World AM News Briefs For Thursday, 3 Oct 2019
Hello Australia!! - Another frustrating development in the Malka Liefer case - Bernie undergoes a surprise heart procedure - Trump's very bad day of tantrums - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
An Israeli court has allowed fugitive Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer out of jail to house arrest at her sister's home while she claims to be mentally and physically unfit to be extradited back to Oz. Prosecutors here say the former headmaster of the Adass Jewish School in Victoria sexually abused students, leading to 74 counts. One of the victims accusing Leifer, Dassi Erlich, said: "This blatant disregard for the well-being of the Israeli community is outstanding," and called the ruling a "massive betrayal of justice". Australia's has been trying to regain custody of Liefer since 2008 when she fled to Israel.
US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has canceled his campaign appearances after undergoing heart surgery to implant two stents. The 78-year old independent Senator from Vermont complained of chest pains after an event in Las Vegas, and went to hospital where doctors discovered a blocked artery. Receiving stents is "a minimally invasive procedure", according to the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the recovery time is usually not lengthy. It's not clear if he will take part in the next Democratic Presidential Debate on 15 October. Late Wednesday afternoon in the US, Sanders tweeted he's "feeling good".
Congressional Democrats warned Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani bluntly warned Trump and his administration Wednesday not to intimidate potential witnesses in their impeachment inquiry. House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff accused Trump of inviting violence against the whistleblower - whose identity is still unknown - and made clear that any effort to interfere with the investigation would be considered obstruction of justice and would be included in articles of impeachment. Schiff warned against attempts to delay the process.
This sent Trump off on a series of bitter public tantrums over the course of the day, both on twitter and during what was supposed to be standard media appearance with the visiting and bewildered President of Finland Sauli Niinisto. The visiting leader grimaced and squirmed as Trump railed against the Democratic leaders, telling a bunch of lies in the process. In fact, California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted, "Actually watched your press conference - mainly just feel bad for the poor President of Finland who had to endure that."
Former Dallas Police Office Amber Guyger has been sentenced to just ten years in prison for shooting a black man to death in his own apartment. Guyger claimed she thought she was walking into her own unit after a shift, but instead saw 26-year old accountant Botham Jean eating ice cream and opened fire. Although she was eligible for up to 99 years in prison, Ms. Guyger will be eligible for parole in five years, and that's not taking credits for good behavior into account. Mr. Jean's family is upset at the light sentence, which was not what the prosecutors wanted. Black community leaders also condemned the judge's sentence for one in a series of white US cops to murder an African American.
North Korea says it did indeed launch a missile from a submarine in a weapons test in the Sea of Japan. This comes days before Pyongyang was to resume talks with the US on halting its nuclear weapons program.