| Trump's Immigration Plan Faces Cold Reception Even Within GOP Posted: 16 May 2019 12:11 PM PDT  Details of the proposal -- and particularly the decision by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner to sidestep what to do about those in the country illegally -– have already doomed its legislative prospects among Democrats. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who oversees immigration legislation, said Kushner's bill isn't going to become law.
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| The Latest: Police release name of officer who killed woman Posted: 16 May 2019 03:29 PM PDT  HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on the police shooting of a Houston-area woman (all times local):
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| Air strikes hit Yemen capital: rebels, witnesses Posted: 16 May 2019 12:04 AM PDT  Warplanes struck in and around the rebel-held Yemeni capital Thursday two days after the insurgents claimed drone strikes that shut a key oil pipeline in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the rebels and witnesses said. One witness told AFP he heard a loud explosion in the heart of Sanaa. In an initial tweet, the broadcaster reported six strikes on the Arhab district of Sanaa province.
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| NASA just spotted the crash site of Israel’s Beresheet lander Posted: 16 May 2019 04:06 PM PDT  April was supposed to be an exciting time for Israel's privately-funded space group SpaceIL. After years of development, SpaceIL's Beresheet lander was poised to land on the lunar surface, which would have been a first for the country as well as the first privately-funded mission to touch down on Earth's satellite.Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and a malfunction in the spacecraft's engine caused the entire ship to shut down just moments before it was to land. A rapid restart of the craft brought it back online but it was already speeding towards the surface and a crash was unavoidable. Now, thanks to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can see exactly where the doomed craft ended up and, well, it's not a pretty sight.Beresheet's mechanical woes came at the absolute worst possible time. Details regarding the glitch have been scant, but a report from SpaceIL revealed that a "manual command" triggered a series of events that cause the spacecraft's main engine to power down. Engineers did manage to get the engine back on, but the precious seconds that were lost during its descent meant that there was no way to slow the lander down enough to perform a soft landing.When Beresheet struck the Moon it was moving very fast. According to NASA, its speed was around 1,000 meters per second higher than its team had planned for, and when the lander contacted the surface it was completely destroyed.The images from NASA's lunar orbiter show the aftermath, in the form of a long dusty streak that leads to a dark area where the lunar dust has been kicked up and pushed away. The lander itself is sitting somewhere near that darkest area, and it's likely in several pieces.The good news is that SpaceIL isn't taking this defeat lying down, and it has already announced that it plans to launch "Beresheet 2.0," in an attempt to complete a soft landing on the lunar surface.
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| Toddler missing for 3 days found alive on 50-foot cliffside near strip mine Posted: 16 May 2019 05:28 AM PDT ![Toddler missing for 3 days found alive on 50-foot cliffside near strip mine]( "Toddler missing for 3 days found alive on 50-foot cliffside near strip mine") Kenneth Howard, the missing Kentucky boy, was found just before 2 p.m. Wednesday in Floyd County in the area of a stripe mine.
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| Billy Chemirmir: Healthcare worker accused of murdering 12 elderly women could be linked to over 1,000 deaths Posted: 16 May 2019 10:40 AM PDT  A healthcare worker has been charged with the murder of 12 elderly women by smothering, and is being investigated for any potential links to 1,000 more unexplained deaths.Billy Chemirmir, 45, of Texas is accused of murdering multiple elderly women who lived in Dallas and Collins counties with a pillow, and subsequently robbing them. In March of 2018, Mr Chemirmir was charged with capital murder in the death of an 81-year-old woman, Lu Thi Harris, leading to his arrest. Mr Chemirmir has also been accused of two counts of attempted capital murder for attacking two women. One of the two women, a 93 year-old who was a resident of the Parkview Elderly Assisted Living facility in Frisco, Texas, had reported the incident to police. She described how a well-dressed man had knocked on her door, claiming to be a maintenance worker. When she responded that she did not require any work done, he forced his way inside and "knocked her from her walker to the floor", as reported by Dallas News.Mr Chemirmir worked as a nurse in his native country of Kenya, but appears to not have been legally working in healthcare in the US. Court records indicate that Mr Chemirmir posed as an employee at the Edgemere Retirement Community in Dallas under the alias "Benjamin Koitaba".Plano Police Chief Gregory W. Rushin said Mr Chemirmir used "health care experience to his advantage, targeting and exploiting seniors", something Mr Rushin called "disturbing'.Authorities plan to review the unattended deaths of hundreds of elderly women in the area, including those who were previously thought to have died from natural causes to investigate any potential ties to Mr Chemirmir.Recently, the accused killer has been newly indicted in six deaths of elderly women from 2016 to 2018: Phyllis Payne, aged 91, Phoebe Perry, aged 94, Norma French, aged 85, Doris Gleason, aged 92, Rosemary Curtis, aged 96, and Mary Brooks, 87. He has also been charged with five other murders, of which the victims have yet to be named. Mr Chemirmir is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail, where he's been since March of 2018. His bond currently set at more than $9m.
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| Trump tells aides he does not want U.S. war with Iran Posted: 16 May 2019 03:34 PM PDT  It's not who he is," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump has communicated to his national security team and other aides that wants to keep tensions with Tehran from boiling over into an armed conflict, the officials said. U.S. intelligence showed heightened activity by Iran or its proxies that U.S. officials took as a threat against American targets in the region.
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| A Toddler Detained at the U.S. Border Has Died After Weeks in the Hospital, Report Says Posted: 16 May 2019 12:22 AM PDT  The boy is reportedly the fourth Guatemalan child to die in U.S. custody since December
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| Michael Flynn Helped Robert Mueller in WikiLeaks, Obstruction Probes Posted: 16 May 2019 04:56 PM PDT  Jonathan Ernst/ReutersPresident Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn told Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team about top Trump campaign officials discussing plans to reach out to WikiLeaks after the group released emails stolen from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager during the 2016 presidential contest, according to newly unredacted court documents. In a filing concerning Flynn's sentencing unredacted in federal court Thursday, prosecutors outlined his extensive cooperation in the Russia probe after he pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in December 2017. In addition to providing investigators with evidence of "potential efforts to interfere or otherwise obstruct" the Russia investigation, Flynn is said to have given Mueller's team insider information about discussions concerning WikiLeaks in Trump's campaign. While the unredacted Mueller Report detailed communications between WikiLeaks and figures within Trump's orbit in the run-up to the 2016 election, the special counsel did not offer any conclusions about direct coordination between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks on the group's release of emails stolen from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta by Russian intelligence. Mueller Report Reveals Shocking New Details About Trump, Russia, ObstructionAccording to the court filing, however, Flynn filled investigators in on the reaction within the Trump campaign to news of WikiLeaks' dump of Podesta's emails—and they discussed making an overture in response. "The defendant relayed to the government statements made in 2016 by senior campaign officials about Wikileaks to which only a select few people were privy," prosecutors wrote. He "recalled conversations with senior campaign officials after the release of the Podesta emails, during which the prospect of reaching out to Wikileaks was discussed." Flynn is said to have also filled Mueller in on "multiple instances, both before and after his guilty plea, where either he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation." "The defendant even provided a voicemail recording of one such communication," the filing states. Prosecutors appear to be referencing a voicemail left for Flynn's lawyer after the former national security adviser withdrew from a joint defense agreement he had with the president early on in the Russia investigation. In the November 2017 voicemail, which was detailed in the Mueller Report, a lawyer for Trump urged Flynn's lawyer to provide "some kind of heads up" if Flynn was preparing to provide "information that implicates the president." Flynn's sentencing has yet to be determined by Judge Emmet Sullivan, but Mueller's team has argued for a reduction in his sentence in light of his cooperation. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| An abortion 'reversal'? The method is unproved, but Ohio lawmakers want women to consider it Posted: 17 May 2019 10:26 AM PDT  Republicans in Ohio want every women seeking a medical abortion to be informed of a method for abortion "reversal," which critics call unethical.
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| Photos of the Euro-spec Ford Focus ST Wagon Posted: 16 May 2019 08:10 AM PDT |
| Bomb-laden drones of Yemen rebels threaten Arabian Peninsula Posted: 16 May 2019 12:05 PM PDT  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Yemen rebel drone strike this week on a critical Saudi oil pipeline shows that the otherwise-peaceful sandy reaches of the Arabian Peninsula now are at risk of similar assault, including an under-construction nuclear power plant and Dubai International Airport, among the world's busiest.
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| Marlen Ochoa-Lopez death: 3 charged in murder of Chicago missing pregnant woman, 19 Posted: 16 May 2019 09:15 PM PDT  Three people, including a mother and daughter, have been charged in the death of a young pregnant woman on Chicago's Southwest Side. Police say the 19-year-old's baby was cut from her womb.
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| Boeing seeks regulators' OK, says 737 MAX software update complete Posted: 16 May 2019 02:14 PM PDT  Boeing said Thursday that it completed its software update on the 737 MAX after two deadly crashes resulted in a global grounding of the aircraft. The proposed fix, which addresses a problem with a flight handling system thought to be a factor in both crashes, must now win approval from US and international regulators before the planes can return to service. US airlines have targeted August as the date they expect to resume flying on the 737 MAX.
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| Google’s brand new Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are now available on Amazon Posted: 16 May 2019 08:35 AM PDT  Google just released two brand new smartphones that bring back the beloved Nexus phone program! Well, sort of. They're not actually Nexus branded phones, but they do resurrect the spirit of Google's Nexus line, offering great designs and impressive performance at affordable prices. And we have more good news: they're finally available on Amazon! The new Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL are both in stock on Amazon right now, though they're likely flying off the virtual store shelves so you'll want to hurry up if you want to get your hands on one anytime soon. Definitely check them out. Google Pixel 3a * Get more done with an extraordinary camera, fast-charging battery, and the helpful Google Assistant built in. * Motion Auto Focus will make sure the people and pets in your shot stay sharp as you snap away. * Let the Google Assistant help screen your calls, so you know who's calling and why before you pick up. * Get more done with an Adaptive Battery that delivers 7 hours of use on just a 15-minute charge. It's designed to learn your favorite apps and reduce power to the ones you rarely use. * 3 years of security and OS updates to keep your phone protected against the latest threats and performing at its best. * The custom-made Titan M security chip helps secure the operating system and your most sensitive data, like passwords. Google Pixel 3a XL * Get more done with an extraordinary camera, fast-charging battery, and the helpful Google Assistant built in. * Motion Auto Focus will make sure the people and pets in your shot stay sharp as you snap away. * Let the Google Assistant help screen your calls, so you know who's calling and why before you pick up. * Get more done with an Adaptive Battery that delivers 7 hours of use on just a 15-minute charge. It's designed to learn your favorite apps and reduce power to the ones you rarely use. * 3 years of security and OS updates to keep your phone protected against the latest threats and performing at its best. * The custom-made Titan M security chip helps secure the operating system and your most sensitive data, like passwords.
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| Iran blames ‘unacceptable’ US sanctions for spike in tensions as White House advisors push for forceful response Posted: 16 May 2019 05:08 AM PDT  Iran's foreign minister has hit out at "unacceptable" sanctions imposed by the US as an international deal to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions continues to unravel amid a spike in tensions.Mohammad Zarif defended Iran's right to respond to the US pullout from the nuclear deal last year."We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for. We have exercised maximum restraints," he said during a visit to Tokyo. In other comments carried on the semi-official Mehr news agency, Mr Zarif was quoted as saying: "A multilateral deal cannot be treated unilaterally."The spat over the nuclear deal has been heightened by a number of events this week, including a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline claimed by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, allegations of acts of sabotage perpetrated against oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the dispatch of US warships to the region.The Saudis – Iran's biggest rival in the region – blamed Tehran for ordering the Houthi attack. A Saudi-led coalition has been waging an air war against the Houthis since 2015, with both the US and Riyadh accusing Iran of providing weapons to the Houthis. Tehran has denied this.Saudi Arabia's deputy defence minister Khalid bin Salman tweeted: "The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against the two Aramco pumping stations proves that these militias are merely a tool that Iran's regime uses to implement its expansionist agenda in the region".The longest-simmering issue is the Donald Trump-mandated withdrawal from the nuclear pact and the cranking up of sanctions against Iran by Washington. Iran has issued a number of veiled threats about enriching its uranium stockpiles to weapons-grade levels, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying the "the next steps are easier" than what has come before.Iran recently threatened it might resume higher enrichment by 7 July, beyond the level permitted by the current deal between Tehran and world powers, claiming that its programme is for peaceful purposes. White House advisor John Bolton in particular has long-standing concerns about Iran, writing in The New York Times in 2015 that the US should think about bombing Iran as the country "will not negotiate away its nuclear programme" – although an agreement was approved the next year.Mr Bolton was reportedly behind a push to update military plans surrounding the use of aggression by Iran, including sending as many as 120,000 troops to the region in the wake of an attack by Tehran on US interests or a significant move in its nuclear programme.Speaking on Thursday, Mr Trump said that he was the one to rein in 70-year-old Mr Bolton. "I'm the one who tempers him, which is OK," he said."I have John Bolton and I have people who are a little more dovish than him," Mr Trump added.In a tweet on Wednesday, the president denied any infighting between members of his team. "There is no infighting whatsoever," Mr Trump wrote. "Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision – it is a very simple process.However, Mr Trump is said to be getting frustrated with officials like Mr Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo over a push for a confrontation with Iran, according to The Washington Post. "They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed," a senior administration official said.Mr Trump is not inclined to respond forcefully unless there is a "big move" from the Iranians, the paper quoted a White House official as saying, with the president believed to be loath to go against his long-standing promise to end costly foreign wars by the US. The Democratic US House speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile said on Thursday that the the Trump administration "must realise" it does not have congressional authorisation to go to war against Iran.Washington sent ships and warplanes into the Gulf last week, citing an increased threat from Tehran, and the state department warned all non-essential government staff to leave Iraq.British forces in Iraq were also placed on high alert on Thursday, following the decision.However, Major General Chris Ghika, the British deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the US-led coalition fighting Isis, had a day earlier disputed claims from the White House that forces in the Middle East are facing an increased threat from Iran or its allies.Maj Gen Ghika told reporters during a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday, that there "has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria".
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| Baidu swings to net loss for first time since listing, shares fall Posted: 16 May 2019 10:55 PM PDT ![Baidu swings to net loss for first time since listing, shares fall]( "Baidu swings to net loss for first time since listing, shares fall") Chinese search engine operator Baidu Inc booked its first quarterly loss since at listing in 2005 and forecast quarterly revenue below market estimates, saying a "challenging marketing environment" is sapping income from advertisers. The tech giant also pointed to the income impact of heightened government scrutiny of online advertising aimed at reducing the visibility of potentially fraudulent businesses. After the earnings report on Thursday, the price of Baidu's U.S.-listed shares fell as much as 8% in extended trading.
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| U.S. Treasury's Mnuchin defies House subpoena for Trump's tax returns Posted: 17 May 2019 01:52 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that he would not meet a congressional demand for six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns, all but guaranteeing a federal court battle with Congress over the records. "We are unable to provide the requested information," Mnuchin said in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, who subpoenaed Trump's individual and business returns a week ago and set a 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) Friday deadline for their delivery. ...
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| America's Sort-Of-New F-35 Stealth Fighter Is One Tough Jet Posted: 16 May 2019 09:30 PM PDT  "The physical pieces of the plane are moving in a good direction. Most of what we have left to do is software. The department (DoD) has not historically been good at software development. That will take a little longer. I cannot imagine building anything for the Air Force that is not software intensive," Roper said.The Air Force has begun early testing, software development and weapons integration for its upcoming Block 4 variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, an emerging model intended to give the multi-role fighter a new dimension of attack mission possibilities, service leaders said.The new version, to emerge in the early 2020s, will add new long-range precision-tracking weapons such as the Small Diameter Bomb II and also integrate a computer-generated automatic ground collision avoidance technology."The next step for F-35 weapons integration will be to address the weapon requirements within Block 4. Integration of the Small Diameter Bomb II has already begun, and flight test is scheduled to start as early as 2019," Capt. Emily Grabowski, Air Force Spokeswoman, told Warrior Maven in a statement.(This first appeared in April 2018.)The current consensus among senior Pentagon weapons developers holds that, at the moment, the F-35 is the most capable 5th generation plane in the world. Maintaining this edge, however, is anticipated to quickly become more and more difficult now that both Russia and China are building 5th-gen stealth fighters.
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| Susan Collins has faith Kavanaugh won't uphold Alabama abortion law Posted: 16 May 2019 11:40 AM PDT  The senator from Maine stands by her belief that Kavanaugh will be compelled by court precedent when it comes to abortion rights.
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| Death row inmate dies 1 day after fellow inmate's execution Posted: 17 May 2019 01:54 PM PDT  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee death row inmate died in prison on Friday, less than three months before his scheduled execution and less than a day after a fellow inmate was executed .
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| Fund Manager Crushes Peers by Betting on Tencent and Alibaba Posted: 17 May 2019 07:41 AM PDT  The 41-year-old money manager's Handelsbanken Tillvaxtmarknad fund trounced 99% of more than 250 emerging-market peers this year and 95% in the past five. "I'm not sure about China's economy accelerating again, but I am fairly certain about Tencent and Alibaba growing," Synning said in a phone interview from Stockholm.
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| Samsung has solved Galaxy Fold issues, according to report Posted: 16 May 2019 04:35 PM PDT  A Korean website says the controversial bendable $1,980 phone from Samsung will soon see the light of day, and be released within the month.
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| Barr: Probe Into Russia Investigation’s Origins Has Yielded ‘Inadequate’ Explanations Posted: 17 May 2019 08:50 AM PDT  Weeks into an investigation of the origins of the FBI's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Attorney General William Barr said Friday that the probe has provided more questions than answers due to the "inadequate" and in some cases inconsistent answers he's been given from the officials involved.Asked during an interview with Fox News whether he knew exactly when the FBI began its investigation into the Trump campaign, Barr said he had not yet identified a reliable timeline."I've been trying to get answers to the questions, and I've found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and some of the explanations I've gotten don't hang together. In a sense I have more questions today than when I first started," he said during the interview.Pressed to explain what he was referring to, Barr would only say, "some of the explanations of what occurred."Barr told Fox that the investigation, which he disclosed to lawmakers during a congressional hearing last month, will eventually reveal whether the FBI puts its "thumb on the scale" by investigating and in some cases surveilling Trump campaign officials."People have to find out what the government was doing during that period. If we're worried about foreign influence, for the very same reason we should be worried about whether government officials abuse their power and put their thumb on the scale," Barr said before stipulating that he was "not saying that happened."Barr was maligned by congressional Democrats in the wake of his appearance on Capitol Hill last month for agreeing with Republicans' contention that the Trump campaign was "spied" on. He defended that characterization during the Fox interview and reiterated that his job is to determine whether that spying was properly predicated."Government power was used to spy on American citizens," he said in justifying his review. "I can't imagine any world where we wouldn't take a look and make sure that was done properly."In addressing whether the investigation was properly predicated, Barr suggested that it was "very unusual" for the FBI to rely on the Steele dossier, an unverified piece of opposition research commissioned by the Clinton campaign, to secure a FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page."It's a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that, especially one that on its face had a number of clear mistakes and a somewhat jejune analysis," Barr said. "And to use that to conduct counterintelligence against an American political campaign is a strange — would be a strange development."
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| Thomas Cook shares collapses on broker warning Posted: 17 May 2019 04:19 AM PDT  Shares in troubled British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed on Friday after Citigroup reportedly warned in a broker note that the stock was worthless. The company's share price dived 27.26 percent to just 14.26 pence in midday deals on the London stock market. "Thomas Cook shares have plunged again, this time after being on the receiving end of a sell recommendation from Citigroup, with a zero pence target price," said analyst Michael Hewson at traders CMC Markets UK.
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| View 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC400 Photos Posted: 16 May 2019 09:53 AM PDT |
| Amid trade, Huawei furors, U.S. House panel launches China 'deep dive' Posted: 16 May 2019 08:06 AM PDT  The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee launched on Thursday a "deep dive" focus on China this year and next, one of several moves by U.S. lawmakers focusing on what they see as troublesome activities by Beijing. The committee held a hearing with outside experts looking at what members described as China's use of technology for surveillance, influence and political control domestically and the use of Chinese technology for such purposes internationally. The hearing took place a day after Republican President Donald Trump's administration put telecommunications equipment giant Huawei on a blacklist and said it would take steps to protect U.S. companies, a further test of relations as the economic heavyweights clash over trade.
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| Today’s top deals: Rare AirPods 2 sale, $10 Philips Hue bulbs, $25 Fire TV Stick, $7 smart plugs, more Posted: 16 May 2019 07:35 AM PDT  Today's daily deals roundup is a phenomenal one, so we'll get right to it. Highlights include a rare chance to sale $20 on new AirPods 2 true wireless earbuds (order even though they're out of stock so you can lock in the price, and they'll likely ship within a few weeks), the Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick 4K at their lowest prices of the year for Prime members, Alexa and Google ready smart plugs for $7.22 a piece when you use the coupon code 273MOVFC at checkout, renewed Philips Hue white LED bulbs for an all-time low of $10 a piece when you buy a 4-pack, 16-foot warm white LED light strips for $7.99 each, brand new 6th-gen iPads for an all-time low of $249, one of the best Wi-Fi range extenders on Amazon for only $14.99, $400 off the most incredible 4K home theater projector on the planet while supplies last (which won't be much longer), 400GB SanDisk microSD cards at the lowest price yet, excellent Anker Bluetooth earbuds for only $22, and more. See all of today's best deals down below.
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| US warnings to Iran driven by photos of missiles in Persian Gulf, report says Posted: 16 May 2019 11:36 AM PDT  U.S. officials told The New York Times they escalated their warnings to Iran because of intelligence showing photographs of missiles loaded onto small boats in the Persian Gulf.
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| Chelsea Manning jailed again as she refuses to testify before grand jury Posted: 16 May 2019 07:07 PM PDT  Former army private says she would 'rather starve to death' than cooperate in growing battle of wills Chelsea Manning was again behind bars on Thursday night after she was jailed for a second time for contempt of court, having refused to cooperate with a grand jury. A defiant Manning told Judge Anthony Trenga in a federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, that she would "rather starve to death" than do what the state insisted and give testimony before the grand jury. Having already served 62 days in jail, 28 of which were spent in solitary confinement, she now faces up to 18 months more in custody. Trenga further tightened the screws on the former army private by adding a financial penalty. If Manning continues to refuse testimony and remains in jail after 30 days, she will be fined $500 for every subsequent day behind bars. If she reaches 60 days, the figure will be raised to $1,000 a day. The tussle over the grand jury is now shaping up into an epic battle of wills between Virginia prosecutors determined to force Manning to testify in what they hope will be an eventual trial of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, and the former intelligence analyst, who has proven herself to have a defiant streak. In a video recording she made on the day she was released from jail a week ago following the expiry of the first grand jury, she said: "I will never agree to testify before this or any other grand jury. The government knows I cannot be coerced." The grand jury in front of which Manning has been ordered to appear is presumed to relate to the criminal prosecution of Assange. Assange has been charged with conspiring with Manning to break into military computers to help her transmit a vast trove of US state secrets to the open information organization in 2010. After Thursday's court hearing, Manning's lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, said : "In 2010, Chelsea made a principled decision to let the world see the true nature of modern asymmetric warfare. It is telling that the United States has always been more concerned with the disclosure of those documents than with the damning substance of the disclosures."
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| The Latest: Retired fisherman saved plane crash passengers Posted: 16 May 2019 07:18 AM PDT  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Latest on the midair collision of two sightseeing floatplanes in Alaska that killed six people (all times local):
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| Sen. Josh Hawley: States' tough abortion laws are response to Democrats' 'extremism' Posted: 17 May 2019 09:43 AM PDT  "Democrat politicians are actually advocating abortion in the final weeks of pregnancy," he said. "We've got to stop this kind of extremism."
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| Walmart says higher China tariffs will increase prices for U.S. shoppers Posted: 16 May 2019 04:39 PM PDT  Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart called out the impact of tariffs on consumers after Macy's Inc delivered a similar warning on Wednesday. The department store chain's Chief Executive Jeff Gennette said tariffs on Chinese imports are hitting its furniture business and warned investors that additional levies would leave its clothing and accessory categories vulnerable. U.S. President Donald Trump increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% last week.
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| Tesla Model 3 Autopilot Involved in Third Fatal Crash Posted: 17 May 2019 10:09 AM PDT  Should 10 seconds of Autopilot be able to save someone's life? In this case, it did not.
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| Trump proposes immigration overhaul to favor skilled, English-speakers Posted: 16 May 2019 02:48 PM PDT  President Donald Trump called Thursday for radical immigration reform to favor skilled, English-speaking workers over the poorly educated and shut the door on "frivolous" asylum claimants. "Currently 66 percent of legal immigrants come here based on random chance," Trump said. There is little chance that the business-minded Republican president's ideas will get anywhere in Congress, where immigration is seen as a politically toxic subject, particularly ahead of 2020 legislative and presidential elections.
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| Galaxy S10 5G now available at Verizon, starting at $1,299 Posted: 16 May 2019 08:21 AM PDT  We are another step closer to the future of wireless technology today, as Verizon has officially launched Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G smartphone. Although the Moto Z3 and its 5G Moto Mod technically beat Samsung to the punch, the Galaxy S10 5G is the first phone on sale in America with 5G capabilities built in.The phone is on sale starting today at Verizon stores and online at verizonwireless.com, but 5G service is currently only available in Chicago and Minneapolis. Verizon has confirmed 20 additional cities that will get 5G Ultra Wideband service in 2019 as well, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, and Washington DC, with even more set to be unveiled later this year. 30 cities should have 5G before 2020.You can read more about the Galaxy S10 5G in our preview from February, but the phone features a 6.7-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED display, Snapdragon 855 5G processor, 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, 4,500 mAh battery, 10-megapixel front-facing camera, and triple rear camera with a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens, 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, and 12-megapixel telephoto lens. In other words, a big leap over the standard Galaxy S10.Verizon will sell the 256GB model of the Galaxy S10 5G ($1,299) for $54.16 per month for 24 months on its payment plan, while the 512GB model ($1,399) will cost you $58.33 per month for 24 months.As for promotions, new and existing customers can trade in an eligible smartphone to save up to $450 off the price of the Galaxy S10 5G. This discount will take the form of monthly bill credits. If you're switching from another carrier, you can also get a $200 prepaid Mastercard with the purchase of an S10 5G and an unlimited plan.Finally, it's worth noting that in order to take full advantage of the phone, you will need to sign up for Verizon's Above Unlimited or Beyond Unlimited plan. Typically, access to Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband service costs an additional $10 per month, but it is included free in both plans for a limited time.
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| After Huawei blow, China says U.S. must show sincerity for talks Posted: 17 May 2019 04:08 AM PDT  China has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate against the latest escalation in trade tension, although state media has taken an increasingly strident tone, with the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily publishing a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of past wars. China's currency slid to its weakest in almost five months, although losses were capped after sources told Reuters that the central bank would ensure the yuan did not weaken past the key 7-per-dollar level in the immediate term. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about state media reports suggesting there would be no more U.S.-China trade talks, said China always encouraged resolving disputes between the two countries with dialogue and consultations. "But because of certain things the U.S. side has done during the previous China-U.S. trade consultations, we believe if there is meaning for these talks, there must be a show of sincerity," he told a daily news briefing.
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| He told her to be 'nicer' and she pushed him off a bus, authorities say. He died a month later Posted: 16 May 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Las Vegas police released video of a woman pushing a 74-year-old man off a bus, asking witnesses to come forward and describe the alleged murder.
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| Wynn and MGM in talks about sale of Encore Boston casino Posted: 17 May 2019 02:49 PM PDT  Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International said in a joint statement they've engaged in conversations about the potential sale of Encore Boston Harbor. This comes as Wynn is about to open the $2.6 billion Everett, Massachusetts, casino. The companies say the talks won't delay the Everett opening scheduled for next month.
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| The 2020 BMW M5 Edition 35 Years Has Insane Gold Interior Trim Posted: 16 May 2019 04:00 PM PDT  It gets a bunch of other cool stuff, too, but seriously, look at that trim!
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| Brexit compromise talks collapse after six weeks Posted: 17 May 2019 10:22 AM PDT  Britain's Labour opposition pulled the plug Friday on six weeks of Brexit compromise talks with Prime Minister Theresa May, blaming her evaporating authority as her premiership nears its death throes. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the gaps between them could not be bridged -- and he had no confidence that her successor would stick to any bargain they might have reached. The discussions have "gone as far as they can," Corbyn said in a letter to May.
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| Navy SEAL gets year in brig for hazing death of Green Beret Posted: 16 May 2019 06:49 PM PDT  NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A U.S. Navy SEAL was sentenced to one year in military prison on Thursday for his role in the 2017 hazing-related death of a U.S. Army Green Beret in Africa.
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| Pelosi Declares Trump’s Merit-Based Immigration Plan ‘Dead on Arrival’ Posted: 16 May 2019 03:08 PM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed the immigration reform plan unveiled by President Trump on Thursday as an unrealistic restrictionist wish-list that will meet overwhelming opposition in the Democratically-controlled House."This dead-on-arrival plan is not a remotely serious proposal," Pelosi said in a statement released hours after Trump announced the plan from the White House Rose Garden. "The White House has repackaged the worst of its past failed immigration plans: greenlighting the Administration's barbaric family detention policies, reviving the President's ineffective and wasteful wall, completely abandoning our patriotic and determined Dreamers and gutting our asylum and refugee protections, which the evangelical community has called the 'crown jewel of American humanitarianism.' To say that this plan's application criteria are 'merit-based' is the height of condescension."Trump unveiled an immigration reform plan Thursday that would increase the share of highly-educated, affluent migrants admitted to the U.S. while reforming the asylum system to make it easier to dismiss "meritless" claims before migrants are allowed to enter the country.Democrats have unanimously condemned the plan due to its failure to address the legal status of the millions of so-called Dreamers living in the country and are unlikely to concede to any of the proposed reforms absent some form of amnesty for that population.Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not explicitly endorse Trump's plan in a statement released Thursday evening."We are a nation of immigrants and we must preserve that ricj part of who wer are. But we are a nation of laws. There is a crisis at our southern border and I hope Democrats get serious soon about working with us to secure our borders and restore the rule of law to our nation, which includes reforming out-of-date legal authorities. I look forward to reviewing the president's proposal," McConnell said.McConnell's description of "out-of-date legal authorities" likely refers to federal laws that require immigration officials to admit to the country all migrants who pass a"credible fear" interview while their asylum claims are being adjudicated. That system has in part led to the overwhelming of DHS resources as record numbers of migrants, many of whom are women and children, have crossed the border in recent months seeking asylum.
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| AT&T says it was perfectly legal to sell user location data, but stopped anyway Posted: 17 May 2019 03:04 PM PDT  AT&T came under fire in the last year or so -- as did rival carriers Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile -- when press reports surfaced about the practice of carriers selling location data about its users. The Federal Communications Commission opened an investigation, and the carriers promised to drop the practice.Meanwhile, a new letter made public from AT&T actually defends the behavior it got called to the carpet on, saying the company stayed within legal bounds -- but that, fine, we went ahead and stopped the practice anyway.In the letter to FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, AT&T defends the practice of making customer location data available to aggregators in some scenarios that it says are perfectly legitimate. "There can be real, and potentially life-saving, benefits," the carrier writes, "when a towing company receives the location of a stranded motorist who does not know the nearest mile marker; or a son or daughter uses a medical alert device to locate an injured elderly parent; or a bank uses location information to thwart fraud and identify theft."Highlighting those emergency use cases is actually an important point. AT&T explains in the letter that it hasn't violated federal law because the data it's made available to third parties unbeknownst to the user is data that's known as A-GPS. That's a kind of data gathered for use in emergency situations as well as when GPS is needed, like when your Uber ride is trying to find you by your phone signal. That's different from a kind of data the FCC doesn't allow to be sold and data that's housed in what's known as the NEAD (which stands for National Emergency Address Database), which AT&T says is much more specific that A-GPS is.Thus, the AT&T letter continues, media reports "regarding the legal requirements associated with A-GPS,' are inaccurate and misplaced." The company also stresses that it ended the practice of selling user location data to aggregators and other third parties in March.A piece from The Verge on Friday, however, notes that while AT&T may be "technically correct" by saying it hasn't violated FCC rules, the sale of location data may still constitute a violation of Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934.
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| Trump says 'good chance' Democrats will back his immigration, border plan Posted: 17 May 2019 11:42 AM PDT  A day after unveiling a plan to shift to a "merit-based" immigration system, the Republican president said there was a "good chance" that Democrats would back him and provide funding to manage record migrant flows along the U.S.-Mexico border. "The Democrats now realize that there is a National Emergency at the Border and that, if we work together, it can be immediately fixed. Such talk of bipartisan cooperation on the explosive immigration issue for years has ended in failure and finger-pointing.
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| REI’s Huge Anniversary Sale Can Help You Prep for Summer Adventures Posted: 17 May 2019 11:14 AM PDT |
