| GOP Sen. Flake: My party is abandoning conservative values in the Trump era Posted: 01 Aug 2017 07:08 AM PDT  Conservative Sen. Jeff Flake has come out firing against his own party, blaming Republicans for the rise of President Trump and loss of conservative principles in Congress.
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| Family to Sue School District After 12-Year-Old Daughter’s Suicide Posted: 01 Aug 2017 08:40 AM PDT  The parents of Mallory Grossman, a 12-year-old who took her own life after what they say was relentless cyberbullying, said that they are suing their local school district for allegedly not doing enough to help.
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| Christie on baseball game confrontation: ‘If you give it, you’re going to get it back’ Posted: 01 Aug 2017 07:23 AM PDT  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he does not regret confronting a baseball fan who heckled him at a game, saying simply, "If you give it, you're going to get it back."
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| Philippines' Duterte backs police in 'drug' mayor killings Posted: 02 Aug 2017 06:17 AM PDT  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday defended a police raid that killed a mayor whom he had linked to narcotics trafficking along with 14 others. Duterte has repeatedly defended police prosecuting his deadly war on drugs while singling out officials as "narco-politicians". Three mayors have been shot dead after he accused them of involvement in the drug trade.
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| Trump DoJ to Attack Affirmative Action Posted: 01 Aug 2017 11:17 AM PDT  Charlie Savage, reporter for The New York Times, talks about his reporting on a memo that shows Donald Trump's Justice Department under Jeff Sessions intends to sue universities for discriminating against white people through affirmative action.
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| Facebook Sees Minimal Growth In Diversity, Says They 'Desperately' Want A Change Posted: 02 Aug 2017 11:09 AM PDT  Facebook reported Wednesday a change in its diversity numbers for Hispanic and black employees, a first since the company began publicly releasing the data in 2014.
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| MS-13: a ruthless Latino gang that preys on its own Posted: 01 Aug 2017 06:28 AM PDT  The ultra-violent Latino street gang MS-13, which President Trump vowed to wipe out in a speech in suburban New York on Friday, is estimated to have some 10,000 members in the United States. Each of these units is loyal to the broader gang but has its own leader and functions differently, says Hector Silva of Insight Crime, a Washington-based center that studies organized crime in Latin America. Many were born in the United States.
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| Instagram's 'Sexiest Biker' Dies In Horrific Road Crash Posted: 02 Aug 2017 12:04 AM PDT  Olga Pronina, 40, was racing through the city of Vladivostok in Russia when her BMW bike lost control and slammed into a side railing.
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| Lawyer wants Trump’s testimony in ‘fake news’ suit against Fox Posted: 01 Aug 2017 04:41 PM PDT  The lawyer for Rod Wheeler, who is suing Fox News over its use of allegedly invented quotes in a news story, said he will seek to depose President Trump and Sean Spicer to question them over their roles in the affair.
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| New U.S. student loan system to be in place in 2019: Education Department Posted: 01 Aug 2017 04:07 PM PDT  A whole new student loan servicing and processing system will be up and running in 2019, the U.S. Education Department said on Tuesday, as it formally unveiled its plan to overhaul the current $1.3 trillion program. The department, led by Secretary Betsy DeVos, announced its intention to change student-loan servicing in May and said it would award a contract to one company for a user platform and a standardized process for handling consumer calls. "By starting afresh and pursuing a truly modern loan servicing environment, we have a chance to turn what was a good plan into a great one," DeVos said in a statement.
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| Sunbathers killed as plane makes emergency landing on Portuguese beach Posted: 02 Aug 2017 11:31 AM PDT  A light plane made an emergency landing on a packed beach near Lisbon on Wednesday, killing a man and an 8-year-old girl who were sunbathing, authorities said. Hundreds of sunbathers were on the beach at Caparica, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Lisbon, and witnesses said some sunbathers ran into the sea to avoid the plane. Aterrizaje de emergencia de una avioneta en la playa de São João de Caparica, cerca de Lisboa, causa dos muertos pic.twitter.com/vmV5i2dCxU— Miguel Gil (@Gil_peral) August 2, 2017 The National Maritime Authority said the man and girl died on the beach. It did not give the man's age, but local media reported he was 50. The small aircraft, reportedly a Cessna, carrying two people appeared to be in difficulty and wobbled as it skimmed low over the sunbathers, scattering them and spreading panic on the beach, witnesses said. Avioneta aterra de emergência na praia de São João na Caparica https://t.co/CoabvRQyqg— Bernardino Peixoto (@climane) August 2, 2017 The plane appeared to have a partly broken left wing, which hung lower than the right wing, Portuguese television pictures showed. A plane making an emergency landing kills two sunbathers on a beach in Lisbon Credit: Twitter/@climane The dead girl was with her parents, who were unhurt, witnesses told local television channels. The plane passed over the dead man's legs as he sunbathed on a towel, they said. No others were reportedly hurt. The bodies lay covered on the sand as police cordoned off the area. The two occupants of the plane were unhurt and were led away by police. Portugal - Caparica locator
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| Father of Philando Castile wants a portion of settlement Posted: 02 Aug 2017 08:58 AM PDT  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The father of Philando Castile, a motorist fatally shot by a suburban Minneapolis police officer last summer, wants a portion of the $3 million settlement reached in his son's death.
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| EU warns Poland to obey logging ban in ancient forest Posted: 02 Aug 2017 06:43 AM PDT  The EU warned Poland Wednesday to obey a ban on logging in Europe's last primeval woodland, saying it would add any breach to a broader Brussels case against Warsaw over democratic standards. Poland's right-wing government vowed on Monday that logging would continue in the ancient Bialowieza forest despite an injunction issued last week by the European Court of Justice, the bloc's top court. "If it is confirmed that the logging continues to take place in the Bialowieza forest, the issue will be taken up in the ongoing rule-of-law procedure with Poland," European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told a press conference in Brussels.
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| Melting Arctic ice could bring major changes to Northeastern Europe's climate Posted: 01 Aug 2017 07:25 AM PDT  Melting Arctic ice could weaken the Gulf Stream and have catastrophic effects on global climate, researchers say.
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| Elephant Parade hits the streets of São Paulo Posted: 02 Aug 2017 03:02 PM PDT ![Elephant Parade hits the streets of São Paulo]( "Elephant Parade hits the streets of São Paulo") The Elephant Parade arrives in Sao Paulo after the success of the Cow Parade, an exhibition of artistic cows in the financial heart of Brazil.
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| How 12 guys used peanut butter to escape from jail...y Posted: 01 Aug 2017 02:49 AM PDT  El Chapo famously escaped from a maximum-security prison through a deep, high-tech, 1-mile tunnel. These guys, instead, just used peanut butter. SEE ALSO: A man escaped maximum-security prison in South Carolina thanks to a drone The highly imaginative albeit startling escape took place in Walker County, Alabama, where a dozen inmates disfigured the number on one of the cell door with peanut butter to make it look like the one leading to the outside of the jail. All one of them had to do, then, was to convince a new jail employee, who was watching the prisoners on closed-circuit TV from the control room, to open it claiming he needed to go back him. Instead, he had just unlocked the door that opened to the outside. "Changing numbers on doors with peanut butter - It may sound crazy, but these kinds of people are crazy like a fox," Walker County Sheriff James Underwood said during a press conference. "He thought he was opening the cell door for this man to go in his cell, but in fact he opened up the outside door." Underwood added that he's not going to make excuses but it was a human error from a young lad. The inmates, between 18 and 30 and facing charges ranging from attempted murder to disorderly conduct, used blankets to climb over a razor-wire fence encircling the Walker County Jail. Eleven of the fugitives were captured within hours, while one — Brady Andrew Kilpatrick, who was in jail on drug possession charges — is still at large. The escape occurred at about 6.30pm Sunday CDT and inmates had cleared the barbed wire fence in less than 10 minutes. WATCH: Donald Trump's first speech as president-elect is surprisingly tame AF
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| Rex Tillerson says US would like to seek dialogue with North Korea and does not blame China for tensions Posted: 01 Aug 2017 12:14 PM PDT  Rex Tillerson has said the US does not blame China for escalating tensions with North Korea and would like to seek a dialogue with Kim Jong-un's regime. The US secretary of state's diplomatic tone directly contradicted President Donald Trump, who tweeted two days ago that he was "very disappointed" with China and accused Beijing of doing "nothing" over Pyongyang's military ambitions. Sec. Tillerson: US doesn't seek regime change in North Korea, "would like to sit and have a dialogue with them about the future." pic.twitter.com/KhIaF0actz— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 1, 2017 Mr Tillerson said that that relations between the US and China were "at a bit of a pivot point", but that Washington had "sought to partner" with Beijing over the growing threat from North Korea. An 'underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile' conducted at an undisclosed location in North Korea Credit: EPA "We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel," Mr Tillerson said in the rare press address at the state department. "We are not your enemy ... but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us, and we have to respond. And we hope that at some point they will begin to understand that and we would like to sit and have a dialogue with them." North Korea claim 'missile can reach all of U.S.' 01:05 China has become increasingly frustrated with US and Japanese criticism that it should do more to rein in Pyongyang. Concerns have increased over North Korea's willingness to continue to test its military hardware in defiance of US sanctions. A US military source reportedly claimed yesterday that Pyongyang's submarine force had been carrying out "highly unusual and unprecedented levels" of activity. The defence official told CNN that three "ejection tests" were carried out on land at Sinpo Naval Shipyard in July. Another test was carried out earlier this year at the base, which is the headquarters of the Maritime Research Institute of North Korea's Academy of National Defence Science. A submarine-launched ballistic missile is displayed in Kim Il-sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang Credit: AP An ejection test is designed to assess the cold-launch system which is required to propel a missile away from its tube on the submarine before the missile engine ignites, so protecting the boat. The ground-based tests also coincide with a North Korean Romeo-class submarine carrying out "unusual activities" off the east coast of the peninsula for at least one week in late July. North Korea's nuclear threat 01:34 The US and South Korea monitored the activities of the 1,800-ton diesel boat, which is armed with 14 torpedoes and up to 20 mines. The submarine travelled more than 60 miles from the North Korean coast and into international waters, something which no submarine has been observed doing previously. Graphic: North Korea missile launch North Korea first successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in August 2016. Pyongyang is believed to be aiming to deploy a missile-capable submarine as an additional threat to the US. "Achieving a successful cold-launch ejection test, even from land-based tubes, is a critical step forward," said Lance Gatling, a defence analyst and president of Tokyo-based Nexial Research Inc.
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| Lawsuit Filed Against Fox News Seth Rich Death Story Endorsed By Hannity Posted: 02 Aug 2017 02:20 AM PDT  The story suggested Democratic Network Committee (DNC) employee Seth Rich, allegedly killed in 2016, shared thousands of DNC emails with Wikileaks.
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| Bride 'pulls gun out of wedding dress and points it at groom's head' Posted: 02 Aug 2017 03:33 AM PDT  This couple's honeymoon period is definitely over. Weddings are meant to be a time for love and celebration, but a bride's big day was ruined when she was arrested on assault charges over an alleged gun incident. Tennessee bride Kate Prichard allegedly pulled a gun out of her wedding dress and put it to her groom's head during a drunken motel argument, just hours after the wedding. The 25-year-old pointed the 9mm handgun at her new husband James Burton's head and pulled the trigger, however it was not loaded, police say. The bride (not pictured) was arrested on her wedding day Credit: Reuters Police were called to the scene after the new bride then loaded the gun and fired it in the air, it is alleged. "She pulled out of her wedding dress, a 9mm pistol. Pointed it at her husband's head and pulled the trigger," Sgt. Kyle Evans from the Murfreesboro Police Department told NewsChannel 5. "[The] responding officer let the husband know the honeymoon was over and his new wife was going to jail. "Both were very uncooperative with authorities. It was actually a witness who pointed us in the right direction," he added. Prichard has been charged with aggravated domestic assault. Desperate bride marries wedding guest instead of groom
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| Man dead, 2 deputies shot after Rastafarian pot farm dispute Posted: 01 Aug 2017 08:35 PM PDT  OREGON HOUSE, Calif. (AP) — A suspect died and two Northern California deputies were shot and wounded Tuesday in a shootout after the officers responded to reports of an agitated man pulling up plants in a Rastafarian church's marijuana farm, authorities said.
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| Verizon is screwing internet users who aren’t even its own customers Posted: 01 Aug 2017 11:57 AM PDT 
By now, we're used to our local internet monopolist taking its pound of flesh in return for access to a basic utility. We also know that maintaining that monopoly -- and crushing any attempts at competition -- is the key to keeping those annual profits ticking. So I guess that it shouldn't be surprising to hear that Verizon is allegedly going out of its way to stop Charter from deploying broadband in New York State. But the brazenly anti-competitive practices outlined in a complaint from Charter to the NY State Public Service Commission still makes for surprising reading.
The problems surround Charter's need to attach wires or equipment to roadside poles owned or co-owned by Verizon. Attaching to existing poles is commonplace, and generally a right supported by law to prevent our streets turning into a mess of competing utility poles. In order to make way for Charter's equipment, Verizon has to move some of its own equipment on poles. The standard process is that Charter identifies the work that has to be done, applies to Verizon to get that to happen, pays Verizon for the manpower and time involved, and then can finally attach its own equipment to the poles. It's already a bureaucratic nightmare, but in a complaint to the PSC, Charter claims that Verizon is being uniquely annoying: "Since the Buildout Condition took effect in May 2016, Charter has submitted 822 pole attachment applications to Verizon, requesting permits to attach to 55,856 poles—nearly a third of all of the poles that Charter needs to access in order to meet its buildout requirements. In connection with those applications, Charter has paid $409,296 to Verizon in application fees. To date, however, Verizon has approved only 179 of those applications and has released only 4,048 poles to Charter—a mere 7 percent of poles for which Charter has submitted applications to Verizon. Verizon has not conducted any pre-construction surveys for 51 percent of Charter's applications (representing 62 percent of the poles), despite accepting Charter's payment of application fees to pay for such work."
Verizon's motivation for dragging its feet is obvious: Charter is trying to bring internet and TV service into regions where Verizon is the only high-speed provider, and competition has this nasty habit of driving prices down. "The cumulative effect of Verizon's conduct has been to frustrate Charter's ability to bring its services to additional areas in the state and offer competitive alternatives to 'bottleneck' providers—including competing against Verizon itself," Charter told Ars Technica. In fairness, Charter isn't trying to expand to new areas out of the goodness of its heart. The broadband rollout is a condition imposed on Charter due to its purchase of Time Warner Cable. Regulators often put "competition" clauses on new mergers to try and ensure that in return for two companies merging, they also keep expanding to provide competition. In Charter's case, it was supposed to expand service to 36,250 new houses by May, and a total of 145,000 by May 2020. Charter says that Verizon is standing in the way of its expansion, and wants the PSC to use its enforcement powers to speed things up.
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| Victoria's Secret Model Vita Sidorkina Wore The Same Gorgeous Wedding Dress Two Ways Posted: 02 Aug 2017 12:59 PM PDT  Victoria's Secret model Vita Sidorkina married millionaire property developer Valerio Morabito on Italy's Amalfi Coast on Saturday, and by all accounts it was a fairytale celebration: A post shared by Matilde Carli (@supermatinyc) on Jul 30, 2017 at 12:15am PDT A post shared by NADEJDA (@nadejdasavcova) on Jul 29, 2017 at 6:30am PDT A post shared by Anastasia Eremenko (@anastasia_eremenko) on Jul 29, 2017 at 2:07pm PDT
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| Italy impounds German NGO migrant rescue boat Posted: 02 Aug 2017 07:17 AM PDT  Italian authorities on Wednesday impounded a German NGO's migrant rescue boat on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration, police said. The Iuventa, operated by the Jugend Rettet organisation, was "preventatively" impounded on the Italian island of Lampedusa on the orders of a prosecutor based in Trapani, Sicily, the state police force said in a statement. "Enquiries begun in October 2016, and conducted with the use of sophisticated techniques and investigative technology, have produced circumstantial evidence of the motorboat Iuventa being used for activities facilitating illegal immigration," the statement said.
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| These 8 Millionaires Are Making A Fortune Off Of Fast Food Posted: 01 Aug 2017 11:59 AM PDT |
| Donald Trump’s approval ratings fall to all-time low in Rasmussen Reports Posted: 01 Aug 2017 01:41 PM PDT  Donald Trump's approval ratings have fallen to an all-time low, according to one of his favourite pollsters, Rasmussen Reports. The US leader's score has now fallen to below 40 per cent for the first time, a 23-point decrease since he took office. It comes even though the poll has traditionally been generous to the President, who has in the past picked out Rasmussen's findings to say he was doing better than his predecessor, Barack Obama.
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| Major U.S. transgender case remanded after student graduates Posted: 02 Aug 2017 01:00 PM PDT  The case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy who was denied use of the boys' room at his school in Gloucester County, Virginia, had once been set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and could have been a landmark case on transgender rights. Grimm argued that the county school board's policy of assigning restrooms based on students' sex assigned at birth rather than gender identity was a violation of the right against sex discrimination under Title IX of the education code and the constitutional right to equal protection under the law. The Supreme Court in March scrapped plans to hear the case and threw out the appeals court's ruling in favor of Grimm after President Donald Trump rescinded a policy protecting such youths under federal law.
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| The Latest: EU disavows Venezuela constituent assembly Posted: 02 Aug 2017 02:30 PM PDT  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Latest on Venezuela's political crisis and the dispute over a rewrite of its constitution (all times local):
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| Transgender Man Gives Birth To Baby Boy In Portland Posted: 01 Aug 2017 10:48 AM PDT  A transgender man and his partner of seven years delivered their first biological child earlier this month.
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| Elephants and tigers kill one human a day in India, as growing population squeezes habitat Posted: 01 Aug 2017 12:41 AM PDT  Endangered elephants and tigers are killing one person a day in India as humans put a growing squeeze on their habitat, according to new government figures. But man is in turn killing a leopard a day as the man-animal tussle for space reaches new heights. India has lost vast swathes of forests to urbanisation in recent decades, forcing animals into human-occupied zones. According to the environment ministry, 1,144 people were killed in attacks across India in 1,143 days between April 2014 and May this year. And there is no sign of the toll being cut. The ministry said 345 tigers and 84 elephants were killed in the same period, mostly in poacher attacks. Elephants are targeted for their tusks. A man with a tranquilizer gun approaches as a leopard attacks a man identified by Indian media as wildlife conservationist Sanjay Gubbi at a private school on the outskirts of Bangalore Credit: AFP Siddhanta Das, the ministry's director general of forests, said human encroachment into animal territory was causing the deaths. "We are running awareness campaigns to minimise the casualties," Das told AFP. Elephants accounted for 1,052 human deaths and tigers 92, according to the figures released to parliament last week. West Bengal state accounted for more than a quarter of deaths. The eastern state has nearly 800 elephants and is also home to famed Bengal tigers. A leopard attacking and wounding Indian labourer Pintu Dey in Guwahati in 2012 Credit: AFP Last year a herd of wild elephants went on an hours-long rampage in West Bengal, killing five people and damaging vehicles and homes before being subdued with tranquilliser darts. But tensions are also mounting elsewhere across the country. An elephant trampled to death four people, including a 12-year-old girl, in a village in southern Tamil Nadu state in June. There have also been cases of elephants knocking people off scooters. Most attacks on humans by elephants take place in so-called elephant corridors which they have used for centuries but are now being overrun by humans. An elephant attacking an Indian man in a field in Baghasole village, in Burdwan district in West Bengal state, in March 2016 Credit: AFP According to National Crime Records Bureau statistics, nearly 950 people were killed in animal attacks in 2015. But those statistics did not specify the nature of the incidents. India has nearly 30,000 elephants and is home to half the world's tiger population with some 2,226 of the big cats roaming its reserves, according to the last official count in 2014. Both are endangered species. "Rampant killing of wildlife is ongoing in India. Hundreds of leopards, tigers and elephants are killed for their body parts," Tito Joseph of the Wildlife Protection Society of India told AFP. An Indian policeman being helped by colleagues after being attacked by a leopard in the Maligoan area of Guwahati in 2015 Credit: AFP Fatality figures for the estimated 12,000 to 14,000 leopards living in the wild are becoming alarming, according to a 2015 census. More than 1,436 of the animals have been killed since January 2014, according to the WPSI. There are no figures on the number of humans killed by leopards, but experts say there are hundreds each year.
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| U.S. teen texting manslaughter verdict could face legal challenge Posted: 02 Aug 2017 03:05 AM PDT ![U.S. teen texting manslaughter verdict could face legal challenge]( "U.S. teen texting manslaughter verdict could face legal challenge") A Massachusetts woman could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison this week for sending text messages to her boyfriend urging him to commit suicide. The verdict was the first of its kind in the state, and legal experts said it is likely to be appealed. Michelle Carter, now 20, was found guilty in June of involuntary manslaughter for the messages she sent to her 18-year-old boyfriend, who asphyxiated himself in his parked truck as she texted him in 2014.
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| Boat Captain Rescues Soaking Wet Cat Apparently Thrown Off Bridge Posted: 02 Aug 2017 09:46 AM PDT  Jordan Smith did not expect to be pulling a cat out of his fishing net last week.
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| Tensions rise as Kenya poll campaign enters final stretch Posted: 31 Jul 2017 06:46 PM PDT  Kenya's election campaign enters a tense final week Tuesday, with a tight race between incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga leading to intensified personal attacks and rigging accusations. The vote comes 10 years after Odinga claimed an election was stolen from him and the country plunged into two months of politically-motivated ethnic clashes, which along with a police crackdown on protests left more than 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced. Voting in Kenya largely takes place along communal lines, and both Kenyatta and Odinga are heading formidable alliances of different ethnic blocs with closely matched numbers, meaning turnout will be crucial to either side's success.
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| These Are The Highest Calorie Meals At Your Favorite Chain Restaurants Posted: 01 Aug 2017 03:22 PM PDT  1 Buffalo Wild Wings burger = 5 double bacon cheeseburgers from Burger King ��
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| Senate Republicans Are Slowly Turning Their Backs on Trump Posted: 02 Aug 2017 01:57 AM PDT  "We work for the American people," one senator said Tuesday. "We don't work for the president"
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| Sorry world, but this enormous cat named Mr. Handsome is off the market Posted: 02 Aug 2017 12:36 PM PDT  When the shelter housing an internet-famous, 31-pound stray cat held a lottery to find his new owner, one entrant won big time. The adorable Mr. Handsome of the Chatham Country Animal Shelter in Pittsboro, North Carolina, finally headed to a forever home last week. This happy ending follows a viral Facebook post and a subsequent raffle. Mr. Handsome went home with winner Angela Frazee on Friday, who'll work to get the cat's weight back on track. "He is such a sweet cat," she told local news station WNCN. "He needs to lose some weight and get active, and then he'll be happy." SEE ALSO: Be mesmerized by this perfect pet owner making homemade sushi for his adorable cats Helping cats like Mr. Handsome lose weight isn't new for Frazee. Her cat Spock was adopted at 21 pounds and now weighs 11.5 pounds. "He looks so just sad," Fazee said of Mr. Handsome in the interview. "I want to help him get healthy. He deserves to be healthy." Oh, and one last thing about Mr. Handsome: Frazee plans to give him a completely new name. She said that she'd like to create a Facebook page so we that his keep up to date with him, new name and all. We happen to think 'Mr. Handsome' is a very fine name. WATCH: These ingenious inventions will make summer so much better
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| Pentagon: 2 US service members killed in Afghanistan blast Posted: 02 Aug 2017 03:20 PM PDT  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bombing attack on a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday left two American service members dead, a Pentagon spokesman said, despite repeated refusals by the U.S. military in Afghanistan to say whether there were any deaths in the assault claimed by the Taliban.
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| Remains of 24-Year-Old Dad Missing for 9 Months Found in Coast Guard Boat Posted: 01 Aug 2017 05:07 PM PDT  The body of Matthew Amsler was found in a boat nine months after he disappeared.
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| Hyperloop pod travels 192mph in maiden journey Posted: 02 Aug 2017 07:52 AM PDT  The ultra-fast Hyperloop is one step closer to becoming a reality after its pod travelled 192 miles per hour in its maiden journey. Hyperloop One said its prototype for the high-speed transport system, which could travel from London to Edinburgh in 50 minutes, reached the speed on a 500-metre-long test track in the Nevada desert. The test marks the first time Hyperloop One has propelled one of its carriages along the tube, as well as the fastest journey for the technology. The company completed its first trial in May, which involved a smaller trolley reaching a top speed of 70 miles per hour. Hyperloop test It is a significant step in the development of the Hyperloop, a transport system first conceived by Elon Musk in 2015 that involves levitating pods travelling through a vacuum at 750 miles per hour. "This is the beginning, and the dawn of a new era of transportation," said Shervin Pishevar, co-founder of Hyperloop One. "We've reached historic speeds of 192 miles per hour and we're excited to finally show the world the XP-1 going into the Hyperloop One tube." The Hyperloop One prototype pod travelled 192 miles per hour in the test Credit: Hyperloop One Prototypes for the futuristic mode of transport are being developed by a host of rival companies and research institutions. Hyperloop One is the first to test a working model of its magnetic levitating pods. Hyperloop One said the first generation of its levitating pod, which was unveiled last month, accelerated for 300 metres, reaching 192 miles per hour before coming to a halt. The XP-1 pod is 8.7 metres long, 2.4 metres wide and 2.7 metres tall. FAQ | Hyperloop Although Hyperloop One more than doubled its previous record with the run, it fell short of the 250 miles per hour target it had set. The trip brings the Hyperloop close to the 200 miles per hour of Japan's bullet train, but is still 50 miles per hour slower than the planned HS2. "We're excited about the prospects and the reception we've received from governments around the world to help solve their mass transportation and infrastructure challenges," said Rob Lloyd, chief executive of Hyperloop One. Proposed UK routes for the Hyperloop Credit: Hyperloop One He added the company plans to discuss the technology with partners, customers and governments following the success of the trial. It is now looking to commercialise the transport system, which is still being developed. Hyperloop One said earlier this year that it will be some time before it becomes a reality because of the complexity of the technology. Before it can accelerate to 750 miles per hour it will need to extend the 500 metre test track, built this year, as well as fine-tune the system. The next phase of tests will focus on solving practical problems such as creating an air lock, rather than increasing speed, it said. The California-based transport innovation firm has proposed nine Hyperloop routes in Europe, including three in the UK: London to Edinburgh, Cardiff to Glasgow, and Glasgow to Liverpool. The crazy future of transport - in pictures
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| Kobach tries to avoid answering questions under oath Posted: 01 Aug 2017 02:25 PM PDT  Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is seeking to avoid answering questions under oath about two documents containing plans for changes to U.S. election law.
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| Arkansas Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Neighbors' Donkeys Posted: 02 Aug 2017 01:28 PM PDT  An Arkansas man is behind bars after allegedly trespassing onto his neighbors' property in order to sexually assault the couple's donkeys.
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| Qatar announces 5 bn euro order for warships from Italy Posted: 02 Aug 2017 10:33 AM PDT  Qatar announced on Wednesday a five-billion-euro order for seven warships from Italy in the midst of a nearly two-month diplomatic crisis with neighbouring Saudi Arabia and its allies. "We have signed a contract on behalf of the Qatari navy to acquire seven warships from Italy for five billion euros ($5.9 billion)," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at a Doha press conference with his visiting Italian counterpart Angelino Alfano. It follows the signing of a preliminary contract in June 2016 for the deal between the Italian group Fincantieri and Qatar for four corvettes, an amphibious vessel and two patrol boats.
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| 3 Trump Appointees Owe Thousands of Dollars in Back Taxes Posted: 02 Aug 2017 02:00 AM PDT  At least three of President Donald Trump's political appointees owe the Internal Revenue Service tens of thousands of dollars.
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| Alert: You Can Get Free Starbucks This Week Posted: 02 Aug 2017 09:26 AM PDT  There's no better excuse for a late afternoon coffee break.
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| All eyes on Venezuela military after protests, vote Posted: 01 Aug 2017 04:15 PM PDT  By Girish Gupta and Anggy Polanco CARACAS/SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan soldiers are increasingly weary of the popular backlash against their role in quelling anti-government protests and all eyes are on the military to see if it will remain loyal to President Nicolas Maduro. Nearly five months of demonstrations failed to stop Maduro carrying out a weekend vote for a Constitutional Assembly that opponents say will cement his dictatorship in the OPEC nation. The opposition is now looking towards the military to see if it will turn against the government and pressure Maduro to enact its demands, which include presidential elections.
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