WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration rolled out some of the broadest changes in decades to enforcement of the landmark Endangered Species Act, allowing the government to put an economic cost on saving a species and other changes critics contend could speed extinction for some struggling plants and animals.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and other administration officials contend the changes improve efficiency of oversight, while protecting rare species.

“The best way to uphold the Endangered Species Act is to do everything we can to ensure it remains effective in achieving its ultimate goal_recovery of our rarest species,” he said. “An effectively administered Act ensures more resources can go where they will do the most good: on-the-ground conservation.”

Democratic lawmakers, several state attorneys generals and conservation groups said the overhaul would hamper protections for endangered and threatened species.

The Endangered Species Act is credited with helping save the bald eagle, California condor and scores of other animals and plants from extinction since President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1973. The Endangered Species Act currently protects more than 1,600 species in the United States and its territories.

The changes included allowing economic cost to taken into account as the federal government weighs protecting a struggling species, although Congress has stipulated that economic costs not be a factor in deciding whether to protect an animal. That prohibition is meant to ensure that the logging industry, for example, would not be able to push to block protections for a forest-dwelling animal on economic grounds.

Gary Frazer, an assistant director at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told reporters that the government would adhere to that by disclosing the costs to the public, without being a factor for the officials considering the protections.

Other changes include ending blanket protections for species newly listed as threatened and a revision that conservation groups say could block officials from considering the impact on wildlife from climate change, a major and growing threat to many species.

“Nothing in here in my view is a radical change for how we have been consulting and listing species for the last decade or so,” Frazer said. Instead, he said, it brings “more transparency and certainty to the public about the way we’ll carry out our job.”

Critics disagreed.

The regulations” take a wrecking ball to one of our oldest and most effective environmental laws, the Endangered Species Act,” Sen. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat, said in a statement. “As we have seen time and time again, no environmental protection – no matter how effective or popular – is safe from this administration.”

At least 10 attorneys general joined conservation groups in protesting an early draft of the changes, saying they put more wildlife at greater risk of extinction.

Conservationists promised legal action.

“This effort to gut protections for endangered and threatened species has the same two features of most Trump administration actions: it’s a gift to industry, and it’s illegal. We’ll see the Trump administration in court about it,” Drew Caputo, a vice president of litigation for the conservation advocacy group Earthjustice.

A United Nations report warned in May that more than 1 million plants and animals globally face extinction, some within decades, owning to human development, climate change and other threats. The report called the rate of species loss a record.

Source Article from https://www.snopes.com/ap/2019/08/12/trump-overhauls-landmark-endangered-species-protections/

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Adelia Johnson thought she understood where Connor Betts was coming from when he shared that he’d contemplated suicide, and even when he once told her in a drunken call about wanting to hurt people.

As they dated this spring, they bonded over their struggles with mental illness, she said, so his dark thoughts didn’t seem so abnormal. Not to her, as someone familiar with the alarm bells therapists listen for. Not at the time.

Now? Now investigators are trying to figure out why Betts, 24, gunned down nine people, including his own sister, and wounded many more Sunday outside a strip of bars in Dayton, Ohio, before police shot him dead.

And Johnson is playing those old episodes back over in her mind, the yellow flags turning red, wondering whether she should have broken his confidence to tell someone — and if she had, whether it would have mattered. At a minimum, she regrets not telling his parents he needed serious help.

“It seems easy on the outside looking in, what calls to make,” Johnson said Tuesday. “And looking back, I’m like, ‘Of course I should have done that.’ But in the moment it was complicated, it was weird and I cared about him. I didn’t want to hurt him.”

Besides, she said, reaching for a phrase favored by mental health professionals: “He didn’t have any concrete plans.”

Johnson’s lengthy essay posted not long after the massacre and her interviews with The Associated Press and others offer a rare, raw glimpse into the dilemma facing those close to people who voice such demons.

When is it just someone trying to exorcise those thoughts by saying them out loud? When does it foreshadow the worst? And does intervention run the risk of pushing the person even further toward violence?

Complicating that calculus: Mass attacks involving mental illness aren’t about that condition alone, or about an event that sets someone off. Experts say there are multiple factors — access to guns, a history of violence, substance abuse, financial trouble, a disconnect from society.

“There are many, many, things that go into dictating what pulled the trigger,” said Jonathan Metzl, a psychiatrist and professor at Vanderbilt University. “There’s no tool you can have to determine when someone is going off.”

Studies from the FBI and Secret Service looking at those who carry out mass attacks show almost half were agitated by personal grievances and most had never been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Johnson met Betts last January at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. He stood out because he was charming, funny, intelligent and quick-witted, she said.

He also told her he had bipolar disorder and might also suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, she said.

Betts had a fascination with serial killers and tragedies in the news. “He was interested in what made terrible people do terrible things,” she said.

On their first date in March, he showed her a video of last year’s Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, going over it play-by-play.

Talking about serial killers made sense because it often came up in their psychology class

“Half of our class was into serial killers,” she said, adding that she figured his admissions of twice putting a gun in his mouth before they met was normal for someone grappling with mental illness.

“That wasn’t a scary thing for me,” she said.

Johnson said she worried about his excessive drinking and didn’t like that he had guns. She also said, however, that she and Betts didn’t think people with mental illnesses shouldn’t be allowed to own guns.

But she said many people in the Midwest own firearms, and that the one time they went to a shooting range, he handled the guns carefully and seemed more like a hobbyist.

When she thought about alerting someone after he talked about wanting to hurt people, “it came back to, ‘But what would I tell them, what would they do with it?’” she said.

She also considered talking to his mom, but wondered how he’d react to that. “You can’t just tell someone and expect there not be any consequences for anyone,” she said. “It’s a tough situation.”

Johnson showed The Associated Press text message exchanges with Betts and an email showing they were in the same class last winter to corroborate their relationship.

Betts lived with his parents while they were dating, she said. His room decorated in all black was a striking contrast to the flowery, bright patterns throughout the rest of the home.

He was in a heavy metal band whose members dressed in matching costumes: ski masks and dresses.

It all seemed harmless, she said.

“What most people saw as red flags, I saw as yellow flags, up until the stalking,” she said.

That’s what pushed her to break up with Betts in May. One afternoon, he said he wanted to give a letter to a friend who had moved into town. She thought it was sweet.

But when she saw the letter, she realized it was for an ex-girlfriend and it carried an ominous message: “You can’t outrun your past.”

That time, Johnson said, he tried to downplay it as a joke, but she knew it wasn’t. When she pushed him to explain, she said he spoke of “uncontrollable urges to do things,” including a time he set fire to an abandoned building. She said she knew she had to end it.

Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said earlier this week that Betts had a “history of obsession with violent ideations with mass shootings and expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting.” Todd Wickerham of the FBI said “we have uncovered evidence throughout the course of our investigation that the shooter looked into violent ideologies,” though the agent didn’t specify.

Several of Betts’ high school classmates have said he was suspended for compiling lists of students he wanted to rape or kill. Johnson said she didn’t know about that.

She doubts anyone will ever fully know Betts’ motive for the shooting.

“It’s more than mental illness, it’s more than gun control,” she said. “This isn’t just one simple issue and for people to blame it on one thing isn’t fair.

“I’m not shocked he did something terrible, because he had untreated problems,” she said, adding that “there are millions of people with mental illness who don’t go around shooting people.”

___

Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky in New York and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed.

By John Seewer

Associated Press

Source Article from https://www.wnewsj.com/news/112321/shooters-ex-girlfriend-the-dilemma-of-when-to-intervene

China has warned of potential terrorism arising from increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, where Chinese officials suspected the United States has played a role in stoking discontent.

Yang Guang, a spokesperson for the Chinese State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, expressed “deep indignation and strong condemnation” Monday at recent petrol bomb attacks that struck several police stations across Hong Kong, which has been hit by months of demonstrations against the city’s Beijing-backed government. He praised the performance of police, some of whom were reportedly injured in the attacks, and escalated the official rhetoric against the protests.

“In the past few days, Hong Kong’s radical demonstrators have repeatedly attacked police officers with extremely dangerous tools, which already constitutes serious violent crimes and has begun to show signs of terrorism,” Yang said.

“This is a gross violation of the rule of law and social order in Hong Kong,” he added, arguing that “violent crimes must be resolutely cracked down in accordance with the law, without hesitation or mercy.”

Hong Kong’s protests initially came in response to a bill introduced in February that would allow the city’s residents to be extradited by the central government, angering those who seek more autonomy for the special administrative region. Even with the bill being suspended, protesters have called for political reforms and for Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to step down.

Beijing has repeatedly come out in support of Lam and her administration’s efforts to stabilize the city, which has been under China as part of a “one country, two systems” policy since control was handed over by the United Kingdom in 1997. As the latest clashes worsened, however, officials have also warned that troops could be sent in to restore order.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and the U.K. have openly endorsed the demonstrations, further frustrating China. Beijing has pointed to Washington figures such as Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House national security adviser John Bolton meeting Hong Kong opposition supporters and the presence of U.S. flags at rallies as evidence of foreign interference.

“The U.S. has been making various Hong Kong-related accusations that are wanton, fact-distorting and inflammatory. Some senior U.S. politicians and diplomatic officials met and engaged with anti-China rabble-rousers in Hong Kong, criticized China unreasonably, propped up violent and illegal activities and undermined Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability. These facts are only too obvious. I’d like to ask the US this question again: what is the true intention behind your behaviors relating to Hong Kong?” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters Monday.

“I need to reemphasize a plain truth. Hong Kong is part of China, and its affairs are entirely China’s internal affairs. We urge the U.S. to observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs at once,” she added.

The U.S. has largely dismissed these charges, but State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus lashed out at China, calling it a “thuggish regime” Thursday after a pro-Beijing newspaper published a photograph of U.S. diplomat Julie Eadeh of the consulate’s political affairs section meeting with young opposition leaders in Hong Kong. Ortagus also accused Chinese officials of leaking personal information about Eadeh and her family.

On Monday, Washington’s consulate in Hong Kong issued a new message to U.S. citizens, noting that Hong Kong International Airport had suspended all incoming and outgoing flights due to protests at the site. The statement said both the demonstrations “and the government’s handling of the ensuing protests have increasingly turned confrontational.”

On Wednesday, the city’s travel advisory was upgraded to a level 2 or “Exercise Increased Caution” by the State Department due to the turmoil further complicating U.S.-China relations.

Ties between Washington and Beijing are already strained due to an ongoing trade war between the world’s top two economies. President Donald Trump has announced a 25 percent tariffs on up to $250 billion worth of Chinese goods and 10 percent on an additional $300 billion worth, with Beijing taking retaliatory measures.

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Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/china-terrorism-hong-kong-protests-1453894

MSNBC host Joe ScarboroughCharles (Joe) Joseph ScarboroughScarborough criticized for retweeting account claiming Epstein’s death was ‘no way’ suicide Trump hits MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch over new TV show Castro takes heat as outed Trump donors swing back MORE was criticized over the weekend for a series of tweets about the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein, with some members of the media accusing the “Morning Joe” co-host of promoting unfounded conspiracy theories.

Scarborough on Saturday took to Twitter following the death of the billionaire financier, who died while in jail on sex trafficking charges.

“A guy who had information that would have destroyed rich and powerful men’s lives ends up dead in his jail cell. How predictably…Russian,” Scarborough wrote. 

“He reportedly tried to kill himself two weeks ago. And is allowed to finish the job now? Bullshit,” Scarborough continued, referring to reports that Epstein was found unconscious with injuries to the neck last month.

The “Morning Joe” host also retweeted comments from Brian Koppelman, co-creator of Showtime’s television show “Billions.”

“Sure. Seems likely. Probably what happened. Hey, folks, we’re Russia now. Enjoy it,” Koppelman wrote.

Scarborough also retweeted Koppelman saying there was “no way” Epstein’s death was suicide even if there is photographic evidence from the jail’s security cameras.

“Having someone killed or hurt in jail can be as simple as leaving them unprotected. As simple as paying someone outside the jail,” the tweet from Koppelman read.

Scarborough was criticized by several social media users for questioning the circumstances behind Epstein’s death online.

Andrew Kaczynski, a reporter at CNN’s KFile, on Saturday knocked Scarborough’s “reckless speculation” and called his tweets “as irresponsible as it gets.”

“Joe, there’s a lot of MSNBC reporters who do really good work writing about misinformation and conspiracies,” Kaczynski wrote as the two engaged on Twitter. “You make there job a lot harder when you use your voice to amplify it. And your RTs after your tweet are they visible, BTW – glib or not.”

Scarborough apologized for making a “glib, offhanded comment” in a tweeted response to Intercept journalist Glenn Greenwald, who had also offered criticism of his tweets, but noted that he was also poking fun at unfounded conspiracy theories that the Clintons were involved. 

He also insisted that his critics should calm down.

“Andrew, you really need to relax, learn how to apply context, and also learn how to use the word ‘their,’ ” he responded in one tweet to CNN’s Kaczynski. “Your self-righteousness and hysteria over a passing tweet is something. And if anybody at my network has a problem with a tweet, they’ve got my number.” 

Conspiracy theories flourished in the hours after Epstein’s death, and have led to criticism online.

The disgraced financier Epstein had associated in the past with both President TrumpDonald John TrumpHarris campaigns off of NRA attack Help wanted: American ambassador in Moscow Goldman Sachs CEO dismisses ‘impending economic crisis’ amid rising recession fears MORE and former President Clinton, in addition to other wealthy and influential people in New York City.

Trump on Saturday retweeted a post promoting a conspiracy theory linking Epstein’s death to the Clintons without any evidence. He was roundly criticized for doing so by people on both sides of the aisle.

Other people on Twitter espoused theories linking the death to Trump. 

Epstein, a registered sex offender, was arrested last month and was awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

He had apparently been taken off suicide watch and was reportedly not being monitored in his cell as directed before his death. 

The New York Times reported that Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city’s top medical examiner, is confident Epstein died from suicide following an autopsy performed on Sunday but is waiting for more information before releasing her official statement.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/media/457105-scarborough-criticized-for-retweeting-account-claiming-no-way-was-epsteins

The billionaire real estate developer whose support for President Trump sparked calls for a consumer boycott is also behind one of the flashiest redevelopment projects coming to downtown Los Angeles.

Protesters in West Hollywood and elsewhere called last week for customers to cancel their memberships with luxury gym Equinox and SoulCycle studios after learning that Stephen M. Ross, chairman and founder of the Related Cos., was planning a Trump fundraiser at his home. Ross has a minority stake in Equinox and SoulCycle, said Related spokesman Glenn Gritzner.

In L.A., Related has a major project under construction called the Grand, which is expected to house a 20-story Equinox Hotel. That development, which will also include a 39-story residential tower, is slated to receive more than $198 million in financial help from the city, according to a report issued last year.

The Grand won’t be completed until 2021, when either Trump will start his second term or the country will have a new president. But one longtime L.A. politician said he is already “deeply conflicted” about whether to attend the project’s opening.

Former state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, who is running for a City Council seat in a district that includes downtown, said he likes the fact that the Equinox Hotel will provide good union housekeeping jobs, many of which will likely be filled by Latino immigrants. But he argued that Ross is “dancing with the devil” by helping Trump.

“Raising money on both sides of the aisle is par for the course among the wealthy,” he said. “But raising money for a billionaire president who embraces bigotry and white nationalism is beyond the pale — especially for the city with the largest Latino population in the nation.”

Ross and his wife hosted Trump and various donors at their home on Friday, with tickets costing up to $250,000. The event took place less than a week after a gunman killed 22 people in El Paso, nearly all Mexican Americans or Mexican nationals.

The gunman issued a manifesto before the massacre railing against a Latino “invasion” of Texas and confessed to police that he had targeted Mexicans, according to an arrest affidavit. Residents in El Paso and elsewhere have drawn a link between that message and Trump’s frequent references to an immigrant “invasion,” as well as other derogatory statements about Mexican immigrants.

In recent days, Trump has criticized some Democrats for calling him a white supremacist and argued that mental illness was the cause of the El Paso shooting. Ross, for his part, issued his own statement saying he disagrees with Trump on many issues and engages in politics out of a concern for jobs and the economy.

“I have been, and will continue to be, an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education and environmental sustainability, and I have and will continue to support leaders on both sides of the aisle to address these challenges,” he said.

Previously, L.A.’s politicians have spoken enthusiastically about the Grand, which Related is developing in partnership with CORE USA. When Related held a groundbreaking in February, Councilman Jose Huizar said the development would cement Grand Avenue’s reputation as the city’s “preeminent mecca for arts and culture.”

County Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose district includes East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley, called the project “a testament to the county’s innovative approach to economic development.”

Representatives of Solis and Huizar could not be reached for comment on Sunday. A spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti had nothing to say on the topic when contacted by The Times.

Last week, Equinox and SoulCycle issued statements saying they had nothing to do with the Trump fundraiser and did not support it.

Gritzner, the Related spokesman, described Ross is a “minority investor” in the two fitness companies and said he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of either venture.

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-12/equinox-developer-trump-protest-dtla-development

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Epstein was awaiting trail on sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in his cell

Staffing shortages at the prison where disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at the weekend left gaps in his supervision, US media report.

The justice department and the FBI have both launched investigations into his death in New York, amid questions surrounding the circumstances.

Epstein, 66, was facing sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, which carried jail sentences of up to 45 years.

A post mortem examination was performed on Sunday.

New York City’s chief medical examiner, Barbara Sampson, said more information was needed before the cause of death was determined.

A private pathologist observed the examination at the request of Epstein’s representatives, Dr Sampson added.

Guards at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center had been forced to work overtime to make up for the staffing shortages, according to US media.

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Epstein faced up to 45 years in jail if convicted

One of the corrections officers was reportedly on his fifth straight day of overtime shifts, while another guard had been forced to work overtime, Serene Gregg, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3148, told the Washington Post newspaper.

“If it wasn’t Mr Epstein, it would have been somebody else, because of the conditions at that institution,” she told the newspaper.

“It was only a matter of time for it to happen. It was inevitable. Our staff is severely overworked.”

Ms Gregg said she has long complained about the work conditions at the facility.

The guards failed to follow several protocols leading up to Epstein’s death, according to the New York Times.

Epstein, who had been placed on suicide watch after an apparent suicide attempt last month, was supposed to have a cellmate and checked in on by a guard every 30 minutes. Mr Epstein was reportedly left alone early on Saturday after his cellmate was transferred.

On Monday French government ministers also called for an investigation into Epstein, saying a US probe into the accused child sex trafficker had revealed links between Epstein and France.

What happens to the case against him?

Epstein – a convicted paedophile – was arrested on 6 July on new sex-trafficking charges. The indictment alleged that he paid underage girls to perform sex acts at his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005.

According to the charges – which Epstein denied – the girls, some as young as 14, were given hundreds of dollars for sex acts.

Hundreds of pages of court documents unsealed on Friday – one day before Epstein’s death – included new details of the sexual abuse claims, including allegations by a woman that she was forced to have sex with Epstein’s powerful friends.

The documents shift the focus from Epstein to some of his high-profile associates, namely Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend.

Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein, claims Ms Maxwell recruited her as a masseuse for the hedge fund manager at age 15. In the same documents, Ms Giuffre alleges that Ms Maxwell introduced her to Britain’s Prince Andrew, and encouraged her to have sex with him.

Buckingham Palace has said that “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”. The allegations were struck from the court’s record in 2015.

Ms Maxwell has also denied wrongdoing.

Without Epstein to stand trial, legal experts told CBS News that federal prosecutors were likely to dismiss the case against him.

Lisa Bloom, an attorney for several women who claim they were abused by Epstein, told CBS that she planned to file civil litigation against Epstein’s estate.

Media caption‘Any co-conspirators should not rest easy’

US Attorney General William Barr said on Monday: “Mr Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered”. He also called for a “thorough” investigation.

What questions remain?

The death of the high-profile financier spurred a flurry of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories online.

But without the results from the post-mortem examination, questions still loom regarding the precise cause of death.

A city official told the New York Times that Dr Sampson was “confident” the cause of death is suicide by hanging, but she was awaiting further information from law enforcement.

Image copyright
News Syndication

Image caption

Epstein was a known associate of Prince Andrew, Duke of York

Revelations that Epstein was left unsupervised after an apparent suicide attempt last month have also raised questions.

Who is Jeffrey Epstein?

Born and raised in New York, Epstein worked as a maths and physics teacher in the 1970s before moving into finance, creating his own firm: J Epstein and Co.

The company reportedly managed assets of clients worth more than $1bn (£800m). Epstein soon began spending his fortune – including on a mansion in Florida, a ranch in New Mexico, and reputedly the largest private home in New York.

Image copyright
Getty Images

Image caption

Epstein was connected to the rich and powerful, including US President Donald Trump

But the specifics of Epstein’s work – including his client list – remained largely shrouded in secrecy. Reports of Epstein’s actual wealth varied, with his Virgin Islands-based firm generating no public records.

He was better known for his famous circle of friends and associates. Epstein was tied to US President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey and high-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

He first came under scrutiny from law enforcement in 2005, when the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. A police search of the property found photos of girls throughout the property.

But prosecutors forged a deal with the financier in 2008 and Epstein avoided federal charges – which could have seen him face life in prison. Instead, he received an 18-month prison sentence, during which he was able to go on “work release” to his office for 12 hours a day, six days a week. He was released on probation after 13 months.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49322050

Immigration advocates have pledged to sue the administration in an attempt to block the new regulation from going into effect. Tens of thousands of people opposed the rule in a public comment period over the past several months.

The regulation, also known as the public charge rule, was published in the Federal Register Monday morning with the following acknowledgment: “While some commenters provided support for the rule, the vast majority of commenters opposed the rule.”

The rule has been the top priority of Stephen Miller, the architect of President Trump’s immigration agenda, who views it as the most significant change to regulations that had encouraged migrants to come to the United States.

Mr. Miller has repeatedly pushed administration officials to finish the rule, at one point telling colleagues that he wanted them to work on nothing other than the public charge rule until it was completed.

Some officials, including L. Francis Cissna, the former director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, had resisted the rush to finish the rule, drafts of which were several hundred pages long and very complicated.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/us/politics/trump-immigration-policy.html

Saudi Aramco tells investors it’s ready to go public

Saudi Aramco’s CFO said the company is ready for an initial public offering, but the timing will be up to its owner, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

read more

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/cramer-hong-kong-protests-more-serious-than-us-china-trade-war.html

One of the most controversial changes removes longstanding language that prohibits the consideration of economic factors when deciding whether a species should be protected.

Under the current law, such determinations must be made solely based on science, “without reference to possible economic or other impacts of determination.”

Gary Frazer, the assistant director for endangered species with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that phrase had been removed for reasons of “transparency.” He said the change leaves open the possibility of conducting economic analyses for informational purposes, but that decisions about listing species would still be based exclusively on science.

Environmental groups saw a danger in that. “There can be economic costs to protecting endangered species,” said Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife and oceans at Earthjustice, an environmental law organization. But, he said, “If we make decisions based on short-term economic costs, we’re going to have a whole lot more extinct species.”

The new rules also give the government significant discretion in deciding what is meant by the term “foreseeable future.” That’s a semantic change with far-reaching implications, because it enables regulators to disregard the effects of extreme heat, drought, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change that may occur several decades from now.

When questioned about that change and its implications in the era of climate change, Mr. Frazer said the agency wanted to avoid making “speculative” decisions far into the future.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/climate/endangered-species-act-changes.html

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/12/politics/scaramucci-trump-2020/index.html

Correctional officers at the New York City prison that was housing Jeffrey Epstein didn’t check in on him for hours leading up to his apparent suicide on Saturday, which occurred after his cellmate was transferred for reasons that were not immediately clear.

Epstein, 66, was found unconscious in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and later pronounced dead, raising questions about how the wealthy financier, imprisoned on sex trafficking charges, could have been able to kill himself while in a high-security facility just over two weeks after being placed on suicide watch.

FORMER NYC JAIL INMATE: THERE’S ‘NO WAY’ JEFFREY EPSTEIN KILLED HIMSELF

For “several hours” leading up to his death, correctional officers hadn’t checked in with Epstein — despite being required to visit him every 30 minutes, a person familiar with the situation told Fox News.

The Washington Post first reported the news Sunday night.

Additionally, Epstein was supposed to have a cellmate. But the person who was assigned to share a cell with Epstein was transferred on Friday before the 66-year-old’s death, according to the Post. It was not immediately clear why the cellmate was transferred nor why no one else was assigned to room with Epstein.

Epstein was placed on suicide watch in July and had been given psychiatric evaluations after he was discovered with bruising on his neck, but was taken off suicide watch at the end of July.

Barbara Sampson, New York City’s chief medical examiner, said Sunday that an autopsy was performed on Epstein, but more information was needed before a cause of death was determined.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN DEAD: TIMELINE OF SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS AND RELATED LEGAL CASES

The financier was housed in the facility’s Special Housing Unit, a heavily secured part of the Manhattan facility that separates high-profile inmates from the general population. Correctional officers at the jail had reportedly worked extreme overtime shifts for days on end to compensate staffing shortages.

Attorney General William Barr said he was “appalled” to learn of Epstein’s death, and announced the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office will investigate his apparent suicide.

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Epstein was being held on child sex trafficking and conspiracy charges after he was denied bail. Prosecutors said he sexually abused dozens of young girls in his New York and Florida residences between 2002 and 2005, to which Epstein pleaded not guilty.

He faced up to 45 years in prison.

Fox News’ Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/jeffrey-epstein-checked-for-hours-apparent-suicide

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Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters hit the streets for the tenth weekend in a row. Demonstrators used fire extinguishers and a water hose against riot police who fired tear gas into the train station in Kwai Fong and some accused plainclothes officers of disguising as protesters to make arrests.
Newslook

Hong Kong International Airport shut down all flights after thousands of pro-democracy protesters flooded the airport’s main terminal Monday afternoon. 

The airport said in a statement that operations have been “seriously disrupted as a result of the public assembly at the airport today.”

The demonstration is the latest in a series of mass protests spanning two months. Hong Kong activists are calling for more autonomy from Beijing and an independent inquiry into police behavior.

Here’s what we know about the unrest in Hong Kong. 

When and why did the protests start? 

The tension was sparked by a since-shelved extradition bill, which would have allowed some suspects to be sent for trial in mainland China. Opponents believed the bill would expand Beijing’s control on the bustling international hub. 

Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, when China absorbed Hong Kong in a handover. Since then, Hong Kong operates under a “one country, two systems” framework that was supposed to allow the territory to retain its own social, legal and political systems for 50 years. 

Many Hongkongers have concerns over Beijing asserting its control and believe that Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who originally introduced the extradition legislation, must resign.

The protests kicked off on June 9 as hundreds of thousands peacefully took to the streets until a group stormed the government headquarters, where police responded with batons and pepper spray. Since then, the conflict has intensified significantly into violence between protesters and police. 

Lau, a flight attendant protesting at the airport on his day off, said protesters outrage stems from police’s forceful tactics. He gave only his surname to avoid repercussions from his employer. 

“The police have told a lot of lies to Hong Kong people,” Lau said. “We cannot believe them anymore. We have to come here to protest.”

Airport shut down: Hong Kong airport shuts down amid pro-democracy protest

How have tensions escalated?

Though Lam suspended the bill on June 15 and called it “dead” in a press conference, protests kept growing, eventually turning into a full-blown democracy movement. The activists’ demands include Lam’s resignation, democratic elections for her successor and investigations into police force. 

In Beijing, the Cabinet’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said the protests were “beginning to show the sprouts of terrorism,” and serve as an “existential threat” to the residents of Hong Kong. Beijing officials could use the growing unrest to crack down on Hong Kong. 

Protesters have been subject to aggressive tactics on the part of riot police. One young woman was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet by Hong Kong police during a protest. Activist leader Joshua Wong tweeted a picture of her face covered in blood, which has since been widely circulated. 

“I am not sure whether her right eye will turn blind or not but it is totally insane and terrible,” Wong tweeted. “US should not export tear gas and rubber bullet to HK Police anymore.”

At the airport protest Monday, protesters used the slogan “an eye for an eye,” according to South China Morning Post

Police have also reported injuries, including eye irritation from laser pointers and burns from gasoline bombs. During protests over the weekend at the airport, protesters tossed bricks at officers. 

More: Protesters storm Hong Kong legislative chamber; police fire tear gas to break siege

What’s next for travelers at the airport? 

For now, more than 100 flights are grounded. The airport is one of the busiest in the world, as Hong Kong is a haven for international business. Travelers from around the world are stranded and confused. 

CNN reported that one girl traveling by herself needed to get foreign currency but found the exchange desk closed. She told CNN she had no idea how to exit the airport. 

Some travelers have been offered free Airport Express train rides to the city, according to SCMP. Bus services are now back to normal. 

The numbers of protesters have dwindled with only a few hundred protesters remaining, SCMP reported. The Airport Authority released a statement saying it hoped to continue flights beginning 6 a.m. Tuesday but told passengers not to arrive unless their flights are confirmed. 

“The AA will work closely with its business partners with a view to gradually resume normal airport operations as soon as possible,” authorities said.

Contributing: Associated Press

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/08/12/hong-kong-protests-shut-down-airport/1984594001/

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/12/politics/legal-immigration-public-charge/index.html

  • Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who served the Trump administration for less than two weeks in 2017, compared President Donald Trump to a melting nuclear reactor and said Republicans may need to throw their support behind another candidate in 2020. 
  • In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Scaramucci said the current state of affairs in Washington is like “the early episodes of ‘Chernobyl’ on HBO, where the reactor is melting down and the apparatchiks are trying to figure out whether to cover it up or start the clean-up process.” 
  • He added that he and other Republican supporters would consider finding a replacement candidate ahead of the presidential elections if Trump “doesn’t reform his behavior.”
  • “We can’t afford a full nuclear contamination site post 2020,” Scaramucci said. 
  • Scaramucci and Trump traded barbs over the weekend after the former White House communications director said the president “didn’t do well” on his trips to El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in the wake of two mass shootings last week. 

Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who served the Trump administration for less than two weeks in 2017, compared President Donald Trump to a melting nuclear reactor and said Republicans may need to throw their support behind another candidate in 2020. 

Speaking to Axios on Sunday, Scaramucci said that if Trump “doesn’t reform his behavior,” he and other Republican supporters would consider finding a replacement candidate ahead of the presidential elections. 

“We are now in the early episodes of ‘Chernobyl’ on HBO, where the reactor is melting down and the apparatchiks are trying to figure out whether to cover it up or start the clean-up process,” Scaramucci said of the current state of affairs in Washington. 

“A couple more weeks like this and ‘country over party’ is going to require the Republicans to replace the top of the ticket in 2020,” he said. “We can’t afford a full nuclear contamination site post 2020.”




Though Scaramucci has maintained loyalty to the Trump administration despite a short-lived tenure, his relationship with the President appeared to sour over the weekend after Scaramucci told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on “Hardball” that Trump “didn’t do well” on his trips to El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in the wake of two mass shootings last week which left a total of 34 people dead.

Trump responded to Scaramucci’s comments on Saturday in a series of scathing tweets, calling him “totally incapable.” 

“Like many other so-called television experts, he knows very little about me,” Trump tweeted.  “Anthony, who would do anything to come back in, should remember the only reason he is on TV, and it’s not for being the Mooch!”

Scaramucci fired back on Sunday, calling Trump’s recent attacks on Democratic congresswomen of color “unacceptable.”

Read more: A growing number of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are calling Trump a ‘white supremacist.’ Here’s why

“For the last 3 years I have fully supported this President,” Scaramucci said in a tweet. “Recently he has said things that divide the country in a way that is unacceptable. So I didn’t pass the 100% litmus test. Eventually he turns on everyone and soon it will be you and then the entire country.

He also shared a political cartoon titled “Five Stages of White House Employment,” which depicted Trump stabbing an employee in the back as he leaves the White House. 

Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/08/12/former-white-house-communications-director-anthony-scaramucci-says-trump-might-need-to-be-replaced-in-2020/23791747/

London — The death of Jeffrey Epstein is putting new attention on his alleged co-conspirators, who could still face charges. The number one person on that list is Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s accused of finding teenage girls for Epstein and his friends — including a member of Britain’s royal family.

As CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports, documents unsealed on Friday contain allegations that Maxwell, a close acquaintance of Epstein’s, played an “important role” in the late billionaire financier’s “sexual abuse ring,” directing an underage girl to have sex with Epstein and others. Maxwell strenuously denies the allegations. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

“There are multiple victims who claim that Ghislaine Maxwell was a personal participant in recruiting them for Jeffrey Epstein, that she assisted in the scheduling of appointments, multiple victims being delivered to Epstein on a daily basis over an extended period of time,” attorney Jack Scarola, who has represented several of Epstein’s alleged victims, told CBS News. “There are allegations that Miss Maxwell was an active participant in the sexual abuse.”

Maxwell has been described as Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and assistant — his “best friend,” according to Epstein, and a socialite who helped connect him with the wealthy and famous.

Mystery surrounding the circumstances of Jeffrey Epstein’s death deepens

The British-born socialite even founded a charitable environmental group. But Maxwell has also been described as a madam. Epstein was reportedly able to shield his alleged co-conspirators from prosecution with a 2007 plea deal. Jack Scarola says that included Ghislaine Maxwell.

“When a non-prosecution agreement is entered into that grants immunity to Ghislaine Maxwell and other named and unnamed co-conspirators for unspecified crimes, that just doesn’t make any sense at all,” Scarola said. “Why would prosecutors ever agree to that kind of provision?”

Another famous Brit caught up in this scandal is Prince Andrew, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s sons. A 2001 photo shows him with Epstein’s alleged victim Virginia Giuffre, and Maxwell.

The unsealed documents repeat allegations that Maxwell trafficked Giuffre to Prince Andrew — though that claim was previously dismissed by a judge in the U.S. and struck from the record.

Britain’s Prince Andrew is seen in a file photo with Virginia Giuffre (center) and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Rex Features


The Prince was pictured with Epstein even after his 2008 conviction, and his ex-wife Sarah, the Duchess of York has admitted to borrowing money from Epstein.

Neither Prince Andrew nor Ghislaine Maxwell have been charged with any crimes.

Regarding the allegations against the prince, Buckingham Palace said in a statement that “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue,” but Prince Andrew and his friendship with Epstein were once again on the front pages in Britain Monday morning.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epstein-death-britain-alleged-co-conspirator-ghislaine-maxwell-prince-andrew-2019-08-12/

BlackRock now has the biggest slice of Sports Illustrated owner…

BlackRock bought a roughly 30% stake in Authentic Brands Group, parent company of Sports Illustrated, for $875 million.

read more

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/sen-rick-scott-china-tariffs-collected-should-be-given-as-tax-cuts.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration officials are defending last week’s mass immigration raids in Mississippi, including emotional footage of a girl pleading with authorities to let her father go.

Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan acknowledged that video of the 11-year-old sobbing was “emotional” but says the girl was quickly reunited with her mother.

He said Sunday on CNN: “I understand that the girl is upset. And I get that. But her father committed a crime.”

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan acknowledged the timing of the raids was “unfortunate,” coming hours before President Donald Trump visited El Paso, Texas, where a man who told authorities he was targeting Mexicans killed 22 people on Aug. 3. But McAleenan tells NBC the operation had been planned for more than a year.

Source Article from https://www.snopes.com/ap/2019/08/11/border-official-timing-of-immigration-raids-unfortunate/

This March 28, 2017, photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry, shows Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died by apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

AP


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This March 28, 2017, photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry, shows Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died by apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

AP

With Jeffrey Epstein’s death by apparent suicide on Saturday, his accusers lost any chance to watch him stand trial for the sex trafficking and conspiracy charges brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month.

But they may still have other ways to pursue justice.

The wealthy financier was found unresponsive in his jail cell while awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. Epstein had been put on special observation status, under which he would be housed with a cell mate and receive check-ins from prison staff every 30 minutes. In the hours leading up to Epstein’s death, that was not happening, a person familiar with the investigation told NPR’s Ryan Lucas.

Epstein’s death “effectively ends” the criminal case against him, says Kerry Lawrence, who spent a decade as a federal prosecutor in the same office that brought charges against Epstein in July.

That leaves Epstein’s accusers with the option of pursuing civil cases against his estate, Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and Loyola Law School professor, told NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

“The recourse is through the civil cases, the lawsuits against his estate,” said Levenson.

That’s a direction that at least some of Epstein’s accusers appear to be heading toward. On Saturday, Lisa Bloom, an attorney for several of Epstein’s accusers, posted to Twitter calling for the administrators of Epstein’s estate to “freeze all his assets and hold them for his victims who are filing civil cases.”

“Our civil cases can still proceed against his estate … We’re just getting started,” she wrote.

The exact size of Epstein’s estate remains a mystery, but according to Bloomberg, the estate included a $77 million mansion on New York’s Upper East Side, an island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a ranch in New Mexico and homes in Paris and Palm Beach, Fla. He had a net worth of at least $500 million, according to Bloomberg.

Lawrence says he thinks it will be difficult to proceed with a civil action since Epstein can’t be put on trial for his alleged crimes. “He wasn’t deposed, and now he’s not available to defend himself,” he says. “Any restitution that they might have sought for victims or forfeiture of assets in connection with the prosecution all effectively disappear.”

The strength of any potential civil cases could hinge on what federal prosecutors uncover in what they say will be an ongoing investigation.

In a statement released Saturday, Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking case will continue. Berman said his office’s investigation into the “conduct charged in the Indictment — which included a conspiracy count — remains ongoing.” The mention of the conspiracy count suggested prosecutors may be turning their focus to Epstein’s past associates.

It remains unclear who, if anyone, might become the focus of any widening investigation. Just one day before Epstein was found dead, court filings in a lawsuit against one of his longtime confidantes, Ghislaine Maxwell, were unsealed. According to the Miami Herald, in a deposition Maxwell denied allegations that she helped Epstein acquire girls or young women.

“The prosecutors have said that they’re continuing to investigate. Now, they didn’t bring charges against any of the co-conspirators when they did charge Epstein, so I’m not sure how likely it will be,” said Levenson. “But there’s a lot of pressure on them now, given that Epstein’s gone, to find out who else was involved and whether they can be criminally charged.”

While federal prosecutors press ahead with their investigation, Paul Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, says he intends to double down on the work he’s been doing for the last 11 years — trying to make it possible for federal prosecutors in Florida to go after certain alleged co-conspirators in what he calls the financier’s “large criminal apparatus.”

In 2008, Epstein was convicted in state court but shielded from federal prosecution under a plea deal that granted him — as well as four unnamed co-conspirators and “any potential co-conspirators” — immunity from all criminal charges, the Miami Herald reported.

Epstein pleaded guilty to two counts of solicitation of prostitution, including one with a minor, and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but was allowed to leave for work five days a week and was released five months early. Former U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta resigned from his post last month after facing scrutiny for his role in brokering the deal during his time as a U.S. attorney.

Cassell, who represents four of Epstein’s alleged victims, is pushing to get the non-prosecution agreement thrown out — a move that could expose any of Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators to federal prosecution in Florida. He says it could also open doors for federal prosecutors in New York.

In February, a judge ruled that the agreement had violated the victims’ rights. Now, says Cassell, the judge must decide what the remedy for that violation should be. If the judge decides to toss out the agreement, prosecutors in Florida could have a new path toward pursuing charges against Epstein’s associates.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/08/12/750337204/with-epsteins-death-accusers-seek-new-legal-recourse

Hong Kong’s international airport — one of the busiest in Asia — had emerged as a key protest target before today’s mass gathering, as anti-government demonstrators looked to take their message directly to the international community.

At the airport over the weekend, leaflets in Chinese, English, French, Korean, Japanese and other languages were handed out to arriving international visitors, explaining the causes of the unrest — as protesters see it — and the demands of the opposition movement.

Showcasing the slick design that has characterized the protests, other pamphlets and posters also advertised planned demonstrations as “new tourist spots,” handed out airline tickets “to freedom” and advised tourists what to do if they were caught in the protests during their visit.

The economy takes a hit: While China is Hong Kong’s most important trading partner, the city is an international business and financial hub, and the economy is already showing signs of hurting as a result of the protests.

Businesses, both international and local, in Hong Kong have also faced pressure and accusations of acting in concert or sympathizing with the protesters. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier and a major local employer, has been ordered by Chinese aviation authorities to ban staff who took part in protests from traveling to China.

The PR battle: By appealing to the international community, and making sure it is their message that most foreigners are seeing, protesters have shown themselves adept at public relations. Meanwhile despite carrying out regular press briefings, the Hong Kong government has at times appeared at a loss as to how to engage with residents and protesters.

Read more analysis here.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/hong-kong-protests-airport-intl-hnk/index.html

JEFFREY Epstein kept “meticulously detailed” diaries of his friendships which could come back to haunt his powerful pals, reports claim.

The billionaire paedo, who died from an apparent suicide on Saturday, was once friends with Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

The Queen put on a show of support for Prince Andrew earlier today after Epstein was found dead in prison
Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein in New York in 2011Credit: Jae Donnelly

He is understood to have kept a secret diary detailing his friendships with the rich and famous as an “insurance policy”, according to the Mirror.

Former financier Epstein, 66, is believed to have killed himself in jail – days after being taken off suicide watch.

His death came hours after a Manhattan court released a 1,200-page dossier detailing lurid abuse allegations against him.

The explosive papers also named some of the world’s elite leaders and politicians.

They were unsealed in a legal tangle between Brit socialite Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s ex-lover — and Virginia Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre has alleged that she was procured by “madame” Maxwell, 57, the daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell, as a teenage “sex slave” for Epstein.

In previous court claims, she alleged she had sex Prince Andrew when she was a teen.

Prince Andrew pictured with Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell in the rear, in early 2001Credit: Collect
The New York Post’s front page shows Epstein being wheeled into hospital after he was found unresponsive in his jail cellCredit: New York Post
His death came hours after a Manhattan court released a 1,200-page dossierCredit: AP:Associated Press

US court papers also alleged the Duke of York touched a woman’s breast as she sat on his lap and played with a Spitting Image puppet of him.

Johanna Sjoberg alleged he touched her breast in 2001 at Epstein’s New York home, according to court papers.

In the documents Sjoberg said: “I just remember someone suggesting a photo, and they told us to go get on the couch. And so Andrew and Virginia sat on the couch, and they put the puppet, the puppet on her lap.

“And so then I sat on Andrew’s lap, and I believe on my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine,” she said, saying it was done in a “joking manner”.

Buckingham Palace has strenuously denied the allegations.

“Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue,” a spokesman for Buckingham Palace said:

“It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts.

“Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”

A court struck out the allegations against Prince Andrew in 2015.

The allegations against him go back to the 2000s

2005 – Parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. A police search of the property found photos of girls throughout the house.

2006 – He is charged with multiple counts of unlawful sexual acts with a minor.

2007 – Epstein’s lawyers put together a plea deal for Epstein, who was the 54.

He agreed to plead guilty to two felony prostitution charges in state court,

In exchange, he and his accomplices received immunity from federal sex-trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life.

2008 – Appears in court to plead guilty on two lesser counts and sentenced to a 18 months in jail and was released early in 2009

July 2019 – Arrested charges of child sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

Prosecutors accused him in a grand jury indictment of paying dozens of girls as young as 14 to engage in sex acts with him at his New York and Florida properties from 2002 to 2005.

Pleaded not guilty and could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

More than a dozen women have now come forward with more sex abuse allegations.

August 2019 – Hundreds of pages of court documents were unsealed alleging new details of sexual abuse claims against Epstein and several associates.

August 10 2019 – The twisted tycoon dies after apparently hanging himself in his prison cell.

Named in the court papers on Friday – along with Prince Andrew, 59 – were former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and financier Glenn Dubin.

Ms Giuffre has previously claimed that a “foreign president” and a “well-known prime minister” were caught up in the sordid affair.

A source has since claimed Epstein forged relationships with the rich and famous because it brought him “protection”.

“He kept a diary in meticulous detail in case he ever needed it,” the insider told the Mirror.

“One former congressman said there are a lot of people ‘breathing a huge sigh of relief’ now Jeff is dead.

“They should hold their breath for a long time to come. It ain’t over.”

Clinton and Trump both said they hadn’t seen Epstein in years and knew nothing of his alleged misconduct when new charges were brought against him last month.

Lawyers for several women who say they were sexually abused by Epstein plan to file lawsuits this week against his estate.

The Queen put on a show of support for Prince Andrew earlier today after Epstein was found dead in prison.

In a determined display of unity, Her Majesty invited her son to ride alongside her in her car as they were taken to church at Balmoral.

Her backing came 24 hours after his financier friend was found “unresponsive” in his cell where he was awaiting trial accused of sex trafficking.

Andrew had learned of Epstein’s death while at Balmoral with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and their two daughters on Saturday.

Jeffrey Epstein was a US financier who was convicted of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution in 2008.

He was arrested on July 6, 2019 for sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York.

Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019 on sex trafficking charges.

Court documents allege that at least 40 underage girls were brought to Epstein’s mansion for sexual encounters.

He was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

FBI agents are also said to have broken down the door to his Manhattan townhouse.

He pleaded not guilty to child sex trafficking charges in New York and faced 45 years in prison if found guilty.

On July 18, a federal judge said that the disgraced financier presented was a “danger to the community” and must stay in one of New York’s toughest prisons while he awaited his trial over the sex trafficking accusations.

The shamed financier was locked up amid fears he could have fled the country.

Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of procuring underage girls for himCredit: Getty – Contributor
Epstein and Maxwell pictured with then-property developer Donald Trump and Melania in early 2000Credit: Getty – Contributor
Epstein pictured with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1997Credit: Getty – Contributor

By Sharon Churcher, the journalist who broke the story

FOR Prince Andrew, the death of Jeffrey Epstein will come as a huge shock.

There can be little doubt they were close — their friendship endured despite Epstein’s time in jail in 2008 when he served 13 months after admitting soliciting a prostitute and procuring a girl under 18 for prostitution.

There are 16 numbers for the Duke of York in Epstein’s contacts book.

Described as the “Holy Grail” in an FBI affidavit, it was expected to be a key piece of evidence at the financier’s sex trafficking trial.

Claims in US court documents, strenuously denied by Buckingham Palace, that the billionaire paedophile arranged for his teen “sex slave” Virginia Giuffre to entertain the Queen’s son with a romp in a London bathtub have been a crucial part of the investigation into Epstein’s sleazy operation.

Just days after I broke the story of Giuffre’s claims, FBI agents flew to Australia to interview her.

She told me she would fully co-operate with them — but then burst into tears as she said Epstein had employed goons to try to scare her into silence.

Epstein’s billions undoubtedly played a role in preventing witnesses from coming forward — so now the truth perhaps will finally emerge.


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Here are a few things I know firsthand about being in jail. First and foremost, you have virtually no control over your life and surroundings. You can’t get so much as an aspirin without authorization. In most jails, you can’t wear a belt, or shoelaces, or keep a razor in your cell. And in a well-run jail, high-profile prisoners have virtually no chance of killing themselves.

So the alleged suicide of Jeffrey Epstein, the 66-year-old financier with powerful friends who was about to stand trial for allegedly sexually abusing dozens of girls, many of them underage, is particularly unfathomable — and outrageous.

Epstein was placed on suicide watch on July 23 after being found semi-conscious in his cell with marks on his neck, in what prison officials described at the time as a failed suicide attempt. He was removed from suicide watch six days later, on July 29, and returned to a segregated area of the prison with extra security known as the special housing unit.

Officials told me Sunday that the prison’s psychological team had evaluated Epstein on a daily basis after his alleged initial suicide attempt and had found him to be no risk to himself or to others. Officials said that Epstein had met for many hours each day with his legal team, and that both he and his lawyers had repeatedly assured the prison that he did not want to kill himself and had asked MCC to remove him from the suicide watch.

Finally, officials said, at least one member of Epstein’s legal team was with him until 6:30 on the Friday evening before his death. None of his legal team — Reid Weingarten, Marty Weinberg, Michael Miller, or Marc Fernich — would comment about their client’s emotional and mental state the night before his death and during the last six days of his incarceration.

Under the prison’s rules and procedures, Epstein was supposed to be given a cellmate and monitored by prison guards every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day after being removed from suicide watch. Prison experts believe that having a cellmate helps deter suicide. Neither officials nor Epstein’s legal team would comment on whether those procedures were followed, but at least one official familiar with the episode said that they were not.

Epstein had a cellmate before his initial alleged suicide attempt, but cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione was not returned to share a cell with him after Epstein was placed on watch and then removed from the list, one official said. The official said Epstein was alone in his cell for some time before his death — again, in violation of the prison’s rules and procedures.

If confirmed, such disclosures about what appear to be failures in Epstein’s detention at MCC can only intensify questions and suspicions about his death. “This facility is known for being deeply troubled,” one official said, though others cautioned that the DOJ’s and the prison’s own investigation were in its initial stages and that facts could change as the inquiry progressed.

My own relatively small brush with America’s justice system was profoundly different from Epstein’s. Unlike him, I was jailed voluntarily. Then a journalist with The New York Times, I chose to spend three months at Alexandria Detention Center near Washington in 2005 rather than identity my sources to an overzealous prosecutor pursuing the leaking of classified information.

Epstein had no choice but jail. Unlike ADC, a Virginia-state-run jail, MCC is one of two federal pretrial facilities in New York City. Known as “Manhattan’s Guantanamo” for holding prisoners charged with terrorist crimes, it has a poor reputation.

While both ADC and MCC are high-security detention facilities that hold high-profile prisoners, my own experience as Inmate #45570083 has led me to conclude that Epstein — Inmate #76318-054 — should have lived to face his accusers, and that in a well-run prison, he would have.

I shun conspiracy theories — but based on the little that prison officials have said so far, and what I know of life in jail, Epstein’s death is deeply troubling. No one should die of unnatural causes in jail. The investigations must not rest until what happened is revealed.

Adapted from City Journal.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2019/08/11/jeffrey-epsteins-suicide-in-jail-is-unfathomable/