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Issued on: 20/12/2019 – 05:36Modified: 20/12/2019 – 05:36 US President Donald Trump pressed his Republican allies Thursday to exert rigid control of his Senate trial and ensure a swift exoneration, a day after he was impeached in a historic rebuke by the House of Representatives. Advertising Read more A bitter fight looms over the coming trial, expected to begin as early as the second week of January, with Senate leaders already drawing battle lines over the evidence that will be allowed. But its fate was left in limbo late Thursday when the Senate's powerful majority leader, Mitch McConnell signalled the standoff with Democrats over trial particulars would continue into the new year. "We remain at an impasse on these logistics," McConnell said on the floor, as he announced the Senate had completed its business until January. Trump seized on the uncertainty to attack House Democrats for seeking to demand key witnesses or dictate how McConnell should run the process. "I..

Issued on: 19/12/2019 – 11:30Modified: 19/12/2019 – 11:31 Colombia's former president Alvaro Uribe once enjoyed sky-high support for the way he dealt with the country's FARC guerrillas. But a decade on from his presidency, it's a very different story, with Colombia's Supreme Court ordering an investigation into Uribe for allegedly manipulating witnesses. Our correspondents report. Advertising A prRead More – Source [contf] [contfnew] france24 [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

At this very moment, you're a participant in one of the things that makes us human: the telling and consumption of stories. It's impossible to say when our species began telling each other stories—or when we first evolved the ability to use language to communicate not only simple, practical concepts but to share vivid accounts of events real or imagined. But by 43,900 years ago, people on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi had started painting some of their stories in images on cave walls. A newly-discovered painting in a remote cave depicts a hunting scene, and it's the oldest story that's been recorded. And if Griffith University archaeologist Maxime Aubert and his colleagues are right, it could also be the first record of spiritual belief—and our first insight into what the makers of cave art were thinking. A 44,000-year-old hunting story Across a 4.5 meter (14.8 foot) section of rock wall, 3 meters (9.8 feet) above the floor of a hard-to-reach upper chamber of ..

EnlargeValentina Palladino There are more ultra-mobile professionals now than ever before, which is why OEMs are developing increasingly thin-and-light laptops that will appeal to those users. No one wants to add heft to their bag, regardless of whether they're going off on a 10-hour flight or a 10-minute commute to work, thus increasing the appeal of thin-and-light laptops. But the most mobile among us will only go as thin and light as our performance needs allow us to—if a laptop isn't powerful or efficient enough to help you get work done, its svelte characteristics won't make up for that. Enter the HP Elite Dragonfly two-in-one laptop, which is HP's answer to this problem. It's an ultra-slim laptop with a MIL-spec-tested design that weighs just 2.18 pounds, and it has the power and security features of one of HP's Elite series laptops. HP is betting on the idea that professionals will choose the thinnest and lightest laptop possible that doesn't ..

Enlarge Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage at cardboard.arstechnica.com. The full name of this game is Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One. That last bit is important because there is more Unmatched coming. This first set allows us to answer important questions like: who would win in a fight between King Arthur and Sinbad? What if Alice ventured out of Wonderland to carve up Medusa? The matchups in this absurdist fight club are bonkers, and were only getting started. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Enlarge Restoration Games is the noteworthy publisher that has brought us new editions of classic games like Fireball Island and Stop Thief! Those designs were given a few nips and tucks, a couple of injections of Botox, and a new wardrobe. Theyre fresh, but theyre also grounded in the past, and they know how to put nostalgia to good use. Unmatched is something a little different. Its a re-working of..

EnlargeChesnot / Getty Images The world of cryptocurrency has no shortage of imaginary investment products. Fake coins. Fake blockchain services. Fake cryptocurrency exchanges. Now five men behind a company called BitClub Network are accused of a $722 million scam that allegedly preyed on victims who thought they were investing in a pool of bitcoin mining equipment. Federal prosecutors call the case a “high-tech” plot in the “complex world of cryptocurrency.” But it has all the hallmarks of a classic pyramid scheme, albeit with a crypto-centric conceit. Investors were invited to send BitClub Network cash, which would allow the company to buy mining equipment—machines that produce bitcoin through a process called hashing. When those machines were turned on, all would (in theory) enjoy the spoils. The company also allegedly gave rewards to existing investors in exchange for recruiting others to join. According to the complaint, the scheme began in April 2014 and continued until earlier ..

Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States benefit from better weather and climate information A global initiative to strengthen early warning systems and climate resilience in the most vulnerable countries continues to gain momentum with a new injection of Euro 10 million contribution from Germany. The Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative, set up in 2015, has invested USD 42 million in projects in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States and has mobilized an additional USD 130 million from public funds of other development partners. Thus, Fiji now has an early warning system for flash floods. Advisories are issued for sand storms in Burkina Faso, which is also now generating seasonal forecasts and informing small scale farmers through local radio stations on when to plant their crops. Papua New Guinea issued its first seasonal forecast this year thanks to cooperation with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The latest counti..

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$1 million of funding towards the joint United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) Pacific Regional Action Plan for Measles. “Prevention through vaccination is the most effective way of avoiding illness and a costly health emergency. New Zealand has collaborated with UNICEF and WHO to identify regional vulnerabilities and opportunities for early interventions to prevent further outbreaks,” Minister Peters said. “This plan offers immediate preventative action. It allows for the flexibility to respond to additional requests from other Pacific nations and offers an efficient way of working regionally.” Activities under the plan include targeted vaccination for children up to the age of 5 years of age, supplementary vaccine doses for new mothers and their families to protect babies too young to be vaccinated and increased measles surveillance, public health and epidemiology sup..

LONDON — Boris Johnsons victory puts Brexit on track — but this is just the beginning. After winning a strong majority in the December 12 general election, Johnson returns as prime minister with the political capital to pull the U.K. out of the European Union in early 2020 and move onto negotiations about Britains future relationship with the bloc. In his victory speech, Johnson declared the result puts the debate on a second Brexit referendum to bed. “This election means that getting Brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the British people. And this this election I think we put an end to all those little miserable threats of a second referendum,” he said. Having insisted all Tory candidates backed the Brexit agreement he struck with Brussels in October, the prime minister can push his deal through the U.K. parliament without further delay. Brussels said Friday it was ready to start the next phase of negotiations. “Parliament as a whole will be ..

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that party leaders wont apply pressure to members of the Democratic caucus to support articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump after some Democrats have suggested they wont vote in favor of the articles. Pelosi said Thursday that the choice is theirs to make. “I have no message to them. We are not whipping this legislation, nor would we ever with something like this,” Pelosi told reporters.”Theyll make their own decisions. I dont say anything to them.” The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday held a hearing to debate on the two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. “Theyve seen the facts as presented in the Intelligence Committee—theyve seen the Constitution, they know it—they take an oath to protect and defend it. But they see the constitutional experts speak about it. Theyll make their own decisions. I dont say anything to them,” Pelosi said. “The facts are irrefutable,” she said. “..