(Reuters) - Minnesota prosecutors will not charge the billionaire chief executive officer of China’s JD.com Inc, Richard Liu, after he was accused of rape by a University of Minnesota student during a recent U.S. visit, authorities said on Friday. FILE PHOTO: JD.com founder Richard Liu poses during a Reuters interview in Hong Kong, China, June 9, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File PhotoHennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman said there were “profound evidentiary problems which would have made it highly unlikely that any criminal charge could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” In a statement, Freeman said that after an investigation by Minneapolis police and a review by four senior sexual assault prosecutors, it was clear his office could not meet its burden of proof, and therefore could not bring charges. “Because we do not want to re-victimize the young woman, we will not be going into detail,” Freeman said. The 45-year-old Liu, who grew JD.com from a humble electronics stall to an e-commerce giant with 2017 net revenues of $55.7 billion and maintains tight control of the company, was released without charge about 17 hours after he was arrested on Aug. 31. He quickly returned to China, where he has continued to run the company. His representatives have maintained his innocence after the woman from China studying at the University of Minnesota accused him of rape. Liu said in a social media post he felt “utter self-admonishment and regret” for the “enormous pain” his “actions on that day” caused his family, especially his wife, internet celebrity Zhang Zetian. “I immediately confessed to her the truth, and hope she can accept my most sincere apologies,” he said in a statement on the Weibo platform. Liu said the decision by prosecutors not to press charges proved that he had not violated any laws “from to start to finish”. He said he had been unable to defend himself earlier despite “misleading information” and could not respond to comments in social media and news reports because he did not want to obstruct the investigation and judicial process. JD.com shares extended gains on Friday after news spread of the decision not to prosecute, and closed up 5.9 percent. The case has attracted extreme interest in China. Liu could have faced up to 30 years in prison under Minnesota law if convicted of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct. On Friday, Freeman said the three months it took his office to review Liu’s case was not unusual for a sexual assault investigation, especially one in which no one was in custody. “It had nothing to do with Liu’s status as a wealthy, foreign businessman,” Freeman said in his statement. A lawyer for the student who accused Liu criticized the decision, saying it showed why victims of sexual assault feared coming forward, and questioned why prosecutors waited to issue a release until late on the Friday before Christmas. Investigators “never met this victim; they never spoke to this victim; they never sought to meet with her lawyers,” the attorney, Wil Florin, said in a statement. “Her story will be told. On her behalf we will not permit her dignity to be simply swept under the rug.” The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Florin’s statement. An attorney for Liu said they welcomed the decision, and hoped that it would dispel “misinformation and speculation”. “Mr Liu was arrested based on a false claim, and after a thorough investigation, with which he fully cooperated, the declination of charges vindicates him,” Liu’s attorney, Jill Brisbois, said in a statement. Florin said his client will file a civil lawsuit, saying they looked forward to a civil jury hearing the “full and complete story” and determining whether Liu, JD.com and their representatives should be held accountable. Reuters previously reported details of what happened while Liu was in Minneapolis, including a description of the alleged attack and the events around it given by the now-22-year-old student. Usually based in Beijing, Liu made the U.S. trip for a week long residency program at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, which runs a doctor of business administration program with China’s elite Tsinghua University. The University of Minnesota said it had no comment on Friday’s announcement. The decision to not prosecute followed criticism of Minneapolis authorities, including Freeman’s office, for what some see as a failure to pursue sexual assault cases adequately. Reporting by by Lawrence Delevingne and Koh Gui Qing; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb, and Philip Wen and Hallie Gu in Beijing; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Leslie Adler, Robert BirselOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A court in northern France has sent two vegan activists to prison for a string of attacks on shops and restaurants selling meat, after a trial lawyers said was the first of its kind in the country.The court in Lille handed the pair sentences of 10 and six months for the attacks on businesses in the north of France from November 2018 to February 2019.The pair, a 23-year-old youth worker named Cyrile and a 29-year-old employee at a kindergarten called Mathilde, were convicted of criminal damage after breaking windows and starting fires at butchers’, fishmongers, restaurants and shops in the area.They are likely to avoid prison under French law, which allows sentences of less than two years to be converted into community-based service.“We needed an example to be made of them so that these actions by small groups with extremist and profoundly violent ideas come to an end,” said the head of the local butchers’ federation, Laurent Rigaud.The activists are from a movement that describes itself as being “anti-speciesist”, which rejects the idea of humans sitting at the top of the species hierarchy and consuming animals.Two other accused, including a woman accused of complicity in the attacks, were given suspended sentences of six months.The court also ordered the payment of compensation to the victims, whose businesses suffered damage estimated at several million euros.In the trial, Cyrile and Mathilde, who both had no previous criminal record, admitted taking part in nocturnal raids where they broke windows or scrawled slogans such as “Stop Speciesism” and “Assassins” on businesses selling meat.Last June, French butchers wrote to the interior ministry seeking increased protection after several businesses were vandalised across the country, often splashed with fake blood.As eating and health habits change in France, meat sales have been falling and the animal rights movement is increasingly active, led by campaigners including the actor Brigitte Bardot.But the CFBCT butchers’ confederation, which represents 18,000 businesses, has been fighting back, backing a campaign to have the culture of the butcher in France inscribed as global heritage by Unesco. Topics France Europe Veganism news

The recent disappearances of two high-profile Chinese citizens have once again focused international attention on China's legal system and its use of secret detentions.First to vanish was A-list actress Fan Bingbing, who appeared in the X-Men and Iron Man film franchises. She was not seen in public for months over the summer and went silent on social media, before turning up in early October with a grovelling apology for evading taxes.Two days after she re-appeared, it emerged that the president of global policing agency Interpol, Meng Hongwei, had disappeared on a trip to China. His wife says his last communication with her was a text with a knife emoji, which she took to mean he was in danger.On 8 October, Chinese authorities announced he was being investigated for bribe-taking.While these two cases have triggered a wave of international attention, forced disappearances are nothing new in China. But these latest instances "show just how fundamental such enforced disappearances have become to governance in China under President Xi", says Michael Caster, a researcher and author of The People's Republic of the Disappeared. Typically, he says, the scenario plays out like this: The individual disappears and it takes days or weeks until there's word from authorities confirming that the person is being held and what they're accused of Eventually, there's a public confession and apology - although some people remain detained for years without any news emerging Usually there will be some form of further detention or jail time to serve - Fan Bingbing was instead hit with a massive fine of $129m (£99m). The disappearances can target people from different walks of life: human rights lawyers, corrupt officials, officials who are targeted for political reasons, book-sellers who publish material that angers party leaders, or prominent people who fall foul of the party for one reason or another.Since Xi Jinping took over as China's top leader in 2012, the space for dissent in China has shrunk - and activists say the crackdown is getting tougher and more systematic.President Xi's anti-corruption drive has disciplined more than a million officials since 2012. Critics have long accused the government of using the highly popular campaign as a political tool to target rivals.From a domestic perspective, far more prominent figures - politically speaking - than Ms Fan or Mr Meng have been ensnared.The most senior official targeted so far is Zhou Yongkang, once the third most powerful politician in China and the overseer of domestic security. In 2015 he was jailed for life for bribery, abuse of power and disclosing state secrets.Meng Hongwei was promoted to vice-minister of public security under Zhou and Chinese officials spoke of their aim to completely "eliminate the pernicious influence of Zhou Yongkang" when announcing the allegations against Mr Meng.This has many observers convinced the action against him is driven by politics.But just how brazen China has been in dealing with Fan Bingbing and Meng Hongwei, both hugely prominent individuals internationally, has intrigued some China watchers.The fact they both simply vanished for a significant period of time drew a lot more attention to their cases than a straightforward detention and announcement of an investigation would have done. Missing China actress fined $129m Detained Interpol chief 'took bribes' China has made a game show about its president So why use this approach? "It's the Chinese Communist Party really showing both China and the world that it sees its rules as dominant," said Isaac Stone Fish, senior fellow at the Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations."There's no sense they have to explain themselves or their decisions to anyone outside the system."As far as the party is concerned, however, individuals who are investigated have not "disappeared"; they are detained according to a very orchestrated and bureaucratic process.Getting its officials into senior positions at international organisations, like Mr Meng at Interpol, gives China greater international influence. But Mr Stone Fish said Mr Meng's arrest was "a clear message to international bodies like the UN, the World Bank, IMF, or IOC [International Olympic Committee] that anyone [Chinese] they appoint can be suddenly be seized with absolutely no notice".It suggests Mr Meng was, in China's eyes, a Party member above all else. The thoughts of Chairman Xi Charting China's 'great purge' under Xi Long read: The thoughts of Chairman Xi The detentions undoubtedly hurt China's international image, says Mr Caster, but the main audience for the intended message is domestic."It's about breaking the individual as much as breaking the community around them. "It's very much about signalling to other members of that community. Whether that's a community of human rights lawyers or of tax-evading celebrity actors or of a political faction."What surprised many observers is that Interpol accepted Mr Meng's resignation - seemingly issued from secret detention - without publicly questioning it.As Mr Caster describes it: "He has issued a statement impossible to verify. And yet Interpol has just accepted this and appears not to be pushing back against it.""There are any number of really cruel practices," says Mr Caster. "Sleep deprivation, around the clock interrogation with physical abuse. People are made to stand in stress positions, there is sexual humiliation, they are beaten, punched with batons or receive electric shocks."It depends on the purpose of the interrogation, he adds, and may well also depend on what kind of person it is: a grassroots activist, a human rights lawyer, a high-level party official or a celebrity.But he said it was not certain that a well-known person would necessarily be treated better. "The depth of cruelty often exceeds what people have expected."Despite widespread allegations, the Chinese government has emphasised that it prohibits torture and has claimed to have prosecuted many "torture offenders" in state institutions.Whatever happens in detention, those who vanish invariably reappear professing their guilt and apologising. Fan Bingbing said she was "so ashamed of what I've done", adding: "Without the good policies of the party and the state, and without the love of the people, there would be no Fan Bingbing."Mr Meng will almost certainly stand trial on bribery allegations, and China's conviction rate is more than 99%. For many observers, the detentions of people like Fan Bingbing and Meng Hongwei are an indication that where Chinese citizens are involved, Beijing will set its own rules.Despite how it may look to the wider world, loyalty to the Communist Party, and to President Xi Jinping, must come first.

FARIA BEACH/LILAC, Calif. (Reuters) - Fanned by gusting winds, wildfires raged in densely populated Southern California for a fourth day on Thursday, with a new blaze north of San Diego exploding in size in just a few hours and dangerous conditions forecast until Sunday. The blazes destroyed hundreds of houses and forced many Los Angeles-area schools to close. Flames hopscotched over highways and railroad tracks, and residents rushed to evacuate their homes with only minutes’ warning, some leaving behind holiday gifts. People feared for the safety of animals from cats to llamas. About 200,000 residents were evacuated from their homes at one point, though some were due to return on Thursday evening. Authorities said the four biggest fires — ranging from Los Angeles up the Pacific coast to Santa Barbara County — were whipped up by the region’s notorious westward Santa Ana winds that could reach hurricane strength. The winds blow in hot and dry from the California desert, and the state CAL FIRE agency said gusty winds and extremely low humidity would continue through Sunday. “Prepare now to ensure if evacuated you and your family are ready to GO!” CAL FIRE said on Twitter. The Thomas Fire northwest of Los Angeles grew to 115,000 acres (46,540 hectares) from 96,000 acres (38,850 hectares) and destroyed 439 structures, officials said. More than 2,600 firefighters from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Nevada were battling the blaze, which was 5-percent contained. North of San Diego, another blaze called the Lilac Fire grew from 10 acres to 2,500 acres (1,011 hectares) in just a few hours on Thursday, CAL FIRE said, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for San Diego County. The blaze destroyed 20 structures and prompted evacuations and road closures. Propane tanks under several houses exploded from the heat, sounding like bombs, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene. The other fires, which broke out on Monday and Tuesday, have reached into the wealthy enclave of Bel-Air on Los Angeles’ West Side. Some major highways in the densely populated area were intermittently closed. Firefighters and helicopters sprayed and dumped bucketloads of water to try to contain the flames against a hellish backdrop of flaming mountains and walls of smoke. No civilian casualties or fatalities have been reported from the blazes but three firefighters were injured, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. In the seaside enclave of Faria Beach, caught between burning mountains and the Pacific Ocean, northwest of Ventura, fires spread down the smoking hills. Flames jumped the heavily used U.S. 101 highway and headed toward clusters of beach houses. Firefighters lined up along a railroad track, the last barrier from the flames. Surrounded by strong winds and smoke, resident Songsri Kesonchampa aimed a garden hose at a large pine tree between her Faria Beach house and the fire, attempting to fend off disaster. “If this tree catches fire, the strong wind will blow the flames towards my house. I need to protect this tree,” she said. As she spoke, a sheriff’s car drove by, ordering residents to evacuate. “The fire is here. You must evacuate your homes right now,” an officer said over the loudspeaker. In the coastal city of Ventura, resident Maurice Shimabuku said his friends had told him to evacuate but he was staying put for now, feeling safe because he was near the Pacific Ocean. “I know I can just run back out that way, so I am relatively safe,” he said. “I even have a surfboard and a wetsuit in my backyard right now, if I need to paddle away.” Heavy smoke made breathing hazardous in some areas, and residents were urged to stay inside. Ventura County authorities said air pollution measures in the Ojai Valley were “off the charts.” A firefighter is working on extinguishing the Lilac Fire, a fast moving wildfire, in Bonsall, California, U.S., December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mike BlakeThe Los Angeles Police Department tweeted, “LAPD Working to Save Every Californian, Pets Included” along with a photo of a police officer in a respirator rescuing a cat. The Los Angeles County animal shelter said it was hosting 184 pets including llamas, donkeys and horses while reports said 29 horses were burned to death on Tuesday at a ranch in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Skirball Fire in Los Angeles has forced hundreds of residents in the wooded hills near the Bel-Air neighborhood to evacuate and charred more than 475 acres (192 hectares). Jeremy Broekman was camped out at his in-laws’ house in Sherman Oaks after evacuating his family of five early on Wednesday from their home a mile (1.6 km) away from the Skirball fire. Broekman, who runs a public relations firm from his home office, had just an hour to get his family out of the house, grabbing hard drives and Pokemon cards and leaving behind a pile of Hannukah presents. He spent Thursday trying to work and checking the news while also caring for his three children, whose schools were closed because of the fire. “Although we always say we can work remotely with the use of a laptop, when you are displaced like this you are emotionally unbalanced,” he said. Skirball threatened media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s Moraga Estate winery. The property was evacuated, with possible damage to some buildings, Murdoch said in a statement, but “We believe the winery and house are still intact.” The Los Angeles Unified School District, the country’s second largest with more than 640,000 students, said it closed at least 265 of its nearly 1,100 schools. The University of California Santa Barbara canceled classes as well. Utilities cut power to customers in some mountain communities northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles to lessen fire danger. The outage could last several days. The fires are the second outbreak to ravage parts of California this autumn. The celebrated wine country in the northern part of the state was hit by wind-driven wildfires in October that killed at least 43 people, forced some 10,000 to flee their homes and consumed at least 245,000 acres (9,900 hectares) north of the San Francisco Bay area. Slideshow (28 Images)The California Department of Insurance said the northern California blazes caused insured losses of more than $9 billion. GRAPHIC: Southern California wildfires, click tmsnrt.rs/2ADhxIj Reporting by Ben Gruber in Faria Beach, California and Mike Blake in Lilac, California; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, Peter Szekely in New York and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Bill Trott and Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities have held some immigrant children who entered the country illegally and without a parent in a temporary “tent city” in Texas for months, violating a 20-year-old court order on how long minors can be detained, according to court filings by civil rights lawyers and immigration advocates. FILE PHOTO: Children are seen at a tent city set up to hold immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas, U.S., in this U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) image released on October 12, 2018. Courtesy HHS/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoMore than 500 children have been housed in tents near Tornillo, Texas since August, and 46 have been held there since June, according to a Friday court filing in Los Angeles federal court by civil rights organizations and advocacy groups representing migrant children. The filing opposes a government request to exempt the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which runs the tent city as a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), from oversight by a court-ordered monitor. Under the terms of a 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement, U.S. authorities must quickly move immigrant children out of prison-like detention centers, either releasing them to guardians or placing them in state-licensed shelters with access to schooling and legal counsel, generally within 20 days. Tornillo is not such a licensed facility. The Tornillo tent city was opened in June as a temporary emergency measure as the number of children in ORR custody rose sharply. Neither ORR nor the Department of Justice immediately responded to requests for comment. In an Oct. 12 fact sheet, HHS said the temporary shelter was necessary because of the number of unaccompanied minors in its care and so that “the Border Patrol can continue its vital national security mission to prevent illegal migration, trafficking, and protect the borders of the United States.” The tent city houses no children who were separated from their parents. The facility has 3,800 beds and housed about 1,500 children as of Oct. 12, according to a government fact sheet. “None of the children at Tornillo were receiving schooling or regular mental health care, among other benefits to which they would be entitled if they were placed in a licensed shelter,” said a court filing from Leah Chavla, a human rights lawyer who visited Tornillo on Sept. 24. The administration of President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a central theme of his presidency. On Monday the president vowed to reduce or curtail tens of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to three Central American nations, and he called a caravan of migrants bound for the United States a national emergency. The administration has regularly complained that the Flores settlement has limited its ability to hold illegal immigrants until they can be deported. The court filings also show the percentage of children at Tornillo who were released to sponsors “dropped significantly” in August from June, according to the court filings. The Department of Homeland Security said in September it planned to withdraw from Flores. (The story was refiled to correct the penultimate paragraph to show the percentage of children at Tornillo who were released to sponsors dropped significantly instead of the number dropped significantly.) Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; editing by Sue Horton and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Brazilian environmental groups have blasted Jair Bolsonaro’s environment minister after he dismissed the murdered Amazon rain forest defender Chico Mendes as “irrelevant”.“I don’t know Chico Mendes,” the president’s environment minister, Ricardo Salles, told journalists on an interview show late Monday night, when asked about the famous Brazilian rubber tapper, union leader and environmentalist who was murdered in 1988.Salles oversees the Instituto Chico Mendes, which is named after the environmental advocate and oversees Brazil’s protected conservation areas.Bolsonaro downplayed environmental concerns during his 2018 far-right presidential campaign, threatening to pull Brazil out of the Paris agreement on climate change and advocating more mining and economic development in the Amazon rainforest.Salles told interviewers on the TV show Roda Viva that he hears contradictory accounts about Mendes’ life, saying environmentalists praise his work while local farmers claim he “used the rubber tappers to advance his own interests”.“It is irrelevant. What difference does it make who Chico Mendes is at the moment?” Salles said.His comments fueled criticism of the administration’s stance, which environmentalists say is excessively pro-business and farm interests.Marina Silva, a former environment minister who organized alongside Mendes as a teenager in the state of Acre, said Salles was “misinformed” about the activist.“Despite the ignorance of Salles, Chico’s struggle lives on!” she wrote on Twitter.Salles also confirmed that he would travel to the Amazon for the first time on Tuesday.His press office could not immediately clarify whether it was his first visit as minister or his first-ever trip to the region.Salles also acknowledged that regulatory “shortcomings” may have led to the rupture of a dam for mining waste owned by Vale SA, which released a wave of mud killing at least 165 people and devastating the Paraobepa river.Vale, the world’s largest iron ore miner, knew last year that the dam had a heightened risk of rupturing, according to an internal document seen by Reuters on Monday.In 2015, a similar failure of a nearby tailings dam at a mine co-owned by Vale, also in the state of Minas Gerais, killed 19 people and damaged the Rio Doce river.The minister said the government had been wasting technical and financial resources on licensing and oversight for all types of projects, and pledged to introduce policy changes to address the problem.He defended a system whereby environmental licenses for less complex projects are issued faster, saying he believed this would free up resources to oversee projects of higher complexity, including tailings dams. Topics Brazil Amazon rainforest Americas Deforestation Conservation Trees and forests news

Enlarge this image James Comey's media tour, ahead of his new book, starts Sunday night with an interview on ABC. He'll also appear on the The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and NPR's Morning Edition. ABC News/ABC via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption ABC News/ABC via Getty Images James Comey's media tour, ahead of his new book, starts Sunday night with an interview on ABC. He'll also appear on the The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and NPR's Morning Edition. ABC News/ABC via Getty Images Updated at 11:55 p.m. ETJust a few hours before James Comey's first television appearance ahead of his new book's release, President Trump published a string of tweets calling Comey a "slimeball" and saying the notes the former FBI director says he took were "fake."In an interview between Comey and George Stephanopoulos that aired Sunday night on ABC — launching a TV and radio tour for Comey that will include an appearance Tuesday on NPR's Morning Edition — and a CNN town hall next week hosted by Anderson Cooper, the former FBI director said he believed there was "some evidence of obstruction of justice" by the president, based upon a now-infamous meeting he had with Trump in which the Michael Flynn investigation was brought up."It would depend and-- and I'm just a witness in this case, not the investigator or prosecutor, it would depend upon other things that reflected on his intent," Comey tells Stephanopoulos.Comey's book, A Higher Loyalty, will be released on Tuesday and in it, he calls the president "unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values." Politics 5 Insights From Comey's Memoir: Ex-FBI Chief Blasts Trump As Moblike In a separate interview with USA Today, Comey — in a reference to salacious allegations contained in an unverified dossier created by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele — said it is difficult "to explain some things without at least leaving your mind open" to the possibility that such compromising information exists."There's a non-zero possibility that the Russians have some, some sway over him that is rooted in his personal experience, and I don't know whether that's the business about the activity in a Moscow hotel room or finances or something else," he said, referring to unsubstantiated allegations that Trump had a tryst with Russian prostitutes in Moscow in 2013.However, Comey told ABC that the FBI opened its investigation into possible Russian influence in the 2016 campaign not as a result of the Steele dossier, which President Trump and some Republicans contend, but when it received information that George Papadopoulos, then a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, had "been talking to someone in London about getting dirt on that the Russians had on Hillary Clinton."The White House and Republican Party have launched an effort to discredit Comey as outlets, including NPR, began reporting on the book's contents last week.On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called Comey a "disgraced partisan hack" and the President called him "a proven leaker and liar."Two days later, on Sunday morning, Trump again lashed out at Comey on Twitter."Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!" Trump wrote.Trump also reacted to a teaser clip ABC released about Sunday night's Comey interview. In it, Comey says his decision to announce that the FBI was going to re-open its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server just days before the 2016 presidential election was influenced by Comey's belief Clinton would defeat Trump."I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump, and so I'm sure that it was a factor," Comey says. "I don't remember spelling it out, but it had to have been, that she's going to be elected president and if I hide this from the American people, she'll be illegitimate the moment she's elected, the moment this comes out."Trump said Comey handled the probe "stupidly.""In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job," Trump wrote. "Slimeball!" FBI directors serve ten year terms (although they can be dismissed by the president). Having been sworn in in 2013, Comey's time leading the FBI was not due to end until 2023, well beyond the conclusion of what would have been Clinton's first term in office. Politics The James Comey Saga, In Timeline Form Trump also repeated his belief that the notes Comey says he took about his interactions with the president are "FAKE!" and that Comey is lying when he says the president asked him for loyalty.Trump fired Comey last May when Comey was in charge of the Justice Department's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and potential connections to the Trump campaign. That decision has many, reportedly including special counsel Robert Mueller, questioning whether Trump obstructed justice.A new ABC News/Washington Post poll out this week says that Americans find Comey to be "more believable" than Trump, 48-32 percent, highlighting the White House's need to discredit him.The Republican National Committee is reportedly preparing a widespread campaign to help, including the launch last week of a website called "LyinComey.com."

NBA All-Star Ben Simmons paid tribute to the teenager who egged a politician who blamed the Christchurch terror attacks on Muslim immigration.The teenager was not charged over his confrontation with Anning.Simmons, who is Australian, wore sneakers with the words ‘Egg Boy’ written on them during the Philadelphia 76ers’ victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night. Simmons was the top-scorer on the night, with 28 points for the Sixers. Last week, Simmons wrote the message ‘Pray for NZ’ on his sneakers during a game against the Sacramento Kings.The 22-year-old Simmons is one of the best young players in the NBA. He also played Australian Rules football as a teenager before moving to the US to concentrate on basketball. He has made his political views clear in the past: in 2017 he attacked Donald Trump. “I think he’s an idiot,” said Simmons. “If we were in Australia right now, a lot of people would call him a dickhead. That’s how I personally feel.” Topics Philadelphia 76ers NBA Basketball US sports Christchurch shooting New Zealand Fraser Anning news

She told police that she got into a car with Mr. Liu after the dinner, and he began to touch her without her consent. She asked to be taken back to her apartment, where he forced himself upon her, despite her pleas, she told police.But Ms. Brisbois, in an email, said the woman was being “flirtatious” in the car and agreed to the contact with Mr. Liu. Ms. Brisbois said that the woman invited Mr. Liu into her apartment building and that “what happened in the room was entirely consensual.”“The woman was an active and willing participant and at no time did she indicate in any way that she did not consent,” Ms. Brisbois said. The following day, the woman sent text messages to friends saying that Mr. Liu had raped her.Police were called to the apartment by a friend and fellow student, according to the county attorney’s office.Ms. Brisbois said she spoke with the woman after Mr. Liu’s release, at the woman’s request. Over several phone calls and texts, the woman “made repeated demands for money, and threatened to make her allegations public and to sue Richard if her demands were not met,” Ms. Brisbois said.Mr. Florin, the woman’s lawyer, said that a lawyer for Mr. Liu initiated contact with the woman about a settlement. Mr. Florin added that many of Ms. Brisbois’ descriptions of events are “directly contradicted by eyewitness testimony.”The Minneapolis Police Department’s sex crimes unit conducted a “thorough investigation” into the case, the county attorney’s office said, followed by a “meticulous review” by four sexual assault prosecutors, a group of three men and one woman. They determined that “there were profound evidentiary problems which would have made it highly unlikely that any criminal charge could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The former acting chief of a Kentucky police department instructed a police recruit to shoot black teenagers on sight if caught smoking marijuana, according to court documents.“Fuck the right thing. If black shoot them,” assistant chief Todd Shaw wrote in response to a younger officer’s query, part of what the Jefferson County attorney’s office described as a pattern of “highly disturbing racist and threatening Facebook messages” from Shaw.A nearly 30-year veteran of law enforcement, Shaw, 50, was the acting chief of the Prospect police department in Jefferson County, Kentucky, when he was fired over the messages in November. The comments were uncovered by the Jefferson County attorney’s office in an unrelated investigation into whether Shaw should be prosecuted for allegedly interfering in the sexual abuse investigation of the Metro Police Explorer Program. He was cleared in that matter.The messages – which have been seen by the Guardian – were exchanged privately with a recruit in the Louisville Metropolitan police department, where Shaw had worked from 1995 to 2009, reaching the rank of sergeant. That recruit was not ultimately hired by the LMPD, according to officials.In the same exchange about shooting black teenagers, the recruit, whose name was redacted in the court documents, asked what to do with the teens’ parents in such a scenario. Shaw responded: “If mom is hot then fuck her. If dad is hot then handcuff him and make him suck my dick. Unless daddy is black. Then shoot him.”In another exchange the unnamed recruit joked he would buy up all the properties around Shaw’s home and rent to “section 8”, a low-income housing voucher program. Shaw replied “I like thugs sex anyways” and “I need target practice”.The two also made racist comments about pictures they exchanged, as in one where the recruit posted a picture of a black man and woman with afros. The recruit asked: “Does this hair make it look like I have a gun in my hand?” to which Shaw replied: “To me, yes”.Jefferson County attorney Mike O’Connell, whose office uncovered the remarks, said in a statement: “Any individual who shares such blatant racist views should not be given a badge, a gun and a position of authority.”He added: “This type of bias from one officer gives a black eye to the countless policemen and women who do great work in our community each day.”As a result of the uncovered exchanges, O’Connell’s office said it had halted 24 open prosecutions in which “the only evidence in a case would have been Mr Shaw’s testimony”.Shaw’s attorney Michael Burns did not immediately respond to a Guardian inquiry but told the Louisville Courier-Journal that his client “is not a racist in any sense of the word” and was “just playing”. Burns continued: “Actions speak louder than words and Mr Shaw’s actions during his career speak for themselves.”On Thursday, Shaw filed a motion for a restraining order or temporary injunction in a Jefferson County circuit court, seeking to have the Facebook records deemed exempt from inspection, according to court documents.Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman denied the motion, noting that because Shaw was the assistant police chief and acting chief for Prospect as the time of his resignation, “that responsibility lends itself to a higher level of public scrutiny”.She continued: “While the court understands how embarrassing the documents may be to Shaw personally, they are not of the private nature intended to be shielded from public disclosure.“The documents reveal opinions and prejudices that bring into question Shaw’s integrity as a law enforcement officer who has been entrusted to serve and protect all members of society.”Shaw describes himself on his LinkedIn page as an “accomplished leader with over 29 years of progressively responsible public safety experience” and a “good communicator skilled in managing interpersonal relationships”. Topics Kentucky Police Race news

Being India’s first global stock exchange is an uphill task but it is grinding on.Barely months after its January 2017 launch, the Gandhinagar-based India International Exchange (India INX) is struggling with tepid turnover and poor broker registration. However, with a trade speed of only four microseconds (the world’s fastest) and trading of up to 22 hours a day, it is confident of succeeding in the long run.Slowly and steadily, things are changing, its managing director and CEO, V Balasubramaniam, confirmed. To begin with, it has expanded its suite of products since its launch. So, turnovers have improved. Looking to compete with international exchanges in Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, and London, it’s trying to introduce game-changing products such as rupee-dollar contracts and masala bonds.Quartz spoke to India INX about its plans. Edited excerpts:The first few months were challenging in terms of low turnover. Have things improved now?We started with only seven products…By August (2017), we have about 180. As a result we have been able to expand our markets to include equity derivatives, commodity derivatives, currency derivatives, and cross-currency products. As a result, the offerings are more sophisticated. Recently, the market regulator also approved around 85 single stocks from Indian futures and options, so now we have 108 such stocks. Therefore, it has become easier for foreign investors to access Indian markets as they can trade in dollars here. One of the features of India INX is that you can’t trade in rupees, only dollars. So, for any foreign investor, it has now become as simple as wiring money and taking it back, as they don’t have to worry about currency conversion. Earlier brokers faced a lack of clarity on foreign investor participation and slow registrations. How’s that been dealt with?There were some procedural concerns, but that has been taken care of. As regulations have cleared up and (the number of) products are increasing, more brokers are also registering. When we began, we were hardly clocking $1-2 million turnover. But after product approvals began coming in, daily volumes have shot up to over $100 million (on May 05). Today, on an average, we are clocking a turnover of about $65 million (daily). By the end of the year we should look at a further 20%-30% rise. Are there any more specific products you may add?We want to introduce the rupee-dollar contracts. If it happens, it will be a big move. Two other international centres, Dubai in the west and Singapore in the east, witness a lot of interest in this product. Whenever there are volatile periods, for instance US elections or Brexit, we see their volumes shoot up. In Dubai alone, they trade about $1 billion of rupee-dollar contracts everyday. Today, even for products like the masala bond, Indian companies are going to international markets, which we can win back if we can introduce it in India.Why hasn’t the RBI allowed these yet?We don’t know the reasons, but we want a level playing field vis a vis other international centres. If India has to find its place in the financial world, we can’t be followers; we have to be price setters. We’ve been far too dependent on the foreign world.How confident are you of competing with other global financial centres?We know it is going to take a long time but we believe we can. For us at Indian INX, it is clear that the competition is not the domestic markets; it is the world’s top international exchanges, and we can get there in the long run.

Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If you’re interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox.‘Why Can’t I Have Otezla?’Seth Meyers attacked President Trump on Wednesday over the news that Trump had pushed the White House counsel for prosecutions of Hillary Clinton and James Comey, the former F.B.I. director.According to a New York Times report, Trump was motivated in part by commentary he heard on Fox News, where hosts like Jeanine Pirro often insist that the Justice Department is not doing enough to support the president.“So not only is the president a wannabe dictator who thinks he can jail whoever he wants, he also genuinely believes all the insane stuff he sees on Fox News. Trump probably sits there all day watching Fox and shouting to his aides: ‘Prosecute Hillary! Stop the caravan! And ask my doctor if Otezla is right for me! Why can’t I have Otezla?’” — SETH MEYERSMeyers also pointed to Trump’s criticism of a judge who ruled against his administration’s asylum policy; Trump called him “an Obama judge.” That drew a hard rebuke from the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts.“Chief Justice John Roberts today defended federal judges and said, quote, ‘We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.’ They do, however, have two judges appointed by Grover Cleveland.” — SETH MEYERS, showing photos of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, and Stephen Breyer, 80A ‘Frigid’ HolidayThe late-night hosts braced us for what is expected to be an unusually chilly Thanksgiving Day.“According to the National Weather Service, it will be one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record — with the most frigid air between Rhode Island and Boston. And the second-most frigid air will be found directly between your stepfather Ronnie and your aunt Janice. She knows what she did.” — JAMES CORDEN“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I saw that a record 30 million Americans are flying this year. When the airlines heard that, they were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll see about that.’” — JIMMY FALLONAnd Stephen Colbert offered advice on how to handle sensitive dinner-table conversations.“According to Pew Research, Americans are more divided along party lines than ever. So I would avoid controversial subjects like politics, religion, sports, movies and how much voter I.D. you need to buy cereal.” — STEPHEN COLBERT, referring to a recent assertion from TrumpThe Punchiest Punchlines (Scrabble Edition)“After Thanksgiving, the holiday shopping season officially begins. It’s when everyone has to decide: Do I want to get trampled on Black Friday or have my identity stolen on Cyber Monday?” — JIMMY FALLON“Recently, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed under the headline, ‘Sorry, Feminists, Men Are Better at Scrabble,’ because ‘Since the World Scrabble Championship began in 1991, all winners have been male.’ Just because men keep winning a thing doesn’t mean they’re better at it. Have you seen who the president is?” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingWherein a strangely cute four-legged robot does a back flip, and a creepy humanoid robot named Sophia reveals an even stranger miniature version of itself.James Corden’s brand of magic tricks might not quite cut it at Hogwarts.What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightSeth Meyers is planning to welcome a number of family members onto his show for a holiday edition of “Late Night.” Almost all the other hosts are taking Thanksgiving off, so we are, too; “Best of Late Night” will be back next week.Also, Check This OutImage“Ralph Breaks the Internet” sends the protagonists from “Wreck-It Ralph” out into the web.CreditDisney

TIJUANA, Mexico/SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Three asylum seekers due to be returned to Mexico after appearing in U.S. immigration court on Tuesday asked officials to let them stay in the United States because they feared for their safety while waiting out the process in Mexico. Honduran migrant Ariel, 19, who is waiting for his court hearing for asylum seekers, that have been returned to Mexico to await their legal proceedings under a new policy established by the U.S. government, have a coffee in Tijuana, Mexico, March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge DuenesThe requests are a new approach by migrants in response to President Donald Trump’s recent policy that requires people seeking protection in the United States to wait for their U.S. court dates in Mexican border towns, part of his hard line stance to halt migration. Some 240 people - including families - have been returned to Mexico since late January under the program, dubbed Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), according to U.S. officials. Six Central American migrants who crossed from Tijuana through the San Ysidro port of entry had their cases heard at a San Diego courthouse in the program’s first day of hearings on Tuesday. All were told to return to Mexico. Robyn Barnard, a lawyer from the nonprofit group Human Rights First, said she asked officials to let her two Honduran clients stay in the United States. Both are afraid of returning to Tijuana to wait for their next hearings in early August. Tijuana, like much of Mexico’s northern border zone, has seen extensive bloodshed since the federal government began using the military against drug cartels over a decade ago. “Mexico is not a safe place for all people, and there are vulnerable groups at risk,” Barnard told reporters after the hearing. Her clients would remain at a U.S. Port of Entry on Tuesday night, ahead of interviews with asylum officers, likely the next day, Barnard’s assistant said. One client, 19-year-old Ariel, said he left Honduras because of gang threats and gave only his middle name because he feared reprisals. He was among the first group of asylum seekers sent back to Mexico on Jan. 30 and given a notice to appear in U.S. court in San Diego. “God willing everything will move ahead and I will be able to prove that if I am sent back to Honduras, I’ll be killed,” he said prior to the hearing. Mariel Villarreal, an immigration lawyer with San Francisco-based Pangea Legal Services, said she asked that her client from Guatemala be allowed to stay in the United States. “They are just being sent back to homelessness in Tijuana,” she said, adding that Mexican officials are not explaining how returnees can earn work permits. U.S. officials have said they are working with the Mexican government to ensure migrants are safe while they wait in Mexico. But some Mexican officials have warned the country’s border cities would struggle to look after asylum seekers for long periods. The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups are suing in federal court to halt the MPP program, which is part of a series of measures the Trump administration has taken to curb the flow of mostly Central American migrants trying to enter the United States. The administration says most asylum claims, especially for Central Americans, are rejected, but because of immigration court backlogs people are often released and live in the United States for years waiting for their cases to be resolved. The government has said the new program is aimed at ending “the exploitation of our generous immigration laws.” Critics say the program violates U.S. law and international norms because migrants are sent back to often dangerous towns in Mexico where it is difficult to keep track of their U.S. court dates and to find legal help. Gregory Chen, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said there are real concerns about carrying out this major shift in U.S. immigration policy. Slideshow (12 Images)“The government did not have its shoes tied when they introduced this program,” he said. Immigration advocates are watching how the proceedings will be carried out this week, especially after scheduling glitches created confusion around three hearings last week, according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which runs U.S. immigration courts under the Department of Justice, said only that it uses its regular court scheduling system for the MPP hearings and did not respond to a question about the reported scheduling problems. Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Tijuana and Jose Gallego Espina in San Diego; writing and additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York and Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City; Editing by Bill Trott and Darren SchuettlerOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Enlarge this image Fire and smoke rise off the northbound side of the U.S. 101 freeway in La Conchita, Ventura County. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images Fire and smoke rise off the northbound side of the U.S. 101 freeway in La Conchita, Ventura County. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images The destructive wildfires in Southern California are capping one of the worst fire seasons on record in the state. They come less than two months after thousands of homes burned and more than 40 people were killed by fires in Northern California. Climatologists warn that this is the new reality for the region, where wildfires are occurring year-round.Los Angeles residents Neil Fazzari and his wife, Kirsten, are stunned to see such a large wildfire this late in the year. "It was a shock this morning when our neighbors knocked on our door," Kirsten said."I thought it was over; I thought that that season was over," Neil adds.The couple wiped a thick layer of ash off the windshield of their SUV and pointed up at their street where they evacuated.Their neighborhood in LA's Sepulveda Pass, a brush-covered canyon on the city's western edge, is adjacent to the nation's busiest freeway and just below the famous Getty Museum. It's now full of firetrucks and dense with smoke.The immediate culprit of the five major fires burning in Southern California right now is the Santa Ana winds: the hurricane-force gusts that flow off the Mojave Desert and ignite infernos from things like toppled power lines or carelessly tossed cigarette butts.It's not unusual to get Santa Anas this late. It's just that by now Southern California's rainy season should have started. The Two-Way Southern California Fires Surpass 115,000 Acres As Santa Ana Winds Drive Flames UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain says nothing can be considered typical anymore."This year, we experienced our record warmest summer," he says, "and in some places record temperatures in the autumn as well."There is also a high-pressure ridge stuck out over the Pacific Ocean that's deflecting storms. Here & Now Compass Wildfires Exacerbate Chronic Homelessness In Northern California Swain's research is showing that these high pressure systems are growing in frequency as a result of the warming Pacific — one reason California is getting hotter and drier, with drier brush and fuels and longer fire seasons."It's starting to appear that the likelihood of seeing these sorts of events is increasing," he says.The open question now is how long this high pressure area sits — if it's more than just a few weeks, much of Southern California could fall back into extreme drought. Forecasters say there is also a good chance this ridge could settle in and cause a prolonged dry spell lasting several weeks from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Baja, Calif.In Southern California, drought and wildfires are a fixture of daily life — especially in Los Angeles, with its chaparral-covered canyons and vast open spaces between hilly neighborhoods.Fire agencies here are considered some of the best in the world at knocking down urban brush and wild land fires before they consume neighborhoods.But in extraordinary conditions like these, with the fires burning so erratically, it's not even safe for firefighters to try to protect homes at times, let alone try to contain the flames. That's why you hear Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas constantly pleading with the public to pack go-bags, and heed all evacuation warnings."The people in this area and all areas of the city that have a brush fire threat, need to continually monitor the media," he warns.Wednesday night, millions of cellphones buzzed across Los Angeles County with an emergency alert warning of extreme fire danger.This new norm is unsettling for people like the Fazzaris, who moved here from New York a few years ago.They, too, were prepared and ready to leave. But Neil says he's second-guessing living in a city where you have to have an emergency kit packed at all times — whether it's for fires, floods or earthquakes. "I don't really care for that," he says. "I don't like that so much. I'm kind of over the wildfire thing, to be quite honest."

PingWest品玩11月18日报道，在尚未激活运行watchOS 4.1系统的Apple Watch上测试“紧急SOS”功能失败之后，有名Reddit用户就此事向苹果方面进行了咨询，想要搞清楚是运营商问题还是Watch并不支持这项功能。随后该用户得到了苹果行政高管的回复，表示无论SIM卡是否激活都应该具备拨打SOS紧急电话的功能。在安装watchOS 4.2 Beta 3版本之后，这名用户表示在等待3秒时间之后成功拨打了911紧急电话，而苹果官方推荐的按住时间最高为5秒时间。目前尚不清楚这是否受到了系统升级的影响。想要在Apple Watch上拨打紧急电话，只需要长按手表侧面的按钮，然后就会拨打当地的紧急求救热线。一旦通话技术之后，Apple Watch还会尝试组织文字将其发送给此前预设的联系人，信息内容包括地理位置等等。更多精彩请关注我们的微信公众号：PingWest品玩新闻线索请投稿至：[email protected]

“Here’s the thing about Vinod,” Mr. Kaul said. “He just doesn’t care.”Mr. Khosla was born in Pune, India, in 1955 and grew up the middle-class son of an army officer. He says his parents accepted his personality early on, though they also learned he could be a liability.“The priests would effectively say, ‘If you donate this much money, God will bless you.’ How crooked is that? If I ran into a priest, I’d say, ‘Oh, you’re a crook,’” Mr. Khosla says, recalling being 12 years old.After a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A. at Stanford Graduate School of Business, he founded the electronic design company Daisy Systems and then, in 1982, Sun Microsystems. The company sold servers and workstations and created Java, the programming language that formed the foundation for much of today’s internet. Later, Mr. Khosla nurtured the creation of Juniper Networks, which built the routers and switches upon which the internet flourished.He became a hero of the political left last decade after investing early and heavily in clean technology, and by funding efforts in biofuel, energy storage and solar. Some of his bets succeeded; others failed spectacularly. He has continued to support and invest in eco-friendly start-ups.His life plan now is to “reinvent societal infrastructure.” He’s recently gotten interested in the Yimby movement, a pro-real estate development cause that stands for “yes in my backyard.” Mr. Khosla wants to 3D-print houses for the homeless to be installed above parking lots. He sketches this for me on one of the perfect whiteboards.He wants people to think bigger, he says. Meanwhile, at Martin’s Beach, he is pursuing a scorched-earth campaign around whether a gate needs a permit. In February, Mr. Khosla petitioned the Supreme Court to rule on his case, citing the First Amendment and also the Fifth (the takings clause) and 14th (his right to due process). The justices are now deciding whether to hear the case.One recent cold summer Sunday, the rusty gate stood open. A few yards down, someone was collecting $10 from incoming cars. The cottages of Martin’s Beach have windows that are thick with salt from the air; some of the houses are small and modest, with peeling paint, and others are more fixed up. The decks were full of barbecues, wicker furniture and driftwood art.

Mr. Trump’s comments echoed those that his White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, released on Friday night.“This is absurd. James Comey was fired because he’s a disgraced partisan hack, and his deputy, Andrew McCabe, who was in charge at the time, is a known liar fired by the F.B.I.,” Ms. Sanders said. “Unlike President Obama, who let Russia and other foreign adversaries push America around, President Trump has actually been tough on Russia.”Parts of the statements by Mr. Trump and Ms. Sanders are at odds with the public record and with the findings of the inspector general’s report. While Democrats were furious with Mr. Comey over his public statements about the Clinton email server case — at a news conference and in a pair of letters in the middle of the campaign — they were deeply alarmed by his removal, given his role in the Russia investigation.In his report, the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, pointedly criticized Mr. Comey for breaking with longstanding policy to publicly discuss the Clinton case, and he castigated “insubordinate” senior officials who worked with Mr. Comey for privately criticizing Mr. Trump even as they investigated him. But he ultimately said he had found no evidence to believe that the decisions not to charge Mrs. Clinton for her use of a private email server in handling classified information “were affected by bias or other improper considerations.”“Rather, we concluded that they were based on the prosecutor’s assessment of facts, the law and past department practice,” he wrote.Mr. McCabe, who briefly served as acting director after Mr. Comey was removed, was fired last March for failing to be forthcoming with investigators about an unrelated conversation he had authorized between F.B.I. officials and a journalist. Mr. McCabe argued that the firing was politically motivated and designed to hinder the Russia investigation. Other members of Mr. Comey’s team have also been fired or left the bureau.Mr. Comey responded on Twitter on Saturday with a quotation attributed to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”

(Reuters) - The Trump administration lost a court bid on Thursday aimed at striking down California’s “sanctuary” statutes that prevent local law enforcement from helping the U.S. government’s crackdown on illegal immigration. FILE PHOTO: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks about President Trump's proposal to weaken national greenhouse gas emission and fuel efficiency regulations, at a media conference in Los Angeles, California, U.S. August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson(graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2XmGDDg) The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco largely affirmed a July ruling from a lower court, which had found the California laws do not conflict with federal immigration rules. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement, “We continue to prove in California that the rule of law not only stands for something but that people cannot act outside of it.” Scores of Democrat-controlled cities and counties have adopted policies to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, making them a target for President Donald Trump. He recently suggested he would send an “unlimited supply” of migrants in the country illegally to sanctuary cities. The Trump administration has also tried to deny public safety grants to some sanctuary cities, a policy that has been generally blocked by federal courts. The California laws prohibit private employers in the state from voluntarily cooperating with federal immigration officials and bar local law enforcement from sharing information about the release of illegal immigrants from custody. The appeals court reversed the lower court regarding a part of a third law, which empowers the California attorney general to monitor conditions in immigrant detention facilities. The Court of Appeals said the requirement that an inspection of the circumstances surrounding the apprehension and transfer of an immigrant discriminates against the federal government. The Court of Appeals directed the U.S. District Court in Sacramento to review that part of its ruling. The case stems from a March 2018 lawsuit by the Department of Justice, which contended that the laws violated the U.S. Constitution. Reporting by Tom Hals; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Enlarge this image A youth in Tijuana, Mexico, stands by the border fence that separates Mexico from the United States, where candles and crosses stand in memory of migrants who have died during their journey toward the U.S. Emilio Espejel/AP hide caption toggle caption Emilio Espejel/AP A youth in Tijuana, Mexico, stands by the border fence that separates Mexico from the United States, where candles and crosses stand in memory of migrants who have died during their journey toward the U.S. Emilio Espejel/AP The Trump administration is seeking to fine some immigrants, who are in the United States illegally, hundreds of thousands of dollars for failing to take steps to leave after being ordered to do so, according to government documents obtained by NPR.The Department of Homeland Security sent out a batch of notices across the country to targeted individuals ordering them to pay fines of up to nearly $500,000 for "failing to depart the U.S. as previously agreed," among other factors. Politics Trump Administration Slaps Sanctions On Son Of Venezuelan President Maduro It's the latest hard-line effort by the administration as it clamps down on illegal immigration at the border and increases interior enforcement. "It is the intention of ICE to order you pay a fine in the amount of $497,777," Lisa Hoechst, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, wrote to Edith Espinal Moreno in a letter dated June 25, 2019, obtained by NPR from lawyers for Moreno. The letters come as the Trump administration prepares to carry out delayed immigration sweeps of migrant families who have received deportation orders. President Trump said Monday, while signing legislation providing $4.6 billion in funding to address the influx of migrants from Central America, that the immigration raids will begin after the July 4 holiday if Congress can't pass new restrictions on asylum laws.At the beginning of his term, Trump signed an executive order promising, "as soon as practicable, and by no later than one year after the date of this order," that the administration would begin collection of "all fines and penalties that the Secretary is authorized under the law to assess and collect from aliens unlawfully present in the United States." Politics Tanks, Flyovers And Heightened Security: Trump's Fourth Of July Ups Taxpayer Cost ICE said the Immigration and Nationality Act grants the agency the right to impose "civil fines on aliens who have been ordered removed or granted voluntary departure and fail to depart the United States."It states fines of no more than $500 for each day the person is in violation of this section. But immigration lawyers say they've never heard of it used in this manner.An ICE official said undocumented immigrants who willfully refuse to meet the obligations of an order issued by the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review may receive a "Notice of Intention to Fine" and then are subsequently provided a 30-day period to respond before a formal decision whether to issue a fine is made. ICE officials said the agency began issuing these notices in December 2018 on a case-by-case basis, taking into account steps the individual has taken to fulfill the court's orders. Politics House Democrats Sue For Trump's Tax Returns "ICE is committed to using various enforcement methods — including arrest, detention, technological monitoring and financial penalties — to enforce U.S. immigration law and maintain the integrity of legal orders issued by judges," ICE spokesman Matthew Bourke told NPR.Pro-immigrant advocates argue the Trump administration is trying to instill fear and confusion in immigrant communities, expecting the immigrants will leave. They report similar letters being received by immigrants in similar situations in North Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Texas. Espinal, 42, said she could not believe the U.S. government thought she would have almost half a million dollars. She has been living in sanctuary at an Ohio church since an immigration judge ordered her removed two years ago. The church, its congregation and the community have largely supported her and her family."They want to scare me," Espinal said, adding, "because they know I am in sanctuary. And they know I don't have this amount of money."Espinal said she came to the United States from Mexico with her father when she was 16. She now has three children of her own, including two who are U.S. citizens. She said her whole life is in the United States and she cannot return to Mexico.Leon Fresco, who served as deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Immigration Litigation in the Obama administration, said he could not recall a time when such high fines were used during the previous administration. "It's a vivid illustration of the lengths the Trump administration will go to use any available authority to try to enforce immigration law," Fresco said. "I have not seen a $300,000 fine for failing to facilitate one's own removal."Espinal's attorney, Lizbeth Mateo, said she started laughing when she first saw the letter. She fears the administration is laying the groundwork for criminal penalties and could use fees in other ways to increase pressure on immigrants to leave."It's almost half a million dollars. Are they for real? Do they really think that she's going to pay this?" Mateo said. "I laughed, because there has to be someone in some basement in D.C. thinking, 'Oh, what else can I do to mess with immigrants? What else can I do to hurt them?' "Subscribe to the NPR Politics newsletter: From the White House to your home — political news and analysis that matter, sent weekly.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, facing renewed criticism from Democrats and activists over his handling of a migrant crisis on the U.S.- Mexico border, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that immigrants unhappy with conditions at detention centers should be told “not to come.” Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists who have visited migrant detention centers along the border in recent days have described nightmarish conditions marked by overcrowding and inadequate access to food, water and other basic needs. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general on Tuesday published photos of migrant-holding centers in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley crammed with twice as many people as they were meant to hold. “If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come. All problems solved!” Trump said on Twitter. The Republican president has made cracking down on illegal immigration a key part of his first-term agenda after campaigning on the issue ahead of the 2016 election. “Our Border Patrol people are not hospital workers, doctors or nurses,” Trump wrote earlier on Twitter. “Great job by Border Patrol, above and beyond. Many of these illegals (sic) aliens are living far better now than where they ... came from, and in far safer conditions.” Criticism of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency grew after reports this week that current and former agents had posted offensive anti-immigrant comments and targeted lawmakers on their private Facebook group. Acting Department of Homeland Security chief Kevin McAleenan on Wednesday ordered an investigation into the posts, calling the comments “disturbing.” Related CoverageAn ever-expanding job for border agents: sensitive decisions on migrants' fatesU.S. DHS boss orders probe into border agents' 'disturbing' Facebook postsThe Facebook posts, first reported by ProPublica, included jokes about immigrants dying and sexually explicit content about U.S. Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who criticized the detention facilities after a tour this week. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for the acting head of the CBP and other top leaders at the agency to be fired. Democratic U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro said after a visit to the border this week that detainees had been not been allowed to bathe for two weeks, were deprived of medication and locked in areas with broken water faucets. “It’s clear that their human rights were being neglected,” the Texas lawmaker told reporters in a conference call. The White House on Wednesday sharply criticized a ruling by a federal judge in Seattle who blocked its attempt to keep thousands of asylum seekers in custody while they pursued their cases. “The decision only incentivizes smugglers and traffickers, which will lead to the further overwhelming of our immigration system by illegal aliens,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. The American Civil Liberties Union and immigrant rights groups sued the government in April after Attorney General William Barr concluded that asylum seekers who entered the country illegally were not eligible for bond. A drawing by children recently released from CBP depicting their time spent in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody, to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, are shown in this image released by American Academy of Pediatrics in Itasca, Illinois, U.S., on July 3, 2019. Courtesy American Academy of Pediatrics/Handout via REUTERS Congress has blocked Trump’s efforts to fund construction of a wall on the southern border, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused on Wednesday to lift an injunction barring the administration from using $2.5 billion intended to fight narcotics trafficking to build the barrier. But the record surge of mostly Central American families, fleeing crime and poverty at home, has begun to ease after tougher enforcement efforts in Mexico, according to officials from both countries. Mexico’s government, citing unpublished U.S. data, said border arrests fell 30% in June from May after a crackdown as part of a deal with the United States to avoid trade tariffs. The Mexican government said it was busing home Central American migrants from Ciudad Juarez who had been forced to wait in Mexico for their asylum claims to be processed under a U.S. policy known as “Remain in Mexico.” Since migrant arrests reached a 13-year monthly high in May, immigration has arguably become the biggest issue for Trump and Democratic presidential contenders vying for the right to face him in the November 2020 election. “Mexico is doing a far better job than the Democrats on the Border. Thank you Mexico!” Trump said Wednesday on Twitter. U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker spent much of the day on the Mexican side of the border in Ciudad Juarez, meeting with migrants who had been sent back to Mexico to await their asylum hearings under a new Trump administration policy. Booker escorted five women believed to be fleeing domestic abuse across the bridge over the Rio Grande and to the border port of entry in El Paso, Texas, according to a Facebook video he posted. Booker said they had been unfairly returned back when they should have been accepted by U.S. authorities. Slideshow (11 Images)“I’m going to fight for these five folks and do everything I can to see that they be fairly evaluated,” Booker told reporters. Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro, Joaquin Castro’s brother, last week proposed decriminalizing border crossings as a step toward freeing up federal resources and eliminating thousands of immigration cases clogging criminal courts. Reporting by Makini Brice in Washington, Daina Beth Solomon, Diego Ore and David Alire Garcia in Mexico City, Jonathan Allen in New York, David Alexander, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Eric Beech in Washington, Andrew Hay in New Mexico and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Jonathan Oatis and Peter CooneyOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.