President Donald Trump says he’s not happy about North Korea’s recent military tests. This comes at the same time says the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf because the Iranians “were threatening.” (May 9) AP, AP
President Donald Trump’s attempt to make a “great deal” with North Korea over its nuclear program appears increasingly in peril as Kim Jong Un has ordered new missile tests and directed his country’s military “to cope with any emergency.”
“Nobody’s happy,” Trump said Thursday after North Korea launched short-range missiles for the second time in less than a week. On Friday, Kim told his forces to be on high alert after the U.S. seized a large cargo ship that was attempting to smuggle coal out of North Korea in violation of United Nations Security Council sanctions.
“(Kim) stressed the need to further increase the capability of the defense units in the forefront area and on the western front to carry out combat tasks and keep full combat posture,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a state media outlet that rarely quotes Pyongyang’s leader directly, reported. KCNA said Kim “set forth important tasks for further increasing the strike ability” of North Korea’s weapon systems.
Analysts said the implications for Trump’s diplomatic efforts at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula were not entirely clear, and that while North Korea’s escalating rhetoric and military preparedness did not signal war, it showed how far apart the two nations were after two historic summits between Trump and North Korea’s leader.
“These new developments show that neither country is able to sustain any kind of negotiation beyond the summits,” said Waheguru Pal Singh, a defense and foreign policy expert at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, who has also consulted for the United Nations on international peace and security issues.
“For me, the key marker will be if the U.S. resumes joint military exercises with South Korea, and how the North reacts,” he said, referring to longstanding annual large-scale Washington-Seoul military drills Trump ended in March to reduce tensions.
About 28,000 U.S. troops plus thousands more family members and Department of Defense employees are stationed in South Korea, and their presence, and the joint military exercises, have for years been a source of North Korean anger.
The projectiles North Korea launched Saturday, and then Thursday, were the first since Pyongyang paused missile launches in late 2017. All splash-landed in the Pacific.
Trump has refused to yield to North Korean demands to lift economic sanctions.
South Korea and U.S. intelligence analysts are still examining the missiles, but Michael Elleman, a missile defense expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank with offices in London and Washington, said they resemble the Russian-designed Iskander, which has a range of about 200 miles and can fit a warhead.
“Iskander can exploit gaps in South Korean and American missile-defense coverage,” Elleman wrote in a blog post on 38 North, a Koreas-focused website.
There was further evidence that North Korea may be ramping up its military capabilities even as the Trump administration has insisted the president has maintained a good relationship with Kim despite summits in Singapore and Vietnam that ended with no tangible denuclearization steps for Pyongyang.
On Thursday night, Beyond Parallel, a program affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a global affairs think tank, published new satellite images that appeared to show that North Korea has been secretly operating a missile base that it has never previously disclosed.
In its analysis of the images, Beyond Parallel said that, though unconfirmed, the “Yusang-ni” base may house intercontinental ballistic missiles with a “first strike” capability against targets located throughout East Asia, the Pacific and the U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has previously said that any missile tests by North Korea involving long-range or intercontinental missiles would be a diplomatic red line.
“It is evident that Trump’s diplomatic strategy has reached an impasse,” said Richard Caplan, a professor of international relations at Oxford University, England. “And trade frictions with China mean that he can’t count on Beijing to rein Kim in,” he added, referring to fraught trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.
North Korea relies on China for aid, fuel and other imports. Beijing has traditionally acted as a buffer between Pyongyang, a close ally, and Washington. Beijing’s escalating trade war with Washington may make it feel less inclined to act as a referee.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is embroiled in another front: Iran.
The White House has increasingly appeared to risk military confrontation with Tehran following U.S. and Israeli intelligence warnings that Iran or its proxies could be planning attacks on U.S. troops and facilities in the Middle East.
Yet the vast majority of Iran-watchers and experts have accused the Trump administration, in particular Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, of potentially inflating the intelligence because of an almost obsessive dislike for Iran.
“Trump is treating North Korea as if it has no nuclear weapons, and Iran as if it does,” said Singh, the defense expert at New York University, referring to what he said was the president’s apparent willingness to take Kim at his word that he wants to denuclearize while ignoring repeated verifications from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that Tehran has been complying with the 2015 nuclear accord Trump withdrew the U.S. from.
“It’s a very unorthodox approach.”
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A woman dressed in a traditional gown pays her respects at statues of late North Korean leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. Unaware of reports his eldest son – and current leader Kim Jong Uns half-brother – was killed just days ago in what appears to have been a carefully planned assassination, North Koreans marked the birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il on Thursday as they do every year. Eric Talmadge, AP
Azalea, whose Korean name is “Dalle”, a 19-year-old female chimpanzee, smokes a cigarette at the Central Zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea Oct. 19, 2016. According to officials at the newly renovated zoo, which has become a favorite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it was re-opened in July, the chimpanzee smokes about a pack a day. They insist, however, that she does not inhale. Wong Maye-E, AP
A picture released by the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling North Korean Workers Party, on Sept. 8, 2015, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center front, and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, second from right, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and first vice-president of the Council of State, watching an art performance by the Moranbong Band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 7, 2015. Bermudez led a Cuban delegation to North Korea to mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Korea and Cuba. Rodong Sinmun, European Pressphoto Agency
Men and women pump their fists in the air and chant “defend!” as they carry propaganda slogans calling for reunification of their country during the “Pyongyang Mass Rally on the Day of the Struggle Against the U.S.,” attended by approximately 100,000 North Koreans to mark the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at the Kim Il Sung stadium, Thursday, June 25, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The month of June in North Korea is known as the “Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism Month” and it’s a time for North Koreans to swarm to war museums, mobilize for gatherings denouncing the evils of the United States and join in a general, nationwide whipping up of the anti-American sentiment. Wong Maye-E, AP
North Koreans gather in front of a portrait of their late leader Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, paying respects to their late leader Kim Jong Il, to mark the third anniversary of his death, Wednesday Dec. 17 at Pyong Chon District in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea marked the end of a three-year mourning period for the late leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong Un, to put a more personal stamp on the way the country is run. Kim Kwang Hyon, AP
“Si me quieren odiar por ayudar, quiero que me odien con todas sus fuerzas” , dice Karla Morales Rosales, abogada de 29 años y activista de Derechos Humanos, que empezó una de las primeras cruzadas de ayuda, desde la sociedad civil, para los damnificados del terremoto. Su respuesta se da ante la serie de comentarios negativos y hasta insultos que ha recibido en su cuenta de twitter @KarlaMoralesR, que la acusan de estar aupada por la oposición. Pero asimismo son más los comentarios positivos que recibe de apoyo a su gestión.
“No he leído todo lo que han escrito de mí, estoy demasiado ocupada llevando ayuda. Además no entiendo por qué me atacan si estoy trabajando con ellos. Me llamó Luis Valverde, el viceministro del Magap (Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería, Acuacultura y Pesca) que trabaja conjuntamente con nosotros en San Vicente y quien me aclaró que no había ninguna disposición para que los militares confisquen donaciones”, indica desde el centro de acopio en el club de la urbanización Terra Nostra, donde vive.
Añade que también la llamó personal de la Cancillería para ayudar en la entrega de filtros de agua donados a su cruzada. “A nadie le he dicho: no me ayuden”, puntualiza.
Desde la noche del 16 de abril, Karla, que se considera mitad manabita ya que su madre es de Bahía de Caráquez, se puso manos a la obra y escribió un tuit pidiendo donaciones que podían llevar a su casa, ya que a las dos de la tarde del domingo 17 ella viajaba llevando la ayuda. La madrugada de ese domingo, su esposo, el argentino Ezequiel Castro, bombero voluntario, viajó a Manabí y desde entonces dirige el centro de acopio en San Vicente.
Justamente en San Vicente, recuerda ella, que va y viene de Manabí, “se nos acercó el coronel Gómez, del Ejército, encargado de esa zona, y nos pidió que le enseñáramos cómo trabajábamos y literalmente se nos quitó el sombrero; desde entonces trabaja con nosotros”.
A partir de ese primer tuit, recuerda que el domingo 17 se sentó en la vereda de su casa a esperar la ayuda. Eran las nueve y llegó el primero, después el segundo y llegaron muchos más. Ella, que pensaba llevar un camión, partió ese primer día con 28 camiones con donaciones. Desde entonces se han hecho 198 viajes con donaciones, entre camiones trailers y contenedores y 80 vuelos de avionetas. Hasta el jueves, la ayuda desde el centro de acopio estaba avaluada en unos 3 millones de dólares.
Los aportes no solo han venido de la sociedad civil y la empresa privada, el Municipio de Quito la buscó para colaborar con la asistencia sanitaria y el Municipio de Guayaquil la ayudó con donaciones para 190 familias en una montaña. “Que me busquen me alegra porque significa que hemos hecho un buen trabajo, pero me sorprende, porque yo debería sumarme al trabajo de ellos, no al revés”, dice con sencillez Karla, delgada, menudita, con experiencia de trabajo en organismos internacionales como la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y en las Naciones Unidas. También ha trabajado en cruzadas humanitarias en Colombia, México y Perú. Precisamente gracias a sus contactos el domingo pasado llegaron treinta médicos de la Patrulla Aérea Civil Colombiana, una organización privada sin fines de lucro. (I)
Por si no lo han visto, este es el trabajo de los voluntarios en Gye y Manabí. Personas comunes haciendo milagros https://t.co/TyI9QaSYkY
La procuradora General de la Nación, Alejandra Gils Carbó, dictaminó a favor de confirmar la sentencia que frenó los aumentos en la tarifa de gas y consideró que la falta de audiencia pública para llevar a cabo la medida restringió los derechos constitucionales de información, consulta y participación de los usuarios y consumidores.
Además, Gils Carbó recomendó a la Corte Suprema rechazar el planteo del Gobierno nacional que justifica los aumentos sin consulta en el marco de las leyes de emergencia, que obliga a realizar audiencias solo para la Revisión Integral de Tarifas y no para aumentos transitorios, al advertir que el tarifazo “impacta, de manera inmediata e irreversible, en el acceso a un servicio básico y en la planificación de gastos familiares y costos empresariales” por lo que deja de lado “el carácter transitorio”.
El dictamen de la procuradora general recomendó a la Corte Suprema mantener la decisión de la Sala II de la Cámara Federal de Apelaciones de La Plata que declaró la nulidad de las resoluciones 28/2016 y 31/2016 del Ministerio de Energía y Minería de la Nación y ordenó que se diera marcha atrás con el nuevo marco tarifario para el servicio de gas.
Gils Carbó consideró “adecuada” la interpretación del tribunal platense sobre la la Ley 24.076 de Gas Natural que invalida la implementación de nuevas tarifas “sin la realización previa de una audiencia pública”, ya que esa acción garantiza “el derecho constitucional de información, consulta y participación de los usuarios y consumidores previsto en el artículo 42 de la Constitución Nacional”.
En ese sentido, la procuradora señaló que “si bien es cierto que el mérito o conveniencia de una política pública es una cuestión que excede el ámbito de una revisión judicial, no es menos cierto que tales políticas deben implementarse con acatamiento a los límites que resultan del marco regulatorio legal específico en la materia, y sin vulnerar los derechos y garantías constitucionales reconocidos a favor de los usuarios y consumidores”.
Gils Carbó destacó la función del Poder Judicial para “controlar que los restantes poderes del Estado no se extralimiten en el ejercicio de sus facultades y respeten el ordenamiento jurídico vigente”.
Por eso, en su dictamen, la procuradora indicó que tanto la ley 24.076 como el decreto 1738/92 —que reglamenta el régimen de gas— fijan como objetivo “la determinación de tarifas justas y razonables, a la vez que consagran los principios de accesibilidad, gradualidad, coherencia, progresividad y previsibilidad”. Mientras que “el artículo 42 de la Constitución Nacional, incorporado en la reforma de 1994, otorgó máxima jerarquía a los derechos de información, consulta y participación de los usuarios y consumidores como así también a la protección de sus intereses económicos”.
El dictamen, difundido por en la página de Fiscales.gob.ar, también detalla que el tarifazo se debe al resultado del incremento conjunto de los tres componentes de la tarifa de gas: el precio del gas en el Punto de Ingreso al Sistema de Transporte (PIST), la tarifa de transporte, y la tarifa de distribución (art. 37, ley 24.076).
A partir de esa información, Gils Carbó resaltó que “resulta determinante apreciar que el precio del gas en PIST representa, en la actualidad, más del setenta por ciento (70 por ciento) de la tarifa de gas, tal como señala el Estado Nacional en su recurso extraordinario” y frente a ello “la postura del Estado Nacional —orientada a excluir del ámbito de la audiencia pública las cuestiones vinculadas al precio del gas en PIST— implica restringir sustancialmente la eficacia de la audiencia pública para garantizar los derechos constitucionales”.
La titular del Ministerio Público Fiscal (MPF) consideró que de esta manera se “recorta el debate sobre la accesibilidad, gradualidad, coherencia, progresividad y previsibilidad sobre el componente más determinante de la tarifa final en el marco de un aumento extraordinario”.
Además, Gils Carbó advirtió que los amparos y acciones judiciales presentadas en todo el país contra los decretos del tarifazo demostraron que se “pone en juego derechos humanos y fundamentales reconocidos en la Constitución Nacional y en los instrumentos internacionales” como la protección del derecho de toda persona a un nivel de vida adecuado para sí y para su familia, lo cual comprende alimentación y vivienda adecuada, así como la protección del derecho a trabajar, a comerciar y a ejercer toda industria lícita.
“El acceso al servicio básico del gas es indispensable para la continuidad de la actividad económica de los comerciantes, las empresas —en especial, las pequeñas y medianas—, las fábricas recuperadas y las cooperativas, de las cuales depende en gran medida la conservación de las fuentes de trabajo”, resaltó la procuradora en su sentencia.
Además, la titular del MPF recomendó a la Corte Suprema rechazar el planteo del Estado Nacional según el cual las normas cuestionadas fueron dictadas en el marco de las leyes de emergencia, sobre cuya base el Ejecutivo dispuso que la audiencia solo regía para la Revisión Integral de Tarifas y no para aumentos transitorios.
Gils Carbó advirtió que el “aumento significativo que impacta, de manera inmediata e irreversible, en el acceso a un servicio básico y en la planificación de gastos familiares y costos empresariales” deja de lado “el carácter transitorio que le atribuyó el Estado Nacional a las medidas cuestionadas”.
Para sostener ese análisis, la procuradora citó el informe del Poder Ejecutivo presentado ante el tribunal supremo en el que se reconoce que “el 38 por ciento de los usuarios se ve afectado por aumentos que superan el 400 por ciento” y que la incidencia de la suba es “más severa” para los comerciantes y Pymes que deben “afrontar aumentos que en promedio superan 500 por ciento e incluso en algunos casos alcanzan el 1500 por ciento”.
One agency, on the other hand, assessed with “moderate confidence” that the first human infection “most likely was the result of a lab-associated incident, probably involving experimentation, animal handling, or sampling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” the summary said. That agency gave weight to “the inherently risky nature of work on coronaviruses,” the summary said.
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
A host on liberal network MSNBC took aim at Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday, following the court’s recent decision not to block the new Texas abortion law.
Although not mentioning Barrett by name, it was clear that host Tiffany Cross was referring to the justice who was appointed to the nation’s highest court in 2020 by former President Donald Trump.
The insult came after Cross accused Republicans of “hypocrisy” for opposing abortion while supporting Second Amendment rights to gun ownership and rejecting coronavirus restrictions.
“It’s the hypocrisy for me, these Republican lawmakers fix their mouths claiming they’re pro-life, but they allow Texans to carry guns with no permit or no training,” Cross said, according to Mediaite.com.
“They’re against the life-saving vaccine and mask mandates,” she added.
MSNBC host Tiffany Cross.
Later, she said, “This entire thing, about protecting the fetus when they care so little for life in this country, is beyond comprehension. If it feels like they really must hate women in Texas and all across the country, how is it possible the Supreme Court allowed this to stand?
“I know that they haven’t ruled on it, but they can rule later,” Cross continued. “But we have an actual handmaid on the court. So I have to tell you, I’m not excited about depending on them to protect me and my right to choose.”
“Handmaid” refers to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood that tells of a future in which the U.S. government has been overthrown and replaced by a society in which women’s only role is to serve men. It subsequently became a TV series starring Elisabeth Moss.
The Washington Post reported in October 2020 that Barrett held the title of “handmaid” as a member of a religious group called People of Praise. At the time, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, criticized the Post article as a “religious smear” directed at Barrett.
Elisabeth Moss plays Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” (MGM)
Late Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling, opting to decline to block a new Texas abortion law that took effect earlier in the day. The law bans most abortions in the state and allows private citizens to sue anyone who’s allegedly involved in an abortion, other than the patient.
Backing the majority decision were justices Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Dissenting were the court’s three liberal justices – Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer – plus Chief Justice John Roberts. Kagan referred to the Texas law as “patently unconstitutional.”
Then on Friday a Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order shielding Texas abortion clinics from lawsuits filed by anti-abortion groups for two weeks, with a hearing on the injunction scheduled for Sept. 13.
Legal observers have claimed that the Texas law could lay the groundwork for overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion throughout the U.S.
Un despechado alemán tras enterarse que supuestamente su esposa lo engañaba con otro decidió partir por mitad los bienes de ambos y rematarlos en eBay. El hombre creó un usuario de eBay para poner en venta sus “posesiones” luego de la “división” de bienes. Todas las cosas, desde un auto Opel Corsa, una MacBook Pro, un iPhone, un sillón, la cama, las sillas, un disco de vinilo de REM y hasta un osito de peluche tienen una particularidad: estaban cortadas por la mitad. Además el hombre publicó un video en YouTube en el que se lo ve trabajando con empeño en su tarea y afirma: “Gracias por 12 “hermosos” años, Laura. Te llevaste la mitad que te merecías”. Y en la información del video agrega: “De verdad te ganaste la mitad. Saludos a mi sucesor”. Resultó después que la noticia era falsa.
This week is projected to be one of the coldest weeks in the continental United States in at least a generation, if not ever. The upper-midwest is the epicenter, with Chicago in reach of its second-coldest day ever and wind chills at least 50 degrees below 0: colder than Antarctica or Mt. Everest are this week, but most of the country will be impacted: an estimated 75% of the United States will see temperatures below zero this week.
Temperatures in some parts of the country will be cold enough for frostbite to set in in as few 5 or 10 minutes on exposed skin.
Needless to say, there’s going to be a lot of cancelled swim practices in the coming days, which can be tough timing with the spring championship season just over the horizon. So, if you’re in one of these frigid wonderlands, and are trying to stave off a premature taper, here’s 5 tips for how to keep your season on track:
1) Drylands – The most obvious thing to do: drylands! There are good routines all over the net, or you can ask your coach to send you one. The key to success here is to approach it like you would a practice. Don’t just haphazardly do some pushups when you’re bored; write down a routine, plan a time to do it in, and finish the entire workout – even if it’s hard. Just be sure that whatever you hook your stretch cord onto is screwed securely into a stud. Don’t rely on a towel rack. Alternatively, if you have a strong metal chair in your house, you can hook the stretch cord onto that – just pile up enough heavy things on the chair to overcome the rating of your stretch cords. Or better yet…stick with body weight. Probably a bad day to get kicked out of the house for putting holes in the walls.
2) Don’t “Boredom Eat” – You’re not hibernating, but research shows that humans have a natural proclivity to overeat in the winter. The best way to stave off bored eating: don’t get bored (see #1). Come up with a project to entertain you, reorganize your closet, I dunno, you know what makes you bored. Just don’t do it! Soup is a great meal for times like this – lots of vegetables, a good hot meal on a good cold day, and most soups are low in calories, so if you go digging through the fridge for an afternoon snack, it won’t break the caloric bank.
3) Don’t SnowSwim – Did you read the above? Frostbite in minutes? Just because one of y’all got y’allselves on a T-Mobile commercial doing it (who is this??) doesn’t mean you needa be out SnowSwimming when the windchill is -55. Save that for when it’s 30 and warming back up from the overnight snow. More broadly: don’t do anything stupid. We need everyone back in the water safely when this blows past, and all of that extra energy has to be spent somehow. Revert back to #1 if you find yourself antsy.
4) Catch up on Schoolwork – I know, studying during a free day off? Sounds super lame. But, you’re not really sacrificing much (probably not many social gatherings going on when it’s that cold out), and you can earn some hours for later in the semester when you’re beat down by the grind. Make an investment in yourself.
5) Or…just swim! – It’s -53C (-60 Fahrenheit) in Winnipeg, and people still live there! But seriously. Ian Grunewald, head coach of the Sst. James Seals Swim Club in Winnipeg, posted these photos on Tuesday. The temperature (not the windchill) has to be colder than -50C or colder to cancel schools, and the pool never closes because rec centers serve as emergency warming centres (eh).
Dangerous storms fired up in southwest and central Kansas Friday night in what’s shaping up to be an active few-day stretch of stormy weather.
Friday’s isolated storms produced a few large, damaging tornadoes. You can follow updates as storms popped up and advanced below:
Friday nigh wrap
The threat for severe weather begins to weaken as late Friday night roles into early Saturday morning, but several central-Kansas counties remain in tornado watches until 2 a.m.
Another round of severe storms could impact central and eastern Kansas Saturday. The main threats will be large hail and damaging wind gusts.
Another storm system will move into the central plains for the start of the work week. This could bring more severe weather to Kansas on Monday, with large hail, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes possible.
The severe weather threat Tuesday moves to the east, into eastern Kansas.
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11:45 p.m.
The lone TORNADO WARNING in effect for southern and eastern portions of Barton County is allowed to expire. This storm did produce a tornado that was on the ground for about a minute near the Barton/Stafford County, about six miles south of Great Bend.
Besides the tornado threat, this storm has produced hail and winds of about 60 mph.
We’re getting a closer look at tornado damage from a storm earlier tonight near Bloom in southeast Ford County. The damage was to a home, but there were no reports of injuries.
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11:07 p.m.
A tornado is reported near Radium in eastern Pawnee County,moving northeast toward southern Barton County. This is about 11 miles southwest of the Great Bend area. People in Great Bend should practice caution and take shelter.
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11 p.m.
Damaging wind gusts is the primary threat associated with a severe thunderstorm near Lincoln and a severe thunderstorm warning continuing until 11:30 p.m. for Ellsworth, Lincoln and Russell counties.
There are reports of tornado damage including snapped and twisted power poles near Lewis in eastern Pawnee County.
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10:48 p.m.
A TORNADO WARNING is in effect until 11:15 p.m. is in effect Edwards, Pawnee and Stafford counties. Larned is included among cities with this warning. Other towns in the warning include Pleasant Grove, Pleasant Ridge and Radium.
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10:40 p.m>
The National Weather Service confirms a large, damage-causing tornado near Zook in rural southeast Pawnee County. This storm is moving northeast at about 35 mph.
The tornado crossed K-19 and is expected to stay east of Larned.
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10:28 p.m.
The TORNADO WARNING expires in Russell County. The county remains in a severe thunderstorm warning. This storm carries the potential for more damaging winds. Earlier, 76 mph winds were measured in the city of Russell.
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10:13 p.m.
The National Weather Service confirms a large tornado impacting the Kinsley area is moving northeast at about 35 mph. A Storm Team 12 chaser says this tornado damaged two homes southwest of Kinsley, but no one was injured.
In Russell, 76 mph winds were reported. Russell County remains in a TORNADO WARNING until 10:45 p.m. Stafford and Pawnee counties are also in a tornado warning until 10:45.
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10:02 p.m.
A wedge tornado was confirmed southwest of Kinsley in Edwards County. This storm is south of Highway 50, moving northeast.
A tornado warning is lifted in Ford County, but we are hearing more reports of damage, this report to a home about four miles south of Windhorst.
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9:58 p.m.
A new TORNADO WARNING is in effect for Pawnee, Stafford and Russell counties until 10:45 p.m. A storm capable of producing a tornado is moving northeast from near the town of Gorham at about 50 mph.
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9:45 p.m.
The tornado warning for eastern Ford County, the northwest corner of Kiowa County and southern portions of Edwards County remains in effect until at least 10 p.m.
There are reports of damage to a shed southwest of the city of Ford.
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9:40 p.m.
Our Storm Team 12 spotters say the two tornadoes that were on the ground in southeast Ford County have dissipated, but a new TORNADO WARNING is in effect for eastern Ford County, the northwest corner of Kiowa County and southern portions of Edwards County.
This warning does not include Dodge City nor Greensburg, but people in the Kinsley area should take shelter.
A third tornado did touch down in eastern Ford County, but lifted after a few minutes.
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9:25 p.m.
A tornado-producing storm continues to move northeast at about 40 mph. This storm is not threatening Dodge City, but people in the community of Ford should take cover. There have been two tornadoes confirmed with this storm with both on the ground at the same time.
There are damage reports to a home a few miles outside of Bloom.
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9:15 p.m.
There are two tornadoes on the ground moving through southeastern Ford County, moving through a rural area southwest of the town of Ford.
These tornadoes are well to the southeast of Dodge City and not moving toward the city.
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9:05 p.m.
The tornado in southern Ford County heavily damaged a structure (possibly a home) northeast of Minneola as it remains on the ground, tracking northeast. This tornado also overturned a semi between Minneola and Fowler.
Counties under TORNADO WARNINGS include Ford, Meade, Gray, Hodgeman, Ness and Clark counties.
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8:55 p.m.
A tornado touched down in the southern part of Ford County has picked up momentum, moving northeast. This rope tornado northeast of Minneola will not threaten Dodge City.
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8:40 p.m.
A brief tornado was reported with a storm north of Fowler in northern Meade County. This storm is moving northeast.
A TORNADO WARNING remains in effect for Meade, Clark, Gray and Ford counties until at least 9:15 p.m.
A TORNADO WARNING in Hodgeman County remains in effect until at least 9 p.m. Areas of concern include northern Meade County, north of Fowler and west of Jetmore in Hodgeman County.
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8:20 p.m.
A TORNADO WARNING is issued for Hodgeman County. Radar indicates rotation with a storm east of Kalvesta. Tennis-ball-sized hail is also a threat with this storm moving northeast at 40 mph.
Earlier this evening, a tornado touched down near Beaver, Okla. Meade County was included in a tornado warning with this storm.
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6 p.m.
As of 6 p.m. tonight (Friday), there are no severe thunderstorm warnings nor immediate tornado threats in Kansas.
Storms that Friday afternoon made their way through northwest Kansas did produce at least a pair of tornadoes in southwest Nebraska, the first of which was reported just north of the Kansas/Nebraska line in Hitchcock County.
In central Kansas, moderate rain and lightning are possible with a storm near Salina, moving northeast. These storm is not severe.
While there are no active warnings in Kansas, a tornado watch remains in effect for several northwest counties until at least 10 p.m.
Another storm threat Saturday includes a low tornado threat, a medium threat for large hail and strong winds and a high threat of flooding rains for much of central and eastern Kansas, including the Wichita area.
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5:30 p.m.
A TORNADO WARNING remains in effect for portions of Hitchcock and Red Willow counties in southwest Nebraska, but the tornado threat is over for Rawlins county in northwest Kansas as this storm continues to move northeast.
The threat for more isolated storms to develop and advance across western Kansas continues as the evening rolls along.
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5:15 p.m.
A TORNADO WARNING is in effect for north central Rawlins County and southeast Hitchcock County in Nebraska until 5;45 p.m.
The storm capable of producing a tornado is 11 miles north of Atwood and moving northeast at 30 mph.
A tornado watch is in effect until at least 10 p.m. for several western-Kansas counties.
Former White House counsel Don McGahn reportedly rebuffed a request from the White House last month to affirm publicly that the president did not obstruct justice.
But McGahn rebuffed those efforts, multiple sources told the Journal, saying the former counsel declined because he did not want to weigh in on the totality of the evidence uncovered by Mueller’s probe beyond the testimony he had already given to the special counsel.
McGahn’s lawyers told the news outlets Friday that the request from White House lawyers had not been perceived as a threat.
“We did not perceive it as any kind of threat or something sinister. It was a request, professionally and cordially made,” said William Burck.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment Friday from The Hill on the reports.
News of the request comes as the House Judiciary Committee has been seeking to compel McGahn’s testimony in the face of White House instructions for the former counsel to ignore the panel’s requests for documents.
“Mr. McGahn is required to appear and provide testimony before the Committee absent a court order authorizing non-compliance, as well as provide a privilege log for any documents withheld,” Nadler wrote.
“Otherwise, the Committee will have no choice but to resort to contempt proceedings to ensure that it has access to the information it requires to fulfill its constitutionally mandated duties,” he added.
Democrats have asserted that the president should face investigation and possible prosecution for obstruction of justice after Mueller wrote in his report that Justice Department policy prevented the agency from taking up prosecution of such allegations.
McGahn left the administration in 2018 after multiple news reports earlier that year revealed the president had asked him to shut down the Mueller investigation, only to back down when McGahn threatened to resign.
LISLE (CBS) — Two retired state troopers and one active state police officer were shot by a woman at Humidor Cigar Lounge on Friday night. The scene was captured on video, before the woman took her own life.
Illinois state police say one of the retired troopers, Gregory Rieves, was killed, shot in the head. The current trooper, Kaiton Bullock, 48, and the third man, who is also a retired special agent trooper, Lloyd Graham, 55, were hurt after a woman fired shots inside a lounge and then killed herself.
Police identified the woman as Lisa V. McMullan of Chicago.
NEW INFORMATION: The 51-year-old woman has been identified as Lisa V. McMullan of Chicago. @cbschicago
The shooting was captured on video, which shows several people sitting in the lounge’s media room watching television. Then a woman in the room got up and fired several shots before turning the gun on herself.
Gregory Rieves
Bullock is a 22-year veteran of the force assigned to the Chicago District and was off duty at the time.
Last night Lisle police arrived with their shields and guns drawn outside the Humidor Lounge near Ogden Avenue and River Drive.
Officers got there around 10:15 p.m. and found four people shot, including McMullan, who was 51 years old.
Police say surveillance video shows the woman sitting in a chair behind the victims when, without provocation, she stands up, pulls out a gun and shoots Rieves, 51, in the head. He died at the hospital.
Fatal shooting inside Humidor Lougne in Lisle. (CBS)
Police say the woman knew the victims, but the details of their relationship wasn’t not immediately known.
She then fired several rounds at two more victims.
Graham and Bullock are both hospitalized in serious condition.
Police say after the woman shot them, she then shot herself in the head.
Police say right now there is no danger to the public.
The DuPage County Coroner has not released the names of the victims.
“The Illinois State Police family have heavy hearts this morning,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “We are mourning the loss of a retired Trooper, and praying for a full recovery of both our active and retired officers.”
Rieves, who attened Indiana State University, retired in March, 2019 after serving for 25 years.
Asherey Ryan, her 11-month-old son Alonzo, and her fiancé, Reynold Lester were on their way to a pregnancy checkup when, in what seemed like a fraction of a second, they were gone.
“My worst fears came true,” Asherey’s sister, Cotie Davis, said at a gathering of grieving family members Friday. “I used to pray for my sisters all of the time. I had always seen (crashes) on TV. You never expect it to happen to you.”
Asherey was six months pregnant. Her unborn child, whom she planned to name Armani, also died.
“It’s hard to believe I’m never going to see them again. I can’t even imagine staring over her casket. This has definitely taken a huge chunk of me.” Davis told reporters, struggling to contain her emotions.
Authorities believe Nicole Linton, 37, a traveling nurse from Texas, was going at least 80 miles an hour when she plowed her Mercedes into crossing traffic at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues in Windsor Hills Thursday afternoon.
Several vehicles then careened into a gas station in a ball of fire.
Six people were killed and eight others were injured.
On Friday, California Highway Patrol arrested Linton on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter even though she remained hospitalized with undisclosed injuries.
CHP told KTLA that Linton is cooperating with investigators.
Formal charges are expected next week – possibly as early as Monday.
“Why is she still alive?” asked one family member at Friday’s gathering. “Of all these lives that were lost, why is she still alive?”
A health worker grabs at-home COVID-19 test kits to be handed out last month in Youngstown, Ohio. Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for those on their plans, the Biden administration announced Monday.
David Dermer/AP
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David Dermer/AP
A health worker grabs at-home COVID-19 test kits to be handed out last month in Youngstown, Ohio. Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for those on their plans, the Biden administration announced Monday.
David Dermer/AP
The Biden Administration announced Monday new details on how Americans can get free COVID-19 tests – or get reimbursements from their private insurance. This is following up on an announcement the White House made last month.
Under the new policy announced by the White House, individuals covered by a health insurance plan who purchase an over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic test that has been authorized, cleared, or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be able to have those test costs covered by their insurance beginning this Saturday.
Insurance companies and health plans will be required to cover eight free over-the-counter at-home tests per covered individual per month, according to White House officials. For instance, a family of four all on the same plan would be able to get up to 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month.
“We are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a news release Monday.
During Monday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the administration will start to have free COVID tests “out the door in the coming weeks.”
“The contracts (for testing companies) are structured in a way to require that significant amounts are delivered on an aggressive timeline, the first of which should be arriving early next week,” Psaki said.
“We also expect to have details on the website as well as a hotline later this week,” Psaki added.
Today, my administration announced that health insurers will be required to cover the cost of at-home COVID testing kits starting January 15th.
The Biden administration says it is “incentivizing” insurers and group health plans to set up programs that will allow Americans to get the over-the-counter tests (PCR and rapid tests) directly through preferred pharmacies, retailers or other entities with no out-of-pocket costs.
For people whose health care provider has ordered a COVID-19 test, the Biden administration said there will not be a limit on the number of tests that are covered — including at-home tests.
Currently, State Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs must cover FDA-authorized at-home COVID-19 tests without cost-sharing.
Americans who are covered by Medicare already have their COVID-19 diagnostic tests performed by a laboratory, such as PCR and antigen tests, “with no beneficiary cost-sharing when the test is ordered by either a physician, non-physician practitioner, pharmacist, or other authorized health care professional,” the Biden administration says.
Last year, the Biden administration issued guidance saying that both State Medicaid and CHIP programs must cover all types of FDA-authorized COVID-19 tests without cost-sharing.
Liberals have been wanting to get their hands on Donald Trump’s tax returns for years. Now, with Democrats holding a House majority with subpoena power, they have a real possibility of getting them.
But they have to be careful about how they go about it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters this month that she’s aware of the “impatience” on the matter but wants to do it right. “It’s not a question of just sending a letter. You have to do it in a very careful way,” she said, according to NPR.
Democrats are looking into an obscure 1924 law that would allow them to request Trump’s returns from the Treasury Department. Republicans and the White House are preparing for a fight, and even Democrats appear split on how aggressively to proceed.
There are plenty of reasons for Congress to want to take a look at a president’s or candidate’s tax returns: The documents can help lawmakers to identify potential conflicts of interest, suggest ways to reform current tax law, and conduct oversight of the IRS, which is supposed to audit the president’s and vice president’s taxes. And in Trump’s case, the argument for reviewing his tax returns is even clearer. He has refused to separate himself from his vast business empire, and questions about whether he is profiting from the presidency have dogged him his entire tenure in the White House.
“The really clear argument is in favor of simply requiring [releasing tax returns] of everyone,” Joe Thorndike, a tax historian and director of the Tax History Project, told me. “The issue is clearly bigger than Donald Trump, although he is the current problem.”
How Democrats could get Trump’s tax returns, explained
Democrats are looking to invoke Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, a statute dating back to 1924. It authorizes the Ways and Means Committee to get the tax return information (personal or business) of any taxpayer — including the president — from the Treasury Department.
Essentially, that means Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) would request Trump’s returns from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Mnuchin would, theoretically, have tocomply. If he doesn’t, a court battle would likely ensue. The committee then could vote to have some or all of the tax returns released to the rest of the House, so all members would have access to it —increasing the odds they would get out to the public. There’s a debate as to whether that could then be made public; I’ll get to that later.
University of Virginia law professor and former Joint Committee on Taxation chief of staff George Yin laid out how the process would work in testimony earlier this month. He explained that the authority of Congress to request tax return information was added in 1924 as a co-equal branch of government, and before, only the president had such authority to request and disclose tax returns. Per his testimony:
Section 6103(f) does not place any conditions on the exercise of the authority to obtain tax return information by the Ways and Means Committee. Moreover, it provides no basis for the Treasury Secretary to refuse a request. I believe both features were intentional. Since the president at the time had unconditional access to tax returns, Congress wanted to give its committees the same right.
In 1976, Congress made changes to the law in a couple of key ways relevant to today. First, they eliminated language allowing the committee to submit only “relevant or useful” information to the House. But Yin says the committee still needs a reason to send information to the entire House. Second, they eliminated the ability of the president and any congressional committees not related to tax to disclose tax return information to the public. But tax committees still have that authority, meaning Ways and Means, the Joint Committee on Taxation, and the Senate Finance Committee.
Basically, a handful of committees can still lawfully request someone’s tax returns and at the very least send them to the rest of the House or Senate, assuming they have a legitimate purpose for doing so.
But this might not be that big of a hurdle.“Evidence that Trump has abused our tax laws is plentiful,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), who has been making the case for pursuing Trump’s tax returns under Section 6103 essentially since Trump was inaugurated, said in an emailed statement to Vox. He cited a New York Times investigation into Trump and his family’s tax practices that suggested the family for years engaged in a number of schemes to avoid taxes, and leaked pages from Trump’s 1995 and 2005 tax returns; the 1995 ones show a nearly $1 billion loss.
“Americans have a right to know if their president has paid his taxes, if he has followed the law, and if he is free from financial conflicts of interest,” Pascrell continued. “The law is clear. Under 6103, the Ways and Means Committee chairman is entitled to request Trump’s tax returns — and the Treasury secretary is obligated to deliver them. That’s all there is to it.”
Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), now the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, speaks at a news conference in June 2018 in Washington, DC.Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images
Even if they have a plan, it won’t be easy
Neal is proceeding prudently in an effort to be on as solid a footing as possible if and when he asks for Trump’s returns. Dan Rubin, a spokesperson for Neal, told Politico at the start of the year that he wants to “lay out a case about why presidents should be disclosing their tax returns before he formally forces him to do it.”
But whenever they go for it, the White House promises to be ready.Politico’s Nancy Cook reported that the Treasury Department is “readying plans to drag the expected Democratic request for Trump’s past tax filings … into a legal quagmire of arcane legal arguments.” In other words, Mnuchin probably isn’t just going to happily hand over Trump’s taxes. A Treasury Department spokesperson did not return a request for comment on their plans.
In parallel, Republicans are also coming to Trump’s defense, trying to paint Democrats’ efforts as ones of extreme partisanship and arguing that seeking Trump’s tax returns is a breach of privacy. They previewed their arguments at a Ways and Means Committee hearing on tax law and legislation related to presidential tax returns at the start of the month.
“Every single American has a right to privacy and personal information contained in their tax return,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) argued in the hearing. He warned that releasing Trump’s returns would open a “Pandora’s box” for Congress to go after virtually anyone’s returns.
Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center who testified at the hearing, said the slippery slope arguments Republicans employed are absurd. “This is so different. [Trump] oversees the entire executive branch. In my view, the whole request by the Ways and Means Committee ought to pursue their legislative oversight responsibility, part of the checks and balances of the Constitution,” he said.
There’s a debate over whether making Trump’s tax returns public is legal
Richard Nixon was the first president to normalize releasing his tax returns, when questions about his tax practices came to light as part of a lawsuit (completely unrelated to the Watergate break-in). He released his tax returns in December 1973 in an effort to quell suspicions, but that’s not what happened: The Joint Committee on Taxation found he owed about $475,000 to the government.
After Nixon resigned, presidents since started releasing their tax information as a matter of tradition. Trump, however, hasn’t released any — and he doesn’t have any plans to.
But even if Democrats get Trump’s tax returns, it’s legally questionable if they can make the information public.
Ken Kies, the managing director of the Federal Policy Group whom Republicans called to testify in the Ways and Means Committee hearing, testified that it would be a felony for a member of Congress or staff to publicly disclose tax returns, punishable for up to five years in prison. Others, however, disagreed.
Lin told me he believes that Kies is incorrect in his reading and that Trump’s returns or information from them, if they get from the committee to the House, could also be made public. “The act of submitting to the House creates the possibility of public disclosure, and, in fact, that was what Congress intended when it drafted this entire provision,” he said.
Rosenthal concurred, and pointed to a bipartisan Senate Finance Committee report from 2015 that concluded making taxpayer information available to the Senate and the public as part of an investigation into whether the IRS targeted certain political groups “is clearly permissible under section 6103.”
Republicans argue that they’re afraid that committee Democrats will leak Trump’s tax information once they get it. But it’s not clear how much water that argument holds.
“Republicans are trying to feel their way forward on how they can raise objections,” Rosenthal said.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters after signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in the Oval Office in December 2017.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Democrats are building their case
Democrats also appear to be trying to build a case for why they are pursuing Trump’s tax returns so they have a better shot if it does end up in court — a probable outcome. They are on firmer ground pursuing Trump’s tax returns out of their legislative and oversight duties and not because of a partisan fishing expedition.
The key test that Democrats would face in any future court battle comes down to whether they have established that Congress has a legitimate purpose in requesting the returns. Asking for them just to release them immediately, or out of spite or a desire to humiliate, could serve as a reason for a judge to strike down the request.
A couple of court cases serve as precedent in the matter. One is Kilbourn v. Thompson, an 1880 Supreme Court case dealing with whether Congress could compel testimony after the House issued a subpoena related to a bankruptcy. The court essentially ruled that the nature of the dispute was between private parties and wasn’t within Congress’s legislative or oversight scope. Another is McGrain v. Daugherty, a 1927 case related to the Teapot Dome Scandal, a bribery scandal in the federal government. In that case, the party subpoenaed refused to comply with a Senate investigation, and the court held that Congress could compel testimony because in that case it was under its oversight purview.
“My reading is that as long as the inquiry fit within one or both of those two responsibilities [oversight and lawmaking], that should be a legitimate purpose, at least based on this case law,” Lin said.
Democrats appear to be aware of what’s at stake.
“I think the idea here is to avoid the emotion of the moment and make sure that the product stands up under critical analysis,” Neal told CNN in January. “And it will.”
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