OF THE
TIMES



Days after a foreigner killed a young boy by pushing him and his mother under a train, the German interior minister has recommended stricter checks at the country's Swiss border and advanced security measures at all rail stations.Too little, too late?
"I will do everything in order to put intelligent controls in place on the border," Horst Seehofer told Spiegel magazine in a follow-up to the harrowing incident at Frankfurt station, in which a 40-year-old Eritrean man assaulted an eight-year-old boy and his mother.
...
Now, Seehofer wants to introduce "occasional, temporary checks at the border with Switzerland" to screen foreigners. Both Germany and Switzerland are in the visa-free Schengen area, but travelers crossing their border aren't subjected to any controls.
The issue needs to be dealt with immediately, Seehofer warned, mentioning that a total of 43,000 unauthorized arrivals had been registered in Germany last year. The conservative politician was once at odds with Angela Merkel over imposing limits on incoming immigrants, but this time the Chancellor "is fully on my side on the issues of security."
Border checks aside, Seehofer also urges ramping up security at railway stations. He didn't expand on that but said it could involve installing safety barriers or locks on the platforms - similar to those already in use in London and Paris. Such countermeasures could potentially cost billions of Euros, the minister acknowledged

Police say they were attempting to arrest Mr Garner for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes outside a store in Staten Island. When Mr Garner refused to be handcuffed, officers put him in a chokehold, which are banned under police policy. Mr Pantaleo maintains that he actually used a legal manoeuvre called the "seatbelt." Mr Garner's medical examiner found that his death was caused by a chokehold.
None of the officers involved in Mr Garner's death have been charged with a crime, nor have they been reprimanded by the New York Police Department. Mr Pantaleo remains an active member of the NYPD.
Presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) hit back at Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) after Harris brushed off her criticism following Wednesday's debate in Detroit.Tulsi's got a long uphill climb considering that Harris seems to be the Establishment's choice. Notice the difference between these two interviews. Carlson sticks to the facts of the interchange between Harris and Gabbard. Chris Cuomo, instead of doing the same, immediately pivots to the tired canard that Gabbard 'supports a murderous dictator'. The MSM has been beating that dead horse for three years now, probably because that's all they've got to go after a reasonable, intelligent candidate. To Tulsi's credit, she managed to shut Cuomo up long enough make her points.
"Honestly, it's pathetic that when confronted with the facts and the truth about her record that she claims to be proud of as a prosecutor, as attorney general of California, all she can do is lob cheap smears," Gabbard told Hill.TV on Thursday in response to Harris's remarks.
The Harris campaign didn't immediately respond to Hill.TV's request for comment.
Following Gabbard's attack of her record as a prosecutor in California, Harris told CNN that she expected to "take hits," calling herself a "top-tier candidate" and noting Gabbard's low standing in recent polling.
The California senator also called out Gabbard for meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and declining to call him a war criminal.
In her interview with Hill.TV, Gabbard re-upped her criticism over Harris's prosecutorial record, emphasizing that the senator's campaign is "predicated on being a champion for the people," particularly people of color.
"This is all a lie because when she was in a position to do something about it, when she was in a position to make a difference and truly be a champion for the people she furthered and perpetuated this unfair, unjust system that harmed many black and brown people in the state of California," she told Hill.TV.
Gabbard's comments mark the latest exchange between the two White House contenders after a brutal night of intraparty fighting among Democrats in the second round of Democratic debates.
During the debate, Gabbard said she was "deeply concerned" about Harris's record as a prosecutor, accusing her of locking up scores of of racial minorities for low-level drug offenses. She also accused the senator of hiding evidence that would free an innocent man on death row and keeping people imprisoned for longer sentences to use them as cheap prison labor.
"The people who suffered under your reign as prosecutor, you owe them an apology," Gabbard said.
Harris defended her record, saying she has done more than give "fancy speeches," an apparent dig at the congresswoman.
"I did the work of significantly changing the criminal justice system and I'm proud of that work, to not just give fancy speeches or be in a legislative body and give speeches on the floor but actually doing the work," Harris said on the debate stage.
Comment: See also: