted like parent-like figures as Kim Jong Un was groomed as heir apparent. After Kim Jong Il died, the couple further strengthened their power as they helped Kim Jong Un engineer purges of top officials to establish himself as supreme leader and continue the family dynasty.Jang's power became so expansive through the military and other key branches of the government that the current leader felt threatened.Kim Jong Un had him executed on charges of corruption, sedition and numerous other charges in late 2013. He also ferreted out those close to Jang, who was accused of building a network of followers in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the government and the Korean People's Army.The executions of Jang and his followers were watershed moments for Kim Jong Un's efforts to establish himself as a monolithic leader. In 2017, North Korean agents plotted the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the current leader's estranged half brother, in Malaysia. Kim Jong Un may have regarded his half brother, the eldest son of his father, as a potential threat to his throne at the family-run regime, analysts say.After Kim Kyong Hui disappeared from public view, Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, replaced her as the main female face of the family.It remained unclear whether, Kim Kyong Hui, 73, will resume an active public life. In North Korea, invitations to leadership gatherings -- and how close people are placed to the current leader -- are often barometers of whether an official is favored in the government.Before rumors emerged that she had been purged, her presence had been a powerful reminder to top generals of where the root of the regime lay, and she was even seen as a regent helping guide her nephew through the North's treacherous internal politics to ensure a smooth generational change. The offspring of those who fought to help Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather, establish himself as top leader form the loyalist core of the elite in Pyongyang today.But her relationship with her husband had always been a subject of speculation. Even before Jang's downfall, analysts in South Korea had speculated that the couple had a troubled marriage, especially after their only child, a daughter, committed suicide in France in 2006. In a party meeting in 2013 that condemned Jang as a traitor, he was called a depraved and corrupt womanizer.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Major Veterans Group Calls On Trump To Apologize For Downplaying Troops' Injuries Posted: 26 Jan 2020 08:31 AM PST  Veterans of Foreign Wars said it couldn't "stand idle" after Trump's "misguided" comments about troop injuries following a recent attack by Iran.
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| Close Netanyahu ally, Likud lawmaker faces bribery charges Posted: 26 Jan 2020 08:26 AM PST ![Close Netanyahu ally, Likud lawmaker faces bribery charges]( "Close Netanyahu ally, Likud lawmaker faces bribery charges") Israel's Justice Ministry said Sunday that David Bitan, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will be charged with taking bribes pending a hearing with the attorney general. Bitan, a parliament member from Netanyahu's Likud party, is accused of accepting bribes of more than $286,000, as well as fraud, breach of trust and tax violations in nine separate cases. The alleged crimes took place while Bitan served as deputy mayor of Rishon Lezion, a city in central Israel, and as a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
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| Iraqi protesters defy top cleric and return to the streets Posted: 26 Jan 2020 06:04 AM PST  One protester was killed by security forces after hundreds of anti-government protesters flooded the streets of Iraq's capital and southern provinces on Sunday, defying a powerful Iraqi religious leader who recently withdrew his support from the popular movement. Separately, five Katyusha rockets crashed into a riverbank near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone without causing any injuries or serious damages, a statement from U.S. Joint Operations Command said. One rocket landed inside the embassy walls, an Iraqi security official said.
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| After Trump’s Acquittal, It Will Only Get Worse for Republicans Posted: 26 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The Senate trial of President Donald Trump is proving less Soviet than expected. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the House impeachment manager, last week presented a coherent, damning and often eloquent narrative of Trump's guilt, backed by text messages, emails, letters and sworn witness testimony previously delivered to the House.As my colleague Jonathan Bernstein points out, the weight of such facts can alter political gravity. Even Republicans who have made up their minds to acquit — which almost certainly describes the entire GOP caucus — have had to sit through the avalanche of evidence. Surely it weighs on at least a few consciences. Meanwhile, writes New York magazine's Jonathan Chait, ignoring the facts carries risks of its own: "The impeachment trial is an exercise in displaying the Republican Party's institutional culpability in Trump's contempt for the rule of law. At some point, they will have to decide to damn the president or to damn themselves."It's a foregone conclusion: Republican senators will damn themselves to infinity and beyond. The question isn't what Republican senators will decide next week, but where the Republican Party will go after Trump's acquittal. That answer, too, is alarmingly clear: further downward. From 1994 to 2015, give or take, the party was tumbling down a slippery slope. Since 2016, Republicans have been falling at 32 feet per second squared.Acquitting Trump is not the same as shrugging at the president's venality and vindictiveness, or mumbling and walking away when a reporter asks whether you believe it's OK to solicit foreign sabotage of a U.S. election. Acquitting Trump is a bold, affirmative act.The acquittal will mark the senators as political made men. It will be their induction into Trump's gangster ethos, using constitutional powers to enable corruption. For those who have hovered on the periphery of Trump's political gangland, there is no route back to innocence.Many long ago crossed that Rubicon, proclaiming their fealty to the "the chosen one." But acquittal will transform even the most reticent Republicans into conspirators against democracy and rule of law.It will not be long before they are called upon to defend the indefensible again. And they will do it, acquiescing to the next figurative or literal crime just as they did to Trump's videotaped boast of sexual assaults, his horrifying sellouts to Russian President Vladimir Putin, his personal use of charitable contributions intended for veterans, his brutality toward children, or his quotidian blitzes against decency and democracy.Schiff's repeated use of the word "cheat" to describe Trump's posture toward U.S. elections was less an accounting of past performance than a guarantee of future results. "No one is really making the argument, 'Donald Trump would never do such a thing,' because of course we know that he would, and of course we know that he did," Schiff told the Senate last week. "He'll do it now. He's done it before. He'll do it for the next several months. He'll do it in the election if he's allowed to."Whether the game is golf or politics or business, Trump cheats. On trial for seeking foreign interference in the 2020 election, after having been the beneficiary of foreign interference in the 2016 election, Trump will find many willing accomplices before November. His presidency is a strategic boon to multiple U.S. adversaries, most prominently Putin. Another modest investment in Trump's presidency could yield an even larger return — destroying, for a generation or more, American democracy not only as a vehicle of ethical government but also as a protector (aspirationally if not always actually) of human dignity.This is not cynicism. It's the reality of U.S. politics in 2020. Acquitting Trump will destroy what's left of the Republican Party's claims to ethical legitimacy and pave the way for the further erosion of democracy. The only question that remains is how much more corruption the non-MAGA majority of Americans is willing to take.To contact the author of this story: Francis Wilkinson at fwilkinson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| After Trump’s Acquittal, It Will Only Get Worse for Republicans Posted: 26 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The Senate trial of President Donald Trump is proving less Soviet than expected. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the House impeachment manager, last week presented a coherent, damning and often eloquent narrative of Trump's guilt, backed by text messages, emails, letters and sworn witness testimony previously delivered to the House.As my colleague Jonathan Bernstein points out, the weight of such facts can alter political gravity. Even Republicans who have made up their minds to acquit — which almost certainly describes the entire GOP caucus — have had to sit through the avalanche of evidence. Surely it weighs on at least a few consciences. Meanwhile, writes New York magazine's Jonathan Chait, ignoring the facts carries risks of its own: "The impeachment trial is an exercise in displaying the Republican Party's institutional culpability in Trump's contempt for the rule of law. At some point, they will have to decide to damn the president or to damn themselves."It's a foregone conclusion: Republican senators will damn themselves to infinity and beyond. The question isn't what Republican senators will decide next week, but where the Republican Party will go after Trump's acquittal. That answer, too, is alarmingly clear: further downward. From 1994 to 2015, give or take, the party was tumbling down a slippery slope. Since 2016, Republicans have been falling at 32 feet per second squared.Acquitting Trump is not the same as shrugging at the president's venality and vindictiveness, or mumbling and walking away when a reporter asks whether you believe it's OK to solicit foreign sabotage of a U.S. election. Acquitting Trump is a bold, affirmative act.The acquittal will mark the senators as political made men. It will be their induction into Trump's gangster ethos, using constitutional powers to enable corruption. For those who have hovered on the periphery of Trump's political gangland, there is no route back to innocence.Many long ago crossed that Rubicon, proclaiming their fealty to the "the chosen one." But acquittal will transform even the most reticent Republicans into conspirators against democracy and rule of law.It will not be long before they are called upon to defend the indefensible again. And they will do it, acquiescing to the next figurative or literal crime just as they did to Trump's videotaped boast of sexual assaults, his horrifying sellouts to Russian President Vladimir Putin, his personal use of charitable contributions intended for veterans, his brutality toward children, or his quotidian blitzes against decency and democracy.Schiff's repeated use of the word "cheat" to describe Trump's posture toward U.S. elections was less an accounting of past performance than a guarantee of future results. "No one is really making the argument, 'Donald Trump would never do such a thing,' because of course we know that he would, and of course we know that he did," Schiff told the Senate last week. "He'll do it now. He's done it before. He'll do it for the next several months. He'll do it in the election if he's allowed to."Whether the game is golf or politics or business, Trump cheats. On trial for seeking foreign interference in the 2020 election, after having been the beneficiary of foreign interference in the 2016 election, Trump will find many willing accomplices before November. His presidency is a strategic boon to multiple U.S. adversaries, most prominently Putin. Another modest investment in Trump's presidency could yield an even larger return — destroying, for a generation or more, American democracy not only as a vehicle of ethical government but also as a protector (aspirationally if not always actually) of human dignity.This is not cynicism. It's the reality of U.S. politics in 2020. Acquitting Trump will destroy what's left of the Republican Party's claims to ethical legitimacy and pave the way for the further erosion of democracy. The only question that remains is how much more corruption the non-MAGA majority of Americans is willing to take.To contact the author of this story: Francis Wilkinson at fwilkinson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Syrian troops reach outskirts of key rebel-held town Posted: 26 Jan 2020 04:48 AM PST  Syrian government forces reached the outskirts of a key rebel-held town on Sunday, part of a weekslong offensive into the country's last rebel stronghold, state media and opposition activists said. Opposition activists said government forces are now less than a kilometer (mile) away from the town.
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| Israel to allow its citizens to visit Saudi Arabia Posted: 26 Jan 2020 03:55 AM PST  Israel's Interior Ministry said Sunday that it will now allow Israelis to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious or business visits. The announcement is the latest sign of quiet but warming relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It also came days before the White House is to announce its Mideast peace plan — which is expected to seek Saudi support.
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| UN slams Libya arms embargo violations despite Berlin pledges Posted: 26 Jan 2020 03:39 AM PST  The United Nations mission to Libya has slammed ongoing violations of a UN Security Council arms embargo, despite commitments made a week ago at an international summit in Berlin. In a statement published overnight into Sunday, UNSMIL it said it "deeply regrets the continued blatant violations of the arms embargo in Libya". World leaders last weekend committed to ending all foreign meddling in Libya and to upholding the 2011 weapons embargo as part of a broader plan to end the country's conflict.
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| How Did Bucharest Become ‘Paris of the East?’ Posted: 26 Jan 2020 02:08 AM PST  There are more than a half-dozen self-titled "Little Viennas" in Europe, preening for the honor of second place. Fewer cities compete for the diminutive "Little Paris" Grand Prix but there are some. The former were almost entirely within Austria-Hungary for decades or centuries, and accordingly their Habsburg yellow Baroque buildings, mini-Ringstrasses and similar trappings are all easy to explain. Little Parises are different; they tend to be much farther away and were never subject to rule by real Paris. They're enthusiasts rather than offspring, such as the German city of Leipzig and Plovdiv in Bulgaria but the unquestionable and implausible best of the lot is Bucharest.Among the very numerous attractions of the Romanian capital is a stock of French Renaissance Revival, neoclassical, and Beaux-Arts buildings to put almost any city outside of the French capital to shame, all the more interesting because they aren't sited in any coherent sequence of a national vernacular but are located more than 1,000 miles from France amidst a cityscape of older Byzantine and Ottoman-styled buildings, later Byzantine Revivalism, and an excellent collection of interwar modern and Art Deco buildings. It doesn't make sense but the result is brilliant.Take a stroll down the Calea Victoriei, the principal thoroughfare of Bucharest's Old Town and you'll find French-styled architecture on nearly every block. Bucharest doubles as Paris not infrequently in media, from Killing Eve to an early 1990s Michael Gambon Maigret series. Trademarks of Beaux-Arts architecture are everywhere, and these generally aren't even knockoffs by any standard. Several were built by French architects; most were built by Romanian architects, but generally ones educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris during its prime decades. How does one explain it?The rise of Romanian nationalism over the earlier decades of the 19th century found unique inspiration in (and concrete help from) France. Romania, which in the pre-national form of the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia had been an autonomous portion of the Ottoman Empire for centuries, was actively interested in turning away from the traditions of its Ottoman overlords. Russia, which eyed it hungrily, occupying its territories twice and seeking to conquer it in the Crimean War was obviously not an example it sought to emulate. Nearby Austria-Hungary was viewed warily as well, as another possible conqueror of a neighbor already ruling over several million ethnic Romanians in Transylvania.A particularly vital interest of Romanian nationalists was stressing the Latinity of their civilization, the westernmost Romance language group amidst Slavs, Turks, and Greeks. Not unsurprisingly, commemorative links to Ancient Rome became ubiquitous (there seems to be a commemoration of Roman Emperor Trajan in every Romanian city) but Italy was a geographic expression, France was a great state, and the worthy focus of aspirations. France was also quite politically helpful.Ironically, it was Russian occupation that provided broader exposure to the French language. Emanuela Constantini explains in Dismantling the Ottoman Heritage? The Evolution of Bucharest in the Nineteenth Century, "The Russian aristocracy, to which the officers of the Tsarist army belonged, used French as a common language. During the Russian occupation of Wallachia in 1806-1812 and again in 1829-1834, the local nobility came into contact with Russian officers, and French literature, dances and traditions began to circulate."Romanian enthusiasm for France took on numerous aspects: it imported a huge number of loanwords from French beginning in the 19th century. Estimates vary but roughly 20 percent of the entire Romanian lexicon consists of French loanwords (considerably more than it imported from other Romance languages, from any Slavic neighbors, or from Turkish). The French imprint on the language is unmistakable. You arrive at the Aeroportul, or the Gara de Nord, drive in on a Bulevardul (which were often inspired by Haussman's Paris from the start). Informal thanks is easy as "mersi." The military police are Jandarmeria.The airport is named after Henri Coandă, an aviator who spent extensive time in France. Paris seemed an obligatory stop for generations of Romanian artists in countless fields. George Enescu, Constantin Brâncusi, Victor Brauner, Tristan Tzara, Emil Ciroan, Eugen Ionescu, Theodore Pallady, and Nicolae Grigorescu. And of course a huge number of Romanian architects studied at the Ècole des Beaux-Arts: when Romanian architecture schools were founded they were heavily influenced by the Beaux-Arts model.Go for a flânerie through the old town for a more than mildly surreal sense of dislocation from whatever geographic architectural moorings you've acquired.There's something Gare de Lyon-like about the French Renaissance Palace of Justice just south of the Old Town, which was the work of Albert Ballu (and eminent Romanian architect Ion Mincu, Beaux-Arts educated, naturellement), who designed the Palais de Justice in Charleroi in Belgium, along with the train station and cathedral in Oran.Venture north on the Calea Victoriei and you'll find Alexandru Săvulescu's Beaux-Arts Romanian National History Museum, formerly the Central Post Office, reportedly inspired by the main Geneva post office, and bearing more than a mild resemblance to the Natural History Museum at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, although it boasts grander features than either, wonderful cupolas, and an excellent collection.Across the street is one of Bucharest's most ravishing buildings, the CEC Savings and Deposit Bank Palace (designed by Paul Gottereau of Perpignan and the École Des Beaux-Arts). It bears a resemblance to the Petit Palais in Paris but is far more ornate and frankly interesting, boasting one of the most brash and beautiful archways in the Beaux-Arts corpus and an array of solid and glass Renaissance domes bringing internal order. It's now a banking museum but there's nothing dry about its majestic interior, featuring a range of murals and resplendent light.A little north, and somewhat concealed, is the wonderful Macca-Vilacrosse Arcade, designed by another Frenchman, Felix Xenopol. This obvious nod to Parisian passages couverts actually consists of three short arcaded glass-roofed streets that meet under a grand dome of green and yellow glass—its odd shape, and current charm, the result of a hotel that refused to relocate.Slightly north is the Military Circle, featuring the neoclassical Military Circle Palace (currently swathed for construction) and not one but two French neoclassical-styled hotels, Arghir Culina's Hotel Capitol (formerly the Magasin de Luvru, you can guess the palace they had in mind) and Alexandru Orascu's Grand Hotel du Boulevard (not Bulevardul, to be clear) whose marbled interiors are also very elegant.Soon you'll arrive at a series of grand Piaţas (an Italian loanword here), fronted by Paul Gottereau's Carol I University Central University Library building, which resembles the Pantheon Sorbonne in configuration, across the street from the National Museum of Art of Romania, located in the former Royal Palace. Inside there are works by Pissaro, Signac, Courbet, Boudin, Monet, and Camille Claudel, but more importantly a superb collection of Romanian artists you likely haven't seen, including Nicolae Gregorescu, another Beaux-Arts grad, Romania's greatest Courbet disciple, plein air painter, and Impressionist, but an excellent range of artists from the 1850s to 1980s, including Theodore Aman, Gheorgae Petrascu, Max Hermann Maxy, Nicolae Tonitza, Marcel Iancu, Victor Brauner, Corneliu Baba, and of course Brancusi. The remainder of the European collection is also great, including Tintoretto, Bronzino, multiple El Grecos and Rembrandts, and Brueghel the Younger's Seasons series.The neoclassical Romanian Athenaeum concert hall a little farther up was designed by Albert Galleron on the recommendation of Charles Garnier, architect of the Opera Garnier in Paris.The "Lipscani" (Romanian for Leipzig, that littler Little Paris, need I remind you) district east of Calea Victoriei features Bucharest's mercifully small concentration of tourist-oriented dreck amidst many more lovely blocks and buildings such as the National Bank of Romania by Bernard and Galleron, and Alexandru Orăscu's neoclassical main Bucharest University Building. Admire more of the lovely Beaux-Arts in the obstreperously arched and Renaissance-domed Strada Doamnei 11 and go inside for the similarly appealing antiques market.The Ministry of Agriculture a bit to the east seems a chateau amidst the city, a more conscious older revivalism than much of the city's other Francophilia, this designed by Geneva-born Louis Blanc. Ramble on Strada Biserica Amzei and Strada Henri Coandă both of which contain all sorts of fine things. The Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archeology by Jean Berthet on the latter is particularly nice. * * *You will find quite a lot that isn't Parisian along this stretch: if what you want is Paris, just go there. It's the contrast between these French-styled buildings and their very different physical and cultural surroundings that makes for the magic of Bucharest. The Kretzulescu, Zlatari, and Biserica Doamnei churches along the Calea, generally small but splendid Byzantine-styled churches are but a handful of the dozens of historic churches in this overwhelmingly Romanian Orthodox country. Their exteriors are often relatively simple but interiors are full fresco iconography over every internal inch.The Lipscani District holds a number of relics of older Bucharest: The Stavrapoleus Monastery, architectural remnants of the former princely court, and excellent Romanian Revival architecture of the period just after Francophilia such as the Marmorsch Bank and the Chrissevoloni Bank.All this visual splendor won't sustain life, and another layer of the immense charm of Bucharest is its curious cuisine, perched between Central European elements like Ciorbă sour soups, Sarmale stuffed cabbage rolls, sausages and cutlets and middle dips such as Zacuscă (an eggplant and pepper dip), chopped salads, and a sybaritic range of cheeses and pastries. There are a few Italianate items such as Mămăligă, a frequently superb polenta, and white bean dishes. Beyond this there are very affordable wines and tuica plum brandy. This is all exceptionally affordable by European standards as well, with the lei-dollar rate enabling temporarily princely indulgences.Be sure to walk east to experience the vital contrast of the Bulevardul Magheru, one of the world's great showplace Art Deco avenues, deserving a place with diverse company such as Ocean Drive in Miami, Marine Drive in Bombay, the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and all sorts of locations in Tel Aviv. You'll see Culina's Hotel Ambassador, Horia Creanga's ARO building, the Mining Credit Block at Bulevardul Nicolae Bălcescu 2 and much more. You will have noticed the splendid Adriatica Building back on Calea Victoriei, and nearby the one American design contribution to the city, the Telephones Company by Walter Froy, Louis Weeks.* * *Follow Magheru this just a bit north to the Bulevardul Lascăr Catargiu and you're back in maybe-Paris again, with this street lined with many well-preserved villas. The nearby Scientists Club by I.D. Berindey (Beaux-Arts alum of course!) is excellent at 9 Lahovari.A bit north of the city is the sumptuous French Baroque-Art Nouveau Enescu National Museum housed in the Cantecuzino Palace designed by I.D. Berindey. The museum's collection isn't especially great unless you happen to be an Enescu fanatic but the interiors are worth the exceptionally modest price of admission. And nearby there's another excellent large gallery , the Art Collections Museum, featuring mainly Romanian work, especially those of the Francis Bacon of Romania, Corneliu Baba.I haven't mentioned the affliction that is Ceaucescu's New City, a chunk of Pyongyang which obliterated a sixth of the old city. It's theoretically pedestrian-friendly but in much the same way that the mall parking lot is: the scale is oppressive, every block and building too long and every bulevardul too wide, a combination that's exceptionally monotonous, worth a walk mainly to breathe a sigh of relief in returning to the old city. The Parliamentary Palace features some grandiose chambers and quality art but it is a work of rank gigantism, wearying to walk around and more intimidating than impressive from exterior angles.Ceaucescu's own villa north of the city in Dorobanți is worth a metro trip. It's not really the festival of kitsch that photos of its golden bathroom would have you think, and mainly reflects the sort of fairly conservative petit bourgeois taste oddly typical of Eastern Bloc dictators. As usual it's a traditional charming villa neighborhood for the leader, New Pyongyang or worse for the rest. Garnished by gifts from Mao, the Shah of Iran, and all sorts of others it's interesting and all peripherally ghastly in the context of his deeds, but the pool is fantastic.There are risks even with Ceaucescu gone. You don't have to venture very far at all from the center of the city to encounter buildings in disrepair: the city has an air of dilapidation that's charming in milder forms but somewhat alarming in its more intense forms: Bucharest was included on the 2016 listing of the World Monuments Fund Watch. That entry pointed out that "A built environment of great historical, social, and symbolic significance is threatened by abandonment and demolition of historic buildings, uncontrolled development, and inappropriate rehabilitation." Go, and perhaps it will encourage a different trend.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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| Fighting rages as Libya force pushes toward key western city Posted: 26 Jan 2020 02:08 AM PST  Officials from Libya's two rival governments said fighting erupted Sunday as the country's east-based forces advanced toward the strategic western city of Misrata, further eroding a crumbling cease-fire agreement brokered earlier this month. The clashes came just hours after the United Nations decried "continued blatant violations" of an arms embargo on Libya by several unspecified countries. Libya is divided between rival governments based in its east and west, each supported by various armed militias and foreign backers.
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| Survivor in Slovenia turns 100 on Holocaust Remembrance Day Posted: 26 Jan 2020 01:38 AM PST  For Marija Frlan it's as symbolic as it can get: A survivor of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, the Slovenian woman turns 100 years old on Monday, the international Holocaust Remembrance Day. Frlan, who was held at the Nazi's Ravensbrueck camp in northern Germany for over a year in 1944-45, will join other survivors and officials in Poland on Monday for ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. "The ones who didn't survive this, they can't understand, no," the energetic woman said at her home in the small village of Rakek in southwestern Slovenia.
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| German military resumes training troops in northern Iraq Posted: 26 Jan 2020 01:33 AM PST ![German military resumes training troops in northern Iraq]( "German military resumes training troops in northern Iraq") The German military resumed training Iraqi troops in the country's Kurdish north on Sunday, about three weeks after it was suspended following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general in Baghdad. The military said the commander of the international operation fighting the Islamic State group lifted the suspension. Germany resumed training in Irbil on Sunday morning together with its partners.
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| Trump peace plan could boost embattled Israeli leader Posted: 26 Jan 2020 01:05 AM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to Washington on Sunday vowing to "make history" as he prepared to meet President Donald Trump for the unveiling of the U.S. administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians have not been consulted on the much-trumpeted deal and have pre-emptively rejected the U.S. proposal. The Trump-Netanyahu meeting on Tuesday comes as Trump's impeachment trial continues in the U.S. Senate and the Israeli Parliament holds a hearing to discuss Netanyahu's request for immunity from criminal corruption charges.
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| Kim's aunt reemerges after years of speculation about fate Posted: 26 Jan 2020 12:38 AM PST  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's aunt made her first public appearance in about six years, state media reported Sunday, quelling years of rumors that she was purged or executed by her nephew after helping him inherit power from his father. According to a Korean Central News Agency dispatch, the name of Kim Kyong Hui was included in a list of top North Korean officials who watched a performance marking Lunar New Year's Day with Kim Jong Un at a Pyongyang theater on Saturday. North Korea's main newspaper also released a photo showing Kim Kyong Hui sitting near Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, at the Samjiyon Theater.
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| Turkish teams hunt for quake survivors as death toll hits 38 Posted: 25 Jan 2020 10:53 PM PST  Working against the clock in freezing temperatures, Turkish rescue teams pulled more survivors from collapsed buildings Sunday, days after a powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit the country's east. Rescued survivors wept with gratitude for their efforts. Turkish authorities said the death toll rose to at least 38 people from the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck Friday night.
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| Who can topple Trump? Dems' electability fight rages in Iowa Posted: 25 Jan 2020 09:49 PM PST  The urgent fight for the Democratic presidential nomination raged across Iowa on Sunday as the party's leading candidates scrambled to deliver closing arguments centered on the defining question of the 2020 primary: Who can beat President Donald Trump? Former Vice President Joe Biden demonstrated the breadth of his appeal by appearing at separate events with Catholics, union members and African Americans. At the same time, the fight for the heart of the progressive movement pitted Elizabeth Warren against Bernie Sanders with dueling rallies 200 miles apart as they raced to reach voters before being forced back to Washington when Trump's impeachment trial resumed Monday.
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| Philippine volcano alert lowered, thousands return home Posted: 25 Jan 2020 08:04 PM PST  Philippine authorities on Sunday lowered the alert level at Taal Volcano, two weeks after it began spewing ash, steam and rocks, a move that will allow many of the more than 376,000 displaced villagers to return home. "Taal volcano's condition in the two weeks ... has generally declined into less frequent volcanic earthquake activity, decelerated ground deformation ... and weak steam and gas emissions at the main crater," the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. The government's agency lowered the alert level from 4 to 3, which means there's a "decreased tendency toward a hazardous eruption." The highest level-5 alert indicates a major and much more dangerous eruption.
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| Virus death toll in China rises as US prepares evacuation Posted: 25 Jan 2020 05:38 PM PST  A new viral illness being watched with a wary eye around the globe accelerated its spread in China with 80 deaths so far, while the U.S. Consulate in the city at the epicenter announced it will evacuate its personnel and some other Americans aboard a charter flight. President Xi Jinping has called the outbreak a grave situation and said the government was stepping up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to the city at the center of the crisis, Wuhan, which remains on lockdown with no flights, trains or buses in or out. The epidemic has revived memories of the SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 as it spread around the world in 2002 and 2003.
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