| The Latest: Gantz's party concedes defeat in Israel election Posted: 10 Apr 2019 10:12 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — The Latest on the outcome of Israeli elections (all times local):
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| Ocasio-Cortez condemns college Republicans' email calling her a domestic terrorist Posted: 10 Apr 2019 06:15 PM PDT  New York congresswoman says 'uncalled for' rhetoric puts her and colleagues in dangerAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez said comments like those in the email routinely led to a 'spike in death threats'. Photograph: Carlos Barría/ReutersA fundraising email sent by a college Republican group branding the US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a "domestic terrorist" drew a sharp rebuke from the congresswoman, who warned that similar rhetorical attacks had in the past resulted in a spike in death threats against her.An email sent on Tuesday by Tom Ferrall, chairman of the Ohio Federation of College Republicans, bore the subject line "AOC is a domestic terrorist" and asked recipients to donate to his group. Dave Levinthal, an editor at the Center for Public Integrity, on Wednesday afternoon shared a screenshot of the email on Twitter."My fellow students often tell me that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 'role model' and that America should be more like socialist Europe," the email, which appeared not to use the word "terrorist" elsewhere, read in part. It told recipients: "We need your help to stop the brainwashing!"The email fit the template for fundraising emails by similar groups."This puts me in danger every time," tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old freshman congresswoman whose outspoken progressive views, youth, nimble social media presence and all-around star power yet perhaps do not explain the extent to which she has become a bugbear for the right."Almost every time this uncalled for rhetoric gets blasted by conserv. grps," she tweeted, "we get a spike in death threats to refer to Capitol Police."> This puts me in danger every time. > > Almost every time this uncalled for rhetoric gets blasted by conserv. grps, we get a spike in death threats to refer to Capitol Police. > > Multiple ppl have been arrested trying to harm me, Ilhan, & others.@GOP, what's it going to take to stop? https://t.co/vpous77RbT> > — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 10, 2019After Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about it, the Ohio Federation of College Republicans distanced itself from the email, calling it "unauthorized" without explaining what that meant. "We apologize to Congresswoman Ocascio-Cortez [sic] for the use of unacceptable language in this email, and we do not approve of the message conveyed," the group said.Ferrall, whose name was on the email's signature line, told the Guardian in an email that his group would have no comment beyond the statement. Capitol Police told the Guardian in a statement it could not discuss how it carries out is protective responsibilities for Congress.Ocasio-Cortez's congressional district in Queens, New York, is 400 miles from the Ohio border. The bellwether state voted for Donald Trump by eight points over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
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| Photos of the Dodge Challenger and Charger Stars and Stripes Editions Posted: 11 Apr 2019 09:07 AM PDT |
| South Korea court strikes down abortion law in landmark ruling Posted: 11 Apr 2019 02:48 AM PDT  "The law criminalizing a woman who undergoes abortion of her own will goes beyond the minimum needed to achieve the legislative purpose and limits the right of self-determination of the woman," it said in its ruling. "I believe this ruling frees women from shackles," said Kim Su-jung, a lawyer representing the plaintiff, a doctor charged with conducting 69 illegal abortions. The ruling reflects a trend towards decriminalizing abortion, as cases of criminal punishment have fallen in recent years.
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| Former Vikings minority owner Irwin Jacobs, wife found dead in murder-suicide Posted: 11 Apr 2019 08:02 AM PDT  Former Minnesota Vikings part-owner Irwin Jacobs and his wife Alexandra werefound dead on Wednesday in what police called an apparent murder-suicide,according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune
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| American Airlines flight returns to JFK Airport after clipping wing Posted: 11 Apr 2019 02:15 PM PDT  The FAA says American Airlines flight 300 that was bound from New York to Los Angeles landed safely back at JFK at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday.
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| Trump Labels Mueller Probe an ‘Attempted Coup’ Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:49 AM PDT  President Trump on Wednesday continued his public campaign to impugn the credibility of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings, which are expected to be released in redacted form in the coming days."It was an illegal investigation. It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked," Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing to Texas. "This was an attempted coup. This was an attempted takedown of a president, and we beat them."Trump's comments came just one day after Attorney General William Barr told a House panel that he would release a redacted version of Mueller's 300-page report to Congress within the week and subsequently make a more heavily redacted version public.Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee questioned Barr on Tuesday about the summary of Mueller's report that he made public last month. In the four-page summary, Barr wrote that Mueller did not find evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials to disrupt the 2016 election. The summary further explained that Mueller did not make a determination as to whether Trump obstructed justice in firing FBI director James Comey, but that after reviewing the report, Barr had determined there wasn't sufficient evidence to bring obstruction of justice charges.Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Barr has formed a team within the Department of Justice to investigate whether the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign was tainted by partisan bias, as congressional Republicans have long argued.That probe comes atop an existing DOJ inspector general's investigation into possible FISA court abuses by FBI officials who used the Steele dossier to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page. Barr told lawmakers Tuesday that the IG's investigation should conclude as early as May or June.
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| The Latest: Gillibrand: I've gotten 2020 advice from Clinton Posted: 09 Apr 2019 07:57 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand (all times local):
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| Bernie Sanders's Bold Health Plan Puts Democrats in a Bind Posted: 10 Apr 2019 11:52 AM PDT  Sanders, an early front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, had initially called for phasing out America's employer-based insurance system in favor of universal government coverage that's free for patients (that is, outside of the higher taxes they'd pay to finance it).
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| European Union delays Brexit until Oct. 31, saving Britain from messy EU exit this week Posted: 11 Apr 2019 03:32 AM PDT  The extension to Oct. 31 is intended to give British Prime Minister Theresa May more time to get her Brexit deal through Parliament.
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| Buttigieg suggests Pence offered him empty praise when he came out Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:12 AM PDT  "People will often be polite to you in person, while advancing policies that harm you and your family," the South Bend, Ind., mayor tweeted.
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| Woman on 'most wanted list' who taunted police on Facebook arrested after accidentally revealing location Posted: 11 Apr 2019 07:41 AM PDT  Police arrested a woman after she revealed her location on Facebook while seemingly taunting authorities online. Chloe Jones was arrested in Virginia and extradited to Pennsylvania after she posted a comment on a post featuring a âmost wantedâ list with her name on it. The list, posted by the Greene County Sheriffâs Office, said she had failed to make court appearances last month over assault charges. âDo you do pick up or delivery??â she wrote on the departmentâs Facebook post, adding several laughing emojis. Ms Jones began responding to comments from other users, at one point revealing that she was allegedly at the Ruby Memorial Hospital. That discovery led officers to reportedly arresting Ms Jones before transporting the woman back to Greene County. The sheriffâs office was then sure to get the last laugh on social media. The Greene County Sheriffâs Office confirmed her arrest in an updated post, writing, âMs. Chloe Jones and her witty comments are taking a hiatus from our Facebook comments section due to the jail not having internet for her to use.ââThank you to the citizens of Greene County, Monongalia County and many others for your tips that lead to her arrest,â the post read. It remains unclear whether officers located Ms Jones at the Ruby Memorial Hospital.The Greene County Sheriffâs Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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| Amazon, Microsoft chosen to compete for Pentagon cloud computing contract Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:20 PM PDT  Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp have been selected to continue competing for Pentagon cloud computing services as part of a contract that could be worth some $10 billion, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Wednesday. The contract is part of a broad modernization of Pentagon information technology systems.
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| American Airlines flight attendant 'mortified' after spilling drinks on the airline's CEO Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:51 AM PDT ![American Airlines flight attendant 'mortified' after spilling drinks on the airline's CEO]( "American Airlines flight attendant 'mortified' after spilling drinks on the airline's CEO") An American Airlines flight attendant accidentally spilled drinks on a passenger − and that passenger turned out to be American CEO Doug Parker.
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| Donald Trump's preference for 'acting' senior officials alarms experts and allies Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:26 PM PDT  * 15 leadership posts unfilled, including defense and interior * Congress bypassed but 'It gives me more flexibility' – TrumpDonald Trump speaks in Calexico, California, while the then homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, watches flanked by her acting successor, Kevin McAleenan. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/ReutersDonald Trump has surrounded himself with an increasing number of temporary officials in his cabinet, raising fresh concerns over the president's influence across US departments and agencies amid an absence of leadership.The resignation of the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, on Sunday marked the latest departure of a top-level officeholder amid an unprecedented number of vacancies in the upper echelons of Trump's administration.And as 15 notable leadership posts remain unfilled, the president is showing no signs of backing away from his self-confessed preference for appointing officials in an "acting" capacity.Sign up for the US morning briefingExperts said the lack of permanent appointments, especially among cabinet officials, leaves key government functions without a clear mandate and more vulnerable to outsize influence from Trump."The impact of this lack of policy influence means, in practical terms, that policy decisions are devoid of a critical ingredient – whether career officials believe that an issue can be implemented in a particular manner," said Joel Rubin, who served in Barack Obama's administration as a deputy assistant secretary of state and is now the president of Washington Strategy Group."The result is that the policy leaders' decisions on that issue are doomed to fail for lack of thorough vetting."Nielsen's abrupt exit came amid a reported purge of the Department of Homeland Security, a focal point of Trump's ire stemming from his frustration over immigration policy.Trump subsequently named Kevin McAleenan as the acting head of the department, adding to a growing list of officials indefinitely placed in leadership roles without the approval of Congress.Months have often passed without a replacement for cabinet officials at some of the most powerful departments and agencies.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has faced widespread scrutiny amid safety concerns with the Boeing 737 Max 8, was led by an acting administrator for over a year. Trump nominated a new FAA administrator last month following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jetliner and subsequent worldwide grounding of all Boeing 737 Max planes.Last week, Trump withdrew his nomination of Ron Vitiello as the new head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It was confirmed on Wednesday that Vitiello, who has served as the agency's acting director since June of 2018, is expected to leave his post by the end of the week as part of the reshuffling within the DHS.Trump has yet to nominate a new defense secretary, despite the fact that James Mattis, who occupied the post for the first two years of the administration, resigned in December. An acting director has been at the helm of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which is tasked with emergency and disaster response, for nearly two months.The list of acting officials goes on, spanning the UN ambassador, interior secretary, budget director and commissioner of Custom and Border Protection. Even Trump's chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, was named to the post on a temporary basis.Trump has acknowledged he is in no rush to nominate permanent officials to his cabinet, stating in a February interview: "It's easier to make moves when they're acting."I sort of like 'acting'. It gives me more flexibility," Trump said."Do you understand that? I like 'acting'. So we have a few that are 'acting'. We have a great, great cabinet."Donald Trump is flanked by the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, left, and Mick Mulvaney, his acting chief of staff, in Mar-a-Lago. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/APThe approach is not unlike how the president ran his eponymous Trump Organization, viewing himself as the sole individual in charge and constantly fixated on the notion of fealty from those working under him.But Christopher Lu, the White House cabinet secretary under Obama, said the president was misguided in his belief that "acting" officials work to his benefit."He thinks it gives him more sway, because they will bend to his will to try to curry favor," Lu said. "The truth is he's undermining his own ability to enact changes by not putting confirmed officials in these positions."If you want to change the policy direction of an agency," he added, "you really need political leadership in there."All cabinet-level positions, with the exception of the White House chief of staff, require Senate confirmation.Trump's "acting" officials have thus bypassed the scrutiny and vetting that is required of the US Congress, prompting frustration even among members of his own party."It's a lot. It's way too many," James Lankford, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, said earlier this year."You want to have confirmed individuals there, because they have a lot more authority to be able to make decisions and implement policy when you have a confirmed person in that spot."The vacancies are not limited to cabinet posts.An analysis by the Partnership for Public Service and the Washington Post found that, as of February, the White House had not made nominations for 150 out of 705 Senate-confirmed positions.The end result was "decentralized policymaking", said Matt Glassman, a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University.The key players in Washington were meanwhile less likely to take seriously those in temporary positions of power, he added, given the uncertainty over their future."An acting official in some ways is like a substitute teacher," Glassman said. "And substitute teachers have a tough time controlling the classroom."
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| A timeline of key events in rule of Sudan's al-Bashir Posted: 11 Apr 2019 06:23 AM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — After 30 years in power, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was arrested and deposed by the military on Thursday, following nearly four months of protests against his rule. The army has also taken over the country for the next two years and imposed a three-month state of emergency, plunging the nation into new uncertainty.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Audi S6 Posted: 11 Apr 2019 07:45 AM PDT |
| Woman crashes car after seeing a spider, New York police say Posted: 10 Apr 2019 10:43 PM PDT ![Woman crashes car after seeing a spider, New York police say]( "Woman crashes car after seeing a spider, New York police say") Cairo, New York Police say a woman suffered an injury in the crash. Police believe the incident occurred after she saw a spider in the drivers' area.
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| Indian election authorities stop release of Modi's fawning Bollywood biopic as polls open Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:25 AM PDT  India's Election Commission has prohibited the release of a Bollywood biopic on Narendra Modi, the prime minister, a day before its scheduled release, claiming it would tip the balance of the general elections in his favour. The Commission, which oversees India's parliamentary and provincial elections, on Wednesday ruled that releasing PM Narendra Modi would give an "unfair advantage" to Mr Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is seeking re-election for a second five-year term. The order came in response to objections by the opposition Congress Party and stated that all "biopic material with the potential to create an uneven playing field during elections" should not be aired until the end of voting. The Commission was also considering imposing a ban on the 10-day old, 24-hour NaMo news channel named after the prime minister, stating that it violated the code of conduct for political parties at election time. The first of seven rounds of voting in 91 of 543 parliamentary constituencies across the country will take place on Thursday amidst tight security. Billboards in Mumbai have been put up for the web series "Modi: Journey of a Common Man" Credit: REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas The remaining six rounds of polling will conclude on 19 May and election results will be announced four days later, on 23 May. Meanwhile, a series of opinion polls predict that Mr Modi's BJP-led alliance will return to power by winning 272 seats, one more than the halfway mark needed to form the government. This, however, indicates a sharp drop from the commanding majority of 336 seats that Modi's National Democratic Alliance won in the 2014 elections when he promised to turn India into an economic powerhouse and create a million jobs every month. In the meantime, voters in Hailakandi district in India's north-eastern Assam state are being offered generous concessions on a range of products such as jewellery, food and medicines - provided they vote. To obtain the 10-15 per cent concession at all jewellery shops, restaurants and pharmacies in the district, all they will have to do is to show the indelible ink mark on their index finger that proves they have cast their ballot.
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| Ex-White House Lawyer Greg Craig Expects Indictment, Lawyers Say Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:38 PM PDT  "This case was thoroughly investigated" by the office of the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, William Taylor and William Murphy, Craig's lawyers, said in a joint statement. "That office decided not to pursue charges against Mr. Craig.
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| Need a new Wi-Fi router for your apartment? This one’s only $19.99 Posted: 10 Apr 2019 10:10 AM PDT  If you live in a massive house, investing a few hundred dollars in a high-end home Wi-Fi system is a must. But if you live in an apartment, mesh systems are definitely a waste of money. You can enjoy great coverage and fast Wi-Fi speeds at the fraction of the cost of a mesh solution. In fact, the TP-Link TL-WR841N Wireless Router is on sale right now on Amazon for only $19.99!Here's more info from the product page: * Wireless N speed up to 300Mbps ideal applications for video streaming, online gaming VoIP, web browsing and multi-tasking * Two 5dBi antennas greatly increase the wireless robustness and stability. Easy Setup Assistant provides quick & hassle free installation * System requirements is internet explorer 11, firefox 12.0, chrome 20.0, safari 4.0 or other, java enabled browser or cable or dsl modem. Signal rate for 11n up to 300 mbps dynamic, 11g up to 54 mbps dynamic and 11b up to 1 mbps dynamic * Features parental control function managing the internet access of children or employee's computer * IP based bandwidth control allows administrators to determine how much bandwidth is allotted to each PC and internet devices * Fast ethernet ports(10/100 Mbps) allow you to directly connect your wired devices * Backward compatible with 802.11b/g products. TP-LINK Live 24/7 Technical Support * This product is ONLY a router.
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| Company veterans promoted to set a course for the future of Ford Posted: 10 Apr 2019 08:15 AM PDT  Joe Hinrichs and Jim Farley will lead the automotive and strategic units.
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| Large dog in plane’s cockpit likely caused fatal crash, NTSB says Posted: 11 Apr 2019 08:49 AM PDT  The NTSB concluded that the cause of a June 2017 accident at Monticello Regional Airport in Iowa was the result of the pilot having a large dog as a passenger in the cockpit.
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| Odd dynamics of the post-Trump job market awaiting Nielsen Posted: 10 Apr 2019 04:22 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — As she heads out the door, departing Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will confront the odd dynamics of the post-Trump job market.
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| Sudan army ousts Bashir, protestors vow further demos Posted: 11 Apr 2019 02:43 PM PDT  Sudan's army ousted veteran president Omar al-Bashir Thursday, but protestors against his iron-fisted rule denounced a "coup" and thousands rallied outside army headquarters as a night-time curfew kicked in. In a sombre televised address, Defence Minister Awad Ibnouf announced "the toppling of the regime" and said Bashir had been detained in "a secure place", bringing an end to his three decades in power. Thousands of protestors were staging a sit-in for the sixth night running outside Khartoum army headquarters as the military council's curfew began at 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) despite growing international pressure to hand over to civilian rule.
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| Explainer: Did he or didn't he? What might an obstruction case against Trump look like? Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:01 AM PDT  According to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Mueller's nearly 400-page report on his findings presents evidence on both sides of the question, and while it "does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." But Barr, two days after Mueller submitted the confidential report on March 22, told U.S. lawmakers in a four-page letter that he as attorney general concluded that the evidence amassed by the special counsel "is not sufficient" to establish that Trump committed criminal obstruction of justice. Federal law defines obstruction of justice as actions that "corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice." The public may soon get a chance to make its own conclusions.
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| Mark Riddell, the test-taker whiz in cheating case, expected to plead guilty in court Friday Posted: 11 Apr 2019 01:20 PM PDT  Mark Riddell, the man accused of taking tests for students in an elaborate college admissions scheme, is scheduled to appear Friday in federal court.
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| Twitter CEO reveals secret to running two companies: daily meditation and eating just one meal a day Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:04 AM PDT  Twitter's chief executive Jack Dorsey has revealed he takes daily ice baths and eats only one meal a day in an in-depth interview about his extreme fitness routine. Appearing on a fitness podcast, the billionaire said the "biggest impact" on his mental health has been meditation but said he also does weekend-long fasts to give him the focus and energy to run two companies. The 42-year-old has been meditating for 20 years and spends an hour each morning and evening on the spiritual practice, he told the Ben Greenfield fitness podcast. He has came under fire last year for attending a 10-day meditation retreat in Burma with Twitter users accusing him of ignoring the country's human rights abuses. He later said he needed to "learn more". Mr Dorsey, who co-founded the platform Twitter and mobile payments company Square, said his daily routine includes fasting for 22 hours a day and walking the five mile commute to his office. I did my meditation at Dhamma Mahimã in Pyin Oo Lwin. This is my room. Basic. During the 10 days: no devices, reading, writing, physical excercise, music, intoxicants, meat, talking, or even eye contact with others. It's free: everything is given to meditators by charity. pic.twitter.com/OhJqXKInD3— jack (@jack) December 9, 2018 The daily walk allows him to spend time thinking or listening to podcasts. "I might look a little bit more like I'm jogging than I'm walking... I try to get as much sunlight as possible and then I begin the day 9," he said. The tech chief said skipping breakfast and lunch frees up his day and makes him more productive. His dinner usually consists of meat or fish accompanied with a salad or green vegetables, followed by some fruit or dark chocolate. "During the day, I feel so much more focused... the time back from breakfast and lunch allowed me to focus more on what my day is," he said, adding that it allows him to sleep better. Mr Dorsey said he thought he was hallucinating when he first began fasting Credit: Reuters Mr Dorsey also said he uses a sauna and ice bath for "mental clarity" every evening. He sits in a barrel sauna set at 220F degrees (104C) for 15 minutes followed by three minutes in an ice bath set at 37F degrees (2C). Rather than easing up on himself on weekends, Mr Dorsey said he has trialled 48-hour fasts from Friday to Sunday evening during which he only drinks water. "The first time I did it, like day three, I felt like I was hallucinating. It was a weird state to be in. But as I did it the next two times, it just became so apparent to me how much of our days are centered around meals and how - the experience I had was when I was fasting for much longer, how time really slowed down," he said. Profile | Jack Dorsey Earlier this week it also emerged that Mr Dorsey was received a total salary of just $1.40 from Twitter last year, a nod to its former 140-character per tweet limit. "As a testament to his commitment to and belief in Twitter's long-term value creation potential, our CEO, Jack Dorsey, declined all compensation and benefits for 2015, 2016 and 2017, and in 2018 he declined all compensation and benefits other than a salary of $1.40," a section of the company's filing stated. However, Mr Dorsey owns 2.3 per cent of the company's stock. He also made an estimated $80 million (£61 million) after taxes from selling 1.7 million shares in his second company Square, according to Forbes.
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| & Other Stories launches a summer wedding capsule Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:56 AM PDT  Ready-to-wear brand & Other Stories, part of the H&M group, has announced the launch of a women's bridal capsule for the Summer wedding season. Designed to stand out at the most festive and sophisticated gatherings, the collection will be available from April 12 in stores and online at www.stories.com.
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| Trump Nominee Stephen Moore Says He’ll Challenge Fed’s ‘Growth Phobiacs’ Posted: 11 Apr 2019 06:07 AM PDT  "I'm going to come with the idea -- challenge one fundamental idea that I think is endemic at the Fed, which I think is completely wrong, which is that growth causes inflation. Growth does not cause inflation," he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Thursday.
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| India's Congress party chief files election nomination Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:37 AM PDT  AMETHI, India (AP) — Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India's most famous modern political dynasty, filed nomination papers in the family stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh state, hoping to hold onto a key seat for a fourth consecutive time in national elections that begin Thursday.
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| Death penalty sought in case against suspected 'Golden State Killer' Posted: 10 Apr 2019 11:15 PM PDT  Several district attorneys from all over California announced they will seek the death penalty if suspected Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo is convicted.
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| US hopes Sudan forces keep holding fire on protesters Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:26 PM PDT  Washington (AFP) - The United States voiced hope Wednesday after Sudanese security forces held fire on a mounting anti-government rally, with Washington renewing calls for Khartoum to allow peaceful protests.
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| Boeing faces shareholder lawsuit over 737-Max crashes Posted: 10 Apr 2019 06:20 AM PDT  Boeing is facing a shareholder lawsuit over accusations that it "put profitability and growth ahead of airplane safety and honesty."
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| Yahoo to pay $117.5M in latest settlement of massive breach Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:36 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly 200 million people who had sensitive information snatched from their Yahoo accounts will receive two years of free credit-monitoring services and other potential restitution in a legal settlement valued at $117.5 million.
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| Google wants to start making more money from Maps, and we all know what that means Posted: 10 Apr 2019 04:05 PM PDT  Google is reportedly about to bring a version of the same playbook that turned its best-in-class search engine into an unstoppable money machine over to Google Maps, its service that more than 1 billion people rely on for directions and other related information. What that means for users, according to a new Bloomberg report, is that we may start to see more things like sponsored listings from businesses that have paid to be atop Google Maps results when you search for a variety of information, like nearby businesses.Hopefully, Google's reported interest in leaning on Maps as it hunts for new sources of revenue won't mean the company goes overboard -- like the way you have to scroll down past a slew of ads and highlighted results after conducting a Google Search, for example. As a heavy Google Maps user, though, I'm wary, especially given that relevancy may be even more important when looking for information within Maps than in Search.Brian Nowak, a Morgan Stanley analyst, said during a recent conference while interviewing Google business executive Philipp Schindler that Google Maps may be "the most under-monetized asset that I cover.""It's almost like a utility where it's kind of waiting for you to flip the switch on," Nowak said, as recounted by Bloomberg. As he explains it, there are actually several different ways Google could flip that revenue switch within Maps. I'm a Maps user who actually uses it as a Yelp-like service, firing it up to search things like restaurant reviews, which of course will display reviews from Google users along with detailed information like the business' location, hours of operation and more. Google, of course, could start promoting restaurants that would be highlighted when I do a search like that within Maps.Among other revenue opportunities, there are times when you're conducting a search within Maps for things that are nearby you. Say, you're low on gas and looking for the closest gas station. Google also could start automatically generating personalized recommendations for you, even before you ask. Those are all areas where Nowak thinks Google could easily start tapping Maps for money, while noting that the main thing people use it for (finding directions) is a "utility" that shouldn't be messed with -- which should most definitely go without saying.An objective assessment of all this is that it shouldn't come as a surprise. Bit by bit, Google has turned Maps into a kind of Swiss Army knife of a service, packing tons of features in recent months like even the ability to "follow" business listing that are starting to feel more like a "page" they'd have on a service like Facebook. Google has also already experimented with ads within Maps, and Google-owned navigation app Waze runs ads there. Google Maps director of product management Rajas Moonka told Bloomberg that because so much of what we do and search for in Maps is commercial and about businesses, ads can be a natural complement to that. You can see this in some specific areas of Maps, such as when the voice directions sometimes tell you to, say, "Turn right right at the Dunkin Donuts" instead of giving a street instead. According to Google, that's not an ad or the result of a paid exchange, but, again, it's another opportunity where Google could squeeze more revenue if it wanted.The Bloomberg report ends on a declarative note. Google Maps, it says, "is the next, big service" the company is turning to for revenue growth. Hopefully, Google will take it easy and won't do anything to disrupt the overall experience -- but, again, there's certainly reason to worry.
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| New York Is Trying to Release Trump's State Tax Returns. Here's Why That Might Not Work Posted: 10 Apr 2019 09:39 AM PDT  "It's just not as useful as I think people are hoping"
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| Dalai Lama hospitalized with chest infection, feeling better Posted: 09 Apr 2019 09:57 PM PDT  NEW DELHI (AP) — The Dalai Lama has been hospitalized in the Indian capital with a chest infection and is feeling better, his spokesman said Wednesday.
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| Amazon employees listen to customers through Echo products, report finds Posted: 11 Apr 2019 12:46 PM PDT  Employees listen to Echo recordings, transcribe and annotate them and feed them back to the software so that Alexa can better grasp human speech.
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| Sudanese woman who became symbol of revolution says women at heart of protest Posted: 10 Apr 2019 11:16 AM PDT  The Sudanese woman who became an emblem of the uprising against the rule of Omar Bashir has said women are likely to play the decisive role in the outcome of the country's protest movement. Alaa Saleh, a 22 year old architecture student, shot to fame when she was photographed standing on a car in a long white dress and addressing a vast crowd of demonstrators earlier this week. "Sudanese women have always participated in revolutions in this country. If you see Sudan's history, all our queens have led the state. It's part of our heritage," she said today. "I'm very proud to take part in this revolution and I hope our revolution will achieve its goal," Ms Saleh told the AFP. Meanwhile Lana Haroun, the woman who took the viral photograph, said she was "proud to be one of the people trying to make Sudanese history" and called on people to share as many images from the protests as possible. Women have played a prominent role in a sit-in protest in central Khartoum that entered its fifth day on Wednesday, with some estimates saying they make up more than half the crowd. Protesters have resisted several attempts to clear the demonstration site outside army headquarters Credit: AFP Tens of thousands of protesters, who are calling for Mr Bashir to resign and for a new transitional government to be formed, have defied several attempts by the country's security service and riot police to disperse them with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. The country's information minister said today that eleven people were killed during security incidents in the capital Khartoum on Tuesday, when soldiers inside the base exchanged fire with the National Intelligence and Security Service who tried to clear the crowd. He said the casualties included six members of "state forces", but did not specify whether they were from the Army or NIISA. Sudan uprising, in pictures No new clashes were reported on Wednesday, but Sudanese soldiers increased their presence at the demonstration site outside the base, apparently in response to a leaked video that showed the leader of a pro-government militia suggesting dispersing the demonstration by force. Witnesses told The Telegraph that situation in Khartoum is "calm but nervous," with rumours about the government's next move. "Some people are worried the Army will switch and back the government," said a protester who asked not to be named. Pro-government officials called for a "million person" counter demonstration in another part of the city on Thursday.
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