New video released in Hunting Park homicide

The Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit released surveillance video Tuesday of two suspects in the shooting death of a 27-year-old woman.

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  • FBI warns state, local police about China targeting people on U.S. soil

    The warning concerns China’s long-standing policy of reaching beyond its borders to target people it accuses of financial crimes, even if they are permanently living abroad.

  • Rudy Giuliani says 'you can overdo the mask' while in hospital for COVID-19 after ignoring mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines

    Giuliani told a radio channel that the coronavirus is "curable," and added, "When you're a celebrity, they're worried if something happens to you."

  • Some of those involved in killing of Iranian nuclear scientist arrested, official says

    DUBAI (Reuters) -Some of those involved in the assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist last month have been arrested, an adviser to the Iranian parliament speaker said on Tuesday, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA. Iran has blamed Israel for the Nov. 27 killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

  • Hundreds pay respects at funeral of Chechen refugee who beheaded French teacher

    Several hundred people paid their respects last week at a funeral in Russia for the Chechnyan teenager who beheaded a teacher in France over cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Samuel Paty, a 47-year old history teacher, became the target of a hostile online campaign after discussing the cartoons in a class on freedom of speech and was eventually attacked and murdered by Abdoulakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, in October. Anzorov was shot dead by police shortly after the attack on October 16. His body was repatriated to Russia last week to allow his family to bury him in his ancestral village in the predominantly Muslim region of Chechnya. Several hundred people attended the funeral on Friday in the village of Shalazhi, chanting prayers on their way to the cemetery, a video released by several media outlets showed. Salman Magamadov, the village chief, insisted in an interview with the Podyem media outlet on Monday that Anzorov received an ordinary burial without “any special honours”. Prominent Muslim clerics in Russia have used the attack to condemn French authorities for mocking their religion. Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, said French President Emmanuel Macron was to blame for allegedly encouraging insults against Muslims. Mr Kadyrov later sought to distance his region from the attack, insisting that the teenager, an ethnic Chechen, was born in Moscow and moved to France when he was a small child.

  • Republican leaders reportedly block Inaugural Committee vote to acknowledge Biden's win

    The presidential inaugural committee is reportedly refusing to acknowledge there will be a new president inaugurated next month.The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is made up of top leaders of both congressional bodies -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) -- as well as Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). They kicked off preparations Tuesday by considering a resolution basically acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden's win, but the committee's three Republicans voted it down, Politico reports.> The resolution was very basic, per folks with knowledge. It would've notified American people that Congress is preparing for inauguration of Biden and Harris "in coordination with health experts" as "we observe this transition of power."> > -- Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) December 8, 2020The inaugural committee is historically bipartisan, and has been planning inaugurations for president-elects of both parties for more than a century. But Republicans told Politico they felt like this resolution was a way for Democrats to force them into formally acknowledging Biden's win, and isn't necessary to begin planning the inauguration. Hoyer followed up by calling Republicans' blockade an "astounding" development in the GOP's refusal to acknowledge President Trump's loss. > And now statement from Hoyer:> > "The extent to which Republicans are refusing to accept the outcome of the election and recognize Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next President and Vice President is astounding," he said. https://t.co/6CCdFgPiUS> > -- Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) December 8, 2020More stories from theweek.com Arizona's Republican Party asks followers if they're willing to die to 'Stop the Steal' Trump's jaw-dropping vaccine screwup White House now reportedly pushing for $600 stimulus checks

  • Police Reports Detail Warnock’s Obstruction in 2002 Child-Abuse Probe That Led to His Arrest

    Reverend Raphael Warnock, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia, repeatedly obstructed a 2002 police investigation into child abuse at a church-affiliated summer camp, according to a new report.Maryland State Police reports obtained by the Washington Free Beacon detailed Warnock’s attempts to interfere with interviews and to discourage counselors from speaking with police during an investigation of physical abuse at Camp Farthest Out. At the time, Warnock served as senior pastor at Douglas Memorial Community Church, which ran the summer camp.Warnock, who now faces a tight runoff race against Republican Kelly Loeffler on January 5, interrupted police interviews of counselors on July 31, 2002, according to the report."This investigator informed [camp administrators] that if the counselors requested that an attorney be present that was their right, however, no one else could [invoke] their rights to an attorney on their behalf," the report reads.The Free Beacon reports that the names in the documents are redacted, but match closely with newspaper articles about the incident, which ultimately led to Warnock’s arrest. The state attorney later dropped the charges.At the time The Baltimore Sun reported that Warnock and a colleague were "accused in court documents of trying to prevent a state trooper of interviewing counselors at Camp Farthest Out" and that the ministers "interrupted a police interview of a counselor." Warnock said then that he was "only asserting that lawyers should be present when the camp counselors were interviewed."During a debate on Sunday, Warnock said that law enforcement officers “actually later thanked me for my cooperation and for helping them," and the deputy state attorney told the Baltimore Sun the same in November 2002.Police reports filed by state troopers after Warnock and Reverend Mark Andre Wainwright were arrested for “hindering and obstructing” police show that investigators warned Warnock a number of times to stop disrupting the investigation ahead of his arrest.Tfc. Danielle Barry, an investigator with the Maryland State Police’s child abuse division, wrote in her report that the pair "interfered with a criminal investigation by interrupting interviews and directing people not to talk to investigators."Though Warnock and camp administrators agreed to cooperate when investigators arrived to conduct interviews with counselors, they later voiced concerns about "legal ramifications from the alleged abuse case" and insisted that the camp’s attorney be present for any interviews with counselors or campers.Warnock and Wainright entered the room where investigators were conducting their first interview of the day with a 17-year-old counselor in a private camp office and “demanded that [they] be present for the interview,” according to the report.Barry told them they were "not permitted to join the interview and warned that they were "hindering and obstructing the investigation."Warnock then announced he would no longer allow investigators to use the camp office for interviews, and he and Wainright told Barry that they "did not like how things were progressing and therefore ‘they’ would not be cooperating in the case further." "This investigator explained to the reverends that what they were doing was committing a crime for which they could be arrested," the report says.After investigators relocated to an outside picnic area to continue their interviews, the reverends once again demanded to sit in on an interview being conducted, forcing Barry to cut her interview short.A camper later tried to give investigators the location of another potential subject to interview when one of the reverends "grabbed the camper by the arm and directed him away from these investigators" and "told the camper that he was not to talk to these people," according to the report.Barry then reached out to the deputy state attorney about the interference, she wrote, and a decision was made to arrest Warnock and Wainwright.

  • Thousands of unaccompanied minors arrive at US-Mexico border as Border Patrol grapples with COVID-19 deaths

    Thousands of unaccompanied minors are flooding the U.S.-Mexico border after months of child deportations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • 10 Indoor Plant Stands That Seriously Stand Out

    Take your home garden to the next level this winterOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Vatican: Pope to visit Iraq in March, pandemic permitting

    Pope Francis will make a pilgrimage to Iraq in March, pandemic conditions permitting, the Vatican said Monday, in announcing what would be the pontiff's first trip abroad in more than a year. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis will make the March 5-8 visit, with stops in Baghdad, and the “plains of Ur, linked to the memory of Abraham,” the Biblical patriarch who is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, as well as to the cities of Irbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh.

  • Sturgeon's husband 'contradicts wife and changes his own story' during evidence on Salmond scandal

    Nicola Sturgeon’s husband dealt a "fatal blow" to her account of her handling of the Alex Salmond scandal, it was claimed on Tuesday, after he directly contradicted her evidence to a Holyrood inquiry. Peter Murrell, also the SNP chief executive, was also accused of putting forward a series of "wholly implausible" claims, after he said his wife had not warned him in advance of "bombshell" sexual harassment claims against the most important figure in their party's history becoming public. Despite Mr Salmond meeting Ms Sturgeon in the couple's home to tell her about a Scottish Government investigation, Mr Murrell claimed he "didn't probe" what went on at the summit and said the political power-couple instead preferred to talk about books, what meals he would cook her, and cleaning. The party boss, who appeared on his 57th birthday, was repeatedly pressed over his claim that he was not made aware by Ms Sturgeon of the allegations facing Mr Salmond, despite his role as the SNP's top official.

  • Why Biden's defense secretary pick is causing bipartisan uneasiness

    In 2017, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis received a bicameral congressional waiver to serve as President Trump's secretary of defense, allowing him to bypass a law requiring military officers to wait seven years after retirement before assuming the role. Mattis became just the second person in 70 years to receive the waiver, but both parties appear uneasy about giving retired Gen. Lloyd Austin — President-elect Joe Biden's reported choice to lead the Pentagon who retired in 2016 — the same path to confirmation.Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said she has "deep respect" for Austin, having worked with him when he commanded U.S. forces in Iraq, but "choosing another recently retired general to serve in a role designed for a civilian just feels off." Slotkin left the door open for voting in favor of the waiver, but said she'll need to hear the Biden administration's reasoning before making a decision.> And after the last 4 years, civil-military relations at the Pentagon definitely need to be rebalanced. Gen. Austin has had an incredible career––but I’ll need to understand what he and the Biden Administration plan to do to address these concerns before I can vote for his waiver.> > — Rep. Elissa Slotkin (@RepSlotkin) December 8, 2020Eliot Cohen, a Republican political scientist and the dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, made the case in The Atlantic that Biden should choose a civilian, and Jim Golby — who has served as an adviser to Biden, Vice President Mike Pence, and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — argued along similar lines in The New York Times. In their view, Mattis' waiver was warranted (Cohen even testified in favor of granting the waiver before Congress) given Trump's national security inexperience. But they don't think presidents should make a habit of appointing generals to the post. "Civilian control of the military is a vital precept," Cohen writes. Read more at The Atlantic and The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Arizona's Republican Party asks followers if they're willing to die to 'Stop the Steal' Trump's jaw-dropping vaccine screwup White House now reportedly pushing for $600 stimulus checks

  • Fact check: No, Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was not wearing a wire during recent debate

    Social media users have falsely claimed that GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler wore a wire or earpiece at a recent debate against her Democratic challenger.

  • The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan

    The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Taliban reportedly brought in US$1.6 billion, according to Mullah Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who revealed the Taliban’s income sources in a confidential report commissioned by NATO and later obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.In comparison, the Afghan government brought in $5.55 billion during the same period. The government is now in peace talks with the Taliban, seeking to end their 19-year insurgency.I study the Taliban’s finances as an economic policy analyst at the Center for Afghanistan Studies. Here’s where their money comes from. 1\. Drugs – $416 millionAfghanistan accounted for approximately 84% of global opium production over the past five years, according to the United Nation’s World Drug Report 2020. Much of those illicit drug profits go to the Taliban, which manage opium in areas under their control. The group imposes a 10% tax on every link in the drug production chain, according to a 2008 report from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, an independent research organization in Kabul. That includes the Afghan farmers who cultivate poppy, the main ingredient in opium, the labs that convert it into a drug and the traders who move the final product out of country. 2\. Mining – $400 million to $464 millionMining iron ore, marble, copper, gold, zinc and other metals and rare-earth minerals in mountainous Afghanistan is an increasingly lucrative business for the Taliban. Both small-scale mineral-extraction operations and big Afghan mining companies pay Taliban militants to allow them to keep their businesses running. Those who don’t pay have faced death threats.According to the Taliban’s Stones and Mines Commission, or Da Dabaro Comisyoon, the group earns $400 million a year from mining. NATO estimates that figure higher, at $464 million – up from just $35 million in 2016. 3\. Extortion and taxes – $160 millionLike a government, the Taliban tax people and industries in the growing swath of Afghanistan under their control. They even issue official receipts of tax payment.“Taxed” industries include mining operations, media, telecommunications and development projects funded by international aid. Drivers are also charged for using highways in Taliban-controlled regions, and shopkeepers pay the Taliban for the right to do business. The group also imposes a traditional Islamic form of taxation called “ushr” – which is a 10% tax on a farmer’s harvest – and “zakat,” a 2.5% wealth tax. According to Mullah Yaqoob, tax revenues – which may also be considered extortion – bring in around $160 million annually. Since some of those taxed are poppy growers, there could be some financial overlap between tax revenue and drug revenue. 4\. Charitable donations – $240 millionThe Taliban receive covert financial contributions from private donors and international institutions across the globe. Many Taliban donations are from charities and private trusts located in Persian Gulf countries, a region historically sympathetic to the group’s religious insurgency. Those donations add up to about $150 million to $200 million each year, according to the Afghanistan Center for Research and Policy Studies. These charities are on the U.S. Treasurey Department’s list of groups that finance terrorism. Private citizens from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and some Persian Gulf nations also help finance the Taliban, contributing another $60 million annually to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, according to American counterterrorism agencies. 5\. Exports – $240 millionIn part to launder illicit money, the Taliban import and export various everyday consumer goods, according to the United Nations Security Council. Known business affiliates include the multinational Noorzai Brothers Limited, which imports auto parts and sells reassembled vehicles and spare automobile parts.The Taliban’s net income from exports is thought to be around $240 million a year. This figure includes the export of poppy and looted minerals, so there may be financial overlap with drug revenue and mining revenue. 6\. Real estate – $80 millionThe Taliban own real estate in Afghanistan, Pakistan and potentially other countries, according to Mullah Yaqoob and the Pakistani TV Channel SAMAA. Yaqoob told NATO annual real estate revenue is around $80 million. 7\. Specific countriesAccording to BBC reporting, a classified CIA report estimated in 2008 that the Taliban had received $106 million from foreign sources, in particular from the Gulf states.Today, the governments of Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are all believed to bankroll the Taliban, according to numerous U.S. and international sources. Experts say these funds could amount to as much as $500 million a year, but it is difficult to put an exact figure on this income stream. Building a peacetime budgetFor nearly 20 years, the Taliban’s great wealth has financed mayhem, destruction and death in Afghanistan. To battle its insurgency, the Afghan government also spends heavily on war, often at the expense of basic public services and economic development.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]A peace agreement in Afghanistan would allow the government to redirect its scarce resources. The government might also see substantial new revenue flow in from legal sectors now dominated by the Taliban, such as mining. Stability is additionally expected to attract foreign investment in the country, helping the government end its dependence on donors like the United States and the European Union.There are many reasons to root for peace in war-scarred Afghanistan. Its financial health is one of them.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Hanif Sufizada, University of Nebraska Omaha.Read more: * How a troop drawdown in Afghanistan signals American weakness and could send Afghan allies into the Taliban’s arms * After US and Taliban sign accord, Afghanistan must prepare for peaceHanif Sufizada does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • Los Angeles police move in on BLM protesters

    Video shared online shows police moving in on the protesters and hitting them with batons. One protester was reportedly arrested. Protesters say they are opposed to Garcetti, who co-chaired Biden's campaign, based on his handling of issues such as homelessness and the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • German prosecutors 'have evidence' suspect killed Madeleine McCann

    There is compelling evidence the German prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann killed her but it cannot be shared with the public, German prosecutors said on Tuesday. “If you knew the evidence we had you would come to the same conclusion as I do,” Hans Christian Wolters, the prosecutor in charge of the case told the BBC. “But I can't give you details because we don't want the accused to know what we have on him — these are tactical considerations.” Christian Brückner, a 43-year-old convicted paedophile and rapist, was named as a suspect in the toddler’s disappearance in June, but is yet to be charged in connection with the case. German prosecutors say that while they have evidence against him it is not yet enough to secure a conviction. “I can't promise, I can't guarantee that we have enough to bring a charge but I'm very confident because what we have so far doesn't allow any other conclusion at all,” Mr Wolters told the BBC. The claim comes days after Scotland Yard said it had yet to see any evidence that Madeleine was dead or had been murdered, and that it was still treating her case as a missing persons inquiry. “I would not expect necessarily, every single piece of material to be shared with us. I'm sure they're sharing the relevant things at the relevant times with us. We are working really, really closely with them,” Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said. Last month, an internal Portuguese police memo was leaked to the press which described its officers as “shocked” after a briefing from German prosecutors on their evidence against Brückner. Portuguese police left the meeting convinced the Germans have “no evidence, just speculation” and were determined to “keep Brückner in prison at all costs”, according to the memo.

  • Texas asks U.S. Supreme Court to help Trump upend election in long-shot lawsuit

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The state of Texas on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the voting results in four other states in a long-shot legal gambit intended to help President Donald Trump upend his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. Officials from the four states - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - called the lawsuit a reckless attack on democracy while legal experts gave it little chance to succeed. It was filed directly with the Supreme Court rather than with a lower court, as is permitted for certain litigation between states.

  • Pfizer and Moderna reportedly reject invitations to Trump's vaccine 'PR stunt'

    It seems the executives leading COVID-19 vaccine development know better than to attend a big gathering right about now.On Tuesday, the White House will be hosting a "vaccine summit" apparently meant to bring vaccine developers, scientists, and government leaders together ahead of distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. But drug industry leaders have decided the event is more of a "public relations stunt," and some big names aren't even planning to attend, Stat News reports.Pfizer and Moderna are currently at the top of the COVID-19 vaccine world, having produced vaccine candidates that are more than 90 percent effective at stopping transmission of the disease. But despite the fact that both of the companies' CEOs had been invited to the vaccine summit, neither plans to attend, two sources tell Stat. The summit comes just days before the Food and Drug Administration is set to examine Pfizer's vaccine data, and a week before it will look at Moderna's. Both reviews will likely result in emergency use authorizations for the two vaccines.Many other companies involved in the vaccine distribution process — FedEx, UPS, Walgreens, and CVS among them — are expected to send representatives to the event. But they "are likely to send lower-ranking executives as opposed to their CEOs," sources familiar with the event's planning tell Stat. And despite an apparent conflict of interest, Peter Marks, the FDA official who heads vaccine approvals, may end up attending the summit, Stat reports.More stories from theweek.com Arizona's Republican Party asks followers if they're willing to die to 'Stop the Steal' Trump's jaw-dropping vaccine screwup White House now reportedly pushing for $600 stimulus checks

  • Mohammed bin Salman rejected claims he sent an elite hit squad to kill a Saudi spy chief exiled in Canada, arguing he's immune from prosecution anyway

    Saad al-Jabri sued Crown Prince Mohammed in Washington, DC, in August, claiming he was targeted because he knew damning secrets about the royal court.

  • California warns of rising virus cases, broad transmission

    California's top health official on Tuesday said coronavirus cases are expected to continue to climb in the state and that everyday activities now carry a much greater risk of infection. Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's secretary of health and human services, said the roughly 23,000 new virus cases reported Tuesday include test results from over the weekend and that these tend to skew lower. The warning comes as California authorities sent a cellphone text alert to millions of residents in two major regions of the state asking them to stay home except for essential activities.

  • ‘Serial rapists’ accused of preying on homeless in Smokies to spend decades in prison

    “It was a game for them.”