$1 Billion Is Shifted From N.Y.P.D. in a Budget That Pleases No One - The New York Times

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New York City officials on Tuesday agreed to a grim coronavirus-era budget that will sharply curtail municipal services, impose a hiring freeze and, in a move meant to placate calls to defund the police, shift $1 billion from the Police Department.

The $88.1 billion budget reflected the economic shutdown that followed the outbreak, causing a $9 billion revenue shortfall that forced the city to make drastic across-the-board spending cuts.

But the virus was not the only external factor that affected the budget.

The protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis led to calls to defund the police around the nation, including in New York City, where protesters have gathered at City Hall since last Tuesday and have organized demonstrations outside the homes of City Council members.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Council speaker, Corey Johnson, agreed in principle to cut $1 billion from the Police Department’s $6 billion operating budget, but to do so successfully — especially when crime and shootings are rising — would be a tricky “balancing act,” the mayor said on Tuesday.

Sure enough, the details pleased no one.

The city decided to cancel its planned July class of police cadets, which Mayor Bill de Blasio said would reduce police head count by roughly 1,160 officers after attrition, and to shift monitoring of illegal vending, homeless people on the streets and school safety away from the police.

Several City Council members said they would vote against the budget on Tuesday evening; it was still expected to pass.

Advocates of overhauling the Police Department argued that the cuts did not go far enough. City Council members were divided; some agreed, while others contended that police funding should not be reduced when crime is rising.

“Black folks want to be safe like everyone else, we just want to be respected,” said Councilman I. Daneek Miller, co-chairman of the Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, who opposed reducing the size of the Police Department. “We can’t allow folks from outside our community to lecture us about Black lives and what we need in our communities.”

Mr. Johnson said during a virtual news conference that he felt caught between the demands of conflicting groups, constricted from doing what he had set out to do.

“To everyone who is disappointed that we did not go further, I want to be very honest and candid: I am disappointed as well,” Mr. Johnson said.

As it now stands, Mr. de Blasio may have agreed to eliminate the incoming July class of officers, but another officer class is still poised to start training in October. The rest of the city’s work force, except for those in health and safety roles such as firefighters and paramedics, will remain in a hiring freeze for the next year.

“If we have a hiring freeze for every single city agency, that should include the N.Y.P.D.,” Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate, said during an appearance Tuesday morning.

Mr. Williams vowed to use what power he has to obstruct the fiscal plan, unless City Hall imposed a true hiring freeze on the Police Department.

Others described the $1 billion police cuts as nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The critics ranged from prominent Black activists, elected officials of color like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and longtime mayoral allies, like the actress and former candidate for governor, Cynthia Nixon.

“Defunding police means defunding police,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math.”

The congresswoman and others pointed, for example, to City Hall’s assertion that the transfer of school safety agents to the Department of Education from the Police Department amounted to a $400 million shift of police resources. The Department of Education already funds the school safety program, sending some $300 million a year to the Police Department, according to New York City’s Independent Budget Office.

The move simply means that the Department of Education will now operate a program it had already been underwriting.

“If you are not spending the money on that agency, if money that agency was planning to spend is no longer in their budget, that is savings by any measure,” Mr. de Blasio argued, during a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The mayor and Mr. Johnson are also projecting the Police Department will be able to reduce its overtime costs by $350 million, but it is not clear what basis he is using for that projection, especially when officers are policing frequent protests and crime is rising.

“He’s really just moving money around and he’s not really meeting the demand of the campaign,” said Anthonine Pierre, the deputy director of the Brooklyn Movement Center, who has joined protesters in front of City Hall to demand Police Department cuts. On Tuesday morning, those protests became more confrontational, which Ms. Pierre said underscored the need for more radical change.

Mr. de Blasio said New Yorkers should have faith in the Police Department’s ability to control overtime because the department is well-run.

“Good management, and we have very good management at the N.Y.P.D. now, finds ways to use overtime when absolutely needed, but not overuse it,” Mr. de Blasio said.

Mr. Williams, a leading New York City progressive whom some activists want to draft for mayor next year, is unconvinced.

On Tuesday, he pointed to an obscure provision in the City Charter that requires the public advocate to sign a warrant authorizing the collection of real estate taxes, which underpin the city’s budget. He said he would not sign that warrant unless the city eliminated the next class of police officers.

No public advocate has refused to sign the warrant, and it is unclear if his threatened action would actually stop the city from collecting taxes. N.Y.U. law professor Roderick Hills described Mr. William’s analysis of the City Charter provision as “completely absurd.”

The budget itself is taking place in unprecedented times. New York City has had to close a yawning $9 billion budget gap wrought by the near-cessation of economic activity during the pandemic. The city is only slowly beginning to reopen, and its economic future remains murky.

The budget includes $1 billion in labor savings that Mr. de Blasio has yet to figure out how to achieve. He’s warned that the city may have to lay off 22,000 employees in October, should it not achieve labor efficiencies in other ways. He also continues to plead with the federal government for aid and with the state for additional borrowing authority.

To close the gap, he has for the first time had to draw down on financial reserves. He has eliminated the city’s popular composting program and on Tuesday confirmed that he would cut $65 million in funding for Fair Fares, which subsidizes mass transit fares for low-income New Yorkers.

On Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio was asked about those critics who argue the Police Department budget cuts are just a sleight of hand.

“Some people are never happy,” Mr. de Blasio said.

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$1 Billion Is Shifted From N.Y.P.D. in a Budget That Pleases No One - The New York Times
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Rand Paul To Federal Health Officials: 'We Shouldn't Presume That A Group Of Experts Somehow Knows What's Best' - Forbes

Fauci warns Congress that new US coronavirus cases could rise to 100,000 a day - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3

Google confirms that its AirDrop competitor is coming soon - The Verge

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After months of rumors, Google has finally confirmed that its “Nearby Share” feature is on the way. Some Android users are already testing a beta version.

“We’re currently conducting a beta test of a new Nearby Share feature that we plan to share more information on in the future,” Google told Android Police. “Our goal is to launch the feature with support for Android 6+ devices as well as other platforms.”

The feature started showing up in Chrome OS Canary builds earlier this month, indicating that it will work on Chromebooks as well.

Nearby Share looks to function as an Android version of Apple’s AirDrop. You can use it to quickly and wirelessly transfer files between proximate Android phones. Android Police, which got a hands-on with the feature, says it works for photos and videos as well as links and tweets.

Per Android Police, you can’t use Nearby Share to send random things to strangers. A user has to have the function set up and made their phone “visible” (done easily via a Quick Settings tile) before they can receive content, and they must manually accept a file they’re receiving before it opens.

Samsung has been working on a similar feature called Quick Share, which allows you to blast files to as many as five friends at a time. (AirDrop is one to one.) The advantage of Nearby Share, though, is that it should work with Android products across manufacturers, while Quick Share is currently only intended for Samsung devices.

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A Doctor Confronts Medical Errors — And Flaws In The System That Create Mistakes - NPR

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Dr. Danielle Ofri, author of When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error, says medical mistakes are likely to increase as resource-strapped hospitals treat a rapid influx of COVID-19 patients. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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For more than two decades as an internist at New York City's Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Danielle Ofri has seen her share of medical errors. She warns that they are far more common than many people realize — especially as hospitals treat a rapid influx of COVID-19 patients.

"I don't think we'll ever know what number, in terms of cause of death, is [due to] medical error — but it's not small," she says.

Ofri's new book, When We Do Harm, explores health care system flaws that foster mistakes — many of which are committed by caring, conscientious medical providers. She notes that many errors go unreported, especially "near misses," in which a mistake was made, but the patient didn't suffer an adverse response.

"Near misses are the huge iceberg below the surface where all the future errors are occurring," she says. "But we don't know where they are ... so we don't know where to send our resources to fix them or make it less likely to happen."

Ofri says the reporting of errors — including the "near misses" — is key to improving the system, but she says that shame and guilt prevent medical personnel from admitting their mistakes. "If we don't talk about the emotions that keep doctors and nurses from speaking up, we'll never solve this problem," she says.

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Interview Highlights

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When We Do Harm, by Danielle Ofri, MD Penguin Random House hide caption

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On Ofri's experience of making a "near miss" medical error when she was a new doctor

I had a patient admitted for so-called "altered mental status." There was an elderly patient from a nursing home and they were sent in because someone there thought they looked a little more demented today than they looked yesterday. And of course, we were really busy. ... And the labs were fine. The radiology was fine. And so I just basically thought, let me get this patient back to the nursing home. It's all fine.

So I sent the patient to kind of an intermediate holding area to just wait until their bed opened up back at the nursing home. Well, it turns out that the patient was actually bleeding into their brain, but I missed it because I hadn't looked at the CAT scan myself. Somebody said to me, "radiology, fine." And so I took that at their word, and didn't look at the scan myself as I should have.

Now, luckily, someone else saw the scan. The patient was whisked straight to the [operating room], had the blood drained and the patient did fine. So in fact, this was a near-miss error because the patient didn't get harmed. Her medical care went just as it should have. But, of course, it was still an error. It was error because I didn't do what I should have done. And had the patient gone home, they could have died. But, of course, this error never got reported, because the patient did OK. So we don't know. It never got studied or tallied. So it was missed, kind of, in the greater scheme of how we improve things.

On the effect of having made that 'near-miss error' on Ofri's subsequent judgement

In the short run, I think I was actually much worse, because my mind was in a fog. My soul was in a fog. I'm sure that many errors were committed by me in the weeks that followed, because I wasn't really all there. I'm sure I missed the subtle signs of a wound infection. Maybe I missed a lab value that was amiss because my brain really wasn't fully focused and my emotions were just a wreck [after that serious near-miss]. I was ready to quit. And so I'm sure I harmed more patients because of that.

Now that it's been some time, it's given me some perspective. I have some empathy for my younger self. And I recognize that the emotional part of medicine is so critical, because it wasn't science that kept me [from reporting that near-miss]. It was shame. It was guilt. It was all the emotions.

On the source of medical errors in COVID-19 treatment early on in New York and lessons learned

We did pull a lot of people out of their range of specialties and it was urgent. But now that we have some advance warning on that, I think we could take the time to train people better. Another example is we got many donated ventilators. Many hospitals got that, and we needed them. ... But it's like having 10 different remote controls for 10 different TVs. It takes some time to figure that out. And we definitely saw things go wrong as people struggled to figure out how this remote control works from that one. And so trying to coordinate donations to be the same type in the same unit would be one way of minimizing patient harm.

The other area was the patients who don't have COVID, a lot of their medical illnesses suffered because ... we didn't have a way to take care of them. But now we might want to think ahead. What do we do for the things that are maybe not emergencies, but urgent — cancer surgeries, heart valve surgeries that maybe can wait a week or two, but probably can't wait three months?

On how patient mix-ups were more common during those peak COVID-19 crisis months in NYC

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Dr. Danielle Ofri is a clinical professor of medicine at the New York University Medical School. Her previous books include What Doctors Feel. Rogelio Esparza./Beacon hide caption

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Rogelio Esparza./Beacon

We had many patients being transferred from overloaded hospitals. And when patients come in a batch of 10 or 20, 30, 40, it is really a setup for things going wrong. So you have to be extremely careful in keeping the patients distinguished. We have to have a system set up to accept the transfers ... [and] take the time to carefully sort patients out, especially if every patient comes with the same diagnosis, it is easy to mix patients up. And so, thinking ahead to what does it take to have enough time and space and resources to make sure that nobody gets mixed up.

On how the checklist system used in medicine was adapted from aviation

In the aviation industry, there was a whole development of the process called "the checklist." And some people date this back to 1935 when a very complex [Boeing] B-17 [Flying] Fortress was being tested with the head of the military aviation division. And it exploded, and the pilot unfortunately died. And when they analyzed what happened, they realized that the high-tech airplane was so complex that a human being could not keep track of everything. And that even if he was the smartest, most experienced pilot, it was just too much and you were bound to have an error. And so they developed the idea of making a checklist to make sure that every single thing you have to check is done. And so it put more of the onus on a system, of checking up on the system, rather than the pilot to keep track of everything. And the checklist quickly decreased the adverse events and bad outcomes in the aviation industry.

Once you start paying attention to the steps of a process, it's much easier to minimize the errors that can happen with it.

Danielle Ofri, MD

And that's been adapted to medicine, and most famously, Peter Pronovost at Johns Hopkins developed a checklist to decrease the rate of infection when putting in catheters, large IVs, in patients. And the checklist is very simple: Make sure the site is clean. Put on a clean dressing. Make sure you're wearing the right PPE. Nothing unusual; it's kind of like checklisting how to brush your teeth. Yet the rate of infections came right down and it seemed to be a miracle. Once you start paying attention to the steps of a process, it's much easier to minimize the errors that can happen with it.

On how the checklist system did not result in improved safety outcomes when implemented in Canadian operating rooms

The problem is, once you have a million checklists, how do you get your work done as an average nurse or doctor? ... They just get in the way of getting through your day. And so we just check all the boxes to get rid of it. And that's what happened with this pre-op checklist in Canada. And, again, the preoperative checklist was making sure you have the right patient, the right procedure, the right blood type. Very simple. And [the checklist] showed impressive improvements in complication rates in hospitals — both the academic and high-end and even hospitals in developing countries. So, in 2010 the minister of health in Ontario mandated that every hospital would use it — plan to show an improvement in patient safety on this grand scale. And ... the data did not budge at all, despite an almost 100% compliance rate. And that lets you know that at some point people just check the boxes to make them go away. And they're not really gaming the system, per se, but it lets you know that the system wasn't implemented in a way that's useful for how health care workers actually work.

On why electronic medical records are flawed and can lead to errors

[Electronic medical records] really started as a method for billing, for interfacing with insurance companies and medical billing with diagnosis codes. And that's the origin. And then it kind of retroactively was expanded to include the patient care. And so you see that difference now.

For example, ... [with] a patient with diabetes ... it won't let me just put "diabetes." It has to pick out one of the 50 possible variations of on- or off- insulin — with kidney problems, with neurologic problems and to what degree, in what stage — which are important, but I know that it's there for billing. And each time I'm about to write about it, these 25 different things pop up and I have to address them right now. But of course, I'm not thinking about the billing diagnosis. I want to think about the diabetes. But this gets in the way of my train of thought. And it distracts me. And so I lose what I'm doing if I have to attend to these many things. And that's really kind of the theme of medical records in the electronic form is that they're made to be simple for billing and they're not as logical, or they don't think in the same logical way that clinicians do. And it's very fragmented. Things are in different places. Whereas in the chart — in the old paper chart — everything was in one spot. And now they're in many spots.

On her advice for how to stay vigilant when you're a patient

Be as aware as you can. Now, of course, you're busy being sick. You don't necessarily have the bandwidth to be on top of everything. But to the best that you can, have someone with you, keep a notebook, ask what every medication is for and why you're getting it. What are the side effects? And if people are too busy to give you an answer, remind them that that's their job and it's your right to know and your responsibility to know. And if you can't get the information you want, there's almost always a patient advocate office or some kind of ombudsman, either at the hospital or of your insurance company. You should feel free to take advantage of that.

The information in the chart is yours. You own it. And so if someone's not giving you the time of day or the explanation, it's your right to demand it. Now, of course, we recognize that people are busy and most people are trying their best. And you could certainly acknowledge how hard everyone's working. But don't be afraid to speak up and say, "I need to know what's going on."

Sam Briger and Thea Chaloner produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Deborah Franklin adapted it for the Web.

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St. Agatha student collects luggage for those in foster care - Winchester Sun - Winchester Sun

Everyone needs a good piece of luggage, especially children in foster care.

Evan Edwards, a 12-year-old St. Agatha Academy student, recently decided to collect suitcases or duffle bags for foster children, rather than gifts, for his birthday.

“Did you know kids move an average of seven times while they are in foster care?” he asked in a video on social media. “Most kids don’t have a bag so they’re asked to put their belongings in a trash bag. How do you think that makes them feel, putting their belongings in a trash bag?”

After a month of promotion, Edwards and his mother Krystena Edwards collected 55 bags in the last week for foster children in Kenutcky.

“I have friends and family who do foster,” she said. “That’s how we know so much about it.”

When Evan’s birthday rolled around earlier this month, there wasn’t much else going on and Evan didn’t have anything specific that he wanted, she said.

“There’s not been a lot going on this summer,” She said. “We couldn’t have a party and Evan didn’t want anything specific, so we thought this would be a good way to go.”

They planned to accept the donations on June 20, but some shipped the bags early, and others came in after the fact. The donations were pretty evenly split between suitcases and duffle bags, she said, and many of them were brand new.

The Edwardses connected with Don Pratt, a Lexington resident and former foster parent, who has been collecting luggage for foster children for about 20 years.

Pratt came to their on Wednesday and stuffed the 53 bags collected at that point into his Toyota Prius, she said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.

The need for suitcases doesn’t end.

“There are a lot more kids in foster case than there are suitcases,” she said.

About Fred Petke

Fred Petke is a reporter for The Winchester Sun. His beats include cops, courts, fire, public records, city and county government and other news. To contact Fred, email fred.petke@winchestersun.com or call 859-759-0051.

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Data on Financial Transfers Bolstered Suspicions That Russia Offered Bounties - The New York Times

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American officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account, which was among the evidence that supported their conclusion that Russia covertly offered bounties for killing U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan, according to three officials familiar with the intelligence.

Though the United States has accused Russia of providing general support to the Taliban before, analysts concluded from other intelligence that the transfers were most likely part of a bounty program that detainees described during interrogations. Investigators also identified by name numerous Afghans in a network linked to the suspected Russian operation, the officials said — including, two of them added, a man believed to have served as an intermediary for distributing some of the funds and who is now thought to be in Russia.

The intercepts bolstered the findings gleaned from the interrogations, helping reduce an earlier disagreement among intelligence analysts and agencies over the reliability of the detainees. The disclosures further undercut White House officials’ claim that the intelligence was too uncertain to brief President Trump. In fact, the information was provided to him in his daily written brief in late February, two officials have said.

Afghan officials this week described a sequence of events that dovetails with the account of the intelligence. They said that several businessmen who transfer money through the informal “hawala” system were arrested in Afghanistan over the past six months and are suspected of being part of a ring of middlemen who operated between the Russian intelligence agency, known as the G.R.U., and Taliban-linked militants. The businessmen were arrested in what the officials described as sweeping raids in the north of Afghanistan, as well as in Kabul.

A half-million dollars was seized from the home of one of the men, added a provincial official. The New York Times had previously reported that the recovery of an unusually large amount of cash in a raid was an early piece in the puzzle that investigators put together.

The three American officials who described and confirmed details about the basis for the intelligence assessment spoke on condition of anonymity amid swelling turmoil over the Trump administration’s failure to authorize any response to Russia’s suspected proxy targeting of American troops and downplaying of the issue after it came to light four days ago.

White House and National Security Council officials declined to comment, as did the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe. They pointed to statements late Monday from Mr. Ratcliffe; the national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien; and the Pentagon’s top spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman. All of them said that recent news reports about Afghanistan remained unsubstantiated.

On Monday, the administration invited several House Republicans to the White House to discuss the intelligence. The briefing was mostly carried out by three Trump administration officials: Mr. Ratcliffe, Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, and Mr. O’Brien. Until recently, both Mr. Meadows and Mr. Ratcliffe were Republican congressmen known for being outspoken supporters of Mr. Trump.

That briefing focused on intelligence information that supported the conclusion that Russia was running a covert bounty operation and other information that did not support it, according to two people familiar with the meeting. For example, the briefing focused in part on the interrogated detainees’ accounts and the earlier analysts’ disagreement over it.

Both people said the intent of the briefing seemed to be to make the point that the intelligence on the suspected Russian bounty plot was not clear cut. For example, one of the people said, the White House also cited some interrogations by Afghan intelligence officials of other detainees, downplaying their credibility by describing them as low-level.

The administration officials did not mention anything in the House Republican briefing about intercepted data tracking financial transfers, both of the people familiar with it said.

Democrats and Senate Republicans were also separately briefed at the White House on Tuesday morning. Democrats emerged saying that the issue was clearly not, as Mr. Trump has suggested, a “hoax.” They demanded to hear directly from intelligence officials, rather than from Mr. Trump’s political appointees, but conceded they had not secured a commitment for such a briefing.

Based on the intelligence they saw, the lawmakers said they were deeply troubled by Mr. Trump’s insistence he did not know about the plot and his subsequent obfuscation when it became public.

“I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that the president hasn’t come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russia is putting bounties on American troops and that he will do everything in his power to make sure that we protect American troops,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

He added: “I do not understand for a moment why the president is not saying this to the American people right now and is relying on ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I haven’t heard,’ ‘I haven’t been briefed.’ That is just not excusable.”

Mr. Ratcliffe was scheduled to go to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet privately with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, an official familiar with the planning said.

The Times reported last week that intelligence officials believed that a unit of the G.R.U. had offered and paid bounties for killing American troops and other coalition forces and that the White House had not authorized a response after the National Security Council convened an interagency meeting about the problem in late March.

Investigators are said to be focused on at least two deadly attacks on American soldiers in Afghanistan. One is an April 2019 bombing outside Bagram Air Base that killed three Marines: Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, 43, of Newark, Del.; Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, N.Y.; and Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York, Pa.

On Monday, Felicia Arculeo, the mother of Corporal Hendriks, told CNBC that she was upset to learn from news reports of the suspicions that her son’s death arose from a Russian bounty operation. She said she wanted an investigation, adding that “the parties who are responsible should be held accountable, if that’s even possible.”

Officials did not say which other attack is under scrutiny.

In claiming that the information was not provided to him, Mr. Trump has also dismissed the intelligence assessment as “so-called” and claimed he was told that it was “not credible.” The White House subsequently issued statements in the names of several subordinates denying that he had been briefed.

The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, reiterated that claim on Monday and said that the information had not been elevated to Mr. Trump because there was a dissenting view about it within the intelligence community.

But she and other administration officials demurred when pressed to say whether their denials encompassed the president’s daily written briefing, a compendium of the most significant intelligence and analysis that the intelligence community writes for presidents to read. Mr. Trump is known to often neglect reading his written briefings.

Intelligence about the suspected Russian plot was included in Mr. Trump’s written President’s Daily Brief in late February, according to two officials, contrasting Mr. Trump’s claim on Sunday that he was never “briefed or told” about the matter.

The information was also considered solid enough to be distributed to the broader intelligence community in a May 4 article in the C.I.A.’s World Intelligence Review, commonly called The Wire, according to several officials.

A spokesman for the Taliban has also denied that it accepted Russian-paid bounties to carry out attacks on Americans and other coalition soldiers, saying the group needed no such encouragement for its operations. But one American official said the focus has been on criminals closely associated with the Taliban.

In a raid in Kunduz City in the north about six months ago, 13 people were arrested in a joint operation by American forces and the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, according to Safiullah Amiry, the deputy provincial council chief there. Two of the main targets of the raid had already fled — one to Tajikistan and one to Russia, Mr. Amiry said — but it was in the Kabul home of one of them where security forces found a half-million dollars. He said the Afghan intelligence agency had told him the raids were related to Russian money being dispersed to militants.

Two former Afghan officials said Monday that members of local criminal networks have carried out attacks for the Taliban in the past — not because they share the Taliban’s ideology or goals, but in exchange for money.

In Parwan Province, where Bagram Airfield is, the Taliban are known to have hired local criminals as freelancers, said Gen. Zaman Mamozai, the former police chief of the province. He said the Taliban’s commanders are based in two districts of the province, Seyagird and Shinwari, and that from there they coordinate a network that commissions criminals to carry out attacks.

And Haseeba Efat, a former member of Parwan’s provincial council, also said the Taliban have hired freelancers in Bagram district — including one of his own distant relatives in one case.

“They agree with these criminals that they won’t have monthly salary, but they will get paid for the work they do when the Taliban need them,” Mr. Efat said.

Twenty American service members were killed in combat-related operations in Afghanistan last year, the most since 2014.

Fahim Abed, Najim Rahim, Helene Cooper and Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting.

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Bars that don't serve food to close as county responds to local coronavirus surge - pbmonthly.net

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Just 17 days after they were allowed to reopen June 12, San Diego County bars, breweries and wineries learned June 29 that they will not be allowed to operate, at least not in the traditional sense, starting at 12:01 a.m. July 1 due to increasing rates of COVID-19 coronavirus transmission. While restaurants will still be allowed to serve drinks with meals, no one will be allowed to stand around with drinks in their hands.

The decision, announced by county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, follows a mandate from Gov. Gavin Newsom, released over the weekend, that asks bars in some California counties to close.

San Diego County is not on that list. But Fletcher, backed by Dr. Wilma Wooten, the region’s public health officer, said it doesn’t make sense to wait given that local COVID-19 trend lines, though currently less severe than in other places, have been headed in the wrong direction for about a week. Bars, Fletcher said, tend to encourage the kind of socializing that makes it easier to spread the virus.

“While San Diego County was not included in actions taken by the state, we believe it is appropriate, and we believe it is wise, for us to take this action now, given the increases we’ve seen in cases, in percentage of positive cases, in outbreaks and the increases in hospitalizations,” Fletcher said. “We don’t want to wait to be forced to take an action when we know it is the wise and responsible thing for us to do now.”

Establishments with licenses to serve food can do so, and alcohol also can be on the menu, though food and drink must be purchased together as part of the same transaction.

Establishments that stay open and essentially turn themselves into restaurants should make sure they enforce the rules on their properties, county officials said. Work is underway to increase enforcement of COVID-19 orders as the Fourth of July weekend approaches, Wooten said.

“Enforcing the regulations that are already in place will help to bring our numbers down,” Wooten said.

On June 29, the county announced 498 new coronavirus cases, a single-day record and one more than announced the day before. Only one of the past seven single-day totals has been under 300 cases, and the number of related hospitalizations continues to climb, reaching 458 on June 28, significantly higher than the 346 hospitalizations tallied a week earlier. The number of local COVID-19-associated deaths held at 361.

The county again hit a “trigger” threshold, with the number of community coronavirus outbreaks again reaching seven in the past seven days. The latest two, officials said, occurred at local restaurants June 28, with two more detected the day before at restaurants that also have bars.

The county was unable to provide information June 29 on how many of San Diego County’s 13,832 total confirmed cases to date had recently visited bars, wineries or breweries. Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of epidemiology for the county, said his office is working to make such information more easily available to the public.

It was clear that the Fourth of July is a major concern for local leaders. Asked whether the county might consider shutting down beaches this weekend, Fletcher was noncommittal, saying the county was in the process of reaching out to local beach cities to “get a sense from them if there is some action they would like us to take.”

But officials have said they do expect to take additional actions to curtail currently allowed activities before the Fourth arrives. Supervisor Greg Cox said that given the growth in cases, this should be a more subdued holiday than usual. He especially pleaded with the public to avoid traditional barbecue gatherings this weekend. Such events, he said, have already generated many coronavirus outbreaks.

“No barbecue is worth that,” he said.

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Supreme Court says Constitution protects Montana scholarship program that indirectly funds religious schools - CNBC

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The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday that a Montana scholarship program that indirectly provided state funds to religious schools is protected by the Constitution, weighing in on a high-profile dispute over the separation of church and state. 

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. He was joined by fellow conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The court's four Democratic appointees dissented. 

Roberts wrote that a decision by the Montana Supreme Court to invalidate a scholarship program on the basis that it would provide funding to religious schools in addition to secular schools "bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools."

"The provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits, again solely because of the religious character of the school," Roberts wrote. 

Roberts wrote that no state is required to subsidize private education, but if it does, "it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious."

The decision comes after a string of cases in which Roberts sided with the court's liberal wing on issues involving LGBT rights, immigration and abortion. 

The case concerned a scholarship program enacted in Montana in 2015, which provided individuals and businesses with up to $150 in tax credits to match donations to private, nonprofit scholarship organizations.

Shortly after the program was enacted, the Montana Department of Revenue put in place a rule that barred scholarship recipients from using funds from the program to pay for religious schools. 

That rule was intended to comply with a provision of the Montana Constitution, which forbids "any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies … for any sectarian purpose," including "to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution."  

Similar prohibitions, known as Blaine Amendments, exist in the constitutions of 36 other states, and in many cases stemmed from anti-Catholic sentiments. 

Three mothers who relied on the scholarship program to help pay for their children's tuition at a  nondenominational Christian school challenged the department's rule, arguing that it violated the First Amendment's religious protections. 

A trial court in Montana sided with the mothers, but the Montana Supreme Court reversed the decision, reasoning that the tax-credit program was in effect indirectly paying for tuition at religious schools, in violation of the state constitution. 

The Montana court struck down the tax-credit program in its entirety. 

The mothers took the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court decision was impermissibly hostile to religion. 

"Prohibiting all religious options in otherwise generally available student-aid programs rejects that neutrality and shows inherent hostility toward religion," their attorney, Richard Komer, told the justices in a filing.

The Montana Department of Revenue countered that the state Supreme Court decision "protects religious freedom."

The state constitution's prohibition on funding religious schools "does not restrain individual liberty," wrote Adam Unikowsky, an attorney for the state. "Rather, it restrains the government by barring state aid to religious schools." 

Montana's tax-credit scholarship program was similar to programs run in 18 states, according to a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to the justices. 

Religious groups celebrated the Supreme Court's decision.

Brian Burch, the president of Catholic Vote, a national faith-based advocacy organization, said the ruling was "long overdue victory for American families and a defeat for anti-Catholic bigotry."

Kristen Waggoner, an attorney at the religious liberty group Alliance Defending Freedom, said "the Supreme Court sent a message loud and clear: Equal opportunity doesn't hinge on your religious beliefs and practices. That's what the First Amendment means."

On the other side, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten condemned the court's move, saying calling it "a seismic shock that threatens both public education and religious liberty."

"Never in more than two centuries of American history has the free exercise clause of the First Amendment been wielded as a weapon to defund and dismantle public education," Weingarten said.

Daniel Mach, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision was the "the latest in a disturbing line of Supreme Court cases attacking the very foundations of the separation of church and state."

"In the past, the court used to guard against government-funded religion. Today, the court has not only allowed, but actually required taxpayers to underwrite religious education," Mach said. 

The majority's decision also came under attack from the court's liberal wing, with multiple justices penning dissents. 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, argued that the Montana Supreme Court's decision to strike down the scholarship program in its entirety, rather than just restricting its benefits for religious schools, meant that the state was not discriminating against those with religious views. 

"Under that decree, secular and sectarian schools alike are ineligible for benefits, so the decision cannot be said to entail differential treatment based on petitioners' religion," Ginsburg wrote. "Put somewhat differently, petitioners argue that the Free Exercise Clause requires a State to treat institutions and people neutrally when doling out a benefit—and neutrally is how Montana treats them in the wake of the state court's decision."

Justice Sonia Sotomayor relied on similar reasoning in a separate dissent. She added that the top court had "never before held unconstitutional government action that merely failed to benefit religious exercise." 

Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by Kagan, wrote that the "majority's approach and its conclusion in this case, I fear, risk the kind of entanglement and conflict that the Religion Clauses are intended to prevent."

The case is Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, No. 18-1195.

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Luggage Cases Market Is Thriving Worldwide | Samsonite, LouisVuitton, American Tourister - Cole of Duty

Our analysts monitoring the situation around the Globe explain that after COVID-19 crisis the market will generate remunerative prospects for producers. The goal of the report is to provide a further illustration of the current scenario, economic slowdown and effect of COVID-19 on the industry as a whole.

A New Research on the Global Luggage Cases Market was conducted across a variety of industries in various regions to produce more than 150 page reports. This study is a perfect blend of qualitative and quantifiable information highlighting key market developments, industry and competitors’ challenges in gap analysis and new opportunities and may be trending in the Luggage Cases market. Some are part of the coverage and are the core and emerging players being profiled Samsonite, LouisVuitton, American Tourister, Diplomat, Delsey, Rimowa, Dapai, Crown, Oiwas, Winpard, Eminent, Lancel, Thelebre, Ace, TUMI, Handry, GNZA, Caarany, Jinluda, Travelhouse, Mingjiang, Wekasi, Woodpecker, COBO, Party Prince, Aoking, Senxiang.

Get Luggage Cases Market Free Sample PDF Copy Here @: www.statsandreports.com/request-sample/368543-global-united-states-european-union-and-china-luggage-cases-market-research-report-2019-2025

Import and export policies that can have an immediate impact on the global Luggage Cases market. This study includes EXIM * related chapters for all relevant companies dealing with the Luggage Cases market and related profiles and provides valuable data in terms of finances, product portfolio, investment planning and marketing and business strategy. The study is a collection of primary and secondary data that contains valuable information from the major suppliers of the market. The forecast is based on data from 2014 to the present date and forecasts until 2025, Easy to analyze other graphs and tables People looking for key industry data in easily accessible documents.

Sample Table: Global Luggage Cases Market Size By Regions (USD Million) (2014-2025) 

Regions	2014	2016	2018	2020	2022	2024	2025	CAGR %  (2019-2025)
North America	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XX%
Europe	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XX%
APAC	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XX%
Rest of the World	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XX%
Total	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XXX	XX%

Quantifiable data:
• Market Data Breakdown by Key Geography, Type & Application / End-User
• By type (past and forecast)
• Luggage Cases Market-Specific Applications Sales and Growth Rates (Historical & Forecast)
• Luggage Cases revenue and growth rate by market (history and forecast)
• Luggage Cases market size and growth rate, application and type (past and forecast)
• Sales revenue, volume and Y-O-Y growth rate (base year) of Luggage Cases market

Enquire for Discount in Report @ www.statsandreports.com/check-discount/368543-global-united-states-european-union-and-china-luggage-cases-market-research-report-2019-2025

Key Research: The main sources are industry experts from the global Luggage Cases industry, including management organizations, processing organizations, and analytical services providers that address the value chain of industry organizations. We interviewed all major sources to collect and certify qualitative and quantitative information and to determine future prospects. Through interviews in the industry experts industry, such as CEO, vice president, marketing director, technology and innovation director, founder and key executives of key core companies and institutions in major biomass waste containers around the world, And

Secondary Research: Secondary research studies critical information about the industrial value chain, core pool of people, and applications. We also helped market segmentation based on the industry’s lowest level of industry, geographical markets and key developments in market and technology-driven core development.

Browse for Full Report at @: www.statsandreports.com/report/368543-global-united-states-european-union-and-china-luggage-cases-market-research-report-2019-2025

Qualitative data: Includes factors affecting or influencing market dynamics and market growth. To list some names in related sections

• Industry overview
• Global Luggage Cases market growth driver
• Global Luggage Cases market trend
• Incarceration
• Luggage Cases Market Opportunity
• Market entropy ** [specially designed to emphasize market aggressiveness]
• Fungal analysis
• Porter Five Army Model

Customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas.

• North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico.
• South & Central America: Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
• Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.
• Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Russia.
• Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.

Buy Full Copy Global Luggage Cases Report [email protected] www.statsandreports.com/placeorder?report=368543-global-united-states-european-union-and-china-luggage-cases-market-research-report-2019-2025

** The market is valuated based on the weighted average selling price (WASP) and includes the taxes applicable to the manufacturer. All currency conversions used in the creation of this report were calculated using a certain annual average rate of 2019 currency conversion.

The research provides answers to the following key questions:

1) Who are the key Top Competitors in the Global Luggage Cases Market?

Following are list of players : Samsonite, LouisVuitton, American Tourister, Diplomat, Delsey, Rimowa, Dapai, Crown, Oiwas, Winpard, Eminent, Lancel, Thelebre, Ace, TUMI, Handry, GNZA, Caarany, Jinluda, Travelhouse, Mingjiang, Wekasi, Woodpecker, COBO, Party Prince, Aoking, Senxiang

2) What is the expected Market size and growth rate of the Luggage Cases market for the period 2019-2025?

** The Values marked with XX is confidential data. To know more about CAGR figures fill in your information so that our business development executive can get in touch with you.

3) Which Are The Main Key Regions Cover in Reports?

Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Luggage Cases in these regions, from 2019 to 2025 (forecast), covering North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific etc

4) Can I include additional segmentation / market segmentation?

Yes. Additional granularity / market segmentation may be included depending on data availability and difficulty of survey. However, you should investigate and share detailed requirements before final confirmation to the customer.

Some of the Points cover in Global Luggage Cases Market Research Report is:

Chapter 1: Overview of Global Luggage Cases Market (2014-2025)
• Definition
• Specifications
• Classification
• Applications
• Regions

Chapter 2: Market Competition by Players/Suppliers 2014 and 2018
• Manufacturing Cost Structure
• Raw Material and Suppliers
• Manufacturing Process
• Industry Chain Structure

Chapter 3: Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2014-2018)
• Sales
• Revenue and market share

Chapter 4, 5 and 6: Global Luggage Cases Market by Type, Application & Players/Suppliers Profiles (2014-2018)
• Market Share by Type & Application
• Growth Rate by Type & Application
• Drivers and Opportunities
• Company Basic Information

Continued……..

Note: Regional Breakdown & Sectional purchase Available We provide Pie chats Best Customize Reports As per Requirements.

About Us

Stats and Reports is a global market research and consulting service provider specialized in offering wide range of business solutions to their clients including market research reports, primary and secondary research, demand forecasting services, focus group analysis and other services. We understand that how data is important in today’s competitive environment and thus, we have collaborated with industry’s leading research providers who works continuously to meet the ever-growing demand for market research reports throughout the year.

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Former Intelligence officials scoff at White House denials that Trump wasn't briefed on Russia bounty - CNN

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But a US official familiar with the latest information told CNN on Monday that intelligence about the Russian bounty was included in the President's Daily Briefing (PDB) sometime in the spring. The written document includes the intelligence communities' most important and urgent information. On Monday night, the New York Times reported that the information was included in a written briefing to the President in late February.

Trump is not known to read his daily briefing, and instead prefers an oral briefing a few times a week.

These latest revelations come as numerous former senior intelligence officials are pushing back on the White House denials, saying it was "absurd," "ridiculous," and "inconceivable" that the President would not have been briefed on such critical intelligence that potentially put US soldiers in harm's way.

On Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly told reporters that the assessment on Russia did not reach Trump's desk because there is "no consensus" among US spy agencies and that intelligence must be verified before it is presented to the President. On Saturday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe put out a statement confirming that "neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed" on the intelligence, which was first reported by the New York Times Friday evening.

That response has incensed former members of the intelligence community. Not only should the President have been made aware of such intelligence, they say, but the notion that the President wasn't briefed because there was a difference of opinion among intelligence agencies is "inconceivable," said one former senior intelligence official, especially since it involved Russia.

"That's ridiculous," the former official said about the White House's claim, adding that it is "hard to believe" the intelligence community shared what it was hearing about Russia with allies like the British and not at least inform the President that it was a thread they were following.

A second former intelligence official called the notion that the President is not informed unless there is unanimity and 100% certainty "absurd."

"You would have trouble getting unanimity on tomorrow being Tuesday," the source told CNN on Monday.

A current administration official also said that some members of the US intelligence community feel "abandoned" by the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to Afghanistan, where the administration continues to pursue a peace deal with the Taliban.

The daily briefing

The President receives a copy of the PDB every day, as does Vice President Mike Pence, but Trump is notorious for not reading it. Even after intelligence analysts added more photos and charts to make it more appealing, the document often goes unread, according to people familiar with the matter.

Pressed Monday on whether the information was included in the PDB, McEnany said only that Trump "was not personally briefed," insisting that the intelligence never reached him due to "dissent" within the intelligence community.

On Monday night, three top Trump administration officials, Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and CIA director Gina Haspell all issued separate statements within hours of each other. None of them specifically disputed that the intelligence was provided to the President in a written briefing. Instead, they all took shots at government officials who leak classified information.

"To those government officials who betray the trust of the people of the United States by leaking classified information, your actions endanger our national security," wrote O'Brien. "No matter the motivation, there is never a justification for such conduct.

Ratcliffe wrote that leaks on the Russia bounty intelligence "places our forces at risk" and is a crime. That was followed quickly by a rare on-the-record statement by Haspel saying, "Leaks compromise and disrupt the critical interagency work to collect, assess, and ascribe culpability."

"CIA will continue to pursue every lead; analyze the information we collect with critical, objective eyes; and brief reliable intelligence to protect U.S. forces deployed around the world," she added.

Intelligence vs facts

Multiple former senior intelligence officials dismissed the White House's notion that intelligence would not reach the President simply because of dissent or because it hadn't been verified.

"You don't put things in the President's daily brief only when they are completely corroborated and verified because then it is not intelligence anymore; then it's fact," David Priess, a former CIA officer during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, told CNN in an interview on Monday.

Larry Pfeiffer, former CIA chief of staff who also served as senior director of the White House Situation Room, said intelligence rarely operates in the world of black and white. Instead, agents and officials often craft "assessments with assigned levels of confidence," which are "often presented with dissenting views," said Pfeiffer.

The 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden was based on intelligence that some characterized as 50-50, Pfeiffer added.

"Presidents are briefed on credible intelligence based on the best validation of the information we can provide, said one former senior intelligence official. "It's not a Court of law, it's an intelligence briefing."

Intelligence agents constantly make analytical judgments in the absence of absolute confirmation, the official said, adding that when the lives of US service men and women may be at stake, "we have an absolute duty to warn while we are attempting to validate the quality of the reporting."

Since the intelligence failures of the Iraq War, assessments now more explicitly lay out the level of confidence that various agencies have in the intelligence being reported, said another former senior official, adding that if the President was briefed only on things that were 100% certain, "his PDB would be very thin."

Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who oversaw operations in Europe and Russia before retiring last summer, said it appeared that the Trump administration was "playing verbal gymnastics with the bounty issue" from Trump's Sunday night tweet, to McEnany's comments to the statement from Ratcliffe on Monday night.

"They are peeling back the onion, from denial to acknowledgment," said Polymeropoulos. "There seems to be little question that multiple streams of the raw intelligence was credible, with only a question of a need for further corroboration."

Who else knew?

It's unclear how widely the intelligence was shared inside the National Security Council at the White House. On Saturday, Richard Grenell, who served as the acting-Director of National Intelligence before Ratcliffe was confirmed in May, tweeted, "I never heard this," in reference to the reports.

Intelligence of this nature would normally be shared with top lawmakers on Capitol Hill who make up the "Gang of Eight."

On Monday, eight GOP lawmakers were briefed on the matter at the White House. Among them was Rep. Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on House Armed Services Committee, who indicated that he agreed with the idea that Trump should have been briefed, even if the intelligence was not completely verified.

"What the President and the DNI have said is that the President was not briefed, which to me is a very concerning statement," Thornberry told reporters. "Anything with any hint of credibility that would endanger our service members, much less put a bounty on their lives, to me should have been briefed immediately to the commander in chief and a plan to deal with that situation."

The US official familiar with the latest information told CNN that intelligence of this nature, with risk to US troops, should be assumed to be true until it is otherwise disproven.

Multiple former senior intelligence officials also said they were stunned that this threat had not been mentioned in intelligence products at a lower level than the PDB, which are routinely shared with oversight committees on Capitol Hill, and, at very least, the Gang of Eight.

One of those former senior intelligence officials told CNN that in a normal administration, "someone would have been ordered to get on a plane and tell the Russians to cut it out."

"That doesn't seem to have happened here. Why not? And why wasn't Congress briefed?" the official said.

A select group of Democrats is scheduled to receive a briefing from the White House on Tuesday. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speculated as to the reason the intelligence may have been kept from Trump.

"One key question is if intelligence officials did not tell Trump about the intel that Russians offered the Taliban bounties to kill US troops because they were concerned that he would tell Putin," Pelosi said.

A senior Republican official echoed that point, telling CNN: If he wasn't briefed, why wasn't he briefed. Did his staff know he didn't want to hear anything about Russia? Is this about making a deal with the Taliban? Why do all roads lead to Russia?"

Trump and the intelligence community

The episode is another chink in the relationship between Trump and the nation's intelligence agencies, one that's been fraught since before he entered office, particularly on matters involving Russia. Trump has questioned the loyalty of those in charge of intelligence agencies, some of whom he alleges are "deep state" operatives meant to undermine him.

The whistleblower complaint from an intelligence official which led to the impeachment inquiry only deepened Trump's skepticism.

The lingering distrust has proven an obstacle in relaying critical information gathered by those agencies to the President, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has suggested in briefings that he does not believe some of what he is told by intelligence briefers, and in other settings has downplayed conclusions about intelligence presented to him by senior officials.

That has been especially true with matters involving Russia's election interference, an issue that some inside the White House say has proven so highly charged that it is rarely raised with Trump.

Instead of reading his daily briefing, Trump prefers an oral briefing a few times a week. But even in those sessions, participants have described him as distracted.

"I didn't think these briefings were terribly useful, and neither did the intelligence community, since much of the time was spent listening to Trump rather than Trump listening to the briefers," Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton wrote in his memoir released last week.

Because Trump seems to absorb information through in-person meetings, the responsibility of highlighting what he needs to know has fallen inordinately upon on his national security advisers.

The man currently in the position, O'Brien, maintains a low profile and focuses on Trump's wishes, rather than influencing them. His approach has concerned some current and former administration officials, who fear he may not flag the important intelligence Trump needs to know about.

"This entire episode falls on the feet of national security adviser O'Brien, who has the most daily access to the President," said Polymeropoulos, the former CIA officer. Given his access to the President, O'Brien should have been able to discuss the issue with President on numerous occasions, said Polymerodpoulos. "Especially if there was consideration in inviting Putin to the G7."

State of negotiations with the Taliban

The episode also comes at a delicate time for the US presence in Afghanistan. After years of negotiations, the Trump administration signed an agreement with the Taliban earlier this year committing to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by next year.

Last week, CNN reported on the administration's plan for the US to withdraw more than 4,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the fall -- bringing the level from 8,600 to 4,500 -- and that plan is still expected to remain intact, but one of the sources added that the timeframe for finalizing this plan could be delayed due to the reporting in the last few days.

Over the weekend, the top US envoy for negotiations with the Taliban departed on another trip to Doha, where he has regularly met with Taliban leadership over the last year.

The visit by Zalmay Khalilizad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, sent a signal that the US-Taliban dialogue is continuing, unhindered.

The State Department did not reply when asked if Khalilizad would bring up the Russian bounties in this round of meetings with the Taliban, or if he has ever broached the topic in previous meetings.

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke with Taliban leadership.

Amid planning for the drawdown, there have been instances when the US has appeared to hold back its criticism of the Taliban.

A Pentagon report found the insurgent group increased the ferocity of its attacks in the month following the signing of the agreement with the US. This year the Taliban has carried out deadly attacks on the Afghan government and civilians, but it has not targeted US troops which it agreed it would not do in the US-Taliban deal.

Trump has also routinely encouraged Russia to take on a larger role in Afghanistan, a point Democrats have been quick to point out in the wake of the latest controversy.

Trump's Democratic challenger in the 2020 presidential race, former Vice President Joe Biden, said the lack of response from the current administration is part of a broader trend.

"I don't have all the details. But I don't need the details to know how (Mr. Trump) has cozied up to Putin from the very beginning, giving Putin a standing that he does not deserve, undercutting our alliances in Europe and other parts of the world," Biden said.

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Leather Luggage Market: Key vendors, Quality, Reliability & Insights for next 5 years | Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior Se, Prada SPA - Morning Tick

Latest released the research study on Global Leather Luggage Market, offers a detailed overview of the factors influencing the global business scope. Leather Luggage Market research report shows the latest market insights, current situation analysis with upcoming trends and breakdown of the products and services. The report provides key statistics on the market status, size, share, growth factors of the Leather Luggage The study covers emerging player’s data, including: competitive landscape, sales, revenue and global market share of top manufacturers are Samsonite International S.A. (Hong Kong), Tumi Holdings, Inc. (United States), VIP Industries Limited (India), Louis Vuitton (France), Hermes International S.A. (France), Tapestry (United States), Kerig S.A. (France), Christian Dior Se (France), Delsey S.A (France) and Prada S.P.A (Italy)

Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/3025-global-leather-luggage-market

Global Leather luggage market includes travel bags, casual bags, business bags, and many others. Leather goods are manufactured from the animal skins. Thus, there is a lack of raw material availability. The overall luggage industry is in the maturity stage, which is leading the manufacturers to change the product development strategies. The overall Leather luggage market will grow at moderate compound annual growth of 4.9 in the forecasting years.

The Global Leather Luggage Market segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

by Type (Travel Bags, Casual Bags, Business Bags, Others), Application (Specialist retailers, Factory outlets, Internet sales), Sales Channel (Specialist Retailers, Factory Outlets, Internet Sales)

Analyst at AMA have conducted special survey and have connected with opinion leaders and Industry experts from various region to minutely understand impact on growth as well as local reforms to fight the situation. A special chapter in the study presents Impact Analysis of COVID-19 on Leather Luggage Market along with tables and graphs related to various country and segments showcasing impact on growth trends.

Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Oceania, South America, Middle East & Africa

Country Level Break-Up: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Russia, France, Poland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand etc.

Enquire for customization in Report @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/3025-global-leather-luggage-market

Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Leather Luggage Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Leather Luggage market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary – the basic information of the Leather Luggage Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Leather Luggage

Chapter 4: Presenting the Leather Luggage Market Factor Analysis Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis.

Chapter 5: Displaying market size by Type, End User and Region 2014-2019

Chapter 6: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the Leather Luggage market which consists of its Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile

Chapter 7: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries (2020-2025).

Chapter 8 & 9: Displaying the Appendix, Methodology and Data Source

Finally, Leather Luggage Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies in decision framework.

Data Sources & Methodology
The primary sources involves the industry experts from the Global Leather Luggage Market including the management organizations, processing organizations, analytics service providers of the industry’s value chain. All primary sources were interviewed to gather and authenticate qualitative & quantitative information and determine the future prospects.

In the extensive primary research process undertaken for this study, the primary sources – Postal Surveys, telephone, Online & Face-to-Face Survey were considered to obtain and verify both qualitative and quantitative aspects of this research study. When it comes to secondary sources Company’s Annual reports, press Releases, Websites, Investor Presentation, Conference Call transcripts, Webinar, Journals, Regulators, National Customs and Industry Associations were given primary weight-age.

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What benefits does AMA research study is going to provide?

• Latest industry influencing trends and development scenario
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• To Seize powerful market opportunities
• Key decision in planning and to further expand market share
• Identify Key Business Segments, Market proposition & Gap Analysis
• Assisting in allocating marketing investments

Definitively, this report will give you an unmistakable perspective on every single reality of the market without a need to allude to some other research report or an information source. Our report will give all of you the realities about the past, present, and eventual fate of the concerned Market.

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Our Analyst is tracking high growth study with detailed statistical and in-depth analysis of market trends & dynamics that provide a complete overview of the industry. We follow an extensive research methodology coupled with critical insights related industry factors and market forces to generate the best value for our clients. We Provides reliable primary and secondary data sources, our analysts and consultants derive informative and usable data suited for our clients business needs. The research study enables clients to meet varied market objectives a from global footprint expansion to supply chain optimization and from competitor profiling to M&As.

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Leather Luggage Market: Key vendors, Quality, Reliability & Insights for next 5 years | Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior Se, Prada SPA - Morning Tick
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