| Agent fired over anti-Trump text messages sues FBI, Justice Posted: 06 Aug 2019 12:16 PM PDT  A veteran FBI agent who wrote derogatory text messages about Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Tuesday charging that the bureau caved to "unrelenting pressure" from the president when it fired him. The suit from Peter Strzok also alleges he was unfairly punished for expressing his political opinions, and that the Justice Department violated his privacy when it shared hundreds of his text messages with reporters. The complaint, which names as defendants Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray, revisits a political drama that was seized on by conservative critics of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation as proof that the bureau was biased against Trump.
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| Mass shootings and misogyny: The violent ideology we can't ignore Posted: 06 Aug 2019 01:16 PM PDT  Recent shootings in Ohio, Texas and California have led to widespread condemnation of white supremacy, but experts say misogyny must be addressed, too
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| Remains of British woman who fell from plane found in Madagascar Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:29 AM PDT ![Remains of British woman who fell from plane found in Madagascar]( "Remains of British woman who fell from plane found in Madagascar") Police said on Wednesday they had found the remains of a British woman who fell 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) from a light aircraft in the remote north of Madagascar last month. Alana Cutland, a 19-year-old Cambridge University student, was visiting the island on an internship complementing her studies in natural sciences, her family has said. Authorities are not pursuing a criminal inquiry in the case, Andrianoasy Ralaivaonary, local gendarmerie commander in Mahajanga, said in a statement.
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| Armed soldiers patrol silent streets after Kashmir curfew Posted: 06 Aug 2019 10:10 PM PDT  Armed soldiers stand in front of barbed wire in Indian Kashmir's near-silent summer capital of Srinagar during a massive security lockdown imposed on the restive region by the Hindu nationalist government. Kashmir was stripped of its seven-decade-long autonomous status through a controversial presidential decree on Monday, a day after a crippling curfew was imposed on its main city. Home to more than one million people, Srinagar now looks like a ghost-town: armed soldiers on street corners and in front of barbed wire barricades make up most of the few people to be seen.
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| Body found in ravine in search for British scientist missing on Greek island Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:38 AM PDT  The body of a British astrophysicist who went missing on a Greek island was found at the bottom of a ravine on Wednesday. Dr Natalie Christopher, 35, disappeared on Monday on the Aegean island of Ikaria, with her boyfriend saying she had gone for a run. Her body was found by a volunteer firefighter in a 65ft-deep ravine about a mile from the hotel where she and her partner had been staying. Asked whether the body had fallen into the ravine or been pushed, Theodoros Chronopoulos, a Greek police spokesman, said it was too early to tell. Dr Christopher is a keen runner, climber and mountain racer "We have to await the report from the coroner, which will take two to three days, in order to have the answers. This is crucial. At this point we don't know how she died," he told The Telegraph. One of the voluteers who took part in the search, Vaggelis Kriaras, told Greece's Open TV that Dr Christopher may have fallen in her attempt to climb, or descend, a cliff-face. "Unfortunately it appears she caught onto a rock which came away and crushed her," he said. Oxford-educated Dr Christopher, a keen runner, rock climber and hiker, was spending a few days on Ikaria with her boyfriend. Natalie Christopher was last seen on Monday on the Aegean island of Ikaria He said that when he woke on Monday morning, she was not in the hotel. He called her on her mobile phone and she told him she was running. He became worried a few hours later when she did not return and called again, but she did not answer. The couple, who live in Cyprus, were staying in the town of Kerame, on the north coast of Ikaria. Police are investigating spots of blood that were found on bed sheets in the hotel room where the couple were staying. The linen has been sent to a laboratory in Athens for testing. Her boyfriend reportedly told police that the blood was from a nosebleed that Dr Christopher suffered the night before her disappearance. Dr Christopher, who grew up in London, has a Masters in physics from Durham University and did her PhD at Linacre College, Oxford. "I express the sincere condolences of the Cypriot state and of myself to the family and friends of Natalie Christopher," Cypriot Justice and Public Order Minister George Savvides said after being informed that the body had been identified. Her disappearance follows the rape and murder last month of an American scientist who went for a jog on Crete. Suzanne Eaton's body was found dumped inside a Second World War bunker a week after she went missing. A 27-year-old local man has allegedly confessed to the murder of the 60-year-old molecular biologist, who had been attending a conference on Crete. She worked for the Max Planck Institute at Dresden University in Germany.
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| Killer Revealed Where He Dumped Yingying Zhang’s Remains—But Finding Her May Be ‘Impossible’ Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:10 AM PDT  REUTERS/Robert ChiaritoThe family of murdered Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang has finally learned what happened to the body of their beloved daughter. Brendt Christensen, the 29-year-old who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in Zhang's murder, informed his attorneys that after killing and decapitating Zhang, he put her body in three separate garbage bags, then disposed of those bags in the dumpster outside his Champaign, Illinois, apartment.Christensen, a former physics Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois, raped, choked, and stabbed 26-year-old Zhang before beating her with a baseball bat and decapitating her in June 2017. Zhang was a visiting scholar at the university.Zhang's father, Ronggao Zhang, said on Wednesday: "If what that man said is true, it further confirms that he is a heartless and evil person. We condemn his brutal and malicious actions and we hope that he suffers the rest of his life as he made Yingying suffer in the final moments of her life."Ex-University of Illinois Ph.D. Candidate Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Visiting Chinese ScholarHe added, "We now understand that finding her may be impossible."Days after the murder, Christensen said he put Yingying's clothing, backpack, cell phone, books and other personal items into a large duffel bag and then distributed them in dumpsters throughout the Champaign-Urbana area.Attorney Steve Beckett, who represents Zhang's family, said last week that defense lawyers provided the information about Zhang's remains as part of an "immunity" agreement in November 2018, telling prosecutors that Zhang's body was likely in a landfill in Vermilion County in Illinois.As the information was provided "under immunity," prosecutors were not able to use or communicate that information to anyone—including her family—during the criminal trial, according to a statement from the Zhang family released on Wednesday morning.During a follow-up investigation, authorities determined that the contents of Christensen's dumpster were picked up on July 12, 2017, "compacted at least twice," and taken to a private landfill near Danville, Illinois, the statement said.The portion of that private landfill that was being actively used at the time was about half a football field in width, and, by the time Christensen's attorneys informed authorities about the remains, they would have purportedly been covered by at "least 30 feet of fill from later garbage hauling.""It is evident that any attempt to recover Yingying's remains would be complicated and expensive, would require government oversight and the cooperation of the landfill owners and would have no certainty of success," said the statement. "To date, no search has been undertaken. But the Zhang family understands that the authorities are still considering an attempt to locate and recover Yingying's remains.""At this time, they think the most prudent thing to do is to allow the authorities to handle the situation and undertake the recovery of Yingying's remains if it is feasible," according to the statement.WTTW-TV's Matt Masterson also reported on Wednesday that Christensen "has not and will not file an appeal" to his convictions.Earlier this week, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created an endowment, called Yingying's Fund, that is aimed at helping international students "during times of hardship, when they need it most," according to the fund's donation page.Zhang's family reportedly provided the first gift for the endowment. The fund had already amassed more than $30,000 by Wednesday morning.A bilingual memorial service for Zhang will be held on Friday in Savoy, Illinois.Ex-University of Illinois Ph.D. Candidate Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Visiting Chinese ScholarRead 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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| White House Circulates Executive Order to Combat Big Tech’s Alleged Anti-Conservative Bias Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:59 PM PDT  The White House is drafting an executive order intended to address allegations of anti-conservative bias at major social-media companies.The specifics of the executive order, such as how it would define bias at what penalties it would impose, remain unclear since the document has not yet been finalized, three White House officials told Politico."If the internet is going to be presented as this egalitarian platform and most of Twitter is liberal cesspools of venom, then at least the president wants some fairness in the system," one White House official told Politico. "But look, we also think that social media plays a vital role. They have a vital role and an increasing responsibility to the culture that has helped make them so profitable and so prominent."News of the nascent executive order comes one month after President Trump vowed, during a gathering of right-wing social-media personalities, to study "all regulatory and legislative solutions" to combat the anti-conservative bias that he argues runs rampant on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.The pair of mass shootings that claimed 31 lives over the weekend also may impact the contents of the executive order. Calls for tech platforms to censor violent content have escalated in the wake of shootings carried out by young men who share their violent ideologies with others on sites such as 8chan."They have a role, if not a responsibility, to monitor the content on their sites to ensure that people aren't threatened with violence or worse, and at the same time to provide a platform that protects and cherishes freedom and free speech, but at the same time does not allow it to descend into a platform for hate," the White House official said.In a largely symbolic gesture, Trump signed an executive order earlier this year requiring that universities agree to promote free speech on campus before they become eligible to receive federal funds.
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| Taliban suicide blast in Kabul kills 14 people, 145 wounded Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:24 AM PDT  A Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces ripped through a busy Kabul neighborhood on Wednesday, killing 14 people and wounding 145 — most of them women, children and other civilians — shortly after the extremist group and the United States reported progress on negotiating an end to Afghanistan's nearly 18-year war. The bombing during morning rush hour was one of the worst attacks in Kabul this year, and it again raised fears among Afghans about what will happen once the estimated 20,000 U.S. and NATO troops in their country go home. The explosives-packed car detonated at a security checkpoint outside police headquarters in a minority Shiite neighborhood in western Kabul, police spokesman Firdaus Faramarz said.
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| Ex-girlfriend of Dayton shooter says she saw red flags and a dark side while they dated Posted: 06 Aug 2019 12:36 PM PDT  A former girlfriend of the man who went on a shooting rampage in Dayton, Ohio, said a number of red flags led her to break up with the 24-year-old.
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| U.S. immigration agents arrest 680 workers at Mississippi plants Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:10 PM PDT ![U.S. immigration agents arrest 680 workers at Mississippi plants]( "U.S. immigration agents arrest 680 workers at Mississippi plants") U.S. immigration authorities arrested nearly 700 people at seven agricultural processing plants across Mississippi on Wednesday in what federal officials said could be the largest worksite enforcement operation in a single state. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement they detained about 680 people who were working illegally at the plants. Some of those detained will be released for "humanitarian reasons" and required to appear in U.S. immigration court, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Mississippi, which partnered with ICE, said in a statement.
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| China slams US for 'bullying' Venezuela Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:43 AM PDT  China on Wednesday hit back at remarks from a top US official who warned Beijing and Moscow against supporting the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro, and called on Washington to stop "bullying" other countries. The United States is one of more than 50 countries backing opposition leader Juan Guaido in Venezuela, whereas China and several other countries, including Russia, support Maduro. On Tuesday, US National Security Advisor John Bolton urged China and Russia to avoid doing business with the Maduro government, after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on all Venezuelan government assets in the US and barred transactions with its authorities.
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| 20 Years of the Porsche 911 GT3 in Photos Posted: 06 Aug 2019 01:38 PM PDT |
| Peter Chadwick: Millionaire arrested over wife’s murder after four years on the run Posted: 07 Aug 2019 06:11 AM PDT  A fugitive British-born millionaire suspected of strangling his wife to death has been arrested in Mexico after four years on the run.Peter Chadwick was arrested by American immigration officials over the weekend and has since been deported to the United States, where prosecutors hope he will stand trial.Detectives in Newport Beach, California were first called to the house shared by the property investor and his wife Quee Choo Chadwick in 2012. The couple had failed to collect their two youngest sons from school and a concerned neighbour had contacted the authorities.Investigators found a broken vase and drops of blood on the floor inside the house, alongside Quee Cho's mobile phone and wedding ring.The next day Peter called the police and claimed that a construction worker named "Juan" had kidnapped him, killed his wife and fled with her body.Detectives were left unconvinced and the property investor quickly became the main suspect in his wife's disappearance.Her body was found a week later in a bin in suburban San Diego.Peter was charged with first-degree murder and bailed on a $1m (£820,000) bond. At first the millionaire attended court appearances and surrendered his US and UK passports, but in 2015 he disappeared from his father's house, having withdrawn large sums of money.Peter had also researched how to alter his identity, police said.He went on to become one of the US' most sought after fugitives and US Marshals placed him on the country's most-wanted list in 2018. They also offered a $100,000 (£82,000) reward for tips leading to his capture.Newport Beach officers also wrote and produced a true crime podcast series about him, in an effort to bring attention to the search.The 55-year-old left clues to make it appear as though he had fled to Canada. But detectives said they believed he had been living in Mexico for the period he was missing.He was arrested in an area popular with ex-pats near Puebla, officials said.Authorities declined to pinpoint a specific tip that led to the arrest but said they received leads from around the world.He is now expected to appear in court in Santa Ana this week. Additional reporting by agencies
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| 13-year-old suffers skull fracture when man attacks him for wearing hat during national anthem, police say Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT  A grown man grabbed a 13-year-old and threw him to the ground during the national anthem, according to investigators in Montana.
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| The Latest: 32 busted in drug operation in San Francisco Posted: 07 Aug 2019 12:05 PM PDT |
| The U.S. Navy’s Minesweeper Fleet Is in Bad Shape Posted: 06 Aug 2019 02:30 PM PDT  The Navy's number one means of countering Iranian sea mines in the Persian Gulf is long overdue for replacement.
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| Royal Caribbean passenger collapses in Florida cruise terminal, saved by port workers Posted: 06 Aug 2019 06:20 AM PDT  Port Canaveral workers Sean Summers, Josh Clayton and Stephanie Dobson helped save a Royal Caribbean passenger who collapsed in the terminal.
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| Founder of site linked to mass shootings says he created 'a monster' Posted: 06 Aug 2019 06:51 AM PDT  The creator of a far-right online message board connected to three mass shootings that killed dozens of people has described himself as "naive and ignorant", likening the platform 8chan to Frankenstein's monster, with no limit to its extremism. Fredrick Brennan, 25, who lives in the Philippines, said the free-wheeling web board he created in 2013 had become a hive of white supremacy, anonymous hate, and Neo-Nazism since he sold it to a fellow American, and said he felt a sense of guilt, "sometimes". "If I could go back and not create 8chan at all, I probably would," he told Reuters in an interview.
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| Pakistan premier vows to challenge India over Kashmir move Posted: 06 Aug 2019 08:09 AM PDT  Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed Tuesday to challenge at the UN security council India's decision to strip Kashmir of its special autonomy, a move he warned could provoke conflict in the region. Khan gave a forceful rebuke of Prime Minister Narenda Modi's decision Monday to scrap the special status granted to the Indian-ruled part of Kashmir from India's constitution in front of a joint-session of parliament in Islamabad. "I want to make it clear that we will fight this issue on every forum, (including) at the UN security council," said Khan, who also promised to raise the issue with heads of state and take the matter to the International Criminal Court.
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| Before massacre, El Paso became a hot spot on Mexican border Posted: 06 Aug 2019 12:41 PM PDT  Deny Martinez paid a smuggler $7,000 to take him and his teenage son from Honduras to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, across from El Paso, Texas. An unprecedented wave of Central American families has reached the U.S. border this year — most strikingly in El Paso, where the suspected assailant was linked to an online screed against a "Hispanic invasion" and Latino asylum seekers. It is unknown why the gunman traveled from his hometown near Dallas to El Paso, but the border city of 700,000 people has become a hotbed for immigrant crossings after years of being one of the sleepiest locations on the border.
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| United Airlines Pilots Under Fire After Allegedly Failing Alcohol Breath Test Before International Flight Posted: 06 Aug 2019 11:23 AM PDT  Police in Scotland have released one of two United Airlines pilots on Tuesday who allegedly failed an alcohol breath test before their flight to the U.S. this past weekend
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| Texas police condemned after officers on horseback lead black suspect by rope Posted: 06 Aug 2019 11:20 AM PDT  Police in Texas have apologised after photographs emerged of two white officers on horseback leading a black man down the street by a rope. Donald Neely, 43, had been arrested on suspicion of trespassing in an office building in downtown Galveston, a coastal city of 50,000 people just outside Houston. The officers attached a rope to the handcuffs behind his back, before leading him to a police staging area eight street blocks away. A passerby took photographs which circulated on social media, leading to a widespread backlash against the police department. "This is 2019 and not 1819," said James Douglas, president of the Houston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It was the latest incident to raise tensions over police treatment of black suspects. Prominent alleged abuse and deaths in custody have sparked riots in recent years up and down the US. Melissa Morris, a lawyer for Mr Neely's family, said he was homeless, mentally ill, and suffered from bipolar disorder. She said: "I'm appalled. I believe the way they handled him was disgusting. The family is offended. The family is upset." Galveston's police department said leading a suspect by a rope on horseback was something officers were trained to do. It was an accepted law enforcement technique, and even "best practice" in some situations. However, following fierce criticism, it was announced that the practice would be discontinued. In a statement the police department said: "We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique. "While this technique of using mounted horses to transport a person during an arrest is considered a best practice in certain scenarios, such as during crowd control, the practice was not used correctly in this instance." Vernon Hale, the Galveston Police Chief, said: "First and foremost I must apologise to Mr Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment. "Although this is a trained technique, and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance, and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest. "We will review all mounted training and procedures for more appropriate methods." He added that the officers had no "malicious intent" when they led Mr Neely by a rope, and their body cameras were activated at the time. Mr Neely was previously known to the officers. The officers were named by the police department as Officer P. Brosch and Officer A. Smith, but it was not clear if they would face disciplinary action. Mr Neely was accused of trespassing in a building containing offices for companies including investment management firm Merrill Lynch. He was later released on bail. Leon Phillips, president of the Galveston Coalition for Justice, said: "These are two white police officers on horseback, with a black man, walking him down the street with a rope tied to the handcuffs, and that's doesn't make sense, period. "Stay there with him instead of humiliating him, and now you've humiliated the whole city of Galveston. And I do understand this, if it was a white man, I guarantee it would not have happened." The incident will likely put authorities on high alert for a backlash. In 2014 Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, was fatally shot by a white officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri. The officer was not charged and Mr Brown's death led to months of protests, becoming a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement. The following year there were protests in Baltimore when Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died after being injured in a police van. In New York relations between police and the black community have been poisoned by the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man, in police custody in 2014. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who applied a chokehold to Mr Garner, is still on the force amid ongoing calls for him to be fired.
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| Backfiring motorcycles trigger chaos in Times Square as false alarms grip US in wake of mass shootings Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:32 AM PDT  Georgina Lonton was watching a street artist create a painting for her son near Times Square on Tuesday night when people began screaming about a gunman headed their way. "We looked to Times Square and the commotion and a sea of people running towards us," she told The Independent. "It took time to process and then we tuned into people screaming there was a shooter coming. You couldn't have stood still as the flow of people was too strong."She and a friend quickly grabbed their five children and double stroller while attempting to stick together amid the fleeing crowds. As they rushed out of the area, she said she saw another woman's baby get knocked out of her arms.Fortunately, there wasn't a shooter: motorcycle engines backfiring as they passed through Times Square caused several visitors to believe they heard gun shots, the New York Police Department confirmed. But Ms Lonton wasn't alone in fearing the worst: Americans experienced false alarms of active shooter situations nationwide after mass shootings over the weekend in both El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.In Utah, the Valley Fair mall was evacuated on Tuesday night after a sign fell and made a loud noise, causing patrons to mistake the sound for gunfire. "As you can imagine, there's a heightened sense of fear right now with things that have gone on around our country," West Valley City Police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku told local media outlets shortly after, adding: "People were in a full-on panic."Residents in Baton Rouge, Louisiana also feared the worst as police rushed to a local Wal-Mart. A branch of the chain store was the site of the deadly shooting in El Paso on Saturday, where a gunman killed 22 people after reportedly posting an anti-immigrant screed online. A spokesperson for the city of Baton Rouge later told The Independent there was never an active shooter situation, but that at least one person was being treated for minor injuries after people fled the scene. Police said an altercation had occurred between two men, one of whom may have been seen with a handgun. "When customers saw the handgun, panic set in, and customers were running and screaming while trying to exit the store," the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office told local news outlets. "Given the recent events in El Paso and Dayton, and given the initial information we received via 911 calls and witnesses exiting the store, we responded with what we feel is appropriate."Ms Lonton, a New Jersey resident who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, said she was "not totally alien to these situations" and that her "kids got the biggest fright". "We had taken precautions and written my cell number on all five kids' wrists in case we got separated. It can easily happen we learnt last night," she said. "My little guy didn't get his painting with his chosen colours so he then was so upset, but I think that was shock too."Just like the mass shootings that have become all too common in America, resulting false alarms like the ones seen this week are nothing new. The Friday before a gunman stormed the Wal-Mart in El Paso, the City Attorney's Office in San Diego, California was evacuated due to an inaccurate report of an active shooter sent out across an internal safety application shared with local police. "Thank God, it was false," Evon Perryman, a city victim's services co-ordinator, told NBC San Diego. "Someone said those two scary words, 'active shooter' so I didn't get scared; I remembered the training I had."As for Ms Lonton, getting swept up in the false alarm at Times Square reminded her just how easily friends and families can be separated during a terrifying situation."But you can't live in fear," she said, "it can't define you."
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| In Iraqi holy city, row over female violinist at soccer match shows social rift Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:23 AM PDT ![In Iraqi holy city, row over female violinist at soccer match shows social rift]( "In Iraqi holy city, row over female violinist at soccer match shows social rift") At the opening ceremony last week for the West Asia Football Federation Championship, a tournament of Arab countries hosted by Iraq, a Lebanese woman violinist not wearing the Islamic headscarf and with uncovered arms played Iraq's national anthem. Many Iraqis were elated that such a ceremony, typical of international football tournaments, could finally take place on their soil after football governing body FIFA last year partially lifted a ban largely in place since 1990 on Iraq hosting competitive matches over security concerns.
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| Every Pizza Lover Needs A Pizza Subscription Service For Christmas Posted: 07 Aug 2019 12:41 PM PDT |
| Ford returns to dual-clutch transmission for 760-hp Shelby GT500 supercar Posted: 06 Aug 2019 05:11 AM PDT  Ford says the new transmission in the Shelby GT500 supercar will shift gears in 80 milliseconds — about a third of the time it takes to blink an eye.
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| IS 'resurging' in Syria as US pulls troops: watchdog Posted: 06 Aug 2019 02:56 PM PDT  The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group was "resurging" in Syria while the United States withdrew troops, and has solidified its insurgent capabilities in neighboring Iraq, a Defense Department watchdog said Tuesday. The jihadists -- who suffered major territorial losses at the hands of Iraqi and Syrian forces backed by a US-led international air campaign -- are exploiting weaknesses in local forces to make gains, the report from the Office of Inspector General said. "Despite losing its territorial 'caliphate,' the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was resurging in Syria this quarter," according to the report, which uses an alternate name for the jihadist group.
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| Experts question legality of India's changes in Kashmir Posted: 06 Aug 2019 07:09 PM PDT  India's Hindu nationalist-led government has used a presidential order to revoke the special constitutional status of Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state. It also had a bill passed to downgrade Jammu and Kashmir into a union territory instead of a state and turn a third region of the state, Ladakh, into a separate union territory. Clause 3 of Article 370 of India's Constitution states that the president can make changes to the article or abrogate it only with the consent of the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, which dissolved itself in 1957 after it drafted the state's own constitution, says Aman Hingorani, a lawyer and expert on Kashmir constitutionalism.
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| A California dad is pleading for help in finding his missing daughter, whose boyfriend reportedly rapped about killing a woman after her disappearance Posted: 06 Aug 2019 10:36 AM PDT  Amanda Custer, 31, has been missing since July 29, when police responded to a domestic violence report involving her and her boyfriend, Robert Camou.
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| 'More than 100' immigrants tear gassed by ICE in US detention centre Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:15 AM PDT  American immigration officials used tear gas and allegedly fired rubber bullets on more than 100 immigrants conducting a hunger strike at a detention facility in Louisiana over the weekend, just a day after as many as 40 detainees who were demonstrating against their detention conditions were reportedly pepper sprayed at a separate facility in the state.The spraying occurred at a facility in Pine Prairie, where more than 1,000 detainees are held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a time, according to legal representatives for detainees in the facility who spoke to The Independent.According to a legal representative with the Southern Poverty Law Centre representing a detainee who witnessed the incident, more than 100 detainees were sprayed and hit with tear gas by law enforcement "in riot gear" on Saturday in a central yard of the facility. Many were then taken to a separate facility for decontamination, and legal representatives have since indicated they believe those impacted are being moved to different facilities.Another legal representative with a different immigrant legal group told The Independent that their clients reported seeing the use of "rubber bullets, which is painful but not deadly"."When an individual in detention goes on hunger strike, it means the person is willing to put their body on the line just to be heard," Sofia Casini, the southern regional co-ordinator for the group Freedom for Immigrants, said in a statement. "Multiple hunger strikes happening simultaneously are no coincidence: they are indicative of the desperation and suffering that immigrants are facing inside these human cages."When contacted for comment, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox confirmed that an incident had taken place, and said the pepper spray was deployed after the detainees refused to disperse from the outdoor recreation at the facility."Facility staff and ICE officers gave the detainees multiple opportunities to disperse and allow for the restoration of orderly operations. When the ICE detainees refused to comply, facility staff and ICE officers deployed pepper spray to disperse the group," Mr Cox said in an email.Mr Cox continued: "Medical staff evaluated all individuals who came in contact with the pepper spray; no detainee or staff injuries were reported."The incident came just days after dozens of immigrants were allegedly pepper sprayed and beaten at a facility in Bossier Parish, about 30 miles north of Shreveport."There are lots of cops who came from another prison, they beat up the Cubans, they pepper spray them and handcuff them," one of the men inside of the jail later texted his lawyer, according to Mother Jones, which was able to access those messages.Another text message from the same man claimed that the Cuban immigrants were attacked after they requested to be released on bond, and "to change the judge because he's violating our rights".The incident at Pine Prairie has once again drawn attention to the facility, which is operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group, which runs many of the jails that ICE relies upon for immigrant detention.
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| Shop Some of Our Favorite Gear During REI's Summer Sale Posted: 06 Aug 2019 10:37 AM PDT |
| New Zealand rebukes China over freedom of speech after student scuffle Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:49 AM PDT ![New Zealand rebukes China over freedom of speech after student scuffle]( "New Zealand rebukes China over freedom of speech after student scuffle") New Zealand has rebuked Chinese envoys for praising pro-Beijing students who scuffled last week with supporters of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement on a university campus, a news website said on Wednesday. China's consul general in Auckland praised the "spontaneous patriotism" of some Chinese students who opposed a group hanging Hong Kong independence posters at the University of Auckland. Foreign ministry officials met China's representatives in New Zealand on Monday to reiterate that freedom of expression would be upheld and maintained, the website Newsroom said.
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| 'Headline was flawed': New York Times changed headline about Trump speech after backlash Posted: 06 Aug 2019 10:31 AM PDT  A few Democratic presidential candidates took to Twitter on Monday night to criticize the New York Times' Tuesday front page headline.
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| Shark feeding frenzy near shore at Myrtle Beach stuns visitors Posted: 06 Aug 2019 10:18 AM PDT  A group of sharks engaged in a feeding frenzy close to the shore at Myrtle Beach, S.C., treated visitors to a wild spectacle Monday afternoon.
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| Iran's president warns war with Tehran would be 'mother of all wars' Posted: 06 Aug 2019 08:26 AM PDT  Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president, yesterday told the US that a war with his country would be "the mother of all wars", as Tehran announced joint naval patrols with Russia. An Iranian navy commander said that the drills would take place later this year after the neighbouring countries signed an agreement, according to the Iranian Fars news agency. Although Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi gave no details about the area where the drills would be held, he said in late July that manoeuvres could take place in the Strait of Hormuz. He said on Monday that "the situation in the Persian Gulf is absolutely calm," despite the fact that "the United States and the United Kingdom by their lies and bluff are trying to make this region look as unsafe and make it so". Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized British tanker Stena Impero near the Persian Gulf in July for alleged marine violations, two weeks after British forces captured an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar accused of violating sanctions on Syria. British Royal Navy's HMS Montrose, a Type 23 Frigate, performing turns during exercise "Marstrike 05", off the coast of Oman Credit: AFP Tensions have risen between Iran and the West since last year when Washington pulled out of an international agreement which curbed the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions. "Peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, war with Iran is the mother of all wars," Mr Rouhani said at the foreign ministry yesterday/TUE. Mr Rouhani said he preferred the option of peace, saying talks were possible but only once all sanctions were lifted. But he also took on an uncharacteristic hardline rhetoric, challenging both the US and UK. "Wed downed your drone (US drone) with our own homegrown missile," he said. "Your friend (Britain) seized our ship but we did not let it go and captured their ship". Fuelling fears of a further escalation in tensions, he added: "A strait for a strait. It can't be that the Strait of Hormuz is free for you and the Strait of Gibraltar is not free for us," Mr Rouhani said. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been sanctioned by the US Credit: AFP "Peace for peace and oil for oil," he said. "You cannot say that you won't allow our oil to be exported." Mohammed Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, yesterday confirmed reports that he declined an offer from a US senator to meet Trump at the White House last month despite the threat of sanctions. The US imposed its sanctions against Mr Zarif on Wednesday, targeting any assets he has in America and squeezing his ability to function as a diplomat and Iran's chief negotiator. "I also said that while [Trump] may want [a] photo op, the US isn't interested in talks; rather, Iran's submission. That will never happen," he said on Twitter. "An example of US tactics: Threatening to designate somebody in two weeks unless he accepts your invitation to chat in the Oval Office."
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| 32 busted in federal drug crackdown in San Francisco Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:35 PM PDT  The first step in a sweeping crackdown on crime ranging from drugs to sex trafficking in a notorious San Francisco neighborhood yielded 32 arrests of mostly Honduran nationals tied to two international operations that poured heroin and cocaine into the community, U.S. prosecutors announced Wednesday. It's not uncommon to see people shooting up or snorting powder in the Tenderloin neighborhood, which contains City Hall, several federal buildings, a large population of homeless and is just minutes from tourist-heavy Union Square. The neighborhood has long been a public safety problem in a city famous for its permissiveness, and leaders are divided on how to address the drug epidemic.
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| PNG asks China to refinance $8bn public debt Posted: 06 Aug 2019 08:54 PM PDT  Papua New Guinea has asked Beijing to refinance its $8 billion debt, in a request likely to rile Australia and the US as they try to maintain their influence in the Pacific in the face of a rising China. Beijing has been strengthening ties with PNG and other Pacific nations by increasing engagement and offering loans for infrastructure, prompting both the US and Australia to launch their own charm offensives in the region to keep traditional allies on side. Less than two weeks after travelling to Australia on his first trip abroad as leader, PNG Prime Minister James Marape announced on Tuesday that he had asked China's ambassador for help in refinancing the country's 27-billion-kina public debt during a meeting in Port Moresby.
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| Lawyer: Iraqi refugees removing tethers to avoid deportation Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:34 PM PDT ![Lawyer: Iraqi refugees removing tethers to avoid deportation]( "Lawyer: Iraqi refugees removing tethers to avoid deportation") Some Iraqi refugees in Michigan are removing GPS tethers to evade immigration officials and deportation before their court cases are heard, according to an attorney representing nearly two dozen refugees. Detroit-based lawyer Shanta Driver told The Detroit News that at least seven Iraqi nationals have removed tethers in Michigan over the past month.
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| Supreme Court Weighs Second Amendment Showdown After Mass Shootings Posted: 06 Aug 2019 07:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- As mass shootings revive the U.S. debate over gun policy, the Supreme Court is weighing whether to go forward with a Second Amendment showdown for the first time in a decade.The justices in January said they would hear a challenge to New York City rules that sharply limited where licensed handguns could be taken while locked and unloaded. Three city handgun owners said the regulations were the most extreme firearm-transportation restrictions in the country.But then the city loosened its rules -- and said the case should be dismissed because there was nothing left for the court to decide. Gun-rights advocates called the city's move a transparent effort to avoid a ruling that would bolster the right to bear arms nationwide.The court could say this month what it will do with the case. It will be acting against the backdrop of gun massacres that killed 31 people last weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio -- and ratcheted up the political acrimony in Washington. Congress has passed only incremental gun legislation despite heavy public support for some measures such as universal background checks.A decision by the Supreme Court to forge ahead with the New York case would mean a ruling next year in the heat of the presidential campaign.Ironically, a decision to drop the case could open the way to an even bigger ruling in the nine-month term that starts in October. The justices could take up a more sweeping New Jersey case they have been holding while they consider the New York City dispute. The New Jersey case centers on the right to carry a loaded handgun in public -- an issue that has divided federal appeals courts.New Jersey is one of seven states, including California and New York, that bar most people from carrying weapons in public. New Jersey law requires people to show a "justifiable need" to get a carry permit -- a standard critics say very few people can meet.The court also will be deciding in the coming months whether to consider bolstering the gun industry's legal shield. Gunmaker Remington Arms Co. is asking the justices to block a lawsuit by family members of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut.Long WaitGun-rights supporters have been pressing the court for years to take up another Second Amendment case. The court hasn't heard one since it threw out a Chicago handgun ban in 2010, two years after it ruled for the first time that the Constitution protects individual firearm rights. The court could become more receptive to pro-gun arguments with the addition of the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh.For now, the question is whether the court will rule in the New York case, even though the city said in court papers Monday that the challengers have received "everything they have sought in this lawsuit."Under the New York law, people with a licensed handgun at home were allowed to take it to one of seven shooting ranges in the city, but almost nowhere else. Weapons had to be locked and unloaded during travel, and ammunition had to be put in a separate container.The residents who sued along with an advocacy group said they wanted to be able to take their handguns to more convenient target ranges outside the city and, in the case of a Staten Island man, to his second home.The city and its supporters say those things are permissible after changes to New York City's regulations and a related state law."There's really no reason for the court to carry on with this issue," said Adam Winkler, a professor at UCLA Law School who wrote a book on the fight over the Second Amendment.Wasting TimeThe residents said even the revised regulations are too strict, forbidding a handgun owner from stopping on the way out of town, requiring written permission to take a weapon to a gunsmith and precluding transport to a summer rental house. They urged the Supreme Court not to reward New York's "undisguised effort to avoid a precedent-setting loss."New York state headed off a different Supreme Court clash earlier this year when it repealed a law banning so-called gravity knives -- easily opened with the flick of a wrist -- before the justices could say whether they would hear the appeal. The justices then turned away the challenge.The gun-transportation case is different because the court has already agreed to hear it, said Erik Jaffe, a Washington lawyer who filed a brief opposing the restrictions. A federal appeals court upheld the restrictions."You've now wasted a whole bunch of time and forced people to write up a brief at the Supreme Court," Jaffe said.Should the Supreme Court press ahead, arguments would probably be in December or early next year, with a decision by the end of its term in June.That timetable would push any consideration of the New Jersey case into the following term. Given the divide among federal appeals courts, Winkler said that case will be a strong candidate for review regardless of what happens with the New York fight."There's got to be a pretty good likelihood they take the New Jersey case at the end of the day," Winkler said.Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, is a donor to groups that support gun control, including Everytown for Gun Safety.The case is New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. New York, 18-280.(Describes Sandy Hook case in eighth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Pakistan army chief says military will "go to any extent" to support Kashmir cause Posted: 06 Aug 2019 02:52 AM PDT ![Pakistan army chief says military will "go to any extent" to support Kashmir cause]( "Pakistan army chief says military will \"go to any extent\" to support Kashmir cause") Pakistan's army chief said on Tuesday the country's military will "go to any extent" to support people in the contested Kashmir region, after arch rival India revoked special status in its portion of the territory. "Pakistan Army firmly stands by the Kashmiris in their just struggle to the very end," said General Qamar Javed Bajwa after meeting with top commanders in Rawalpindi. India on Monday dropped a constitutional provision for the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which has long been a flashpoint in ties with neighbouring Pakistan, to make its own laws.
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| Brazil gang leader who tried to walk out of prison in mask of daughter’s face found dead in cell Posted: 06 Aug 2019 07:09 AM PDT  A Brazilian gang leader who was caught trying to escape prison disguised as his teenage daughter has been found dead in his cell.Clauvino da Silva, 42, made headlines around the world after attempting to walk out of jail wearing a silicone face mask, long black wig, skinny jeans, white sandals and a pink t-shirt.A video released by prison authorities showed him slowly removing the outfit, including a bra and glasses, after he was stopped by guards on Saturday.The feared leader of Rio de Janeiro's Red Command gang was transferred to a high-security unit in the state's Bangu prison complex after the failed breakout.His death was confirmed by Rio de Janeiro's prison authority on Tuesday, who said in a statement that he appeared to have committed suicide.Officials have now launched an investigation. Brazil's jails, which now hold around 750,000 inmates across the country, have become a major headache for the country's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.Last week, at least 57 people died during a prison riot involving rival criminal gangs in the northern state of Para. Sixteen inmates were decapitated.More than 50 inmates died in another prison riot in the northern state of Amazonas in May.Mr Bolsonaro says he wants to build many more prisons to hold Brazil's growing prison population, which has surged eight-fold in three decades to around 750,000 inmates.He also wants to impose tighter controls, although his powers may be limited as they are run at state level.Da Silva's escape plan appears to have involved his 19-year-old daughter visiting the Gericino jail, where he was serving a 73-year sentence, and then staying behind while he left with a group of seven other women.However guards became suspicious about the way he walked. "Even though he had the face of a girl, he didn't move like a woman," said a spokesperson for Rio's state secretary of prison administration.You can contact the Samaritans by calling them for free from any phone for free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch.Additional reporting by Reuters
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| Rise in snakebites across US linked to climate crisis and sprawling suburbs Posted: 07 Aug 2019 10:38 AM PDT  * Dramatic increase in bites continues recent upward trend * North Carolina, Georgia and Texas on track to break recordsA snake eats a squirrel at Augusta National Golf Club Georgia. Photograph: David Cannon/Getty ImagesClimate warming and the expansion of human settlements across the southern states of the US has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people bitten during encounters with venomous snakes, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.The increase in bites is on track to break records in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas where copperhead rattlesnakes are the dominant species, with a total of 2,118 bites, an increase of 83 over the previous year, the newspaper said. In Florida, where the eastern coral snake and the cottonmouth are common, numbers remain average.Venomous snakebites are up more than 10% this year in North Carolina and Georgia, both states where bites have been increasing for several years. In May and June, there were 415 reported snakebites in Texas, an increase of 27% over the same period five years ago.According to a 2016 study of pediatric snakebites, about 1,300 bites are reported involving minors each year, though that is a fraction of the estimated total number of snakebites, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at 7,000-8,000.Experts noted that the majority of bites are occurring in fast-growing suburbs of cities like Raleigh, Atlanta and Dallas, suggesting that newcomers unaccustomed to living in the south are disturbing snakes living in what was once forest or farmland."There's no question as we build out more, we're definitely inhabiting the areas where snakes reside," Gaylord Lopez, managing director of the Georgia Poison Center, told the Journal.For reasons that scientists do not fully understand, rainfall often plays a part in increased snake activity. Last winter's record-setting rainfall, attributed in part to climate warming, may also be behind the increase in bites.
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| Kellyanne Conway is 'mad' media downplays Dayton shooter's liberal views, although no link is seen to massacre Posted: 06 Aug 2019 10:26 AM PDT  Unlike the El Paso massacre, which is being treated by the FBI as a possible hate crime, there is no indication at this point that the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, was racially or politically motivated.
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| Chernobyl's 'sarcophagus,' which helped contain the spread of radiation, is being dismantled because it's teetering on collapse Posted: 07 Aug 2019 07:28 AM PDT  The Ukrainian company that manages the Chernobyl plant will tear down its protective "sarcophagus," which is surrounded by a 32,000-ton shell.
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