| Michael Cohen's usefulness to prosecutors may be drying up Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:29 AM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — As Michael Cohen seeks another reprieve from his three-year prison sentence, there are mounting indications his usefulness to federal prosecutors is drying up.
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| Merkel says backs longer Brexit delay than London seeking Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:18 AM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that she was open to giving Britain more time to arrange its exit from the EU than the June 30 departure London is seeking. Merkel told Germany's parliament ahead of a special EU summit in Brussels dedicated to Brexit that leaders may well agree to a delay "longer than the British prime minister (Theresa May) has requested". "I am of the opinion, the German government is of the opinion, that we should give both (British) parties a reasonable amount of time" to reach an agreement on an orderly Brexit, she said.
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| Debris Found After Japanese F-35A Stealth Fighter Crashes at Sea Posted: 09 Apr 2019 09:22 PM PDT  The plane and its pilot, a man in his 40s, went missing about 135 kilometers (85 miles) off the Japanese coast Tuesday after departing Misawa Air Base on the northeastern corner of Honshu Island, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force said in a statement. A part of what's believed to the the plane's tail was spotted floating near where it disappeared, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters Wednesday. The Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 is considered the most expensive U.S. weapons system.
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| Mueller report will be released within a week: U.S. attorney general Posted: 09 Apr 2019 12:43 PM PDT  During a congressional hearing, Barr was repeatedly challenged by Democrats who raised suspicions that he may have misrepresented Mueller's report to paint the Republican president in a better light. Barr, an appointee of Trump who last month announced what he said were the main findings of the report, said he would be as open as possible about redactions of sensitive information when he hands over the full document. "Within a week I will be in position to release that report to the public and then I will engage with the chairmen of both judiciary committees about that report, about any further requests that they have," Barr said at his first appearance before Congress since receiving the report on March 22.
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| Ford Again Recalls F-150 and Super Duty Pickup Trucks for Second Repair over Engine-Block Fire Risk Posted: 10 Apr 2019 08:44 AM PDT  The new recall will bring back more than 130,000 U.S.-market trucks for another fix; more than 400,000 pickups in the U.S. alone have been affected by the recall.
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| Southwest flight canceled? Here's why the airline won't book you on another carrier Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:06 PM PDT  Frustrated Southwest Airlines passengers have bombarded the airline with questions in the wake of heavy Boeing 737 Max 8 flight cancellations.
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| The Navy Wanted to Take Battleships and Make Them Into Nuclear 'Bombers' Posted: 10 Apr 2019 12:00 AM PDT  Today the naval gunfire argument rages on. Even in the age of drones and precision warfare there are still occasional calls to bring the heavily manned, imprecise Iowa class back to service. There's a certain romance to battleships, and having four Iowas sitting around in good condition has beguiled naval enthusiasts and planners for more than 60 years with schemes to bring them back.In the early 1980s, four Iowa-class fast battleships originally built during World War II—Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin—were taken out of mothballs and returned to active duty.(This first appeared several years ago.)Nearly 900 feet long and displacing close to 60,000 tons, the battlewagons could fire a nine-gun broadside sending 18 tons of steel and explosives hurtling towards their targets.The battleships were modernized to include cruise missiles, ship-killing missiles and Phalanx point-defense guns. Returned to the fleet, the ships saw action off the coasts of Lebanon and Iraq. At the end of the Cold War the battleships were retired again. All were slated to become museums.
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| Walmart's Spring Sale Is Marking Down Tools, Grills, and More Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:39 PM PDT |
| Capitol Hill hearing on online hate sees it firsthand Posted: 09 Apr 2019 04:12 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional hearing on online hate turned into a vivid demonstration of the problem Tuesday when a YouTube livestream of the proceedings was bombarded with racist and anti-Semitic comments from internet users.
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| Kobach: DHS has been unwilling to execute Trump's policies Posted: 08 Apr 2019 07:07 PM PDT  DHS Sec. Nielsen forced to resign amid immigration crisis at the border; former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach reacts.
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| The real deal: astronomers deliver first photo of black hole Posted: 10 Apr 2019 05:36 PM PDT  Astronomers on Wednesday unveiled the first photo of a black hole, one of the star-devouring monsters scattered throughout the Universe and obscured by impenetrable shields of gravity. "The history of science will be divided into the time before the image, and the time after the image," said Michael Kramer, director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. The supermassive black hole immortalised by a far-flung network of radio telescopes is 50 million lightyears away at the centre of a galaxy known as M87.
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| Imran Khan accuses India and Israel of moral bankruptcy over election annexation pledges Posted: 09 Apr 2019 05:46 AM PDT  Imran Khan has accused India's leaders of moral bankruptcy for trying to win votes by annexing Kashmir, after Narendra Modi pledged to remove its special autonomous status if re-elected. In outspoken remarks just days before voting begins in India's upcoming election, Mr Khan said Mr Modi was flouting a United Nations resolution and his own constitution with his manifesto pledge. Pakistan's prime minister also attacked Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, after he promised to annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if he is re-elected on Tuesday. "Don't their people feel a sense of outrage and wonder at how far they will go simply to win an election?" Mr Khan asked. Mr Modi earlier this week told a crowd at Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters he would scrap the autonomous status Jammu and Kashmir has had since 1954. He would also remove laws that prevent outsiders from buying property in the state. When ldrs in Israel & India show a moral bankruptcy in their readiness to annex occupied West Bank & IOK in defiance of int law, UNSC resolutions & their own Constitution for votes, don't their ppl feel a sense of outrage & wonder how far they will go simply to win an election?— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 9, 2019 Scrapping the protections would help integration with the rest of the country, the BJP has argued. However political leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where Indian forces are fighting a fierce armed insurgency, have predicted the repeal would stoke further unrest. Kashmir and tensions with Pakistan have become a key election battleground in the election after a suicide bombing killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in the region in February. Both countries claim the disputed territory Kashmir, and it has been at the the heart of military tensions between the neighbours for decades. Mr Modi's manifesto pledge on Kashmir risks a backlash in the region Credit: Reuters Mr Modi's decision to launch a retaliatory air strike inside Pakistan after the bombing was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group led him to pose as a strong national security candidate. The clash is thought to have helped Mr Modi's electoral chances by distracting from his failed economic promises. But Mr Khan has accused the BJP of "whipping up war hysteria" to win the election. Pakistan's government has accused India of plotting further military action to win votes, claiming it has "reliable intelligence" that India will attack again this month. Voting in India's general election begins on Thursday but, with around 900 million people eligible to vote, the polls will be held around the country over coming weeks, and the votes will be counted on May 23.
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| Yahoo strikes $117.5 million data breach settlement after earlier accord rejected Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:29 AM PDT  The proposed class-action settlement made public on Tuesday was designed to address criticisms of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California. Koh said the original settlement was not "fundamentally fair, adequate and reasonable" because it had no overall dollar value and did not say how much victims might expect to recover. Yahoo, now part of New York-based Verizon Communications Inc, had been accused of being slow to disclose three data breaches affecting about 3 billion accounts from 2013 to 2016.
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| Candace Owens fumes at Rep. Ted Lieu's use of her Hitler comments Posted: 10 Apr 2019 04:30 PM PDT  "I think it's pretty apparent that believes that black people are stupid," Owens said in response to Lieu playing a clip of her comment on Hitler.
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| Netflix postpones Felicity Huffman film after actor admits college fraud Posted: 09 Apr 2019 05:56 AM PDT  Desperate Housewives star to admit bribing college officialsActor is one of 50 people charged over university scam Felicity Huffman: 'I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences.' Photograph: Steven Senne/AP Netflix has postponed the release date of a film starring Felicity Huffman after the actor agreed to plead guilty to fraud for her part in the largest US college admissions scam ever prosecuted. Huffman, known for the TV series Desperate Housewives, is one of 13 people who have admitted paying bribes to get their children into desirable colleges such as Yale, Stanford and the University of Southern California, according to court documents. Netflix has responded to the planned guilty plea by shelving the release of Otherhood, a romantic comedy that was due to be shown on the streaming service on 26 April. The movie features Huffman alongside Patricia Arquette and Angela Bassett. Sign up for the US morning briefing No new release date for Otherhood has been announced by Netflix. Huffman faces prison time for her part in the admissions scandal, in which she is accused of paying $15,000 to a fake charity run by a former college admissions counselor, Rick Singer. Money "donated" by wealthy parents was used to cheat test scores and to bribe college coaches to designate their children as recruited athletes at favoured colleges. Huffman is accused of paying for an impersonator to sit the SAT, which is used to determine college admissions, on behalf of her eldest daughter. Huffman said in a statement her daughter was unaware of the deception. Her husband, the actor William H Macy, has not been charged in connection with the scandal. "I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions," Huffman said. "My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty." All of the parents have agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges that can result in up to 20 years in prison, along with a maximum fine of $250,000. Prosecutors are seeking a "low end" prison sentence for Huffman, along with a $20,000 fine, according to multiple media reports. Lori Loughlin, an actor known for her role on the sitcom Full House, has also been charged with fraud over the scandal but was not one of the group of 13 people to agree to a plea deal on Monday. Loughlin is one of a total of 50 people charged in relation to the deceptive scheme. Yale and Stanford have both expelled students associated with the scam, while USC and Georgetown University have said they are reviewing the admissions of students accused of benefiting from the cheating.
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| William Barr: Attorney general says Mueller report will be released ‘within a week’ – here’s what it will look like Posted: 09 Apr 2019 10:39 AM PDT  US attorney general William Barr has told lawmakers they could expect a redacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report "within a week".Mr Barr was speaking about the report into possible links between the Russian government and Donald Trump's 2016 campaign during a tense hearing on Capitol Hill that yielded more questions than answers. The attorney general abruptly declined to answer further questions about the investigation halfway through the hearing, saying: "I've said what I was going to say about the report today." He then refused to answer whether the White House had been briefed on any aspect of the special counsel's report. "I'm not going to say anything more about it until the report is out," he added. Democrats expressed frustration and concern with Mr Barr's handling of the report. Nita Lowey, chair of the House Appropriations Committee grilled him over how he managed to reduce the massive document into four pages just days after he had received it. "Even for someone who has done this job before, I would argue it's more suspicious than impressive," she said. Mr Barr acknowledged his quick work, claiming: "The thinking of the special counsel was not a mystery to the Department of Justice prior to the submission of the report." He added that Mr Mueller's team was redacting the report before providing it to Congress. The attorney general said he plans to produce a report during "this first go" with four types of redactions relating to grand jury information, classified information that could reveal agency sources or methods, information pertaining to ongoing prosecutions, and information that may implicate "privacy or reputational interests" of peripheral players. The report will be colour-coded, according to Mr Barr, and will feature explanatory notes for all of his redactions. It remains unclear what legal grounds the attorney general has to place redactions for all four of his listed components, however.Mr Barr added he would convene with Republican and Democratic leadership from the House Judiciary Committee after the report is released to determine whether they required any further information. Lawmakers may also request grand jury information from the courts, he said – a move he noted the justice department would not be making under his leadership. The attorney general was brought to the house committee to discuss Mr Trump's budget request for the justice department for 2020. This was the central focus of Mr Barr's opening statement and he did not at any point mention the Mueller report. At times, there appeared to be two testimonies taking place. As Democrats grilled the attorney general over the special counsel's conclusions, Republican lawmakers asked Mr Barr about his department's plans surrounding issues including human and sex trafficking, as well as immigration along the US-Mexico border. The Mueller report wasn't the only thing Democrats flagged up, however. The hearing provided some tense moments when they grilled Mr Barr over the justice department's opposition to the Affordable Care Act in federal courts under Mr Trump. Asked whether he had considered the consequences of his department opposing the healthcare bill for Americans at risk of losing their coverage, Mr Barr shot back at one Democratic lawmaker: "If you think it's such an outrageous position, you have nothing to worry about."
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| New York City declares public health emergency, orders mandatory measles vaccinations Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:30 AM PDT  Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city has "the power to do this."
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| See Photos of the 2020 Mercedes-AMG GT R Pro Posted: 09 Apr 2019 02:09 PM PDT |
| Projected results of Israel election Posted: 10 Apr 2019 01:43 AM PDT  With nearly all votes in Israel's general election counted, here is the preliminary distribution of seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament, according to Israeli media calculations. Incumbent premier Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud was on path for victory despite being tied with Blue and White since he would be able to form a coalition government with right-wing and ultra-Orthodox partners.
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| French Jet Deal to Be Examined by India Court in a Blow to Modi Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:51 AM PDT  A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the Supreme Court will further hear petitions alleging corruption in a deal to buy 36 Rafale jets by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.
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| Man sentenced 26-years to life in brutal hammer death of 'Bridalplasty' reality star Posted: 09 Apr 2019 07:08 AM PDT  Jackie Jerome Rogers was sentenced to 26 years to life in state prison for killing Lisa Marie Naegle with a hammer and burying her body in his back yard.
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| Trump angers Republicans by firing top immigration officials including Homeland Security chief Posted: 09 Apr 2019 03:31 AM PDT  Donald Trump's purge of top officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has alarmed congressional Republicans, who warn the president's immigration shake-up is creating a "growing leadership void".The president's allies fear further sackings are on the cards following the ousting of a string of senior figures including homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.The overhaul has been fuelled by Mr Trump's frustration with the increasing number of migrants at the US-Mexico border and was reportedly orchestrated by his adviser Stephen Miller, the impetus behind some of the administration's most controversial policies.Ms Nielsen submitted her resignation on Sunday after meeting with the president at the White House. Three days earlier, the administration withdrew the nomination of Ron Vitiello to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement.The head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Lee Francis Cissna, and homeland security general counsel John M Mitnick are also expected to be forced out of their positions, officials told Associated Press.Other long-time civil servants in agency posts also face the chop, said the officials, who spoke to on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.Court challenges, immigration laws and Mr Trump's own advisers have blocked several of his proposals as his re-election campaign looms.But Republicans said a new immigration team was likely to face the same obstacles."It's a mess," Texas senator John Cornyn told Politico. "Strikes me as just a frustration of not being able to solve a problem. Honestly, it wasn't Secretary Nielsen's fault. It wasn't for lack of effort on her part. I don't know if there's anybody who's going to be able to do more."Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson, chair of the Homeland Security Committee, said: "I am concerned with a growing leadership void within the department tasked with addressing some of the most significant problems facing the nation."Democrats have also voiced alarm over the dismissals."The purge of senior leadership at the Department of Homeland Security is unprecedented and a threat to our national security," said Dianne Feinstein, of California. "President Trump is trying to remake DHS into his own personal anti-immigration agency."Beyond changing senior personnel, Mr Trump is also considering resuming the separation of migrant parents from their children at the border, a policy which provoked outrage before it was scrapped last year. That could mean he would have to violate his own executive order and possibly run afoul of a federal judge overseeing reunifications. Gil Kerlikowske, who led Customs and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017, said: "I don't envy anybody in that position because these are policies that are White House policies, not DHS."
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| Texas Tech Medical School Will Stop Considering Race in Admissions Due to Trump Administration Pressure Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:50 AM PDT  The move is part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education
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| CBD hype: Is this hemp-plant derivative snake oil or a legit remedy? Posted: 10 Apr 2019 07:46 AM PDT  CBD use has soared since the Farm Bill relaxed rules for the hemp-based product. But there's little control over marketing and therapeutic claims.
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| New Zealand Parliament votes to ban semi-automatic weapons Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:13 AM PDT  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's Parliament on Wednesday passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons, less than a month after mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch left 50 people dead and dozens wounded.
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| Uganda kidnapping: Arrests made in Costa Mesa resident Kimberly Sue Endicott's abduction Posted: 10 Apr 2019 01:17 AM PDT  Ugandan police say they have arrested some people over the kidnapping last week of a Costa Mesa tourist who has since been freed.
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| Erdogan's party to seek rerun of Istanbul election Posted: 09 Apr 2019 07:41 AM PDT  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party on Tuesday said it will seek a re-run of Istanbul's disputed mayoral election after the ruling party lost and authorities rejected its demand for a full recount. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) appealed citing irregularities after its Istanbul candidate was narrowly defeated last week in what would be a major setback after a decade and a half in power. The Turkish leader on Monday had questioned the Istanbul election results and hinted at a rerun because he said the vote was marred by ballot box theft.
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| Qualcomm loses court bid against EU antitrust regulators' demand for data Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:04 AM PDT  U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm on Tuesday lost a court challenge against a demand for it to provide EU regulators with data in a long-running antitrust case. The world's no. 1 chipmaker had already provided the information after being ordered to pay a daily fine for withholding it, but the Luxembourg-based General Court's ruling is expected to strengthen the Commission's hand in future similar cases. Qualcomm has been under the EU spotlight since 2015, when it was accused of predatory pricing between 2009 and 2011 aimed at forcing out British phone software maker Icera, subsequently bought by Nvidia Corp.
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| YouTube Flooded By Racists During Hearing on Big Tech Enabling Racism Posted: 09 Apr 2019 09:46 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastRacist and anti-Semitic YouTube users overwhelmed the official YouTube livestream of a House Judiciary Committee hearing on white nationalism on Tuesday, forcing YouTube to disable the ability to comment on the stream.The posts, which attacked black and Jewish members of the committee and the hearing audience, were made even as a Google representative at the hearing claimed that "hate speech and violent extremism have no place on YouTube." Meanwhile, a white nationalist YouTube channel called "Red Ice TV" actually made money from the hearing. In exchange for getting their comments highlighted on the Red Ice stream of the House hearing, Red Ice commenters paid more than $100 to the channel through YouTube's "Super Chat" function. Eventually, that comment feed was disabled as well. A Google spokesperson confirmed that the company had disabled the comment stream on the House Judiciary hearing, although the spokesperson didn't comment on whether Google had ended the Red Ice stream as well. "Hate speech has no place on YouTube," the spokesperson said in a statement."We've invested heavily in teams and technology dedicated to removing hateful comments and videos and we take action on them when flagged by our users. Due to the presence of hateful comments, we disabled comments on the livestream of today's House Judiciary Committee hearing."Anti-extremism activists have repeatedly criticized YouTube over how its recommendation algorithm pushes viewers towards extremist videos. On Tuesday, the company said it had changed the algorithm to prevent the promotion of "borderline" content that didn't meet the guidelines for being deleted from YouTube. Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), apparently told of the issue the company was having with its comment stream, acknowledged the deleted comment stream later in the hearing. "This just illustrates the problem we're dealing with," Nadler said. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) cut in, asking Nadler whether the racist YouTube comments could be "another hate hoax."Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| US actress Lori Loughlin faces new charge in college bribery scandal Posted: 09 Apr 2019 12:47 PM PDT  American actress Lori Loughlin was hit with a second charge on Tuesday stemming from a college admissions bribery scandal, increasing the likelihood that she could serve time in prison. The actress, known for her role on "Full House," now faces the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering in addition to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, federal prosecutor Andrew Lelling said. Unlike actress Felicity Huffman, who was also among 33 parents charged in the case, Loughlin has so far chosen not to plead guilty -- a move that, in addition to avoiding trial, usually results in a reduced sentence.
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| The Best Stuff in Wayfair's Way Day Sale (a.k.a. 36 Hours of Home Decor Bargains) Posted: 10 Apr 2019 12:51 PM PDT |
| Trump's 'business ties' to Iran's Revolutionary Guards reemerge, a day after he designated it a terror group Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:21 AM PDT  A day after Donald Trump designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organisation, reports are reemerging of the Trump Organization's alleged participation in a scheme that likely helped the IRGC launder money to fund its interests abroad.The US government made the unprecedented move to blacklist another country's military because, Mr Trump said, the IRGC "actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft". The designation imposes sanctions including freezing assets the IRGC may have in US jurisdictions and a ban on Americans doing business with the organisation.But according to a 2017 report by the New Yorker, the Trump Organization signed contracts in 2012 with developers to build a skyscraper in Azerbaijan that appeared "to be a corrupt operation engineered by oligarchs tied to Iran's Revolutionary Guard". The family the Trumps partnered with on the Trump Tower Baku project were the Mammadovs, whose billionaire patriarch Ziya Mammadov was the then-Azerbaijani transport minister, on a reported salary of little over £9,000. According to Transparency International, Azerbaijan is one of the most corrupt countries on Earth, and, according to one US diplomat – in comments made public by WikiLeaks eight years ago – Mr Mammadov was "notoriously corrupt even for Azerbaijan". In 2008, Mr Mammadov awarded a series of multimillion-pound contracts to Azarpassillo, an Iranian construction firm allegedly controlled by the IRGC as part of a larger scheme to export money from Iran in order to fund terror and other activities abroad.The company was run by the Darvishi family, at least three members of whom were associated of the IRGC, the New Yorker reported. Two brothers in the family, Kamal and Keyumars, made frequent visits to Azerbaijan and reportedly developed a close relationship with the Mammadovs. The Trump Tower Baku project carried some classic hallmarks of a money-laundering operation, including firms being paid in cash, some of which was transferred in duffel bags."I got a hundred and eighty thousand dollars one time, which I fit into my laptop bag, and two hundred thousand dollars another time," said Frank McDonald, who performed work on the building's interior.> In response to previous sanctions, the IRGC came up with a clever scheme. It would create hundreds of "private" companies, owned by IRGC officers, that would fund terror, seek WMD, launder money and do other bidding of the central org. > > 1/> > — Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) > > April 8, 2019Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten said the company learned in 2015 about the "possibility" the Mammadovs had ties to the IRGC, which was under US sanctions, but did not pull out of the deal until December 2016 as there was "no rush" because the project had "stalled". He also said the Trump Organization had binding contracts with the Mammadovs that they could not just abandon, something sanctions experts rubbished."You can't violate sanctions just because you have a contract with someone," said Jessica Tillipman, an assistant dean at George Washington University Law School. There is no evidence Mr Trump or any Trump Organization officials acted illegally in the deal. Mr Trump, in fact, was reportedly only lightly involved in the project, which was spearheaded by his oldest daughter, Ivanka.> View this post on Instagram> > I love a room with a view. Here I am in the incredible city of Baku, Azerbaijan, checking out the construction progress of our new Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will open in 2015. See more on my project on IvankaTrump.com (link in profile).> > A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Nov 24, 2014 at 10:16am PSTBaku XXI Century, the firm owned by the Mammadovs, has denied involvement in corruption. Azarpasillo and the Trump Organization have been contacted for comment.
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| Apple quietly nixes fee to transfer data from your old Mac to your new one Posted: 10 Apr 2019 02:12 AM PDT  After speaking with an Apple Store Operations Specialist, TidBITS reported that the company has dropped the data migration fee charged when users move their content from an old computer to a new Mac. Previously, when you went to the Apple Store to upgrade your computer to a new one or had some repairs done, you'd have to pay a whopping $99 to migrate the data to your new device or new hard drive. As first reported by TidBITS on Tuesday, Apple quietly discontinued charging this particular fee.
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| Prosecutors announce new charges for Lori Loughlin and husband Posted: 10 Apr 2019 06:08 AM PDT  The "Full House" actress and her husband now face money laundering charges that could increase their prison sentence to 20 years. ABC News' Kenneth Moton reports.
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| Libya Is on the Brink of Civil War and a U.S. Citizen Is Responsible. Here's What to Know Posted: 09 Apr 2019 07:50 AM PDT  The offensive by the rogue general Khalifa Haftar, who has U.S. citizenship, has pushed Libya to the brink of civil war
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| India's Congress party chief files election nomination Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:37 AM PDT  AMETHI, India (AP) — Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India's most famous modern political dynasty, filed nomination papers in the family stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh state, hoping to hold onto a key seat for a fourth consecutive time in national elections that begin Thursday.
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| UPDATE 1-United Airlines says using larger jets on 737 MAX routes is 'costing money' Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:03 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-United Airlines says using larger jets on 737 MAX routes is 'costing money']( "UPDATE 1-United Airlines says using larger jets on 737 MAX routes is 'costing money'") United Airlines' use of larger aircraft on routes previously flown by Boeing Co's grounded 737 MAX jets is costing the carrier money in the short-term, the company's President Scott Kirby said in a letter to employees on Tuesday. Chicago-based United, which owns 14 MAX jets and has dozens more on order, has been using its larger 777 or 787 aircraft to cover routes formerly flown by the suspended MAX planes, without being able to fill the extra last-minute seats.
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| The 2019 Audi TT RS Gets Some New Colors and Air Scoops, Starts at $67,895 Posted: 10 Apr 2019 11:17 AM PDT  Minor exterior and interior updates for the world's only five-cylinder sports car in production.
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| Nipsey Hussle is gone. His legacy will forever live in South Los Angeles, a place of pride and hope Posted: 08 Apr 2019 07:29 PM PDT  South Los Angeles is a sprawling cluster of neighborhoods, many of them rich with African-American history, that are staring down major changes.
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| Wynn Resorts scotches potential takeover of Crown Resorts Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:15 AM PDT  Wynn Resorts said Tuesday it was pulling the plug on a potential takeover of Australian gambling giant Crown Resorts that had been seen as fetching about $7.1 billion. "Following the premature disclosure of preliminary discussions, Wynn Resorts has terminated all discussions with Crown Resorts concerning any transaction," Las Vegas-based Wynn said Tuesday. Shares of Wynn were down 3.2 percent at $140.23 at mid-morning in New York.
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| Trump's plan to name Herman Cain to Fed meets Republican pushback Posted: 09 Apr 2019 02:58 PM PDT  Members of the president's own party signal that the former Godfather's Pizza CEO faces an uphill confirmation battle.
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| Google wants to start making more money from Maps, and we all know what that means Posted: 10 Apr 2019 04:05 PM PDT  Google is reportedly about to bring a version of the same playbook that turned its best-in-class search engine into an unstoppable money machine over to Google Maps, its service that more than 1 billion people rely on for directions and other related information. What that means for users, according to a new Bloomberg report, is that we may start to see more things like sponsored listings from businesses that have paid to be atop Google Maps results when you search for a variety of information, like nearby businesses.Hopefully, Google's reported interest in leaning on Maps as it hunts for new sources of revenue won't mean the company goes overboard -- like the way you have to scroll down past a slew of ads and highlighted results after conducting a Google Search, for example. As a heavy Google Maps user, though, I'm wary, especially given that relevancy may be even more important when looking for information within Maps than in Search.Brian Nowak, a Morgan Stanley analyst, said during a recent conference while interviewing Google business executive Philipp Schindler that Google Maps may be "the most under-monetized asset that I cover.""It's almost like a utility where it's kind of waiting for you to flip the switch on," Nowak said, as recounted by Bloomberg. As he explains it, there are actually several different ways Google could flip that revenue switch within Maps. I'm a Maps user who actually uses it as a Yelp-like service, firing it up to search things like restaurant reviews, which of course will display reviews from Google users along with detailed information like the business' location, hours of operation and more. Google, of course, could start promoting restaurants that would be highlighted when I do a search like that within Maps.Among other revenue opportunities, there are times when you're conducting a search within Maps for things that are nearby you. Say, you're low on gas and looking for the closest gas station. Google also could start automatically generating personalized recommendations for you, even before you ask. Those are all areas where Nowak thinks Google could easily start tapping Maps for money, while noting that the main thing people use it for (finding directions) is a "utility" that shouldn't be messed with -- which should most definitely go without saying.An objective assessment of all this is that it shouldn't come as a surprise. Bit by bit, Google has turned Maps into a kind of Swiss Army knife of a service, packing tons of features in recent months like even the ability to "follow" business listing that are starting to feel more like a "page" they'd have on a service like Facebook. Google has also already experimented with ads within Maps, and Google-owned navigation app Waze runs ads there. Google Maps director of product management Rajas Moonka told Bloomberg that because so much of what we do and search for in Maps is commercial and about businesses, ads can be a natural complement to that. You can see this in some specific areas of Maps, such as when the voice directions sometimes tell you to, say, "Turn right right at the Dunkin Donuts" instead of giving a street instead. According to Google, that's not an ad or the result of a paid exchange, but, again, it's another opportunity where Google could squeeze more revenue if it wanted.The Bloomberg report ends on a declarative note. Google Maps, it says, "is the next, big service" the company is turning to for revenue growth. Hopefully, Google will take it easy and won't do anything to disrupt the overall experience -- but, again, there's certainly reason to worry.
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| Pennsylvania lawmakers honor victims of synagogue massacre Posted: 10 Apr 2019 03:12 PM PDT  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lawmakers solemnly remembered the 11 worshippers killed in an anti-Semitic attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue last fall, hearing Wednesday from an affected congregation's rabbi that "all is not well in our republic."
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