| US intelligence suggests Russia was fishing Putin's doomsday missile out of the sea when it mysteriously exploded Posted: 29 Aug 2019 05:15 PM PDT  Sources familiar with an intelligence report told CNBC that Russia was trying to recover the weapon after another unsuccessful flight test.
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| Satellite photos show burning Iran space center launch pad Posted: 29 Aug 2019 10:33 AM PDT  A rocket at an Iranian space center that was to conduct a satellite launch criticized by the U.S. apparently exploded on its launch pad Thursday, satellite images show, suggesting the Islamic Republic suffered its third failed launch this year alone. State media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province. In previous days, satellite images had shown officials there repainted the launch pad blue.
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| UK, Germany, France warn on South China Sea tensions Posted: 29 Aug 2019 08:40 AM PDT  Britain, Germany and France said on Thursday they were concerned by tensions in the South China Sea, in a statement issued the day after a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China. The situation there "could lead to insecurity and instability in the region," the three countries said in a joint statement issued by Britain's foreign ministry. China and the United States have traded barbs in the past over what Washington has said is Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea via the building of military installations on artificial islands and reefs in disputed waters.
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| A 14-year-old girl in Michigan was put on a ventilator after contracting EEE. The rare mosquito-borne virus kills a third of people infected, and it's spreading. Posted: 28 Aug 2019 07:57 AM PDT  One woman in Massachusetts has already died from the disease, which is also in Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Delaware.
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| 'Very graphic’ evidence, including satanic elements, in Ohio child porn case, police say Posted: 29 Aug 2019 04:44 PM PDT  An Ohio man confessed to raping and photographing a 5-year-old boy in a case authorities say is the worst they've ever seen.
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| DNA to solve mystery of Napoleon's general lost in Russia Posted: 28 Aug 2019 01:20 AM PDT  Archaeologists are set to unveil the answer to a 200-year-old question over the remains of a French general who died during Napoleon's 1812 campaign in Russia. Charles Etienne Gudin was hit by a cannonball in the Battle of Valutino on August 19 near Smolensk, a city west of Moscow close to the border with Belarus. "As soon as I saw the skeleton with just one leg, I knew that we had our man," the head of the Franco-Russian team that discovered the remains in July, Marina Nesterova, told AFP.
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| Hurricane Dorian: Trump warns Florida of 'one of the biggest' as Category 3 storm barrels towards US mainland Posted: 29 Aug 2019 07:30 AM PDT  Hurricane Dorian is gaining strength at it approaches Florida, with forecasters warning it could grow into a dangerous storm before it hits the Sunshine State.The storm has moved out into open waters after hitting Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, where it caused power cuts and flooding in places.
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| Hong Kong Police Ban Mass Weekend Protest March, Citing Safety Posted: 29 Aug 2019 02:05 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong police said they banned a Saturday protest by the organizer of previous historic mass marches, citing public safety concerns, a move that could anger demonstrators ahead of a planned 13th straight weekend of pro-democracy rallies.Police said approving the Civil Human Rights Front's march was too risky as some people might use it to "carry out large scale destruction and disrupt public order," Kwok Pak-chung, the force's regional commander for Hong Kong Island, said at a Thursday briefing. The South China Morning Post first reported the ban."Based on our intelligence, we believe certain protesters will commit acts of violence during the gathering," Kwok said. "There's a high chance that certain violent protesters will hijack this event." He added that officials "have made a decision that we didn't like to make."Bonnie Leung, CHRF's vice-convener, told Bloomberg News earlier in the day that the group was planning to appeal. Some previous rallies have been approved at the last minute after negotiations with police.The ban could trigger further outcry as the rally was planned for the fifth anniversary of China's introduction of an electoral reform package that would have restricted democratic freedoms and was later rejected by Hong Kong. It could also fuel turnout at a two-day general strike called to begin Monday if the government doesn't concede to protesters' major demands by Saturday, the SCMP said.Timeline: How Months of Protests Have Unfolded in Hong KongThe march had been planned to start at centrally located Chater Garden and continue on to China's liaison office in the city, where Hong Kong's police and Beijing have drawn their sharpest line after a previous demonstration saw protesters deface the national emblem. Hong Kong's former leader Leung Chun-ying is promoting a website offering crowd-funded cash bounties to identify protesters who have perpetrated vandalism, including HK$1 million ($127,000) for the person who splashed black paint on the emblem.The CHRF has organized three record-breaking peaceful marches over weeks of protests, including the June 9 rally against legislation easing extraditions to China that sparked what's morphed into a broader movement against Beijing's tightening grip over the city. The group said each march brought more than 1 million people onto the streets, while police estimates are lower, in the hundreds of thousands.Its latest march would come after a weekend that began with the formation of a peaceful human chain across the city and culminated two days later with police firing a weapon and using water cannons for the first time. Police said 86 people were arrested over the weekend for alleged offenses including unlawful assembly, possession of weapons and assaulting officers.CHRF convener Jimmy Sham said separately Thursday that he had been attacked by two armed masked men inside a restaurant in the city's Kowloon, but that he hadn't been hurt because his friend shielded him. Sham said he would head to the police station in Tsim Sha Tsui to give a statement.(Updates throughout with police confirmation.)To contact the reporters on this story: Sheryl Tian Tong Lee in Hong Kong at slee1905@bloomberg.net;Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh, Jon HerskovitzFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'Fastest woman on four wheels' Jessi Combs killed attempting to break her own land speed record Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:06 AM PDT  Racing driver Jessi Combs, considered the "fastest woman on four wheels," was killed in a car accident trying to break her own record, police said Wednesday. Combs's jet car crashed Tuesday in the Alvord Desert where she was pronounced dead at the scene, officers in the northwestern US state of Oregon said in a statement. Combs, 39, earned her "fastest woman" title in 2013 when she hit 398 miles (641 kilometers) per hour, and police said the fatal crash occurred while "attempting to break" the record. "Jessi Combs was pronounced deceased at the scene," the Harney County Sheriff's Office statement said. "The cause of the crash is unknown at this time and is currently being investigated." Combs, who also appeared on various US television shows, previously tried to break her record in October. Combs's jet car crashed Tuesday in the Alvord Desert where she was pronounced dead at the scene According to industry media, she was able to exceed her previous speed to reach 483 miles per hour, but a mechanical problem meant the record couldn't be officially validated. She had expected to do even better on Tuesday. Combs, an accomplished mechanic, had challenged herself to beat American stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil's 1976 "fastest woman in the world" record, which was set on a three-wheel vehicle also in the Alvord Desert, at 512 miles per hour.
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| Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint. Posted: 27 Aug 2019 07:13 PM PDT ![Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint.]( "Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint.") The ex-VP explained what he'd want in a running mate and acknowledged his continued support among African Americans isn't guaranteed.
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| North Korea says it won't give up arms modernization Posted: 29 Aug 2019 01:48 PM PDT  North Korea accused the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday of meddling in its "self-defensive measures for arms modernization," saying the West will make "no greater mistake" than thinking Pyongyang will give up its right to have weapons that it says are needed to ensure peace. The North's official Korean Central News Agency circulated a statement from Kim Son Gyong, an adviser at the Korea-Europe Association, in response to a joint statement Tuesday from the three important U.S. allies condemning Pyongyang's "repeated provocative launches" of ballistic missiles.
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| Idaho artifacts show human presence in Americas 16,600 years ago Posted: 29 Aug 2019 11:40 AM PDT  Artifacts including stone tools and animal bone fragments found in Idaho dating back about 16,600 years represent what may be the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas and offer insight into the routes people took as they spread into the New World. Scientists on Thursday said they used a technique called radiocarbon dating to determine the age of artifacts unearthed at an archeological site called Cooper's Ferry along the Salmon River in western Idaho near the town of Cottonwood. People were present there at a time when large expanses of North America were covered by massive ice sheets, and big mammals such as mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats, the giant short-faced bear, horses, bison and camels roamed the continent's Ice Age landscape.
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| Federal Court Rules Atheists May Be Barred From Giving Invocations at Pennsylvania Statehouse Posted: 28 Aug 2019 04:23 PM PDT  A federal appeals court ruled that atheists and others who do not believe in God can be prohibited from delivering an invocation at the Pennsylvania statehouse.The 2 to 1 ruling from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on Friday upheld a state House of Representatives policy that stipulates the chamber's opening invocation may be led only by a current member of the House or "a member of a regularly established church or religious organization."The court found that the rules governing the opening invocation, which also require the invocation to be "respectful of all religious beliefs," do not infringe on the First Amendment since the invocation falls under government speech and goes along with the "historical tradition of legislative prayer.""First, only theistic prayer can satisfy all the traditional purposes of legislative prayer. Second, the Supreme Court has long taken as given that prayer presumes invoking a higher power," the court stated.A lower court halted the policy last summer, ruling that there is "no justification to sanction government's establishment of a category of favored religions — like monotheistic or theistic faiths — through legislative prayer," but Friday's ruling overturns that decision.Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the plaintiffs who complained about the rule, panned the "disappointing ruling," saying it gives "special privileges to people because they believe in a god."
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| Serial rape suspect arrested by Georgia police more than a year after they hired him Posted: 28 Aug 2019 04:26 PM PDT  Georgia police have been searching for a serial rapist since 2015. They arrested a man Tuesday who was hired as a police recruit more than a year ago.
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| Trump cancels Poland visit as hurricane heads for Florida Posted: 29 Aug 2019 04:21 PM PDT  US President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled a trip to Poland as Hurricane Dorian bore down on Florida, where it could make landfall as a dangerous Category 4 storm. Trump, who had been scheduled to attend World War II anniversary commemorations in Poland this weekend, said he would focus instead on preparations for the approaching hurricane. Vice President Mike Pence would go to Poland in his place, Trump said.
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| Serbia Vows to Block Plan to Turn Nazi Death Camp Sites Into Shops Posted: 29 Aug 2019 06:51 AM PDT ![Serbia Vows to Block Plan to Turn Nazi Death Camp Sites Into Shops]( "Serbia Vows to Block Plan to Turn Nazi Death Camp Sites Into Shops") (Bloomberg) -- Serbia will adopt a law to create a memorial center in Belgrade for tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Roma killed by Nazis in World War II, preventing plans to redevelop two concentration camp sites in the capital city into commercial space.Draft legislation will be sent to parliament in November with the "active involvement of the Jewish community in Serbia," Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center told reporters in after meeting with President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday. He said he got assurances from the Serb leader that the bill will be adopted and the government will provide funds for the memorial.Originally a 1937 trade fair complex built in the then capital of Yugoslavia, Staro Sajmiste became a death camp when Nazis invaded the country in 1941. Some 30,000 died there, including 7,000 Jews. After the fall of communism, this and another site of a Nazi-era camp in Belgrade, Topovske Supe, were partly sold off by the state, but have been spared large-scale redevelopment.After the war, parts of Staro Sajmiste were used as art studios, a kindergarten, a nightclub, and a restaurant. It even housed a local office of Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party. The land of Topovske Supe is slated for building a $220 million shopping mall by closely held Delta Holding. That may be prevented through mandatory expropriation, according to the draft bill.To contact the reporter on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Irina Vilcu at isavu@bloomberg.net, Andrea Dudik, Andrew LangleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Joe Biden warned about ‘welfare mothers driving luxury cars’ in a 1988 column Posted: 29 Aug 2019 08:37 AM PDT  Former VP Joe Biden's half-century of public life has drawn extensive attention to his record on race and civil rights in the 2020 Democratic primary.
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| Colombia FARC negotiators say they are taking up arms again Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:59 PM PDT  Colombian President Ivan Duque offered a nearly $1 million reward for the arrest of the top peace negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Thursday after the rebel and a small cadre of hardliners vowed to resume their insurgency in a major reversal for the country's efforts to end decades of bloody fighting. In a televised address, Duque also accused Venezuela's socialist leadership of providing safe haven to the rebels — underscoring the risks to regional stability from the rebels' shock announcement they would rearm. In a video published after midnight Thursday, Luciano Marin appeared alongside some 20 heavily armed insurgents dressed in camouflaged fatigues condemning the conservative Duque for standing by as hundreds of leftist activists and rebels have been killed since demobilizing as part of the peace deal.
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| India's top ports on alert for attacks from 'Pakistan-trained commandos' Posted: 29 Aug 2019 03:45 AM PDT ![India's top ports on alert for attacks from 'Pakistan-trained commandos']( "India's top ports on alert for attacks from 'Pakistan-trained commandos'") India's two main ports said on Thursday they had been warned by the coastguard and intelligence officials that Pakistan-trained commandos have entered Indian waters to carry out underwater attacks on port facilities. The Mundra Port, run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, and the state-owned Kandla Port had asked their employees and ship operators to be vigilant, port officials and the ports said in advisories seen by Reuters. Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated since India revoked the special status of its portion of the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Aug. 5 and moved to quell objections by shutting down communications and clamping down on local leaders.
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| Brigitte Macron speaks out against sexism amid G7 Amazon fire funding row with Brazilian president Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:22 PM PDT  France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, hit back on Thursday at mockery of her age and appearance on Jair Bolsonaro's Facebook page amid a war of words between the Brazilian president and her husband that has left £18m in emergency funding for the Amazon in limbo. Her comments came as Mr Bolsonaro, accused by critics of allowing tens of thousands of fires to rage unchecked in the Amazon rainforest, announced a two-month ban on fires deliberately started by farmers. Critics have accused the Brazilian president of allowing farmers to start fires in order to clear forest for crops or grazing. Mrs Macron, 65, did not mention Mr Bolsonaro by name, but implied that the 64-year-old president was out of tune with contemporary attitudes to women. Mrs Macron thanked the thousands of Brazilians who had offered apologies on social media for their president's approval of a post deriding her for being nearly 25 years older than her husband, Emmanuel Macron, the French president. The post implied that Michelle Bolsonaro, the 37-year-old wife of Mr Bolsonaro, 64, was better looking than the French first lady. Mrs Macron said: "Times are changing. There are those who are on the train of change, women are there with you, like you, you've almost all understood, gentlemen. Not everyone, some are still on the platform and I'm sure they will soon get on the train." A fireman works to extinguish a fire at a forest near Porto Velho, Brazil, 28 August 2019 Credit: REX Her comments won sustained applause as she inaugurated a newly refurbished museum devoted to the Battle of Agincourt at a ceremony with the British ambassador, Edward Llewellyn, at the site of the 1415 English victory over the French in northern France. "It's not just for me, it's for all women," Mrs Macron said. "Things are changing and everyone must realise it." The diplomatic clash between the French and Brazilian presidents came as Mr Macron tried to lead international efforts to help Brazil put out the fires, which he sees as a global problem because the world's largest rainforest produces 20 per cent of its oxygen. Mr Bolsonaro, whose critics have labelled him "Captain Chainsaw" because of what they say is his disregard for the environment, rejected £18 million in aid from the G7 announced at a summit hosted by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, in the coastal resort of Biarritz at the weekend. But he has accepted a separate £10m offer of assistance from the United Kingdom. State governors and agribusiness leaders from the Amazon region have implored Mr Bolsonaro to accept financial aid from the G7, fearing that continued tensions could harm Brazil's exports. Mr Bolsonaro has now outlawed all uses of fire in the region except for farming in indigenous communities, but he stressed that the ban was only temporary. "The people there set these fires, it's a tradition," he said. Data from Brazil's Institute of Space Research has shown the increase in fires this year is linked to a rise in deforestation, with illegal land grabbers clearing areas of virgin forest in order to sell to agribusiness firms. Under domestic and international pressure, the government is expected to launch a series of environment-related measures next week including curbs on deforestation and gold panning. Local media have warned of a new Amazon gold rush stemming from relaxed oversight and poverty. On Wednesday, Donald Trump lent his support to Mr Bolsonaro. "I have gotten to know [Mr Bolsonaro] very well during our dealings with Brazil", Mr Trump tweeted. "He is working very hard on the Amazon fires and in all respects doing a great job for the people of Brazil." Mr Bolsonaro thanked him, saying that the "fake news campaign built against [Brazilian] sovereignty will not work."
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| Married couple suspected of murder escape after overpowering guards while being extradited Posted: 28 Aug 2019 09:41 AM PDT  A married couple wanted for murder have escaped from custody after overpowering guards who were transporting them through Utah in the United States.Blane Barksdale, 56, and Susan Barksdale, 59, broke free from two guards on Monday evening.
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| Conservative students face doxing threat on Texas college campus Posted: 28 Aug 2019 04:15 AM PDT  A student group has threatened to dox the names of incoming students at the University of Texas at Austin who join conservative groups.
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| 'Tough guy!': Trump mocks NYT columnist Bret Stephens for bedbug reaction Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:34 AM PDT  Bret Stephens, who was called a bedbug Monday evening on Twitter, has since deactivated his Twitter account.
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| Israel says Iran seeking to build precision missiles in Lebanon Posted: 29 Aug 2019 01:04 PM PDT  The Israeli army on Thursday accused Iran of collaborating with Lebanon's Hezbollah to assemble precision-guided missiles that could cause "massive" human casualties in Israel. Tehran and the Shiite movement plan to convert "stupid rockets into precision-guided missiles", Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus told journalists in a conference call. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.
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| How Russia and China are preparing to exploit a warming planet Posted: 29 Aug 2019 02:11 AM PDT  POLITICO's latest Global Translations podcast explores how climate change is reshaping power dynamics among America's adversaries.
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| Democrats' Medicare for All must consider union-won plans: AFL-CIO Posted: 29 Aug 2019 09:48 AM PDT  Democratic White House hopefuls should ensure their Medicare for All proposals honor union-negotiated private insurance, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, head of the largest federation of U.S. labor unions, said on Thursday. How to best extend health coverage to millions of uninsured or under-insured Americans has been one of the early issues defining the Democratic nominating contest to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November 2020. "You can't ask the American worker, who sacrificed wages and everything, to simply say: 'Okay, I'll accept this plan here,'" Trumka added, noting that some union plans likely provide more benefits than Medicare.
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| 26 killed in fiery attack on bar in southern Mexico Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:04 PM PDT  Gang members burst into a bar, blocked all the exits and then started a fire that killed 26 people and injured about a dozen others, Mexican officials said Wednesday. Authorities said the attack in the Gulf coast city of Coatzacoalcos late Tuesday apparently was overseen by a man who had been recently arrested but released. "The criminals went in, closed the doors, the emergency exits, and set fire to the place," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his daily morning news conference.
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| Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out. Here are the 3 big winners. Posted: 29 Aug 2019 06:21 AM PDT  Insider has been tracking how many candidates' fans like other candidates. Gillibrand's exit could help Sen. Elizabeth Warren consolidate support.
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| Uganda says a traveling Congolese girl has Ebola Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:55 PM PDT  A 9-year-old Congolese girl tested positive for Ebola in Uganda on Thursday after traveling from Congo, where an outbreak of the highly infectious disease has killed nearly 2,000 people. The child, who is now in isolation at a hospital in the Ugandan border district of Kasese, traveled from Congo with her mother on Wednesday, Uganda's health ministry said in a statement. The girl, who was bleeding through the mouth and had a high fever, was identified and screened for Ebola at an official border crossing.
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| Gaza under alert after suicide bombings kill three police officers Posted: 28 Aug 2019 01:08 PM PDT  Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas said Wednesday two overnight suicide bombings killed three Palestinian police officers in the strip, placing the Palestinian enclave in a state of alert. Interior ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bozm said in an evening statement that they had identified the two bombers who blew themselves up at two police checkpoints in Gaza City. A source familiar with the investigation said a Salafist movement in Gaza that sympathises with the Islamic State jihadist group was suspected.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Porsche Taycan Posted: 28 Aug 2019 06:12 AM PDT |
| Trump tax returns: Deutsche Bank says it has financial records sought by Congress Posted: 28 Aug 2019 12:33 AM PDT  Deutsche Bank has the tax returns requested by congressional Democrats looking into the financial records of Donald Trump and three of his children, the bank has disclosed in a court filing.Two committees in the US House of Representatives subpoenaed Deutsche Bank in April to provide financial records belonging to the president and his children Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump.
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| Backcountry Offers Our Favorite Outdoor Gear For Half Off During Labor Day Posted: 28 Aug 2019 09:12 AM PDT |
| War and poverty drive Gazans to seek better life in Europe despite dangers Posted: 29 Aug 2019 07:20 AM PDT  Shaban Khalaf's advice to any other Gazans thinking of heading to Europe in search of a better life, as he did, is blunt: don't bother - it's not worth the danger and the expense. Khalaf should know. Despairing of ever finding a decent job in Gaza, where the economy is near collapse, the journalism graduate flew to Turkey via Egypt in June 2018 and tried no fewer than 18 times to cross into Europe, mostly by boat.
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| A bear broke into a Colorado couple's home. They fought it off with a baseball bat and their bare fists Posted: 28 Aug 2019 08:57 PM PDT ![A bear broke into a Colorado couple's home. They fought it off with a baseball bat and their bare fists]( "A bear broke into a Colorado couple's home. They fought it off with a baseball bat and their bare fists") A Colorado couple fought a bear with their fists and a baseball bat Monday, authorities said, driving the animal and her cub out of their home.
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| West Virginia state senator charged with prostitution Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:28 PM PDT  West Virginia state Sen. Mike Maroney has been charged with soliciting a prostitute. The Republican lawmaker turned himself in and was arraigned Wednesday morning, a Marshall County court clerk said. Maroney exchanged text messages to discuss prices and set up meetings with a woman who has acknowledged being a prostitute, according to a criminal complaint.
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| Hurricane Dorian is moving toward Florida. Here's why storms are getting stronger, slower, and wetter. Posted: 29 Aug 2019 06:35 AM PDT  Hurricane Dorian could hit Florida as at least a Category 3 storm on Monday. Climate change is making storms stronger, wetter, and more frequent.
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| Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologizes for participating in blackface skit in college Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:47 PM PDT  "I offer my heartfelt apologies for the pain and embarrassment this causes," Ivey said.
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| Secret Service, police in standoff with barricaded suspect in Fairfield Posted: 28 Aug 2019 12:00 PM PDT  BARRICADED SUSPECT: The Secret Service along with police are in the middle of a standoff in Fairfield.
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| 'Help me': Aussie accused of spying in China pleads to return home Posted: 28 Aug 2019 07:16 PM PDT  An Australian academic arrested in China accused of being a spy has asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help him "go home as soon as possible". Yang Jun, an outspoken writer who also goes by his pen name Yang Hengjun, has been detained in China since January without access to his lawyer or family. Beijing announced his formal arrest last Friday on spying charges, which could bring a lengthy prison sentence.
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| Outrage mounts over Harvard student turned back at airport Posted: 28 Aug 2019 03:27 PM PDT  The story of an incoming Harvard freshman who was denied entry into the United States after his laptop and cellphone were searched at the airport last week has immigration and free speech advocates sounding the alarm over the Trump administration's increasingly restrictive immigration policies and how they are enforced.
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| Steyer Deducted $181 Million for SALT: Campaign Update Posted: 29 Aug 2019 03:49 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Tom Steyer wrote off the $181 million he paid in state and local taxes over nine years, according to tax returns released by his presidential campaign Thursday.His income totaled $1.2 billion from 2009 through 2017, and SALT was his single biggest deduction in all nine years. His total income was $146.3 million in 2017, when he claimed a $26.9 million write-off for state and local taxes. His campaign said he'd release his 2018 return when it was available, but he may have paid far more in federal taxes as the Republican-controlled Congress has capped the SALT deduction at $10,000.Steyer, who has advocated for a wealth tax, has consistently been among the top U.S. political donors. In 2017, he spent $65.4 million on political activities, according to a memo accompanying the documents he released.The hedge fund manager, a California resident, has said he could spend as much as $100 million on his 2020 presidential campaign, though he is foundering in the polls and failed to qualify for a candidate debate next month. He has spent an estimated $10.8 million on television advertising since launching his campaign in July, according to Advertising Analytics LLC.Biden Defends Anecdote About Afghanistan Incident (4:45 p.m.)Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden brushed aside a report that he recently told an inaccurate story about traveling to Afghanistan to honor a heroic Navy captain, arguing that the "central point" of his account was "absolutely accurate."Biden's comments on Thursday came in response to a Washington Post article challenging the accuracy of the anecdote, saying that Biden had "jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of bravery, compassion and regret that never happened."At a campaign stop last week, Biden recalled visiting Afghanistan during his years as vice president and meeting the captain, who had rappelled down a ravine under enemy fire to retrieve the body of another American, and later refused to accept a Silver Star medal that Biden tried to pin on him.Biden said Thursday in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that he hadn't read the Post story, but insisted he'd stayed true to the thrust of the incident."The story was that he refused the medal because the fella he tried to save and risked his life saving, died," he told the Post and Courier. "That's the beginning, middle and end. The rest of you guys can take it and do what you want with it." -- Jennifer EpsteinGoogle, Twitter to Discuss 2020 Disinformation (3:50 p.m.)Google, Facebook and Twitter have been invited by the head of the Federal Election Commission to explore ways to combat digital disinformation in the 2020 elections.The all-day symposium on Sept. 17 will examine new types of false information spread online that could be used to influence elections. In 2016, Russia used online platforms in a bid to support the candidacy of President Donald Trump, according U.S. intelligence agencies.Ellen Weintraub, the head of the agency, is co-hosting the event, which will also include academics, congressional staffers and political organizations, according to an official at the agency. The event was first reported by Politico.Spokespersons for Facebook and Twitter said the companies are planning to attend. Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The other co-hosts are the Global Digital Policy Incubator at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center and PEN America. The FEC as an agency isn't involved. -- Bill AllisonGabbard Says She Won't Run as an Independent (12:30 p.m.)Tulsi Gabbard may have qualms about some of her rivals, but she's ruling out an independent bid for president if she fails to get the Democratic nomination."No, I have ruled that out," the Hawaii congresswoman told CNN Thursday.Gabbard failed to qualify for the September primary debate by Wednesday's deadline and is polling at 1.4%, according to the RealClearPolitics average. But in the first two debates, she filled a unique role as Trump supporters' favorite Democrat. An Iraq war vet, she frequently appears on Fox News and has challenged the orthodoxy of both parties on foreign policy.On Wednesday, she complained to Fox News about a lack of transparency in the criteria for Democratic primary debates and said the party is run by "a small group of really powerful political elites."Speculation of a third-party run had been driven by Gabbard's unusually harsh criticism of some of her rivals, particularly Kamala Harris, as unqualified. -- Gregory KorteHarris Offers Plan for People With Disabilities (6:00 a.m.)Kamala Harris vows to increase grants and strengthen rules aimed at bolstering opportunity for people with disabilities if she's elected president in 2020.Her campaign said that a Harris proposal released Thursday would enhance Department of Education programs aimed at helping disabled people get jobs. It would also use the powers of the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development to strengthen accessibility rules for new projects to qualify for funding.The proposal says Harris, California's junior senator, would "have diverse leaders with disabilities developing all the policies her administration champions."Her nine-point plan includes legislative proposals to increase wages of disabled workers and resources for teachers of students with disabilities. It also calls for the U.S. to ratify the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. -- Sahil KapurCOMING UPClimate change takes center stage at a CNN town hall on Sept. 4. The Democratic National Committee has rejected demands from climate activists and several candidates for a party-sponsored debate solely on that issue.\--With assistance from Sahil Kapur, Gregory Korte, Bill Allison and Jennifer Epstein.To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Allison in Washington DC at ballison14@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UPDATE 1-Iranian tanker changes course away from Turkish coast - tracking data Posted: 29 Aug 2019 05:12 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Iranian tanker changes course away from Turkish coast - tracking data]( "UPDATE 1-Iranian tanker changes course away from Turkish coast - tracking data") Iranian tanker Adrian Darya, at the centre of a dispute between Washington and Tehran, has changed course away from the Turkish coast, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed on Thursday. The tanker, formerly called Grace 1, was released from detention off Gibraltar in mid-August after a five-week standoff over whether it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. On Monday, IRIB news agency quoted an Iranian government spokesman as saying that Iran had sold the oil from the Adrian Darya and the vessel's owner will decide on its next destination.
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| Vaping is worse with THC oil and 4 other things you to know Posted: 28 Aug 2019 09:57 AM PDT  Expect serious nicotine withdrawal from vaping, which is more addictive than smoking because the concentrated liquid form is more quickly metabolized.
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| An ex-Googler says the company's top lawyer had a child with her while he was married and then cut her off as part of a toxic culture she says protects 'elite men' (GOOG, GOOGL) Posted: 28 Aug 2019 03:18 PM PDT  The blog post describes an "abuse of power" its author said ran rampant among some of Google's top male leaders.
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| Climate change melts 12.5bn tons of ice in Greenland 50 years earlier than predicted Posted: 28 Aug 2019 02:17 PM PDT  Billions of tonnes of ice in Greenland is melting 50 years ahead of climate change schedules, preventing inhabitants from moving around the country by sledge and leading to the surreal spectacle of children playing in the Arctic sea due to rising temperatures. A heatwave gripping the Arctic region is causing unprecedented levels of melting ice, and has also seen global sea levels rise, in a clear sign that climate change is taking its severe toll much more quickly than predicted. Earlier this month, in the town of Qaanaaq in northwestern Greenland, children were seen splashing around in the sea and wearing t-shirts, which would have been unheard of ten years ago. Some schoolgirls have reportedly even started wearing skirts as part of their uniform. Climate experts said the sudden increase in melting ice was caused by greenhouse gas emissions over the past century and the so-called Albedo effect, where falling ice levels means that heat is absorbed by the planet instead of being reflected back into space, piling on yet more heat. They also warned that daily lives of Greenlanders risked being upended by climate change, with iced areas usually traversed by sledge or snow ski turning into small lakes. Huge amount of ice is melting in Greenland due to climate change Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP "We are already entering a new normal in the Arctic, and what we are seeing now is far and beyond what we predicted in 2019," said Dr Victoria Herrmann, the president and managing director of the Arctic Institute, which closely monitors climate change in Greenland. "It has also fundamentally changed the environment of Greenland, both for the people that call it home and for its unique ecosystem. That will only get worse in the decades to come, where we will see ice free summers in the Arctic." Dr Herrmann added that climate change has led to lakes of melted ice appearing in Greenland that cause logistical problems for its 56,000 inhabitants. "The territory relies heavily on land based transport to get from one community to the next via snowmobile or dog sled," she said. "But if it becomes a big puddle of water that makes it a lot more difficult to see relatives, or share the meat you have hunted, or go to a basketball game. It disrupts regular lives." A woman and child hold hands as they walk on the street in the town of Tasiilaq, Greenland Credit: Lucas Jackson/Reuters The glacier-covered island is experiencing record-breaking temperatures which rose to 22C on August 1, 15C above the average rate. On that same day, the severe heat caused Greenland to lose 12.5 billion tons of ice, a staggeringly large amount even by Arctic standards. Martin Stendel, a Danish climate expert, has warned that the overall amount of ice that melted on July 31 and August 1 was enough to cover all of Florida with nearly five inches of water. Extreme cases of ice melting typically occur once every 250 years, however the enormous loss of ice on August 1 was the second since 2012, in a sign that the climate crisis is rapidly worsening. "Greenland has had a fire this year, and a number over the last few years and there was also a landslide recently which swept away a village," said Dr Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist and glaciologist at the Danish Meteorological Institute. "There will be other big consequences [of the heat] - we are expecting more mosquitoes, for example."
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