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Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer says the app is “deeply troubling”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has called for an investigation into FaceApp, which alters users’ photos to make them look older or younger.
In a letter posted on Twitter, Mr Schumer called it “deeply troubling” that personal data of US citizens could go to a “hostile foreign power”.
Privacy concerns have been raised about the Russian company which developed the app after it went viral in recent days.
FaceApp has previously denied the allegations.
Wireless Lab, a company based in St. Petersburg, says it does not permanently store images, and does not collect troves of data – only uploading specific photos selected by users for editing.
Mr Schumer however has asked that the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate FaceApp.
“I have serious concerns regarding both the protection of the data that is being aggregated as well as whether users are aware of who may have access to it,” his letter reads.
“It’s not clear at this point what the privacy risks are, but what is clear is that the benefits of avoiding the app outweigh the risks,” security officer Bob Lord reportedly told staff.
The company says it has about 80 million active users.
The governor, after hurrying home from vacation, apologized for the leaked texts immediately. “Yes, I use bad language, I send memes, I send sarcastic things,” he told journalists. “I’m not proud of that and when these things happen I start by saying that I apologize.”
But people already had begun to gather on the streets.
The next day, the governor holed up in La Fortaleza, the opulent 16th-century palace that serves as the official governor’s residence. From early morning into the night, he held meetings with the top ranks of his New Progressive Party. First came state lawmakers. Then mayors. Then members of his Cabinet. Then Representative Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting resident commissioner in Congress.
If the governor was to hold on to power, these were the people he needed to remain by his side. But many of them already were worried whether Mr. Rosselló — and, more important, the ruling pro-statehood party — could survive the scandal.
“Internally, all members were really concerned that this might drag down the whole party on the island,” said a person who was at the five-hour meeting with members of the Legislative Assembly, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private conversations. “Everyone was slamming the governor, saying this is only going to get worse.”
One of the mayors, María E. Meléndez of Ponce, left in a huff. She said she felt the governor had glossed over his apology too quickly, trying to divert to future policy actions instead.
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Epstein’s more than $577m in assets were put into a trust, according to reports
Jeffrey Epstein signed a will two days before killing himself in his New York jail cell, US media reports say.
Court papers filed last week in the US Virgin Islands valued Epstein’s estate at more than $577 million (£475m) but listed no details of beneficiaries, the Associated Press reported.
The will, details of which were first reported by the New York Post, directs Epstein’s assets to be put into trust.
Epstein died while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
The New York medical examiner found that the 66-year-old, whose body was discovered on 10 August, died of “suicide by hanging”.
Epstein pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was being held without bail. He faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
The former financier put all of his holdings into a trust called The 1953 Trust, according to a copy of the will published by the New York Post. He signed the document on 8 August.
No details of any beneficiaries are included in the document, which lists assets including more than $56m in cash, more than $14m in fixed income investments and more than $18m in “aviation assets, automobiles and boats”.
Epstein’s collection of fine arts, antiques and other valuables is yet to be appraised, the document says.
Some of Epstein’s alleged victims have said they will go after his assets for damages following his death.
Reports about Epstein’s will came as US Attorney General William Barr announced a major leadership shake-up at the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The acting chief, Hugh Hurwitz, was removed and former BOP director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer named as his replacement.
“Under Dr. Hawk Sawyer’s previous tenure at the Bureau, she led the agency with excellence, innovation, and efficiency, receiving numerous awards for her outstanding leadership,” Mr Barr said in a statement.
He also named former agency official Thomas Kane as her deputy.
Who was Jeffrey Epstein?
New York-born Epstein worked as a teacher before moving into finance. Prior to the criminal cases against him, he was best known for his wealth and high-profile connections.
He was often seen socialising with the rich and powerful, including US President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and the UK’s Prince Andrew.
Media captionFootage appears to show Prince Andrew inside Jeffery Epstein’s New York residence in 2010
In a 2002 profile in New York Magazine, Mr Trump referred to Epstein as a “terrific guy”. But in comments this year, Mr Trump said that he was “not a fan of Jeffrey Epstein”.
What was Epstein charged with?
Epstein was accused of paying girls under the age of 18 to perform sex acts at his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005.
He was arrested on 6 July after landing in New Jersey on his private jet. He avoided similar charges in a controversial secret plea deal in 2008, and instead pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
That plea deal was closely scrutinised in recent weeks and, last month, US Labor Secretary Alex Acosta resigned over his role in it.
Prosecutors also accused Epstein of paying large amounts of money to two potential witnesses ahead of his trial, which was scheduled to take place next year.
Cristiano Ronaldo no anota con el Real Madrid desde la fecha 2 de la fase de grupos de la Champions League. | Fuente: CS Sintesi
Real Madrid logró controlar la euforia del Nápoli y con un gran partido de los volantes Toni Kroos y Casemiro venció 3-1 al Nápoli en el duelo de ida de los octavos de final de la Champions League en el Santiago Bernabéu. Cristiano Ronaldo dejó muchas dudas en cuanto a su producción goleadora, porque en medio de tanta elaboración ofensiva no llegó a anotar.
Ganar y convencer es lo que busca cualquier escuadra, sin embargo el Real Madrid tiene otras demandas, puesto que tener en su plantel al máximo goleador de la historia de la Champions League requiere una excelencia frente a la portería rival.
La crítica a un 3-1 sin discusión al Nápoli se centra en Cristiano Ronaldo, que a pesar de asistir en el segundo gol de Real Madrid, lleva una estadística negativa de casi 5 meses sin anotar en la máxima competición europea. La última vez fue el 27 de septiembre del 2016 en el 2-2 de la fase de grupos ante Borussia Dortmund.
Esta presión por el gol se vuelve más intensa porque el portugués está a 4 festejos de ser el primer jugador de la historia que llega a los 100 tantos en la Champions League, sin duda una marca que anhela lograr antes que su antagonista del Barcelona, Lionel Messi.
La dupla que deslumbró en el Bernabéu fue la de mediocampistas. Los madridistas Toni Kroos y Casemiro, además de anotar, se encargaron de centralizar el partido y controlar el ánimo del Nápoli, que inició con mucha motivación luego de la charla que el mismo Diego Maradona brindó antes del juego.
El duelo de vuelta entre ambos clubes será el 7 de marzo en San Paolo y las opciones de los ‘Partenopei’ están en un triunfo con 2 goles de diferencia.
Cristiano Ronaldo lleva casi 5 meses sin anotar en Champions League, la última vez fue ante Borussia Dortmund en el 2-2 en Alemania. | Fuente: AFP
Una labor de recuperación impecable y un gol de alta calidad valieron para que Casemiro sea la figura del partido. | Fuente: AFP
Nápoli necesita un 2-0 en San Paolo para avanzar a cuartos de final de la Champions League. | Fuente: AFP
Este miércoles se jugará en el Santiago Bernabéu uno de los mejores partidos de la jornada de octavos de final de la Champions League. Real Madrid recibirá al Nápoli desde las 2:45 p.m. (hora peruana) y el partido será transmitido por Fox Sports. Además será transmitido en vivo por RPP Noticias y también puedes seguir el minuto a minuto online en RPP.pe a través de esta nota.
Posibles alineaciones de ambas escuadras:
Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Danilo, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Isco; Cristiano Ronaldo y Karim Benzema.
Nápoli: Pepe Reina; Christian Maggio, Raúl Albiol, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Diawara, Zielinski, Marek Hamsik; Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens y José Callejón.
Así llega el Real Madrid. Los dirigidos por Zinedine Zidane han goleado en sus dos últimos partidos. Vencieron por 3-0 a la Real Sociedad y de visita por 3-1 al Osasuna. En la Champions no pierden hace 10 encuentros y son los vigentes campeones del campeonato. Marchan primeros en LaLiga con 49 puntos y dos compromisos pendientes.
¿Y el Nápoli? Arrastra una impresionante racha de 18 partidos invicto. Su mejor resultado en la semana fue el 7-1 frente al Bologna con tres goles del volante Marek Hamsik. No es derrotado en Champions League (jugando como visitante) desde agosto de 2014, cuando fue derrotado por otro club español: el Atlético de Madrid del ‘Cholo’ Simeone.
Sergio Ramos jugará su partido 501 con la camiseta del Real Madrid. | Fuente: Real Madrid
Nápoli venció de visita a Benfica en su último partido de Champions League. | Fuente: Nápoli
The National Weather Service has downgraded the winter storm warning for portions of southeast Minnesota to a winter weather advisory while the warning remains in place for other portions of the region.
The winter storm warning is still in effect for Waseca and Steele counties, where 4 to 7 inches of snow and 35 mph winds are predicted.
The advisory is from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, covers Nicollet, LeSueur and Rice counties and the cities of Faribault, LeSueur and St. Peter. Those areas are expected to receive 2 to 4 inches of snow.
“The latest trend has the snow shifting to the south along I-90 and the Minnesota/Iowa border,” the Weather Service states.
Local maximum amounts of 8 inches are possible, the Weather Service states.
“East to northeast winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph will accompany the snowfall, which will lead to some blowing and drifting,” the Weather Service states.
Temperatures are expected to quickly increase to above freezing after the snow ends, and travel conditions are expected to significantly improve by mid-afternoon, the Weather Service states.
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Days after frigid storms dusted surrounding mountains with snow, the Bay Area got another kind of soaking Wednesday from an “atmospheric river” that sent balmy southerly breezes through Monterey, set a daily rainfall record in San Francisco and swelled North Bay rivers.
Much of the rainfall and strong gusty winds arrived Wednesday morning, snarling morning commutes, delaying flights, toppling trees and spawning scattered power outages, washouts, sinkholes, mudslides and local roadway flooding.
Most of the storm had moved through the Bay Area by Wednesday afternoon. But the National Weather Service expected bands of rain to continue moving ashore throughout Wednesday evening and on through the weekend with sometimes heavy showers before clearing Sunday evening and into Monday.
“Keep those umbrellas at hand because they’re likely to still be needed,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Scott Rowe. “The main aspect of the atmospheric river has come and gone, but there’s plenty of moisture still offshore that’s expected to make its way through our area.”
The weather service announced a coastal flood advisory from 4 to 8 a.m. Thursday for the Bay Area shoreline as well as coastal North Bay locations. It also cautioned against flooding for the Napa River near St. Helena, the Russian River in Sonoma County and the Guadalupe River in San Jose as heavy rains cause water levels to rise rapidly through Friday morning.
An Urban/Small Stream Flood Advisory has been issued for Santa Cruz County, as well as parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, through 4:30 pm PST. This includes the City of Santa Cruz. #CAwxpic.twitter.com/1Gg7qOiOB0
The rural Sonoma County town of Venado about 12 miles west of Healdsburg — regularly one of wettest places around the Bay Area in winter — notched the highest 24-hour rainfall total of 7.9 inches by 10 p.m. Wednesday, said Will Pi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Much of the rain drenched the North Bay, with the Santa Rosa airport reporting 3.7 inches, he said.
But downtown San Francisco saw 2.5 inches, bursting a Feb. 13 record for the city of 2.08 inches in 2000, Rowe said.
The coastal mountain areas also got a good soaking, with 5.1 inches at Ben Lomond Mountain and 2.95 inches at Bates Creek, both in the area surrounding Santa Cruz, Pi said. Elsewhere, however the “rain shadow” effect eased the rains, Rowe said. By 10 p.m., Oakland got just under 1.4 inches and San Jose 0.5 inches at their airports, he said.
Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said this storm is a “typical” atmospheric river setup, where cities in the South Bay “see significantly less rainfall” than the North Bay and coastal mountains.
In the Sierra Nevada, heavy, wet snow was expected from 7,000 to 8,000 feet as the storm system moved east, with heavy rain coupled with periods of snow below 7,000 feet, according to the weather service in Reno. That added to what already has been a bountiful snow season for skiers and snowboarders able to manage the winter road conditions for the upcoming President’s Day weekend.
“This has been a really good winter,” said Kevin “Coop” Cooper, communications manager for Heavenly and Kirkwood Mountain Resorts. “The skiing and riding conditions are going to be some of best in the past decade. Anywhere you go it’s going to be game on!”
The Russian and Napa rivers were expected to reach flood stage as early as Thursday. The Russian River in Guerneville was at 25.25 feet Wednesday night and was expected to reach as high as 37.8 feet, with flood stage at 32 feet, by Thursday evening. The Napa River in Napa was just under 20 feet Wednesday night and expected to reach just above its 25-foot flood stage by noon Thursday. In San Jose, the Guadalupe River was at 4.7 feet Wednesday night but Pi said the weather service no longer expected the river to reach flood stage.
The Carmel River near Robles Del Rio in Monterey County, however, had been added to the flood watch list Wednesday night. As of 10 p.m., Pi said water levels were at 5.6 feet and were expected to reach flood levels of 8.5 feet by 6 p.m. on Thursday.
With memories still fresh from the devastating flooding along Coyote Creek in San Jose in 2017, city officials were taking precautions.
“Certainly there were lessons learned,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo, regarding the 2017 Coyote Creek flood that forced 14,000 people to flee their homes, caused $100 million in damage and revealed problems with the city’s emergency response plans. “We are much further along than we were in 2017.”
Since then, Liccardo said, the city has expanded outreach to community groups, encouraged people to join AlertSCC, the emergency notification system, stepped up coordination with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, tested its loudspeaker warning system and organized multilingual teams of city employees.
Anderson Reservoir was around 35 percent full Tuesday morning, said Linda LeZotte, the chair of the water district board, much lower than in previous years because water has been released throughout the week.
LeZotte acknowledged that some of the creek embankments are strewn with debris from homeless encampments that could exacerbate flooding issues. Teams were doing their best to remove trash, and the city’s housing department has sent staffers to the creek embankments to offer resources and urge homeless people to move away from the water. But often encampments that move reappear elsewhere, she said.
City Manager David Sykes said the city is coordinating earlier and much more closely with the water district.
Wednesday’s storm brought “some of the strongest wind speeds I’ve seen so far in populated areas,” Rowe said. Monterey airport saw gusts up to 59 mph, San Francisco’s airport reported gusts up to 46 mph, and offshore gusts in Monterey Bay reached 56 mph Wednesday afternoon. Exposed peaks saw even stronger wind gusts — 75 mph at Mount St. Helena’s 4,300 foot peak, and 61 mph at Mt. Diablo.
Rowe said it hit 70 degrees in Monterey. “We got these strong southerly downslope winds that cause air to warm,” Rowe said from the weather service’s Monterey office. “It’s warm and windy here (and) feels almost tropical.”
Fears of mudslides prompted Caltrans to keep sections of Highway 1 closed south of Big Sur.
The extremely wet start to 2019 in Northern California has allowed most cities to overcome early-season rainfall deficits. Through Monday, most cities were at or near their historical averages for this time of year, including San Francisco (13.72 inches, 90 percent of average), Oakland (10.84 inches or 85 percent) and San Jose (9.27 inches, 98 percent.)
On Wednesday, the Sierra Nevada snowpack measured 129 percent of historical average for this time of year. That number likely will jump with a series of storms forecast to impact the Sierra Nevada through the weekend.
For Californians still stinging from a record five-year drought earlier this decade, that was a welcome relief.
“It’s beautiful,” said John Hart, of Fremont, as he walked his yellow Labrador, Annie, along the Alameda Creek Trail on Wednesday during a break in the rain. “It’s especially nice because the hills are so green.”
Not everyone was thrilled with the wet weather, though.
“It’s rough out here, man,” said Steve Branche, 57, a homeless man living in Fremont and sitting underneath the overhang of a public restroom in a park, leaning on a bag of his clothes and listening to a sports radio show. “There’s not a lot of places to get out of the rain around here.”
Staff writers Emily DeRuy, Joseph Geha, Rick Hurd, Harry Harris and Erin Baldassari contributed to this report. Check back for updates to this story.
President Trump plans to nominate Stephen Dickson to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency is under scrutiny for its response to two crashes of Boeing 737 airplanes, which are pictured here outside Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., on March 14.
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Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
President Trump plans to nominate Stephen Dickson to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency is under scrutiny for its response to two crashes of Boeing 737 airplanes, which are pictured here outside Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., on March 14.
Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
Updated at 6:15 p.m. ET
The White House says President Trump will nominate Stephen Dickson, a former executive and pilot at Delta Air Lines, to lead the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA has come under criticism for failing to quickly ground the Boeing 737 Max after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet this month, the second fatal crash of the Boeing plane in recent months. The FAA grounded the planes only after other nations did so.
Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell told NPR’s Morning Edition that the agency had been waiting for data to establish a “common thread” between the two crashes before grounding the planes.
The FAA has not had a permanent administrator since Michael Huerta, an Obama administration holdover, resigned in early 2018. Elwell has been serving as acting administrator in the interim.
According to a White House statement, Dickson recently retired as the senior vice president for flight operations at Delta, where he was “responsible for the safety and operational performance of Delta’s global flight operations, as well as pilot training.”
There have been reports that pilots were upset at the lack of training provided by Boeing for the new plane, as well as criticism that the agency has grown too chummy with the company.
In choosing Dickson to lead the agency, the White House has nominated a former pilot who has flown Boeing jets, including the 737, during his career at Delta and whom it calls “a strong advocate for commercial aviation safety and improvements to our National Airspace System, having served as chairman of several industry stakeholder groups and Federal advisory committees.”
The nomination was announced after the FAA’s inspector general launched a probe of the agency’s decision to certify the 737 Max, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao confirmed the audit on Tuesday, asserting in a statement that “safety is the top priority of the Department, and all of us are saddened by the fatalities resulting from the recent accidents involving two Boeing 737-MAX 8 aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia.”
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast / Photos via Getty/YoutubeAn alt-right comedian’s plans for a remote patch of land in Idaho have terrified his neighbors, who fear it could become a hostile compound or mark the start of a new Ruby Ridge-style standoff.Comedian Owen Benjamin once had a moderately successful Hollywood career, landing roles in movies and TV shows and briefly becoming engaged to actress Christina Ricci. After moving to the right, he appeared on podcasts hosted by Joe Rogan, Steven Crowder, and Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire.As his following among conservatives grew, however, Benjamin became increasingly racist and antisemitic. He repeatedly used the n-word at a February 2018 comedy show, and embraced conspiracy theories about the Holocaust, claiming that Adolf Hitler was only trying to “clean [Germany] of the parasites.” Benjamin’s broadcasts to his fans grew more erratic, seeing the one-time comedian embrace flat-Earth theory and recommend drinking turpentine as a medicinal cure.But being on the internet’s fringes can be lonely, so Benjamin decided to build a place where his remaining, bear-themed following—who call themselves “Unbearables”—could meet in person.Exactly what Benjamin’s intentions for the property in Sandpoint, Idaho, are has become a hot topic in Idaho’s Boundary County. Dubbed “Ursa Rio” by Benjamin, after the Moyie River that abuts the property, the land marks the culmination of Benjamin’s year-long plan to establish a gathering place for his fans.As Benjamin and his supporters set up basic sanitation and housing on the property, Benjamin’s neighbors are getting nervous, urging local officials to step in and issue a cease-and-desist order blocking construction.“You are the only people who can prevent this reenactment of Ruby Ridge,” a flyer distributed at a hearing last week urging county commissioners to block construction on Benjamin’s property reads.For Benjamin’s opponents, the prospect of a far-right encampment in Idaho recalls the state’s history with other extremists. The Aryan Nations once ran a compound in the state. In 1992, three people were killed in the Ruby Ridge standoff between federal agents and white separatist Randy Weaver.Ammon Bundy Violates Ban by Delivering Signs to Idaho Capitol ProtestThe controversy over Benjamin’s property was first reported by the Kootenai Valley Times and the Bonners Ferry Herald. In an April 14 letter obtained by the Kootenai Valley Times, the man who sold the land to Benjamin warned a county planner that the situation could have an “unpleasant outcome,” saying he had read a Twitter post after the sale about the possibility that Benjamin’s fans would flock to the remote area.“I’m telling you this because I was recently made aware of an unsettling situation with potential unpleasant outcome and want to do everything I can to prevent it,” the land’s previous owner wrote.Benjamin has pitched Ursa Rio as an “Unbearable” haven. His supporters refer to Benjamin as “Big Bear” and often take bear-related aliases of their own, adopting bear handles based on their personalities or what they can contribute to Benjamin’s cause in a style reminiscent of the Care Bears.The roots of the clash over Ursa Rio began last year, when Benjamin began raising funds for “Beartaria,” a then-unspecified place he imagined as a location where Benjamin and his “bears” could lead the simple rural lifestyle Benjamin has advocated for after detonating his entertainment career. Benjamin, who said he wasn’t allowed to have “internet friends” at his actual home, said Beartaria would be a place where he could meet his “internet friends,” with 10 percent of the land set aside for camping as a “refuge.”“I’m not allowed to have internet friends over at my house,” Benjamin said in one video. “But if we get land and yurts—internet friends.”In exchange for a $400 donation, Benjamin said in a June 2020 video, his “Bears” would be entitled to a “two-weeks vacation” on the land. After fundraising to buy a much-larger, better-equipped property for “Beartaria,” fell short, however, Benjamin backed away from his camping offer, pitching “Beartaria” as more of a concept than an actual place and calling himself “an idiot” for offering to exchange the $400 donations for camping rights.“Don’t plan your life around Beartaria at all,” Benjamin cautioned his fans.In an email to The Daily Beast, Benjamin now says many of his donors will never come to the Idaho property, describing it as a place for families “to take their kids fishing and sleep under the stars.”“It is a private residence not commercial and we have no obligation to donors as was indicated on the website,” Benjamin wrote.A group of nine of Benjamin’s neighbors have grown concerned about the prospect of Benjamin’s fans trekking out to the property, which they say is zoned for agricultural or forest uses.In an email to county officials, one neighbor pointed out that the property isn’t serviced by utilities, raising the threat that inexperienced campers could start forest fires in their attempts to have campfires. The property is connected to a narrow, crude road, according to the neighbors, whose meager maintenance amounts to residents adding rocks to it every year.Benjamin’s neighbors have also become alarmed over the possibility of organized military training at the property.“This poses a clear and present danger,” a Vietnam War veteran who lives near Benjamin told the Kootenai Valley Times. “This is a commercial enterprise offering training in weapons and tactics and not a use allowed in this zone. There is no conceivable reason to allow this use. If we wait too long, it will be too late.”Benjamin told The Daily Beast no guns have been fired on the property since he purchased it. But his attempts to downplay the possibility of guns at Ursa Rio have been undermined by his habit of describing grandiose plans for the land in hours-long livestreams several times a week, with the most incendiary statements archived and analyzed by his online detractors.For example, Benjamin has often referenced having a paramilitary force at his property, saying he is “friends with, basically, a paramilitary group” in Idaho.“If you try to squat on my land when I offer you campgrounds, I have my own paramilitary squad,” Benjamin said in one video, warning off “Bears” who might try to live on the land permanently.“I’d have my own private paramilitary force, which is always a good thing,” Benjamin said in another video.Benjamin insists he was just joking about the paramilitary.“I do not have a paramilitary squad,” Benjamin told The Daily Beast in an email. “I was making a joke as a comedian. Unless you consider my goats and chickens a military.”In his videos, Benjamin has also discussed the prospect of guns at “Beartaria.”“Shooting range?” Benjamin said in one video, describing his plans for a bear-themed community in Idaho. “Yes! Will there be a gun range? Yes!”By his own accounts, Benjamin does not come off as an ideal neighbor. In several videos, he relates stories where he berates store employees or fellow customers who asked him to wear a face mask. In one incident, according to Benjamin, he called an elderly man in a post office who asked him to wear a mask a “crusty old hunchback” and accused him of being a pervert, saying that masks are only used by criminals or perverts.After a reporter in the area covered the controversy over Benjamin’s property, the comedian baselessly accused the reporter during a livestream of being a pedophile and mocked him for using a wheelchair.The Boundary County commissioners didn’t respond to a request for comment. Commissioners are talking with other local officials about how to respond to Benjamin’s construction, according to the Kootenai Valley Times.Benjamin purchased the property through real estate broker Todd Savage, who describes himself as a “strategic relocation consultant” assisting conservative city-dwellers relocating to rural areas like the plot Benjamin purchased. In a video on the website for his company, Black Rifle Real Estate, Savage’s business is described as helping people move to places where “where we support our nation and its allies in the fight against radical terrorism, and where the residents proudly support Blue Lives Matter.”Savage told The Daily Beast that he’s seen an uptick in business as conservative urbanites try to move to rural areas. But Savage won’t work with just any buyer—his website warns that “snowflakes” and “Marxists” need not apply.“We only work with people who are libertarian-right, end of story,” Savage told The Daily Beast. “Because we want people who will have the same belief system around us, and that’s OK.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Media captionRockets were seen in the sky above Ashkelon in Israel.
Militants in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 150 rockets into Israel, the army says, prompting air strikes and tank fire on the Palestinian territory.
Sirens went off as people rushed to shelters in southern Israel. Two Israelis were wounded and a Palestinian man was killed in the exchange.
Four Palestinians, including two Hamas militants, were killed on Friday after an attack injured two Israeli soldiers.
The flare-up followed a truce in the run-up to Israeli elections in April.
It marks yet another increase in hostilities despite attempts by Egypt and the United Nations to broker a longer-term ceasefire, says the BBC’s Tom Bateman in Jerusalem.
The rocket barrage hit several homes in parts of Israel bordering the Gaza Strip. Many residents rushed to bomb shelters.
The injured include a man in Ashkelon, 10km (six miles) north of Gaza, and an elderly woman in Kiryat Gat, further east.
The country’s Iron Dome missile-defence system shot down dozens of the rockets, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Image copyright AFP
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The rockets have caused damage in southern Israel
In response the IDF launched air and artillery strikes against 30 Gaza sites belonging to Hamas, a militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and against groups including Islamic Jihad.
Palestinian officials say a 22-year-old man was killed. Reuters news agency quotes a small pro-Hamas militant group as saying he was one of their fighters. Several Gaza residents were wounded.
Islamic Jihad said it had launched the rocket attacks in response to Friday’s violence.
The statement also accused Israel of failing to implement last month’s ceasefire deal, which was brokered by Egypt
How did this wave of violence start?
The violence began during weekly Friday protests in Gaza against Israel’s blockade of the area. Israel says this is needed to stop weapons reaching Gaza.
A Palestinian gunman shot and wounded two Israeli soldiers at the boundary fence.
The Israeli air strike in response killed two Hamas militants. Another two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire at the fence.
Saturday’s rocket attacks coincided with Palestinians burying the two militants.
Image copyright EPA
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Israel says it has targeted militant sites in Gaza – this one is in Gaza City
“The resistance will continue to respond to the crimes by the occupation and it will not allow it to shed the blood of our people,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement on Saturday. He made no explicit claim for Hamas firing the rockets.
About two million Palestinians live in Gaza, which has suffered economically from the Israeli blockade as well as recent foreign aid cuts.
“Primaries go two ways,” he told the Daily News. “If someone picks a fight with somebody else, you fight back. That’s what my parents told me.”
He added, “If you get in the ring, expect that people are going to start throwing punches.”
Meeks, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), echoed remarks he made in an interview with The Hill on Thursday, when he said that those who try to come after CBC members could face their own primary challengers.
“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, who clashed with Justice Democrats, a progressive group, over support for candidates in a Queens district attorney race last month.
A growing number of progressive House Democrats, frustrated with the feud between Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez, have accused the freshman New York lawmaker of crossing a line when she suggested that Pelosi was treating minority women unfairly, seemingly referencing herself and three other progressive congresswomen known as “the squad.”
“I deal with Nancy Pelosi a lot and we go back and forth and it’s fine, but I think that a group of people is being very disrespectful to her,” Trump said. “And you know what, I don’t think that Nancy can let that go on.”
Meeks called Ocasio-Cortez’s comments “intolerable,” adding that “we’re all on the same team. You don’t go after the speaker like that.”
Meeks also went after Justice Democrats, which supported Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional bid last year, saying both the group and the candidates it supports are potential threats to the Democrats’ House majority.
“I would hope that these individuals would realize who the opposition is here,” Meeks told the Daily News. “The focus should be to keep the majority, grow the majority and win the presidency.”
A second Republican announced Friday that he would launch a campaign challenging Ocasio-Cortez for her seat next year. No Democratic challenger to Ocasio-Cortez has yet to declare their candidacy.
The man has now been identified as Benjamin Eugene Dagley of Wooster, Ohio.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Dagley, charging him with two counts of simple assault, one count of disturbing the peace and one count of violation of emergency curfew.
According to police, Dagley is currently on probation for a previous charge in Ohio. One of the conditions of his probation was restriction in travel.
Authorities have discovered that Dagley is no longer on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and is believed to be traveling in a white 2016 Ford F150.
His license plate number is: PJR1745.
The reporter Dagley attacked, Shaquille Brewster, tweeted moments after the incident that he and his team were “all good.”
Sen. Joe Manchin walks out of the US Capitol on Thursday. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, a key moderate, said that fellow lawmakers — and President Biden — have known that his top line for the spending bill has been $1.5 trillion, not the proposed $3.5 trillion.
Manchin said he has shared his top line with the President “in the last week or so,” and that Biden “would like to have a lot more than that.”
“The $1.5 [trillion] was always done from my heart, basically what we could do and not jeopardize our economy,” he said.
Manchin made clear an agreement would take a lot of time to reach. He also said he’s been consistent, defending his position and making clear he’s no liberal.
He also wouldn’t explicitly say that he won’t support more than $1.5 trillion, despite repeated efforts by reporters to press him on it, but said that’s the position he’s been in since this summer. He said that $1.5 trillion would be raised by changes he supports to the 2017 Trump tax cuts, including taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
CNN’s Manu Raju asked Manchin repeatedly if his absolute top line was $1.5 trillion, but Manchin demurred. When asked what he’d say to people who feel he and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, another key moderate, are holding up the legislation, he said:
Manchin said he hasn’t had conversations about bridging the gap between $3.5 trillion and $1.5 trillion. “People pretty much know where I’ve been all along,” he said.
When asked if he’d talk with Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, he said he’d be “happy to sit down and talk with everybody.” Progressives have said they will not vote on the infrastructure bill until they strike a deal on the spending bill, and they want the bill to be passed in tandem with infrastructure.
Some more background on Manchin’s figure: A Senate Democratic aide confirms to CNN the authenticity of a document from this summer obtained by Politico that shows more detail about what Manchin may want from a social safety net bill. CNN has not yet obtained the document.
The document lays out that Manchin wanted a top line around $1.5 trillion and he did not want to begin debate until Oct. 1. Another condition was that Manchin wanted to block any of the funds from the reconciliation bill from going out until all the Covid-relief money was exhausted.
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Se cree que la visita puede tener lugar tan pronto como marzo.
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, prepara una histórica visita a Cuba que podría producirse tan pronto como el mes de marzo.
“Podemos confirmar que (este jueves) la Administración anunciará un viaje del presidente a América Latina, incluyendo Cuba, en las próximas semanas”, le confirmó un alto funcionario del gobierno a la BBC.
La visita de Obama a la isla será la primera de un presidente de Estados Unidos desde enero de 1928, cuando Calvin Coolidge viajó a Cuba. En 2011 el expresidente Jimmy Carter visitó la isla.
Sería además un paso simbólico en el proceso de acercamiento entre los dos países.
Cuba y Estados Unidos anunciaron el 17 diciembre de 2014 el restablecimiento de relaciones tras más de medio siglo de enfrentamiento ideológico.
El 20 julio de 2015, se reabrieron las respectivas embajadas y se reanudaron formalmente las relaciones diplomáticas.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Obama y Castro se reunieron en la Cumbre de las Américas de Panamá.
Obama ya había expresado su intención de ir a Cuba, pero había puesto como condición poder reunirse con disidentes y defensores de los derechos humanos.
El presidente estadounidense y su homólogo cubano, Raúl Castro, hermano de Fidel Castro, celebraron su primera reunión formal en abril de 2015 en la Cumbre de las Américas en Ciudad de Panamá.
Volvieron a verse en septiembre del mismo año con motivo de la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas en Nueva York.
Como parte del progresivo acercamiento, esta semana se anunció que los vuelos comerciales desde Estados Unidos volverán a aterrizar en Cuba y que medio siglo después una empresa estadounidense se instalará en la isla.
Uno de los temas que sigue obstaculizando la normalización plena es el embargo económico y comercial que EE.UU. impuso a Cuba hace más de medio siglo. El levantamiento completo depende del Congreso, aunque Obama tomó medidas ejecutivas para flexibilizarlo.
No es para él un honor, sino el sinónimo de una condena.
El sargento Carlos Eduardo Mora ha sido el primero -y hasta hoy el único- miembro de las fuerzas armadas de Colombia que obtuvo a su favor una medida cautelar dictada por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH).
Él está seguro de que en algún momento lo van a matar (ver video que acompaña a esta nota).
Es un temor compartido por la CIDH, que en octubre de 2013 le solicitó al gobierno de Colombia que ofreciera protección para “preservar la vida y la integridad personal” de Mora y su núcleo familiar.
“Mucha gente lo tomó como la confirmación de que yo era un traidor”, le dijo el militar a BBC Mundo.
¿Qué hizo Mora?
A fines de 2008 se presentó ante la Justicia para dar cuenta de lo que sabía acerca de las ejecuciones extrajudiciales conocidas en el país como “falsos positivos” y todavía sigue colaborando con procesos abiertos a soldados y oficiales.
Para mostrar “resultados”
En esta práctica, soldados y oficiales, presionados por sus superiores para mostrar resultados “positivos” en la lucha contra la guerrilla y la delincuencia, llevaban por la fuerza o citaban en lugares remotos, con promesas falsas -como ofertas de empleo-, a sus víctimas.
Luego las asesinaban y las hacían aparecer como combatientes enemigos, colocándoles armas o vistiéndolas con ropas militares.
Cuando la existencia de los casos de falsos positivos se difundió en 2008, hubo protestas en varias partes del país.
Además de ser usados para demostrar “resultados”, estos falsos positivos les daban a los militares que los ejecutaban ciertos beneficios, como vacaciones.
Hasta el momento hay más de 800 miembros del Ejército condenados por ejecuciones extrajudiciales ocurridas entre 2002 y 2008, los años en los que se concentra el mayor número de casos conocidos de falsos positivos.
Aunque hay algunos excomandantes de batallones y otras unidades presos por estos actos, en su mayoría los condenados son soldados de rangos inferiores.
16 generales investigados
Mora, al igual que otros testigos, está ayudando a la Fiscalía a excavar hacia arriba esa sólida montaña que es la estructura militar colombiana, a la que la Justicia puede acceder desde la base, pero cuyas partes más altas se le hacen más difíciles de alcanzar.
De esa aparente impenetrabilidad da cuenta un informe presentado este miércoles por la organización internacional Human Rights Watch (HRW), en el que expone por qué considera que hubo responsabilidad por parte de generales y coroneles en los casos de falsos positivos y cuáles parecen ser los impedimentos para que sean llevados ante la Justicia.
El reporte señala que en Colombia hay investigaciones abiertas contra 16 generales del Ejército activos y retirados, pero ninguno ha sido acusado formalmente.
“Los falsos positivos representan uno de los episodios más nefastos de atrocidades masivas en el hemisferio occidental de los últimos años, y hay cada vez más evidencias de que altos oficiales del Ejército serían responsables de estos hechos atroces”, indicó José Miguel Vivanco, director ejecutivo de la división de las Américas de Human Rights Watch.
HRW asegura que comandantes de las brigadas y unidades tácticas responsables de gran cantidad de ejecuciones al menos sabían o deberían haber sabido sobre estos delitos.
“Human Rights Watch examinó transcripciones o grabaciones de testimonios prestados a la Fiscalía”, dice el informe, “en los cuales se acusa de manera directa a varios militares que eran entonces comandantes de división, al entonces jefe del Comando Conjunto del Caribe, General (r) González Peña, y al entonces comandante del Ejército Nacional, el General (r) Mario Montoya, de haber tenido conocimiento de falsos positivos, o de haberlos planificado o intentado facilitar su comisión, mientras ocuparon estos cargos”.
Eso los haría, según la organización, penalmente imputables.
La responsabilidad puede llegar aún más lejos.
En un reporte interino sobre Colombia, de 2012, la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI) asegura que “existen bases razonables para creer que (los falsos positivos) fueron cometidos en virtud de una política adoptada al menos a nivel de ciertas brigadas dentro de las fuerzas armadas”.
De acuerdo con la CPI podría incluso considerarse una política de estado, ya que las mismas, de acuerdo con el organismo, no necesariamente deben ser concebidas al más alto nivel de la maquinaria estatal.
Brigada Móvil 15
HRW analizó 11 brigadas, algunos de cuyos comandantes luego ascendieron en la cadena de mando militar.
“Sus posiciones jerárquicas en el momento de los delitos incluían las de comandantes de batallones, brigadas y divisiones, así como un comandante del Ejército Nacional”, indica el reporte.
Una de las unidades analizadas por HRW era la Brigada Móvil 15, que operaba en el departamento de Norte de Santander, bajo la 2ª división del Ejército, a la que el sargento Carlos Eduardo Mora llegó desde su fundación, en 2006.
La Unidad de Derechos Humanos de la Fiscalía está investigando 38 ejecuciones extrajudiciales presuntamente cometidas entre 2006 y 2008 por esa brigada, según HRW.
Mora ha sido clave en las investigaciones que se realizaron y realizan sobre lo ocurrido allí.
En 2007, el entonces cabo formaba parte del área de inteligencia de esa unidad.
Le contó a BBC Mundo que al empezar a notar actividades sospechosas intentó, sin éxito, levantar la voz de alarma con algunos de sus superiores.
Fue amenazado y terminó siendo trasladado a Bogotá.
Antes de partir, asegura que los coroneles le dijeron: “Si llega a contar lo que pasó y lo que vivió acá en Ocaña y lo que usted sabe, le matamos a su familia”.
Soacha
Ya en la capital, una noticia lo llevó a volver a intentar contar lo que sabía.
En octubre de 2008 se hallaron en Ocaña, Norte de Santander, 17 cuerpos vestidos con ropas militares.
Eran muchachos de bajos recursos que vivían en la municipalidad de Soacha, vecina de Bogotá, a los que les habían ofrecido empleos cerca de la frontera con Venezuela.
Las víctimas de falsos positivos pertenecían generalmente a sectores de bajos recursos.
Al llegar allí, miembros de la Brigada Móvil 15 los mataron.
Ante esos hechos, el gobierno pasó a retiro a tres generales del Ejército y a los coroneles Rubén Darío Castro, entonces comandante de la brigada, Jesús Rincón Amado, jefe de operaciones de la brigada, y Santiago Herrera Fajardo, quien estaba en ese momento trabajando con el general Mario Montoya Uribe, comandante del Ejército Nacional.
En total el gobierno retiró del servicio a 27 miembros del ejército.
El general Montoya renunció.
Condenas e investigaciones
A finales de 2008, el sargento Mora llegó hasta la oficina del entonces director de inteligencia del Ejército, el general Ricardo Hernando Díaz Torres.
Según Mora, tras contarle lo que sabía, Díaz Torres se comunicó con el comandante de las fuerzas militares y luego llamaron al ministro de Defensa, que en ese entonces era el actual presidente Juan Manuel Santos.
Le dieron la orden de ir a radicar la denuncia al día siguiente a la Fiscalía ya la Procuraduría, dice el sargento.
La evidencia que brindó hasta ahora permitió a los fiscales conseguir las condenas de un teniente coronel y varios otros oficiales y soldados.
La Brigada Móvil 15, en la que se desempeñaba Mora, fue cerrada a comienzos de 2009.
De los oficiales que operaban en esa unidad, Santiago Herrera Fajardo está procesado; y Jesús Rincón Amado fue condenado en marzo de 2014 a 35 años de cárcel por el homicidio en abril de 2007 de un un motociclista, quien fue presentado como baja en combate.
Este martes, la Fiscalía anunció que citó a declarar al excomandante del Ejército Nacional, Mario Montoya Uribe, junto a otros tres generales, en el marco de investigaciones por falsos positivos.
Montoya Uribe había estado al mando de la Brigada 4 entre fines de 2001 y fines de 2003, período en el que según HRW, “al menos 44 presuntas ejecuciones extrajudiciales (fueron) perpetradas por soldados (de esa unidad)”.
Según la información que HRW obtuvo de la Fiscalía de Colombia, se están también investigando por presuntas ejecuciones extrajudiciales las brigadas dirigidas por el general retirado Óscar González Peña, y los generales en activo Juan Pablo Rodríguez Barragán (hoy es comandante general de las fuerzas militares) y Jaime Lasprilla Villamizar (actual comandante del Ejército).
Respaldo del presidente Santos
Sobre el señalamiento a Rodríguez Barragán y Lasprilla Villamizar, el presidente Juan Manuel Santos dijo este miércoles en un acto ante las Fuerzas Armadas que estos le “mostraron las respuestas de la Fiscalía y la Procuraduría (…) no hay una sola investigación en contra de estos altos oficiales”.
“Que se castigue al culpable, pero que no nos vengan a manchar la institución”, dijo Santos.
“Entonces que no vengan a señalarlos y a causarles un daño enorme sin ninguna justificación, sin ninguna documentación”, agregó.
BBC Mundo tuvo acceso a documentos de la Fiscalía que aseguran que esos dos generales no tienen condenas, antecedentes, ni órdenes de captura, pero no dicen nada respecto a la inexistencia de investigaciones (eso no quita que haya otros documentos que así lo demuestren, pero BBC Mundo no los conoce).
Santos también dijo: “Si hay ejemplos, como hay en cualquier institución, que hayan cometido errores, son las propias fuerzas las más interesadas en que se haga justicia”.
“Que se castigue al culpable, pero que no nos vengan a manchar la institución”.
Amenazas
Desde el momento en que empezó a colaborar con la Justicia, Mora dice que comenzó a recibir nuevas amenazas e intimidaciones.
Según HRW, las amenazas y ataques a testigos constituyen uno de varios obstáculos a los que se enfrentan las investigaciones de falsos positivos.
El director de Derechos Humanos del ministerio de Defensa, teniente coronel Carlos Javier Soler Parra, le dijo a BBC Mundo que en respuesta a esta situación hace dos años se estableció un esquema de protección para militares que actúan como testigos en estos casos.
“Estamos respondiendo por su vida y estamos dando todas las garantías de protección para que puedan seguir aportando al tema”.
____________________
Otros testigos afectados
Los tres primeros casos aparecen en el reporte de HRW, el último fue referido a BBC Mundo por el sargento Mora y ha sido registrado por medios colombianos.
Nixon de Jesús Cárcamo
El 27 de octubre de 2014 Nixon de Jesús Cárcamo apareció muerto en el centro de detención del Ejército de la 11ª Brigada de Montería, departamento de Córdoba, donde estaba detenido por cargos de falsos positivos y por los que daba testimonio sobre el supuesto rol de oficiales y soldados en ejecuciones extrajudiciales.
Once días antes de su muerte le había dicho a los fiscales que temía por su vida, que había rumores en el centro de detención de que peligraba su vida por cooperarar con la justicia. Dijo que si algo le pasaba hacía responsables a quienes estaba acusando.
Esposa de testigo violada
“Hay evidencias serias” de que en 2013, hombre no identificaron violaron a la mujer de un soldado, en represalia por el testimonio del soldado en contra de un coronel del ejército, dice HRW. Ella contó que durante la violación los asaltantes la llamaban la esposa del “sapo”.
Ataque en Soacha
El 12 de agosto de 2012, en Soacha, mataron a tiros a Jhon Fredy Garcés, un testigo que había dado testimonio a los fiscales sobre un caso de falso positivo en una unidad militar en la que sirvió como guía civil.
Alexander Rodríguez
A finales de 2007 Alexander Rodríguez, también, como Mora, de la Brigada Móvil 15 de Norte de Santander, denunció lo que creía eran falsos positivos.
“Lo echaron como un perro”, dijo Mora.
Luego fue detenido, acusado de un supuesto delito de extorsión. ____________________
Otro es la falta de cooperación por parte de los organismos castrenses.
En una nota escrita, el Ejército le dijo a BBC Mundo que ha “dispuesto unos equipos de trabajo que tienen como objetivo brindar el apoyo en cada uno de los requerimientos que (la Fiscalía General de la Nación y la Procuraduría General de la Nación realicen sobre) información relacionada con el personal militar vinculado a las investigaciones y con ello agilizar las mismas”.
“Somos los primeros interesados en que se aclaren los hechos y se asuman las responsabilidades individuales por los mismos”, agrega el texto.
Sin embargo, HRW señala que “los fiscales a cargo de casos de falsos positivos indican que, con frecuencia, miembros del Ejército interponen obstáculos al acceso a archivos que son cruciales para sus investigaciones”.
Por otra parte, la organización cuestiona el hecho de que haya casos de ejecuciones extrajudiciales bajo la jurisdicción de la Justicia Militar Penal, que “tradicionalmente (…) ha garantizado la impunidad para estos delitos, y hasta hoy carece de independencia y credibilidad”.
El sargento Mora ya no ejerce las tareas de inteligencia para las que fue formado.
Y el organismo cree que dentro mismo de la Fiscalía se han dado problemas de organización y distribución del trabajo que han ralentizado las investigaciones.
Aun con esas limitaciones, la Fiscalía continúa investigando al menos 3.700 ejecuciones extrajudiciales ocurridas en la órbita de más de 180 batallones y otras unidades tácticas, según HRW.
El director de Derechos Humanos del ministerio de Defensa, teniente coronel Carlos Javier Soler Parra, le dijo a BBC Mundo que se ha sentenciado a algunos militares de forma injusta.
Dijo que a su entender hay al menos cuatro casos de suboficiales o soldados -no de oficiales- condenados indebidamente por falsos positivos.
Unidad administrativa
El sargento Mora continúa colaborando con la Fiscalía en procesos de falsos positivos.
Ya no ejerce las tareas de inteligencia para las que fue formado.
Se encuentra ahora trabajando en una unidad administrativa en Bogotá.
Y aguarda con certeza y un cierto estoicismo no falto de temor el momento en que sus enemigos finalmente den con él.
_____________
Nota: La versión original de este artículo no incluía las declaraciones de Juan Manuel Santos, que fueron incorporadas tan pronto como se dieron a conocer.
The blaze, dubbed the Getty Fire, broke out around 1:30 a.m. on the west side of Interstate 405 in an area known as the Sepulveda Pass, near the Getty Center museum, covering 500 acres by midmorning, according to the city fire department. Its cause remains under investigation.
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