| Democrats push Trump probe schedule risking campaign clash Posted: 24 Jul 2019 10:16 PM PDT  A day after former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's high-profile testimony, House Democrats vowed to push forward with an investigation of President Donald Trump that could delay any move on impeachment into the 2020 election campaign season. The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is expected to move its obstruction investigation of the president into federal court this week with a lawsuit to compel former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify and a separate legal request for access to the Mueller probe's grand jury evidence. McGahn is key to the committee's obstruction case against Trump, and Democrats contend that obtaining a court order forcing McGahn to comply would break what House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler called a "logjam" of uncooperative witnesses created White House stonewalling.
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| SC murder suspect planned escape with fire, attack on guards Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:02 AM PDT |
| Hong Kong protesters rally at airport to 'educate' visitors Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:46 AM PDT  Thousands of Hong Kongers, including flight attendants, held a rally in the airport's arrivals hall on Friday to "educate" visitors about the demonstrations currently gripping the international finance hub as it braces for another weekend of protests. The rally is the latest bid to keep pressure on Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leaders after seven weeks of largely peaceful mass demonstrations followed by violent clashes, an unprecedented challenge to Beijing's authority since the city's 1997 handover. The protests were triggered by a controversial bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but they have evolved into a call for wider democratic reforms and a halt to sliding freedoms.
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| Another 'straight pride' parade plans draw critics: 'That’s all hate crime stuff to me' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 02:54 AM PDT  Modesto, California, officials are weighing whether to approve a "straight pride" parade to "celebrate" heterosexuality and western civilization.
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| Loose tire rolls down New Jersey highway until crashing into car Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:34 PM PDT  It was a wild scene in New Jersey when a wayward tire rolled down the highway until it went flying into a moving vehicle.
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| Reuters photo captures Guatemalan mother begging soldier to let her enter U.S. Posted: 25 Jul 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Ledy Perez fell to her haunches, a clenched hand covering her face as she wept, an arm clutching her small 6-year-old son, who glared defiantly at the Mexican National Guard soldier blocking them from crossing into the United States. The plight of this mother and son who had traveled some 1,500 miles (2,410 km) from their home country of Guatemala to the border city of Ciudad Juarez, only to be stopped mere feet from the United States, was captured by Reuters photographer Jose Luis Gonzalez as twilight approached on Monday. "The woman begged and pleaded with the National Guard to let them cross ... she wanted to cross to give a better future" to her young son Anthony Diaz, Gonzalez said.
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| US border patrol chief says she didn’t realise racist Facebook group was racist Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:22 AM PDT  The revelations over secret Facebook groups popular with US Border Patrol agents were eye-popping.A constant stream of racist, sexist and violent images persisted for years, reporters revealed. Days later, officials said those responsible for posts were previously investigated, with unclear results.Then, in testimony on Wednesday, Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost acknowledged she herself was a member of one of the groups, and had been active since at least autumn 2018, according to images published by The Intercept.Her reason for involvement in the group was to evaluate "how I am representing my workforce", she told lawmakers in a hearing about oversight within her agency.Ms Provost sighed deeply. "I didn't think anything of it at the time," she told the House appropriations subcommittee, and said she was unaware about the nature of the posts until ProPublica published a report on 1 July.The posts contain caustic remarks about the deaths of migrants, sexually explicit images and xenophobic comments.Her admission raised a question: why did she not use her membership in the group to instead measure cultural sentiment among agents, attitudes about migrants or possible concerns she could address at the top?"She either missed it from failure to effectively do her job or actively avoided thinking about it," Josiah Heyman, director of the Inter-American and Border Studies centre at the University of Texas at El Paso, said on Thursday.Part of Ms Provost's duties is to visit facilities and meet agents, where front-line supervisors may downplay realities of a recruiting and morale crisis.Facebook, then, could provide an unvarnished look at how agents view themselves and their duties – or in this case, watch troubling cultural issues rise to the surface as the agency faces intense scrutiny.Ms Provost looked for candid words about her performance, Mr Heyman noted, "but she manifested no curiosity about candid things being said in other regards".More than 60 active and eight former agents are being investigated for their involvement in the group, Associated Press reported.Some posts questioned the authenticity of a photo of a drowned migrant man and his young daughter.Another showed a crudely doctored photo of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez performing forced oral sex on Donald Trump.Customs and Border Protection, the agency that includes Border Patrol, did not return a request for comment about why Ms Provost did not use the group in a manner that could have prevented the organisation's latest black eye.In her testimony, Ms Provost said she is "as outraged as everyone else".She "condemned" the posts in a message to the agency, launched investigations into agents who posted or responded to posts and turned over her passwords to agency oversight officials, who told her she had logged on to Facebook nine times over a one-year period, mostly to keep up with friends and family.Yet Ms Provost said the posts at the private group page "I'm 10-15," after the law enforcement code for "aliens in custody", were not indicative of cultural rot within the Border Patrol.She called offenders "a few bad apples" among about 20,000 agents. The group for current and former agents included about 9,500 members, though other groups exist.Mr Heyman suggested the posts indicate cultural and attitude problems that he said officials have been reluctant to address.He led a survey of about 1,100 migrants deported to Mexico, and nearly a quarter of respondents said they were verbally abused by US immigration agents, primarily Border Patrol. 11 per cent reported physical abuse."The posts are very consistent with that we found," he said. It's not just 'this person is out of status, and I need to apply law ... but I hate this person, I want to humiliate this person'."Washington Post
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| India farmers shocked as suspected meteorite crashes into rice field Posted: 25 Jul 2019 02:29 AM PDT  A suspected meteorite the size of a football plunged into a rice field in eastern India, startling farmers, authorities said Thursday. "The farmers were working in the paddy field when this heavy rock fell from the sky with a very loud noise," Shirsat Kapil Ashok, the magistrate for Madhubani district in Bihar state, told AFP. The find is being analysed by scientists as a possible meteorite.
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| Kellyanne Conway signals the GOP line on Mueller: He 'may be feeble' Posted: 25 Jul 2019 09:22 AM PDT  The White House counselor on Thursday endorsed a talking point that has emerged in the aftermath of the former special counsel's testimony before Congress.
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| North Carolina woman who hurled racial slur at black diners in viral video: 'I would say it again' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:29 AM PDT  A woman whose profane, racist rant inside a North Carolina restaurant wascaught on camera says she will not apologize for the incident
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| Gunmen dressed as police steal £24 million of gold destined for New York and Zurich from Sao Paulo airport Posted: 26 Jul 2019 01:29 AM PDT  Eight armed men carried out a sophisticated heist at Sao Paulo's main international airport and managed to escape with some 750 kilos of precious metals, airport authorities said Thursday. GRU Airport, which holds the Guarulhos operation concession, said the thieves hauled away gold destined for Zurich and New York by using two cars that looked like police patrol vehicles. They also dressed as officers, covered their faces and carried long weapons before making their getaway, according to security camera footage shown on Globo TV. The television outlet said the vehicles were later abandoned in Jardim Pantanal, a neighborhood located 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the airport. The operator said there were no shootings or injuries during the assault. But a police officer said an airport official and eight members of his extended family, including four minors, had been kidnapped for 12 hours. They were expected to give testimony in the next few hours, he added. The officer requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Sao Paulo police said they had reinforced surveillance around the area and were searching for the stolen cargo. GRU Airport said flights continue to operate normally.
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| Amanda Knox faces backlash for crowdfunding her wedding: 'I'm a figure to be demonized' Posted: 24 Jul 2019 05:53 PM PDT  Amanda Knox has shared her space-themed wedding website and receiving criticism for "crowdfunding." Here's what she thinks of the backlash.
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| Dr. Leana Wen's departure from Planned Parenthood exposes the organization's true identity Posted: 25 Jul 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Leana Wen's firing captures what pro-life activists have been arguing for years, that Planned Parenthood cares only about maintaining abortion clinics
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| Russia warns UK media of consequences after London fines one of its TV channels Posted: 26 Jul 2019 06:50 AM PDT ![Russia warns UK media of consequences after London fines one of its TV channels]( "Russia warns UK media of consequences after London fines one of its TV channels") Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday warned British media operating in Russia that they should be ready to face the consequences after a British regulator fined Russia's RT state-financed TV channel. Moscow was responding after Ofcom, Britain's media regulator, earlier on Friday fined RT 200,000 pounds ($248,740) for breaching broadcasting impartiality rules in its coverage of the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal, the policies of Ukraine and the conflict in Syria.
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| View Photos of our New Long-Term 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt Posted: 25 Jul 2019 10:44 AM PDT |
| House Dems back subpoenas for Ivanka, Jared private emails Posted: 25 Jul 2019 03:16 PM PDT  The House Oversight Committee voted along party lines Thursday to authorize subpoenas for personal emails and texts used for official business by top White House aides, including Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the panel's chairman, said the committee has obtained "direct evidence" that the president's daughter, Kushner and other top aides were using personal accounts for official business in violation of federal law and White House policy. "What we do not yet know is why these White House officials were attempting to conceal these communications," Cummings said, adding that the White House has refused to produce a single piece of paper this year in response to the investigation.
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| US Navy Seals platoon sent home from Iraq for drinking alcohol as sexual assault allegations investigated Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:04 AM PDT  The commander of a US Special Operations task force in Iraq has sent home a platoon of Navy SEALs for drinking while deployed after an alleged sexual assault by one of them, US defence officials said, the latest discipline incident that has emerged for an elite force relied upon heavily by the Pentagon.US Special Operations Command said in a statement on Wednesday night that the platoon was forced out early to San Diego by the commander of the task force, Major General Eric Hill, "due to a perceived deterioration of good order and discipline within the team during non-operational periods" of their deployment."The Commander lost confidence in the team's ability to accomplish the mission," the statement said. "Commanders have worked to mitigate the operational impact as this SEAL platoon follows a deliberate redeployment."The statement did not say what led to the decision, but a defence official with knowledge of the situation said that a female service member working with their platoon reported being sexually assaulted by one of the SEALs during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said the report triggered scrutiny of the platoon, including drinking while deployed.The SEALs declined to cooperate with investigators, prompting Maj Gen Hill to send them home for both that and the alcohol use, the official said. The reported assault was first reported on Thursday by the New York Times.A second person, a senior US Navy official, said on Thursday that he was aware of alleged sexual misconduct being a part of the case, but was not sure if an assault had been reported.The officials said that the SEALs involved violated General Order No. 1, which bans alcohol use while deployed.The SEALs were members of SEAL Team 7, which has headquarters in San Diego when not deployed, one of the defence officials said.The defence official familiar with the sexual assault report said that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is overseeing the sexual assault case, while other military officials investigate administratively the culture and actions in the unit.Commander Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman for Naval Special Warfare Command, said in a statement on Wednesday night that her unit is "actively reinforcing" with the entire force "basic leadership, readiness, responsibility and ethical principles that must form the foundation of special operations"."Leaders at all levels must lead in a way that sustains and sharpens that foundation," she said. "Discipline is a competitive advantage, and enforcing those standards is critical to our success on the battlefield."The disclosure by the military comes two days after the independent Navy Times reported that six members of SEAL Team 10 in Virginia Beach tested positive last year for cocaine use.Some of them had masked their use of it in previous tests, some of the SEALs told investigators, Navy Times reported.The Iraq incident also comes after Navy SEALs were implicated in the death of Army Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar, a Special Forces soldier who was strangled in Mali in June 2017.Two members of SEAL Team 6 – Chief Special Warfare Operator Adam Matthews and Chief Special Warfare Operator Anthony DeDolph – and two Marine Raiders were charged with murder.Mr Matthews and one of the Marines, Staff Sergeant Kevin Maxwell, have pleaded guilty to lesser charges, and testified that Mr Melgar was accidentally killed in what the military has called a hazing incident involving alcohol.Another SEAL, Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher, recently faced court-martial on war-crimes charges that included murder.He was acquitted of the most serious charges but was convicted of posing for an unlawful photo with the remains of an Isis fighter.The government's case against him fell apart after another SEAL who was offered immunity from prosecution to testify said under oath that he, not Mr Gallagher, had been the one who killed a wounded Isis fighter.Washington Post
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| Ally Kostial murder: Former-neighbor shares dark details about suspect in Ole Miss student's death Posted: 25 Jul 2019 11:46 AM PDT  " "I'm not going to sugar coat it, he was pretty much a daddy's boy type,"University of Mississippi student Rex Ravita told KMOV
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| 27 children removed from Montana treatment facility over allegations of 'egregious' abuse Posted: 26 Jul 2019 03:22 PM PDT  The allegations include physical and psychological abuse and assault at the Ranch for Kids in Rexford, Montana health officials said Tuesday.
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| 3 charged in instances of NYPD officers doused with water in Manhattan, Brooklyn Posted: 24 Jul 2019 08:25 PM PDT  Police on Wednesday announced that three men have been arrested in connection with incidents of on-duty NYPD officers being drenched with water.
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| Blunder sees Donald Trump appear with fake presidential seal mocking golf and Russia links Posted: 25 Jul 2019 01:13 PM PDT  President Donald Trump has accidentally appeared on stage alongside a doctored image of the US presidential seal which seemed to mock his love of golf and the controversy over Russian links. The version that appeared behind Mr Trump during a speech had the eagle at the centre of the seal carrying a number of golf clubs rather than arrows. The eagle also had two heads rather than one, bearing a resemblance to Russia's coat of arms, which features the heads of two birds turned away from each other. The image formed part of the backdrop as Mr Trump took to the stage for a speech to the conservative student group Turning Point USA on Tuesday. CNN reported that an audiovisual aide for the group had been fired after the blunder, with a source telling the broadcaster that there was "zero malicious intent". It was claimed that one of the group's team had searched on Google for a version of the presidential seal to use for the video display and had accidentally selected the wrong image. The doctored seal was displayed on stage while Donald Trump gave a speech on Tuesday Credit: Chris Kleponis/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX "We're sorry for the mix-up and meant no disrespect to the White House or the President or the advance team," a Turning Point USA source told CNN. Seeking the origins of the fake seal, The Washington Post found a website that sells merchandise with the doctored image. In those versions the seal is accompanied with the words "45 es un títere," which in Spanish translates to "45 is a puppet". Mr Trump is America's 45th president. The words inscribed on the real presidential seal are "E pluribus unum", the American motto which means "out of many, one". The fake seal appears to be joking about the fact that Mr Trump has spent more than 150 days at golf courses he owns since taking office. His campaign's ties to the Kremlin have also been investigated by a special counsel and overshadowed much of the early Trump presidency. No criminal conspiracy was found. A White House official told CNN they had not seen the seal before it appeared at Tuesday's event. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
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| So Much of the Arctic Is on Fire, You Can See It From Space Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:09 AM PDT  Wildfires burning large swaths of Russia are generating so much smoke, they're visible from space, new images from NASA's Earth Observatory reveal.Since June, more than 100 wildfires have raged across the Arctic, which is especially dry and hot this summer. In Russia alone, wildfires are burning in 11 of the country's 49 regions, meaning that even in fire-free areas, people are choking on smoke that is blowing across the country.The largest fires -- blazes likely ignited by lightning -- are located in the regions of Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Buryatia, according to the Earth Observatory. These conflagrations have burned 320 square miles (829 square kilometers), 150 square miles (388 square km) and 41 square miles (106 square km) in these regions, respectively, as of July 22. [In Photos: Fossil Forest Unearthed in the Arctic]The above natural-color image, taken on July 21, shows plumes rising from fires on the right side of the photo. Winds carry the smoke toward the southwest, where it mixes with a storm system. The image was captured with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP, a weather satellite operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The Russian city of Krasnoyarsk is under a layer of haze, the Earth Observatory reported. And while Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city, doesn't have any fires as of now, smoke carried there by the winds caused the city's air quality to plummet.Wildfires are also burning in Greenland and parts of Alaska, following what was the hottest June in recorded history. It's common for fires to burn during the Arctic's summer months, but the number and extent this year are "unusual and unprecedented," Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), a part of the European Union's Earth observation program, told CNN.These fires are taking a toll on the atmosphere; they've released about 100 megatons of carbon dioxide from June 1 to July 21, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide Belgium released in 2017, according to CAMS, CNN reported.The Arctic is heating up faster than other parts of the world, making it easier for fires to thrive there. In Siberia, for example, the average June temperature this year is nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than the long-term average between 1981 and 2010, Claudia Volosciuk, a scientist with the World Meteorological Organization, told CNN.Many of this summer's fires are burning farther north than usual, and some appear to be burning in peat soils, rather than in forests, Thomas Smith, an assistant professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics, told USA Today. This is a dangerous situation, because whereas forests might typically burn for a few hours, peat soils can blaze for days or even months, Smith said.Moreover, peat soils are known carbon reservoirs. As they burn, they release carbon, "which will further exacerbate greenhouse warming, leading to more fires," Smith said. * In Photos: The Deadly Carr Fire Blazes Across Northern California * In Photos: Devastating Wildfires in Northern California * In Photos: The Vanishing Ice of Baffin IslandOriginally published on Live Science.
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| Russia warns of 'consequences' after Ukraine seizes tanker Posted: 25 Jul 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Ukraine on Thursday seized a Russian tanker it said was used in a naval confrontation last November amid sensitive prisoner swap talks between the two countries who have been at loggerheads since 2014. Kiev's SBU security service said it stopped the tanker, the Neyma, as it entered the port of Izmail in the southern Odessa region. Investigators seized documents onboard and questioned crew members, an SBU statement said.
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| 2 North Carolina bomb squad agents injured in explosion Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:29 AM PDT |
| View Photos of the 2020 BMW 2-series Gran Coupe Prototype Posted: 25 Jul 2019 05:02 AM PDT |
| American Airlines passenger smashes laptop on partner's head in viral clip Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:13 AM PDT  An unruly passenger was removed from an American Airlines plane at Miami International Airport Sunday after she smashed a laptop over her partner's head.
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| Widow of serial killer's victim: 'Mr. Kohlhepp, I forgive you' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  Sixteen years after her husband was gunned down, Melissa Brackman and her teenage son were face-to-face with the killer inside a courtroom.
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| US teenager detained at border lost 26 pounds in a month: 'It was inhumane how they treated us' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 11:38 AM PDT  A US teenager who was detained by border agents for nearly a month, has detailed bleak conditions during his stay, saying: "They were not treating us humanely."Francisco Galicia, who was born in Texas, was detained at a customs and border agency (CBP) checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas on June 27 while travelling with his brother Marlon, a 17-year-old who was born in Mexico, who was also detained. After two days of detention, Marlon signed a voluntary deportation form and was released to his grandmother. Francisco, who was finally released this week, said he almost did the same thing. "It was inhumane how they treated us," he told the Dallas Morning News. "It got to the point where I was ready to sign a deportation paper just to not be suffering there anymore. I just needed to get out of there."Francisco, 18, lost 26 pounds during the 23 days he was detained at the CBP facility due to lack of food. He was not allowed to shower for the duration of his stay, but was given a shower once he was moved to an immigration enforcement agency (ICE) facility. "It was to clean up but the dirt, but you couldn't get rid of it because so much time had passed since we showered," he said.He and 60 other men were held in an overcrowded holding area where they slept on the floor; some were forced to sleep on the restroom area's floor. They were given only aluminium foil blankets.Francisco said ticks bit some of the men. Some were also "very sick", he said, but afraid to ask for a doctor, since CBP officers told them their stay would start over if they did."It's one thing to see these conditions on TV and in the news," he said. "It's another to go through them."The horrifying saga began when officers at the Falfurrias checkpoint questioned his citizenship status. The teenager also had a Mexican tourist visa his mother had obtained for him when he was a minor and she feared she would not be able to legally travel across the border with him.But Francisco says the officers sounded the validity of his identification documents even before knowing that. "I told them we had rights and asked to make a phone call. But they told us, 'You don't have rights to anything,'" he told CNN. "They didn't believe me. I kept telling them over and over, and they kept saying my documents were fake, and they were going to deport me.They threatened me with charges – charges about falsifying documents. Felonies. They kept asking how it was possible for me to not know where I was from."Powerless. That's how I felt," he continued. "How with all this proof that I was giving them could they hold me?" Now, he wants to use his experience to shed light on the sordid conditions enacted by the Trump administration in the camps. "Right now, I'm in a place where I can help those who are still in there – so people can see how they're treated, and change the way they're treated," he said. "I am the eyes and ears of what's happening in there. I can talk. They can't do what I'm doing."
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| Fire and fury: With missile launch, North Korea shows ire at neighbor Posted: 26 Jul 2019 01:51 AM PDT |
| Basil From Mexico Is Likely Cause of Cyclospora Food Poisoning Outbreak Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:04 PM PDT  A food poisoning outbreak tied to 132 cyclospora illnesses in 11 states was likely caused by fresh basil imported from Mexico by Siga Logistics de RL de CV, the Food and Drug Administration annou...
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| Should the U.S. Navy Take Iranian Submarines as a Serious Threat? Posted: 25 Jul 2019 08:00 PM PDT  Four years ago, Iran also launched its own domestically built Fateh-class submarine. The homemade vessel may lack modern features such as antiship missiles or quiet Air Independent Propulsion system, but it does seem to be the genuine article—not something one should take for granted with reports of new Iranian weapons.The Iranian military has long planned for a defensive naval war in the Persian Gulf, in which it would leverage its large fleet of fast attack boats toting antiship missiles to launch swarming hit-and-run attacks on adversaries in along Persian Gulf, with the ultimate goal of shutting down passage through the Straits of Hormuz.Supporting this naval guerilla-warfare strategy are twenty-one indigenously produced Ghadir-class mini submarines, derived from the North Korean Yono class. The 120-ton vessels can poke around at eleven knots (thirteen miles per hour) and each carry two 533-millimeter torpedoes. All in all, shallow littoral waters are very favorable for mini-submarine operations, with interference from rocky shallows and loud surf reducing sonar detection ranges and giving mini submarines abundant opportunities to hide and wait in ambush. On the high end of the capability spectrum, Iran operates three much larger and more capable Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines purchased from Russia in the 1990s. These can comfortably hunt in the waters of the Indian Ocean.(This first appeared in October 2017.)Recommended: Could the Battleship Make a Comeback?
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| Syrian girls captured in viral photo fight for survival Posted: 26 Jul 2019 07:41 AM PDT  The picture went viral on social media networks: two dust-covered Syrian girls, trapped in rubble, grab their baby sister from her shirt as she dangles from a bombed-out building. The picture was captured on Wednesday by Bashar al-Sheikh, a photographer working with local news website SY24, moments after warplanes pummelled the town of Ariha in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. Of the three girls shown in the photo, one is dead and two are fighting to stay alive, after regime airstrikes hit their home, said Dr. Ismail, who treated the victims in a nearby hospital but asked that his last name not be revealed.
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| This Might Be the Most Important Exchange in the Mueller Testimony Posted: 25 Jul 2019 04:56 PM PDT  Special counsel Robert Mueller didn't bring conspiracy charges, but it may be because of the obstruction he encountered.
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| Father of slain Mississippi student Ally Kostial shares heartbreaking photo on day of her vigil Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:35 PM PDT  The father of murdered University of Mississippi student Ally Kostial took to Facebook to share a photo of his daughter taken when she was a small child.
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| See the McLaren 600LT Pikes Peak Collection Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:10 AM PDT |
| 'Beyond disturbing': A teen girl was beaten as onlookers laughed, viral video shows Posted: 25 Jul 2019 10:17 AM PDT  Chicago police are investigating an attack on a teenage girl struck by a group of people as onlookers laughed.
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| U.S. tax collectors urge owners of virtual currencies to pay back taxes, file amended returns Posted: 26 Jul 2019 11:06 AM PDT |
| Trump-supporting Republican hoping to oust Ilhan Omar charged with stealing from shops Posted: 26 Jul 2019 08:11 AM PDT  A Donald Trump-supporting Republican running against Ilhan Omar for Congress in 2020 is accused of shoplifting hundreds of items from stores in Minnesota, according to reports.Danielle Stella, the 31-year-old candidate for the Midwest state, is believed to have been charged with felony theft after getting arrested at a branch of Target in the suburbs of Minneapolis.The Republican is accused of stealing 279 items worth just over $2,300 (£1,850) from the popular retailer in January, and attempting to rob a bottle of tick spray for cats at a nearby grocery store in April."I am not guilty of these crimes. In this country I am innocent until proven guilty and that is the law," she said in a series of text messages to The Guardian after it first reported details of the criminal complaint."If I was guilty of crimes, I would never run for public office, putting myself in the public eye under a microscope to be attacked by all political sides."Earlier this week, Ms Stella was revealed to be an apparent supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory.The online movement claims – without any basis in fact – that people working for the Trump administration are dropping clues about a "deep state" network of paedophiles.A representative of her campaign told the Right Wing Watch website that Ms Stella "stands 100%" with QAnon.A former Stella campaign aide later told The Daily Beast that the candidate "tries to portray herself as she supports it, but she doesn't even understand it".Last month Ms Stella officially registered as a Republican candidate for Minnesota's fifth district, currently represented by Ms Omar – one of the four congresswoman of colour attacked by Mr Trump in his racist "go back" tweets.This week the right-wing candidate accused Ms Omar of "trying to start a civil war of race baiting this Country," and repeated Mr Trump's rhetoric by saying the so-called "squad" were "attempting to destroy our Country from within".
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| Are Catholic politicians in Washington doing more harm than good? Posted: 26 Jul 2019 08:30 AM PDT ![Are Catholic politicians in Washington doing more harm than good?]( "Are Catholic politicians in Washington doing more harm than good?") Despite Catholic teachings being some of the most outspoken when it comes to defending the unborn and standing against abortion, statistics show that when speaking about Catholic politicians on Capitol Hill, there is a wide disconnect between their faith and their politics. Matthew Schmitz, the editor of First Things magazine, is here to discuss his recent article that claims the unborn would have less to fear, 'if every Catholic were removed from Congress tomorrow.'
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| EU partners warn Johnson against Brexit 'provocations' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 09:29 AM PDT  Britain's European partners Friday warned Boris Johnson that his hardline Brexit stance was putting the UK on a "collision course" with the EU and called on the new premier to avoid "provocations". Johnson is planning meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the next few weeks, officials said Friday, as the British premier insists he will renegotiate the UK's divorce accord with the European Union. Macron extended the invitation to Johnson in a call late Thursday from his official summer vacation residence in the south of France, where he is expected to stay for the next three weeks, said an aide.
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| Turkey determined to destroy 'terror corridor' in Syria Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:09 AM PDT  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his country is determined to destroy "to pieces" what he called a "terror corridor" in northern Syrian — regardless of whether or not Turkey and the United States agree on the establishment of a safe zone. Officials from the U.S. and Turkey have been holding talks for a safe zone east of the river Euphrates to address Turkey's security concerns stemming from the presence of Kurdish fighters in the region. Turkey views Kurdish fighters — who have battled the Islamic State group alongside U.S. forces — as terrorists, allied with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.
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| Warren Fellowship Applicants: Campaign Program Was a ‘Great Scam’ Posted: 26 Jul 2019 01:34 AM PDT  Stephen Lam/ReutersSen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has built much of her political career as a champion of workers and consumers against the deceptive and exploitative practices of corporations and employers.But as she navigates the latest chapter of that career arc—a run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency—the Massachusetts Democrat faces criticism from several of her own supporters who said the lowest tier of her campaign structure doesn't match the image she projects. Two early converts to Warren described the process for entry into her campaign's volunteer fellowship program as deceptive and at times exploitative in interviews with The Daily Beast. They said they were pushed toward unpaid positions over paid ones, misled over the availability of financial assistance, and asked to sign highly restrictive nondisclosure agreements that worker advocacy groups concede are irregular. Both applicants verified their accounts with emails and text messages from the Warren campaign. The complaints from those offered unpaid fellowships could raise new questions for Warren as she seeks to put her lengthy history of advocating for consumer and worker rights at the center of her rising campaign. "What was sold to me was very different than it actually was," said Jonathan Nendze, a rising senior at Seton Hall University who was offered a volunteer fellowship position on Warren's campaign. "It was kind of a great scam of getting people to show up and work in the capacity of volunteer, but to function as a paid intern in the amount of work they're doing," he said.Like other Democrats running for the White House, Warren's campaign offers paid internships. But unlike many others, the campaign also offers volunteer fellowships and volunteer fellowships for academic credit. Earlier this month, The Daily Beast reported that some workers' rights groups and activists worried that having an unpaid option could lead to a loophole for campaigns to exploit free labor. In the aftermath of that report, two applicants who were offered positions in Warren's volunteer fellowship program in early-voting states came forward to say that they felt their experiences illustrated those fears. Nendze told The Daily Beast that he drove about five hours from Little Falls, New Jersey, to Manchester, New Hampshire, for what he hoped would be an exciting entryway into the field of political campaigns. Prior to arriving in Manchester, he said, he had multiple communications with Warren campaign workers over the fellowship program. But as those talks continued, it became increasingly unclear what the difference between volunteer fellow and paid intern was."The way they always communicated it was always fellow/intern, like they were synonymous," he said. "Their application kind of took advantage of people who were really eager to get experience."Prior to orientation, Nendze said he was told multiple times that an organizer would get back to him about possible payment. "I was getting super-concerned," Nendzes said. "I had no information about where to go, if I was being paid. If they had told me upfront that I was unpaid, maybe I would have been able to prepare better."Ultimately, Nendze was offered a position as a volunteer fellow. As part of the on-boarding process, he was sent a mandatory non-disclosure agreement—to sign upon accepting the offer and passing the campaign's vetting process—stating that volunteer fellows would "not communicate with any member of the press" or "make any statement that may impair or otherwise adversely affect the goodwill or reputation" of Warren for President, Inc., among other provisions. The Campaign Workers Guild, a group focused on improving working conditions on campaigns, said providing NDAs to unpaid volunteers on campaigns is not a common practice, though it occasionally happens in large-scale races. Former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the only Democratic 2020 campaigns to offer a similar unpaid fellowship program, does not require volunteer fellows to sign NDAs, a campaign official confirmed. Nendze said he did not sign the agreement. The emails sent to Nendze were reviewed by The Daily Beast. Warren's campaign, which brought in $19.1 million in fundraising during the second quarter of 2019, declined to comment specifically on the use of NDAs for volunteer fellowship positions. Additionally, it has defended the use of unpaid volunteer fellowships on grounds that many fellows "receive stipends from educational institutions or other third-parties" and that those in the intern and fellowship programs have "access to cost-free supporter housing while they're working in-state." But according to internal campaign emails obtained by The Daily Beast, the campaign has not always clearly conveyed this to the fellows themselves. In one email to Nendze and other incoming fellows, Eleanor Wood, the campaign's New Hampshire's deputy organizing director, wrote that the team would "do our best" to provide housing, rather than guarantee it."If you are moving to NH, we will do our best to provide summer supporter housing," Wood wrote in an email dated on May 31, describing "a cohort of 50+ volunteer fellows and paid interns" in New Hampshire. The Warren campaign reiterated that all fellows and interns receive free housing. The promise of free housing was the biggest draw for Cole, a political science major who recently graduated from the University of Chicago and initially agreed to a volunteer fellowship position with the Warren campaign in Des Moines, Iowa. Cole, who asked that his last name not be used, recalled telling Grace Smith—a Polk County field organizer with the Warren campaign—that he didn't believe he could cover living expenses without being paid. "She said it's totally understandable," he said, describing their conversation. "There's this great housing program," Cole said Smith stressed.Cole was offered the position by Smith over the phone on May 24. The following night, she sent a text message saying she was "hoping to hear back" from Cole about a decision that day. It was just a few hours before midnight, according to records reviewed by The Daily Beast."She was really, really selling me on it in a way that she just wanted me to say yes to add another person," Cole said. He ultimately texted back that would commit to joining the campaign for the summer.Cole's initial excitement over the post—Warren was his first choice in the Democratic field of nearly two dozen contenders—soon dissipated, as he became increasingly concerned about the demands and benefits of the fellowship program.In one email exchange, Cole asked Smith about the ease of getting around Des Moines without a car, which he made clear he would not have for the program. He was told that it was not necessary but "may require a fair amount of Ubers" and that he could "probably snag a good amount of rides from other fellows and/or staff here and there," according to internal emails. Cole said he immediately became concerned with the potential costs associated with taking frequent Uber rides when he was not being paid. Like Nendze, Cole was also concerned about the availability of housing while he volunteered for the Warren campaign. Those fears were assuaged somewhat when Anna Kucher, the campaign's regional organizing director based in Iowa, sent an email sent to interns and fellows introducing herself on May 26. About two weeks later, she sent a follow-up note. "I know you are all anxious to receive your housing details, and I will be sending out emails on a rolling basis based on when you submitted your request from Today - Thursday," she wrote on June 10. "Don't worry about not having a bed to sleep in, we have enough hosts confirmed and are just putting together the puzzle pieces of folks timeline here in IA, allergies, etc. Once you receive your host contact info, it's very important that you reach out to the immediately within 24 hours to confirm logistics and details of your arrival!"But six days before the fellowship was slated to begin, Cole said he had still not yet heard anything about his free supporter housing assignment. He said he ultimately felt relieved that he was offered a paid position at a firm elsewhere, which he decided to accept, after not hearing about the housing arrangements days before he was expected to relocate."Before you start a campaign you should have these basic processes done," he said. "To be treated the way I was is disheartening." Just under a week after The Daily Beast contacted Warren's campaign to detail multiple specific complaints from applicants offered volunteer fellowship positions, it appears someone decided the campaign's most junior members could use rallying. On July 24, Warren hosted a call featuring campaign manager Roger Lau to thank interns and fellows in her program. After the call, an outpouring of praise surfaced on social media, with about a dozen people tweeting their gratitude for the candidate's outreach. "HI @ewarren CALLED ALL OF THE FELLOWS AND INTERNS ON HER CAMPAIGN TODAY AND I ONLY CRIED A LITTLE!!! FEELING SO SO SO BLESSED TO WORK FOR OUR NEXT PRESIDENT AND FEELING SO LUCKY THAT SHE'S SO WONDERFUL AND SMART AND CARES SO MUCH ABOUT EVERY PERSON ON HER TEAM!!! BRB CRYING AGAIN," one person tweeted. "REAL PIC OF ME LISTENING TO @ewarren AS SHE CALLS EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF HER CAMPAIGN FELLOWS AND INTERNS TO THANK US FOR OUR WORK IN THE FIELD!!!!!!!!! ������������������" another tweeted. 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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| Austrian triathlete Nathalie Birli survives kidnapping after convincing man to free her Posted: 26 Jul 2019 06:59 AM PDT  An Austrian triathlete survived a kidnapping in which she was first hit by a car, tied up with duct tape and then taken to a remote house where she was held for hours before convincing her abductor to release her, police said. A 33-year-old man has been arrested. Nathalie Birli, 27, was training with her bicycle on a road in Kumberg in southern Austria on Tuesday afternoon when she was abducted, Graz police spokesman Fritz Grundnig said. The attacker, whose name wasn't given according to Austrian privacy rules, was arrested on Wednesday. Birli said that she was on her bicycle when a car rammed into her and knocked her over, according to an interview published in local newspaper Krone on Thursday. She said she broke her left arm in the fall and the driver then beat her with a stick and threw her into the back seat. Birli, who has a 14-week-old son, said that she lost consciousness for a while, and when she woke up she was naked and tied to an armchair, Krone reported. "He was full of hatred," she said. "He blindfolded me, forced me to drink wine and schnapps and he always held a knife in his hand." Birli said at some point he held her nose and mouth and she thought he wanted to suffocate her but then stopped and forced her into a bathtub with cold water "to drown me." She said the situation began to change when she saw that there were a lot of orchids in the house and she expressed her admiration for the plants. "All of a sudden the attacker was nice to me," Birli told Krone. He told her that he was a gardener and started talking about his horrible life - "a dead father, a mother addicted to alcohol and girlfriends who betrayed him," Birli said. Birli said that was the moment when she suggested a "deal" to the man. "'Let's pretend it was an accident,' I offered him, 'and you let me go.'" He agreed, took off the duct tape and drove her all the way home, she said. "I went right into the house, locked the door and called my partner," Birli said. Police managed to track down the suspect and he was arrested early Wednesday by Austria's Cobra special forces. Birli, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, said the experience was like a "bad movie" and thanked all who went out looking for her when she was missing. "Thank God I could liberate myself, and other than a fractured arm and a head injury, I'm fine," she said.
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