Friday, 31 January 2020

Trump impeachment: Failed witnesses vote paves way for acquittal

Bid to call witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial fails, setting up a likely acquittal next week.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/36Hff7f

The Papers: 'Make leave not war' and 'what next?'

Saturday's newspapers mark a "moment of history" as Britain leaves the European Union after 47 years.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2OgfGiI

The Lakers will honor the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant tonight (10 p.m. ET on ESPN)

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/31ipWMK

The Lakers will honor the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant tonight (10 p.m. ET on ESPN)

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/31ipWMK

Boris Johnson promises Brexit will lead to national revival

PM was warned by EU leaders that “strength does not lie in splendid isolation”

Nearly four years after the Brexit vote, Britain has left the European Union, closing a rancorous chapter in the country’s history and beginning another viewed by some with optimism and others with dismay.

Speaking ahead of Britain’s official 11pm exit on Friday, Boris Johnson acknowledged that “there are many… who feel a sense of anxiety and loss” but promised it would bring about the revival of the UK’s “power of independent thought and action”.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2SaOTWb

Hillary Clinton Slams Bernie Sanders for Not Working to Unite Democrats in 2016


By BY SHANE GOLDMACHER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2RM2iF6

Plans for Alabama’s Deadly Prisons ‘Won’t Fix the Horrors’


By BY KATIE BENNER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3aZLFgP

Brexit Has Arrived. But Boris Johnson’s Reign Is Just Beginning.


By BY RICHARD SEYMOUR from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2RNUGC1

Senators say they’ve settled on a schedule that would end the trial on Wednesday.


By BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2UbLc5b

Battle Lines Quickly Form Over Radical Property Tax Proposal


By BY EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS, MATTHEW HAAG AND JEFFERY C. MAYS from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2tgjTeQ

Impeachment Trial Highlights: A Showdown Over Calling Witnesses


By BY MAYA BLACKSTONE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/391tRjD

CPR, by Default


By BY PAULA SPAN from NYT Health https://ift.tt/2RJNdE6

Alberto Salazar Is Suspended by SafeSport After Accusations of Verbal Abuse


By BY TALYA MINSBERG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2GH5I5F

The Lakers will honor the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant tonight (10 p.m. ET on ESPN)

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/31ipWMK

Kobe Bryant’s Death: Live Updates as the Lakers Prepare to Play the Blazers


By BY THE NEW YORK TIMES from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2GUi4rr

Key players in Ukraine affair hold court at the Trump hotel.


By BY ERIC LIPTON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2GGuQtj

Trump Hotel Patrons Relish Impeachment Finale


By BY ERIC LIPTON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37HzXFv

Richard Plepler and Josh Tyrangiel May Revive Their HBO Act for Apple


By BY JOHN KOBLIN from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2Oim2xT

Bonnie Burstow, Psychotherapist Who Rejected Psychiatry, Dies at 74


By BY JULIA CARMEL from NYT Health https://ift.tt/36Lw2Gr

Impeachment, China, Super Bowl: Your Friday Evening Briefing


By BY REMY TUMIN AND MARCUS PAYADUE from NYT Briefing https://ift.tt/36Lhcj5

The Lakers will honor the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant tonight (10 p.m. ET on ESPN)

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/31ipWMK

The Lakers will honor the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant tonight (10 p.m. ET on ESPN)

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/31ipWMK

The Lakers will honor the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant tonight (10 p.m. ET on ESPN)

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/31ipWMK

Thursday, 30 January 2020

Biden's campaign is reportedly seeking 'election-night alliances' with candidates who may not survive Iowa

Biden's campaign is reportedly seeking 'election-night alliances' with candidates who may not survive IowaFormer Vice President Joe Biden's campaign might be a little worried about Iowa.The first caucuses of the 2020 primary season are coming up in just four days, but Biden by no means has a lock on Iowa. So Biden's campaign is reaching out to lower-polling candidates in hopes of striking "election night alliances" to pick up their supporters if they don't make it past the first caucus ballots, Politico reports.Tom Steyer, the billionaire who's sitting at an average of 3.6 percent in the polls, was reportedly one of the targets of Biden's campaign. An aide to Steyer confirmed his campaign was approached by "multiple candidates," per Politico. Biden's team similarly talked with entrepreneur Andrew Yang's staffers, sources said. And three Biden staffers also "tentatively floated" a deal with a strategist for Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) campaign, The New York Times reported earlier this week. All the campaigns told Politico they'd "rebuffed advances" from other candidates.Biden's second-tier strategy isn't unusual for the Iowa caucuses. The state's system allows people who've supported candidates "who fail to reach 15 percent support in a precinct on the first ballot" to chose someone else for the next ballot, which eventually chooses the state's delegates, Politico writes. Yet it also makes it clear that Biden's campaign knows the Iowa race is far from settled. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Mitch McConnell's rare blunder John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi 7 witheringly funny cartoons about the GOP's John Bolton problem




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36Fkp3N

Grieving Pelinka: Bryants' legacies will live on

Rob Pelinka said the legacies of his 'best friend' Kobe Bryant and 'sweet goddaughter' Gianna "will live on -- and gain even more power and influence."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2S2kERg

Grieving Pelinka: Bryants' legacies will live on

Rob Pelinka said the legacies of his 'best friend' Kobe Bryant and 'sweet goddaughter' Gianna "will live on -- and gain even more power and influence."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2S2kERg

Late diagnosis of lung cancer hitting survival rate, study says

As many as 56% of people in some parts of England are only diagnosed when they visit A&E


People with lung cancer are dying after being diagnosed late in A&E because their GP missed signs of the disease despite often repeated visits, experts have revealed.

As many as 56% of people in some parts of England who get lung cancer are only diagnosed when they visit A&E, according to a report by the UK Lung Cancer Coalition.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2RGpUe7

Change climate policy now to avert oil market crisis, warns thinktank

Governments risk derailing global fossil fuel demand with ‘handbrake turns’ in future

The oil industry is at risk of a global market shock that could halve the value of fossil fuel investments if governments delay setting policies to tackle the climate crisis, according to new analysis.

A report by Carbon Tracker, a financial thinktank, warned that a “handbrake turn” in climate policy could have a “forceful, abrupt, and disorderly” impact on the global oil industry by derailing fossil fuel demand.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/38Sw3tt

I made headlines as a personal finance guru. Within months, I was drowning in debt

Just as my career was taking off, I realized I couldn’t manage my own money. The solution to my dilemma was not what I expected

On a warm spring day in March 2015, I fluttered around our family home with nervous energy. In one hour, I had a phone interview with one of Canada’s largest newspapers, the Globe and Mail. As a budding freelance writer, I had pitched the story of my family’s downsizing journey, hoping to get my first big assignment. Instead, one of Canada’s most well-known finance reporters would be calling to interview me. Six months earlier, my husband and I, used to going against the grain in many ways, had chosen to leave our trendy home with natural sunlight, cherry-wood cabinets and fossil gray carpet, and move into an underground abode without a speck of color or luxury. The trade-off: we could finally afford diapers.

To pass the time before my interview, I read Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball to my two daughters. From my position, cocooned in their room, I had a view of the window that framed the feet of visitors walking down the steps toward our apartment.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2vwlgH3

Everyone Wants a Piece


By BY LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2OgG4ZQ

¿Hará el papa Francisco un milagro con la deuda de Argentina?


By BY MARCELO J. GARCÍA from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/2RIDCgw

Alexander asks about the differences in bipartisanship under Nixon and Trump.


By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2uKxHPa

Grieving Pelinka: Bryant legacies will live on

Rob Pelinka said the legacies of Kobe and Gianna Bryant "will live on -- and gain even more power and influence."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2ti92Bi

Day 9 of Trump’s Trial: Tedium and Tea-Leaf Reading


By BY MICHELLE COTTLE from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/36N2iJq

Fred Silverman, 82, Is Dead; a TV Force When Three Networks Ruled


By BY NEIL GENZLINGER from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3aT23zv

Fotis Dulos, Accused of Killing Jennifer Dulos, Is Dead


By BY MICHAEL GOLD from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2S7xWM8

Senators break for dinner.


By BY NICHOLAS FANDOS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2UerWE3

Warren puts Roberts on the spot over witnesses in the impeachment trial.


By BY EMILY COCHRANE AND CATIE EDMONDSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37GkBAZ

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Sen. Rand Paul talks impeachment fight on 'The Story,' 7 pm ET

01/30/20 3:52 PM

Things to Do in N.Y.C. This February


By BY NICOLE HERRINGTON from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/38Tuxaw

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fotis Dulos, Connecticut man charged in missing wife's murder, declared dead after suicide attempt, lawyer says

01/30/20 3:22 PM

The Future of American Politics


By BY DAVID BROOKS from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2O9pVFm

Johnson & Johnson Is Told to Pay $344 Million in Pelvic Mesh Suit


By BY MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2GFmpi2

Dispute between players in Ukraine affair exposes a recent rift.


By BY BEN PROTESS AND NICOLE HONG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2tbiLsT

Grieving Pelinka: Bryant legacies will live on

Rob Pelinka said the legacies of Kobe and Gianna Bryant "will live on -- and gain even more power and influence."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2ti92Bi

Grieving Pelinka: Bryant legacies will live on

Rob Pelinka said the legacies of Kobe and Gianna Bryant "will live on -- and gain even more power and influence."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2ti92Bi

Wednesday, 29 January 2020

US forces recover two bodies from jet crash site in Afghanistan

US forces recover two bodies from jet crash site in AfghanistanUS forces on Tuesday recovered two bodies near the wreckage of a military jet that crashed in a Taliban-controlled area of eastern Afghanistan, after Afghan forces trying to reach the scene clashed with insurgents. "The remains were found near the crash site, treated with dignity and respect by the local Afghan community, in accordance with their culture," the statement said. Ghazni police chief Khaled Wardak said US helicopters landed at the site in the late afternoon and were reinforced by Afghan security forces on the ground during the operation.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2uEgd7a

GOP Rep. Doug Collins calls statement from his own party 'fake news'

GOP Rep. Doug Collins calls statement from his own party 'fake news'Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) is using President Trump's top insult against his own party.Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee who's seen a heightened profile during Trump's impeachment process, confirmed Wednesday he'll be running to oust Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) later this year. But when his own party attacked him for "put[ting] two Senate seats, multiple House seats, and Georgia's 16 electoral votes in play," well, Collins decided to say that's all "fake news."The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which fundraises for GOP Senate candidates, issued a statement Wednesday saying it would support Loeffler in 2020's special election. In response, Collins tweeted that the NRSC is simply a "Washington-based group" whose head is beholden to bylaws that "require him to support all incumbents, even unelected ones."> Don't be ridiculous, this is FAKE NEWS coming from the head of a Washington-based group whose bylaws require him to support all incumbents, even unelected ones. https://t.co/azpS3PzaCJ> > — Doug Collins (@CollinsforGA) January 29, 2020Loeffler was appointed to fill retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) late last year, putting the seat in play again later this year. Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) is also up for re-election this fall.More stories from theweek.com Did John Bolton actually do Trump a favor? It's 2020 and women are exhausted The 3 kinds of Republicans that Bolton's testimony would reveal




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2S1verr

Parnas Lawyer: Giuliani Delivered Graham Letter Calling for Sanctions on Ukrainian Officials

Parnas Lawyer: Giuliani Delivered Graham Letter Calling for Sanctions on Ukrainian OfficialsIn late 2018, Rudy Giuliani said he delivered an unusual missive to Sen. Lindsey Graham, according to the lawyer of one of his ex-associates: a letter calling for sanctions on a host of Ukrainian government officials, including one widely viewed in the West as a brave reformer and another who helmed the company where Hunter Biden was a board member.Joseph Bondy, the attorney for Lev Parnas, an indicted Florida businessman involved in the U.S.-Ukraine saga, told The Daily Beast that Giuliani showed his client the letter and told him he delivered it to Sen. Graham (the letter misspelled the South Carolina Republican’s first name as “Lingsey”). Bondy said Giuliani also showed Parnas a second, similar letter addressed to Sigal Mandelker, who at the time was a top official at the Treasury Department. The letters, which The Daily Beast reviewed, claim that an eclectic mix of Ukrainian political figures and businesspeople were part of an alleged “organized crime syndicate.” The letters claim that the individuals were “actively involved in the siphoning of funds appropriated by the American government for aid to Ukraine.” And they claim that the alleged crime syndicate used those funds to buy black-market military parts from a Russian company under U.S. sanctions. All the while, they say, Ukraine’s then-prosecutor general (Giuliani ally Yuriy Lutsenko) couldn’t fight the crime because then President Petro Poroshenko wouldn’t let him take the case to court.“It concerns me, as should any fellow American, that a taxpayer’s money is rudely been stolen in Ukraine [sic],” reads the letter to Mandelker.The letter-writer introduces himself in the letter addressed to Mandelker as a Ukraine-born U.S. citizen named Michael Guralnik who graduated from the Soviet Military Academy and was “a 10-year veteran of the Soviet Army.” The letter to Graham, meanwhile, also bears Guralnik’s name but contains no introduction. It arrived a month before Giuliani tried to help former Ukrainian top prosecutor Viktor Shokin travel to the U.S. and meet with Graham, Bondy said. A few weeks before the date of the Guralnik letter, Giuliani sent Graham a letter of his own asking his staff to help three unnamed Ukrainians get visas so they could come to the U.S. and share information about the Bidens. The State Department did not give Shokin a visa. The letters say that the “only way” to “stop this syndicate” is to sanction the individuals involved. Both letters list 12 people, along with phone numbers for some of them. Included on the list are Mykola Zlochevskiy, the head of the scandal-plagued Ukrainian company where Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was a board member; Valeriya Gontareva, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine from mid-2014 to mid-2017; and Kateryna Rozhkova, who was her deputy. Graham and Giuliani did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and it was not immediately clear if lawmakers ever even considered the sanctions. A spokesperson for Graham did not respond to a request for comment. Mandelker did not comment on the record for this report. When contacted, Guralnik hung up the phone and texted, “Do not call any more.”The inclusion of Gontareva and Rozhkova’s names is notable. In 2016, Gontareva oversaw the Ukrainian government’s decision to seize control of a bank that belonged to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Ukrainian officials alleged that Kolomoisky and his allies had misappropriated billions from the bank. Kolomoisky has pushed to regain control of the bank, even as the FBI has investigated him for financial crimes. And in the wake of her decision, Gontareva has faced death threats and danger. Her home was vandalized, and someone left a coffin with her likeness inside it outside the Central Bank offices, as The Washington Post reported. Years after the nationalization of the bank, the danger persists. In August 2019, she was hit by a car in London and hospitalized. The next month, her home in Ukraine was burned down, per the Kyiv Post. Gontareva’s fight to reform Ukraine’s financial sector won her devoted allies in the West, who saw her as one of Kyiv’s few genuine reformers. Kolomoisky, meanwhile, is an intimidating figure to many in Ukraine, and some have alleged he has ordered contract killings. He also funded a private militia that fought Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine. His connection to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also long raised eyebrows; the TV show that boosted Zelensky’s public profile aired on a TV channel that Kolomoisky owns, and one of Kolomoisky’s former lawyers is now a senior aide to Zelensky (Giuliani and U.S. officials have raised concerns with Zelensky’s team about that aide, Andriy Bohdan). Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the government watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The Daily Beast that the Guralnik letters mean Giuliani should answer more questions about his Ukraine work.“While we can’t obviously speak to the veracity of these claims, it does seem to look more and more like Rudy Giuliani is incredibly deeply involved with some seriously shady business in Ukraine and we need more information, not only on his activities, but his activities and those of his associates on behalf of or benefiting Donald Trump,” he said. “As bad as these things look on their face, they’re so much worse if you consider the involvement of the president of the United States. There is so little we know, but enough to know that we need to know a lot more.” Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37Cm0bY

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Man United can take little pleasure in derby win

Man United's win didn't feel like a win and Man City's loss didn't feel like a loss.

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2O82xba

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - NBA https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Kawhi uncertain on future helicopter commutes

Kawhi Leonard has a Los Angeles residence but has stayed at his San Diego home when he can, using the same helicopter and pilot as Kobe Bryant had for the commute. He said hasn't been able to think about whether Bryant's crash had now given him pause.

from www.espn.com - NBA https://ift.tt/2RDq0TW

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Man United can take little pleasure in derby win

Man United's win didn't feel like a win and Man City's loss didn't feel like a loss.

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2O82xba

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Man United can take little pleasure in derby win

Man United's win didn't feel like a win and Man City's loss didn't feel like a loss.

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2O82xba

Hospital hired fingerprint experts to unmask whistleblower, report finds

West Suffolk hospital downgraded after catalogue of failings and staff bullying

“Threatening” and “intimidating” tactics used against doctors at health secretary Matt Hancock’s local hospital has contributed to the biggest rating downgrade by the NHS regulator.

West Suffolk Hospital’s demand for fingerprints to track down a whistleblower – as revealed by the Guardian last month – was “unprecedented and concerning”, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/314OY1D

700 inmates doubled up in single cells at Doncaster prison, inspectors find

Chief inspector criticises ‘sophistry’ of claims jails are under nominal capacity

Inspectors discovered that 700 prisoners were doubling up in cells designed to hold one person at a “badly overcrowded” private jail in South Yorkshire where five inmates took their own lives in the space of a year.

Widespread drug use, self-harm and “worrying” levels of violence were also found at Doncaster prison, a report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons says.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/36AlN7B

Ethnic minority pensioners 'are 24% worse off than others of their age'

Report from The People’s Pension says divide is even greater from gender perspective

The average total pension received by an ethnic minority woman is 51% less than that of a typical white older man, according to a report that highlights “large inequalities” in UK retirement incomes.

The researchers behind the analysis said it exposed a sizeable “ethnicity gap” in pensions, with part of this down to issues with the state pension system.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3aV5m9y

Most children own mobile phone by age of seven, study finds

Devices ‘dominate children’s lives’ as 39% say they could not live without their phone

The majority of children own a mobile phone by the age of seven, according to a study.

The devices have become a fundamental part of life for most young people, it indicates. Many admit that they are fearful of being without their phone and more than half sleep with it by their bed.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2U2LbjY

BBC increasingly trying to ride two horses at once

Aim to redirect resources in bid to attract a younger audience is risking existing viewers

Fran Unsworth knows she has a problem – and it goes far beyond the 450 job losses that the BBC’s head of news announced today. Not only is the government looking for ways to reduce the the broadcaster’s funding even further in coming years, but younger viewers are increasingly tuning out of the BBC altogether.

And if the BBC doesn’t find ways to reach these younger viewers, Unsworth asked the corporation’s news staff on today, “How can we continue to take money off them?”

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/38TV2gd

Lakers' Vogel: Tragedy has 'brought us closer'

Coach Frank Vogel says the Lakers have been brought "closer together" following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and eight others Sunday and that getting back to basketball will be "therapeutic."

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/312yZkI

Kobe Bryant’s ‘Mamba Army’ Fans Were as Relentless as He Was


By BY SOPAN DEB from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/37BwacU

Sinclair tops Wambach's international goals mark

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2RZg1Yb

‘I Thought I Was Going to Die.’ 6 People Hospitalized Fleeing High-Rise Fire in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters made a dramatic ladder rescue of a man about to jump from a burning Los Angeles high-rise apartment building Wednesday and helicopters plucked 15 people from the roof as other terrified residents fled through smoke-choked stairwells to safety.

Six people were hospitalized, two in critical condition, including the would-be jumper, in the fire that occurred in a building where a similar blaze broke out seven years ago, authorities said.

Residents described a frightening flight to safety, as they tried to move down crowded stairwells that forced some to turn back and go to the roof. Firefighters were coming up the stairs as people with children, pets and the some elderly tenants moved slowly downward.

A panicked Cecilee Mathieson tried to push past in her rush from her 25th floor penthouse. When she reached the floor on fire, she could see the orange glow under the door.

“I really thought I was going to die today,” Mathieson said hours later.

Firefighters had been at an office building fire two blocks away when the blaze broke out on Wilshire Boulevard on the edge of the tony Brentwood section of the city, allowing a rapid response.

Gavyn Straus was swimming in the pool in the courtyard when he saw black smoke waft by. As the smoke grew rapidly, Straus knew it was no kitchen fire and he ran into the building dripping wet to alert staff.

A woman at the front desk was calling police, so he hopped on an elevator with a maintenance man to alert residents on the 8th floor, where they thought the fire was coming from. A man who had been sleeping answered the first door they pounded on and they realized they were above the blaze and ran for the stairs.

They were overwhelmed with smoke when they opened the door to the burning floor below.

“It was a black wall,” Straus said hours later as he stood barefoot on the sidewalk, still wearing his surf trunks with only a towel draped over his shoulders and goggles around his neck. “Someone ran out from that side and they were completely covered in black char and they could barely breathe.”

The person said their friend was still inside, but Straus said he couldn’t help because he couldn’t see anything and it was too hot.

Instead, he ran to the 21st floor, where he lives, to alert friends and other tenants he knew. No alarm had yet been sounded and he was surprised to hear laughter coming through the doors as people ate breakfast unaware of the danger below.

“Get out, there’s fire. Get out,” he yelled.

Dr. Tom Grogan, an orthopedic surgeon who works in the building next door, was arriving at his office when he saw flames shooting from the building. His office manager called 911 and Grogan, who had seen the building burn in 2013, watched as firefighters struggled to get water to the fire on the 6th floor.

A resident of the building with burns on his arms was hanging from a window as if he was going to jump. Firefighters inflated an airbag below but managed to get a ladder to him to save him.

“It was scary to watch,” Grogan said.

More than 330 firefighters responded and it took about 90 minutes to knock down the blaze, Deputy Fire Chief Armando Hogan said. Arson investigators are looking into whether it was deliberately set.

“It is suspicious right now,” Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said.

Two 30-year-old men who were in the apartment where the fire began were in critical condition, and one was described as grave. Fire crews had to crawl on their bellies using bottled oxygen to reach the apartment where the blaze began. Five others were treated at the scene.

The fire left windows blown out and heavy black smoke or burn marks on three sides of building. Residents who fled in whatever they wearing or could quickly get into — some in pajamas and exercise clothes — gathered on nearby street corners and looked up as helicopters hovered and hoisted rooftop evacuees and small white dog to safety.

A fire at the Barrington Plaza high-rise in 2013 injured several people and displaced more than 100. The complex has 240 units that range in rent from $2,350 to $3,695 per month, according to Zillow.

Fire officials said the building was not equipped with sprinklers. It was built in 1961 before regulations required fire-suppression systems in buildings taller than 75 feet (22.8 meters) feet.

The building owners did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

___

Associated Press writers John Antczak, John Rogers and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.



from TIME https://ift.tt/2uMEZSl

Republicans Move to Block Impeachment Witnesses, Driving Toward Acquittal


By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG AND MICHAEL D. SHEAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37F7FeT

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

Kristen Bell Details "Incredible Fight" With Dax Shepard - E! NEWS

Kristen Bell Details "Incredible Fight" With Dax Shepard  E! NEWSView full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2RZg7Pk

Sources -- Nike sold out of Kobe Bryant-related items online - ESPN

  1. Sources -- Nike sold out of Kobe Bryant-related items online  ESPN
  2. Fog before Kobe Bryant's fatal crash 'thick' like milk, witness says  ABC News
  3. Kobe Bryant and Wife 'Had a Deal That They Would Never Fly on a Helicopter Together': Source  PEOPLE.com
  4. Nike.com Completely Sold Out of Kobe Sneakers  Complex
  5. UConn honors Kobe Bryant's daughter Gigi - 'A Husky forever'  ESPN
  6. View full coverage on Google News


from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/38JY0DR

Reds' Suarez injures shoulder in pool, has surgery

The Reds expect Eugenio Suarez to be ready to play "near the beginning of the regular season" but say he will be limited at the beginning of spring training.

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2SaemiD

Reds' Suarez injures shoulder in pool, has surgery

The Reds expect Eugenio Suarez to be ready to play "near the beginning of the regular season" but say he will be limited at the beginning of spring training.

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2SaemiD

Fans attack Man United CEO Woodward's home

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2GySLed

Fans attack Man United CEO Woodward's home

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2GySLed

2 satellites will narrowly avoid colliding over Pennsylvania on Wednesday

That's a bit too close for comfort.

from FOX News https://ift.tt/37Ane7j

How to Prevent Coronavirus? Wash Your Hands


By BY ELISABETH ROSENTHAL from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/318i7sL

How Do Bats Live With So Many Viruses?


By BY JAMES GORMAN from NYT Science https://ift.tt/36yJ4ad

Ordinary or ‘Enemy’? How Jay Powell Is Positioning the Fed in a Fraught Era


By BY JEANNA SMIALEK from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2GwQNed

Bolton Book Puts New Focus on Trump’s Actions in Turkey and China Cases


By BY ERIC LIPTON AND ALAN RAPPEPORT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3aMgBkF

Washington Post Says Reporter’s Kobe Bryant Tweets Did Not Break Rules


By BY RACHEL ABRAMS AND MARC TRACY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2t9Inqc

The Atlantic Politics Daily: From the Trail to the Trial

It’s Tuesday, January 28. Mitch McConnell reportedly said during a private meeting that GOP members don’t have the votes to block impeachment-trial witnesses.

In the rest of today’s newsletter: This is surely not how Kamala Harris or Cory Booker had planned to spend their January. Plus: Fearing the moderate.

*

« TODAY IN POLITICS »

(SAUL LOEB / JOE RAEDLE / GETTY / THE ATLANTIC)

From the Trail to the Trial

The president’s legal team concluded its defense today. The impeachment trial now enters the questioning phase, and may involve new witnesses.

While historic and momentous, the trial is in no way a glamorous opportunity for the senators. But the proceedings are likely especially dispiriting for the crop of lawmakers who, after dropping out of the 2020 race, find themselves sitting silently as one among 100.

At least one senator was spotting dozing off last week. Another brought a fidget spinner to manage boredom. Another was spotted filling out a crossword puzzle.

The plight of two wannabe presidents—Cory Booker and Kamala Harris—both of whom had the resume of a proper 2020 heavyweight, is especially stark, my colleague Todd Purdum writes:

This is surely not how either big-name Democrat had planned to spend the third week of January: in the political equivalent of their parents’ basement, having flunked out of the presidential race they’d approached with such high hopes last year.

Their backbench neighbor, Michael Bennet, who is still running but has long struggled for traction, languished in the same psychic dunce’s row, listening listlessly.

Todd also caught up with Booker himself last week:

Booker was waylaid in the Senate subway by the veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz and a group of 11 international students. When I asked the senator how it felt to be stuck in Washington and not in Iowa, he fixed me with a mock-hurt gaze and said, “Really? You trying to poke my sadness?”

Booker went on, “Look, it’s definitely heartbreaking that things had to end, but at the same time, I cannot escape my gratitude for the experience. It’s been really wonderful.”

Read Todd’s full piece about the wonderfulness of the experience here.

—Saahil Desai

*

« SNAPSHOT »

(Joshua Roberts / Reuters)

President Donald Trump pats Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the back as they deliver joint remarks today on a Middle East peace plan, which, among several other proposals, expands Israeli territory.

*

« IDEAS AND ARGUMENTS »

(MATT ROURKE / AP)

1. “I am haunted by the fear that nominating a moderate will ensure Trump’s reelection.”

Electability seems to dominate the presidential pitches of moderate Democrats. The likes of Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg have positioned themselves as safer options for the general election.

But what Democrats need in this moment is a passionate progressive to persuade citizens not to sit out the presidential contest, Ibram X. Kendi argues.

2. “Due process protects the life, liberty, and property of private citizens. It does not create a right to occupy the White House.”

Because impeachment deals with a public office and is not a substitute for a criminal trial, the Trump defense team’s claim that the president is being deprived of due process isn’t really coherent, the political scientist Greg Weiner argues.

3. “Permeating every moment of Harvey Weinstein’s trial is the disturbing history of sexual-assault prosecution in America.”

Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes about this watershed moment.


*

« EVENING READ »

(CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE / GETTY)

The Doomed Project of the Novel American Dirt

What does it mean for a story about an immigrant woman and her son’s escape from drug cartels in Mexico to be told by a white woman? Hannah Giorgis explores the limits of such fiction.

What good, after all, does the mere acknowledgement of migrants’ essential humanity do for those whose lives have been shattered—and in some cases, ended—in large part because of punitive U.S. immigration policies? Are the tens of thousands of migrant children held in government custody, some of whom never see their families again, to feel comforted by American Dirt’s limp exhortation to the average reader—or by Oprah Winfrey’s selection of the novel for her famed Book Club?

For those whose lives are not shaped fundamentally by the indifference of others, empathy can be a seductive, self-aggrandizing goal.

Catch up on the controversy, and read Hannah’s full piece, here.


*

Today’s newsletter was written by Saahil Desai, an associate editor on the Politics desk and Christian Paz, a Politics fellow. It was edited by Shan Wang, who oversees newsletters.

You can reply directly to this newsletter with questions or comments, or send a note to politicsdaily@theatlantic.com.

Your support makes our journalism possible. Subscribe here.



from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/2O50CEm

Reds' Suarez injures shoulder in pool, has surgery

The Reds expect Eugenio Suarez to be ready to play "near the beginning of the regular season" but say he will be limited at the beginning of spring training.

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2SaemiD

Fans attack Man United CEO Woodward's home

null

from www.espn.com - TOP https://ift.tt/2GySLed

The Papers: Lord Lucan 'found' and Prince Andrew 'bewildered'

The UK's decision to use Chinese firm Huawei also features heavily among Wednesday's front pages.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/38XRNo7

Apple 'closely monitoring' coronavirus

The outbreak has clouded the firm's forecast for the upcoming quarter.

from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/37zshVD

China coronavirus: evacuation begins of US and Japanese citizens in Wuhan – live updates

Hundreds of Japanese and Americans airlifted out of city at heart of outbreak in China. Follow the latest news, live

The death toll in China has now risen to 131 people, according to the updated coronavirus tracker from Tencent News.

There are now also 5515 confirmed cases and 6973 suspected cases.

And, as the US airlift out of Wuhan continues, Japan today has confirmed it too will evacuate 200 of its citizens.

According to the Kyodo news agency, a chartered plane has departed the city early this morning, and is scheduled to arrive at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Rxv0JH

Fans attack the home of Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward

• Woodward understood not to be at home at the time
• ‘Anybody found guilty will be banned for life by the club’

The home of Ed Woodward was attacked on Tuesday night in a sickening escalation of the tensions between supporters and the Manchester United executive vice-chairman.

Fans, who are unhappy at the way in which the club is being run, have recently sung songs celebrating the death of the 48-year-old who has become a figure of hate among some sections of the United support.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/37BAGrO

Private schools criticise plans to get more poor students into university

Regulator’s pledge to boost university access in England ‘may discriminate based on class’

Leading private schools have challenged plans to widen access to the most selective universities in England, warning they could lead to discrimination against young people “on the basis of the class they were born into”.

The intervention by the Headmasters’ & Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), which represents many of the country’s most expensive independent schools, reflects members’ concerns that new measures to improve access for the most disadvantaged students could lead to discrimination against students from elite private schools.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/36BQ6eh

Homeless families putting budgets under strain, say councils

More than 86,000 households are currently in temporary accommodation

Growing numbers of homeless families and the increasing cost of putting them up in bed and breakfast hotels caused two-thirds of English local authorities to break their homelessness budgets last year, say councils.

Analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) found that councils collectively spent £663m on homelessness services in 2018-19 – a 28% overspend amounting to a £140m excess budget.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3aQfe4a

Apple reports record profits amid concerns over economic impact of coronavirus

China, an important market for Apple products and critical part of its supply chain, has been rocked by the outbreak

Sales of the iPhone 11 propelled Apple to all-time record revenues and profits for the final three months of 2019, a strong performance that comes amid concerns over the impact of the coronavirus on the Chinese economy.

Apple’s $91.8bn in quarterly revenue topped analyst expectations thanks to $56bn in iPhone sales. The strong performance marks a rebound for the company, which suffered a rare setback in holiday sales one year ago.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/36BBSdn

NBA: Fox's comeback-capping shot a lane violation

De'Aaron Fox's layup off his intentionally missed free throw to cap a historic comeback against Minnesota on Monday should have been ruled a lane violation, per the league's Last Two Minute Report.

from www.espn.com - NBA https://ift.tt/3aSURmU

Monday, 27 January 2020

Sketches capture the action in the Senate.


By BY ALICIA PARLAPIANO from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/36B1Ptn

‘It’s a Done Deal’


By BY LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2t47jPV

Listen Up, Liberals: You Aren’t Doing Politics Right


By BY EITAN D. HERSH from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/38L2rhL

Why the W.N.B.A. Loved Kobe Bryant


By BY TALIA CALDWELL from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2RYnlTG

In Iowa, Biden says he has nothing to defend.


By BY THOMAS KAPLAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2vn3HsR

Day 6 of Trump’s Trial: The ‘Deny Everything’ Defense


By BY MICHELLE COTTLE from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2U3fuam