11 Chinese migrants were found hiding inside furniture and appliances

11 Chinese migrants were found hiding inside furniture and appliances


Border agents searched a shifting truck at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, California, on Saturday when they identified 11 Chinese migrants hiding within “numerous parts of furnishings,” US Customs and Border Safety claimed in a statement.

Migrants were being located in a washer, a upper body and a dresser, CBP claimed.

None of the migrants had been severely injured, Pete Flores, the agency’s director of subject operations for San Diego, claimed in the assertion.

They ended up detained pending criminal and immigration proceedings, CBP stated.

The truck’s driver, a 42-calendar year-old US citizen, was arrested and taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in San Diego, CBP stated. He was not named by officers and details about any costs from him were being not quickly obtainable.

“CBP are not able to worry plenty of the risks of smuggling individuals,” Flores explained. “These are human beings that smugglers topic to inhumane problems that could have fatal repercussions.”

Before in November, CBP officers discovered six Chinese nationals hid in yet another transferring truck guiding a phony wall.



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SoftBank's troubles don't end with Wag. Here are 5 more Vision Fund investments to watch closely

SoftBank’s troubles don’t end with Wag. Here are 5 more Vision Fund investments to watch closely


The $100 billion Eyesight Fund, backed by Saudi Arabia, has poured enormous quantities of funds into tech startups all around the entire world. All round, it has chalked up nutritious returns due to the fact launching in 2017, but some of its flashiest investments, this sort of as Uber (UBER) and Slack (Work), have struggled on Wall Avenue due to the fact heading public this yr. Even worse nevertheless, SoftBank (SFTBF) experienced to bail out WeWork in October following it failed to pull off an IPO.
SoftBank CEO and founder Masayoshi Son warned traders at an earnings presentation very last month that there could be other WeWork situations on the horizon, even as he pledged to adhere to his system of betting large to choose technology’s upcoming winners.

“Like the dog going for walks enterprise and other portfolio firms, we may well see related challenges surfacing,” Son mentioned, referring to Wag.

Son didn’t go into specifics, but analysts have determined a number of investments that could dent the Vision Fund’s returns in the near long term.

Didi, Seize and Ola

Uber is the worst performer in the Eyesight Fund’s portfolio pursuing a mega compose down, and far more problems could be brewing in transportation and logistics, which signifies 40% of the fund’s complete investments.

The Eyesight Fund also has stakes in trip-hailing startups Didi, Grab and Ola, all of which “will very likely deal with related troubles as Uber, with their economics probable remaining challenged until finally robo-taxis become viable and eradicate the price tag of the driver,” Bernstein analyst Chris Lane wrote in a observe on Tuesday.

SoftBank very last month took an $8.9 billion strike from Uber and other investments for the July to September time period.

Other transportation bets consist of on-need food shipping and delivery company DoorDash, Nauto, which uses cameras and synthetic intelligence to recognize driver behavior, and self-driving auto corporation GM Cruise, an affiliate of the US automaker. The futures of those people companies are in the same way linked to autonomous driving, reported Lane.

The Eyesight Fund has invested $31.4 billion in about two dozen transportation and logistics startups around the environment. As of September 30, the truthful worth of all those companies was pegged at $31.1 billion, which usually means the fund has lost about 1% on its investments, according to Lane and SoftBank’s presentation product.

Oyo and OneConnect

At WeWork, SoftBank was the sole or primary trader in the previous number of rounds, driving the firm’s sky significant valuation. Buyers are now worried that WeWork wasn’t an exception, but far more of a rule, according to Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal.

“Apparently, this sample has repeated in a lot of circumstances,” which include Indian lodge startup Oyo and fiscal technological innovation business OneConnect, Goyal reported in a take note on Monday.
In Oct, Oyo raised $1.5 billion in refreshing resources from its founder Ritesh Agarwal, SoftBank and other traders. Funding for the round reportedly came from Japanese banking institutions “which could not have probably lent that income to Oyo’s founder without having assurances and assures from SoftBank Group,” Goyal reported.
Inside WeWork's week from hell: How the mass layoffs went down
OneConnect, the on the web payments device of Chinese insurance policies giant Ping An (PIAIF), released its community featuring in the United States very last 7 days. The enterprise could elevate up to $504 million, providing 36 million shares for involving $12 and $14 just about every, according to an SEC submitting previous Tuesday.

The selling price selection values OneConnect at among $4.4 billion and $5.2 billion, falling nicely limited of the $7.4 billion Ping An said the device was well worth last 12 months, when it lifted $650 million from investors including SoftBank.

If SoftBank continues to inject funds into these types of firms at inflated valuations, other traders might be afraid off. That could depart SoftBank and the Vision Fund as sole or the greater part buyers, “but this will build the specter of [WeWork] all in excess of yet again,” mentioned Goyal.

The Eyesight Fund is nevertheless forward

Even with the billions dedicated to the WeWork bailout and created off at Uber, the Vision Fund has experienced a respectable run so much.

The fund formally shut in September, just after deploying about 85% of its cash. It retains 15% back again to pay back favored buyers an yearly 7% coupon, and for abide by-on investments in fund organizations.

Son’s mega tech fund “has realized an [internal rate of return] of 24% in its 28 months of operation, with gains of $11.4 billion from its financial commitment in 90 organizations,” according to Lane, the Bernstein analyst. That return does not consider into account inflation, price tag of money or money risks.

Between the 15 analysts polled by facts company Refinitiv, 14 have a buy or robust invest in suggestion for SoftBank’s stock. Only a person analyst, Goyal of Jefferies, prices SoftBank a keep.

Shares in SoftBank ticked down .3% in Tokyo on Tuesday, down practically 30% from a superior in April.



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Rory McIlroy turns down golf event in Saudi Arabia

Rory McIlroy turns down golf event in Saudi Arabia


The Northern Irishman stated these types of a tournament did not “excite” him and proposed Saudi Arabia’s ongoing human legal rights issues have been also to blame.

“100%, you can find a morality to it as well,” the world No.2, who did not deny the reported look price, explained to the Golfing Channel Monday.

“You could say that about so numerous nations around the world, not just Saudi Arabia, but a whole lot of nations that we enjoy in that there is a cause not to go, but for me, I just will not want to go.”

Read: Boxing’s ‘Clash on the Dunes’ overshadowed by ‘sportswashing’ problems
Go through: A tumultuous 10 a long time from scandal to redemption for Tiger Woods
Saudi Arabia has hosted a number of significant-profile sporting activities lately, but there are fears these kinds of instances are illustrations of “sportswashing” — exactly where governments use main functions to divert attention away from human legal rights issues. It follows the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, who an independent report explained was killed by officials operating on the behalf of the point out of Saudi Arabia.
Winner boxer Anthony Joshua not long ago fought and conquer Andy Ruiz Jr. in the desert kingdom, a struggle which brought about controversy because of to its area near the Saudi money of Riyadh.
“We’ve more and more found Gulf nations around the world look for status and bolster their intercontinental reputations by internet hosting key sporting situations,” Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, informed CNN forward of Joshua’s combat.

“Sad to say, quite a few of these sporting gatherings acquire spot devoid of these international locations addressing the root causes of their reputational complications such as longstanding and systematic human legal rights abuses versus political dissidents and activists, foreign migrant workers, and females.”

McIlroy claimed he had no challenge viewing Saturday’s struggle, but reported he would desire to transform out for PGA Tour events in the US alternatively of touring to Saudi Arabia himself.

“I feel the ambiance seems to be much better at the activities on the west coast [of America] and I might substantially instead participate in in front of major golf lovers and play in a event that actually excites me,” he extra.

Earth No.1 Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson are amid the large names established to contend at the Saudi Arabia celebration, which is thanks to start on January 30, 2020.



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Ted Baker CEO Lindsay Page resigns as profits slump

Ted Baker CEO Lindsay Page resigns as profits slump



Shares in the manner retailer plunged as a lot as 35% on Tuesday immediately after the enterprise slashed its revenue outlook, suspended its dividend and introduced the resignations of its CEO and government chairman.

“The very last 12 months has without doubt been the most difficult in our background,” the high-stop London label claimed in a statement, citing tough small business disorders heading into the important getaway buying interval.

“The board has instigated an immediate motion system to enhance the efficiency of the group,” it claimed.

The enterprise explained it now expects income for 2019 of among £5 million ($6.6 million) and £10 million ($13.2 million) — a 90% drop from earnings direction issued in June.

Shares in Ted Baker pared previously losses to trade 13% reduce in London. The stock is down 77% this yr, reflecting the company’s struggle to deal with sector-vast difficulties these kinds of as weak customer spending and on the net competitiveness.

Following several years of robust financial gain expansion, the enterprise posted a 23% slide in earnings previous 12 months to £40.7 million ($53.7 million). In March, founder Ray Kelvin still left abruptly just after going through allegations of harassment, which includes “pressured hugging.” Kelvin denies promises that he acted inappropriately.

Ted Baker’s difficulties mounted in October when it noted a decline for the 1st seven months of the yr of £23 million ($30.3 million). It adopted that past 7 days with an admission that the worth of its stock had been overstated by up to £25 million ($33 million).

On Tuesday, the company suspended its dividend and announced that CEO Lindsay Site, who has been in the career for considerably less than a calendar year, experienced resigned. Government chairman David Bernstein has also stepped down.

Web site was appointed performing CEO in March right after Kelvin’s departure. CFO Rachel Osborne has been appointed acting CEO, with the lookup for Page’s alternative to get started in January, Ted Baker stated.

The business stated unbiased consultants Alix Companions have been hired to conduct a “large-ranging overview” of its operational performance, fees and company design.

Guarantee in Asia, North The usa

Web site joined the corporation in 1997 as finance director when it experienced just six shops in the United Kingdom and profits of £14 million ($18.5 million). In 2018, it described earnings of £617.4 million ($813.8 million) throughout 560 retail outlets around the globe. The company sells its clothing and components mostly in other merchants, these kinds of as John Lewis in the United Kingdom and Nordstrom (JWN) in the United States.

The British retailer said Tuesday that its general performance in North The usa, where by it has been growing, has been strong. Sales in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, which account for the bulk of its revenue, were being weaker. It also highlighted ongoing expansion in Asia, principally as a result of joint ventures in China and Japan.



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Nepal girls sleep in 'menstruation huts' despite ban, study finds

Nepal girls sleep in ‘menstruation huts’ despite ban, study finds


The illegal customized, regarded as “Chhaupadi,” stems from a generations-aged Hindu taboo that considers women and ladies as unclean throughout menstruation. When girls are on their intervals, they are forbidden from a selection of everyday things to do and are normally confined to “menstruation huts,” wherever they are expected to snooze at evening.
The observe was criminalized in 2018 soon after a string of superior-profile fatalities. But the taboo remains and the practice carries on unabated, according to the study, revealed Monday in the journal Sexual and Reproductive Health and fitness Matters.

Researchers from the UK’s University of Bath labored with neighborhood non-revenue group Middle for Analysis on Setting Wellbeing and Inhabitants Activities (CREHPA) to survey 400 teenage girls in the Karnali province of mid-Western Nepal.

The examine identified that 77% of the ladies surveyed practiced Chhaupadi. Course manufactured only a slight difference while ladies from extra city and affluent homes had been much less probable to exercise Chhaupadi, 66% of ladies in the major fifth prosperity bracket still did.

Most of the ladies had access to cleaning soap and water for the duration of their time in the huts, which permitted for better menstrual cleanliness, but they continue to confronted a variety of other threats and fears.

“The ladies and girls we spoke to have been terrified of snakes and animals coming in at night time, or of becoming attacked by strangers,” mentioned Jennifer Thomson, a person of the study’s researchers, in a push launch. “Even if they hadn’t expert that specifically, the psychological pressure of that was rather serious.”

A total of 40% of women surveyed had been unaware the observe was illegal.

The ramshackle huts usually have small doors and no windows, with poor sanitation and air flow. There have been many circumstances more than the decades of girls dying from results in like snake bites and suffocation a 17-year-outdated girl died this February from smoke inhalation after lights a fire inside the huts to retain warm at night. She was at least the fourth sufferer of the apply to have died this calendar year.
A menstruation hut in the Nepali village of Achham, on November 23, 2011.

Thomson added that the examine experienced heard anecdotal evidence of girls who did not even have a hut to snooze in — during their intervals, they would be forced to rest out in the elements or with animals. The girls typically documented sensation heightened “tension, anxiousness, and disempowerment” throughout their time in the huts, the research explained.

Aside from the bodily danger and mental overall health penalties of sleeping in the menstruation huts, the women also confronted potent social stigma when they were being on their periods. Numerous women surveyed explained they had been not authorized to touch male loved ones associates, cook or enter kitchens, or try to eat ordinary meals like dairy goods although menstruating.

An ineffective ban

Considering the fact that Chhaupadi was criminalized, countrywide and nearby officers have claimed that the observe is “mostly eradicated.” Less than the law, any individual who forces a girl into a menstrual hut will be sentenced to 3 months in jail or fined the equal of $30.

But activists and scientists say this hasn’t diminished the prevalence of the customized, and that gals are still banished to other isolated areas. The 17-calendar year-old who died in February hadn’t been positioned in a hut, but relatively a small, unused space of a dwelling.

Even in 2017, when Nepal’s Parliament handed the invoice banning the apply, professionals nervous it would do tiny to adjust deeply-rooted cultural norms and beliefs. Rural inhabitants complained about the invoice, with some telling CNN the authorities was disrespecting their traditions.
Nepal outlaws menstruation huts, but what will take their place?

The new review reflects how Chhaupadi is perpetuated within close communities and handed on between generations despite the ban. The stringent policies of the observe ended up “most keenly enforced by elders in their loved ones and neighborhood,” these as mothers, grandmothers, and other senior females, the examine found.

The practice just isn’t restricted to rural spots or women with small training degrees even faculty instructors, health workers, and local leaders snooze in the menstruation huts, in accordance to Renu Sharma, president of nearby non-gain The Women’s Foundation. The amount of women who exercise Chhaupadi could be even better than the study’s 77%, she extra.
Banished from home for menstruating, mother and two children die in Nepali hut

A different component of the difficulty is loose enforcement by official bodies and bad coordination. There are many governing administration ministries that develop coverage for menstrual cleanliness, but with no crystal clear delegation of obligation, the issue could effortlessly “drop among the gaps of the many ministries,” the examine mentioned.

The examine proposed action which includes broadening the scope of activism and education. Lots of organizations have centered on Chhaupadi’s damaging consequences on women’s well being and menstrual cleanliness there now demands to be bigger emphasis on the social issues and cultural taboos that gasoline these methods, the study reported.

“This is about transforming deeply ingrained cultural techniques and behaviors, and when modifying the legislation is important, this research reveals it can be going to choose a lot extra than that,” claimed Thomson in the push launch. “These are practices that have long gone on for generations and generations.”



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A social media influencer will serve 14 years in prison after his plot to take over a website at gunpoint backfired

A social media influencer will serve 14 years in prison after his plot to take over a website at gunpoint backfired



Rossi Lorathio Adams II, 27, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, acquired the sentence Monday soon after he was observed responsible of just one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by drive, threats and violence, in accordance to a statement from the US Attorney’s Business for the Northern District of Iowa.

Adams, also regarded as “Polo,” established a social media company named “Point out Snaps” in 2015 though he was enrolled as a scholar at Iowa Condition University. His social media accounts on platforms these kinds of as Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter experienced over a million followers at a single issue, the statement said. The site’s articles included movie and pics of “younger grownups engaged in crude conduct, drunkenness, and nudity,” in accordance to the assertion. Followers of Condition Snaps utilized the slogan “Do It For State,” and Adams desired to buy the net domain doitforstate.com to expand his firm, the statement said.

Adams attempted to persuade a Cedar Rapids resident who experienced registered the domain with GoDaddy.com to market it to him many moments concerning 2015 and 2017, the statement reported.

In June 2017, Adams drove his cousin, Sherman Hopkins Jr., to the household of the area proprietor. Hopkins, a convicted felon, broke into the man’s residence with a mobile cell phone, stolen gun and taser when donning pantyhose on his head and darkish sun shades, the statement stated. He also experienced a note from Adams to the area proprietor with directions on how to transfer the domain.

Hopkins held the gun to the area owner’s head and pistol whipped him many occasions before the gentleman was ready to attain control of the gun. Through the wrestle, the gentleman was shot in the leg just before he shot Hopkins various instances in the upper body and then referred to as law enforcement, in accordance to the statement. Hopkins survived the taking pictures and was sentenced to 20 a long time in prison.

Adams was convicted in April and was sentenced to 168 months in federal jail Monday by United States District Court docket Decide C.J. Williams. He has been requested to shell out $9,000 in restitution, just about $4,000 or prosecution charges and $22,000 in attorney charges as part of his sentence. He was applying a court docket-appointed lawyer all through the trail but it was later found that Adams was still earning “substantial amounts of funds” even though his scenario was pending, the statement reported.



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Climate change: A new report found the Arctic saw near-record heat in 2019. It's an ominous sign for the future of the planet

Climate change: A new report found the Arctic saw near-record heat in 2019. It’s an ominous sign for the future of the planet


But a new report shows there are indications that this significant cooling process could be breaking down, and the impacts of what is going on in the Arctic are currently being felt by people and ecosystems significantly beyond.

The superior temperatures in 2019 are one more indicator that the latest period of Arctic warming reveals no symptoms of stopping.

Considering the fact that the mid-1990s, the Arctic has experienced levels of warming that are extra than double the world-wide common. And considering that 2014, each and every calendar year in the Arctic has been hotter than any 12 months involving 1900-2014, the review identified.

The authors say these exceptionally high air temperatures are at the root of the other impacts chronicled in the report — from shrinking sea ice address and shifts in fish species distributions, to around-record melting on Greenland’s ice sheet and permafrost thaw.

For a long time, weather researchers have paid out near attention to the Arctic to realize the consequences of human emissions of heat-trapping gases.

The Arctic is a bellwether for the international local weather — seemingly tiny alterations right here can have enormous repercussions, and portend what’s to come for the relaxation of the planet.

“A few of degrees of warming in Florida is anything you could not even detect. But in the Arctic, likely from 31 levels to 33 levels (Fahrenheit), you’re heading from ice-skating to swimming in the Arctic Ocean,” mentioned Walt Meier, a senior investigation scientist at the National Snow and Ice Details Heart and a co-guide creator on the Arctic Report Card’s sea ice section.

Sea ice is shrinking. The fish we rely on are looking for colder waters

One of the most important impacts of a warmer Arctic is the result the heat is possessing on the region’s sea ice, which continued a pattern of decrease in 2019.

Hotter temperatures direct to a lot less ice and snow, which signifies significantly less sunlight is mirrored and much more warmth is absorbed by the dark drinking water of the open up ocean. This warms the ocean even further, which carries on a vicious cycle that shrinks the sea ice even far more.

Sea ice coverage in the Arctic generally reaches its yearly minimum amount in September immediately after the ice melts around the summer time months.

This 12 months, the remaining region of ice soon after the summertime melt was tied with 2007 and 2016 for the next-most affordable ever recorded. The 13 most affordable sea ice extents in the satellite file have now all happened in the past 13 many years.

Sea ice normally freezes again during the cold winter season months, but the 2018-2019 winter maximum extent of sea ice coverage was also substantially smaller than typical, rating as the seventh-least expensive recorded, according to the report.

There have been other important modifications to the thickness of the sea ice in the latest several years, which ongoing in 2019.

As lately as 1985, older and thicker ice designed up 33% of the sea ice at the conclude of winter. But the Arctic’s ice has thinned considerably recently. In March 2019, hardly far more than 1% of the sea ice was thick ice that remained frozen from the earlier calendar year.

“We’re viewing a ongoing change to a more youthful, thinner, and considerably less considerable ice deal with,” Meier explained.

The vanishing sea ice has well-documented impacts on animals like polar bears that use it as a system from which to hunt their prey. But it is also acquiring main impacts on other species much too, together with humans.

The Bering Sea, which hyperlinks the northern Pacific Ocean with the Arctic Ocean, supplies more than 40% of the US catch of fish and shellfish, and a lot of indigenous communities count on its waters for food stuff.

The hunters in the village of KIvalina, Alaska, have seen the migration patterns of fish, caribou, seal and whale that they need for the long winter months change due to the warming weather.

The existence of certain types of fish in the Bering Sea is dependent on the development of sea ice there, which cools the waters to make an suitable habitat for its indigenous species.

But the Bering Sea has viewed report small sea ice the previous two winters and the transform is reshaping the full marine ecosystem, the report says.

With out sea ice to great the h2o, fish and other species that prefer hotter waters are pushing into areas outside of their ordinary array, although chilly drinking water species are moving further more north into the Arctic.

In accordance to testimony in the report from leaders of indigenous communities, these seismic improvements are imperiling the food stuff resources their persons depend on.

“In a warming Arctic, entry to our subsistence food items is shrinking and turning into far more harmful to hunt and fish,” they say in the report.

Greenland’s soften is accelerating. That is bad information for coastal metropolitan areas

Greenland’s ice sheet contains sufficient drinking water to elevate world-wide sea levels by extra than 24 feet, and the report finds that 2019 was a different 12 months of near-history melting,

The ice misplaced in 2019 rivaled the melting found in 2012, which set the report for melting on the ice sheet.

The report finds that between 2002 and 2019, sufficient melt drinking water from Greenland’s ice sheet spilled into the ocean to increase worldwide sea degrees by an typical of .7 millimeters each year.

That could possibly not audio like substantially, but examination displays that 190 million individuals at the moment dwell below where by the higher tide line is predicted to be in 2100, so seemingly little quantities of sea amount rise can have substantial impacts on coastal communities.
Scientists found that melting on Greenland's ice sheet was very near record levels in 2019.

“There is some sum of sea degree increase that is now ‘baked in’,” said Twila Moon, yet another analysis scientist at the NSIDC and a person of the authors of the Arctic Report Card’s Greenland chapter. “Nonetheless, the actions that we are taking appropriate now are likely to make a really, extremely substantial difference in how a lot sea amount increase there is in the foreseeable future.”

A different analyze launched Tuesday in the scientific journal Mother nature brought even much more poor information for Greenland and the billions of individuals living along the world’s coasts.

Involving 2005 and 2011, Greenland’s ice sheet melted at a level that was 5 periods faster than for the duration of the early 1990s. And all advised, Greenland’s melting tracks closely with the worst-case sea degree increase eventualities projected by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

At this fee, melting from Greenland’s ice sheet by itself could elevate worldwide sea levels by near to fifty percent a foot by 2100.

The findings are just the newest in a continuous stream of dire scientific reviews exhibiting the large modifications that human beings are triggering to the international climate, and occur as planet leaders assemble in Madrid this 7 days to refine their pledges to cut heat-trapping gases.

CNN’s Brandon Miller contributed to this report.



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The articles of impeachment against President Trump, annotated

The articles of impeachment against President Trump, annotated


The articles of impeachment against President Trump, annotated

House Democrats unveiled the two articles of impeachment they prepared against President Donald Trump after a two-and-a-half month investigation into his pressure on Ukraine to investigate his 2020 political rival Joe Biden as well as conspiracy theories about foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election.



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Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Resolved, That Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

This is written in legislative language, so get ready for some legalese. Lawmakers who vote for these articles would be agreeing with impeaching Trump and referring his case to the Senate for trial.

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

The Democratic lawmakers who wrote these articles argue they’re speaking for all Americans rather than just for House members. This is important since, while Congress is the unit of government closest to the people, Trump’s defenders have argued impeachment would overturn the will of the people expressed in the 2016 presidential election.

ARTICLE I: ABUSE OF POWER

This is the first article of impeachment. There will be votes on each.

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, a Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. In his conduct of the office of President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed —

The oath of office, as spelled out in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, is: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article II, Section 4 has the portion about the President being impeached by the House and removed from office by the Senate.

Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency, in that:

It’s important for Democrats to prove this point. It can’t just be a political or policy difference that leads them to this drastic step. They most prove that Trump has betrayed the trust of the American people.

Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election.

The fact of this charge is above dispute. He asked Ukraine’s President, in a phone call, for the favor of investigating the Bidens. Democrats argue they have to move fast and now because this is about the coming election in 2020. He’s trying to harm the democratic process in real time.

He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage.

The Intelligence Committee hearings featured testimony from numerous career diplomats backing up this idea, which was also central to the whistleblower report that launched the inquiry in the first place. Trump denies the claim, although his acting chief of staff all but admitted it. And obtaining the investigations was a clear aim of Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Read more on his role here.

Trump sought Ukraine’s help on two investigations. First, he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into a discredited conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 presidential election by hacking the Democratic National Committee. Second, Trump wanted an investigation of Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s position on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma. Neither Biden has been accused of wrongdoing.

President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations.

The acts in question are a White House meeting that was coveted by Zelensky, who was elected in April, to establish his legitimacy — and, more importantly, $391 million in security aid approved by Congress, much of it for Ukraine’s military, which is at war with Russian-backed separatists.

President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit.

The idea here is that if the Ukrainians were investigating Joe Biden’s son’s arrangements with Burisma, that would undercut the former vice president’s credibility at exactly the time he was gearing up to run against Trump.

In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the Nation.

Distancing the US from Ukraine and standing in the way of the aid it needed to fight its war with Russia certainly emboldened Russia, which arguably compromised US national security.

Fiona Hill, who served until this past summer as the top White House Russia expert, testified during the impeachment inquiry that the idea Ukraine interfered in the US election “is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.” And inviting a foreign power to undercut the credibility of a candidate in the 2020 election arguably undermines the integrity of the democratic process.

President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct through the following means:

(1) President Trump—acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States Government—corruptly solicited the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into—

Trump acted directly during the Zelensky call when he asked for a “favor” — of investigations. He acted through his agents in the US government by pushing EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland to work with Giuliani on investigations and by pushing for the aid to be frozen. He worked through agents outside the US government in the form of Giuliani, who was essentially conducting a shadow foreign policy.

(A) a political opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.; and

(B) a discredited theory promoted by Russia alleging that Ukraine—rather than Russia—interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential election.

US senators have been briefed by the US intelligence agencies on the fact that Russia is pushing the false notion it was Ukraine — not Russia — that meddled in 2016. Here’s a full fact check.

(2) With the same corrupt motives, President Trump—acting both directly and through his agents within and outside the United States Government—conditioned two official acts on the public announcements that he had requested—

(A) the release of $391 million of United States taxpayer funds that Congress had appropriated on a bipartisan basis for the purpose of providing vital military and security assistance to Ukraine to oppose Russian aggression and which President Trump had ordered suspended; and

There has been testimony from career State Department and Pentagon officials that they understood Trump to have been behind freezing the aid. It was formally frozen by his political appointee on the same day as the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky even though it was known within the US government to be frozen weeks before that. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted Trump held the aid. The aid was unfrozen in September — but only after Trump and the White House learned of the whistleblower complaint against him.

(B) a head of state meeting at the White House, which the President of Ukraine sought to demonstrate continued United States support for the Government of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

Trump did ultimately meet Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. Both denied there was pressure exerted by Trump on Zelensky in the July 25 phone call, although reporting suggests Zelensky was feeling pressure even before the call. A White House meeting for Zelensky has not yet occurred.

(3) Faced with the public revelation of his actions, President Trump ultimately released the military and security assistance to the Government of Ukraine, but has persisted in openly and corruptly urging and soliciting Ukraine to undertake investigations for his personal political benefit.

The aid was released after Trump knew about the whistleblower and after White House attorneys counseled the acting director of national intelligence not to inform Congress, as required by law, of the whistleblower complaint. So while the aid was unfrozen, it was only after Trump knew he was being accused of holding it up for political reasons. Further, there was no other change in Ukraine’s behavior to explain why the aid was released in September rather than earlier in the year. And after it was released, Congress had to pass a special law to release it since the fiscal year was ending.

These actions were consistent with President Trump’s previous invitations of foreign interference in United States elections.

After the Ukraine scandal broke, Trump publicly asked Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens.

In all of this, President Trump abused the powers of the Presidency by ignoring and injuring national security and other vital national interests to obtain an improper personal political benefit. He has also betrayed the Nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting democratic elections.

Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

Part of the challenge for Democrats who support impeachment is to justify doing it as the country approaches the 2020 election, when Trump could be removed from office by voters. Their argument here is that leaving him in office endangers that very election. If he is impeached by the House and the Senate votes to remove him from office — which is not at all likely — he would be barred from holding federal office.

ARTICLE II: OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS

This is the second article of impeachment.

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors“.

There were many possible articles of impeachment considered, including for bribery (by dangling the promise of US taxpayer funds in exchange for his “favor” from Zelensky), obstruction of justice in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and more. Democrats chose to narrowly tailor these efforts to the Ukraine scandal that has been the main subject of investigation since September.

In his conduct of the office of President of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed—Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its “sole Power of Impeachment”.

The White House has ignored subpoenas for documents and testimony from agencies in the executive branch, including the Pentagon, the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget. Officials in Trump’s Cabinet and top aides in the White House have also ignored subpoenas. Trump has said he can do whatever he wants under Article II of the Constitution. That obstruction is obvious, but Democrats — who have their eye on the election calendar — have chosen not to pursue lengthy court battles to force compliance with subpoenas. That decision complicates this article somewhat.

President Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subversive of, the Constitution, in that:

The House of Representatives has engaged in an impeachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt solicitation of the Government of Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 United States Presidential election. As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials.

It’s important to note that the people who did testify — mostly career civil servants — chose to comply with the subpoena from Congress rather than the White House line. Track every subpoena Democrats issued here.

In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the “sole Power of Impeachment” vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives.

President Trump abused the powers of his high office through the following means:

(1) Directing the White House to defy a lawful subpoena by withholding the production of documents sought therein by the Committees.

(2) Directing other Executive Branch agencies and offices to defy lawful subpoenas and withhold the production of documents and records from the Committees—in response to which the Department of State, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense refused to produce a single document or record.

Incredibly, the only documents included in the inquiry were WhatsApp messages and emails provided to the committee by Kurt Volker, the former special envoy for Ukraine, and Sondland. Read those here.

Officials from the State Department and Pentagon who testified had to rely on their own notes and recollections. They would at times describe other emails or communications in their testimony, but none of it was furnished as a result of subpoenas.

(3) Directing current and former Executive Branch officials not to cooperate with the Committees—in response to which nine Administration officials defied subpoenas for testimony, namely John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney, Robert B. Blair, John A. Eisenberg, Michael Ellis, Preston Wells Griffith, Russell T. Vought, Michael Duffey, Brian McCormack, and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl.

See who has and who has not cooperated with congressional subpoenas.

These actions were consistent with President Trump’s previous efforts to undermine United States Government investigations into foreign interference in United States elections.

While Democrats chose not to add anything from the Mueller report into these articles of impeachment, this is a clear reference to the possible elements of obstruction of justice outlined in the Mueller report.

Through these actions, President Trump sought to arrogate to himself the right to determine the propriety, scope, and nature of an impeachment inquiry into his own conduct, as well as the unilateral prerogative to deny any and all information to the House of Representatives in the exercise of its “sole Power of Impeachment”.

Arrogate: to claim or seize without justification. It is true that by Trump’s logic, no President could ever be impeached.

In the history of the Republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”.

Although neither Richard Nixon nor Bill Clinton blocked all cooperation as Trump has, neither of them were exactly cooperative. It took a Supreme Court decision for Nixon to turn over Oval Office tapes, and then he turned them over to a special prosecutor and not Congress.

This abuse of office served to cover up the President’s own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment—and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives.

Trump says he refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry in order to protect future presidents from superfluous congressional inquiry. His actions also had the benefit (for him) of hiding things like documents on the freeze of the aid to Ukraine from investigators.

In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

This is an incredible paragraph. They’re saying Trump violated public trust, subverted the Constitution, damaged the US legal system and did harm to the American people — exactly the opposite of what a President vows to do when taking the oath of office.

Wherefore, President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.



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Mogadishu hotel targeted by armed gunmen

Mogadishu hotel targeted by armed gunmen


Law enforcement officer Ali Abdi told CNN that the SYL hotel, in which the assault transpired, is situated near to the presidential palace and is common with Somali lawmakers and security officers, Abdi added.

The gunmen ended up holed up in the lodge and firing on Somali protection forces, Abdi explained.

Just about 100 people, which include officials and lawmakers, have been rescued from the resort so far, according to Ismail Mukhtar, a Somali govt spokesman.

Hassan Ahmed, who was in a close by making when the attack unfolded, informed CNN he heard the sound of explosions coming from inside the resort.

The Al-Shabaab terror group has claimed accountability for the attack, indicating in a statement that their fighters executed the raid as planned.

There ended up no formal info on casualties.

This is a producing story.



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Boston doctors murder trial: Teixeira found guilty of killing doctors in their penthouse

Boston doctors murder trial: Teixeira found guilty of killing doctors in their penthouse



Teixeira, a 33-calendar year-aged who experienced labored as a concierge in the building, was convicted of fatally stabbing 39-yr-outdated Lina Bolanos and her 48-12 months-old fiancé Richard Discipline, both very well-identified anesthesiologists. He was also uncovered guilty of armed theft, kidnapping and dwelling invasion.

The situation stood out for its startling gore and unclear motive. Each medical doctors experienced been overwhelmed and their hands experienced been bound, according to demo testimony. The text “payback” and “he killed my spouse” were scrawled on the wall in significant letters, and officers uncovered images that have been crossed out and marked, a detective testified.

Prosecutors questioned more than a dozen witnesses in the course of the trial, like relatives and pals of the medical doctors, initially responders and investigators. Teixeira’s defense did not current any evidence but challenged the reliability and precision of the police investigation.

His defense presented no evidence to again up Teixeira’s statements — built in an interview with law enforcement — that he’d been in a relationship with Bolanos, that Discipline killed Bolanos in a rage following discovering her with Teixeira and that Teixeira killed Area in self-protection.

Prosecutors reported Teixeira employed his familiarity with the constructing to sneak into the building and make his way into the doctors’ 11th flooring penthouse the day they had been killed. Prosecutors reported the evidence versus Teixeira was “overpowering” and “damning,” and explained his job interview with police was “imagined.”

“We have gone beyond the preposterous. We’re now current in the theater of the absurd,” mentioned Assistant District Attorney John Pappas.

Two times on Tuesday, Teixeira was forcibly taken off from the courtroom for the reason that of vocal outbursts. On Tuesday morning, he threatened Pappas and his family members, which could lead to supplemental costs against him. He was also eliminated from courtroom prior to the verdict right after yelling about the victim’s previous words and phrases.

His sentencing is scheduled for December 13.

Teixeira was arrested in building hallway

Equally Bolanos and Subject tried out desperately to get aid before they have been killed. They called 911 multiple periods, but the phone calls were being cut small or inaudible, and texted friends brief messages to call the law enforcement, in accordance to demo testimony.

One worried buddy alerted a making concierge, who then contacted police. Law enforcement shot Teixeira in a “violent wrestle” in a hallway of the building and then arrested him, police said.

Teixeira explained to the officers there have been useless bodies in the penthouse, a Boston police detective testified. Police identified a backpack with a replica firearm and jewellery nearby, the district attorney explained.

When Teixeira was questioned in the healthcare facility the following working day, he informed police he had a short affair with Bolanos, and that he watched as Discipline stabbed his fiancee in rage. He said the health practitioner threatened to destroy him.

Bolanos was observed with 24 stab wounds, like some that fatally severed her jugular vein, and injuries to her head and face, in accordance to a professional medical examiner. Subject was killed by a stab wound that severed his carotid artery, the healthcare examiner explained at the demo.

Teixeira grew up in Guinea-Bissau and then moved to Cape Verde to study psychology at Jean Piaget University. He moved to Boston in 2010 to are living with his adoptive mother, but after a yr in the US, he abruptly severed the romantic relationship, Maria Luisa Teixeira instructed CNN in 2017.



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