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2018-02-16 /
Trump Russia inquiry: what you missed in a week dominated by Harvey
All eyes have been focused on Houston this week as Hurricane Harvey killed at least 35 people and caused catastrophic flooding. But the investigations into possible ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continue, with a number of potentially significant developments emerging in the past few days. Here’s a look at what happened. The team of prosecutors working under the special counsel Robert Mueller is cooperating with New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, to investigate the former Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his business dealings, Politico reported. Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to sway the election in his favor.Schneiderman’s presence – as a state attorney general – is potentially significant because the president’s power to issue a pardon applies only to federal crimes, not state convictions (hypothetical, in this case).Cooperation by Manafort with investigators could be damaging to Trump. Manafort and Trump have denied any wrongdoing. Schneiderman is something of a nemesis to Trump, who has accused the attorney general of carrying out a political vendetta against him. Schneiderman brought a class-action fraud lawsuit against Trump University in 2013, which was resolved in a $25m settlement 10 days after the election. Early in the presidential campaign, Trump signed a non-binding letter of intent to build a tower in Moscow, his lawyer, Michael Cohen, confirmed in a statement to ABC News. This despite Trump’s claiming during the campaign that he “knows nothing about Russia”, has “no loans” and “no deals” there. In the absence of his tax returns, which the president refuses to publish, the truth of Trump’s holdings is unknown.Cohen said: “The Trump Moscow proposal was simply one of many development opportunities that the Trump Organization considered and ultimately rejected.” It separately emerged, however, that Cohen had written an email asking for help with the deal to a top Vladimir Putin aide in January 2016, in a previously undisclosed example of direct contact between the Trump Organization (Cohen was vice-president at the time) and Moscow during the US presidential campaign.“Over the past few months I have been working with a company based in Russia regarding the development of a Trump Tower-Moscow project in Moscow City,” the Washington Post quoted the email as saying. “Without getting into lengthy specifics, the communication between our two sides has stalled.” No tower was ever built.A former broker for the Trump organization, Felix Sater, who also helped to develop Trump’s SoHo hotel tower in Manhattan, wrote an email to Cohen related to the same Moscow tower deal on 3 November 2015, obtained by the New York Times, that read in part: Michael I arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putin’s private chair at his desk and office in the Kremlin. I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected. We both know no one else knows how to pull this off without stupidity or greed getting in the way. I know how to play it and we will get this done. Buddy our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process. In a statement, Cohen said that Sater, whom he has known since their teenage years in Brooklyn and Long Island, was practicing salesmanship and exaggerating what he could do. Trump has denied familiarity with Sater, saying in a 2013 court deposition: “If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn’t know what he looked like.” The two are pictured together below, in 2007.Separately, Ivanka Trump said she could not recall sitting in Putin’s chair. At the time the email was sent, there had been four Republican primary debates and the former and current governors Rick Perry and Scott Walker had already dropped out of the race. The overarching allegation that investigators are exploring is that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to tip the election, which could violate campaign finance laws and carry other charges. It is not clear that Sater’s email indicates collusion. Sater has not said whether he is talking to Mueller. Read a Guardian interview with Felix Sater. In a letter to Congress, Cohen rebutted point-by-point allegations in a dossier assembled by a former British intelligence agent that he had participated in collusion between Moscow and the Trump presidential campaign. In the letter, Cohen repeatedly denies having made a trip to Prague, Czech Republic, to meet with Kremlin emissaries, a denial the letter says can be proven by Cohen’s passport. The Daily Beast obtained a copy of the letter.A grand jury used by Mueller has taken secret testimony from Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian American lobbyist who attended a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr, the Associated Press reported. Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner also attended the meeting.Trump Jr took the meeting on the promise of damaging information about Hillary Clinton provided by Russian agents. Investigators are trying to figure out what information, if any, changed hands at the meeting, which was followed soon after by the release of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee. The Trump campaign denies any collusion with Russian agents. Trump called senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the judiciary committee, a day after reports that Donald Trump Jr would meet with the committee behind closed doors to talk about Russia.In the call, Trump promised Grassley critical federal support for the biofuel ethanol, a key issue for the lawmaker, reported the Guardian.A spokesman for Grassley said by email: “The president called Senator Grassley and talked briefly about ethanol. It was a two-minute conversation. Senator Grassley told the president he was glad to hear him voice his support for ethanol and that he would tweet about it to the people of Iowa. Nothing more specific about ethanol policies came up. The other topics that came up were Hurricane Harvey and Ambassador Branstad in China.”Terry Branstad, a former governor of Iowa, is Trump’s new ambassador to China.Lawyers for the president have met multiple times with the special counsel and delivered memos defending their client, the Wall Street Journal reported. One memo reportedly argues that Trump did not obstruct justice when he fired FBI director James Comey because he has an inherent power under the constitution to hire and fire at will. A second memo was described by the Journal’s sources as arguing that Comey is not a reliable witness to the special counsel investigation, “calling him prone to exaggeration, unreliable in congressional testimony and the source of leaks to the news media”.The meetings seem to indicate that the Mueller investigation is focused on the president’s conduct and is specifically considering obstruction of justice allegations, a charge that figured largely in impeachment proceedings against both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. The perceived integrity of Comey’s testimony is important because the nature of his private conversations with Trump could constitute key evidence for prosecutors building an argument about Trump’s motives. Sater predicted in an email to the Guardian: “[T]here are many additional stories that will be coming out about me in the future, much more timely and important than 20-year-old stock cases.” Topics Donald Trump Trump administration US politics Russia US elections 2016 news
2018-02-16 /
Pan Am Flight 103 Fast Facts
Facts:The suspects were tried in a Scottish court at Camp Zeist, a former US air base 20 miles south of the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. The Dutch declared 30 acres of the 100-acre base Scottish territory so that the trial could be held in a neutral country as al Megrahi, Fhimah andLibyan leader Moammar Gadhafihad wanted. There was no jury; three Scottish judges presided, with a fourth as reserve.Authorities said al Megrahi and Fhimah manufactured the bomb out of Semtex plastic explosives, concealed it in a Toshiba cassette recorder, hid the recorder in a Samsonite suitcase and slipped the suitcase aboard an Air Malta flight headed from Malta to Frankfurt, Germany. The unaccompanied bag is believed to have been transferred to a Pan Am flight to London and then to Flight 103.The CIA and FBI said the suspects, employed by Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, were also Libyan intelligence agents. Lesser charges of conspiracy to murder and violating Britain's 1982 Aviation Security Act were dropped.Over three years, investigators from the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries questioned more than 15,000 people in more than 30 countries and collected thousands of pieces of evidence.The death penalty is not permitted under Scottish law. There is no prescribed punishment for a conviction of conspiracy to murder. Any punishment is at the discretion of the court. Life imprisonment is the prescribed punishment for murder or contravention of the Aviation Security Act 1982. Any prison sentence would be served in Scotland.Timeline:December 21, 1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 explodes 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after takeoff from London. The 259 people on board the New York-bound Boeing 747 are killed, along with 11 people on the ground.July 1990 - The British Civil Aviation Authority's Air Investigation Branch officially reports that an explosive device caused the crash of Pan Am Flight 103.November 13, 1991 - US and British investigators indict Libyans al Megrahi and Fhimah on 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder and violating Britain's 1982 Aviation Security Act. The men are accused of being Libyan intelligence agents.April 15, 1992 - The United Nations Security Councilimposes sanctions on air travel and arms sales toLibya, over Libya's refusal to hand the suspects over for trial in a Scottish court.March 1994 - Libya says it will consider a proposal to try the suspects in a neutral site with a panel of international judges. Britain and the United States reject the plan, insisting the pair be tried in a British or American court.August 24, 1998 - Britain and the United States propose trying the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law.December 5, 1998 - UN Secretary General Kofi Annanmeets with Libyan leader Gadhafi to urge Libya to hand over the bombing suspects.December 15, 1998 - A US appeals court rules relatives of the 189 Americans killed in the bombing can sue Libya for its possible role in sponsoring the attack.December 16, 1998 - Libyan People's Congress agrees to a proposal to try Lockerbie bombing suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law.April 5, 1999 - Libya hands over the suspects to theUnited Nations. They are taken to the Netherlands to stand trial.April 5, 1999 - United Nations Security Council suspends air and arms sanctions against Libya after the bombing suspects are taken into UN custody.June 11, 1999 - US and Libyan representatives meet for the first time in 18 years to discuss lifting UN sanctions.December 7, 1999 - Al Megrahi and Fhimah make their first appearance at a two-day pre-trial hearing at Camp Zeist.May 3, 2000 - The trial of Pan Am Flight 103 bombing suspects al Megrahi and Fhimah begins.November 28, 2000 - Judges at the Lockerbie trial reject a plea to acquit one of the two Libyans accused of planting a bomb on the Pan Am plane. January 9, 2001 - Prosecutors drop the lesser charges of conspiracy and endangering aircraft safety against al Megrahi and Fhimah and ask the court to only consider the murder charges.January 10, 2001 - Prosecutors present their closing arguments in the case after calling 232 witnesses over eight months. Defense closing arguments follow, after lawyers for the pair call only three witnesses.January 31, 2001 - Al Megrahi is found guilty and jailed for a minimum of 27 years. Fhimah is found not guilty.March 14, 2002 - Al Megrahi loses his appeal against his murder conviction in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.2003 - President Gadhafi agrees to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to families of those killed in the bombing. June 28, 2004 - The United States resumes direct diplomatic ties with Libya after 24 years.June 2007 - The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) rules that al Megrahi can appeal his conviction. October 2008 - It is announced that al Megrahi is suffering from terminal cancer.October 31, 2008 - US President George W. Bushsigns an executive order that restores Libya's immunity from terrorism-related lawsuits.November 2008 - US Senator Frank Lautenberg announces at a press conference that the families of American victims of the Pan-Am bombing have received final compensation from the Libyan government. Each family received about $10 million, paid in installments between 2004 and 2008. August 20, 2009 - Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announces that al Megrahi will be released from prison on compassionate grounds due to his terminal cancer. After being released, al Megrahi returns to Libya and receives a jubilant welcome. August 2, 2010 - Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg hold a press conference to outline their plan to press for more information about the 2009 release of al Megrahi. A group of US senators attempts to investigate rumors that the Lockerbie bomber was released as part of a deal to allow BP to drill off the coast of Libya. BP has denied such claims.July 26, 2011 - Al Megrahi appears in a wheelchair at a pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli.August 28, 2011 - CNN's Nic Robertsontracks down al Megrahi at his family's villa in Tripoli. He appears to be comatose and near death, on oxygen and an IV. The National Transitional Council announces that it will not allow al Megrahi's extradition. Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi says, "We will not give any Libyan citizen to the West."October 2, 2011 - Reuters interviews al Megrahi at his home. Al Megrahi claims his innocence.May 20, 2012 - Al Megrahi dies in Libya.October 15, 2015 - Scottish officialsannouncethat two additional Libyans have been identified as suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
2018-02-16 /
What to expect from Apple's education event March 27 2018: New iPads, new laptops, software
Given it’s at a public school and considering its recent work with the Chicago school system, Apple’s scheduled media event in Chicago at 10 am US Central Time on Tuesday, March 27, is likely to be about education. The Californian electronics company usually hosts media at its own campus, or somewhere in the Bay Area.Will Apple show off educational software? New, affordable laptops for students? A year ago, it didn’t hold a spring event, opting to quietly roll out some minor product updates, and a new app that few seem to be using a year later. Here’s a run-down of everything Apple may announce Tuesday:While Apple still holds a dominant spot in the college laptop market, it has more or less ceded the entire grade school computer market to more affordable and simpler Chromebooks. According to The New York Times, more than 30 million students in the US use Google services at school (like Gmail and Google Docs), and half of all laptops shipped to schools are Chromebooks.Apple sells students the $1,000 MacBook Air. Originally released a decade ago, it’s a lightweight laptop that upended the laptop market. But it’s been neglected by Apple in recent years, rarely receiving hardware refreshes. Instead, Apple has pushed iPads as laptop replacements.But recent rumblings suggest the lower-end of Apple’s laptop business might be getting a refresh, and would sit either alongside the existing 13-inch MacBook, or replace it. Expect to see at least one computer-shaped object on Tuesday.This is an education event, so software updates will probably be announced. As The Verge points out, Apple’s last education-themed event marked the release of iBooks 2, which was meant to set the iPad up as a challenger to the textbook market. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that another revamp is expected, with the app’s name changed to simply “Books.” It may launch in Chicago.Apple introduced the 9.7-inch iPad Pro this time in March 2016 and replaced it with a 10.5-inch version in June 2017, so it seems highly likely it will update the tablet line. Although they’re still quite expensive, the smaller iPad Pro starts at $808 when you throw in a keyboard case, which is about $200 less than a MacBook Air. Expect there to be some new iPads for all the new education software, and probably some new accessories. Perhaps we’ll get a new Pencil stylus that doesn’t have to stick out the end of the iPad to charge.Apple last revamped its tiny $400 iPhone a year ago, and considering it’s based on a design that’s now six years old, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was a design refresh. Rumors have suggested that a new SE, with wireless charging, will be released at some point this year.At Apple’s iPhone X event in September, it announced that it would release a version of the case for its AirPods headphones that can be charged conductively, like the iPhone X and iPhone 8 phones, as well as a new type of charging mat, called AirPower, that can charge three devices at once. That would mean if you’re like me and have AirPods, an Apple Watch, and a new iPhone, you will need only one charger to charge them all.Reports have said that the device should finally be on sale by the end of March, which perfectly fits the timing of this event for a hands-on demos.The better Apple events have always managed to hide a surprise or two away from all the information that leaks out beforehand. Maybe we’ll see some AR glasses, or a new type of wearable, or a hat for your HomePod, who knows? Either way, we’ll be there at 10am Tuesday to document it all as it unfolds. Stay tuned.
2018-02-16 /
Philadelphia drive
(Reuters) - A gunman opened fire from a moving vehicle outside a Philadelphia shopping center on Wednesday, wounding five young men, one of them critically, police said. All five victims of the shooting, which was reported just after 2:30 p.m. EDT in the city’s Germantown section, were transported to nearby Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia police said in a statement. A 20-year-old man who was shot in the head was listed in critical condition at the hospital, police said. The other four victims, all men ranging in age from 19 to 23, were in stable condition with gunshot wounds to extremities. No suspects were immediately taken into custody and no weapons were recovered at the scene, police said, asking for tips from the public in helping solve the drive-by shooting. Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Gabriella Borter in New York; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2018-02-16 /
Champion ferrets and tomato fights: today's unmissable photos
A selection of the day’s best images, including breathtaking sunsets in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, Victory Day celebrations in Turkey and huge wood and bamboo structures in Kolkata, India
2018-02-16 /
Blacklisted From Syria, A Journalist Says: 'I Couldn't Imagine Staying Away' : NPR
TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guest has put herself in great danger to report on the Syrian civil war. The danger comes from the exposure to bombs and bullets as well as from threats from the government. Rania Abouzeid was placed on the wanted list of three of the four main intelligence directorates in Damascus. She was banned from entering the country. So she's trekked in from the Turkish border. Syria is the world's deadliest country for journalists, according to the group Reporters Without Borders. Half of Syria's population has been displaced by the war. The death toll has been estimated at half a million. Abouzeid started reporting on Syria in 2011 when the uprising against the Assad regime began.And she continued when the conflict turned into civil war. Civil war was part of her childhood. Abouzeid grew up in Australia, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who left the country during Lebanon's civil war. As a child, she spent time in Beirut during the war, visiting her grandparents. Now Abouzeid lives in Lebanon. Her new book "No Turning Back: Life, Loss, And Hope In Wartime Syria," tells the story of Syria's civil war through her reporting on members of rival radical Islamist groups, prisoners and families who have been victims of the war. Her reporting has been published in The New Yorker, Politico, Time and Foreign Policy.Rania Abouzeid, welcome to FRESH AIR. So this week marks the seventh anniversary of the uprising in Syria of the start of the Syrian revolution, which turned into a civil war. Why has the civil war gone on so long?RANIA ABOUZEID: Because like most civil wars, it became a proxy war for international powers with the Russians and the Iranians, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias and Afghan mercenaries on Assad's side and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, Turkey, the U.S. and the European states backing the Syrian opposition.GROSS: So in addition to this being a proxy war, what is it about? Is it just about a fight for power? Is it still about overthrowing Assad?ABOUZEID: The thing about the Syrian uprising is that it was existential from the beginning. The protesters knew that when they took to the streets. And the Assad regime knew that. This was a fight to the end for both sides. And it is one that is sadly continuing, as you say, seven years on.GROSS: So you say in your book that Syria has ceased to be a unified state, except in memories and on maps. So what is it?ABOUZEID: It's a collection of shards. It is a broken place. It is a place where Syrians talk about territory that they have liberated from other Syrians. It is a place that is very fragmented. There are parts that Assad controls, parts that the fragmented rebels control. There was, of course, Raqqa - city that, until recently, Islamic State controlled. There is a Kurdish canton that is under attack now by Turkish forces. And there is the southern front. So it is a very fragmented place.GROSS: So in the summer of 2011, when the protests against the Assad regime was still going strong, but Syria hadn't yet collapsed into civil war, you were blacklisted by the Syrian regime. You were called a spy for several foreign states. You were placed on the wanted list of three of the four main intelligence directorates in Damascus. You were banned from entering the country. Why did you decide to keep returning in spite of that?ABOUZEID: I couldn't imagine staying away from it. And, you know, to be clear, I'm not an adrenaline junkie by any means. But it was the story and the importance of the story and my ability to also move clandestinely in a community and in a culture that I understood very well.GROSS: So what can you tell us - if anything - about how you clandestinely kept entering Syria?ABOUZEID: In summer 2011, I started entering Syria from the Turkish border - smuggled across the border. And it was a pretty porous border at that time. It wasn't difficult to get into Syria from Turkey. And that's what I did. I'd move very low-profile, go by myself. I speak the language. I am of Lebanese heritage, so I look the part. And I just tried not to draw attention to myself as I went about my work.GROSS: Do you have an accent when you speak?ABOUZEID: I do, unfortunately. I speak with a Lebanese accent. And I say unfortunately because Lebanese parties were involved in the Syrian conflict from very early on. Lebanese - the Lebanese group Hezbollah was with Assad. It's pro-Assad. And it came to be fighting alongside Assad. And there are - Hezbollah's domestic opponents were backing the opposition. So when I opened my mouth, and Lebanese Arabic came out, the accusation of spy, for one side or the other, pretty quickly followed.GROSS: So that must've been difficult for you to overcome.ABOUZEID: It was. It was. But it was happening so often that I, you know - I figured out a way to get out of it. And as people came to know me more, as commanders - rebel commanders came to know me, as my contacts grew in the country, there were always people who would, you know, pop up if I were pulled aside. And somebody said, hey, you know, she's speaking with a Lebanese accent. Maybe she's a Hezbollah spy. It's amazing how many times there would be a man in the room or on the battlefield who would put his hand up and say, actually, no. She's a journalist. I saw her on this front. And she is what she says she is.GROSS: So were you able to get the trust of different sides, different militias?ABOUZEID: Yes, yes. And that's one of the reasons that enabled me to continue going back for as long as I did on the rebel side.GROSS: So you write that initially, you were forced to focus on the rebel side because you were...ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: ...Crossing the border illegally. So - because it's the government that wanted you arrested. So you had to stay with the rebels?ABOUZEID: Yes. And I physically couldn't get into Damascus. I - you know, my name was at the border. I couldn't cross it. And to be smuggled from Lebanon at the time into Damascus was a very dangerous thing for me to do, given that one of my nationalities is also Lebanese. So I couldn't do it. I would have wanted to do it. I'm a journalist. I want to talk to everybody. But unfortunately, that blacklist early on meant that I couldn't. Although, I still managed a few trips into government-held Damascus and to tell part of that side of the story.GROSS: Are you still on a blacklist? Is there still warrants out for your arrest?ABOUZEID: Yeah. That hasn't changed, unfortunately.GROSS: So you've spoken to people. You've reported on people from different competing militias. Did you worry that someone from a rival militia would turn you in?ABOUZEID: To the government?GROSS: To the government or to another militia, to their own militia. It seems like everybody's at war with each other in Syria. So there's so many options for you to either be kidnapped or imprisoned or harmed in some way.ABOUZEID: Yes. I mean, kidnapping threats were made a few times. And it was my relationships on the ground that prevented them. Once again, you know, if I dropped the right name, I would be OK in certain areas. So for me, staying safe meant building a network of - that was based on relationships. And it was a pretty vast network. And it meant that I had to keep track of the nitty-gritty. I had to understand the terrain that I was entering - the political, social, cultural, religious, military terrain that I was entering - because if I got into trouble, I needed to know whose name I could drop where and that it would keep me safe.When I report - and it doesn't matter where it is - I have one question that I must answer before I enter the field. And that question is, if I get into trouble, who can get me out? And if I don't have an answer, I simply don't go. So, you know, getting that answer means that you really, really have to know where you're entering and what you're doing.GROSS: I have to say that depends on the person who you've decided is the person who can bail you out still being alive because in Syria, you never know...ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: ...Who's going to be...ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: ...Alive the next day.ABOUZEID: Yes, yes. That's very true. And that sadly happened a number of times. And that's the reality of war. I mean, I remember there was one time when I was going to go in for a story. And before I did, the group of young rebels who were going to come from Syria across the border into Turkey to escort me into Syria - about six of them were killed in an airstrike. That happened. And it happened more than once.GROSS: How did you protect your notes? Because I'm sure you wanted to protect the confidence of people who were talking to you and not give anything away.ABOUZEID: That is my - of paramount concern - that protecting my sources is utmost in my mind all the time. Well, first of all, frankly, I don't think anybody can read my handwriting.GROSS: (Laughter).ABOUZEID: I can't read my handwriting. And I would take my notes, keep them on a digital recorder and hide it in various places - never use full names. I would use descriptors. Like I said, that is the most important thing for me. And that is another thing that also kept me safe because people knew that my word was good. If I said I wasn't going to reveal their identities, I really meant it.GROSS: Let's take a short break here, and then we'll talk some more. If you're just joining us, my guest is journalist Rania Abouzeid who's been covering the civil war in Syria since the protests started there in 2011. She's the author of the new book "No Turning Back: Life, Loss And Hope In Wartime Syria." We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.(SOUNDBITE OF ANDREW BIRD SONG, "I")GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. And if you're just joining us, we're talking about covering the civil war in Syria. My guest is journalist Rania Abouzeid. Her new book is called "No Turning Back: Life, Loss And Hope In Wartime Syria."What was it like for you to interview radicals who wanted an Islamic state in which there would be - I'm sure - no rights for women? These are not your views, but you're trying to accurately present the point of view of the people who are the radicals - who are the extremists. So can you talk a little bit about developing a relationship of trust with them, where they trusted you with their story and you trusted them not to harm you.ABOUZEID: You know, I'm a journalist. I want to talk to everybody. And my goal in speaking with people is to - not to judge them, not to turn them into caricatures but to try and understand them because I think that's what we need to do. We need to understand what makes some of these characters tick. And that was my approach. And when I was talking to some of these al-Qaida members, they slowly came to know me. It took some time for them to trust me. And when they did, we - like any relationship, it went from there - any professional reporting relationship - it went from there. And it was - you know, I knew some of these men from the beginning. And....GROSS: From the beginning of the war?ABOUZEID: From the beginning of the uprising, yes. And I just pursued them the way that I would pursue any journalistic relationship with a source.GROSS: I imagine some of these men in al-Qaida admired your bravery and were also baffled by it because you're a woman.ABOUZEID: Yeah. You know, it's - you'd be surprised how - the Syrians were one thing, and the foreigners in the group were different. The Syrians at the end of the day were still Syrians. And I could talk to them, and they would look me in the face. And, you know, we could have an hours-long conversation sometimes. The foreigners in Jabal al-Druze were more conservative. And many of them would turn away from me when they looked at me because they didn't want to be looking at a woman - or would just, you know, sort of flat-out refuse to speak to me or would - they were just more conservative. But, in general, I managed to go to a lot of places and to get access to this group - some would say - despite the fact I was a woman.And it didn't really pose a problem for me except in one place where I went. And it was a town that had been taken by an Islamist coalition. And I was there to interview a senior al-Qaida cleric - a sheikh. But there was an al-Qaida checkpoint at the entrance to the town, and they weren't letting in anybody who - even men - who hadn't - who weren't in the fighting groups that had taken the town. So I mentioned the sheikh's name, so they let me pass. But I could only - it was almost nightfall. And I couldn't stay there in the evening because there weren't any women in the town. And so as conservative - ultra-conservative Islamists, they weren't - they wouldn't let me stay in the town overnight because there wasn't a woman for me to stay with. So I had to do the interview and leave before it got too late.GROSS: I have to say. It sounds strange to be in a town with no women.ABOUZEID: Yeah, I mean, it was. It was a frontline town.GROSS: Yeah. So you mentioned that the foreign fighters would not want to look you in the eye, but the fighters who were from Syria, who are more comfortable around women, could converse with you more easily. So I know Syrian fighters had gone to Iraq.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: Like, radicalized Syrians had gone to Iraq to fight with the radical groups there. So did a lot of - have a lot of radical fighters from other countries come to Syria to fight in the civil war?ABOUZEID: So many - so many different nationalities I can't even begin to count them. Just the ones that I would see crossing the borders or at airports - Albanians, Moroccans, Iraqis, Egyptians, Libyans. It drew in - Syria was a magnet for foreign fighters - for Islamist foreign fighters. And there were some towns that were almost - I'm thinking of Doreen, which is a town in the Latakia countryside. And that was - there were so many foreign fighters in this town. I remember once I was going to meet in Jabal al-Druze an al-Qaeda source there. I was invited to go to Doreen by this source. And I'd smuggled myself across the Syrian border, and I was in a car with an al-Qaida driver - the Jabal al-Druze driver. And we were almost at Doreen when he got a call. And my source told him, can you thank the sister but can she head back because the foreign fighters have vetoed her visit. So the foreigners - the foreign Islamists had basically sort of overruled the views of their Syrian guests and told me to go home.GROSS: Did you go home when you were told to go home?ABOUZEID: Yeah, I did because, I mean, that's why I went there to see them. And frankly, I was a little bit peeved. So I was like, OK, fine, I'll go back this time. And I'll plan a different trip because I'd also done the logistics and the security for that trip. So I wasn't about to just mosey on, you know, around in northern Syria without having properly planned a trip.GROSS: So are the foreign fighters in Syria hoping to build a caliphate or just an Islamic State in Syria?ABOUZEID: Well, the first state would be - the first step would be an Islamic state and then from there, you know, an Islamic state that expands. That's their ideal.GROSS: You know, in the U.S., we used to be so focused on al-Qaida. And now we're really focused on ISIS. But are there are lots of other groups of various names that are not called ISIS or al-Qaida that pose the same threat?ABOUZEID: A threat to the West, you mean?GROSS: A threat to, you know, the Middle East and to the West.ABOUZEID: Islamism is a spectrum. And it's a very vast and broad spectrum. Even the idea of a Salafi, you know, a conservative Sunni Muslim - they're also a spectrum. They're not all the same. And I think that we lump these groups all together. And that's to our detriment because it hinders our understanding of these groups and these movements and the ideologies behind them.GROSS: What are some of the differences?ABOUZEID: Well, there are some Salafis, for example, who believe that they shouldn't get involved in politics and that they should be subservient to the leader. There are some who say that they will get involved in politics, but they are against violence. And then there are the Salafi jihadis who are characterized by al-Qaida, who are - who want to bring about political change through violence. So even within that subgroup, you've got at least three - even within that group - Salafis - you have at least three subgroups. And they're very different - from not wanting to get involved in politics to wanting to use violence to change politics. So that's what I mean by a spectrum. And it's very, very broad.GROSS: Your ability to get around and be protected in Syria depends on people vouching for you, people from different sides, people from different militias. And their vouching for you depends on their feeling that you are treating them fairly in your reporting. Did you have any journalism - like, official journalism training, or did you kind of learn the rules of journalism on your own or come up with your own rules for what kind of journalist you wanted to be?ABOUZEID: I'll answer that in a bit. But before I do, I just want to say that, yes, I did depend, in part, on them vouching for me and also on my ability to move around and just do what I wanted to do. But I was often hauled in for questioning after my articles appeared because they weren't happy about something that I wrote. And every time, I'd point to the article, and I'd say, tell me what part isn't right. Tell me where I misquoted you. Tell me where I said I was going to do something that I didn't. Did I reveal your identity? And they'd say, no, you didn't. And I said, is that what you said? And they said, yes, that's what I said. I was like, then what's the problem? So they knew. And I came to have that reputation that I would push back against this kind of stuff, so don't try and intimidate me.And that would happen often. Sometimes, I'd get calls from Syrians who would tell me, hey, listen. You know, the commander in whatever place is really upset with your story, so maybe don't go there for a little bit until he cools down. And I would heed that advice because, you know, sometimes, you push back, and sometimes you just stay away. It's smarter to stay away. You have to decide how you're going to react to something based on the person who is - who you're dealing with, you know?In terms of my journalism training, no, I wasn't trained as a journalist. And I learned by seeing. I learned by doing. I learned by reading. And I learned by doing.GROSS: So the people who pulled you in for questioning - you're talking about militia leaders?ABOUZEID: Yes. I'm talking about rebels from - whether they were the leaders or the media officer or whoever it might be - all sorts of different people.GROSS: My guest is journalist Rania Abouzeid, author of the new book "No Turning Back: Life, Loss, And Hope In Wartime Syria." Coming up, we'll talk about how the civil war in Lebanon, where her parents are from, affected her childhood and her reporting. I'm Terry Gross. And this is FRESH AIR.(SOUNDBITE OF NATHANIEL BARTLETT'S "OPENING")GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross, back with journalist Rania Abouzeid, author of the new book "No Turning Back: Life, Loss, And Hope In Wartime Syria." She started covering Syria in 2011 when the uprising against the Assad regime began. She continued covering Syria as the conflict turned into civil war. Abouzeid is the daughter of Lebanese parents who raised her in Australia at the time of the civil war in Lebanon. She now lives in Lebanon. Just a heads-up before we get back to the interview - she's going to give an unsettling description of a child who was seriously injured in the Syrian civil war.So one of the people you profile is a 9-year-old girl - at least, she starts out being 9 when you start writing about her. Her name is Ruha. And why did you want to write from the point of view of a child experiencing the war?ABOUZEID: I wanted to show the effects of revolution and war from a child's eyes and from a family's perspective. I wanted to present the family unit. But I wanted to focus on this young girl because she was just so precocious. And she would say things sometimes that would just, you know, blindside me in terms of how much she was absorbing, in terms of - she was just soaking things up around her and trying to understand what was happening. And I wanted to present that perspective to remind people that there are families, there are young girls, there are young boys who are living through these momentous, horrendous, epic events.GROSS: So you grew up in Australia and New Zealand, but your parents are from Lebanon.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: And you spent time there with extended family during the civil war in Lebanon.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: So were you interested in talking to Ruha, the 9-year-old girl who became older as you covered her over the years - were you interested in talking to her in part because you witnessed civil war as a child yourself?ABOUZEID: My parents used to bring us for holidays during Beirut's war - which sounds crazy. I know. But the thing about civil war is that it can be raging in one neighborhood, and there can be nothing in the adjoining neighborhood. And so when there was relative calm in the areas that we would go to, we would go back to Beirut to, you know, reconnect to our heritage. And so I saw what war can do, and I saw that at a young age. And these days, I'm grateful for it because I think it helped sort of build up my resilience to conflict and my understanding of it. And I was - there were some things that Ruha and her family would talk about that I understood on a deep level. And it connected back to my childhood. For example, when Ruha's mother Manal (ph) talks about living a half-life in exile in Turkey - the family escapes to Turkey at one point in the book - I understood what that meant because my family lived a half-life.We were Lebanese living in Australia while there was a civil war in Lebanon. And we followed the news as closely as Ruha's mother followed the news from Syria because she wanted to go back home. And my parents initially wanted to go back home as well, as soon as the war ended. And I knew what it meant to live a half-life. I knew what it meant when all of your decisions were based on what is the politics of the day. And is peace going to happen? Are there peace talks? Might we go back home soon? And, you know, I grew up in a house where politics wasn't abstract. It wasn't some theory that you saw - you studied in school. Politics meant the difference between whether or not my grandparents were safe. It was something that was very real, and it was something with real-world implications.GROSS: Did your parents move back to Lebanon after the civil war?ABOUZEID: They did some years later - not immediately after the civil war. And when they returned, it was to a country that they didn't recognize anymore and one that they couldn't live in. So they went back home to Australia.GROSS: Why did you return to Lebanon?ABOUZEID: I think my parents put you up to that question.(LAUGHTER)ABOUZEID: They're always asking me why I, quote, "reverse-migrated." I went back because I felt drawn to the news from this region. I felt drawn to the region. And it was the place of my heritage, and I wanted to learn more about that. And I guess some part of me is still that kid who is listening to news reports about Lebanon or from the region and who now wants to contribute to news reports about a region that I know. I can speak the language. I'm both Eastern and Western. And if I can help, you know, contribute to some form of understanding about what's happening - translate one for the other - then that's what I want to do.GROSS: So you weren't terrified of the things that you saw in the civil war when you were a child visiting relatives?ABOUZEID: I wasn't terrified because, at the time, I wasn't - I didn't really know what some of them were. I remember evenings when I would watch the red tracer bullets, and they would go from one neighborhood to the other. And I thought they were fireworks, and that's what my relatives told me at the time because I was just a kid. So, you know, I saw things through a young girl's eyes, but in a very different way from Ruha. Ruha was much smarter than I ever was, and she was much more aware of what was happening around her and to her and to her family and to her community.GROSS: You know, while talking about children in civil war, there's an image in your book that's really hard to shake. It's of a girl whose head has been split open. There's shrapnel in her neck, shrapnel in her eye. And a doctor is working on her without anesthesia.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: And I'm thinking what it is like to be a child experiencing that level of civil war and being wounded - and I don't even know what situation her parents were in at that moment.ABOUZEID: Yes. She was calling out to her mother, and she was crying out for her mother. And her mother wasn't there, but her father was. He held her hand as the doctor operated on her without anesthetic, and her screams filled the hospital that night. And they intermingled with all the other screams that were in the hospital that evening.GROSS: Did you talk to her directly at all?ABOUZEID: No, no. I - it wasn't the time to talk to her. It was a mad, mad night. Something like 25, 35 people were killed in air strikes that night, and they were coming into the hospital. The dead, the wounded - it was just absolute pandemonium. It wasn't the time to talk to a little girl who was being operated on. Instead, I stood in the corner next to the doctor, and I watched what happened. And I listened, and I wrote it all down.GROSS: I can't imagine what it's like to be a parent in a situation like that.ABOUZEID: Yeah, heartbreaking - heartbreaking to see your child in pain. And there's nothing you can do about it. You just - her father just held her hand and told her she'd be OK. That was all that he could do. I mean, this little girl was having the base of her skull stitched without anesthetic, without anything. And it was just heartbreaking.GROSS: Did you experience any barrel bombs being dropped?ABOUZEID: Yes, yes - many times, many, many times. You know, barrel bombs are particularly horrific. They're unguided weapons. And they're dropped from helicopter gunships. So so many times, you could see it. So Syrians would stop what they were doing. And they'd stare at the sky, watch the barrel falling because it was guided only by gravity and by the wind. So you're looking at it wondering which way is it going to fall so that you know which way to run - or you think you know which way to run. So it's quite surreal to just see people all around you stop and stare at the sky while this thing tears through the air. It has a sound that is unmistakable. It rips the air as it's coming down with a buh, buh, buh (ph) kind of intensity. And then it lands somewhere, and it explodes. And the splinters and the nails and whatever else is in it, you know, disperse. But it's particularly nasty.GROSS: Let's take a short break here, and then we'll talk some more. If you're just joining us, my guest is journalist Rania Abouzeid. Her new book is called "No Turning Back: Life, Loss And Hope In Wartime Syria." And she's covered the war since 2011 when the uprising started. We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.(SOUNDBITE OF CUONG VE AND PAT METHENY'S "SEEDS OF DOUBT")GROSS: This is FRESH AIR, and we're talking about the war in Syria. My guest journalist Rania Abouzeid has covered the war since 2011 when the uprising against Bashar al-Assad first started. Her new book is called "No Turning Back: Life, Loss And Hope In Wartime Syria."When you're being bombed, unlike the Syrians who actually live in Syria, you'll be able to get out. Assuming you're not injured, you'll be able to get out and get back home. But are you concerned about post-traumatic stress?ABOUZEID: It's a thing. It's a thing. And it's something that our community needs to take seriously, and it does. I - you know, thank God - don't suffer from it. And I think in part it might be because of that resilience that I built up from childhood in that I was exposed to these things. I didn't sort of - I wasn't dropped into a war zone all of a sudden and was faced with the reality of a war zone. It's almost like an immunization if you'd like. You get small shots of it, and then you get used to it to a certain degree - although you never really get used to it. You can never get used to a little girl screaming in a hospital because she's being operated on without an anesthetic. As a human being, you just can't immunize yourself from that sort of pain.And it's just - you know, it's a reality. And it's sadly happening to them. That's the other thing. I mean, this is happening to them. What about Syrians and their post - they're not even in post-traumatic. They're still in that traumatic phase. They're still being bombed. They're still being wounded. They're still being besieged. The barrel bombs are still falling from the sky. So I wonder more about them and their trauma and their mental state.GROSS: The dedication in your book about the Syrian civil war reads (reading) for my parents, my sisters, my family. I carried your love and support in my heart every time I crossed the mountains while on my shoulders I bore the guilt of taking you with me. What's the guilt you're referring to there?ABOUZEID: The guilt that they were worried. They were concerned. I knew that I was relatively okay when I was inside, but they didn't. They spent their hours, days, weeks wondering if I was okay. And even if I did check in every day, they still spent all of the time between those check-ins wondering if I was okay. And I sometimes wonder if we're not a little bit selfish - journalists who do what I do - because of the effect that it has on our families, on our loved ones, on our friends who worry about us. And that dedication actually was the first thing that I wrote in the book. They were the first lines that I wrote in the book because that was the first message that I needed to send.GROSS: You've taken great risks to cover the civil war in Syria over these past seven years. Right now, so many Americans are obsessed with the Trump presidency and with investigations into the Trump campaign and the Trump White House. And it's kind of filling a lot of the news mental capacity of a lot of Americans.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: And it's shutting out a lot of stories.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: And I'm wondering if as a journalist you're feeling that.ABOUZEID: Yes. And it shut out one of my Syria stories.GROSS: Like literally?ABOUZEID: Literally shut out one of my Syria stories. And it was an exclusive, and it was in a place that no journalist has yet been to. And because of Trump-mania, the story sat on an editor's desk for five months before it was killed. There wasn't space. It was all Trump all the time. And that story still burns my heart - that I didn't manage to run it - because I felt that it was important. And it was something that just got caught up in Trump-mania.GROSS: What was the story?ABOUZEID: The story - I went to Idlib City, which is the provincial capital of Idlib province. And at the time, it was run by a conservative Islamist coalition. They had imposed a dress code on the women. They had roving patrols of morality police in the streets. It was kind of like Raqqa-lite. But this story was about acts of resistance - of people who were pushing back against these extremists. And they were pushing back in ways big and small - from the women's group that was teaching women about their rights under the guise of literacy lessons and the women who were flouting the dress code by wearing red hijabs instead of black or brown or blue, to the Christians - the handful of Christians who remained in the town and who were protected by their Muslim neighbors because their neighbors said that the Christians were their brothers. They were the sons of their town - so many different acts of of resistance. And that was a story that - it burns my heart because it showcases the resilience of Syrians to overcome anyone that they feel is oppressing them. And, sadly, that story wasn't told.GROSS: One more thing - I'm wondering since you've interviewed so many people in the various militias in the Syrian civil war, have you come across a lot of people who just end up disillusioned, who think, like...ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: ...This is an unwinnable war? We're just destroying the country. The people heading the militia are extremists, or they're not really idealists.ABOUZEID: Yes.GROSS: I'm out.ABOUZEID: So many times, so many different examples of this. And the thing is that, you know, we say rebels, and it's a catch-all phrase. But there were many different types of rebels. There were men who just picked up guns because they wanted to protect their families and their hometowns. And they stayed in their hometowns. And they coalesced around each other and eventually used the military nomenclature. And there were others who were more ideological, who extended beyond their hometowns and who had bigger goals - might be their province or even beyond their province. So there were a range of different rebels with different ideas.But I met many who were disillusioned - some who left the fight because it, quote, "became too dirty" because the rebel commanders were corrupt, because they didn't see the point of it anymore, because they were sick of killing Syrians, because they didn't see a point to it anymore, because they feared men on their own side in some cases. So there were many, many people who were disillusioned, who lost their ideals and their idealism over these seven years.GROSS: You've covered the war in Iraq. You've covered the civil war in Syria. You're doing a documentary on Afghanistan. You've spent so much time in broken countries. How does that affect the way you see the world and the way that you see humanity? I mean, you've witnessed people doing, you know, heroic things, and you've witnessed people like really doing terrible things.ABOUZEID: Yeah. It's the flip side of a coin, I guess. It's the spectrum of humanity but - yet on overdrive. And it's always a - it's a privilege. It really is a privilege to be entrusted with somebody's story. And I'm never sure why people talk to journalists because, I mean, really think about what we do. We stick a microphone in somebody's face or a camera or a notepad and pen. We ask them to tell us about things that are often very difficult or very painful. Or we encounter these people in a hospital when they're being operated on without anesthetic or, you know, in the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack or something like that. And we ask them to talk about that. It's a really difficult thing. And I often wonder if I were in their shoes, if I would speak to a journalist. But they talk to us, and we tell their stories. And it's a privilege, and it's a responsibility. And it's one that I don't, for a second, take for granted.GROSS: Well, Rania Abouzeid, I want to thank you for taking the risk that you take to report the story in Syria. And thank you for joining us on FRESH AIR.ABOUZEID: Thank you very much.GROSS: Rania Abouzeid is the author of the new book "No Turning Back: Life, Loss And Hope In Wartime Syria." She lives in Lebanon. After we take a short break, John Powers will review a new book by one of his favorite authors. This is FRESH AIR.(SOUNDBITE OF DIE KNODEL'S "MIT DER 42ER")Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
2018-02-16 /
Xi tells Mattis China won't give up 'even one inch' of territory
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is committed to peace but cannot give up “even one inch” of territory that the country’s ancestors left behind, Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday during his first visit to Beijing. Xi’s remarks underscored deep-rooted areas of tension in Sino-U.S. ties, particularly over what the Pentagon views as China’s militarization of the South China Sea, a vital transit route for world trade. But irritants in U.S.-China relations extend to other sensitive areas, including fears of a full-blown trade war between the world economic heavyweights. Beijing is also deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions toward self-governing and democratic Taiwan, which is armed by the United States. China views the island as a sacred part of its territory. Meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi told Mattis that China had only peaceful intentions and would not “cause chaos,” state television reported. Both countries’ common interests far outweigh their differences, but on territorial issues there can be no concessions, Xi said, without referring to specific areas. “We cannot lose even one inch of the territory left behind by our ancestors. What is other people’s, we do not want at all,” state television cited Xi as saying. Mattis, in comments in front of reporters, told Xi the talks had been “very, very” good. “I am happy to be in China and we are assigning the same high degree of importance to the military relationship” with China, Mattis said. That relationship has been tested in recent months. In May, the Pentagon withdrew an invitation to China to join a multinational naval exercise, citing China’s military moves in the South China Sea. The U.S. decision upset Beijing and was raised during Mattis’ talks, officials said. U.S. defense officials told reporters traveling with Mattis that the talks were generally positive and candid. While both sides acknowledged points of friction, they also sought to focus on areas of alignment — including a shared goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. “Areas of disagreement were identified but not necessarily dwelt upon,” said Randall Schriver, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, saying both sides agreed to continue discussions on the South China Sea. China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, left, and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Bayi Building in Beijing, Wednesday, June 27, 2018. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via ReutersMeeting earlier in the day, China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told Mattis that only with mutual respect and by avoiding confrontation can China and the United States develop together. “China and the United States can only develop together if we maintain no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” Wei added. “China and the United States’ two militaries must implement the consensus of the two countries’ leaders, increase mutual trust, strengthen cooperation and manage risks to turn ties between the two militaries into a factor for stability in the bilateral relationship.” Mattis, the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014, told Wei he expected all of his conversations in Beijing would be characterized by an “open and honest” dialogue. “The military-to-military relationship is critical to the broader relationship between our two countries,” Mattis added, in comments also in front of reporters. Mattis invited Wei to visit him at the Pentagon. Wei was similarly upbeat in his public remarks. “Your visit to China this time is ... a new positive factor to the military-to-military and state-to-state relationship,” said Wei, who only assumed his position in March. The Chinese defense ministry statement made only passing mention of the South China Sea, Taiwan and North Korea, citing Wei as telling Mattis what China’s positions were on those issues. China even made passing reference to concerns about trade with the United States, officials said. As Mattis arrived, Chinese state media said a formation of Chinese warships had been holding daily combat drills for more than a week in waters near Taiwan, and there have been frequent Chinese air force exercises near the island. Slideshow (8 Images)While China and the United States have tried hard to keep lines of communication between their militaries open, especially at the senior level, they are deeply suspicious of each other. Still, the United States and China have broad strategic common interests, such as ensuring peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. China welcomed the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month in Singapore, where Kim reaffirmed a commitment to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, while Trump said he would halt joint U.S.-South Korean “war games.” Reporting by Phil Stewart and Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Christian Shepherd and Michael Martina; Editing by Robert Birsel and Tom BrownOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2018-02-16 /
Hyderabad homes and pavements made from used plastic bags
Media player Media playback is unsupported on your device Video Hyderabad homes and pavements made from used plastic bags Plastic waste is a serious problem in India. But businesses in the emerging tech hub of Hyderabad may have found a golden business opportunity to turn plastic rubbish that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill, into efficient building materials used to construct houses and city pedestrian walkways.Reporting by Devina Gupta, filmed by Saraskanth TK, edited by Premanand Boominathan.
2018-02-16 /
The Year That Software Bugs Ate The World
In 2017, it was fashionable to stress over the prospect of machines getting so smart that they render humans obsolete or maybe even decide to kill us all.Look on the bright side, though: This also turned out to be a year that provided an inordinate number of reminders that what computers do is follow instructions given to them by people. And people have a tendency to write buggy software. When it fails, it can be startling, alarming, irritating, or darkly funny—or, sometimes, all of the above.Herewith, some, um, highlights from the year in bugs, all of which involve defects that were fixed, sooner or later.The Bugs That Made Gmail Disrespect Personal BoundariesA nagging flaw in Google’s Play Services software for Android causes Gmail to demand access to “body sensors” before it will let users send email. The sensors in question relate to fitness apps, and Gmail doesn’t need access to them—which makes its request all the more creepy. why do i need to turn on "body sensors" to use gmail? what is google after? pretty sick of them. — emm fee hates sports (@emm_fee) November 17, 2017The Bug That Busted Wi-FiBelgian university researchers identify a vulnerability—dubbed “Krack”—which permits the circumvention of the encryption built into the pervasive Wi-Fi WPA2 standard. The reality of the matter may be less alarming than the theory, since online services tend to independently encrypt sensitive stuff, but a bevy of hardware and software makers must scramble to release updates.The Bug That Equifax Probably Wishes It Had PatchedIn September, credit-monitoring kingpin Equifax’s website is breached by someone who makes off with sensitive information on up to 143 million Americans. This epic act of cyber-mendacity was possible only because Equifax failed to install a fix for its Apache web servers, even though it was available for two months prior to the break-in.The Bug That Confirmed Everyone’s Fears About Smart SpeakersAndroid Police’s Artem Russakovskii—one of the members of the media who got an early unit of Google’s pint-sized Google Home Mini smart speaker—discovers that his Mini is recording audio 24/7 and storing it on Google’s servers. It turns out that a glitch with the speaker’s touch panel was to blame; Google reacts by simply disabling the option to talk to the Mini by pressing the touch panel. It eventually brings back some but not all of the features it deleted.The Bug That Made Google’s New Phone Go Click, Click, Click, ClickAnnounced in October, Google’s new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones offered a bevy of attractive features. But once they reached consumers, it became clear that they were also bedeviled by quirks. One—the tendency to make a mysterious high-pitched sound variously described as a clicking or squeal—turned out to relate to the NFC chip.The Bug From The Bill Clinton Era That Finally Got FixedMicrosoft releases a patch for a Microsoft Office component called Equation Editor, originally released in November 2000. Security researchers had shown that the software had a vulnerability that could allow someone to seize control of your PC over the internet and run code on it—and that security features built into Windows and Office didn’t eliminate that danger.The Bug That Made Twitter Look HomophobicTwitter users notice that searching for terms such as #gay and #bisexual doesn’t find any results. The company apologizes, explaining that a bug relating to the algorithm it uses to flag adult content had mistakenly hidden all tweets relating to some terms regardless of the nature of their usage.The Bug That Eliminated The Need For Those Pesky PasswordsFirst mentioned in an Apple support forum, a bug in Apple’s new High Sierra OS provides access to Macs with the user name “admin” and no password, permitting anyone who gets his or her hands on your computer to get at your files. Within a day of the problem gaining widespread notoriety, Apple rushes out an auto-installing patch and apologizes. And skeptics get to snark about whether the company’s historic reputation for robust security needs a rethink.The Bug That Undid The Fix For The Pesky Bug That Eliminated The Need For Pesky PasswordsAfter patching up the bug that allowed anyone to log into a High Sierra Mac as an administrator, sans password, Apple releases another update that (briefly) brings back the bug.The Bug That Showed Your Friends You Were Running iOS 11A problem with the autocorrect feature in Apple’s newest mobile operating system causes iPhones to substitute an A and a strange character whenever users type “I,” resulting in widespread typos on Facebook and Twitter. Some users resort to workarounds, while others seem blithely unaware that they’re disseminating gibberish. — Katie Couric (@katiecouric) November 3, 2017The Bug That Could Let A Stranger Ransack Your HomeIn October, Amazon announces Amazon Key, a smart lock that lets its delivery people—or employees of Amazon partners such as housecleaning and dog-walking services—enter your home. To make that idea less scary, their entry is recorded by the new Amazon Cloud Cam. But security researchers soon show how a bad guy with Amazon Key access could use a Wi-Fi vulnerability to freeze the Cloud Cam’s video feed, making it appear as if the door is closed when someone’s opening it. Amazon emphasizes that it’s an unlikely scenario, but releases a patch to alert users when their camera has been shut off.The Bug That Could Snoop On Your TypingHP releases a fix for a trackpad driver that includes code that can silently track keyboard input—a capability better known as “keylogging,” and notorious as a technique for spying on a computer user. The code—apparently used for testing purposes and left in by mistake—is disabled by default and a would-be voyeur couldn’t turn it on without having administration priveleges on your machine. But even if the risk of trouble is tiny, 500 different HP computer models that use the errant driver are impacted.The Bug That Went All The Way To 11Some users of Google’s Google Home Mini report that turning the pint-sized speaker up to maximum volume crashes it.The Bug That Caused A Train CrashIn a Singapore train station during rush hour, one commuter train rear-ends another, resulting in 29 injuries. An investigation reveals that buggy signaling software left the train that did the rear-ending confused about how many cars the train in front had. And that led it to keep going when it should have come to a halt.The Bug That Barred You From Your Own Google DocsOn Halloween, users of Google’s G Suite report that the browser-based productivity package is randomly refusing to let them into documents they’ve created on the grounds that the content violates Google’s terms of service. The mishap, which appears to stem from an overzealous bit of machine-learning technology, is quickly resolved—but inspires a debate about the wisdom of relying on any third-party organization to grant you access to your own stuff. @googledocs Fiancé lost access to wedding vows due to “terms of service violation”. Request review link did nothing. 1/2 — Gordon McNaughton (@gmcnaughton) October 31, 2017The Bug That Let Anyone Nuke Your Facebook PhotosSecurity researcher Pouya Darabi discovers that Facebook’s new polling feature can be gamed to delete other photos on the social network—including private ones—via their unique identifiers. Facebook gives him $10,000 for bringing the vulnerability to its attention.The Bug That Made Sure Pilots Were Home For The HolidaysAmerican Airlines discloses that a malfunction in its vacation-scheduling software has allowed every pilot who wanted to take Christmas week off to do so—leaving the airline with too few pilots available to cover every trip during an exceptionally busy travel week. The problem threatens to impact 15,000 flights; American offers time-and-a-half pay to try to line up enough pilots for its planes.The Bug That Made People Global Persona Non Gratae On TwitterA handful of people find that they’ve been locked out of their Twitter accounts with a message declaring them to have been “withheld in: Worldwide.” At least one of them theorizes that she’s been booted for insulting J.K. Rowling. But Twitter says that the banning was accidental and blames it on a bug in the code it uses to hide tweets on a country-by-country basis in order to comply with local laws.The Bug That You Could Foil By Pretending It Was Still December 1An iOS 11 bug crops up that may crash your phone—but only as of 12:15 a.m. on December 2, and only in certain situations involving third-party apps using local notifications. Until Apple swats it, some folks resort to rolling back the calendar on their iPhones.
2018-02-16 /
U.S. Airstrikes Block Convoy Transferring ISIS Fighters
The bodies were given back to Lebanese forces between Sunday and Tuesday.Colonel Dillon said the pact undermined efforts to fight the Islamic State in Syria. Iraq, normally an ally of the Syrian government, joined the American military in criticizing the decision to relocate the militants.“The coalition, we are not party to this agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS,” Colonel Dillon said. “Their claim of fighting terrorism rings hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control. ISIS is a global threat, and relocating terrorists from one place to another is not a lasting solution.”Colonel Dillon said airstrikes directly on the Islamic State convoy remained a possibility but as of late Wednesday had not been carried out because coalition officials were trying to verify whether civilians were intermingled in the group.“We are monitoring these fighters in real time, we will take action where necessary, those would be absolutely lucrative targets,” he said.“We’ve seen ISIS use protective sites like hospitals and mosques, seen them drive in ambulances,” the colonel said. “So if we do identify and find ISIS fighters who have weapons — we can discriminate between civilians and ISIS fighters — we will strike when we can. If we are able to do so, we will.”The militants were loaded into 17 buses and 12 ambulances near Arsal, in northeastern Lebanon, on Monday morning, according to Hezbollah officials in Lebanon, and then taken to the Syrian city of Homs, to the north. Some of the buses were emblazoned with the name of a tour company, Happy Journeys.In Homs on Tuesday, the Islamic State evacuees were transferred to buses and ambulances sent there by the Islamic State, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in London. They then began what would normally be a 10-hour journey to Abu Kamal.
2018-02-16 /
Indian girl kills herself after alleged period shaming by teacher
Police in India are investigating allegations that a 12-year-old killed herself after a teacher humiliated her for a period stain on her uniform.Officials said the girl took her own life near her home in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state on Monday, leaving a note saying her teacher had “tortured” her. When other students told the girl she had blood on her clothes, she asked for help. But the female teacher made the girl show the stain in class, local media reported her mother as saying. “The teacher did not even take into account that there were boys in the class,” the News Minute quoted her as saying. “She asked my daughter to lift [the] top of her salwar [kameez] up and then gave her [a] duster cloth to use as a pad.”Menstruation remains taboo in India. Women and girls are often considered unclean and impure and are subjected to discrimination during their periods when, for example, they may not be allowed to go to the temple, or prepare and touch certain food. The parents heard about the incident from their daughter’s classmates and have demanded action against the teacher. Investigations into the allegations are under way and teachers and students are being questioned, police said. In a suicide note to her parents, the girl said her teacher was picking on her but she did not mention the incident with her period, officials said. Activists say the suicide highlights the need to make it easier for adolescent girls to attend school. Girls are often forced to stay at home during their periods due to stigma and practical issues such as a lack of toilets or pads. “The school did not have sanitary pad-dispensing machines,” Dev Anand, the district child protection officer, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “They did not even give the girl a regular pad. These are questions that the management needs to answer.”In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Topics India Menstruation South and Central Asia Gender news
2018-02-16 /
Visit an Austrian Village, Replicated in China
Times journalists around the world bring you a new 360 video every day.
2018-02-16 /
VC investors less critical of India than China, Japan, Australia
Investors love India’s startup ecosystem, and for good reason.Up to 28% of limited partners (LPs), or investors in venture capital (VC) firms, said India was an attractive market, a recent report by consulting firm Bain & Company and the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association showed.Though China was viewed as slightly more favourable, far more LPs (22%) failed to see its appeal. Comparatively, only 18% said India’s VC market wasn’t attractive, making it the Asian-Pacific nation with the least number of detractors.Already, India’s startups are flush with VC money. The sector is now evolving to nurture more and more talent.One of the reasons VCs prefer India is its domestic consumption appetite, which gives startups access to a ready consumer base.Disposable incomes and consumer expenditure have both risen in India at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9%-10% between 2013 and 2017.In addition, India is witnessing a rapid increase in the penetration of smartphones and mobile internet, which will translate to more consumers for tech startups.During the same four-year period ending 2017, internet penetration and mobile usage increased at a CAGR of over 20%.
2018-02-16 /
In An Effort To Get People To Tune In, Government Agencies Try Podcasting : NPR
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: The U.S. government has any number of ways to get out its messages - press releases, news conferences, social media. Now, some federal agencies are trying out podcasts. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: Search for podcasts on the usa.gov and 30 of them come up. Some are kind of bare bones, like this one from the Securities and Exchange Commission.(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "YOUR MONEY")UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Welcome to Your Money where we help you achieve your saving and retirement goals. We have three good questions today.NAYLOR: Others clearly have higher aspirations. This is NASA's.(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST")UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: T minus five seconds and counting - mark.UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Houston, we have a podcast.NAYLOR: Even the inspector general's office at the Environmental Protection Agency has a podcast.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)TIA ALBON: Hello, I'm Tia Albon with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General.NAYLOR: Deputy Assistant IG Jennifer Kaplan says their podcast started in response to radio stations that wanted audio about various reports. She says it's done right in the office.JENNIFER KAPLAN: They are very easy to do. We literally use the voice memos app on an iPhone or two depending on where the people are located, and we have two people sit down and have a conversation. We record it, edit it a little bit and add some music.NAYLOR: The Department of Energy's is a bit more ambitious.(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "DIRECT CURRENT")UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: This is direct current.UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: Of all the laboratories in all the world, dark matter had to walk into, well, none of them, not that we could tell anyway. And that was the problem.(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE RINGING)SIMON EDELMAN: Hello, this is Edelman.UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Hey, Simon.NAYLOR: Simon Edelman, a former documentary filmmaker, produces Direct Current with a team of five using an office they converted into a makeshift studio.EDELMAN: In our research, there wasn't a lot of government podcasts out there. If there were, it was a lot of just talking or releasing long-form audio, so we tried to do something a little bit different, and a lot of people actually compared it to NPR.NAYLOR: Kaplan at the EPA IG's office says her podcast, not so much.KAPLAN: They don't sound like NPR podcasts. It's definitely amateur voice talent.NAYLOR: Another perhaps unlikely agency with a podcast is the Government Accountability Office.(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "WATCHDOG REPORT")UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: You know, drug residues in imported seafood - it is a potential health risks to consumers. Folks need to know that.SARAH KACZMAREK: Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report.NAYLOR: Host Sarah Kaczmarek says she sees her role as having a conversation and trying to get sometimes dry government auditors to explain what's important about their reports.KACZMAREK: You know, if I have questions, take that seafood safety one that we just did, about going to the grocery store and I'm looking at buying imported seafood, how do I know if that's going to be safe for my family to eat for dinner?NAYLOR: Chuck Young, who heads the GAO's press office, says it can be a challenge to get a compelling story out of a wonky government report.CHUCK YOUNG: If you dig deep enough to find some of the really interesting kernels in there, it may not be as, you know, it's not a gripping murder mystery like Serial might be, but you are getting information out to people that, you know, that they can - can be very useful for them or their policymakers that need to see this information and hear about how things are working or not working.NAYLOR: Most government podcasts don't draw huge numbers of downloads. Young says the GAO podcasts get a thousand or so. Edelman says Direct Current listeners are in the tens of thousands, maybe not Serial numbers but not bad. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
2018-02-16 /
Disney's version of Netflix is going to be cheaper
Earlier this year, Disney said it would stop sending new movie releases to Netflix, its soon-to-be streaming rival, in 2019. Disney—as with its theme parks, consumer products, and films—is hoping its brands can help it survive in a Netflix world. Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar will be front and center in Disney’s own streaming service, due out that year.Chief executive Bob Iger gave investors a peak at the programming they can expect from the as-of-yet-unnamed offering, on the company’s earnings call yesterday:The latest Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and Disney movie releases4-5 original feature films a year produced exclusively for the service by Disney’s studiosA live-action Star Wars seriesA Marvel TV seriesA series based on the Pixar film franchise, Monsters, Inc. A High School Musical series, based on the 2000s Disney Channel TV-movie franchiseOther originals and movies from the Disney ChannelShort films and features from across DisneyBack catalog with “thousands of hours” of Disney movies and TV showsIger also said Disney may license shows and movies from third parties. And that he’s spoken to ABC’s production arm about producing programming, but that nothing is confirmed as of now. The studio co-produces projects that air on networks like broadcaster ABC, such as The Good Doctor and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as shows like Marvel’s The Defenders with Netflix.Disney’s offering will undercut Netflix in price. It will be “substantially below” what Netflix costs, Iger said, in part because it will have a more limited library. The media conglomerate won’t spend as much on content for the service as Netflix does; it’s expected to spend less than $1 billion, Bernstein analysts estimated, whereas Netflix is spending $8 billion in 2018.But Disney said it isn’t trying to be the “Netflix killer” the media has made it out to be.“There’s been a lot written about whether this is aimed at being a Netflix killer,” said Iger. “They’ve been a good partner of ours. Our goal here is be a viable player in the direct-to-consumer space, space that we all know is a very, very compelling space to be in.”When asked how all of Disney’s proposed streaming programming—which could venture beyond the wholesome G-rated fare families expect, especially if it dives into the edgier end of Marvel—would work with the overall Disney brand, Iger likened it to its theme parks.“Think about it like you think about our theme parks,” said Iger, “where they are Disney parks, but you go in and you see Marvel and Star Wars and Pixar, for instance. So it’s a collection–it will be a collection of just those brands… There will be ample filtering opportunities for people using it, so if you just wanted your kids to see the Disney-only product that can easily be accomplished.”
2018-02-16 /
Apple Park对普通游客开放 零距离感受苹果公司
苹果新总部Apple Park是刚刚建设完成的,最近一次iPhone新品发布会就在其中的乔布斯剧院举办。有趣的是这个总部从本周开始对外开放营业了,首批观众受邀参加Apple Park以及其中的访客中心 ... 当然了Apple Park并不是所有地区都开放的,其中乔布斯剧院和办公区域暂时没有对外开放,对于普通游览者来说,主要体验的就是访客中心,这里主要有零售商店、咖啡厅、观景台、AR体验馆四个部分组成
2018-02-16 /
Far right hatemongers cheer Trump's Twitter endorsement
Islamophobes, white supremacists and other extremists have reacted with glee following Donald Trump’s endorsement of their worldview when he retweeted anti-Muslim videos from a British racist group.While most media attention has been on the transatlantic spat between the US president and UK prime minister Theresa May over Trump’s posting of three virulent videos on his Twitter feed, behind the scenes a different kind of fallout was unfolding – that could in the long run be even more significant. Trump’s retweets spawned a rash of Islamophobic comment on social media that is helping to disseminate hate speech and fuel the growing confidence of the far right.The pattern was set by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of the far-right group Britain First, whose tweets containing incendiary videos purporting to show acts of Muslim violence and intolerance were picked up by Trump and reposted. She initially responded to his supportive action with incredulous delight, declaring: “God bless you Trump! God bless America!”Fransen had reason to sound grateful. In a single day, thanks to the behavior of the US president, she put on an extra 22,000 Twitter followers, substantially extending her political reach.Fransen has already begun to use the moment to her advantage. She posted a video on Thursday in which she appealed to Trump for help in fighting her current prosecution; Fransen faces up to two years in prison for giving a speech in Belfast in which she said: “The biggest threat to civilization across the world is Islam. We are at war with Islam.”Within a matter of hours of Trump’s retweets, a sense of affirmation of the anti-Muslim sentiment contained in them fanned out in far-right circles.Robert Spencer, a leading American Islamophobe who was banned from entering the UK in 2013 for his anti-Muslim history, posted on his website Jihad Watch that doubts about the veracity of the retweeted videos were beside the point. “The real question is not whether this or that video is accurate, but whether there is a problem with jihad terror and Islamic supremacism in Britain and elsewhere.”Breitbart News, the revived mouthpiece of Steve Bannon since his expulsion from the White House in August, gave a dispassionate account of the row swirling around the videos. But the site then went on to publish its own gallery of disturbing images of Islamic State militants executing captives. One picture showed four smiling men with the caption: “Militant Muslims from Bangladesh shortly before they murdered diners in a restaurant.”Other far-right groups that joined in the bonanza were American Renaissance, the white nationalist American Freedom party and Gateway Pundit, run by the arch conspiracy theorist and troll Jim Hoft.One striking feature of the way the hate-filled message normalized by Trump spread like wildfire through the internet was how many people were prepared to put their real names beside extremist opinions rather than hiding behind internet handles.“He speaks truth … need to wake up to this evil,” wrote Janice Barlow, a Christian nurse educator from California in a comment on Gateway Pundit’s Facebook page. “Just exposing these corrupt Muslim loving governments for what they are. Thank you Mr President,” chimed in Kim Leonard, a former Papa John’s general manager in Ohio.Perhaps most alarmingly, the outpouring of Islamophobic remarks triggered by the US president was not confined to the extreme margins of public life. The unofficial fan page for Judge Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News and NBC celebrity, was also full of toxic comments praising Trump and warning Britain that it was about to become a Muslim state. Topics Donald Trump The far right US politics Twitter Internet news
2018-02-16 /
Robert Mueller and NY attorney general working on Manafort investigation
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, on its investigation into Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, Politico reported on Wednesday. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, Politico reported that Mueller’s team, investigating possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia, and Schneiderman’s aides have shared evidence and talked frequently about a potential case in recent weeks.The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported that a grand jury used by Mueller has heard secret testimony from Rinat Akhmetsin, a Russian American lobbyist who attended a June 2016 meeting with Trump’s eldest son at Trump Tower in Manhattan.The cooperation between Mueller and Schneiderman “could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes”, Politico reported.CNN reported on Tuesday that Mueller had issued subpoenas to an attorney who formerly represented Manafort and to a Manafort spokesman. Manafort’s Virginia apartment was raided by agents with the FBI last month. The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues, two people familiar with Mueller’s work have said. Politico said no decision had been made on whether to file charges, and quoted one of the sources as saying: “Nothing is imminent.”Mueller’s team has been looking into Manafort’s lobbying work and financial transactions, including real estate deals in New York. Manafort, who led Republican Trump’s campaign for several months in 2016, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in May that Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey threatened the integrity of the agency. Trump has called Schneiderman, who brought one of the lawsuits over Trump University that were settled for $25m in 2016, a “lightweight”.Russia has denied any meddling in the 2016 US election. Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign and has condemned the investigation as witch-hunt.A person familiar with the work of the grand jury used by Mueller confirmed to the AP that Akhmetshin had appeared before Mueller’s grand jury in recent weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret proceedings. The revelation is the clearest indication yet that Mueller and his team of investigators view the meeting, which came weeks after Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination, as a relevant inquiry point in their broader probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The meeting included Donald Trump Jr; the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and Manafort. Emails released by Trump Jr show he took the meeting expecting that he would be receiving damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid the Trump campaign.The Financial Times first reported Akhmetshin’s grand jury appearance. Reached by the AP, Akhmetshin declined comment. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, also declined comment on Wednesday night. Akhmetshin spoke at length about his involvement in the Trump Tower meeting in an interview with the AP last month. A former Soviet military officer who served in a counterintelligence unit, he is also a well-known Washington lobbyist. He has been representing Russian interests trying to undermine the story of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison and is the namesake of a US sanctions law.Akhmetshin has been reported to have ties to Russian intelligence but he has denied that, calling the allegations a “smear campaign”.Mueller and his team first signaled their interest in the Trump Tower meeting last month by contacting an attorney for at least some of the Russians who attended. The meeting was disclosed earlier this year to Congress and first revealed by The New York Times. Trump Jr first said – in a statement reportedly drafted in part by his father – the purpose of the meeting was to discuss adoption but later acknowledged that he anticipated receiving information that he thought could be damaging to Clinton. In addition to Akhmetshin, other attendees at the meeting included Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya; music publicist Rob Goldstone, who helped arrange the gathering; and a translator. Ike Kaveladze, who also goes by the name Irakly Kaveladze, also attended. He works for a Russian developer who once partnered with Trump to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. An email exchange posted to Twitter by Trump Jr showed him conversing with Goldstone, who wanted him to meet with someone he described as a “Russian government attorney”, who supposedly had dirt on Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump”. “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Trump Jr wrote in one email response. Topics Robert Mueller US politics Trump administration Donald Trump Russia Trump-Russia investigation news
2018-02-16 /
Will Adam Schiff pose a bigger threat to Trump than Robert Mueller?
Not long after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel, Donald Trump declared it would be a “violation” for the investigation to touch the Trump Organization or his family finances. Pressed on whether he would fire Mueller if that line were crossed, Trump said: “I can’t answer that question because I don’t think it’s going to happen.”Now, it looks like it is going to happen. But the public face of the investigation of Trump’s finances won’t be Mueller. Leading the charge will be someone Trump cannot fire: California congressman Adam Schiff, newly installed chairman of the House intelligence committee and a former federal prosecutor himself.With Democrats having taken over the House, Trump faces a pack of potential antagonists. Newly installed chairs are ramping up plans to scrutinize corruption inside the Trump administration, investigate alleged attempts to profit from the presidency, and to review policies such as family border separations.But most threatening for Trump personally might be the investigations led by Schiff, who has said he plans to drive directly at an area the president has sought to fence off: the details of his businesses, his lenders, and his partners in the US and abroad.“First and foremost, I would say that we need to get to the bottom of anything that could warp our national security policy in a way that is antithetical to the interest of the country,” Schiff told the Lawfare podcast. “So anything that has a continuing ability to influence the actions of the president, we need to know, as policymakers, to protect the country.“One of the issues that has continued to concern me are the persistent allegations that the Trumps, when they couldn’t get money from US banks, were laundering Russian money. If that is true, that would be more powerful compromise than any salacious video tape or any aborted Trump tower deal.”Schiff might break new ground by using his power to subpoena documents from banks, phone companies or other sources, said Andy Wright, a former counsel to the House oversight committee and founding editor of the Just Security blog.“I think that there’s actually going to be quite a bit of fruitful evidence turned up,” Wright said. “I don’t know what the evidence is, whether it’s going to be incriminating or not. But I don’t think that the sort of conventional wisdom, that Trump’s just going to drag his feet or strike a ‘warlike posture’, is going to be that effective, because the smart investigators aren’t going to go directly at him. They’re going to go to third parties first.”One of the first matters he plans to investigate, Schiff told NBC last month, is the Trump Organization’s relationship with Deutsche Bank, for a time reportedly Trump’s exclusive lender, which was fined $700m in 2017 for allowing money laundering.“The concern about Deutsche Bank is that they have a history of laundering Russian money,” Schiff said. “And this, apparently, was the one bank that was willing to do business with the Trump Organization. If this is a form of compromise, it needs to be exposed.”A graduate of Stanford and Harvard, Schiff, 58, began his career as an assistant US attorney in the Los Angeles district, where he successfully prosecuted Richard Miller, the first FBI agent to be convicted of espionage. As a young politician, Schiff was cultivated by Nancy Pelosi, then head of California’s congressional delegation, now, again, speaker of the House.Schiff is a triathlete, a screenwriter and a vegan. He also likes to go on television, where he has caught the attention of the president, who last year responded to a critique with a tweet mocking the congressman’s last name and floating a misleading notion about the statute governing the special counsel:While Schiff has shown he can fire back at Trump, he will need to steer clear of such partisan warfare to be an effective committee chairman, said Jamil N Jaffer, founder of the National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and a former senior counsel to the committee Schiff now leads.“Schiff has an opportunity now to try and change that tone, because as the chairman he can set the tone,” Jaffer said. “We’ll see if he’s able to do that successfully. We’re in a very nasty environment in Washington DC right now. The atmosphere is poisonous after the 2016 election. Everyone has a responsibility to get past that.”Schiff takes over a committee that has been badly tarnished in the eyes of the public and, significantly, in the regard of the intelligence community. Under Devin Nunes, a Trump confidant who served on the transition team, the committee raised hackles by releasing classified material describing scrutiny of a former Trump aide.Schiff has called the episode “a spectacular breach of a compact we have with the intelligence community” and said “we’re going to have to restore that”.“If the committee does its job in the right manner, it shouldn’t be antagonistic to any particular president or the executive branch generally,” Jaffer said. “It should be doing good, effective oversight.”Under Nunes, the committee ended conversations with the special counsel’s office about what witnesses might be called and other matters. Schiff has said he will restore that communication.On Sunday, he told CNN the committee would be handing over transcripts of closed-door testimony, something Republican leaders did not do. Schiff did not name names but such a move could place in jeopardy Trump aides including Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and Roger Stone.But the role of Congress is fundamentally different from the special counsel’s job, Schiff told Lawfare, especially given concerns that a report issued by Mueller might in some way be suppressed in a justice department run by Whitaker, apparently a staunch Trump loyalist.“I think ultimately it will fall on Congress to make sure that the American people will get to hear the full story,” Schiff said. “Either through our own investigation or Bob Mueller’s or a combination of both.“The American people have the right to know, and I think in many cases the need to know, what happened.” Topics Robert Mueller House of Representatives Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Trump administration US politics Democrats features
2018-02-16 /
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