January, 2020 | últimas notícias

3 people, dog killed in small plane crash – ABC News

Three people and a dog were killed in a small plane crash in Illinois on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

A twin-engine Piper Aerostar went down in a field in a residential area southeast of the state capital, Springfield. The plane had departed from Huntsville, Alabama, earlier that day and was attempting to land at Abraham Lincoln Capitol Airport in Springfield, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Surveillance video from a nearby residence, obtained by Springfield ABC affiliate WICS, shows the plane narrowly missing homes as it falls from the sky.

The aircraft burst into flames upon impact. There were no survivors, according to the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

Just moments before crashing, the pilot apparently reported having trouble with the weather conditions and the plane’s instruments while approaching Springfield.

“The plane evidently tried to make a circle around Springfield where they could try to come in again,” Sangamon County Sheriff’s Jack Campbell told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. “And at that time it was when the tower lost contact with the plane.”

Former Springfield Mayor Frank Edwards and his wife, Sangamon County Coroner Cinda Edwards, were among those killed, according toa WICS report, which cited “multiple sources who wished to remain anonymous.”

ABC News has reached out to the current mayor’s office as well as the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office for comment.

The FAA said it is investigating the crash, alongside the National Transportation Safety Board.

Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/US/small-plane-crash-illinois-kills-people-dog-onboard/story?id=68607922

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Mexican Butterfly Conservationist Is Found Dead, Two Weeks After Vanishing – The New York Times

In recent years, Mexico has been reeling from a relentless increase in homicides, a trend that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been unable to reverse in the 14 months he has been in office. Last year, the nation recorded more than 34,500 murders, the highest annual tally since the late 1990s when the government started keeping such data.

Mr. Gómez’s body was found in the municipality of Ocampo in northeastern Michoacán, where he had disappeared, in a large tank designed to capture rainwater, said Magdalena Guzmán, a spokeswoman for the state prosecutor’s office in Michoacán.

Investigators had not yet determined a cause of death, she said in an interview late Wednesday.

The disappearance of Mr. Gómez struck Mexico particularly hard, in part because he had devoted himself to the protection of an iconic and widely loved feature of the country’s natural environment.

Millions of the orange-and-black monarch butterflies arrive in Mexico starting in October after flying as far as 3,000 miles from the eastern regions of the United States and Canada. They make the return trip in March.

The monarch is the only species of butterfly known to make a two-way migration akin to the round-trip migration of birds, according to the United States Forest Service.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/world/mexico-butterfly-dead.html

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Trump’s plan gives Israel a green light to annex part of the West Bank. Here’s what that looks like – CNN

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/29/world/trump-map-israel-annexation-meanwhile-in-america-january-29-intl/index.html

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Lev Parnas, barred from impeachment trial, makes himself its star anyway – The Washington Post

Here’s what you need to know to understand the impeachment trial of President Trump.

What’s happening now: The Senate impeachment trial resumes Wednesday afternoon with a question period for senators. Questions will alternate between the majority and minority for up to eight hours. They are submitted to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who reads them. Follow live coverage here.

What happens next: Senators will have up to eight hours for questions on Thursday. Here’s more on what happens next.

How we got here: A whistleblower complaint led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to announce the beginning of an official impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24. Closed-door hearings and subpoenaed documents related to the president’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky followed. After two weeks of public hearings in November, the House Intelligence Committee wrote a report that was sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which held its own hearings. Pelosi and House Democrats announced the articles of impeachment against Trump on Dec. 10. The Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. When the full House of Representatives adopted both articles of impeachment against him on Dec. 18, Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached. The impeachment trial began on Jan. 16. Trump’s legal team and House impeachment managers have presented their cases under the ground rules adopted by the Senate.

Stay informed: Read the latest reporting and analysis on impeachment here.

Listen: Follow The Washington Post’s coverage with daily updates from across our podcasts.

Want to understand impeachment better? Sign up for the 5-Minute Fix to get a guide in your inbox every weekday. Have questions? Submit them here, and they may be answered in the newsletter.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/lev-parnas-barred-from-impeachment-trial-makes-himself-its-star-anyway/2020/01/29/2cb47062-42d2-11ea-aa6a-083d01b3ed18_story.html

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‘American Dirt’ Publisher Cancels Author Tour After Threats – NPR

Flatiron Books, publisher of the controversial new novel American Dirt, has cancelled the remainder of author Jeanine Cummins’ book tour after what it called “specific threats to booksellers and the author.” This follows several individual event cancellations.

Cummins received a hefty advance and a big promotional push for American Dirt, which follows a Mexican mother and son fleeing drug cartel violence. Oprah Winfrey picked it for her book club, and prominent authors showered it with praise. But critics have called the book inaccurate and full of harmful stereotypes, and questioned whether Cummins was the right person to tell that story. (Despite the controversy — or because of it — the book is selling well; it’s currently #1 on Amazon’s charts.)

In a statement, Bob Miller, the president of Flatiron Books, said the publisher is proud to have published American Dirt, and was “therefore surprised by the anger that has emerged from members of the Latinx and publishing communities.”

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What The Controversy Over ‘American Dirt’ Tells Us About Publishing And Authorship

But, he added, “the fact that we were surprised is indicative of a problem, which is that in positioning this novel, we failed to acknowledge our own limits. The discussion around this book has exposed deep inadequacies in how we at Flatiron Books address issues of representation, both in the books we publish and in the teams that work on them.”

Miller also addressed specific concerns around the promotion of American Dirt, saying “we made serious mistakes in the way we rolled out this book. We should never have claimed that it was a novel that defined the migrant experience; we should not have said that Jeanine’s husband was an undocumented immigrant while not specifying that he was from Ireland; we should not have had a centerpiece at our bookseller dinner last May that replicated the book jacket so tastelessly. We can now see how insensitive those and other decisions were, and we regret them.”

Miller said “we wish to listen, learn and do better,” but called for “a two-way dialogue characterized by respect,” saying that “while there are valid criticisms around our promotion of this book that is no excuse for the fact that in some cases there have been threats of physical violence. We join with those in the Latinx community and others who have spoken out against such violence.”

Flatiron will replace the remainder of the book tour with a series of town halls where Cummins will meet with critics of the book.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2020/01/29/801021867/american-dirt-publisher-cancels-author-tour-after-threats

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Kobe Bryant death: NBA players change their jersey numbers as a show of respect for Lakers legend – CBS Sports

As the sports world and NBA continue to mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant, some players are taking further actions to pay their respects to the Lakers legend. Kobe was one of nine passengers who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also aboard the helicopter when it crashed.

While both numbers synonymous with Bryant — Nos. 8 and 24 — are already illuminated in the rafters of Staples Center, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban already said that no player will wear No. 24 for Dallas ever again, other teams around the league may soon follow suit. Yet some players are already taking it upon themselves to retire the Black Mamba’s numbers unofficially following his untimely death on Sunday.

At the start of the 2019-20 season, No. 8 was tied for the second-most popular number worn in the league this season with 19 players wearing it, while 11 others wear the No. 24. Players like Kemba Walker, Zach LaVine, Jordan Clarkson, Buddy Hield and Kent Bazemore all wear one of Kobe’s numbers, but that might soon change. However, per league rules, all jersey changes must be approved. The league will handle all requests they’re getting for players wanting to change their numbers from No. 8 and No. 24 on a case-by-case basis, according to New York Times‘ Marc Stein.

Here is a list of players who are changing their No. 8/24 jersey numbers to honor Kobe Bryant.

Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn Nets

Spencer Dinwiddie decided to change his jersey number from No. 8 to No. 26 out of respect for Bryant. The Nets announced the jersey change on Twitter Tuesday, with Dinwiddie saying that he chose 26 because “20” and “6” represent the birth dates for both his son Elijah (April 20) and his own (April 6). He also pointed out that there are other obvious reasons for the number, one of which being that two plus six equals eight, so in some way it still honors Bryant as well. Dinwiddie already received league approval of his number change, and will debut his new number Wednesday when the Nets play the Pistons, per ESPN’s Malika Andrews.

Terrence Ross, Orlando Magic

Ross will also be making the switch, per Charania. The Magic’s shooting guard will turn in his No. 8 jersey for No. 31, which is what he wore as a member of the Toronto Raptors and his first two seasons with the Magic.

Quinn Cook, Los Angeles Lakers

Cook is changing his jersey number from No. 2 to No. 28 in honor of Kobe’s daughter, Gianna Bryant, per Charania. She wore No. 2, which combines with Kobe’s No. 8.

Markieff Morris, Detroit Pistons

After switching to No. 8 when he joined the Detroit Pistons this season, Morris has decided to change his jersey number to 88 out of respect for Kobe, per The Athletic’s James Edwards III. Morris said that players will likely all stop wearing No. 8 or No. 24, and that it was a “collective thing” that players in the league needed to do and wanted to do.

Moe Harkless, Los Angeles Clippers

Harkless is turning in his No. 8 jersey for a No. 11 one to honor Kobe, per Shams Charania. In an Instagram post on his account, the Clippers forward paid tribute to Bryant after his death on Sunday, mentioning how much of an inspiration the Lakers legend provided Harkless to “want to make something of himself,” while also calling Kobe a “real-life superhero.”

Jahlil Okafor, New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans center wore No. 8 when he was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers for two seasons, and picked it again when he joined the Pelican in 2018-19. Now, though, Okafor is switching his number to No. 9, per Charania.

Mason Plumlee, Denver Nuggets

Since 2016, Plumlee has worn No. 24. Yet like so many other players across the league, the Nuggets’ backup center is switching to No. 7 to honor Kobe.

Alec Burks, Golden State Warriors

Burks is changing his No. 8 jersey to No. 10, which is what he wore in college at Colorado, as well as during his tenure with the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers, per Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.

In the wake of Bryant’s death, players across the league have mourned the passing of one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. While No. 24 is more commonly associated with Kobe, he became a legend wearing both numbers.

He played 10 seasons wearing each number, scored over 16,000 points in each jersey and won a combined five championships with the No. 8 and No. 24 on his back. He started his NBA career wearing No. 8 because that is the number he wore when he was playing basketball in Italy as a child. Then, 10 years into his already historic career, Bryant switched to No. 24 because that’s what he wore in high school. At the time of him entering the league, No. 24 was already taken by George McCloud.

Bryant often spoke of the two numbers like they were two different chapters in his basketball life. Ahead of his retirement in 2016, Bryant said that he associates the No. 8 jersey with him trying to “plant his flag” in the league. When he changed to No. 24, that was as if he was shedding his skin and developing and growing into a new player.

With the amount of impact and influence Bryant had on a lot of players in the league, this list will likely only grow as the season wares on.

Source Article from https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kobe-bryant-death-nba-players-change-their-jersey-numbers-as-a-show-of-respect-for-lakers-legend/

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White House has issued formal threat to Bolton to keep him from publishing book – CNN

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/29/politics/donald-trump-john-bolton-white-house-book/index.html

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Coronavirus live updates: Outbreak is ‘grave concern’ as infections spread beyond China – CNBC

The total number of cases of the coronavirus reached more than 6,100 worldwide with 132 deaths in China, Chinese and international health authorities said Wednesday. Since the first patient was identified in Wuhan on Dec. 31, the number of coronavirus cases in China has mushroomed to more than 6,060, exceeding the total number of SARS cases in that country during the 2002-2003 epidemic. There were 5,327 SARS cases in China and 8,000 across the world between Nov. 1, 2002, and July 31, 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/coronavirus-latest-updates.html

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3 victims in deadly plane crash identified – newschannel20.com

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LIVE: Trump Impeachment Trial & Hearings (Day 8) | NBC News – NBC News

Watch live coverage as Chief Justice John Roberts presides over the U.S. Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. The two articles of impeachment charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
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Source Article from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q10p96BXSS4

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Outside group to launch Warren attack ad over Native American land rights bill | TheHill – The Hill

An outside group is launching a new attack ad on Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann Warren Biden on whether Sanders can unify party as nominee: ‘It depends’ Overnight Health Care — Presented by Philip Morris International — HHS has no plans to declare emergency over coronavirus | GOP senator calls for travel ban to stop outbreak | Warren releases plan to contain infectious diseases Biden lines up high-profile surrogates to campaign in Iowa MORE over the Massachusetts senator’s endorsement of a bill aimed at protecting Native American land rights.

The digital ad will launch Thursday and run in Iowa and New Hampshire before the crucial, early state contests, according to a consultant with knowledge of the ad. The seven- to 10-day ad campaign will also run in Washington, D.C., the consultant said.

The ad is paid for by the Coalition to Restore American Values, a group that has previously hit Warren over her support for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act.

The ad aims to cast Warren, a top-tier candidate in the Democratic primary, as “fake” and “hypocritical,” according to a copy of the ad obtained by The Hill.

The 30-second digital ad is the latest rolled out by the Coalition to Restore American Values attacking Warren over her support for the bill.

The group was also behind an online ad featuring Warren in a Native American headdress over her “casino plan,” that ran in May, The Daily Beast reported at the time.

The Coalition to Restore American Values is registered to conservative political donor David Langdon, according to The Daily Beast which cited Ohio state records.

The group is also behind the “no faux casino” website that features the online ad reported by The Daily Beast.

In response to the ad, a spokesperson for Warren pointed The Hill to a statement from Warren’s office to the Providence Journal from a 2018 report about the bill.

“Our bill is about recognizing the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal homelands and the tribe’s right to keep their reservation. The federal government should not renege on yet another deal with Native Americans,” the statement said.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act passed in the House last year, with 47 Republicans joining almost all Democrats in favor of the bill.

The measure would terminate a years-long legal battle to the tribe’s reservation by reaffirming the contested land belongs to the group and bar future lawsuits challenging the claim.

Critics of the legislation dismissed it as a thinly veiled attempt to allow the tribe to build a casino.

Trump had urged House Republicans to vote against it, using his derisive nickname for Warren.

“Republicans shouldn’t vote for H.R. 312, a special interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas) Warren. It is unfair and doesn’t treat Native Americans equally!” Trump tweeted at the time.

The launch comes as Warren looks to build support in Iowa and New Hampshire ahead of the crucial nominating contests.

A RealClearPolitics average of polling shows Warren in fourth place in both states, trailing Sen. Bernie SandersBernie Sanders New campaign ad goes after Sanders by mentioning heart attack Biden on whether Sanders can unify party as nominee: ‘It depends’ Steyer rebukes Biden for arguing with supporter he thought was Sanders voter MORE (I-Vt.), former Vice President Joe BidenJoe Biden Perry delegation talking points stressed pushing Ukraine to deal with ‘corruption’ GOP senator airs anti-Biden ad in Iowa amid impeachment trial Biden photobombs live national news broadcast at one of his rallies MORE and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul Buttigieg Biden on whether Sanders can unify party as nominee: ‘It depends’ Biden lines up high-profile surrogates to campaign in Iowa Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball: Failure to embrace Sanders as nominee would ‘destroy’ Democratic Party MORE.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/480552-outside-group-to-launch-warren-attack-ad-over-native-american-land-rights

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Benjamin Netanyahu: Trump’s Middle East peace plan is an ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ for Israelis and Pales… – Fox News

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Benjamin Netanyahu: Trump is the ‘best friend Israel has ever had in White House’

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that President Trump’s Middle East peace plan is an “opportunity of a lifetime for Israel and the Palestinians and for peace.”

Netanyahu made the comment one day after he joined President Trump at the White House to reveal the long-awaited Middle East peace plan meant to bring to an end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The plan, which has been opposed by the Palestinians, was touted by Trump as the “most detailed proposal ever put forward” toward a lasting peace in the region.

Trump said Tuesday that his vision “presents a win-win opportunity for both sides.”

On Wednesday, Netanyahu called Trump “the best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House,” highlighting Trump’s actions while in office, including moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights region.

“I think the president has done something extraordinary,” Netanyahu said on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday. “President Trump has brought forward a peace plan that enables us to make a deal of the century. It gives Israel security, it gives the Palestinians national dignity, it allows us to move forward so that we can live together.”

“It’s a deal that we should both make and we’re prepared to make it,” he continued. “I think the president did something that is concrete that can work.”

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TRUMP UNVEILS MAP OF PROPOSED STATE OF PALESTINE

Long billed as the only way for the Palestinians and Israelis to actually come to terms, Trump’s plan calls for a two-state solution – with the creation of a future “state” of Palestine.

The plan would require the Palestinians to meet certain benchmarks — rooting out terrorism, stopping “pay to slay,” implementing steps toward free speech and political reforms – to become a state, but Trump promised that they would have U.S. backing if they did. It also calls for the creation of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and for more than doubling the amount of territory the Palestinians control.

“I think we should all take this deal and we should do it right away,” Netanyahu said.

“I know they [Palestinians] have their objections, but I saw three Arab ambassadors there in that extraordinary ceremony that the president got to be there, that’s amazing,” Netanyahu said. “I heard the statements from leading Arabs countries who said to the Palestinians, ‘You should negotiate under American auspices.’ Indeed they should. We should all move to make this deal.”

WHAT’S IN TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST PEACE PLAN?

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According to the plan, Israel will maintain the sovereignty of the Jordan Valley east of the West Bank.

The deal also calls for the construction of a tunnel connecting the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“Assuming we have a peace agreement, then the two parts where the Palestinians work have to be somehow connected. There will be a tunnel, we’ll have security control over each end of that tunnel, but they can move back and forth,” Netanyahu explained on Wednesday.

Trump’s plan also calls for $50 billion over the next 10 years in promised international investment in a new Palestinian state.

“He’s offered an enormous vision of economic growth,” Netanyahu said on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday. “Our Palestinian youngsters there are unemployed, they don’t have a future, he [Trump] comes in and he says, ‘We’ll bring you right into the 21st century, way into the 21st century with jobs, with technology, with investments, with cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians and the surrounding states.’”

Netanyahu went on to say that Trump’s new and realistic vision is “based on practical steps for changing the Middle East, changing this conflict that has not been solved for 100 years.”

The plan calls for Israel to halt the construction of any new settlements in contested areas for four years, during which time details of a comprehensive agreement would be negotiated. The deal would also require the Palestinians to accept conditions they have been previously unwilling to consider, such as accepting West Bank settlements.

Netanyahu acknowledged on Wednesday that Trump is asking Palestinians and Israelis “to do some hard things and compromises on both sides,” adding that he is “ready to make those compromises.”

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“I’m ready to move forward on the president’s deal to achieve peace,” Netanyahu said, acknowledging that right now Palestinians reject the plan.

“I think over time they’ll see they’ll never get a better deal,” he added.

When asked what his hopes are for Palestinians, Netanyahu said, “That they take up the president’s deal, that they work out a final peace with us, that they take the $50 billion of investment that can change their lives that would finally end this fantasy of eliminating Israel and be our neighbors in the future of prosperity, security and peace.”

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“That’s what the president put forward and we should take it,” he added.

Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/benjamin-netanyahu-trumps-middle-east-peace-plan-is-an-opportunity-of-a-lifetime-for-israelis-and-palestinians

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Donald Trump security officials threaten to block publication of John Bolton’s book – USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – White House security officials threatened to block publication of John Bolton’s book unless the former national security adviser deletes information that is classified.

In a letter to Bolton’s attorney, the National Security Council said it determined that the book – news of which roiled President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial – includes “top secret” items that could undermine national security. The NSC did not specify what those passages were.

Under commitments Bolton made when he accepted the job as national security adviser, the letter says, “the manuscript may not be published or otherwise disclosed without the deletion of this classified information.”

The NSC said it would work with Bolton on revisions to the book, which has prompted demands for his testimony in the Senate impeachment trial.

Bolton attorney Chuck Cooper declined to comment on the NSC letter.

Live impeachment trial updates:Follow the latest here

The real Bolton:John Bolton stirs GOP fury for Trump revelations, but friends say he’s used to knife fights

Bolton’s team submitted the manuscript to the NSC a month ago for a standard review to see whether the book contains information that should not be made public.

“The manuscript appears to contain significant amounts of classified information,” says the reply Wednesday signed by Ellen Knight, senior director for records, access and information security management.

Administration officials said Trump and his legal team have not seen the Bolton manuscript and did not participate in the review.

In the submission to the NSC, Cooper said he and associates did not believe the book contained any classified information.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Bolton’s book alleges that Trump demanded Ukraine investigate a political rival in exchange for foreign aid, one of the accusations in the impeachment case against the president.

Trump’s critics said the president is desperately trying to prevent Bolton’s information from becoming public and wondered whether the NSC letter is part of that effort.

“Nobody works this hard to keep the truth from coming out unless the truth is devastating,” said Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

Trump warned Senate Republicans on Wednesday not to let Democrats “play” them into calling witnesses for the impeachment trial.

Some Republicans said they might be interested in hearing from witnesses, including Bolton, perhaps enough to force subpoenas this week.

Trump, White House aides and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are trying to lobby GOP senators to move for a quick dismissal of the case.

Some critics said they are concerned that the Trump administration is trying to intimidate Bolton. Bolton is a veteran national security official – and frequent author – and they said he would not include top secret information in a book as a matter of course.

“The idea that Bolton would draft a manuscript that contains ‘significant amounts of classified information’ is ridiculous,” tweeted former Justice Department official Michael Bromwich. “He knows what’s classified and what’s not. This is tampering with the pre-publication process to intimidate and achieve political ends.”

Legal analysts said it’s hard to gauge the seriousness of the NSC’s challenge to Bolton’s book and whether it could lead to delay of publication.

Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith said he wouldn’t describe the NSC letter as “a threat.” He tweeted that “it says manuscript contains ‘significant amount’ of classified info, correctly says Bolton cannot publish classified info, and pledges to work w/ him to identify it.”

Goldsmith said he doesn’t think the White House has little “legal leverage” and “cannot get prior restraint” against Bolton’s book. In another tweet, he asked, “Will Bolton comply with requested cuts before publishing, or assume the risk, publish, and litigate later?”

Mark Zaid, an attorney who specializes in national security issues, said that if he was advising Bolton, “I would recommend filing a lawsuit now and seek expedited processing of his case given First Amendment interests.”

Zaid, who often handles lawsuits involving pre-publication review challenges, represents the whisteblower involved in the House impeachment investigation.

Bradley Moss, another national security lawyer, described the NSC letter to Bolton as “standard correspondence” on a book that deals with national security.

“It’s just an interim letter advising Bolton that they already found some allegedly classified information,” he said, “and reminding him he has an obligation to wait for final approval before publishing.”

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/29/donald-trump-security-officials-threaten-block-john-boltons-book/4609730002/

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Fog likely a contributing factor in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, experts say – Los Angeles Times

The light haze that had settled on the runway of John Wayne Airport when Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and six other passengers boarded a helicopter Sunday morning likely would not have posed much of a concern to a helicopter pilot with nearly 20 years of flying experience.

But conditions changed about a half-hour later, when the aircraft was flying over thickening clouds in the San Fernando Valley that reduced visibility predicted earlier in the day. Visibility had diminished so much that the Los Angeles Police Department had grounded its own fleet of helicopters that morning.

The helicopter ferrying Kobe and his guests — a Sikorsky S-76 chopper built in 1991 — circled for roughly 13 minutes over Glendale awaiting clearance from air traffic controllers to continue its trip under special visual flight rules that would grant clearance to fly in weather conditions with less than the minimum visibility for regular visual flying.

Experts say that at that point, the pilot had a decision to make. He could turn back, begin flying using the helicopter’s instruments and find a nearby airport to safely land, or press on. The pilot, identified by colleagues as Ara Zobayan, continued the flight toward Camarillo Airport. Minutes later, the helicopter crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, killing all nine people on board.

While less-than-ideal weather is not uncommon for experienced pilots, flying when visibility is decreasing poses an extreme danger, experts say.

“The largest killer in aviation, bar none, is weather,” said Michael Lenz, a retired safety program analyst with the Federal Aviation Administration. “The types of weather where this occurs aren’t usually severe like thunderstorms, but simply restrictions to visibility.”

Investigators combing the crash site this week are focusing on weather as one of the factors that may have contributed to the crash. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jennifer Homendy has asked the public to send in any photos that showed weather conditions near the crash site Sunday. Investigators also are probing other aspects of the flight, including the pilot’s background, the airworthiness of the helicopter and whether a mechanical failure played a role in the crash.

“Our mission is not to just determine what happened, but why it happened and how it happened to prevent … a similar accident from ever happening again,” Homendy said.

On Tuesday, the NTSB announced that the helicopter was not equipped with a terrain alarm system that could have warned the pilot he was approaching a hillside. Homendy said her agency had recommended 16 years ago that the FAA require all choppers carrying six or more passengers be equipped with a terrain-awareness and warning system. Homendy said the FAA “failed to act” on the proposal.

While experts have not ruled out any factors that may have contributed to the crash, those who are familiar with the aircraft and the conditions the pilot was flying in say mechanical issues are an unlikely cause.

A flight under visual flight rules, which the pilot was on, is based on the principle of see and avoid. When operation of an aircraft under VFR isn’t safe, often because of inclement weather, FAA rules allow a pilot to fly under instrument rules, meaning the pilot navigates only by instruments in the cockpit.

As Zobayan approached the hills of Calabasas at 150 mph, air traffic control radioed him, telling him he was too low to be seen on radar. Four minutes later, the pilot advised he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer. He rose roughly 875 feet in less than a minute and then began a descending turn before slamming into the hillside, according to a Times analysis of flight data.

Randy Waldman, a helicopter flight instructor in Los Angeles, said based on the information provided by authorities, and the pilot’s rapid incline and descent, the pilot could have become disoriented in the dense, patchy fog that had obscured some of the area and went into a fatal dive.

“It’s very possible that it went from bad visibility to no visibility in a second,” he said. “The top of the hillside that morning was completely obscured.”

When a pilot is flying using only sight, he or she uses the horizon to keep the aircraft level. When Zobayan began making a left turn over the hills in Calabasas, Waldman suspects that’s “where he lost sight of the horizon and got disoriented.”

“At that point it was too late to do anything,” Waldman said.

The FAA’s helicopter flying handbook states that losing all visual references during a flight “can cause sensory overload” for a pilot, who can then lose the ability to think rationally. In some instances, instead of slowing the helicopter, a pilot will increase airspeed.

“This can be caused by an oculogravic illusion. This type of illusion occurs when an aircraft accelerates and decelerates. Inertia from linear accelerations and decelerations cause the otolith organ to sense a nose-high or nose-low attitude,” the handbook states. “Pilots falsely perceive that the aircraft is in a nose-high attitude. Therefore, pilots increase airspeed.”

Steve Sparks, a former aviation safety inspector with the FAA, wrote in a February 2016 article for Heliweb Magazine that more than two-thirds of all weather-related helicopter accidents result in at least one fatality — a rate three times higher than other general aviation accidents. Sparks wrote that a common factor in many such crashes was the pilot’s decision to keep flying.

Lenz noted that the pilot could have switched to an instrument approach, which would have required him to take a path set by air traffic control, extending flying time. He said pilots are “result- and mission-oriented” and can feel a certain pressure to complete a flight to the satisfaction of a client. That factor may have been at play on Sunday, he said.

“Of course, hindsight is always perfect,” he said. “We can say maybe if they had turned around, they would be alive today, but we don’t know.”

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-29/experts-cite-weather-the-largest-killer-in-aviation-as-likely-key-factor-in-kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/29/business/lunar-new-year-coronavirus-economy/index.html