| China and India seen as Europe's last hope to save Iran deal Posted: 09 May 2019 07:56 AM PDT ![China and India seen as Europe's last hope to save Iran deal]( "China and India seen as Europe's last hope to save Iran deal") BRUSSELS/PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union will defend the Iran nuclear accord despite Tehran's decision to backtrack on its commitments in response to U.S. sanctions, diplomats believe, but European powers expect it to collapse without a deal to sell Iranian oil to China or India. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last year's U.S. withdrawal from the accord, protect trade and still prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb. A French diplomat talked of a "negative spiral" in which trade in food and medicines was simply not enough, while another European envoy spoke of Iran's "phased exit" from the deal.
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| 'He doesn't even know how many lives he saved': Should private guards be used more in schools? Posted: 10 May 2019 07:59 AM PDT  A security guard was credited with capturing one of the suspects in Colorado shooting. "It's not as simple as you think," a former officer says.
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| McConnell capitalizes on attack with 'Cocaine Mitch' shirts Posted: 09 May 2019 02:46 PM PDT  FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is capitalizing on a fellow Republican's attack by selling "Cocaine Mitch" shirts on his campaign's website.
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| Attorney General William Barr faces being held in contempt of Congress amid showdown with Trump Posted: 08 May 2019 08:37 PM PDT  A Democratic-led House panel on Wednesday approved a measure to hold US Attorney General William Barr in contempt for refusing to hand over an unredacted copy of the Mueller report on Russian election interference even as Donald Trump invoked the legal principle of executive privilege to block its disclosure. Throwing down another challenge to the US president, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to recommend that the full House cite Mr Barr, the top US law enforcement official and a Trump appointee, for contempt of Congress after he defied its subpoena for the complete report and underlying evidence. "We are now in a constitutional crisis," Jerrold Nadler, the committee's Democratic chairman, told reporters after the panel approved the contempt resolution on a party-line 24-16 vote, with Democrats in favour and Republicans opposed. The confrontation escalated a clash between the Democratic-controlled House and Republican president over congressional authority under the US Constitution to investigate him, his administration, family and business interests. The vote came hours after the White House took its own provocative step, asserting executive privilege to block the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full report on Russian actions to boost Mr Trump's candidacy in the 2016 US election and related evidence such as investigative interviews. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler speaks as the House Judiciary Committee meets to vote on holding Attorney General William Barr in contempt Credit: Reuters "It is deeply disappointing that elected representatives of the American people have chosen to engage in such inappropriate political theatrics," Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said, adding that no one would force the department "to break the law" by handing over documents that cannot be disclosed such as secret grand jury material. A House vote to hold Mr Barr in contempt was likely to trigger a court battle, with fines and possible imprisonment at stake for him. Mr Nadler said the full House vote would come "rapidly," without being more specific. Executive privilege is only rarely invoked by US presidents to keep other branches of government from getting access to certain internal executive branch information. Mr Trump had not previously taken such a step in his showdown with Congress. The White House said Democrats forced the move. "Faced with Chairman Nadler's blatant abuse of power, and at the attorney general's request, the president has no other option than to make a protective assertion of executive privilege," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. Mr Nadler said Mr Trump's stonewalling of Congress in various investigations was "an assertion of tyrannical power by the president and that cannot be allowed to stand," although the congressman tiptoed around the question of launching the impeachment process to try to remove Mr Trump from office. In a letter to Mr Nadler, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said Mr Barr could not comply with the subpoena "without violating the law, court rules, and court orders, and without threatening the independence of the Department of Justice's prosecutorial functions." Mr Trump, seeking re-election in 2020, is pushing back against numerous probes by House Democrats, ranging from Mueller's inquiry to matters such as Trump's tax returns and past financial records. On Wednesday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he had issued a subpoena to Mr Barr for documents related to the Mueller investigation after the Justice Department responded to the panel's requests "with silence or outright defiance." Mr Schiff said he had set a deadline of May 15 for Mr Barr to produce the materials. Contempt of Congress is an offence that can be enforced several ways, most likely by a civil lawsuit, which could lead to a judge ordering imposing daily fines on the defendant or even arrest and imprisonment, according to legal experts. The next step will be a floor vote by the full House. No action in the Republican-led Senate is needed. Mr Barr, who released a 448-page redacted version of the report on April 18, missed two deadlines to turn over the requested material after Mr Nadler subpoenaed it last month. Mr Nadler said lawmakers needed the material to determine whether Mr Trump obstructed justice by trying to impede Mr Mueller's inquiry. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, said Mr Trump's moves to thwart House subpoenas were obstructing oversight by lawmakers and inquiries into Russian election interference. "Every single day the president is making the case. He's becoming self-impeachable," Ms Pelosi told the Washington Post. Ms Pelosi added that Mr Barr, who last week also refused to testify before the House panel, should be held in contempt of Congress. She accused Barr last week of committing a crime by lying to lawmakers. Trump has filed lawsuits meant to block House subpoenas seeking some of his financial and business records, and his administration refused to disclose his subpoenaed tax returns. In a lengthy Judiciary Committee meeting, Republicans condemned the move to hold Mr Barr in contempt. "What a cynical, mean-spirited, counterproductive and irresponsible step," said Doug Collins, the panel's top Republican. Other Republicans accused Democrats of paving the way for impeachment. Democrats said the Trump administration waived executive privilege when it allowed some senior Trump advisers, including former White House counsel Don McGahn, to talk to Mueller's team during the investigation. The Justice Department said allowing such cooperation did not mean Mr Trump relinquished the right to assert executive privilege now. When the House was controlled by Republicans, it voted in 2012 to hold Eric Holder, attorney general under Democratic President Barack Obama, in contempt for failing to turn over subpoenaed Justice Department documents about a gun-running investigation. It was the first time Congress had held any Cabinet member in contempt. A 1974 Supreme Court ruling made clear the contours of the doctrine of executive privilege. In the case U.S. v. Nixon, President Richard Nixon was ordered to deliver tapes and other subpoenaed materials to a judge for review. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that a president's right to privacy in his communications must be balanced against the power of Congress to investigate and oversee the executive branch. Nixon resigned as president. Mr Mueller's report detailed extensive contacts between Trump's campaign and Moscow, as well as the campaign's expectation of benefiting from Russia's efforts to tilt the election in Trump's favour. But Mr Mueller concluded there was insufficient evidence to show a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the campaign. The report also described numerous actions by Mr Trump to try to impede Mueller's investigation, but Mr Mueller offered no conclusion on whether Mr Trump committed criminal obstruction.
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| Original iPod hits eBay at insane $20,000 list price Posted: 09 May 2019 04:06 PM PDT  When Apple unveiled the original iPod back in 2001, the reactions weren't universally positive. Indeed, some fan reactions on a MacRumors message board at the time have since taken on a life of their own.As an illustrative example, one outraged Apple fan wrote the following nearly 18 years ago: "I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently! Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!"Of course, the iPod would go onto become monumentally successful for Apple. In addition to padding Apple's bank account with billions of dollars, the iPod helped upend the music industry and, years later, would serve as the springboard for the iPhone. The iPhone may be a more revolutionary and impactful device, but it simply wouldn't exist had the iPod not paved the way years ahead of time.While some iconic products can still be found for cheap -- with Apple's original Bondi Blue iMac being one such example -- others are wildly expensive. The original iPod falls into the latter category.Hopping on over to eBay, someone is selling a completely unused and factory sealed original iPod for $19,995. And in a testament to how ancient the device is, the iPod in question features a mechanical scroll wheel and a paltry 5GB of storage. To be fair, though, 5GB of storage back then was more than enough for a world where the only media content people cared about was music.Is forking over $20,000 for an original iPod completely unnecessary, if not downright insane? Of course. Then again, never underestimate the power of nostalgia.
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| US ends support for Japan crashed fighter jet search Posted: 09 May 2019 03:02 AM PDT  The US Navy has ended operations assisting Japan's search for a stealth fighter jet that crashed in the Pacific, after some of its debris was recovered. "A US Navy salvage team aboard a contracted vessel completed its mission supporting search and recovery operations with the Japan Self-Defense Forces," the US 7th Fleet said in a statement on Wednesday. Japan will continue searching for the remains of the plane, a defence spokesman said.
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| Shocker! The GoFundMe Campaign to Build the Wall Is a Bust Posted: 10 May 2019 02:09 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettyThis story originally appeared in Right Richter, a newsletter by Will Sommer. Subscribe now to see what's happening in right-wing media from the safety of your inbox.Back in December, Washington state Trump supporter Joshua Greene donated a small amount of money to the crowdfunding effort to build a wall along the southern U.S. border. He wasn't alone. The GoFundMe page to build the wall, to which he'd donated, was a sensation on the right in late 2018 and raised more than $20 million. Organized by triple-amputee veteran Brian Kolfage, the campaign eventually morphed into a nonprofit called We Build the Wall, which promised to build portions of the wall on private land using the money it raised. Months later, there's no evidence that any construction has started, despite claims from Kolfage and his allies that construction would start in April. And now Greene is wondering what ever happened to that wall he was promised his dollars would fund? "The lack of updates is very concerning," Greene wrote in an email to Right Richter. He's not the only GoFundMe donor curious about what happened to the wall money. Since We Build the Wall blew their April deadline, Twitter replies to Kolfage and the group's Facebook page have filled up with angry donors. Greene started tweeting his displeasure, too. We Build the Wall has frequently presented itself as poised to start building portions of the wall on private land. In February, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach—who is a member of We Build the Wall's board of directors—claimed that the group was "getting ready to break ground, probably in April." Kolfage himself went further, saying in a radio interview in March that "we're going to start breaking ground next month." The group had even promised to invite donors to a groundbreaking ceremony.More than a week into May, though, We Build the Wall hasn't shown any proof that any ground has been broken, and donors say they weren't invited to any promised groundbreaking ceremony. Donors to the group have begun taking out their frustrations on the organization's Facebook page, which often hypes the threat of immigrants crossing the border illegally. "Show me video of wall being built and I'll pony up my next donation," reads one angry Facebook comment. "Where is the rest of the money going?" reads another. Making donors more nervous is that Kolfage has a history of participating in questionable endeavors. He was a prolific operator of hoax pages on Facebook, and money he raised in the past to help veterans' programs in hospitals never actually went to those hospitals. Complicating the effort further is that it's not that easy to find private land right on the border where a wall can be built. Kolfage and We Build the Wall's board of directors have spent plenty of time in Arizona, ostensibly scouting private land to build the wall. But The Phoenix New Times reported in March that the "vast majority" of land on the border in the state is owned by the federal government. Meanwhile, many of the people who actually own land on the border told the New Times that they hadn't been contacted by We Build the Wall. We Build the Wall didn't respond to requests for comment. In a Facebook comment this week, the group claimed, once again, that it was very close to building the wall. Conveniently, though, We Build the Wall claimed the information about the private wall's location had to be "secure" in order to confound liberal foes. Want this in your inbox? Subscribe to Right Richter here. "VERY soon we can release the details but have to keep that information secure for the time being as to prevent giving our detractors a heads up to derail our progress," the statement reads. "Soon, everyone will have the update they've been waiting for which we can't wait to share. This updated delay is just the unfortunate process of building a controversial barrier some people don't want to happen."Kolfage has made similar statements in the past, claiming in a March radio interview that he can't say where the wall will be built because Trump critics like the American Civil Liberties Union would try to stop it. "I wish I could name where it's at, but we can't name it because of the ACLU, these other liberal groups that want to sue us and impede our progress," Kolfage said. "But it's actually happening." As for Greene, he's fed up with the lack of information about the campaign he financially supported."I knew Brian had some previous shady GoFundMe campaigns," Greene emailed. "I felt more confident when he brought on other big names to work with him, I haven't seen a tweet from ANY of them."Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Priyanka Chopra champions skincare inclusivity with Obagi Posted: 09 May 2019 12:51 AM PDT  Actress Priyanka Chopra has landed a new role -- as the ambassador of the skincare brand Obagi. The star has joined forces with the brand to help publicize its new 'Skinclusion' initiative, which aims to open up the discussion about the need for inclusion and diversity when it comes to skincare, highlighting awareness of "unconscious biases" and celebrate the beauty in individuality. The initiative will see Obagi supporting groups working to expand diversity and inclusion efforts around the world, including the non-profit International Cultural Diversity Organization (ICDO) and Project Implicit.
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| U.S. B-52 bombers reach Middle East in message to Iran Posted: 10 May 2019 02:33 AM PDT  American B-52 Stratofortress bombers sent to the Middle East over what Washington describes as threats from Iran have arrived at a U.S. base in Qatar, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The U.S. military said on Tuesday that a number of B-52 bombers would be part of additional forces being sent to the Middle East to counter what the Trump administration says are "clear indications" of threats from Iran to U.S. forces there.
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| Joe Biden says US has 'obligation' to provide health care to all migrants Posted: 10 May 2019 08:57 AM PDT  Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center, claims Biden is making a political gesture, noting health care is not the same as health insurance.
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| 'We Are People, Not a Statement.' Students Walk Out of Vigil for Colorado School Shooting Victims Posted: 09 May 2019 05:35 AM PDT  Students called for an end to politicized grief
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| Comey reflects on Clinton investigation: 'I think I'd likely do it the same way' Posted: 10 May 2019 11:04 AM PDT  Comey said that he wouldn't have changed the way he handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's usage of a private email server
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| Prince Harry says fatherhood has given him 'new focus and goal in life' as he speaks of loss of his mother Posted: 09 May 2019 01:44 PM PDT  The Duke of Sussex has spoken of how his three-day-old son Archie has "given him a new focus and goal", teaching him the "miracle" of new life after the challenges he faced following the loss of his mother. The Duke, who was in The Hague for the launch of the one year countdown to the Invictus Games, told of his pleasure in knowing his baby had made "a lot of people happy", saying he was still "very quiet" at just a few days old. Having left Archie at home in Windsor with the Duchess to return for one day of work, he spoke of the joy his baby son has brought but advised a fellow father-to-be to learn his lessons and not plan too much after the baby's arrival. During a bike ride around the Zuiderpark, the Duke had a candid conversation with former soldier Dennis van der Stroom, 31, about mental health and parenting, speaking poignantly of the loss of Diana, Princess of Wales. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Monday morning, with the Duke appearing to abandon the idea of paternity leave with one engagement today another already announced for Tuesday. Prince Harry is presented with an Invictus Games baby grow by Princess Margriet of The Netherlands during the launch of the Invictus Games Credit: Patrick van Katwijk "Above all, he said he was just amazed by the miracles in the world, and how his child has made a lot of people happy," said Mr Van der Stroom. The Duke of Sussex (R) makes a bike ride with Dutch athlete Dennis Van Der Stroom (L) Credit: REX "He also told me he's really happy that his son is so far very quiet. "But he also told me not to make too many plans and that there's no way you can plan for when the baby arrives." The Invictus athlete, who served in the army from 2006 until 2011, described his conversation with the Duke as "amazing and emotional". "At a certain moment, we just got connected on this level," he said. "We talked about how my wife, Mireille, is 20 weeks pregnant with our first child, a girl, and he told me how special it was that his son has just been born. "Harry talked about how having a small child was his new focus and new goal and I told him how a couple of months ago, I was struggling with my mental health but my wife's pregnancy has given me a goal." Mr van der Stroom was a Corporal First Class and served on operations in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. The Duchess of Sussex gave birth on Monday Credit: Xinhua / Barcroft Images In 2014 his mother, Marion, died aged 58 from chronic lung disease, and in 2015 he was diagnosed with PTSD, triggering what he described as a "domino effect" of mental health issues. "I told Harry about my mother and we talked about our shared experience of missing a mum," he said. "He said missing a mother is like missing some kind of security, how you need that as a son and it falls away when you lose your mother." The Duke, who had pretended to prop his eyes open with tiredness as he arrived at a sports stadium in The Hague, will travel home with a new soft rattle toy, a stuffed bird, some newborn socks with "I love Daddy" written on them, and a special Invictus Games babygrow for Archie. His branded jacket was embroidered with the word "Daddy". Chatting to a friend in the arena, he discussed how fatherhood was the "best thing he will ever do". JJ Chalmers, a former Invictus star and broadcaster who has become a friend of the Prince, disclosed: "He said it's amazing but it's hard work. He said that [Archie] slept for the first 24 hours like all babies do...and then he woke up." Need a better way to start your day? For your essential rundown from The Telegraph, sign up to our free Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings on WhatsApp.
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| Global stock markets fall as trade tensions fester Posted: 09 May 2019 02:34 PM PDT  World stock markets fell again on Thursday as Washington and Beijing worked to avert the collapse of negotiations to end their trade war.
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| Pelosi Joins Nadler In Declaring ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Posted: 09 May 2019 08:07 AM PDT  House speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler Thursday in declaring that the Trump administration's refusal to comply with congressional oversight demands amounts to a "constitutional crisis.""Yes, I do agree with Chairman Nadler because the administration has decided that they're not going to honor their oath of office," Pelosi told reporters.Nadler declared a constitutional crisis Thursday in response to President Trump's assertion of executive privilege over the unredacted Mueller report and the underlying evidence used to produce it."There can be no higher stakes than this attempt to abrogate all power to the executive branch away from Congress and, more importantly, the American people," Nadler told reporters Wednesday. "We talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis — we're now in it. We are now in a constitutional crisis."Nadler's comments came after the Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt over his refusal to turn over the Mueller report and the underlying evidence. Democrats have not yet announced when the full House will vote on holding Barr in contempt, but Nadler said Wednesday that he would like to proceed toward that end "rapidly.""In terms of timing, when we're ready, we'll come to the floor," Pelosi said of the timing of a final vote."There might be some other contempt of Congress issues that we want to deal with at the same time," she added, likely referring to a possible contempt citation for former White House counsel Don McGahn, whose notes have been subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee in connection with its probe of possible obstruction of justice by the president.
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| Windows 10 update brings us closer to a world without passwords Posted: 09 May 2019 03:04 PM PDT  Microsoft is one step closer to fulfilling the passwordless Windows 10 dream, as the latest Windows 10 update will make it even easier to log into devices and online services without having to worry about passwords.That's because Microsoft's Windows Hello has received FIDO2 certification, which means Hello biometrics and PINs are now seen as secure authenticators."FIDO2 is a set of standards that enables easy and secure logins to websites and applications via biometrics, mobile devices and/or FIDO Security Keys. FIDO2's simpler login experiences are backed by strong cryptographic security that is far superior to passwords, protecting users from phishing, all forms of password theft and replay attacks," the FIDO Alliance explained in a press release.Microsoft said in its own announcement to mark the FIDO2 certification that "no one likes passwords (except hackers).""People don't like passwords because we have to remember them," Microsoft said. "As a result, we often create passwords that are easy to guess -- which makes them the first target for hackers trying to access your computer or network at work."With Windows Hello, you'll now be able to use facial authentication, fingerprints, or a PIN to "leave the world of passwords behind," although, technically, you won't drop the passwords for any of these devices or services anytime soon. But you won't have to fill them in with each login.You'll have to update your Windows 10 computer to version 1903 to take advantage of the feature. What that means, in practice, is that browsers including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox will support Windows Hello biometrics. Similarly, several of Microsoft's own products, including Office 365, Skype, Xbox Live, and others will also authenticate users with Windows Hello rather than a password.
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| U.S. House could slap $25,000 per day contempt fines on Trump advisers: Democrat Posted: 10 May 2019 04:49 PM PDT  Expanding on an idea floated days ago by Democrats as a way of putting some teeth into various inquiries of Trump, his turbulent presidency, his family and his business interests, Representative Adam Schiff spoke in two interviews about reviving the "inherent contempt" power of Congress. "We would levy fines on those who are not cooperating," Schiff, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee told Axios in an interview published on Friday. Republicans have accused Democrats of grandstanding for progressive voters, but even the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed the president's son, Donald Trump Jr. Congress can subpoena testimony and documents, then enforce these formal requests by holding recalcitrant subpoena targets in contempt of Congress.
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| French prosecutor opens investigation over suspected Monsanto file Posted: 10 May 2019 01:16 PM PDT ![French prosecutor opens investigation over suspected Monsanto file]( "French prosecutor opens investigation over suspected Monsanto file") The French prosecutor on Friday said it had opened a preliminary investigation into a suspected file assembled by Bayer's seed maker Monsanto to influence various personalities in France. The probe was opened after a complaint was filed by daily newspaper Le Monde. According to Le Monde and other French media, Monsanto built up a file of some 200 names that includes journalists and law makers in the hope of influencing their positions on pesticides.
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| Grieving Students Walk Out of Colorado School Shooting Vigil: ‘This Was Not About Us’ Posted: 08 May 2019 09:50 PM PDT  Rick Wilking/ReutersHIGHLANDS RANCH, Colorado—A day after two students shot up a school, survivors walked out of a vigil organized by gun control advocates, saying they felt excluded from what should have been an opportunity to grieve.Team Enough and Moms Demand Action helped promote the Wednesday evening gathering, and more than 100 students and several hundred parents from the STEM School packed into the gymnasium bleachers, hoping to find community and catharsis.But after sitting through remarks by Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), and realizing the program was centered around changing gun laws, students who had hoped to speak lost patience and walked out en masse."This was not about us. We can do our own vigil," one STEM student remarked.Students from Team Enough said the event was organized on such short notice they were unable to find a way to include STEM students in the program."I feel terrible. They did not feel represented. I get it," said Laura Reeves, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action who spoke at the vigil."This was put together in such a short time. I know they did their best. Emotions are raw and sad. They are grieving. They need to express their feelings. They need to be together. I am hoping their school can help facilitate that conversation beyond this week."Police have said two STEM students opened fire at the school on Tuesday, killing one and wounding eight before they were arrested. Any motive for the attack—20 years after the Columbine High School massacre just seven miles away—has not been disclosed.Heavy rain had kept surviving students cooped up at home, and many of them were looking forward to the vigil at a neighboring school. Things began to fall apart an hour in when organizers suggested any STEM students who wanted to speak gather in the hall outside the gym.A few rose to speak, but soon the crowd filed out and left. Standing outside the building in the freezing rain, some began chanting. But they quickly dispersed as Douglas County Sheriff's vehicles began arriving at the school.One mom of a STEM student said it was a case of good intentions gone wrong."I really appreciate what they tried to do here tonight, but our kids didn't want to be talked at," she said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
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| Chelsea Manning: Jailed US analyst walks free after refusing to testify to WikiLeaks grand jury Posted: 09 May 2019 08:45 PM PDT  The former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been released from prison after she was jailed for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.Ms Manning spent 62 days in jail on contempt charges but was released as the term of the grand jury she was supposed to give evidence to expired.However the ex Army employee, who served seven years of a 35-year sentence for handing a huge trove of confidential documents to WikiLeaks, could be back in jail within a week.She has received another subpoena demanding she testify to a new grand jury, opening on 16 May.Under US federal law, a person subpoenaed by a grand jury can be jailed on a civil contempt charge if judges believe it has a chance of coercing them to give evidence.Earlier this week, Ms Manning's lawyers filed court papers arguing that she should not be jailed again because she has proven that she will stick to her principles and will not testify no matter how long she is jailed.If a judge were to determine that incarcerating Ms Manning were punitive rather than coercive, she would not be jailed."At this point, given the sacrifices she has already made, her strong principles, her strong and growing support community, and the disgrace attendant to her capitulation, it is inconceivable that Chelsea Manning will ever change her mind about her refusal to cooperate with the grand jury," her lawyers wrote.Ms Manning filed an eight-page statement with the court on Monday outlining her resolve.She wrote that "cooperation with this grand jury is simply not an option. Doing so would mean throwing away all of my principles, accomplishments, sacrifices, and erase decades of my reputation - an obvious impossibility," she wrote.She also said she was suffering disproportionately in jail because of physical problems related with inadequate follow-up care to gender-reassignment surgery.Ms Manning was working for the Army in Iraq in 2010 when she was arrested and accused of leaking 700,000 documents, diplomatic cables and videos.She was accused of putting the lives of American soldiers at risk, but said she acted in order to open up debate about US foreign policy.Her 35-year sentence was the longest for leaking in US history, and president Barack Obama referred to it as "disproportionate" to her crimes. He commuted the remainder of her sentence in 2017, just before leaving office.Additional reporting by agencies
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| Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams says she is considering White House run Posted: 09 May 2019 04:45 PM PDT  Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, a rising party star who narrowly fell short of becoming the first female African- American governor last year, said on Thursday she is still considering running for president.
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| Giuliani urges Ukraine to investigate Democrats Posted: 10 May 2019 01:18 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats on Friday denounced a plan by President Donald Trump's personal attorney to push Ukraine to open investigations that he hopes could benefit Trump politically, decrying it as an overt attempt to recruit foreign help to influence a U.S. election.
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| Deputy to Venezuela's Guaido imprisoned, Maduro accuses sacked general Posted: 10 May 2019 05:08 PM PDT  The deputy to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido was jailed on Friday at a military prison in Caracas following his dramatic arrest, while President Nicolas Maduro accused his sacked intelligence chief of being a CIA "mole" and the architect of a failed military uprising 10 days ago. Edgar Zambrano, deputy speaker of the opposition-majority National Assembly, is being held in preventive detention for "the flagrant commission of the crimes of treason, conspiracy and civil rebellion," the Supreme Court said in a statement announcing the verdict of a lower court. Zambrano was arrested by Maduro's SEBIN intelligence service in dramatic circumstances on Wednesday for supporting the April 30 revolt organized by US-backed Guaido.
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| Iranian Commander: No Talks With US After Trump Invite Posted: 10 May 2019 06:50 AM PDT  A top Iranian commander shut down the idea of talks with the U.S. Friday while shrugging off the presence of American B-52 bombers that arrived in the area the previous day."No talks will be held with the Americans and the Americans will not dare take military action against us," General Yadollah Javani of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards said, according to Iran's state-run Tasnim news agency.Iran "sees America as unreliable," the Guards' deputy chief for political affairs added.The U.S. deployed the four bombers as well as the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf and they reportedly arrived at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar on Thursday.The Pentagon moved the bombers and aircraft carrier to the region amid fears that Iran is transporting short-range ballistic missiles in the Persian Gulf with the intention of striking U.S. targets, putting American forces and U.S.-backed coalitions in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar in danger."What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me," Trump said at the White House Thursday.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a warning to the state terror sponsor, saying that, "our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve.""The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against U.S. interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive U.S. response," Pompeo said in a statement."We do not seek war," the secretary of state said. "But Iran's 40 years of killing American soldiers, attacking American facilities, and taking American hostages is a constant reminder that we must defend ourselves."Iran has escalated its rhetoric since April, when the U.S. officially designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Pompeo announced an end to the temporary exemptions from U.S. sanctions that eight countries had been granted, allowing them to continue importing Iranian oil and gas.
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| Uber valued at $82 billion in IPO as market jitters, Lyft woes weigh Posted: 09 May 2019 03:41 PM PDT  Uber raised $8.1 billion, pricing its IPO at $45 per share, close to the bottom of the targeted $44-$50 range. The year's biggest IPO comes against a backdrop of turbulent financial markets, fueled by the trade dispute between the United States and China, as well as the plunging share price of Lyft, which is down 23 percent from its IPO price in late March. Uber's valuation in the IPO is almost a third less than its investment bankers predicted last year but still above its most recent valuation of $76 billion in the private fundraising market.
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| Students walk out of Colorado school shooting vigil, saying their trauma was being politicized Posted: 09 May 2019 12:23 PM PDT  Students at a vigil honoring Colorado high school shooting victim Kendrick Castillo chanted "mental health" when speakers discussed gun control.
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| The Latest: Pope makes reporting child sex crimes mandatory Posted: 09 May 2019 12:41 PM PDT  VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Latest on new church laws regarding sex abuse reporting issued Thursday by Pope Francis (all times local):
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| Trump says China 'broke the deal' as tensions rise ahead of trade talks Posted: 09 May 2019 01:27 AM PDT  Donald Trump has claimed China "broke the deal" it reached in trade talks with the United States, as he ramped up hostilities ahead of further negotiations between the two nations.The American president vowed not to back down on imposing new tariffs on Chinese imports unless Beijing "stops cheating our workers."The US Trade Representative's office has announced that tariffs on Chinese goods worth $200bn (£153bn) will increase from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on Friday, on the second of two days of meetings between Chinese vice-premier Liu He and Mr Trump's top trade officials in Washington.In a speech to supporters at a rally in Florida on Wednesday, Mr Trump warned he would not back down and Beijing would "be paying" if no agreement is reached."I just announced that we'll increase tariffs on China and we won't back down until China stops cheating our workers and stealing our jobs, and that's what's going to happen, otherwise we don't have to do business with them," the president told a cheering crowd."They broke the deal," he added. "They can't do that. So they'll be paying. If we don't make the deal, nothing wrong with taking in more than $100 billion a year."He claimed the US was "the piggy bank that everybody wants to rob".Mr Trump's comments fuelled a round of selling in Asian markets.Beijing has announced it would retaliate if tariffs rise."The Chinese side deeply regrets that if the US tariff measures are implemented, China will have to take necessary countermeasures," Beijing's commerce ministry said on its website, without elaborating.The world's two largest economies have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat tariff war since July 2018 over US demands that the Asian powerhouse adopt policy changes that would, among other things, better protect American intellectual property and make China's market more accessible to American companies.Expectations were recently riding high that a deal could be reached, but a deep rift over the language of the proposed agreement opened up last weekend.Reuters, citing US government and private-sector sources, reported on Wednesday that China had backtracked on almost all aspects of a draft trade agreement, threatening to blow up the negotiations and prompting Mr Trump to order the tariff increase.The president, who has embraced largely protectionist policies as part of his "America First" agenda, warned China on Wednesday that it was mistaken if it hoped to delay a trade deal until there was a Democrat-controlled White House.He tweeted: "The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to 'negotiate' with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats."Guess what, that's not going to happen! China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal. We'll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers."Mr Biden's deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, criticised Mr Trump in response, saying on Twitter that US farmers, small-business owners and consumers were the ones being hurt by the tariff battle.> Unfortunately, the only people @realdonaldtrump has gotten tough w/ so far on trade are US farmers, small business owners & consumers, who feel the brunt of his tariff war. @JoeBiden will invest in our core strengths & ensure that US & our allies write rules of the road re: China https://t.co/ImvNodlqCI> > — Kate Bedingfield (@KBeds) > > May 8, 2019Speaking to reporters, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Trump administration had received an "indication" that China wants an agreement.US stock indexes rebounded slightly from this week's earlier losses after her comments, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed in negative territory amid caution over trade and some disappointing earnings.Washington is demanding Beijing make sweeping changes to its trade and regulatory practices, including protecting US intellectual property from theft and forced transfers to Chinese firms, curbs on Chinese government subsidies and increased American access to China's markets.Mr Trump also has sought massive hikes in Chinese purchases of US farm, energy and manufactured products to shrink a gaping trade deficit with China.Sources familiar with the talks said China's latest demands for changes to a 150-page document that had been drafted over several months would make it hard to avoid the US tariff hike on Friday. That increase would affect Chinese imports from computer modems and routers to vacuum cleaners, furniture, lighting and building materials.Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the talks were at a delicate stage and much depended on what sort of proposal Mr Liu is bringing to Washington."I think the Trump administration is quite serious about imposing tariffs," Mr Kennedy added. "I don't think Liu He would have agreed to come if he was just going to give the US a lecture."
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| Huawei exec vows to fight extradition to US in Canada court Posted: 08 May 2019 05:36 PM PDT  Vancouver (AFP) - A top Chinese telecom executive whose arrest in Canada on a US warrant triggered a bitter diplomatic row vowed Wednesday to vigorously fight extradition to the US.
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| Federal judge keeps UAW lawsuit over plant closings in Ohio Posted: 10 May 2019 12:26 PM PDT ![Federal judge keeps UAW lawsuit over plant closings in Ohio]( "Federal judge keeps UAW lawsuit over plant closings in Ohio") A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by the United Auto Workers against General Motors over the closing of three plants should be heard in Ohio. The Warren Tribune Chronicle reports U.S. District ...
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| Our Own Private Singapore Posted: 10 May 2019 08:06 AM PDT  The rap on Singapore is that it has fertile capital but a sterile culture -- a great place to do business, but a stultifying place to live.It is the Facebook of countries.The authorities there are sensitive to that kind of criticism. In a 2017 interview with the Straits Times, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong emphasized the diversity of the country and the distinctiveness of its individual cultural components. Singapore, he said, is oriented not toward assimilation but integration."The result has been distinctive Singaporean variants of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian cultures, and a growing Singaporean identity that we all share, suffusing and linking up our distinct individual identities and ethnic cultures," Lee said. "We certainly don't wish Singapore to be a first-world economy but a third-rate society, with a people who are well off but uncouth. We want to be a society rich in spirit, a gracious society where people are considerate and kind to one another, and as Mencius said, where we treat all elders as we treat our own parents, and other children as our own."That is a very nice vision, which the government of Singapore pursues energetically through authoritarianism, bullying, and intimidation. Singapore is an innovator in many fields, and one of the activities toward which it has turned a great deal of attention is one that is of increasing global and domestic significance: censorship.Singapore has just passed a law that would require Facebook, Twitter, and other social-media companies to publish corrections on their sites in response to content that is ruled untrue by the government of Singapore. Facebook executives say they have been looking to governments for guidance in their attempt to suppress certain kinds of speech on their platforms -- and here it is, from the world-beating experts.The government of Singapore is, in fact, not so different in its thinking from Facebook. It is just a little ahead of the curve. Facebook insists (sometimes laughably) that its speech restrictions are not directed at unpopular political ideas but exist to serve the "safety" of the public. Singapore, too, cites safety as it prohibits certain unwelcome political activism and cultural innovation. "Public safety" is, like "national security," an almost infinitely plastic criterion in the hands of an entrepreneurial politician: In March, President Donald Trump blocked the acquisition of Qualcomm by Singapore-based Broadcom, offering only the vague explanation that the company "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States." Senator Marco Rubio has argued that corporate welfare for Florida sugar barons is a matter of national security, while others make the same argument for their favorite commodities; Democratic party officials have suggested that Second Amendment activists be investigated or suppressed as terrorists; the sniveling cowards who run the University of California at Berkeley cited "public safety" when they forbade conservative polemicist Ann Coulter to speak on campus. Et cetera ad nauseam.In Singapore, "public safety" is the rationale for a remarkably thorough program of official censorship, much of which is directed at the worthy goal of keeping the peace among the city-state's unamalgamated ethnic and religious groups. For example, if a crime has a potentially inflammatory ethnic or religious component, that fact generally will be omitted from media coverage as part of an unspoken agreement between the state and the newspapers. Films or books that are deemed to denigrate an ethnic or religious group are prohibited. The sale of Malaysian newspapers is prohibited. And in the same way that U.S. progressives seek to suppress political speech as a matter of "campaign finance," the authorities in Singapore have prohibited the unlicensed showing of "party political films," which may be the of "any person and directed towards any political end in Singapore." Such films are permitted only if the government considers them objective; the irony of demanding a subjective ruling about objectivity seems to have been lost on Singapore's rulers, who are not famous for their sense of humor.Singapore's censors make the same argument as do Facebook's: that the suppression of certain kinds of unwelcome political speech is necessary for "public safety." Singapore's is a genuinely multiethnic and multireligious society -- and, as it turns out, such societies do not have a very good record for long-term stability and domestic tranquility. If anything, Singapore has a more convincing argument that fanning the flames of communal politics in such a country is likely to actually endanger people than Facebook does that Milo Yiannapoulos is whatever kind of danger it is that he is supposed to be. Singapore's position is more convincing than the jactitations of those ignorant little twerps at Philadelphia's University of the Arts who protested that the presence of Professor Camille Paglia on their campus left them "unsafe." (They should feel grateful. I wonder who is the second-most distinguished intellectual associated with that school.) You will not be surprised to learn that the burdens here fall more heavily on dissidents and critics of the government.But let us give Singapore and Facebook the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are motivated by concerns that are in the main to be admired. The end results are no less risible: If American society is really so fragile that Alex Jones presents an existential threat to the republic, then we should send our British cousins a letter of apology and ask to be readmitted as a colony, if they'll have us. Likewise, if Singapore truly is going to be rocked, and not in a good way, by a Katy Perry song ("I Kissed a Girl" was prohibited as homosexual propaganda) then it is a pitiable little island indeed, to quaver at such a colossus as that.But, of course, almost no one takes seriously these claims, just as no one seriously thinks that Ann Coulter is a "danger" to anybody or that the NRA shares a genre with the Islamic State. These are pretexts, and flimsy ones. They are fig leaves for ochlocracy.But once censorship has been established in principle and accepted in practice, then officiousness, triviality, and vindictiveness are the inevitable outcomes. Bureaucracies -- Singapore's government, Facebook's management -- have interests of their own, and agendas of their own, and tastes of their own, and to take seriously the proposition that Facebook's speech-policing or U.S. "campaign finance" restrictions will be managed with any more objectivity or neutrality than Singapore's official state censorship is to ignore almost everything we know about how bureaucracies actually work. The powers that be at Facebook and Twitter may or may not be acting in good faith, but the more important fact is that they could not be fair and neutral even if they sincerely wished to be. This is a fact of organizational life, one that must be dealt with seriously. The bland little caudillos down in Human Resources are creatures of an insipid little culture all their own.And that is the one that Facebook et al. propose we live under.Facebook is a private company, and it may of course as a legal matter do whatever it pleases with its own platform, and Singapore's censorship is perfectly legal, too, for what that's worth -- which is not very much: Some of the worst crimes against humanity in modern history were carried out under the color of law. The question of what may be done is distinct from the question of what should be done.Singapore's censorship is quite defensible in principle -- if you accept censorship in principle -- and the consequences of its policies have been perfectly predictable. When the prime minister feels himself obliged to go public with his insistence that local cultural conditions are not "third rate," it is an excellent indicator that they are obviously third-rate. Some lies are accidental advertisements for the truth. There is much that is admirable about Singapore, but at its worst it is a kind of splendidly air-conditioned fascist shopping mall. Public safety is one of those good things it is possible to have too much of, and "graciousness" enforced at the point of a bayonet is not graciousness at all.Facebook, Twitter, et al. are houses divided: As businesses they are one thing, as institutions they are another. Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes argued in the pages of the New York Times on Thursday that Facebook should be broken up, in part because of its failure to contain "violent rhetoric and fake news." Facebook and other "gargantuan companies," he argued, are a threat to democracy. That is hysteria, but it contains a measure of truth. Democracy relies on discourse, and healthy discourse relies on a culture of open exchange, which in turn requires a measure of confidence that Facebook's executives lack. Ironically, the problems of Facebook and, especially, of Twitter are not so much threats to democracy but useful illustrations of the shortcomings of unmediated democracy, in which the mob bullies the institutions into submission. In a healthy democratic system, things work in roughly the opposite way, with institutions helping to contain and redirect the excesses of democratic passion. And that is where Facebook and Singapore differ: The government of Singapore -- which, whatever its shortcomings, seems to be run by men who genuinely believe in their own precepts -- serves no mob, but Facebook, lacking the real conviction that can be rooted only in the permanent things, is abject and quickly prone before whatever mob happens to show up at its door.The American settlement under the First Amendment is unusual to the point of being nearly unique. Censorship of different kinds is the norm in civilized countries from Singapore to Germany, where certain political parties, symbols, and ideas are strictly prohibited. The American arrangement is different because it is the product of men who as individuals and as a civilization believed in something, which gave them the confidence to live in a world in which they are likely to hear and read things they did not like from time to time, things that might even be wicked, scurrilous, or wrong. Some men endure winter at Valley Forge, and some tremble at the menace of Katy Perry or poor daft Laura Loomer.There is a wonderful scene in Serenity, a science-fiction film that is something of a libertarian manifesto, in which a fragile, psychologically damaged girl is taken along on what amounts to an Old West-style bank robbery, after which she and her friends are chased and nearly captured by mutant space cannibals who mean to eat them raw on the spot. At the end of a wild ride dodging fire in an open-air conveyance while speeding across a Sergio Leone landscape, she returns to her overprotective older brother, who asks if she is injured. She looks at him, wide-eyed, and says: "I swallowed a bug." Freedom tastes like that, sometimes.
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| Venezuelan lawmakers seek refuge in embassies after crackdown on Guaido allies Posted: 09 May 2019 04:22 PM PDT  The ex-head of the state intelligence service, Manuel Cristopher, the top Maduro government official to defect during the uprising, also spoke out for the first time on Thursday, urging Venezuelans to "build a new state" and combat corruption. The moves came the day after authorities arrested Edgar Zambrano, the opposition-run National Assembly's vice president. Richard Blanco of the Brave Peoples' Alliance party entered Argentina's embassy on Thursday, according to an Argentine foreign ministry source and a Reuters witness, while Americo De Grazia of the Radical Cause party sought refuge at Italy's embassy, according to three sources close to him.
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| Joe Biden supports health care coverage for undocumented immigrants Posted: 09 May 2019 03:51 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden, considered one of the more centrist members of the Democratic presidential primary field, calls for a controversial new entitlement; Peter Doocy reports.
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| This Self-Taught Designer’s Style Became a Benchmark for Art Deco Sophistication Posted: 09 May 2019 01:25 PM PDT |
| Teens accused of deadly Colorado school shooting face charges next week Posted: 10 May 2019 09:26 AM PDT  Devon Erickson, 18, and Alec McKinney, 16, who was listed on the court docket by the name Maya Elizabeth McKinney but who identifies as male, were both arrested on suspicion of a single count of first-degree murder and 29 counts of attempted murder immediately after Tuesday's shooting. During separate initial court appearances on Wednesday, Douglas County District Judge Theresa Slade ordered them held without bond pending a presentment of actual charges. If a juvenile is charged as an adult under Colorado law, the defense can still request that the case be transferred to juvenile court.
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| Abortion bill delayed as Alabama Senate falls into chaos Posted: 09 May 2019 11:38 AM PDT  The lieutenant governor agreed to remove amendments creating exceptions for rape and incest, leading to anger and arguments on the Senate floor.
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| Trump calls for prosecuting John Kerry for talking to Iran Posted: 09 May 2019 11:48 AM PDT  He's talking to Iran and...has many meetings and many phone calls and he's telling them what to do.
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| Best AirPods Accessories Posted: 09 May 2019 04:00 PM PDT  Apple wasn't the first company to release true wireless earbuds, but there's no question whatsoever that Apple's AirPods were the first cord-free earphones to really break out. In fact, they were so popular at launch that it took Apple more than a year before it finally caught up with demand. AirPods continue to be wildly popular with consumers all across the world, which makes plenty of sense considering how great they are. Of course nothing is perfect, and there are accessories out there that can make your experience with AirPods even better. Wireless charging caseRemember how liberated you felt the first time you got a wireless charger for your smartphone? No more fussing with cables and connectors, all you have to do is drop your phone on a pad and it charges right up. Wouldn't it be great if you could do the same thing with your AirPods? Well guess what: You can thanks to the NeotrixQI Wireless Charging Cover For Apple AirPods. Silicone coversApple's design is one of the best things about the AirPods. They're wonderfully compact and yet they manage to pump out phenomenally good sound quality with impressive bass response. Believe it or not, however, there's a simple way to get even better sound out of your AirPods. With EarBuddyz 2.0 Silicone AirPods Covers, you get a great secure fit in your ears without covering the sensors that enable Apple's coolest AirPods features. Neck strapThe true wireless design of Apple's AirPods is one of the biggest draws, of course, but there are times when having a cable that connects one earbud to the other is beneficial. One example is during workouts, so you can pop your earbuds out of your ears and let them hang around your neck. If you want the best of both worlds, the Spigen TEKA RA100 AirPods Neck Strap is just what the doctor ordered.> More options: * DamonLight AirPods Covers. These silicone covers are so thin that they'll fit in your AirPods case so you can recharge without having to remove them. * AhaStyle AirPods Covers. AhaStyle's covers are more like the ones we recommended in the main post, but they have a different fit that might work better for some people. * Waterproof AirPods Case Cover by Catalyst. This cover is the best way to protect your AirPods and the charging case from the elements. * AirPod Skins Protective Wraps. Completely change the look at your AirPods with these wraps, which are available in more than a dozen different colors. * Amasing 7 In 1 AirPods Accessories Kit. Want it all? Get seven different AirPods accessories in one nifty kit.
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| US seizes North Korean ship amid tense moment in relations Posted: 09 May 2019 11:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. said Thursday that it has seized a North Korean cargo ship that was used to violate international sanctions, a first-of-its kind enforcement action that comes amid a tense moment in relations between the two countries.
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| 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Has Survived Unscathed Posted: 09 May 2019 01:19 PM PDT  It has been tastefully preserved for future generations to enjoy. Classic 'Vettes are great, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to find any that haven't been adulterated with different modifications. This beautiful machine, America's sports car, is being offered a lucky future owner by Savannah Classic Cars.
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| Israel lifts Gaza fishing ban as calm returns Posted: 10 May 2019 03:44 AM PDT  Israel lifted a ban on Friday on Palestinian fishing boats operating off Gaza, an Israeli military body said, ending a measure imposed during a deadly flare-up of violence earlier this month. The fishing union in Gaza confirmed the lifting of the ban, saying the new limits imposed by Israel were 12 nautical miles in the southern half of Gaza, and six nautical miles in the north.
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| Tesla CEO Elon Musk faces trial for 'pedo' insult of diver Posted: 10 May 2019 04:10 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk will have to go to trial to defend himself for mocking a British diver as a pedophile in a verbal sparring match that unfolded last summer after the underwater rescue of youth soccer players trapped in a Thailand cave.
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