Russia rocket accident likely had two explosions, Norway monitor says

An explosion that killed five Russian scientists during a rocket engine test this month was followed by a second blast two hours later, the likely source of a spike in radiation, Norway's nuclear test-ban monitor said on Friday. The second explosion was likely from an airborne rocket powered by radioactive fuel, the Norsar agency said - though the governor of Russia's Arkhangelsk region, where the blast took place, dismissed reports of another blast. "The aftermath of the incident does not carry any threat," the governor, Igor Orlov, told the Interfax news agency.

Trump's economic anxiety comes to a boil

The president directs U.S. businesses to pull out of China, but maintains that the "economy is doing really well."

Hong Kong protesters form human chain 30 years after 'Baltic Way'

Thousands of people held hands across Hong Kong late Friday in a dazzling, neon-framed recreation of a pro-democracy "Baltic Way" protest against Soviet rule three decades ago. The city's skyscraper-studded harbourfront as well as several busy shopping districts were lined with peaceful protesters, many wearing surgical masks to hide their identity and holding Hong Kong flags or mobile phones with lights shining. The human chain is the latest creative demonstration in nearly three months of rolling protests which have tipped Hong Kong into an unprecedented political crisis.

Trump urges court to shield Deutsche Bank records from House Democrats

Lawyers for President Trump asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corp. from handing the financial records of the president's family and the Trump Organization to Democratic lawmakers.

Trump’s Offer to Help N.Y. With Subway Baffles Governor's Office

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he is ready to help New York extend the Second Avenue subway in New York City, an announcement that left even state Governor Andrew Cuomo baffled.“Looking forward to helping New York City and Governor @andrewcuomo complete the long anticipated, and partially built, Second Avenue Subway,” President Donald Trump said in a tweet.Cuomo’s office on Saturday said that while the governor is involved in discussions with the president and the Department of Transportation about several infrastructure projects in the city, including the Gateway Tunnel project, the subway and updates at LaGuardia Airport, there have been no concrete steps taken to move forward.“The president’s tweet suggests good news but we have no specific funding or approval and that is all that is relevant,” Communications Director Dani Lever said in a statement. "If an agreement actually materializes, we will provide an update.”The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to extend the subway line for 8.5 miles north, from East 96th Street to 125th Street in east Harlem, and add three underground stations. The line, debated for decades, began service in January 2017. To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Silver in New York at jsilver@bloomberg.net;Daniel Flatley in Washington at dflatley1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at stong41@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Joe Biden asks audience to imagine Barack Obama’s assassination

Former US vice president Joe Biden has speculated about how a political assassination of Barack Obama might have affected the country in 2008.Speaking at a town-hall-style campaign event nominally dedicated to health care, speculating, he went on to recall that he was accused of being gay because of his support of women’s rights in the 1970s.

Divorcing Spouse Claims NASA Astronaut Committed Crime in Space: Report

NASA astronaut Anne McClain's former partner has accused her of committing identity theft from the International Space Station, according to a report.

Rep. Steve King wants to make abortion point in 'softer way'

Backed by supporters at a news conference in Des Moines, the Iowa Republican affirmed his belief that abortion should be outlawed with no exceptions for rape or incest. King faced criticism for his comment Aug. 14 that questioned whether there would be "any population of the world left" if not for births due to rape or incest. The remarks were condemned by numerous groups and individuals, including Republican and Democratic candidates seeking to oust King, Democratic presidential candidates as well as the Iowa Republican Party and Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in House leadership.

UAE minister calls Saudi-UAE coalition a strategic necessity in Yemen

"As a result of our strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, it is the one deciding whether to continue our role in supporting stability in Yemen within the Arab coalition or not," Gargash said in another tweet.

Israel Says It Struck Iranian ‘Killer Drones’ in Syria

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER from NYT World https://ift.tt/2zh7Du9

Police are trying to arrest their way out of a mass shooting epidemic, and experts warn that law enforcement can't shoulder the entire burden

The arrests won't fully or permanently stop a person determined to inflict mass death — and the US is nowhere near close to tackling the root causes.

The first crime in space? Nasa investigates an unprecedented divorce case

The divorce case has details that are all too familiar - two partners at loggerheads, a young child caught in the middle and claims of financial malpractice.  Except there is a twist. The person accused of wrongdoing was in space.  In what is believed to be a first, Nasa is investigating whether one of its astronauts committed a crime while in orbit.  The person in question, Anne McClain, was taking part in a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station [ISS] when the incident took place.  Taking advantage of the ISS’s internet connection, Ms McClain accessed the bank account of her partner while they were separating, according to a report from The New York Times.  The partner, a former Air Force intelligence officer called Summer Worden, has accused Ms McClain of identity theft and improperly accessing her finances, according to the account.  Ms McClain in turn has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that she was simply overseeing the couple’s intertwined money arrangements as she had done in the past.  NASA’s Office of Inspector General is now investigating.  The International Space Station (ISS) crew members David Saint-Jacques of Canada, Oleg Kononenko of Russia and Anne McClain of the U.S. board the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft  Credit: REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov The case appears to be unprecedented, with Nasa officials telling the paper that they were unaware of any previous crimes being committed on the space station.   Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, went a step further, saying that he was not aware of any allegations of crime being committed anywhere in space before.  “Just because it’s in space doesn’t mean it’s not subject to law,” Mr. Sundahl told The New York Times.  He added: “The more we go out there and spend time out there, all the things we do here are going to happen in space.” The couple were married in 2014. Ms Worden had a son who had been born the year before she met Ms McClain.  Ms McClain wanted to adopt the child, according to the New York Times’s description of the divorce battle, but Ms Worden resisted.  Rusty Hardin, Ms McClain’s lawyer, said “she strenuously denies that she did anything improper” regarding accessing the bank account while in space and “is totally cooperating” with the investigation.  Now back on Earth, Ms McClain has reportedly sat for an interview with the inspector general last week under oath.  Ms McClain, a decorated pilot, was a West Point graduate who flew more than 800 combat hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom before joining Nasa in 2013. She was due to be part of Nasa’s first all-female spacewalk during her time on the ISS, but did not participate in the end.  The case has thrown a spotlight on the little understood world of space law and what happens if a crime is committed in orbit.  There are rules for what laws govern on the ISS, which has astronauts from America, Canada, Japan and Russia as well as several European nations.  National law applies to each person and their possessions, so an American citizen is subject to American law, while a Russian is subject to Russian law.  The significance of legal rules in the cosmos are only likely to increase as commercial space flights become a reality in the near future.

Rep. Jerry Nadler slams 'growing anti-Semitism,' condemns cartoon shared by Omar and Tlaib

Zach Friend and David Bahnsen weigh in on controversial comments made by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar and President Trump.

Special prosecutor named to look into Jussie Smollett case

A judge appointed a special prosecutor Friday to look into why the Chicago state's attorney's office abruptly dropped the case against Jussie Smollett, leaving open the possibility that the former "Empire" actor could yet face charges in what police say was a phony attack on himself that he staged to get attention. Smollett, who is black and gay, maintains that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in January. Webb, who was appointed by Cook County Judge Michael Toomin during a Friday hearing, told reporters afterward that he would move the investigation along as quickly as possible.

Prince Andrew Denies Knowing of Sex Trafficking by Epstein

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK from NYT World https://ift.tt/2MzUOUc

Fire Displaces 200 Residents of a Halfway House in Paterson, N.J.

By NEIL VIGDOR from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2L6MBUp

Mexican reporter found dead with stab wounds amid escalating violence

A Mexican journalist was found dead with stab wounds on Saturday, authorities said, adding to a growing list of reporter deaths in one of the world's most dangerous countries for the press.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2MAaXJq

Who are the Koch brothers and how did David Koch help shape conservatism in America?

The Koch brothers built a massive political empire that has influenced conservative politics for decades.

US city council candidate says she wants to keep town 'a white community as much as possible'

A city council candidate in Michigan told an audience that she wanted to keep her city “a white community”.Jean Cramer shocked constituents and politicians in Marysville, Michigan when she gave an overtly racist answer to a question about how the town should attract more foreign-born residents in the Great Lakes area.

North Korea foreign minister calls Pompeo 'poisonous plant'

North Korea's foreign minister on Friday called U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a "poisonous plant of American diplomacy" and vowed to "shutter the absurd dream" that sanctions will force a change in Pyongyang. The North's blistering rhetoric may dim the prospect for an early resumption of nuclear negotiations between the countries. A senior U.S. diplomat said earlier this week that Washington was ready to restart the talks, a day after U.S. and South Korean militaries ended their regular drills that Pyongyang called an invasion rehearsal.

Released from death row, then returned — forced to prove race discrimination a second time

Cases before N.C. Supreme Court show link between slavery, Jim Crow and modern death penalty is as connected as 'ropes of the lynch-man's noose'

How Trump Fits Into the Long, Fraught History of the Relationship Between Israel and American Jews

Daniel Gordis, author of 'We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel,' talks to TIME

The Latest: Hong Kong protest winds down after clashes

A large group of protesters has largely dispersed in Hong Kong after engaging in clashes with police for the first time in nearly two weeks. Riot officers used tear gas and nonlethal rounds Saturday after protesters took over a road in the city's Kowloon Bay area. The protesters regrouped several times to challenge police again before calling it a day as night fell.

Russia rocket accident likely had two explosions, Norway monitor says

An explosion that killed five Russian scientists during a rocket engine test this month was followed by a second blast two hours later, the likely source of a spike in radiation, Norway's nuclear test-ban monitor said on Friday. The second explosion was likely from an airborne rocket powered by radioactive fuel, the Norsar agency said - though the governor of Russia's Arkhangelsk region, where the blast took place, dismissed reports of another blast. "The aftermath of the incident does not carry any threat," the governor, Igor Orlov, told the Interfax news agency.

China to impose new tariffs on $75 bn of US imports

China announced Friday it will hit US soybeans, lobsters, peanut butter and other imports worth $75 billion with new tariffs in retaliation for Washington's planned duty hikes, further intensifying the bruising trade war between the world's top two economies. The punitive tariffs of 5 to 10 percent will apply to 5,078 items from the US, starting September 1 and December 15, China's state council tariff office said. Beijing also announced it will reimpose a 25 percent tariff on US autos and a 5 percent tariff on auto parts, also starting December 15.

Dem. Senator: Trump Is ‘Serious’ about Bipartisan Background-Check Legislation

Senator Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said Friday that he believes President Trump may still try to get Republicans on board with legislative efforts to tighten background checks for gun purchasers, although he admitted he is still unsure of how hard Trump is willing to push.“The president and the White House have been clear that they are willing to support background-checks legislation that might not today be popular in the Republican party,” Murphy told reporters. “The president and the White House has [sic] made it clear that they are open to leading on this issue and trying to bring Republicans along with them.”Murphy, who has been a prominent gun-control advocate since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, met with White House staffers and spoke to Trump personally on the phone about the issue earlier this month. He said that during their phone call, Trump “told me personally that he was indeed serious about moving forward together on what he called meaningful background-checks legislation.”Under pressure from the National Rifle Association, Trump has waffled on whether to move forward with background-check legislation, which is not popular within his party."We are going to be doing background checks. We already have very strong background checks but we are going to be filling in some of the loopholes," Trump said Wednesday, adding that he had made no promises on the matter to NRA president Wayne LaPierre. At the same time, he said he was wary of the "slippery slope."“A lot of the people that put me where I am are strong believers in the Second Amendment, and I am also,” he said. “They call it the slippery slope. All of a sudden everything gets taken away. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Federal appeals court rules Colorado was 'wrong' to force electors to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016

Bradley Moss and John Yoo weigh in on a federal court ruling in Colorado on the Electoral College that could make its way to the Supreme Court.

Special prosecutor named to look into Jussie Smollett case

A judge appointed a special prosecutor Friday to look into why the Chicago state's attorney's office abruptly dropped the case against Jussie Smollett, leaving open the possibility that the former "Empire" actor could yet face charges in what police say was a phony attack on himself that he staged to get attention. Smollett, who is black and gay, maintains that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in January. Webb, who was appointed by Cook County Judge Michael Toomin during a Friday hearing, told reporters afterward that he would move the investigation along as quickly as possible.

Six EU nations agree to take 356 Ocean Viking migrants

Six EU countries Friday agreed to take in 356 migrants stranded on a rescue ship in the Mediterranean after a two-week standoff again exposed the failure of European leaders to deal quickly with desperate people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa. The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking, run by charities MSF and SOS Mediterranee, had been seeking a port after rescuing four boats of migrants off the Libyan coast between August 9 and 12. The migrants screamed with joy as the news broke, the adults sweeping their children into their arms and dancing and singing.

Police are trying to arrest their way out of a mass shooting epidemic, and experts warn it could have dire consequences

The arrests won't fully or permanently stop a person determined to inflict mass death — and the US is nowhere near close to tackling the root causes.

Rep. Jerry Nadler slams 'growing anti-Semitism,' condemns cartoon shared by Omar and Tlaib

Zach Friend and David Bahnsen weigh in on controversial comments made by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar and President Trump.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says to fight Amazon fires, blames weather

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday he will deploy federal troops with appropriate equipment to fight the fires in the Amazon rainforest, blaming dryer-than-normal weather for the spike in fire outbreaks this year.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2L8rmlj

Texas governor expresses concern about private gun sales

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday raised concern about private firearm sales but didn't commit to crack down on them or act on gun control issues following a meeting on ways to prevent mass shootings such as the El Paso attack that killed 22 people. While lawmakers are feeling pressure to respond quickly to the Aug. 3 shooting at a Walmart, Abbott signaled that Texas would take a long and careful look at gun laws and other safety measures before its Legislature next meets in 2021. Scrutinizing private guns sales was among a list of ideas Abbott rattled off after emerging from a four-hour, closed-door meeting about the El Paso shooting with lawmakers, police and representatives from Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Newt Gingrich says slavery needs to be put 'in context,' calls 1619 project a 'lie'

"There were several hundred thousand white Americans who died in the Civil War in order to free the slaves," Gingrich argued.

Chaotic scene as DNC votes down climate change debate at San Francisco meeting

The move sparked loud and angry backlash from climate change activists who believe the Democratic Party should change the rules to allow for a debate focused solely on climate issues.

Immigration lawyers: We saw what's happening at the US-Mexico border. It's a tragic farce.

There is no due process in Mexico for asylum seekers, just endless obstacles to staying alive, finding an attorney and communicating with authorities.

Le Brexit breakthrough? Europe says "Nein", "non", "no"

LONDON/PARIS/BERLIN, Aug 23 (Reuters) - After sterling soared and some British newspapers roared at a supposed Brexit victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Europe's power brokers had a more sobering message: the basic divorce deal is not changing. Enter PM Johnson, an avowed Brexiteer whose bet is that the threat of a disorderly 'no-deal' exit will convince German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron that the EU must grant him the divorce deal he wants.

Chinese embassy says the US is trying to suppress Huawei

An embassy statement to The Associated Press said the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities is "of course different" from China's detentions of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. "The Meng Wanzhou incident is not just a judicial case, but the U.S. using state power to work with its certain ally to suppress a private high-tech Chinese enterprise on unwarranted charges.

Russian doctor has trace of radiation after explosion

More than 100 Russian medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday. It was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, but the authorities insisted it didn't pose any danger. The Arkhangelsk regional administration said Friday that 110 medical workers have undergone checks that one man was found with a low amount of radioactive cesium-137 in his muscle tissue.

After Beating and Hernia, American Prisoner Paul Whelan Refused Hospitalization by FSB Doctors

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEVMOSCOW–Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen held in Russia on suspicion of spying, looked pale and sick when his prison guards brought him to Lefortovo court on Friday. He said he had been beaten and is suffering from a hernia, but his condition is hardly a surprise after eight months in Moscow’s Lefortovo, a prison run but the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB, and it looks like Whelan has learned only too well how incarceration there operates.Whelan is facing 20 years in Russian prison for spying, after accepting a flashcard that allegedly contains some sensitive information. His family is far away, he does not speak the Russian language, and on top of everything the 49-year-old security manager for a Michigan-based auto parts company is suffering from a painful inguinal hernia, with part of his intestine having ruptured the abdominal wall.Paul Whelan, Accused U.S. Spy Held in Moscow, Says a Russian Investigator Threatened His LifeWhen the judge suggested calling an ambulance in the middle of the hearing on Friday morning, Whelan rejected the idea, as a useless waste of time: “The nurses won’t take me to a hospital, they will only check my blood pressure, temperature, and say, ‘You are fine,’” he told the court.By now Whelan must have learned the rules and brutal methods in Russian prisons. “No ordinary ambulance can take a prisoner who is under FSB investigation to the hospital,” Alexander Cherkasov, chair of the Memorial Human Rights Center told The Daily Beast. “There is a specialized hospital 20 where they normally take sick prisoners, after a certain bureaucratic procedure.”Also, no Russian nurse working for an ambulance carries strong painkillers. (Russian doctors are not allowed to prescribe strong drugs even for people dying in agonizing pain, so Russians suffer from pain all over the country, many committing suicide.)Whelan looked and sounded doomed. He said that his health condition worsened after his prison guard beat him. The incident happened earlier this month, when Whelan was being moved from one cell to another. Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, told The Daily Beast, “I have checked: prison guards did not know that my client had a hernia, they made him carry all his stuff himself to a different cell. The treatment in Lefortovo is inhuman.”  On Friday, Whelan told the judge, “If you call for a doctor who would hospitalize me, I don’t mind calling for the ambulance.” But just as he predicted, the nurses on call checked him right at Lefortovo Court and decided against his hospitalization.Whelan, who holds U.S., Canadian, British, and Irish passports, was arrested on December 28 in his hotel room a few steps away from the Kremlin. His lawyer Zherebenkov predicted early on the way the case was likely to develop: “They will pickle Paul for a year or more, as he is clearly just a pawn; and then they will swap him for some important Russian kept in American prison,” the lawyer told The Daily Beast in January.Almost eight months later Zherebenkov still has not seen any solid evidence establishing his client’s guilt. “The FSB  investigation has not presented us with a single solid piece of material, so our truth in this case is even stronger than half a year ago–that’s why FSB want more time,” the lawyer said.Meet Putin’s American Prisoner, Paul WhelanAccording to Media Zona, a group of journalists reporting on news about Russian prisons and court cases, at least 99 detainees died in detention centers and prisons used by investigators in 2016. Many more died in prison camps. “It is hard for us to find out what causes the deaths of prisoners—when prison guards crack somebody’s head open, they say that the detainee fell down and died in an accident,” Dmitry Shvets, a Media Zona reporter told The Daily Beast. But the problem is not just physical violence. “Lefortovo prison is famous for psychological torture by isolation. The inmates cannot communicate with each other, no prisoner has a chance to use a phone.”Whelan’s family was aware that the FSB wanted to extend the time for investigation for two more months. ”This morning's hearing was more theatrical than his previous hearings—ejecting the media, calling an ambulance—but we were not surprised by the result,” Whelan’s twin brother, David, told The Daily Beast.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Beto O’Rourke: As president, I’d institute a mandatory buyback of assault weapons

Only America has more guns than people. Follow the lead of moms demanding action and students marching for their lives, writes candidate Beto O’Rourke

Iran unveils home-grown missile defence system

Iran unveiled its new home-grown air defence system on Thursday at a time of increased tensions with the United States. Iranian officials have previously called Bavar-373 the Islamic republic's first domestically produced long-range missile defence system. Tehran began making Bavar -- which means "believe" -- after the purchase of Russia's S-300 system was suspended in 2010 due to international sanctions.

Man arrested for holding woman as sex slave and keeping her eight-month-old baby captive

A North Carolina man has been arrested after holding a woman and her 8-month-old baby captive for over a month, authorities said.The Pender County Sheriff’s department said in a press release they received an emergency call on 9 August from a woman who said she was being held against her will at a home in Willard, North Carolina.

Half of Venezuela's Oil Rigs May Disappear If U.S. Waivers Lapse

(Bloomberg) -- A looming U.S. sanctions deadline is threatening to clobber Venezuela’s dwindling oil-rig fleet and hamper energy production in the nation with the world’s largest crude reserves.Almost half the rigs operating in Venezuela will shut down by Oct. 25 if the Trump administration doesn’t extend a 90-day waiver from its sanctions, according to data compiled from consultancy Caracas Capital Markets. That could further cripple the OPEC member’s production because the structures are needed to drill new wells crucial for even maintaining output, which is already near the lowest level since the 1940s.A shutdown in the rigs will also put pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s administration, which counts oil revenues as its main lifeline. The U.S. is betting on increased economic pressure to oust the regime and bring fresh elections to the crisis-torn nation, a founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Latin America’s biggest crude exporter until recent years.Venezuela had 23 oil rigs drilling in July, down from 49 just two years ago, data compiled by Baker Hughes show. Ten of those are exposed to U.S. sanctions, according to calculations by Caracas Capital Markets. The Treasury Department extended waivers in July for service providers to continue for three more months, less than the six months the companies had sought.Most other government agencies involved in the deliberations opposed any extension, a senior administration official said last month, adding that another reprieve will be harder to come by.“Almost half the rigs are being run by the Yanks, and if the window shuts down on this in two months, then that’s really going to hurt Venezuela unless the Russians and the Chinese come in,” said Russ Dallen, a Miami-based managing partner at Caracas Capital Markets.Output RiskA U.S. Treasury official said the department doesn’t generally comment on possible sanctions actions.More than 200,000 barrels a day of output at four projects Chevron Corp. is keeping afloat could shut if the waivers aren’t renewed. That would be debilitating to Maduro because the U.S. company, as a minority partner, only gets about 40,000 barrels a day of that production.The departure of the American oil service providers would hurt other projects in the Orinoco region, where operators need to constantly drill wells just to keep output from declining. The U.S.-based companies are also involved in state-controlled Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s joint ventures in other regions such as Lake Maracaibo.Limiting ExposureHalliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd. and Weatherford International Ltd. have reduced staff and are limiting their exposure to the risk of non-payment in the country, according to people familiar with the situation. The three companies have written down a total of at least $1.4 billion since 2018 in charges related to operations in Venezuela, according to financial filings. Baker Hughes had also scaled back before additional sanctions were announced earlier this year, the people said.Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Weatherford, PDVSA and Venezuela’s oil ministry all declined to comment.Halliburton has adjusted its Venezuela operations to customer activity, and continues operating all of its product service lines at its operational bases, including in the Orinoco Belt, it said in an emailed response to questions. It works directly with several of PDVSA’s joint ventures, and timely payments from customers are in accordance with U.S. regulations, it said.Hamilton, Bermuda-based Nabors Industries Ltd. has three drilling rigs in Venezuela that can operate for a client until the sanctions expire in October, Chief Executive Officer Anthony Petrello said in a July 30 conference call, without naming the client.The sanctions carry geopolitical risks for the U.S. If Maduro manages to hang on, American companies would lose a foothold in Venezuela, giving Russian competitors such as Rosneft Oil Co. a chance to fill the void. Chinese companies could also benefit. Even if the waivers get extended, the uncertainty hinders any long-term planning or investments in the nation by the exposed companies.Rosneft’s press office didn’t respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment on operations in Venezuela.\--With assistance from David Wethe, Debjit Chakraborty and Dina Khrennikova.To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Millard in Rio de Janeiro at pmillard1@bloomberg.net;Fabiola Zerpa in Caracas Office at fzerpa@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Pratish Narayanan, Joe RyanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.