(FOX) — Airport officials in Spain are stumped over a “ghost plane” at Madrid’s Barajas airport that appears to be in a “state of abandonment” after reportedly being left on the tarmac for years.
A notice posted on Spain’s Official State Gazette seeks to find the owner of a McDonnell Douglas MD-87, an aircraft that has not moved for years and, according to a Spanish newspaper, was tied to multiple failed businesses.
The abandoned MD-87, which is registered as EC-KRV, was once owned by Spanish charter airline Pronair and made regular trips to China until it closed down in 2008, El Pais reported. A few years later it reportedly was acquired by Saicus Air — a cargo carrier that went bankrupt in 2010.
A three-year-old boy who went missing in a North Carolina forest for two days said he "hung out with a bear" to keep company while his family and hundreds of others searched for him.
Military option on the table— that's what Axios reporter Jonathan Swan was told when discussing the Venezuela crisis with Sen. Lindsey Graham. In a breaking exclusive Sunday evening, Axios has revealed key explosive contents of a recent meeting between President Trump and Sen. Graham wherein the president "mused to him about the possibility of using military force in Venezuela, where the U.S. government is currently pushing for regime change using diplomatic and economic pressures." According to Axios:
Graham, recalling his conversation with Trump a couple weeks ago, said: "He [Trump] said, 'What do you think about using military force?' and I said, 'Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic.' And he said, 'Well, I'm surprised, you want to invade everybody.'"
Graham laughed. "And I said, 'I don't want to invade everybody, I only want to use the military when our national security interests are threatened.'"
Sen. Graham explained further to Swan in a phone call that "Trump's really hawkish" on Venezuela, and added the president's willingness to use military force against the Maduro regime actually surpasses Graham's.
Graham summarized the unusual and unexpected takeaway from the contents of his discussions with president with the conclusion that"Trump was even more hawkish than he [Graham] was on Venezuela."
This follows a week of unrest and mass protests, along with some very limited military defections, inside the socialist country and after about a dozen countries have joined the United States in recognizing opposition held National Assembly head Juan Guaido as the "Interim President of Venezuela" possessing sole legitimacy. After Trump's controversial declaration of Maduro's illegitimacy as president last week, a senior administration official followed by saying that “all options are on the table”.
And now it appears the "military option" is perhaps more prominent on that table in Trump's mind than many believed, which Axios muses is related to being "stymied at home" after the wall/government shutdown crisis, thus "Trump is now moving faster than ever on foreign policy."
While this doesn't mean Trump will invade Venezuela anytime soon, it increasingly appears escalating diplomatic and economic pressures could fast put Washington on such a path toward overt regime change in Caracas. Toward this end, Axios notes: "We expect the Trump administration will target Nicolás Maduro's oil and offshore wealth in the coming weeks and try to divert that wealth to the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó...".
The worry over potential military confrontation or civil war inside the country is increasingly looking very real as over the weekend reports surfaced online of a build-up of Venezuelan military assets along the borders, specifically near Columbia — a key US ally in Latin America.
Since taking office, and prior to the current crisis as recently as 2017, Trump has spoken of a "military option" when Venezuela policy arises; however, his aides have reportedly attempted to dissuade him from taking any hasty action.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, opposition leader Juan Guaido has called for consecutive days of nationwide protests to continue this week to put pressure on Maduro to hold a new election, in accord with EU demands that he announces fresh elections within eight days. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, issued the following ultimatum Saturday alongside France, Germany and Britain: "If within eight days there are no fair, free and transparent elections called in Venezuela, Spain will recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuelan president."
Guaido last week specifically appealed to the military to switch sides following a local and short-lived attempt of 27 officers to lead a revolt on Monday (1/21). To encourage more such defections, which so far hasn't appeared to penetrate the top layers of military leadership, Guaido has offered amnesty protection to any officer previously accused of corruption or human rights abuses should they defect.
British news outlet The Telegraph apologized "unreservedly" on Saturday and agreed to pay first lady Melania Trump "substantial damages" for publishing an article about her with "a number of false statements."The p...
Enlarge / GILLETTE, Wyo.: A truck loaded with coal is viewed from the Eagle Butte Coal Mine Overlook which is operated by Alpha Coal. The area is a large producer of coal. Gillette uses the moniker of "The Energy Capital of the Nation." (credit: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
On Thursday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its 2019 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), which contains projections about trends in energy—from the amount of fossil fuels produced and sold, to the growth of renewable energy—out to 2050.
This year, against the backdrop of recent warnings from top scientists about the urgency of climate action, the EIA's projections don't look great. Coal, one of the most carbon-emitting sources of energy, is still projected to provide 17 percent of the United States' electricity in 2050, and that's assuming that no carbon-capture technology has been made mandatory. Natural gas—a fossil fuel that is less carbon-emitting than coal but still a problem for climate change—will increase its share of US electricity production from 34 percent to 39 percent.
These projections are from the EIA's "reference case," which omits any predictions about unplanned policy changes. But they do contain assumptions about how technology will change and the economy will grow. In the EIA's own words (PDF), "The AEO2019 Reference case represents EIA's best assessment of how US and world energy markets will operate through 2050, based on many key assumptions. For instance, the Reference-case projection assumes improvement in known energy production, delivery, and consumption technology trends."
"We’ll work with the Democrats and negotiate and if we can’t do that, then obviously we’ll do the emergency because that’s what it is. It’s a national emergency.”
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher said that the arrest of former Trump adviser Roger Stone “was an over-the-top arrest.” During an interview with author and columnist Ann Coulter, Maher stated, “Roger Stone was arrested. I would agree with you, it was an over-the-top arrest.” He continued, “[W]e’ve all seen the clips on the news recently, [of Trump saying] I had no contacts with Russia…we know that that’s a plain lie. That’s kind of a consequential lie, isn’t it? Now that we know he was trying to build a tower in Moscow up until the election.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Thousands of "yellow vest" demonstrators marched through Paris and other cities on Saturday on the 11th weekend of action against the government, suggesting President Emmanuel Macron has yet to defuse public opposition to some of his policies.
PARIS (AP) — France’s yellow vest movement kept up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron with mainly peaceful marches and scattered skirmishes Saturday, its 11th straight weekend action despite internal divisions and growing worries about protest violence.
The charges against President Donald Trump's longtime associate Roger Stone do not allege collusion with Russia but only that Stone lied to Congress, Trump's lawyer said on Friday.
CNN crime and justice producer David Shortell said Friday that the network set up a camera crew outside the home of longtime political operative Roger Stone after "noticing unusual grand jury activity" in connection to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation the day before.
President Trump on Friday accused the FBI of mistreating his longtime associate Roger Stone by arresting him in a pre-dawn raid, his first response to the Russia investigation indictment."Greatest Witch Hunt in the...
Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, and reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia have been added to a lawsuit by Jerome Corsi, a New York Times best-selling author who is accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of trying to coerce false testimony against President Trump.
The amended complaint was filed by lawyer Larry Klayman, who is representing Corsi in his case against Mueller, who was appointed nearly two years ago to investigate alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
“There is a coordinated effort by the defendants to indict and/or remove the president from office. Dr. Corsi, my brave client, has been coerced, threatened and blackmailed into providing false testimony which special counsel Mueller intended to use to accomplish this design,” Klayman said in a statement.
“But rather than caving in to the threat to indict Dr. Corsi if he did not ‘play ball’ with the special counsel or be indicted himself, Dr. Corsi refused and would not accept a so-called ‘sweet heart’ plea deal, which would have allowed him to plead guilty to one count of perjury, a felony, with a recommendation for no prison time.
“Now, ratcheting up the coercion and blackmail, the special counsel in this coordinated effort with the new defendants Jeff Bezos and his WaPo reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia, have ‘upped the ante.’ They too, along with Mueller and the other defendants, will be held legally accountable for their despicable and illegal acts,” Klayman said.
The complaint alleges the defendants “acted and continue to act in concert to coerce, extort and blackmail Dr. Corsi into providing false testimony under oath to the special counsel with the design to indict and/or remove President Donald J. Trump from his duly elected office.”
It also alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment, the USA Freedom Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, grand jury secrecy laws under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, “as well as tortious interference with business relations and defamation.”
The collective damage claims, including a demand for punitive damages, exceed $1.6 billion.
It also demands preliminary and permanent injunctive relief.
The case, Corsi v. Mueller in the District Court for the District of Columbia, is before Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle.
Defendants now include Mueller, the DOJ, the FBI, the NSA, CIA, Bezos, the Washington Post and Roig-Franzia.
The filing explains Corsi “is a recognized and distinguished investigative conservative journalist and author who has written two (2) New York Times best-selling books.”
He written about 20 books since 2004, including seven on the best-seller list and two that reached No. 1.
Mueller’s investigative team believes Corsi had contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and was involved in the timing of the release of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails to counter the Access Hollywood video that threatened Trump’s campaign.
Corsi has declared he doesn’t know Assange and has had no contact with him.
“Based on these misrepresentations by defendant Mueller and his leftist and Democrat partisan prosecutorial and ethically and legally conflicted staff, defendant Mueller has threatened to indict plaintiff Corsi and effectively put him in federal prison for the rest of his life unless plaintiff Corsi would provide the false sworn testimony under oath that they demanded even after being informed that the testimony desired would be false,” the new filing notes.
Klayman, a former U.S. Department of Justice trial lawyer and founder of Freedom Watch, said: “Not to be undone by having previously criminally threatened Dr. Corsi with indictment if he did not lie under oath to try to incriminate President Donald J. Trump, and then when Dr. Corsi refused to accept an illegal plea deal, having criminally smeared him with leaks of grand jury information in retaliation, the less than ‘special counsel’ is now sending FBI agents to intimidate and effectively threaten my client’s family members as well as continuing to illegal surveil them without any probable cause to do so.”
He’s also told the Senate Intelligence Committee, which demanded that he produce massive quantities of his records, to “take a hike.” They later subpoenaed him, but he is promising to fight that.
Corsi contends Mueller set up a “perjury trap” to force him to testify against the president.
“Just over the last few days, black FBI SUVs, obviously on the orders of Mueller and his lackeys at the FBI, have been sent to the homes and workplaces of Dr. Corsi’s family members and friends and parked outside for days in order to scare and threaten them. This is intended to coerce my client to accept the fraudulent plea deal and testify falsely under oath against the president. Particularly coming during this joyous and holy Christmas, and now New Year’s season, this despicable misconduct effectively constituted a legally actionable assault on these family members,” Klayman said previously.
Klayman said details about the allegations are at Corsination.com.
It appears the White House is ready to stoke the flames of anti-Maduro unrest following Monday's dramatic failed military revolt launched by 27 low-ranking officers and their subsequent arrests in the Cotiza neighborhood of Caracas, which sparked overnight protests and sporadic clashes with police after opposition leader Juan Guaido made a broad appeal to the military in a speech, urging them to demand Maduro step down. Guaido and other opposition leaders in the National Assembly have declared Wednesday a nation-wide protest day seeking to topple the regime— itself a historic date commemorating the end of Venezuela's military dictatorship in 1958.
On Tuesday US Vice President Mike Pence urged the Venezuelan people to"make your voices heard" in follow-up to Guaido's risky appeal, which appears a continuation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's comments throwingthe United States' full weight behind Venezuela's opposition seeking to depose President Nicolás Maduro, which he made over a week ago while in the Middle East after Maduro was sworn in to a widely contested six-year second term.
As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes. We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad. pic.twitter.com/ThzIAqBoRn
VP Pence's words were issued in a video posted to social media wherein he asserted, “Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to to power." The video begins with Pence greeting in Spanish “Hola, I’m Mike Pence” but ending with a somewhat grimmer tone: “Vayan con Dios!” or “Go with God.”
Pence also praised Guaido, head of the opposition held National Assembly who previously called himself Venezuela's "legitimate" power, as the "courageous" leader of “the last vestige of democracy in your country,” referencing the legislative body. This week the government-stacked Supreme Court declared it would throw out recent measures by the National Assembly that declared Maduro's presidency illegitimate.
Pence said in the video he was delivering the message on behalf of Trump and the American people. Referencing the planned Wednesday protests, the vice president said:
As you make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say to all the good people of Venezuela, ‘Estamos con ustedes,’ we are with you.”
The country remains on edge Tuesday as following the mutiny and subsequent successful government crackdown, which further involved the rebellious unit briefly kidnapping several officials stealing weaponry at a police outpost a mere kilometers from the presidential palace, pockets of anti-Maduro protests were sparked in the capital city demanding the release of the detained soldiers, whose actions the government condemned as "treasonous" and "motivated by the dark interests of the extreme right," according to a statement announced on state TV. Maduro's right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, also boasted on Twitter while speaking of the rebels: "They were neutralized, surrendered and captured in record time."
Under constitution of #Venezuela Maduro not legitimately elected President. When vacancy exists it is filled by National Assembly President until new election called. Last night a National Guard unit pledged it would follow constitution & regime responded with its own forces. https://t.co/Du8tE1QazP
Pence's video remarks calling Maduro a "dictator" and essentially calling for a coup comes after months of both the Trump administration and US Congressional leaders becoming increasingly unrestrained in publicly calling for outright regime change. After Monday's coup attempt Florida Senator Marco Rubio went so far as to encourage more such military defections.
Meanwhile Venezuelan Foreign Minister Arreaza just days ago told Democracy Now that "Nothing that the opposition does is without the permission or authorization of the State Department... They say, 'We have to make consultations with the embassy. We have to make consultations with the Dept of State.'"
President Donald Trump's bid to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall and end a month-long partial government shutdown suffered a blow on Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court left in place for now a program protecting young illegal immigrants from deportation.
