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Whistleblower Edward Snowden, currently promoting a new memoir, has claimed a surge in the use of private contractors by US intelligence agencies, has led to a “creeping authoritarianism”.Against the backdrop of the whistleblower complaint being examined by Congress that alleges Donald Trump pressured the leader of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, the 36-year-old Mr Snowden said private contractors – as he once was – had very few legal prohibitions on what they could do. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ngMvl5

While pro-democracy protesters gathered in central Hong Kong on Sunday, on the other side of the city several hundred people dressed in red, with Chinese flag stickers on their cheeks, boarded buses to an early birthday party for the People’s Republic. As they approached Victoria Peak, a tourist spot with scenic views, a middle-aged woman holding a microphone urged the crowd, who planned a flash-mob on the hill to celebrate 70 years of Communist China, to avoid arguments with onlookers. After almost four months of sometimes violent protests, which were sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill but have since morphed into a broader pro-democracy movement, Hong Kong is a divided city. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nQpANH

REUTERSA delegation of Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee is traveling to Ukraine this week, a Democratic aide to the committee confirmed to The Daily Beast on Monday.The trip has been in the works for some time and includes stops elsewhere in Europe, but it is moving forward at a moment when Ukraine is dominating American politics. In the last week, an anonymous whistleblower’s allegation that President Trump repeatedly pressed the president of Ukraine to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden has gone public, and the expanding congressional probe into those claims is forming the basis of an official impeachment inquiry from House Democrats. The delegation is the first group of U.S. lawmakers to travel to Ukraine since early September, before any details of the whistleblower’s complaint were publicly known. The Democratic committee aide affirmed the trip is unrelated to the current Ukraine news, and said that lawmakers are headin...

A parade by China’s secretive military will offer a rare look at its rapidly developing arsenal, including possibly a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the United States in 30 minutes, as Beijing gets closer to matching Washington and other powers in weapons technology.The Dongfeng 41 is one of a series of new weapons Chinese media say might be unveiled during the parade marking the ruling Communist Party’s 70th anniversary in power. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ol3t2d

The jury in the trial of Amber Guyger, a former Dallas police officer who is charged with murdering her neighbor in his apartment, can consider the "Castle Doctrine" as part of Guyger's defense, Judge Tammy Kemp ruled Monday, hours before final deliberations in the murder trial.The Castle Doctrine, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2007, “presumes that the use of force is reasonable and necessary when someone is unlawfully and with force entering or attempting to enter your occupied home, car, or place of business, or when someone is committing or trying to commit a crime against you.”Guyger, who shot and killed Jean in his own apartment on Sept. 6, 2018, was initially charged with manslaughter, but the district attorney’s office subsequently reviewed the case and indicted her on murder charges, with the implication that the shooting could not be considered manslaughter because Guyger admitted it was intentional.The shift also allowed for Guyger’s defense to ce...

President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Sunday he would cooperate the House impeachment inquiry, but only if directed by his client. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m7tMrP

Kayleigh Davis was hiking on a trail Friday evening at Antelope Island State Park in Utah chasing the sunset, when she was suddenly, violently, flipped into the air by a bison. When she looked up, the bison was hovering over her. The incident left her with a broken ankle and a gash on her leg. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2oKU5Fa

Speaking to CBS News' "60 Minutes," the Saudi Crown Prince admitted that Khashoggi's murder was a "heinous crime" but denied his involvement. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2n90hWV

Legal experts debunked President Trump's claim that rules requiring whistleblowers have first-hand knowledge were changed in August just before the complaint. from ABC News: Top Stories https://ift.tt/2mw98lq

Republican congressman Will Hurd said Sunday that lawmakers should investigate the "troubling" allegations in the whistleblower report against President Trump but cautioned against a rush to impeachment.“Having laws in place to ensure that folks throughout the government are able to get to the right committees information where they think may be wrongdoing is important," the Texas Republican said on CBS. "There are troubling issues within the whistleblower’s report, but they are allegations, and I think that’s why we should explore these allegations through hearings.”Hurd added that a top priority should be protecting the whistleblower, although he said he finds it "highly unlikely in this incredibly partisan environment" that the individual's identity will be protected, an "unfortunate" result.The former undercover CIA officer noted the secondhand nature of some of the whistleblower's information and said investigators must "be meth...

A California man was caught and arrested by police Saturday morning, but not before he managed to elude them for two hours while hiding inside a corn maze. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mpwyst

More than half of Americans — and an overwhelming number of Democrats — say they approve of the fact that Congress has opened an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. But as the inquiry begins, there is no national consensus on how to assess the president's actions. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mno1WY

A San Francisco tour guide has been charged with being an agent of the Chinese government, accused of picking up U.S. national security secrets from furtive locations and delivering them cloak and dagger style to Beijing, federal prosecutors said on Monday. Xuehua Peng, also known as Edward Peng, was arrested on Friday in the San Francisco suburb of Hayward, California, and was denied bail during an initial court appearance by a U.S. magistrate judge that same day, federal prosecutors said at a Monday morning news conference. "Defendant Xuehua (Edward) Peng is charged with executing dead drops, delivering payments, and personally carrying to Beijing, China, secure digital cards containing classified information related to the national security of the United States," Anderson said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2oHcB1c

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he wants and deserves to meet the anonymous whistleblower at the center of the fast-moving scandal that has triggered an impeachment probe against him. The whistleblower, who could testify soon before Congress, fears for their safety if their identity is revealed, according to a lawyers' letter released by CBS News. Battling the deepest crisis of his presidency, Trump in a series of tweets railed against accusations that he should be impeached for urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, his potential 2020 White House challenger. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m8TD2u

One of the most iconic figures in PlayStation's management is stepping down. Sony has announced that Sony Interactive Entertainment's Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden is leaving the gaming division. The tech giant didn't initially say when L... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2nWSZWz

The Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for an attack on a US base in Somalia on Monday, as the European Union confirmed a separate strike against a convoy of Italian advisers. The raid on the base prompted a counter-attack by US forces who staged "two air strikes and used small arms fire targeting al-Shabaab terrorists," Major General William Gayler, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) director of operations said, adding that 10 "terrorists" died and a vehicle was destroyed. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nZ8rBd

The German government says it will respond to an “alarming” rise in weapons seizures during raids on far-Right extremists by handing police more powers to fight radicalism. Close to 1,100 weapons were confiscated in the course of investigations into Right-wing crime in 2018, marking a 61 per cent rise on the previous year when 676 weapons were found, new statistics show. Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, said the figures represent an “alarming increase” but also show that “our investigations are having an impact and authorities are keeping a close eye on the scene." Mr Seehofer, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union party, said police capabilities would be beefed up in response. "I am determined to strengthen the security services both in personnel and in structure and to give them the necessary legal tools to cope with this threat," he stated. A veteran law-and-order man, Mr Seehofer has previously faced criticism from civil liberties groups for intro...

Trump needs the protection that comes with staying president. But Ukraine has accomplished what Robert Mueller could not: America is paying attention. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mZy5pv

From frantic journalists swarming lawmakers to a news cycle that wouldn't slow, members of Congress saw a week of consequence and chaos that made impeaching President Donald Trump a possible reality. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2naw9dD

Giuliani told Politico he believes he deserves whistleblower protection, but his attempts to defend himself have only further incriminated him. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mrwU1Q

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday supported the explanation offered as to why Vice President Joe Biden pressured the president of Ukraine in 2015 to crack down on corruption. Supporters of President Donald Trump — particularly his attorney Rudy Giuliani — have argued that Trump’s much-criticized July 25 phone call with the current president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was appropriate because Biden had been corrupt in pushing Poroshenko to get rid of the state prosecutor. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nHcAto

Russia has warned the US against publishing private conversations between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump as it emerged the White House may have restricted access to the president’s conversations with multiple world leaders. The comment was in response to the White House’s decision to publish a transcript of Mr Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Democrats announced the beginning of a formal impeachment investigation into whether the US president pressured his counterpart to interfere in the 2020 election. Asked if Moscow is worried about transcripts of Mr Trump’s calls with the Russian President being similarly released, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "we would like to hope that it wouldn’t come to that in our relations, which are already troubled by a lot of problems." "The materials related to conversations between heads of states are usually classified according to normal international practice," he added. The publication of the...

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller defended President Trump’s attempts to have the Ukrainian president open an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, claiming on Sunday that the scandal was a “political hit job” by the “deep state” and that Trump was really the “whistleblower.” from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m7Db2t

Fox NewsIn a bombshell report Sunday morning, Fox News reported that two frequent guests on the right-leaning cable news channel were “working off the books” to help former New York City mayor and current presidential attorney Rudy Giuliani dig up dirt on President Donald Trump’s leading Democratic opponent—and that the only person who knew about their involvement was the president himself.Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace broke the news that Giuliani wasn’t acting alone when it came to digging up Ukrainian dirt on Trump’s potential 2020 presidential opponent Joe Biden.“Two high-profile Washington lawyers, Joe diGenova, who’s been a fierce critic of the Democratic investigation, and his wife Victoria Toensing were working with Giuliani to get oppo research on Biden,” Wallace said at the top of his broadcast.“According to a top U.S. official, all three were working off the books apart from the administration,” Wallace added. “The only person in government who knows what they were doi...

Benjamin Franklin was a leading voice in the debates framing the Constitution. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2omNnoH

Famous murals celebrating Iran's Islamic revolution daubed on walls of the former US embassy in Tehran have been erased to make way for new paintings to be unveiled on the fortieth anniversary of the hostage crisis. Three workers were on Sunday afternoon seen removing the original artwork with a sandblaster against the wall of Taleqani avenue, bordering the south side of what was once dubbed a US "spy nest" in central Tehran. On November 4, 1979, less than nine months after Iran's last shah was toppled, pro-revolution students took Americans hostage at the embassy to protest the ex-shah's admission to hospital in the US. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mQHdMY

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photo by Alex Wong/GettyThe big lie spouted by Donald Trump and his allies in the unfurling Ukraine affair—an unprecedented abuse of public trust, which has now led directly to an impeachment inquiry—is that former Vice President Joe Biden urged the Ukrainians to fire the Kyiv general prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, in order to save Biden’s son's hide. Many of Trump’s cronies and foot soldiers have already spun this line, from Donald Trump Jr. to Rudy Giuliani to Arthur Schwartz.Others have rightly pointed out that, in reality, Biden was not simply relaying the message pushed by the Obama administration, but that his position was supported by Ukrainian anti-corruption activists, European allies, and even groups like the International Monetary Foundation (IMF). As Tom Malinowski, former assistant secretary of state under Obama, recalled this week, “All of us working on Ukraine wanted this prosecutor gone, because he was NOT prosecuting corruption. So...

Hong Kong protesters are to join a global "anti-totalitarianism rally" on Sunday, following another night of violent clashes with police after weeks of pro-democracy unrest in the Chinese-ruled city. Police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday night to disperse protesters who threw petrol bombs and rocks, broke government office windows and blocked a key road near the local headquarters of China's People's Liberation Army. Thousands, young and old, gathered peacefully on Saturday at a harbourside park to mark the fifth anniversary of the "Umbrella" pro-democracy movement which gridlocked streets for 79 days in 2014. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nytw5z

The U.S. Justice Department filed a statement saying the First Amendment protects the right of the Archdiocese to apply Catholic doctrine. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nXgONR

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of Americans believe that Donald Trump pressuring the leader of Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 presidential rival is a serious issue, according to a new poll.A total of 43 per cent of respondents to the ABC/Ipsos survey said the allegations were “very serious” while 21 per cent agreed the situation was at least “somewhat serious". from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mT3Tfz

Thousands rallied in Sydney and Taipei to support Hong Kong democracy protesters Sunday, kicking off a day of planned "anti-totalitarianism" demonstrations globally. In one of the largest solidarity marches in Australia since Hong Kong's latest pro-democracy movement began in June, black-clad participants took to the streets chanting "Add oil", a protest slogan denoting encouragement. Some Sydney protesters held signs that read "Save Hong Kong" and "Stop tyranny", while others carried yellow umbrellas or handed out paper cranes in scenes that played out in other major cities across the country Sunday. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mRV71u

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller defended President Trump’s attempts to have the Ukrainian president open an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, claiming on Sunday that the scandal was a “political hit job” by the “deep state” and that Trump was really the “whistleblower.” from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m7Db2t

Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said he would not cooperate with House Democrat impeachment enquiries, before immediately contradicting himself when pressed.Mr Giuliani was being interviewed on ABC News when he said that he would not cooperate with investigations in the House Intelligence Committee while representative Adam Schiff was in charge. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2opJ8su

Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, the county's first Sikh officer, was killed Friday during a traffic stop near Houston. Police have arrested Robert Solis. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2npuFfz

An Iowa newspaper reporter who exposed racist tweets by a charity fundraiser has found himself out of a job after his own offensive posts were uncovered.  Aaron Calvin, a journalist for the Des Moines Register, began looking into sports fan Carson King when his jovial plea for beer money turned into a national fundraiser for a children's hospital. But his profile of Mr King led to a public backlash and the newspaper was forced to hire extra security after receiving threats. Public scrutiny turned to Mr Calvin himself, who left the newspaper after it emerged he had made comments mocking same-sex marriage and used a racial slur. Mr King gained national fame on September 14, when his hand-drawn sign for donations for his "Busch Light Supply"  at an Iowa State University American football game was featured in the background of a TV broadcast.  He initially received around $600 (£488) from amused spectators but as donations topped $1 million (£814,650), Mr King said he would d...

China's tightly choreographed 70th birthday bash next week risks being upstaged by pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which offer a starkly different take on the strength and power of the Communist Party being feted in Beijing. As President Xi Jinping gets ready to preside over a huge military parade and gala event on Tuesday, the former British colony is in tumult over the erosion of its special freedoms by Beijing. Hong Kong has been rocked by the worst political unrest since its handover to China in 1997, with another round of clashes between protesters and riot police on Saturday and Sunday. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2m2Vh5O

Kurt Volker, the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine, resigned Friday amid a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump and his communications with the Ukrainian government, including the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Volker did not provide a public explanation for leaving his post, but a source familiar with his decision said Volker concluded he could not perform the job effectively as a result of the recent developments.One person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Volker's resignation will likely enable him to be much freer in what he can say about his time at his post if he is called at some point to testify before Congress.The whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry alleges that Volker went to Kiev to help guide Ukrainian officials on how to handle Trump's alleged demands that the government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter. He also reportedly spoke with Trump's personal lawyer Ru...

The man who slammed his SUV into a suburban Chicago mall has been formally charged with terrorism and criminal damage to property, authorities said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mR8Khs

Wildlife officials found three more dead wild elephants in central Sri Lanka Saturday, raising the number believed to have been poisoned by angry villagers to seven. The animals were found at a forest reserve near Sigiriya, a fifth-century rock fortress and UNESCO-protected heritage site, police said. "Since Friday, we have found the remains of seven cow elephants, including a tusker," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nAUHMQ

Hong Kong protesters are to join a global "anti-totalitarianism rally" on Sunday, following another night of violent clashes with police after weeks of pro-democracy unrest in the Chinese-ruled city. Police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday night to disperse protesters who threw petrol bombs and rocks, broke government office windows and blocked a key road near the local headquarters of China's People's Liberation Army. Thousands, young and old, gathered peacefully on Saturday at a harbourside park to mark the fifth anniversary of the "Umbrella" pro-democracy movement which gridlocked streets for 79 days in 2014. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nytw5z

Expert Steven Amstrup says ‘the longer the sea ice is gone from the productive zone the tougher it is on the bears’This year’s annual minimum of the Arctic sea ice tied with the second-lowest extent on record. Photograph: Chase Dekker/Getty ImagesThe loss of Arctic ice from glaciers, polar land and sea is declining faster than many scientists expected, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on oceans and the cryosphere said this week.That’s bad news for polar bear populations, a top expert involved in field studies on the endangered animals has told the Guardian.This year’s annual minimum of the Arctic sea ice tied with the second-lowest extent on record, a mere 1.6m sq miles, and badly affected polar bear populations that live and hunt on the north slope of Alaska, plus those that live on the ice floes in the Bering Sea.“Now the ice has gone way offshore we know that the bears aren’t feeding, and the bears that are forced on to land don’t find much to eat. Th...

Google has started rolling out Chrome OS 77, and it makes Assistant widely available to the devices the platform powers. The voice AI used to be a Pixel exclusive, though adventurous users have been able to switch it on as a hidden feature for a whil... from Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2m2UNg2

Rep. Mark Amodei became the first GOP member of Congress to back the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lK5LH0

Iran has released a "never before seen" photo of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. The three men are shown in front of what appears to be a door covered by a curtain and surrounded by shelves stacked with books -- decor associated with Khamenei's Tehran office. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nsPaIr

How good are they? from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lHNdak

(Bloomberg) -- Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is in favor of “handing over to the new generation” in next year’s presidential polls, but did not rule out running in the election.The 78-year-old, who has just over a year left of his second term in office, was addressing reporters in his hometown of Dimbroko after a four-day visit to the surrounding region.Ouattara addressed plans to amend the constitution to include an age limit for presidential hopefuls, saying “it’s part of the evolution of our country,” Seventy-five percent of the population is aged under 30 and “we can’t remain indifferent.” But he also said “don’t interpret this as me not being a candidate.”His fiercest political rivals include Henri Konan Bedie , 85, who broke away from the ruling coalition last year after Ouattara claimed a new constitution adopted in 2016 allows him to seek a third mandate if he wishes.Another, Laurent Gbagbo, 74, was acquitted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes ag...

Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday it had carried out a major attack near the border with the southern Saudi region of Najran and captured many troops and vehicles, but there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabian authorities. The Houthis' military spokesman said in a statement that three "enemy military brigades had fallen" in the attack, which he said was launched 72 hours ago and supported by the group's drone, missile and air defence units. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2mBbnUk

How Trump impeachment is polling, Warren's continued rise, Gabbard qualifies for the fourth debate, and campaign cash troubles plague some Democrats. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nfbRj2

The list of people Democrats may seek information from regarding President Trump's attempt to obtain dirt on Joe Biden seems to grow by the minute. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2nljKDO

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) professor Shail Kumar Chaube, who was accused of sexual misconduct, was handed out compulsory retirement during an executive council (EC) meeting held in Delhi on Friday.

Never had a chance. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2lYiuGi