| 'Should I be? Huh? I never thought about it': Trump asks if he should use insulin at White House seniors event Posted: 26 May 2020 02:40 PM PDT  President Donald Trump's latest tangent ended up in a speculative riff about whether he should take insulin during a seniors event.
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| A Florida teacher convicted of multiple sex crimes involving students begged a judge for castration instead of prison time Posted: 26 May 2020 01:49 PM PDT  Mark Lua, 32, pleaded guilty to the sex offenses last year. Last week, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
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| Michigan governor in hot water over boat launch claim Posted: 26 May 2020 03:41 PM PDT  The Michigan governor who implemented some of the toughest coronavirus lockdown rules in the United States came under heavy criticism Tuesday over allegations that her husband pressured a dock to prepare his boat for an outing. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has defended her tough stay-at-home policies against armed protestors and attacks from President Donald Trump, announced last week the lifting of some restrictions ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend. According to a claim posted on Facebook by Northshore Docks owner Tad Dowker, Whitmer's husband Marc Mallory subsequently tried to use her position to get his boat moved ahead of others for launching before the holiday weekend.
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| Oklahoma woman missing since April following Facebook post that indicated she believed she had coronavirus Posted: 25 May 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Talina Galloway, 53, of Wagoner, Oklahoma, was last heard from by her boss on March 27, 2020. Her last Facebook post was dated April 7. In the post, the posted stated she believed she had coronavirus but did not want to go to the hospital. Her purse and wallet were left at home. Her car was still in the driveway. She has a distinct tattoo of a sun symbol on her right wrist. The Wagoner County Sheriff's Office is investigating.
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| Nasa SpaceX launch set to usher in new era for human spaceflight Posted: 26 May 2020 04:00 PM PDT  Two US astronauts are about to go to orbit in a commercially developed rocket and capsule system.
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| Minister Quits as Britain Boils Over With Rage Against Boris Johnson and His Lockdown-Breaking Aide Posted: 26 May 2020 03:58 AM PDT  The most serious political crisis that Boris Johnson has faced as British prime minister is getting worse.Johnson has become a lightning rod for the fury of the British public—frustrated and restless after nine weeks of lockdown restrictions—after his decision not to sack his top aide who was forced to admit that he traveled hundreds of miles during the pandemic, despite suspecting that both he and his wife had COVID-19.After days of Johnson trying to excuse the actions of Dominic Cummings, as well as an extraordinary televised press conference where Cummings emerged from the shadows in an unsuccessful attempt to draw a line under the crisis, a government minister has now resigned with a furious letter which condemns both the prime minister and his mastermind.The furious row began on Friday when two newspapers—the Daily Mirror and The Guardian—reported that Cummings drove 264 miles from London to his parents' estate in Durham, even though he feared that he and his wife had the coronavirus. He later admitted to a separate trip after his family's 14-day period of isolation to Barnard Castle, a beauty spot around 30 miles away from Durham.Cummings and Johnson insist no law was broken—but that's not really the point. People in Britain have been told to stay at home as much as possible and, if displaying symptoms, to stay inside for two weeks. Those rules have forced people to stay away from their loved ones for months, even if they were seriously ill or dying, and to deal with incredibly difficult circumstances without help.Cummings' excuse—that he had to drive to Durham because he thought he and his wife were getting sick and needed possible back-up childcare from his teenage niece—does not comfort anyone who was also struggling to look after their children while sick, but thought they had no option but to stay home and help prevent further spread of the deadly virus.There has been an outpouring of public anger, despite Johnson and Cummings attempts to explain away the scandal. Cummings repeatedly refused to apologize for breaking lockdown rules during his highly unusual press conference Monday. He told the public: "I don't regret what I did … reasonable people might disagree."Cummings also provided a truly laughable excuse for his separate trip to Barnard Castle. He said that he wanted to test that his eyesight was good enough to allow him to drive back to London following his illness, so he packed his wife and child into the car and drove to the castle in an incredibly risky experiment.The lack of contrition and flimsy excuses were, unsurprisingly, not effective. At least 20 lawmakers from Johnson's Conservative party have called on Cummings to quit and, on Tuesday, a junior minister resigned from government in protest at the scandal.Douglas Ross wrote: "While the intentions may have been well meaning, the reaction to this news shows that Mr Cummings interpretation of the government advice was not shared by the vast majority of people who have done as the government asked."Ross added: "I have constituents who didn't get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn't visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government. I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right."Ross was only a junior minister, but he's been strongly supportive of Johnson since he stood for party leader. That he decided to resign and breathe new life into a story that Johnson and Cummings hoped they had drawn a line under shows that the matter is far from over.Meanwhile, Britain's Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday that there have been 60,000 excess deaths recorded across the U.K. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.Britons are grieving and angry but, for now, are still largely following the rules given to them by their government. But, the longer Cummings stays in his post, more people will questions why there should be one rule for them and another for their leaders.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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| India detains pigeon on suspicion of spying for Pakistan Posted: 26 May 2020 02:55 AM PDT  An intrepid Pakistani 'spy' pigeon is facing a life behind bars in India. The allegation was made after Geeta Devi, a resident of the Kathua district of Indian-administered Kashmir, reported a bird - painted pink and carrying a coded ring tagged to its foot - flew into her home on Sunday night. The Indian Border Security Force passed the pigeon on to the police, who launched an investigation and logged the animal as a 'Pak Suspected Spy.' Officials in Kathua said the bird had flown across the border and they would try to decipher the message. "The pigeon, suspected to have been trained in Pakistan for spying, has a ring with alphabets and numbers written on it," a police source told the Times of India. "Though birds have no boundaries and many fly across international borders during migration, a coded ring tagged to the captured pigeon's body is a cause for concern as migratory birds don't have such rings."
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| Death and denial in Brazil’s Amazon capital during pandemic Posted: 26 May 2020 10:25 AM PDT  As the white van approached Perfect Love Street, chatting neighbors fell silent, covered their mouths and noses and scattered. Men in full body suits carried an empty coffin into the small, blue house where Edgar Silva had spent two feverish days gasping for air before drawing his last breath on May 12. "It wasn't COVID," Silva's daughter, Eliete das Graças insisted to funerary workers.
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| As Georgia reopens, is it creating a model for America? Posted: 26 May 2020 01:45 PM PDT  Georgia's rapid reopening one month ago had many officials predicting a new spike in cases. So far that hasn't happened.
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| HHS principal deputy inspector general is asked about $3M contract awarded to company 11 days after it was created by former WH aide Posted: 26 May 2020 11:12 AM PDT  At a House Oversight Committee briefing on the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, Rep. Gerry Connolly asked Department of Health and Human Services Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm if she will be looking into a report that a former White House aide, Zach Fuentes, won a contract to provide respirator masks to the Navajo Nation only 11 days after his company was formed.
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| Factbox: Biden wants a woman to be his running mate. Here are some names under consideration Posted: 26 May 2020 01:10 PM PDT  Biden has vowed to choose a woman as his potential vice president. A number of advisers have pressed Biden's campaign to pick Harris, 55, because the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants could help excite black voters, a key Democratic constituency. Harris endorsed Biden after dropping out of the race, but her earlier criticism of him during a Democratic primary debate about his opposition to school busing rankled some people close to Biden.
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| Trump's senior economic adviser referred to Americans returning to work as 'human capital stock' Posted: 25 May 2020 10:41 PM PDT  States are slowly lifting lockdown measures put in place to curb the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed close to 100,000 people in the US.
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| Tow truck turf wars: Toronto sees rise in violence likened to organised crime Posted: 25 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  A fourth murder in two years has shone a light on the danger for drivers in a highly lucrative – and highly cut-throat – industryJust before sunset, a volley of gunshots rang out in the parking lot of a northern Toronto apartment complex.When police arrived, they found a black tow truck pinned between two other vehicles. The driver, Hashim Kinani, 23, was slumped in the front seat, having been shot several times.Despite efforts by the emergency crew, he was pronounced dead at the scene.The brazen murder followed a week of arson attacks which left the burned remains of tow trucks scattered throughout the city.The coronavirus lockdown has quietened Canada's largest city, but there has been little reprieve for an industry rife with violence and intimidation – and some tow-truck owners fear that organized crime has pushed the industry to a breaking point.Two boys, aged 15 and 17, were charged on Thursday with first-degree and attempted murder, and Toronto police told the Guardian they do not believe Kinani's murder was related to an ongoing turf war.But he was the fourth Toronto tow-truck driver to be murdered in less than two years. Several others have been shot – or shot at – including one who was targeted just hours after Kinani's death.In a statement to the Guardian following Kinani's murder, Ontario's ministry of transportation said it was "deeply concerned" by the violence in the towing industry and was working to "deter this behaviour".A recent investigation by the Globe and Mail found at least 30 arson attacks targeting tow-truck businesses, though that figure has now risen since the spike in violence over the last few months.In March, a collision reporting centre in northern Toronto was set on fire. Another was vandalized and an accelerant-doused object found amid the broken glass, say police.That same month, two drivers were shot and numerous vehicles set ablaze, prompting anger and frustration from Ontario's premier, Doug Ford."We're coming for you, and we're going to catch you," Ford warned the attackers. "The party's over."For many drivers, the violence feels unrelenting."I worry about waking up to find my truck on fire outside of my house," one driver, who has worked in the industry for 13 years, told the Guardian.Much of trouble stems from "accident chasing" – where truck operators race their rivals to be the first at the scene of a crash.Some repair garages will pay tow truck drivers a "finder's fee" for damaged vehicles, making "chasing" an incredibly lucrative field.The lure of profits – and the relative lack of oversight – has attracted organized crime. Last June, police conducted a series of raids under the name Project Kraken, charging more than 70 people – including seven drivers – with offenses ranging from firearms possession to conspiracy to commit murder.Police recovered Tasers and body armour, and found that numerous drivers were armed and "prepared to shoot other tow-truck operators over an ongoing battle over territory", said Toronto's police deputy chief, James Ramer.But nearly a year after those high-profile raids, critics say the problems have only got worse."We've got guys racing down the highway to be the first to arrive for a tow, threaten each other, bang into each other and even shoot each other. Things need to change," said John Henderson of the Fair Towing Task Force, a lobby group advocating for industry reform.Henderson and others have called for greater regulation and licensing, as well as the establishment of an oversight body, to rein in what they say is an increasingly saturated industry with few clear standards."Trucks are just popping up every few days with new names and faces, and then they disappear just as fast. Their one motive is to eliminate competition and own the road. It's crazy these days," said the driver.In theory, the towing industry is regulated at a municipal level in Ontario, but according to the Canadian Automobile Association, only 17 of Ontario's 444 municipalities have clear rules, meaning swaths of the province have become a free-for-all for drivers looking to circumvent or exploit exiting loopholes.Companies say they also want clear regulations for truck maintenance and safety – as well as better training standards for drivers.Henderson says a number of "unscrupulous" drivers are using modified trucks – not actual tow trucks. "If an unlicensed, unregulated guy picks up your vehicle, he's never going to see you again. He's going to charge you as much as he thinks you're going to pay."With the government preoccupied by the coronavirus pandemic, businesses worry that legislation that has been repeatedly proposed will once again be forgotten.But Henderson hopes the recent shooting will put lingering crisis back in the spotlight."Because let's be clear: someone was killed," he said. "We need to fix this."
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| Twitter tags Trump tweet with fact-checking warning Posted: 26 May 2020 05:29 PM PDT  This is the first time the social media giant has said President Trump's tweet could be misleading.
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| Cuban doctors and nurses seeking asylum keep border clinic running during pandemic Posted: 25 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Trained overseas, Cuban doctors treat fellow migrants on the U.S. border, which is effectively closed during the coronavirus outbreak.
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| Taiwan offers people of Hong Kong 'necessary assistance' after protests over new security laws Posted: 24 May 2020 09:27 PM PDT  Taiwan will provide the people of Hong Kong with "necessary assistance", President Tsai Ing-wen said, after thousands in the Chinese ruled territory protested against Beijing's plans to impose new national security laws. Taiwan has become a refuge for a small but growing number of pro-democracy protesters fleeing Hong Kong, which has been convulsed since last year by anti-Beijing and anti-Hong Kong government protests. Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of people who rallied on Sunday to protest against Beijing's move to introduce new national security laws. Writing on her Facebook page late on Sunday, Ms Tsai said the proposed legislation was a serious threat to Hong Kong's freedoms and judicial independence. Bullets and repression are not the way to deal with the aspirations of Hong Kong's people for freedom and democracy, she added. "In face of the changing situation, the international community has proactively stretched out a helping hand to Hong Kong's people," Ms Tsai wrote.
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| Michigan governor: Husband's call about boat was just humor Posted: 26 May 2020 07:53 AM PDT  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer acknowledged Tuesday that her husband dropped her name in an effort to get his boat in the water for Memorial Day weekend but said it simply was a "failed attempt at humor" during a phone call with a recreation business. At a news conference, Whitmer responded to reports that began with Facebook posts by the owner of NorthShore Dock in northern Michigan. Tad Dowker said his staff took a call last week from Whitmer's husband, Marc Mallory.
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| SpaceX readies for blast-off with NASA astronauts aboard Posted: 26 May 2020 11:59 AM PDT  Gray skies loomed over Florida's Atlantic coast Tuesday, just one day before two astronauts were set to blast off aboard a SpaceX capsule on the most dangerous and prestigious mission NASA has ever entrusted to a private company. US astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have been in strict quarantine for two weeks ahead of their trip on the brand-new Crew Dragon capsule, which will be propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket.
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| ‘Fox & Friends’ Confronts Kayleigh McEnany With Chris Wallace Criticism Posted: 26 May 2020 08:17 AM PDT  Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace didn't get the chance to confront White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany directly this weekend. So Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade did it for him. About halfway through her appearance on that show Tuesday morning, Kilmeade brought up a comment McEnany made during her Friday press conference. "Boy, it's interesting to be in a room that desperately wants to seem to see these churches and houses of worship stay closed," she told reporters, some of whom objected in the moment to that blatant condescension.As Kilmeade put it, "Some of the press got insulted," before reading McEnany part of what Wallace said about her comments on his Sunday show. "Let me just say, Sam Donaldson and me in the Reagan White House, we were pretty tough on the White House press secretaries and we never had our religious beliefs questioned or were lectured on what we should ask," Wallace said. Kilmeade left out the part where Wallace said that in his six years covering the White House he "never saw a White House press secretary act like that."Kayleigh McEnany: Trump Supports Vote by Mail 'For a Reason'—Just Not a Pandemic"Were you questioning the religious beliefs of the press?" Kilmeade asked her directly. "No, I never questioned the religious beliefs of the press," she insisted, before adding, "Many of our journalists are great men and women of faith." McEnany said her comments were merely trying to draw attention to the fact that "it was a bit peculiar" that she was asked so many questions about why the Trump administration was pushing to reopen churches across the country during a pandemic. "I've never been asked why a liquor store was essential," she added. Of course, while Wallace likely would have thrown a few follow-up questions at McEnany's nonsensical answer, the Fox & Friends hosts moved right along to the next topic. Seth Meyers Exposes New Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's Breathtakingly Stupid Coronavirus TakeRead 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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| Xi Jinping says China strengthening armed forces amid tensions with US over coronavirus Posted: 26 May 2020 11:32 AM PDT  Beijing says it will improve its preparedness for military combat. In the background: heightened U.S. tensions.
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| Brazil police raid Rio governor's residences amid COVID-19 probe Posted: 26 May 2020 04:14 AM PDT  Brazilian federal police on Tuesday raided the residences of Rio de Janeiro's right-wing Governor Wilson Witzel as part of a COVID-19 corruption probe, targeting one of President Jair Bolsonaro's political foes as the pandemic sweeps the nation. Federal prosecutors alleged Witzel, a former-ally-turned-foe of Bolsonaro, and his wife Helena led a sprawling criminal operation in which her law firm was used to receive payment from a company that won state coronavirus contracts, according to federal court documents seen by Reuters. In a statement, Witzel said he was innocent, and accused Bolsonaro of "interference" in the probe.
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| Woman sacked after calling police on black man Posted: 26 May 2020 05:19 PM PDT  The woman, identified as Amy Cooper, called police saying an African-American man was threatening her life.
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| In blow to DOJ, Supreme Court won't block order to move prisoners over coronavirus concerns Posted: 26 May 2020 12:00 PM PDT  The Bureau of Prisons said more than 160 inmates and seven staff members at the Ohio prison have tested positive for COVID-19.
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| 50 billion years of animal evolution under threat from human activity, study says Posted: 26 May 2020 06:23 AM PDT  Fifty billion years of evolutionary history is under threat from human activity, according to a new study which suggests some of the most threatened areas contain the most unique animals. Branches of the tree of life will be cut by the loss of animals such as the Mary River turtle, native to Queensland, Australia, recognisable by its punk-like algae 'hair', whose evolution stretches back 40 million years. The turtle, which breathes out of its genitals underwater and doesn't reach sexual maturity for 25 years, is threatened by the pet trade. Other highly evolutionarily distinct species include the Aye-aye lemur, which are found only on the island of Madagascar, where in 1990 Gerald Durrell embarked on a rescue mission to save dwindling numbers of the long-finger and bushy-tailed primate from the effects of deforestation.
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| Michigan governor’s husband under fire for asking to take his boat out during lockdown Posted: 26 May 2020 01:43 PM PDT  Whitmer said her husband made a 'failed attempt at humor' in asking if boat could be put in the water by Memorial Day weekend * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesMichigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has come under fire this weekend as allegations have arisen that her own husband has been trying to flout her strict shutdown rules – in what she says was a "failed attempt at humor".Affectionately nicknamed "Big Gretch", Whitmer was thrust into the spotlight this year as her state battled one of the highest Covid-19 rates with one of the strictest lockdown policies in the country.But while Whitmer's strict stay-at-home order has been effective at flattening the curve in Michigan, it has also drawn strong criticism from conservatives and progressives.Whitmer began to lift some of the restrictions over Memorial Day weekend, but she reminded Michiganders to take their personal responsibility seriously – and in particular, not to descend on to the waterfront in crowds over the weekend."If you don't live in these regions … think long and hard before you take a trip into them. A small spike could put the hospital system in dire straits pretty quickly. That's precisely why we're asking everyone to continue doing their part," said Whitmer before she eased restrictions last Monday.But Whitmer's husband, Marc Mallory, might have missed that message. According to a local marina owner, Mallory called asking if the facility could put his boat in the water by Memorial Day weekend.When Tad Dowker, the owner, said it would not be possible to dock his boat in time, Mallory identified himself as the governor's husband and asked whether that might help him.In a Facebook post that has since been removed, Dowker said: "This morning, I was out working when the office called me, there was a gentleman on hold who wanted his boat in the water before the weekend. Being Memorial weekend and the fact that we started working three weeks late means there is no chance this is going to happen … Well our office personnel had explained this to the man and he replied, 'I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?'"A spokesperson for Whitmer initially warned against rumors and misinformation when asked about the claims – although the representative did not deny them outright.But today Whitmer accepted that her husband had made the call, calling it "a failed attempt at humor"."Knowing it wouldn't make a difference, he jokingly asked if being married to me might move him up. He regrets it. I wish it wouldn't have happened. And that's really all we have to say about it," Whitmer said during a press conference.
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| Biden calls Trump a 'fool' for mocking masks during pandemic Posted: 26 May 2020 04:37 PM PDT  Joe Biden said Tuesday that wearing a mask in public to combat the spread of the coronavirus is a sign of leadership and called President Donald Trump a "fool" who was "stoking deaths" for suggesting otherwise. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's comments came a day after he wore a black face mask while making his first public appearance in more than two months. Biden has remained at his Delaware home amid a pandemic that has frozen the presidential campaign, but he marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at a nearby veterans' memorial with his wife, Jill. Trump later retweeted a post that appeared to make fun of a photo of Biden in his mask, though he later said he didn't mean to be critical.
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| Feinstein cleared by Justice Department in husband's stock trades Posted: 26 May 2020 12:48 PM PDT  The Justice Department on Tuesday informed Sen. Dianne Feinstein that she was not a target of any investigation into stock trades.
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| Chinese media says Wuhan had live virus Posted: 25 May 2020 07:21 AM PDT  The Chinese virology institute at the centre of US allegations it may have been the source of the COVID-19 pandemic has three live strains of bat coronavirus on-site, but none match the new global contagion, its director has said.
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| 'Our product is used on occasion to kill people': Palantir's CEO claims its tech is used to target and kill terrorists Posted: 26 May 2020 03:40 AM PDT  Palantir CEO Alex Karp said he thinks some of the people protesting against the company make legitimate points.
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| Brazil surpasses U.S. in daily coronavirus death toll Posted: 25 May 2020 03:55 PM PDT  Brazil daily coronavirus deaths were higher than fatalities in the United States for the first time over the last 24 hours, according to the country's Health Ministry. Brazil registered 807 deaths over the last 24 hours, whereas 620 died in the United States. Brazil has the second worst outbreak in the world, with 374,898 cases, behind the U.S. with 1.637 million cases.
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| Malka Leifer: Rape-accused ex-principal fit for extradition to Australia Posted: 26 May 2020 08:16 AM PDT  An Israeli judge says the suspect accused of 74 sex charges is fit to face extradition to Australia.
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| How Elon Musk took SpaceX from an idea to the cusp of making history Posted: 26 May 2020 08:55 AM PDT  Industrial maverick Elon Musk started SpaceX with a spark nearly 20 years ago. Now it's set to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
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| British farmers 'will go out of business' in UK-US trade deal, Theresa Villiers warns Posted: 25 May 2020 06:31 AM PDT  British farmers "will go out of business" as a consequence of a trade deal with the United States, former environment secretary Theresa Villiers has warned. Admitting that she had "great fears" about "unfettered competition between domestic farmers and US imports", she said it would be very difficult for domestic farmers to compete on price. Ms Villiers, who left her Cabinet post in February's reshuffle, said she was concerned about the impact of a deal on the rural economy and the union "because of the significance of livestock farming in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales". International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has insisted that she would not do a trade deal with the US if it "does not benefit every sector of UK agriculture". However, opponents of practices such chlorine-washing chicken and hormone-injected beef fear farming standards may be bargained away in negotiations. The Government is being urged to enshrine guarantees into the Agriculture Bill by the opposition benches and many of its own MPs. Ms Villiers argued that an amendment to the bill would give certainty to farmers "that our negotiators wouldn't be able to give way" on standards.
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| Canada: neglected residents and rotten food found at care homes hit by Covid-19 Posted: 26 May 2020 12:21 PM PDT  Justin Trudeau describes 'deeply disturbing' military report after soldiers visit facilities in Quebec and OntarioCanadian troops deployed to long-term care homes overwhelmed by coronavirus outbreaks found neglected and malnourished residents, rotten food and insect infestations, and a blatant disregard for critical safety protocol, according to a bombshell report from the country's armed forces.Military medics were dispatched to long-term care facilities in Quebec and Ontario in late April, with aim of blunting Covid-19 outbreaks among vulnerable populations. Soldiers deployed to five of Ontario's worst-hit care homes encountered rotten food, cockroaches and residents in soiled diapers, according to the report published on Tuesday.At one facility, residents had not been bathed in weeks. At another, staff made "derogatory or inappropriate comments directed at residents'". Neglect of resident hygiene and health, often leading to infection, was documented at all facilities.At one point, "patients [were] observed crying for help with staff not responding for 30 mins to over two hours," the report said.Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, said: "On reading the deeply disturbing report, I had obviously a range of emotions of anger, of sadness, of frustration, of grief."It is extremely troubling, and as I've said from the very beginning of this, we need to do a better job of supporting our seniors in long-term care right across the country, through this pandemic and beyond."Long-term care homes in Canada, many of which are privately run, have been hit the hardest by the pandemic, with residents making up nearly eight out of 10 Covid-19-related deaths across the country.The damage has been felt most acutely in Ontario and Quebec, which have the vast majority of the country's coronavirus cases and fatalities.An estimated 225 people died at the five homes where the military was assisting in Ontario.The report chronicled widespread "burnout" among staff, a number of whom hadn't seen family in weeks. The military also found numerous examples of staff showing little knowledge of how to properly wear personal protective equipment when dealing with coronavirus cases.As his government released the report to the public on Tuesday, an emotional Ontario premier, Doug Ford, called the findings "gut-wrenching" and "shocking"."Reading these reports was the hardest thing I've done as premier," said Ford. "What we're feeling is little compared to the hardship these residents and their families have had to ensure. There's nothing worse than feeling helpless when it comes to caring for a loved one."Ford's mother-in-law, who lives in a long-term care home, was recently diagnosed with Covid-19.Ford said investigations have been launched following the report, saying his government would pursue "accountability" and "justice". One death has been referred to the coroner for investigation into possible criminal charges.Meanwhile, the Canadian military said today that some 36 members working in long-term care homes in Ontario and Quebec have become sick with Covid-19."This tragedy must serve as a wakeup call to our entire country," said Ford. "It's no secret that Covid-19 has taken a system with deep problems – a system that has been neglected for years – and pushed it to the brink."
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| Column: Why Bernie Sanders is dead wrong about what Joe Biden should look for in a running mate Posted: 26 May 2020 03:15 AM PDT  Biden needs a boring running mate, ideally a centrist, wonky, pleasant one.
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| Citgo sues Miami firm over millions lost in Venezuela fraud Posted: 26 May 2020 03:49 PM PDT  When the U.S. recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the nation's rightful leader last year it did more than just trigger a bitter feud with socialist leader Nicolás Maduro. The latest came Tuesday, when the Guaidó-appointed board of Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Houston against a former contractor seeking to recover millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit accuses José Manuel González and his Miami-based Petroleum Logistics Service Corp. of providing gifts including cash, jewelry, private artwork, chartered flights and even a handpicked Houston apartment to senior executives at Citgo.
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| Montana Drama! GOP Officials Brand Colleague a Wannabe Killer Posted: 26 May 2020 01:06 AM PDT  A board of Montana state government officials is embroiled in a feud over hacked emails, a far-right website, and accusations of being potential workplace shooters. But the origins of the baroque feud remain fuzzy—every time news outlets request public documents about it, the Montana officials sue them.The Montana Public Service Commission does the dry work of regulating the state's private utility companies. All five commissioners are Republicans. That hasn't stopped the infighting. In January, a trove of emails from one of the commissioners appeared on a fringe-right blog that trades in conspiracy theories and sells T-shirts accusing Child Protective Services of kidnapping children. The emails appeared to have been leaked by someone within Montana PSC.Far from catching the culprit, an investigation into the leak has caused far-reaching fallout, leading to a lawsuit against Montana media this month. It's the latest example of governments going full fringe, while throwing local media under the bus.Office politics roiled the PSC all through the back half of 2019. Roger Koopman, one of the commission's five members, reportedly clashed with colleagues over issues like travel expenses and what he claimed was a sweetheart deal for a major Montana energy company.How 'Plandemic' Lures Normies Down the Rabbit HoleThe situation might end in murder, one PSC staffer warned in a January email."The erratic behavior of Commissioner Koopman has gotten to the point where I am concerned for my personal safety to a very serious degree," Drew Zinecker, the commission's communications director emailed a commissioner in January. "It is no secret that Commissioner Koopman has what can only be described as an infatuation with Chairman Johnson and is dedicated to his demise."That email, uploaded under the headline, "Terror in Helena! 'I'm Afraid that Roger Koopman Will Bring a Gun to Work and Shoot Me,'" was one of dozens released by the blog NorthWest Liberty News, a right-wing blog that frequently decries the "New World Order" and peddles COVID-19 conspiracy theories.In January, NorthWest Liberty News began publishing Koopman's work emails, including some in which he had criticized colleagues. Theoretically anyone could request access those messages. Public officials' work messages are fair game under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows reporters and members of the public to request copies.But no one had requested Koopman's emails through official channels. Instead, according to an internal PSC investigation first reported by the Billings Gazette, at least two of Koopman's colleagues had obtained illicit access. One, Commissioner Randall Pinocci, obtained the emails through internal records requests. The requests appeared to have been signed by the commission's chair, who told the Gazette that someone had forged his signature. (The commission's internal investigation reveals that he knowingly signed off on the requests and discussed them in the office.)Zinecker, the PSC's communications director, also had access to the emails, which "may even allow him to write emails directly from all five Commissioner accounts which would appear to be coming from them directly to staff constituents, and members of the public," the internal investigation found.The appearance of Koopman's emails alongside anti-Illuminati rants on NorthWest Liberty News did not improve office relations."Just on Friday Mr. Zinecker sent an email to the entire Commission making light of the email breach and appeared to state that Commissioner Koopman had it coming and deserved it," reads the PSC's February investigation.Koopman went public and accused his colleagues of hacking his emails and leaking them to the conspiratorial blog. Pinocci and Zinecker, who denied leaking the messages, went on the counter-offensive and gave an hour-long interview to NorthWest Liberty News accusing Koopman of being a potential mass-shooter. (Neither Koopman, Zinecker, nor Pinocci returned The Daily Beast's requests for comment.)"This guy is talking about bringing a gun to work and he is bullying, harassing, and intimidating me," Zinecker, who is still the PSC's communications director, said in a February interview with NorthWest Liberty News. "This has been going on for months and now I'm now under the care of a health care provider to try to deal with this and my own health issues that are worsened by Roger's behavior and treatment of me." He claimed that stress from the office fight led him to require anti-anxiety medication."It's not just a concern of mine," he continued. "There's at least one other commissioner that I know of, and I and at least two other staff members who are concerned that Roger is going to bring a gun and shoot us all."All three men still work together.This Fringe Group's Anti-Racist Rebrand Is Going Horribly WrongIn May, Koopman brought a motion to censure Pinocci for "libel, slander, intimidation and retaliation, the filing of multiple false reports to law enforcement, fraudulent use of the chairman's signature stamp, breaching of PSC data security, violating PSC email policy, repeated spying on this commissioner's emails, hiding of similar violations by a collaborator, violating my personal privacy, and widely disseminating false, malicious, defamatory and humiliating gossip about me."His fellow commissioners killed the motion immediately. Several days later, when multiple Montana media outlets filed public information requests for documents on the increasingly complicated drama, the PSC filed a lawsuit against three of them: the Billings Gazette, Yellowstone Public Radio, and the owner of the Great Falls Tribune.The lawsuit, which blocks media from obtaining public records about the alleged hacking, might be considered a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) suit, said Adam Steinbaugh, a First Amendment attorney.SLAPP lawsuits don't always make a strong legal argument. Often their purpose is just to create such a legal headache and financial burden that the defendant gives up before the case even goes to court. For media outlets with tight budgets, a SLAPP suit can force newsrooms to decide whether they want to spend exorbitant legal fees fighting for documents they might never receive. A quirk of Montana law has previously given the government an edge if it files lawsuits against the media before the media sues for public documents. If that standard is still in place, "it incentivizes government agencies to go to court first so that they might not have to pay for attorneys' fees," Steinbaugh said.Two Weeks Ago, She Predicted Trump Would Use COVID to Arrest Obama. Now She's a GOP Senate CandidateIn the meantime, PCS is not exactly being forthcoming about its internal drama. The heavily redacted internal PCS investigation obtained by the Gazette suggests the commission isn't as tight-lipped as its communications director was when he gave the hour-long interview accusing his colleague of being a potential killer."The list below is just an initial list of my myriad of legal concerns about" Zinecker's email access, the report reads. The next three pages are almost entirely redacted.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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| The DOJ is closing its insider trading inquiries into 3 senators but is still investigating GOP Sen. Richard Burr Posted: 26 May 2020 01:02 PM PDT  Burr stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee last week after it surfaced that the FBI had seized a cell phone belonging to him.
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| Used car dealer charged with price gouging New York City on 3M's N95 masks Posted: 26 May 2020 10:07 AM PDT  A New Jersey used car dealer was criminally charged on Tuesday with exploiting the coronavirus pandemic by trying to defraud and price gouge New York City into buying N95 respirator masks in a roughly $45 million scheme. The U.S. Department of Justice said Ronald Romano, 58, sought quick riches in late March when his Performance Supply LLC tried to sell 7 million of the 3M-branded masks to New York City's Office of Citywide Procurement for about 500% above the typical list price. Prosecutors said the Manalapan, New Jersey, resident created a bogus letter falsely showing that 3M Co authorized the sale.
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| Sir Richard Branson: Virgin Orbit rocket fails on debut flight Posted: 25 May 2020 10:59 PM PDT  A California company owned by UK businessman Sir Richard Branson fails to launch a rocket to orbit.
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| Arbery case exemplifies how 'stand your ground' is a right, hate crime laws are hypothetical Posted: 26 May 2020 09:33 AM PDT  "The only advantage for the McMichaels is they are alive to tell their version of the story."
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| States are reopening, but many require travelers to self-quarantine. Here's where Posted: 26 May 2020 01:39 PM PDT  States are beginning to open back up, but some require or recommend visitors self-quarantine for two weeks.
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| Trump on Twitter mocks Biden for wearing a face mask Posted: 26 May 2020 04:33 PM PDT  "I thought it was very unusual he had one on," the president said when asked about his tweet.
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| Airbus experts probe plane crash that killed 97 in Pakistan Posted: 26 May 2020 02:22 AM PDT  Pakistan announced Tuesday that Airbus experts have opened a probe into last week's plane crash that killed 97 people when an Airbus A320 went down in a crowded neighborhood near the airport in the port city of Karachi. Initial reports have said the Pakistan International Airlines jet crashed after an apparent engine failure. The Airbus experts and engineers are also to visit the crash site, according to Abdul Hafeez, a spokesman for PIA.
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| This NBC Executive Became a Conspiracy King and a Pro-Trump Media Boss Posted: 26 May 2020 12:47 AM PDT  This article was co-published with Responsible Statecraft.A former NBC executive who founded one of the earliest—and more successful—fake news websites quietly assumed a leadership role at The Epoch Times as the news outlet ramped up its pro-Trump messaging after the 2016 election.Epoch's influential role as a Trump-friendly media outlet coincided with access to Trump allies seeking friendly interviews, uncritical coverage of the administration's policies, and a venue to advance the White House's militant anti-Beijing and hyper-nationalist messages.That change in direction—which included a flood of omnipresent YouTube ads costing at least $1 million, and a ban from Facebook for violating the platform's rules about political advertising—appears to have occurred alongside the 2017 arrival of a new vice president at The Epoch Times, Chris Kitze, and huge jumps in the paper's revenue from $3.8 million in 2016 to $8.1 million in 2017 and $12.4 million in 2018. Kitze, who now manages a cryptocurrency hedge fund, was listed as a member of the six-person board of the The Epoch Times Association, the nonprofit that operates The Epoch Times, as a vice president in 2017 and 2018 tax documents. But Kitze's ties to The Epoch Times go back much further than 2017 and point to a mutually beneficial relationship. Since 2010, Kitze's company, BeforeItsNews.com, an early fake news site that promoted conspiracy theories about then-president Barack Obama and offered extensive coverage of Trump's insurgent candidacy in 2016, promoted Falun Gong—a spiritual movement that is persecuted by the Chinese government and has the stated goal of destroying the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—and The Epoch Times; meanwhile, Falun Gong-linked media properties quietly promoted Kitze's other business ventures, including Unseen, an encrypted messaging platform.Captain Trump Steers America Toward Iceberg of InsanityChris Kitze's career spans countless internet ventures and well-timed exits from companies across two tech bubbles. His LinkedIn profile shows an impressive career starting in 1991 with the founding of Acris Media, a company selling clipart on CD-ROMs, a stint as the VP of Marketing at the early search engine Lycos from 1995 to 1996 ("I led the Lycos marketing team through one of the first internet IPOs," says Kitze on LinkedIn) and founding and serving as chairman of free-website company Xoom.com, leading to a merger with NBC Internet (NBCi).Kitze served as CEO of NBCi, NBC's initiative to create an NBC controlled internet portal and landing page, from 1999 to 2000. Kitze's post-NBC activities include serving as CEO of Yaga, a filesharing network, serving as chairman of Wine.com before pivoting his attention to a number of blockchain- and cryptocurrency-related companies five years ago.Kitze's public resume contains at least two noticeable omissions: the 2008 formation of BeforeItsNews.com and Kitze's appointment as a VP at The Epoch Times and membership on the paper's board starting in 2017.BeforeItsNews.com appears to have begun operations in early 2009, shortly after Obama's inauguration and, at launch, directly attacked the news media's treatment of Obama, referencing then-MSNBC-pundit Chris Matthew's March 2008 comment about how "I felt this thrill going up my leg" when Obama spoke.BeforeItsNews.com's "about" page read:> Something strange happened during the 2008 U.S. election. The news media came down with a bad case of amnesia — they forgot exactly what it was they were supposed to be doing. Instead of asking critical questions of those running for office, they went out of their way to "get a tingle up their leg" for some candidates, or to ignore the constitutional requirements of the political office.> > We wanted to present a point of view that didn't seem to exist in the mainstream media. One that is hopeful, yet realistic, based on the natural law of truth, compassion and tolerance.What that meant in practice was the rapid production of enormous quantities of user contributed news articles, wide dissemination on social media, and no editorial oversight or fact-checking.The website encourages anyone to contribute articles, advertising itself as a "news utility—an internet platform that enables the hosting and distribution of any kind of news, worldwide."It will get out through all the major search engines," says the current "about" page.Conspiracy theories about Obama's birth certificate, UFOs, the New World Order, and imminent economic and societal collapse all made the front page of BeforeItsNews.com.A 2017 Guardian article on Facebook's failures to address the dissemination of fake news on its platform specifically mentioned Kitze and BeforeItsNews.com:> Chris Kitze, who runs BeforeItsNews.com, said that although he allows users to post any content without fact-checking, he hasn't noticed Facebook tagging any of his site's articles as fake news. That includes a recent piece debunked by Snopes claiming to include leaked photos showing how Obama practiced Islam in the White House.> > "A lot of people think Obama is Muslim. That's what it plays on. Is it real? I don't know," he said. "The fact is a lot of people thought it was real or it reflects their sentiment."Alongside publishing a steady flow of factually questionable content, Kitze, BeforeItsNews.com, and Epoch appear to have enjoyed a thriving relationship with over 20,000 Epoch Times articles appearing on the site between 2010 and 2012.Kitze's involvement with Falun Gong was detailed in an Epoch Times article published in June 2012, in which he described coming across Falun Gong practitioners in New York's Times Square in 2005 and, remembering that encounter, educating himself in the movement and practicing its meditation techniques two years later.The group's persecution in China—the Chinese government banned Falun Gong and prohibits practice of the movement's exercises in public and the dissemination of its written material—and freedom of participating in an activity defying the Chinese government clearly resonated with Kitze.The Epoch Times explained that Kitze was drawn to Falun Gong's openness and participants' voluntary decision to practice and study the movement. "Kitze said this may be why the Chinese communist regime was so afraid of Falun Gong that it launched a brutal campaign of hate and persecution against some 100 million practitioners, starting a decade ago in the country where the practice originated" said The Epoch Times. "Because it's in your heart and mind—that's something no government could ever control, that's one reason why a totalitarian regime would oppose it," Kitze told the paper.Matthew Tullar, who served as director of circulation at The Epoch Times from 2012 to 2014 and director of sales and marketing from 2015 to 2016, recalled Kitze speaking to Epoch advertising salespeople at a 2012 San Francisco seminar. "While I was already familiar with the fact that the Chinese Communist Party was officially persecuting Some [sic] 100 million Falun Gong practitioners in China and that the leftist media [...] was strangely ignoring this story, even to this day, that included over 75 Communist government hospitals busy murdering thousands of these people every year since the early two thousands, to harvest and sell their body parts to U.S. and other world customers," wrote Tullar in an email. "Mr. Kitze was the first business guy I had ever met that was dedicating a significant part of his business profits and effort to exposing these facts. He struck me as a kind and genuine person who cared about his fellow man," said Tullar. "While my understanding of and experience with him was limited, I was nonetheless inspired by his effort and compassion. And his presentation turned out to be useful as well."The Hedge Fund Man Behind Pro-Trump Media's New War on ChinaThe Epoch Times has always maintained a hawkish editorial tone towards China but that line took on a more overtly partisan and focused U.S. political message over the course of the Trump presidency, pushing a steady onslaught of articles and videos labeling the novel coronavirus "CCP Virus" and advancing a series of thinly reported or unsubstantiated theories about vast Chinese government cover-ups to hide the origins of COVID-19.Busted: Pentagon Contractors' Report on 'Wuhan Lab' Origins of Virus Is BogusThe paper's editorial board even went so far as to claim, "If someone is unfortunately infected with the CCP virus, we suggest that he or she sincerely says 'down with the CCP.' Maybe a miracle will happen.""Staying away from the CCP and condemning the CCP can help any individual, organization, or country alleviate or even avoid attacks of the CCP virus," the ed board added. "They may then embrace a wonderful future."Over the course of the Trump presidency, Epoch emerged as a prolific pro-Trump media outlet.When Facebook banned the Epoch Media Group from buying ads in August 2019, it later said the news outlet spent over $9 million on ads, including approximately 11,000 pro-Trump Facebook advertisements, more than any other organization other than the Trump campaign.Epoch denied the ads were purchased by The Epoch Times but Facebook said Epoch evaded the company's transparency rules for political advertising and "repeatedly violated a number of our policies, including our policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior, spam and misrepresentation, to name just a few."Epoch's pivot toward Trump appears to have coincided with the ramp up of BeforeItsNews.com's drumbeat of pro-Trump articles, and Kitze's conspiracy theories."[BeforeItsNews] was one of the first news websites to really cover Donald Trump and his candidacy in a serious manner and, you know, we took him seriously," Kitze told a conspiracy oriented podcast, The Common Sense Show, in July 2016. "We didn't think he was just some flash in the pan."In 2017, the alliance between Kitze and Epoch became official, when Kitze joined Epoch's board as a vice president in 2017—an association that is listed nowhere on Epoch's website, Kitze's online social media profiles, or in a 2018 profile on him in the newspaper. His continued promotion of disproven or baseless conspiracy theories is seemingly in contradiction with Epoch's "dedicat[ion] to truthful reporting."Meanwhile, Kitze kept elevating the strangest of right-wing conspiracy theories. In a 2018 appearance on the Common Sense Show, Kitze referenced the alleged "organ harvesting" of Falun Gong practitioners in China, explaining that he believed they were also being used for "satanic" ritual purposes "as we've just seen in the U.S. with all the Pizzagate things."Kitze's reference to Pizzagate is particularly jarring as it came a year and a half after a man with an assault rifle was arrested outside a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. attempting to investigate online conspiracy claims that a pedophile ring was operating in the restaurant's basement with the help of Bill and Hillary Clinton.Kitze went on to echo a largely debunked assertion made by the Trump administration about child trafficking on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying:> All these kids coming across the border, these ones all the Democrats were up in arms about, you know, 'how can you separate the families?'. Fifty-percent of them aren't even with their family. They're being trafficked and God knows where these poor kids are going to end up.In 2019, Kitze appeared on the same show to discuss, among other topics, a conspiracy theory involving the Clintons selling "all of the U.S. secrets" to China. "The Clintons had asked for $1 trillion but [the Chinese] got a deal and only had to pay the Clintons $900 billion," said Kitze, referencing reporting in The Epoch Times Chinese language edition.Since forming BeforeItsNews, Kitze focused heavily on privacy-related products, including Unseen, a now shuttered secure messaging platform, and founding the cryptocurrency Flashcoin, both of which were featured in a glowing 2018 profile in The Epoch Times that made no reference to his role as an officer in the organization.Kitze also serves as chairman of the Alphabit Fund, a Dubai and Cayman Islands based cryptocurrency fund aiming to raise $300 million that Reuters described in 2018 as "one of the world's largest digital currency funds."Epoch Times Advertiser Deletes Facebook Page After Hacking InquiriesAlphabit's co-founder and managing director, Saeed Al Darmaki, worked for over eight years at Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, raising questions about whether Alphabit has state backing. Kitze did not respond to a request for comment about the investors in Alphabit, his responsibilities as a vice president at Epoch or his current relationship with BeforeItsNews.Epoch, for its part, offered incomplete and contradictory answers about Kitze's role at the news organization.Dr. Dana Cheng, a spokesperson for The Epoch Times, responded to questions about Kitze's involvement, saying, "Mr. Kitze had limited involvement with The Epoch Times more than 7 years ago," adding, "There is no relationship between The Epoch Times and any of Mr. Kitze's endeavors, including beforeitsnews."Cheng appeared to contradict her statement about Kitze's involvement with Epoch more than seven years ago when questioned about his appearance on tax filings in the 2017 and 2018 tax years. "Yes, he was a board member in 2017 and 2018, with minimal involvement," said Cheng, adding, "He is not a board member nor a VP now."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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| US urges probe into alleged ethics breach at African Development Bank Posted: 25 May 2020 08:53 AM PDT  The US Department of the Treasury has called on the African Development Bank (AfDB) to carry out an independent probe into alleged ethics breaches by its president, Akinwumi Adesina. In a letter obtained by AFP on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed "deep reservations" about the outcome of an internal inquiry clearing Adesina, and urged the appointment of an independent outside investigator. The letter, dated May 22, was sent to the chair of the AfDB's board, Ivorian Planning and Development Minister Niale Kaba.
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| Facebook shareholders try to block encryption plan Posted: 26 May 2020 04:31 PM PDT  A groups of investors is concerned the social network could become a haven for child exploitation.
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