| We need an active, robust Republican primary with choices that aren't Donald Trump Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:00 AM PDT  The presidency hasn't changed Trump, he is changing the presidency. I hope he gets more primary challengers. Give Republicans a chance to reject him.
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| Candidates hope to replicate Ocasio-Cortez's tactics across the country Posted: 25 Aug 2019 02:01 AM PDT  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., stunned the political world last year when she pulled off an upset victory against a 10-term incumbent who held a leadership position in the Democratic caucus. Now candidates are looking to replicate some of her tactics to take on Democratic incumbents across the country. According to the group the Justice Democrats, which backed Ocasio-Cortez in her race, the first-time candidate succeeded in part because of her unique social media strategy, a refusal to take money from large corporations and her recognition of issues that resonate with millennials.
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| Man found with mummified remains called dangerous to society Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:11 PM PDT  Prosecutors called a New Jersey man "dangerous to society" after pieces of a human body were found in his closet, including a head, part of an arm, and a torso dressed in a necktie and suit jacket. Robert Williams, of Newark, pleaded not guilty Monday to desecrating human remains and separate charges of child sexual abuse. Police initially went to Williams' home to investigate allegations he abused a 12- to 13-year-old boy over several months, but when they searched the apartment they found an altar and mummified human remains that had apparently been used in religious ceremonies, according to prosecutors.
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| Eggs from last northern white rhinos fertilized, scientists say Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:51 AM PDT  Seven eggs from the world's last two remaining northern white rhinos have been successfully fertilized artificially, reviving hopes of saving the endangered animals, scientists said on Monday. The world's last male northern white rhinoceros, a 45-year-old named Sudan, died last year in Kenya, leaving only the two surviving female members of the species. Najin and Fatu are Sudan's daughter and grand-daughter and the three animals lived together at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, about 250km (155 miles) north of Nairobi, where Sudan died.
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| Saudi intercepts six Yemen rebel missiles: coalition Posted: 25 Aug 2019 01:23 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia intercepted six missiles fired by Yemeni rebels at the southern city of Jizan on Sunday, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, as the insurgents escalate cross-border attacks. The missiles fired by the Iran-aligned Huthis targeted civilians in Jizan, the coalition said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency. The rebels' Al-Masirah television said the Huthis had launched 10 "Badr 1" ballistic missiles targeting military aircraft and apache helicopters in Jizan airport and nearby military sites.
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| Four face charges in deaths of 12 Florida nursing home patients following Hurricane Irma Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:08 PM PDT  A dozen patients died at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills when the facility's air conditioning power went out amid sweltering heat.
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| Apple and Samsung phones are reportedly being investigated by the FCC for emitting too much radiation Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:33 AM PDT  The iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 — and Samsung's Galaxy S8, Galaxy S9, and Galaxy J3 — emitted more radiation than they should have in an independent test.
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| A Giant Raft of Volcanic Rock From an Underwater Eruption Could Help Revive the Great Barrier Reef Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Chunks of rock from an underwater volcano are carrying living organisms
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| 7 escape injury in fiery plane crash at California airport Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:06 AM PDT  Seven people escaped unhurt when a large transport plane they were on crash-landed and caught fire at Southern California's Santa Barbara Airport, authorities said. The crew declared an emergency and diverted to Santa Barbara, where it landed on its belly and skidded along a runway, the FAA said. Firefighters sprayed the aircraft with foam to douse the flames sparked in the crash.
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| Exclusive: Iran says it will not negotiate missile work, wants to export more oil Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:47 AM PDT  Iran wants to export a minimum of 700,000 barrels per day of its oil and ideally up to 1.5 million bpd if the West wants to negotiate with Tehran to save a 2015 nuclear deal, two Iranian officials and one diplomat told Reuters on Sunday. A second official said "Iran's ballistic missile programme cannot and will not be negotiated.
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| These Luxury Watches Are Trending Now Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Former Staffers Urge Gillibrand to End ‘Performative and Obnoxious’ Presidential Campaign Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:23 AM PDT  Two of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's former staffers are urging the New York Democrat to discontinue her 2020 presidential campaign rather than continue fighting to qualify for the next Democrat primary debate."It would be best if she decided that this was not her time," one longtime Gillibrand fundraiser told the New York Post. "Most people that I talk to are very happy with her as their senator and don't want her to give up her Senate seat and don't see any realistic traction for her."Gillibrand, who has yet to breach one percent in major national polls, is working to secure the 130,000 individual donations required to appear on the debate stage next month in Houston — an appearance that one former staffer believes will only serve to harm her future political career."I don't know that anyone even wants to see her on the debate stage. Everyone I have talked to finds her performative and obnoxious," a former senior staffer in Gillibrand's Senate office told the Post."She comes across as an opportunist to the public. I think that's the biggest problem," said the staffer, noting Gillibrand's reversal on gun rights and immigration restrictionism, causes she championed as a member of the House representing a rural upstate New York district but later abandoned when she ran for the upper chamber. "I think she'll have to seriously evaluate her campaign and her candidacy if she doesn't make this debate."Gillibrand has received roughly 115,000 individual donations, which places her behind upstart candidate Marianne Williamson, a self-help author with no political experience who has already surpassed the threshold required to qualify for the next debate.
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| Mass shootings are a call to arms for some black Americans, not a moment for gun control Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:00 AM PDT  Black gun rights advocates say limiting access would make them more vulnerable to racist attacks, especially in the absence of real problem solving.
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| Sidney Rittenberg, former American advisor to Mao, dies at age 98 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:40 AM PDT  Sidney Rittenberg, a former American advisor to Mao Tse-tung who spent long spells in prison as he fell in and out of favor with China's communist leaders, has died in the state of Arizona, the New York Times reported. The rebellious son of a prominent family from Charleston, South Carolina, Rittenberg arrived in China as a US army linguist at the end of World War II, and was soon swept up in the country's epochal civil war and communist revolution. Hiking 46 days to reach Mao's mountain redoubt, he served as an interpreter and traveled with the red army.
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| 'Words and pictures matter': Two Alaska 13-year-olds arrested for middle school shooting plans, police say Posted: 25 Aug 2019 06:27 PM PDT !['Words and pictures matter': Two Alaska 13-year-olds arrested for middle school shooting plans, police say]( "'Words and pictures matter': Two Alaska 13-year-olds arrested for middle school shooting plans, police say") Alaska authorities arrested two 13-year-old students for planning to bring a gun to their school and shoot people, the Juneau Police Department said.
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| 7 dead, including 2 children, after a plane collided with a helicopter midair over the popular Spanish tourist island of Mallorca Posted: 25 Aug 2019 10:59 PM PDT  Local media said two Spanish nationals were aboard the small aircraft, while an Italian pilot and a German family were aboard the helicopter. There were no survivors.
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| Tom Cotton: The U.S. should buy Greenland Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:25 AM PDT  "Greenland is rich in a wide array of mineral deposits, including rare-earth minerals," he writes.
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| Troubling rise of gun violence in St. Louis, Kansas City Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:58 PM PDT  From huge rewards to calls for allowing Missouri cities to enact their own gun laws, leaders in St. Louis and Kansas City are grappling with a troubling rise in shooting deaths, especially those involving children. In Kansas City, four men were killed Sunday, including two in a drive-by shooting in a popular entertainment district. In St. Louis, six people were killed in shootings, including 8-year-old and 10-year-old girls and a 15-year-old boy.
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| Malaysia hopes to pay for military equipment with palm oil Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:18 AM PDT  Malaysia is in talks with at last six countries on the possibility of using palm oil to pay for arms, as Southeast Asia's third-biggest economy seeks to replace old equipment to boost its defence capabilities. Malaysia has struggled to update its defence equipment over the years and a cut in its defence budget this year all but derailed efforts to replace navy ships, some of which have been in service for 35 years or more. Costs have been a big hurdle but using palm oil to help pay for equipment could open new avenues to upgrade, Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu said on Monday.
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| Tropical Storm Dorian is expected to turn into a hurricane this week. Here's where the storm is heading. Posted: 25 Aug 2019 10:49 AM PDT  Tropical Storm Dorian in the Atlantic is expected to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane this week. A watch has been projected for Barbados.
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| Merkel Defends Macron's Zarif-to-Biarritz Gambit: G-7 Update Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:39 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Group of Seven leaders have gathered in Biarritz, France and the host, French President Emmanuel Macron, has just pulled a massive surprise on his guests by inviting the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.Merkel Defends Macron Decision to Fly in Zarif (6:39 p.m.)As news of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's lightning visit to Biarritz was still sinking in, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rode to Macron's rescue. She espoused the French line that it is a meeting of two foreign ministers and therefore not part of the G-7. She told reporters that every attempt to solve the crisis in Iran was welcome. She later said she only knew Zarif was coming a short time before he arrived.The picture that is forming is that the French gave delegations a very short warning that this was happening. In any case, Zarif is leaving tonight. The turning point for flying Zarif over was the dinner last night. Merkel said that a "good talk about Iran will now be communicated to Zarif," in person, by his counterpart.That dinner is beginning to loom large in the G-7 storyline for 2019. All seem to agree it was tense, it was about both Iran and whether to let Russia's Vladimir Putin back into the G-7 -- and that's about it. Macron has said he believes the other leaders vested him with powers to deal directly with Iran at the dinner, though Trump has said Macron doesn't speak for him.French Official Wants to See How Far Talks Can Go (4:43 p.m.)The French official was asked if there's any chance Zarif could meet the U.S. delegation. He said that's not planned at the moment. This is just a French-Iranian meeting at the moment. But they want to see how far those talks can go.French Won't Say If Zarif Is Meeting Macron (4:05 p.m.)A French official said that Zarif hasn't been invited to the G-7 talks. He's instead meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The official refused to say whether Zarif will also be seeing Macron.Zarif Confirmed as Iranian Dignitary in Biarritz (3:44 p.m)It appears Macron has thrown a curve ball at his fellow leaders by inviting Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Biarritz. It's unclear in what capacity as French organizers have point blank refused to confirm anything. Officials from other delegations were surprised. The Italians found out from French news wire AFP.Macron had wanted to rip the script, and he had already irritated the Americans who accused the French of trying to manipulate the agenda to embarrass the president. Zarif was in Paris only last week, meeting with Macron about the future of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Zarif described the talks as "constructive and good", the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency reported.The Biggest Source of Tension Is Russia (2:26 p.m.)G-7 leaders just can't seem to get on the same page about Russia's Vladimir Putin, who was booted out of the club after ordering the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Whether to let him back in has become a sore point at the current gathering, according to an EU official briefed on the gala dinner Saturday night. The official described the mood as tense.Indeed, Trump described it as a" lively discussion" and Johnson agreed: "It was lively!" There are several reasons why the leaders are on the outs with Putin: from the festering conflict with Ukraine, the suspected meddling in their elections to its intervention in Syria.The U.K. holds Putin responsible for deploying a chemical weapon on British soil to poison a suspected Russia double agent and rallied international support to eject Russian diplomats. Trump went along with it but he's always been of the view that it's illogical not to have such an important global player at the table.Next year he will have the option to invite Putin as a guest.Johnson Goes Swimming (2:02 p.m.)Johnson has been switching from goofy Boris to serious statesman with some success. On arrival to the dinner on Saturday he struck a pose that saw his French hosts break out in laughter. And today he took a dip in the ocean before breakfast with Trump.While out on his swim, the prime minister said he had Brexit epiphany: "From here you cannot tell there is a gigantic hole in that rock. There is a way through. My point to the EU is that there is a way through, but you can't find the way through if you just sit on the beach."One local hotelier however suggested another interpretation of that symbolism. She warned that it's not safe to swim out to the rock, because the waters can get choppy.No Coordinated Fiscal Stimulus (1:47 p.m.)In his midday update, Macron said there won't be any coordinated stimulus for the global economy coming out of this meeting."We need boosters for global economy," he said. Still, "it's not at the G-7 level that we decided to make budgetary or tax cuts."He said leaders discussed mechanisms for shoring up growth, which would involve a combination of tax cuts, deregulation and stimulus spending for different countries.Trump Pulls Macron Back Over Iran (12:34 p.m.)Macron is touting an agreement to send a joint message from the G-7 to Iran as one of his victories from last night's dinner. "We've enacted a common communication, which in my view has a lot of value," he said this morning in a French television interview.But Trump cast doubt on how much authority Macron will have. "We'll do our own outreach," he said. "But I can't stop people from talking."One person familiar with the situation says Trump does not agree that Macron can convey a message from the G-7 to Iran since the leaders didn't all settle on what the message should be.Trump has pursued a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, using sanctions to cut off their sales of oil in a way that's hurting that nation's economy. White House officials say the G-7 countries agreed Trump's pressure campaign on Iran is having an impact, and that it should continue.Macron Is Talking Up Progress on Iran (11:50 a.m.)The French president is trying to show that he's achieved something on the geopolitical issues he's raised. He told TF1 television Sunday that leaders agreed they need to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons and destabilizing the region -- which was the state of play before talks began.The G-7 also agreed on a common way of communicating over Iran and a decision on action that enables them to "reconcile their positions a bit," he said.When Johnson Sees Tusk, It Could Get Tense (11:20 a.m.)Johnson took care of Brexit business with Macron and Merkel in the days just before the G-7 -- everyone made their position clear (no budging).But the U.K. prime minister is beginning to realize that getting a divorce deal done with the European Union by the Oct. 31 deadline was not going to be quite as easy as he might have thought. As for the Europeans, they too are starting to think about what they can do to avert a no-deal scenario that could be economically bad news for all countries involved.Ian Wishart sets out the stakes, and the mood, as Johnson meets Donald Tusk, the EU's president who tends to speak on behalf of the bloc's leaders on matters related to Brexit.What is Macron's Plan for Iran? (11 a.m.)After their 3-hour informal Saturday dinner where they discussed matters including Iran, leaders of the G7 gave Macron -- as chair of the Group -- the authority to hold talks and pass on a message from them to the Persian state, according to a French official.The official added that the message, based on the content of leaders talks Saturday, hadn't yet been passed on. The official didn't respond to request for details on the content of the message and of last night's talks content.Second Thoughts on Trade War? (10: 52 a.m.)Trump rarely displays doubt, so when shows even a glimmer of it, it grabs one's attention. The president is feeling the heat at the G-7 from his aggressive trade stance against China. Leaders are being careful on how to bring it but they are bringing it up -- persistently.During a meeting with Boris Johnson , he was asked whether he had "any second thoughts on escalating the trade war" with China, after he announced higher tariffs late Friday."Yeah, sure, why not?" Trump replied. Reporters asked again whether he had second thoughts. "Might as well, might as well," he replied, before reporters asked again. "I have second thoughts about everything," he said.Trump has seen his poll numbers sag ahead of his 2020 re-election bid and he is relying on a strong economy to stay in power for another term.Trump Says 'Very Close' To Japan Trade Deal (9:50 a.m.)The U.S. is close to reaching a trade deal with Japan, Donald Trump said, as his trade chief hinted an announcement could come within hours."We're very close to a major deal with Japan," Trump said Sunday morning during a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Group of Seven summit, with Trump due to meet Japan's Shinzo Abe later Sunday morning in France. "Prime Minister Abe and I are very good friends, really good friends. We've been working on it for five months."Japanese media have reported that the U.S. and Japan have agreed on a trade deal that will keep U.S. tariffs on Japanese cars in place while removing barriers to U.S. beef and pork sales to Japan.Johnson Finds a Way to Raise Tariffs With Trump (9:30 a.m.)Part of Johnson's balancing act at the G-7 is to strike a good relationship with Trump -- whom he needs post-Brexit for a trade deal with the U.S. -- but also speak truth to power. Back home, the perception of a U.K. prime minister being America's poodle is a bad look, especially if you could be heading into an election.So at the breakfast with Trump, Johnson found a way to raise criticism, "sheep-like."Here it was: "I congratulate the president on everything that the American economy is achieving. It's fantastic to see that. But just to register a faint, sheep-like note of our view on the trade war -- we're in favor of trade peace on the whole, dialing it down a beat."Johnson said that "the U.K. has profited massively in the last 200 years from free trade and that's what we want to see. So, we're keen to see that. We don't like tariffs on the whole."Trump responded with a tongue-in-cheek question about how the U.K. had fared in the past three years.Would Trump Declare a National Emergency on China? (9 a.m.)Trump has said a 1977 law known as the Emergency Economic Powers Act would allow him to order companies to leave China, though experts say that was never the intent of the law. In addition, it would be massive disruption to ask companies to pull up stakes in China, or even to re-route supply chains located there.Asked about whether it was on the cards, here was the answer: "For many years this has been going on. In many ways it's an emergency. I have no plan right now. Actually we're getting along very well with China right now. We're talking. I think they want to make a deal much more than I do. We're getting a lot of money,"The law isn't usually used to regulate international trade, but more regularly has been used to impose sanctions on countries resulting from national security threats. President Jimmy Carter invoked it in 1979 during the Iran hostage crisis.Johnson Doesn't Need any Advice, Says Trump (8:45 a.m.)There were 18 people sitting in on the working breakfast between Trump and Johnson. The two men had been photographed on Saturday night walking and talking in the margins of the summit.Trump was asked if he had Brexit advice for Johnson: "He needs no advice, he's the right man for the job. I've been saying that for a long time. It didn't make your predecessor very happy."Johnson: "You're on message there, I'm very grateful... we're looking forward to having some pretty comprehensive talks about how to take forward the relationship in all sorts of ways.... And we're very excited about that."Trump: "we're going to do a very big trade deal, bigger than we've ever had with the U.K. and now at some point they won't have the obstacle, they won't have the anchor around their ankle because that's what they have."Putin at Next Year's G-7? It's possible (8:35 a.m.)U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters it's "certainly possible" he will invite Vladimir Putin as a guest of next year's Group of Seven summit. He's said before how he thinks it makes no sense not to have the Russian president at the table. Putin was ejected from the G-8 in 2014 over Russia's annexation of Crimea. His eventual return into the fold has been a topic of debate -- but Europeans have said the Ukraine crisis needs to be resolved first.Next year Trump is the host, and as such has the discretionary power to invited who he wants. Macron this year, for example, invited the leaders of India, Chile, Australia and Spain.The most-watched bilateral is about to start (8:15 a.m.)Donald Trump is up and tweeting that there have been some very good meetings and leaders are getting along. He is about to sit down with Boris Johnson, making his debut at the summit after replacing Theresa May as prime minister. The two men seem to get on famously, in stark contrast with the forced, strained relationship with May.For a run-down on what to expect, read this:Protesters Kept at Bay, Police Use Tear Gas (last night)French riot police deployed water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd of activists that included Yellow Vest protesters, environmentalists and even some Basque separatists. They have been largely kept at a safe distance from the leaders, who are in the heavily-guarded red zone.Earlier stories:Macron Rips Up Agenda for His G-7 in a Fit of Climate FuryMacron Riles Bolsonaro, Setting Up G-7 Fight Over Amazon FiresDonald Trump Is Coming for Europe's Most Important Alliance\--With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Alex Morales.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Biarritz, France at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Helene Fouquet in Biarritz at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net;Arne Delfs in Biarritz at adelfs@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Craig Gordon, Flavia Krause-JacksonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Survey shows growing number of Millennials starting to care less about traditional American values Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:19 PM PDT  Over the last 21 years, the Wall Street Journal/NBC News conducted a survey asking millennials the importance of religion, patriotism and family.
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| 65 Super Simple Last-Minute Appetizers Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:54 PM PDT |
| Syria soldiers eye Turkish outpost in recaptured town Posted: 25 Aug 2019 07:42 PM PDT  Syrian soldier Ahmad Amuri rolls up on a motorbike to hand water bottles to comrades standing guard under pistachio trees, just a few dozen metres from a Turkish observation point in northwest Syria. President Bashar al-Assad's troops seized the town of Morek from jihadists and allied rebels on Friday, encircling the Turkish outpost. "Calm has returned to Morek," Amuri told AFP on Saturday, with water bottles in a black plastic bag, a cap on his head and his uniform covered in dust.
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| Trump promotes unfounded Ilhan Omar conspiracy and shares claim Justin Trudeau 'assumes submissive position' with him Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:54 AM PDT  Donald Trump unleashed a series of controversial late-night tweets from the G7 Summit in France over the weekend, reigniting his feud with Ilhan Omar and attacking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.The president promoted an unfounded and incendiary claim purported by the far right online that Ms Omar, a Democratic congresswoman of colour and former refugee from Somalia, married her brother years before she took office in 2018.
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| Authorities: Los Angeles deputy lied about sniper assault Posted: 25 Aug 2019 01:49 PM PDT  A Los Angeles County deputy lied when he said he was shot in the shoulder while standing in a sheriff's station parking lot last week and will face a criminal investigation, authorities said. "The reported sniper assault was fabricated" by Deputy Angel Reinosa, Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon said at a news conference late Saturday. Reinosa, 21, made a frantic radio call Wednesday claiming he'd been shot by someone in a nearby building as he walked to his car outside the Lancaster station, prompting a huge police response.
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| Possible political motive seen in Berlin killing of ethnic Chechen exile Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:43 AM PDT ![Possible political motive seen in Berlin killing of ethnic Chechen exile]( "Possible political motive seen in Berlin killing of ethnic Chechen exile") Prosecutors are considering the possibility of a political motive behind the killing on Friday of an ethnic Chechen exile in Berlin, allegedly by a Russian citizen who shot the victim twice in the head as he walked through a park. The victim, 40, was identified by Georgian human rights organisation EMC as Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, which described him as an ethnic Chechen citizen of Georgia, who had fought on the side of rebels who in the 1990s sought to free Chechnya from Moscow's control. "We have no evidence pointing towards a classic criminal motive," said Martin Steltner, spokesman for Berlin prosecutors on Monday, adding that they were considering the possibility of a political motive for the killing.
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| Fallout from Russia's mysterious missile disaster suggests a nuclear reactor blew up Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:07 AM PDT  An explosion at a Russian weapons testing site in August released radioactive isotopes that almost certainly came from a nuclear reactor, experts say.
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| Rudy Giuliani Jumps on the Seth Rich Conspiracy Bandwagon Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:51 AM PDT  Alex Wong/GettyDonald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani promoted discredited conspiracy theories about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich on Twitter early Monday morning, further fueling the baseless speculation that has anguished Rich's grieving family.Giuliani quote-tweeted a tweet from conspiracy theorist Matt Couch, whose fevered claims about Rich's 2016 murder provoked a defamation lawsuit from Rich's brother. In his tweet, Couch pointed out that, while Washington, D.C. police believe that Rich was murdered in a currently unsolved botched robbery attempt, none of his belongings appear to have been taken by his killer.Speaking rhetorically from Rich's point of view, Couch pointed to popular conspiracy theorist talking points about Rich's murder."I was Shot multiple times in torso.. I worked for the DNC…." Couch tweeted. "They called it a botched robbery and sue anyone who investigates it..Who am I?""I'd like to know," Giuliani added in his own tweet. Rich's July 2016 murder has inspired a number of conspiracy theories claiming that he leaked Democratic emails to WikiLeaks, and then was murdered by Hillary Clinton or the "deep state" in retaliation. That idea, which isn't backed up by any evidence, has been embraced by some Trump supporters—including Fox News host Sean Hannity—because it would mean the emails were released by a whistleblower, rather than by Russian government hackers. In reality, Rich's neighborhood had experienced a series of robberies in the lead-up to his death, which led police to believe it was likely a botched robbery.Hannity Weasels Out of Seth Rich ConspiracyIn text messages with The Daily Beast, Giuliani insisted his tweet wasn't meant to promote any conspiracy theories but merely to ask questions about Rich's murder, which has remained unsolved. "I didn't support any conspiracy theory," Giuliani told The Daily Beast in a text message. "I raised several nagging coincidences." "I vaguely remember it and was asking a question about whether it was ever investigated fully," Giuliani added. "Don't remember if it was ever solved? Was it." After this article was published, Giuliani doubled down on his speculation and accused The Daily Beast of lacking "proper seductive reasoning." "Either you haven't been trained in proper seductive [sic] reasoning or the most truthful explanation is irrelevant," Giuliani wrote in a text message.Giuliani added that the media reaction to the conspiracy theorists made him more suspicious about the case."Another new area of suspicion beyond a possible murder of convenience is the overreaction you all have to anyone raising any question about this unsolved murder," Giuliani wrote. "'Me thinks the Lady Protests too Much?'"Rich's family has repeatedly asked conspiracy theorists to stop speculating about their son's murder, which has drawn in a number of publicity-seeking right-wing media figures. But in text messages to The Daily Beast, Giuliani said "legitimate questions" about Rich's murder shouldn't be off-limits because of "some degree of emotional pain." "It is tragic for the family but if we stopped all honicide [sic] investigations until solved because it will cause pain then it would leave many unsolved," Giuliani wrote. "There are legitimate questions here and the more they are suppressed with this media Hillary/oriented censorship the more the conspiracy theorists thrive." Giuliani, a former U.S. Attorney, said he wanted to look at the "parties with the greatest motivation.""I've done a number of very complex investigation [sic] and you must always look at the parties or parties with the greatest motivation and the most to gain or lose," Giuliani wrote. "Until a murder is conclusively solved that is always a viable hypothesis. Political censorship or even some degree of emotional pain can not suppress trying to solve an open homicide."Rich's family has repeatedly asked conspiracy theorists to stop speculating about their son's murder, which has drawn in a number of publicity-seeking right-wing media figures. Couch, who livestreams his conspiracy theory broadcasts to his fans online, is one of the most dedicated promoters of the Rich claims, despite reports that Russian intelligence agents spread the rumor that Rich's murder was somehow tied to the Democratic email releases.In 2018, Couch was sued for defamation by Rich's brother Aaron Rich, over his claims that Seth had helped to steal Democratic emails and received payment from WikiLeaks for the files. Earlier this month, Couch told a federal judge that he couldn't afford legal defense to continue fighting the case, and said he had removed mentions of Rich from his website.This story has been updated with Giuliani's responses following its publication.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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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| Cardi B might be one of Bernie's most powerful 2020 allies. Seriously. Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:01 AM PDT  "She's a no-B.S. person," says one aide to the Democratic hopeful. "And Bernie Sanders loves no-B.S. people."
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| U.S. Says South Korea’s Exit From Intel Pact Endangers Troops Posted: 26 Aug 2019 03:20 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. said that South Korea's decision to pull out of an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan endangers American troops -- an usually blunt criticism of one of Washington's closest allies.The Trump administration is disappointed in South Korean President Moon Jae-in's announcement Thursday that his government would stop participating in the 2016 General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Sunday. The pact allowed the two neighbors to directly share intelligence about joint security concerns including North Korea and China, without going through the Americans."We are deeply disappointed and concerned that the ROK's government terminated the General Security of Military Information Agreement," Ortagus said in a Twitter post. "This will make defending Korea more complicated and increase risk to U.S. forces."The criticism is perhaps the clearest sign yet of the Trump administration's frustration with the months-long feud between South Korea and Japan. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump criticized Moon and his government at a Group of Seven meeting in France, the Sankei newspaper reported, citing unidentified Japanese government sources.On Monday, South Korea's foreign ministry said there had been "close communication" with the U.S. regarding the tensions between Seoul and Tokyo and the reasons for withdrawing from the agreement, without mentioning the risk to U.S. troops.The acrimonious dispute is rooted in historical grievances over Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula, but has recently escalated to include trade and security cooperation. While South Korea and Japan are protected by tens of thousands of U.S. troops, the Moon administration had argued after withdrawing from the pact that it would strengthen its alliance with the U.S. by increasing defense spending.The dispute risks complicating a coordinated response to North Korea's continued missile tests and China's rising military power projection in the region. On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally guided the test firing of a rocket launcher and sent two more short-range ballistic missiles into the sea between South Korea and Japan.The U.S. Department of Defense had previously expressed "strong concern and disappointment" with South Korea's decision to exit the security pact. While the agreement doesn't require the exchange of intelligence and both countries are part of a similar three-way pact with the U.S., the deal was significant because it demonstrated their ability to cooperate independently from Washington.South Korea's defense minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, told the National Assembly's defense committee Aug. 5 that there had been 26 instances of intelligence-sharing with Japan since the agreement was signed. He nevertheless played down its practical importance, telling the committee the pact was more about relationships than utility.(Updates with South Korean response in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Jihye Lee.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Video of transgender women being violently kicked out of Los Angeles bar surfaces Posted: 25 Aug 2019 12:52 AM PDT  Police say that a hate crime report has been filed after the altercation.
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| Brazil's Bolsonaro endorses sexist post about French first lady Posted: 26 Aug 2019 03:37 AM PDT  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro endorsed a sexist Facebook post about France's first lady Brigitte Macron Sunday, the latest chapter in an escalating war of words between him and his French counterpart over the Amazon crisis. Emmanuel Macron had called for emergency talks by G7 nations on the fires destroying chunks of the Amazon rainforest, piling pressure on Bolsonaro, who in turn accused him of having a "colonialist mentality".
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| NYT Reporter: Trump Allies Targeting Journalists Are Deploying Media Matters Playbook Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:42 AM PDT  New York Times media reporter Jeremy Peters said Monday that allies of President Trump are employing the opposition research model pioneered by the liberal advocacy group Media Matters to tar journalists that report critically on the administration.Peters appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe to discuss his recent report detailing how a loose network of Trump allies are combing the social media histories of hundreds of journalists at mainstream media outlets to expose political bias and other potentially embarrassing information."They've tried to pull embarrassing things, find unflattering things in the social media histories of these journalists. And I'm talking about journalists at the nation's top news organizations…and what they do is they publicize unflattering things that they've found in these social media histories when they want to retaliate against an outlet for publishing a story that is unflattering to the president," Peters said.Asked by host Joe Scarborough how that approach differs from the one used by Media Matters to discredit conservative journalists and activists, Peters admitted "it's not really all that much different.""It's not really all that much different. In fact, the people we spoke to as we interviewed for this story…told us that their template was Media Matters. And their template was this exhaustive — basically, what's called opposition research that people do all the time," Peters said.Peters did draw a distinction between Media Matters and the tactics employed by the Trump allies by arguing that Media Matters typically targets high-profile conservatives while the president's allies have attacked low-level journalists who do not have influence over how the administration is covered."The difference, though, is that its being deployed against very low-level people in a lot of cases," Peters said. "When you look at what these guys have uncovered here, and who it's hurt, it's low-level journalists at places like CNN; a photo editor who had nothing to do with CNN's coverage of Donald Trump, for example."Founded by billionaire liberal activist David Brock in 2004, Media Matters has, as Peters points out, routinely targeted well known conservative pundits. But the organization has also researched and exposed the social media histories of lesser known reporters at conservative media outlets.The group declined to take action after the Daily Caller exposed that its president, Angelo Carusone, authored a number of blog posts in 2005 that include mocking references to "trannies," "jewry," and Bangladeshis.
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| Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:41 PM PDT  A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrives in China on Wednesday for a visit that will include meetings with top Chinese officials over the South China Sea and attendance at a world basketball championship game. Duterte's visit will be his fifth to China but the first during which he plans to finally raise the result of the 2016 Hague arbitration case that mostly invalidated China's claim to virtually the entire South China Sea under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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| Japan's Tepco may mothball reactors at world's biggest nuke plant Posted: 25 Aug 2019 10:43 PM PDT ![Japan's Tepco may mothball reactors at world's biggest nuke plant]( "Japan's Tepco may mothball reactors at world's biggest nuke plant") Tokyo Electric Power said on Monday it may start to decommission at least one nuclear reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant, the world's biggest nuclear plant by capacity, within five years of restarting two of the reactors at the site. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) President Tomoaki Kobayakawa made the decommissioning comments in a statement outlining its response to a request for plans on the station's future by the government of the city of Kashiwazaki in Niigata prefecture, where the plant is located. In 2017, Tepco received initial regulatory approval from the Japanese government to restart the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, each with a capacity of 1,356 megawatts (MW).
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| Red Summer 1919: Tree memorializing black Americans killed in Elaine, Arkansas, cut down Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:35 AM PDT ![Red Summer 1919: Tree memorializing black Americans killed in Elaine, Arkansas, cut down]( "Red Summer 1919: Tree memorializing black Americans killed in Elaine, Arkansas, cut down") A tree memorializing the African American lives lost in a 1919 massacre in Elaine, Arkansas, was chopped down this week in a possible hate crime.
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| Muslims in China's most oppressed, closed-off region are turning to China's version of Gen Z favorite TikTok to communicate with the world Posted: 25 Aug 2019 03:06 AM PDT  Dozens of Uighurs in Xinjiang are using Douyin to tell the outside world about their plight. This is their first contact with the outside world.
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| Drone war takes flight, raising stakes in Iran, US tensions Posted: 25 Aug 2019 12:59 PM PDT  From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Since the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year, there has been an increasing tempo of attacks and alleged threats, notably this weekend, from unmanned aircraft flown by Tehran's and Washington's allies in the region. The appeal of the aircraft — they risk no pilots and can be small enough to evade air-defense systems — fueled their rapid use amid the maximum pressure campaigns of Iran and the U.S. As these strikes become more frequent, the risk of unwanted escalation becomes greater.
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| Elizabeth Warren slams Koch Brothers after Bernie Sanders tells off supporters for cheering billionaire’s death Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:06 PM PDT  Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have spent recent months battling each other for the Democratic presidential nomination, appealing to the party's liberal factions by touting their progressive track records and unleashing bold policy agendas.While their campaigns support a list of similar goals — Medicare-for-All, robust climate action, student loan debt relief and comprehensive immigration reform, to name a few — the two politicians occasionally employ vastly different styles to get their messaging across.
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| NRA’s Former Ad Firm Slaps Wayne LaPierre With Subpoena Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:18 PM PDT  Lucas Jackson/ReutersThe National Rifle Association's former ad firm has subpoenaed the gun group's chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, for a deposition, according to a court document reviewed by The Daily Beast. Lawyers for the NRA, who filed the document in Virginia Circuit Court on Aug. 21, are seeking to postpone LaPierre's interview. LaPierre isn't the only senior NRA official who faces a grilling from ad firm Ackerman McQueen. According to the filing, the ad firm also wants to question the gun group's top spokesperson, Andrew Arulanandam; Millie Hallow, assistant to the executive vice president; and the NRA's chief financial officer, Craig Spray. NRA Spent Tens of Thousands on Hair and Makeup for CEO's WifeIt's the latest episode of an ongoing legal brawl between the powerful but troubled gun-rights group and the ad firm that helped it sally forth into America's culture wars. For more than three decades, there was no daylight between the two entities that was visible to outsiders. But last April, the NRA sued the firm, and within weeks, the two had parted ways. Ackerman then counter-sued the NRA, and now both entities are seeking tens of millions of dollars from the other. The NRA's filing says that the ad firm has refused to hand over materials responsive to its own document demands because of the NRA's outside law firm, Brewer Attorneys and Counselors. Ackerman has argued that Brewer's firm tried to steal its business from the NRA and has asked the judge presiding over the case to limit Brewer's access to material it shares with the NRA. Wayne LaPierre Promised Job Security, Then Ousted an NRA Top GunThe NRA's filing argues that as long as Ackerman McQueen withholds materials, LaPierre and the other gun-group chiefs shouldn't have to be deposed. LaPierre's deposition is currently scheduled for Sep. 4, according to the filings. It isn't LaPierre's only scheduled Q-and-A session. According to the New York Daily News, the New York Attorney General's Office has also subpoenaed LaPierre as part of its investigation of the gun group. 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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| View Photos of the 2020 Subaru Legacy Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:00 AM PDT |
| Trump’s Offer to Help N.Y. With Subway Baffles Governor's Office Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:52 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he is ready to help New York extend the Second Avenue subway in New York City, an announcement that left even state Governor Andrew Cuomo baffled."Looking forward to helping New York City and Governor @andrewcuomo complete the long anticipated, and partially built, Second Avenue Subway," President Donald Trump said in a tweet.Cuomo's office on Saturday said that while the governor is involved in discussions with the president and the Department of Transportation about several infrastructure projects in the city, including the Gateway Tunnel project, the subway and updates at LaGuardia Airport, there have been no concrete steps taken to move forward."The president's tweet suggests good news but we have no specific funding or approval and that is all that is relevant," Communications Director Dani Lever said in a statement. "If an agreement actually materializes, we will provide an update."The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to extend the subway line from East 96th Street to 125th Street in east Harlem, and add three underground stations. The line, debated for decades, began service in January 2017.(Removes incorrect reference to length of subway extension in last paragraph of story published Aug. 24.)To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Silver in New York at jsilver@bloomberg.net;Daniel Flatley in Washington at dflatley1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at stong41@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Russian climber killed by falling rock at Mt Fuji Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:14 AM PDT  A Russian national climbing Mount Fuji was killed by a falling rock near the summit of Japan's highest peak, police and news reports said Monday. Police said a woman in her 20s was fatally injured in the morning while approaching the top of the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) volcanic mountain. "Rescuers and a doctor rushed to the site but she was later confirmed dead," a local police official told AFP.
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| DEA to expand marijuana research after years of delay Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:21 AM PDT  The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said on Monday that it will move ahead with a long-delayed expansion of its marijuana research program, in a sign that the Trump administration's hostility to the drug may be waning as a growing number of states have legalized its use. The DEA said it would roll out new guidelines that would allow more growers to produce marijuana for scientific and medical research. The DEA also said producers of hemp, an industrial form of marijuana that has little psychoactive effect, will not have to get a permit from the agency.
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| Driver kicks pregnant woman in stomach during fight at Chick-fil-A, police say Posted: 25 Aug 2019 01:23 PM PDT ![Driver kicks pregnant woman in stomach during fight at Chick-fil-A, police say]( "Driver kicks pregnant woman in stomach during fight at Chick-fil-A, police say") The pregnant woman tried to pull in front of her in the drive-thru lane, police said.
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