| Iran Bluster Is about Red Lines, Not War Posted: 21 May 2019 09:17 AM PDT  In the past week, American-Iranian tensions flared to heights not seen since the Reagan years, when U.S. and Iranian ships and planes faced off in the Persian Gulf. Not only have Iranian irregular forces apparently sabotaged four ships off the major Emirati port of Fujairah with either magnet bombs or underwater drones, but a subsequent drone attack on a Saudi pipeline amplified tensions to a new level.Even on the best of days in hyper-partisan Washington, there are enough polemics to go around. The fact that national security in general—and Iran policy in particular—have become political footballs only makes the problem worse. Never one to miss an opportunity to throw fuel on the rhetorical fire, President Donald Trump threatened via tweet, "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!"Happily, however, nothing in the American military posture makes it appear that war—or even a limited engagement—is imminent, let alone likely.Consider the U.S. Navy's posture: The Trump administration has reportedly dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, but if a war against Iran really was on the table, then this would be the worst possible move.
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| 'Nowhere for the water to go': Tornadoes, floods hit central US day after 20 tornadoes Posted: 21 May 2019 03:24 PM PDT  A tornado tore through a neighborhood near Tulsa International Airport on Tuesday as a powerful storm triggered flash flooding and washed out roads across parts of Oklahoma.
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| Trump says tariffs making companies leave China, a deal can't be '50-50' Posted: 19 May 2019 08:11 PM PDT  In an interview with Fox News Channel recorded last week and aired on Sunday night, Trump said that the United States and China "had a very strong deal, we had a good deal, and they changed it. Trump took the step after China soured the negotiations by seeking major changes to a deal that U.S. officials said had been largely agreed. Since then, China has struck a sterner tone in its rhetoric, suggesting that a resumption of talks aimed at ending the 10-month trade war between the world's two largest economies was unlikely to happen soon.
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| Prosecutors: Agent called migrants savages before hitting 1 Posted: 20 May 2019 04:26 PM PDT  PHOENIX (AP) — A Border Patrol agent in Arizona sent texts calling immigrants "savages" and "subhuman" the month before using his patrol vehicle to knock over a Guatemalan man who was trying to flee, prosecutors say.
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| Is It Cheaper To Buy A 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback From Britain? Posted: 20 May 2019 01:03 PM PDT  This immaculate 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback is estimated to sell at British auction for $95K. It's hard not to whisper Steve McQueen's name when presented with a Ford Mustang 390 GT Fastback, even if it isn't a 1968 model. The American classifieds may provide evidence of eye-watering sums being traded for healthy Fastback specimens, but it's not always the case in Great Britain.
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| AOC renews Trump impeachment calls after McGahn ignores subpoena: 'We have to move forward' Posted: 21 May 2019 11:27 AM PDT  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is ramping up pressure on her fellow Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, saying that she and her colleagues have "a duty" to hold the president accountable."We have to move forward on impeachment," Ms Ocasio-Cortez said on Tuesday during an interview with CNN.She continued, paying respect to speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has so far pushed back on impeachment calls."I trust the speaker's taking a measured approach to ensure that we're moving everyone forward," Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. "Being a speaker is hard, and holding this party together is a difficult task," she added, "but I think we have to move forward."In a separate tweet, Ms Ocasio-Cortez also shot back at arguments that impeachment would be a politically fraught effort with less than two years to go until a presidential election. Not impeaching, she said, is political, too."It is just as politicized a manoeuvre to not impeach in the face of overwhelming evidence as it is to impeach without cause," Ms Ocasio-Cortez wrote.She continued: "Congress swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. That includes impeachment. We have a duty to preserve our institutions + uphold the rule of the law."The statement came in response to a fellow Democrat's call for impeachment in light of former White House counsel Don McGahn's decision to refuse a congressional subpoena on Tuesday to testify before the House related to the Mueller report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.Mr McGahn is frequently cited in that report saying that Mr Trump attempted to derail the investigation, which has led Democrats to claim the president obstructed justice."Stonewalling Congress on witnesses and the unredacted Mueller report only enhances the President's appearance of guilt, and as a result, he has pushed Congress to a point where we must start an impeachment inquiry," that Democrat, Mark Pocan, wrote on Twitter.
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| Eiffel Tower climber 'admitted to psychiatric unit' Posted: 21 May 2019 09:38 AM PDT  A man, believed to be Russian, who sparked a mass evacuation of the Eiffel Tower by scaling the iconic Paris landmark has been admitted to a psychiatric unit, legal sources said Tuesday. The man caused chaos Monday and the closure of the monument to tourists by spending six hours clinging to the outer metal framework of the Eiffel Tower. An investigation has been opened for unauthorised entry into a cultural monument, a judicial source said.
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| 'Plan B': Huawei's operating system headache after Android ban Posted: 21 May 2019 02:16 AM PDT  Google's decision to partially cut off Huawei devices from its Android operating system has presented the Chinese tech titan with one of its most dramatic challenges yet: how to keep up with the competition if it cannot use the platform that powers nearly every other smartphone in the world? If it should be the case that we can no longer use these systems (like Android)... we would therefore need to be well-armed," Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, told German newspaper Die Welt in an interview published in March. Washington last week imposed a ban on the sale or transfer of American technology to the firm -- which could impact hundreds of millions of Huawei phones and tablets around the world.
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| Dog sitter caught walking around naked in customer's home Posted: 21 May 2019 10:50 AM PDT  A dog sitter has been caught on camera walking around her client's house naked. Rosie Brown hired Casey Brengle to look after her two dogs, Penny and Daisy, while she went to a wedding for four days.
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| China's Navy Is Growing So Fast Its Running Out of Names For Its Warships Posted: 21 May 2019 03:32 AM PDT  China's navy has a new problem: not enough names for its rapidly growing fleet of warships."China is running out of provincial capitals to name new destroyers, and it might have to turn to other big domestic cities, which reflects the country's rapid naval development in recent years," according to Chinese newspaper Global Times.The People's Liberation Army Navy recently named its first Type 055 destroyer the Nanchang, which is the capital city of East China's Jiangxi Province.One of the three other Type 055 destroyers will be named Lhasa, the capital of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, according to Chinese media. That just leaves Nanning and Taipei as the names of provincial capitals for destroyers (Taipei is Taiwan's capital, though Taiwan has not yet declared independence as a separate nation from China).Which means non-capital cities will have to bequeath their names to Chinese destroyers. The latest destroyer is named Qiqihar, which is a non-capital city in in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. A few ships have been named after major cities, such as the Shenzen, a Type 051 destroyer."Chinese destroyers and frigates should be named after big and medium Chinese cities, according to the naval vessels naming regulation," Global Times said. "This means naming of destroyers does not necessarily have to use provincial capitals, as it was a non-binding tradition."
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| Mississippi judge who blocked 15-week abortion ban hears arguments on fetal heartbeat law Posted: 21 May 2019 01:49 PM PDT  Mississippi's fetal heartbeat law which bans abortions after approximately six weeks could be blocked or upheld by Judge Carlton Reeves.
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| India's BJP prepares return to power as exit polls predict clear win: sources Posted: 20 May 2019 06:03 AM PDT  The talks will be on Tuesday at the BJP's headquarters in New Delhi and will be led by the party president, Amit Shah, one of the party sources said. Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for the BJP, declined to comment. India's seven-phase general election, billed as the world's biggest democratic exercise, began on April 11 and ended on Sunday.
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| Guatemalan teen dies at Border Patrol station, 5th minor to die in US custody in 6 months Posted: 20 May 2019 06:09 PM PDT  Customs and Border Protection said the 16-year-old from Guatemala was found unresponsive during a welfare check in the Rio Grande Valley.
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| Iran Accelerates Production of Enriched Uranium as Tensions Rise Posted: 20 May 2019 01:06 PM PDT  The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, an official at Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, as saying that Iran had increased its output of 3.67% enriched uranium as of Monday, and that the United Nations nuclear watchdog had been informed. Crucially, Iran hasn't increased the level to which it is enriching beyond the agreed limit. Tehran has already announced it stopped complying with a 300-kilogram cap on the storage of enriched uranium and heavy water imposed by the multilateral accord, and said it would abandon limits on uranium enrichment unless Europe throws it an economic lifeline within 60 days, setting an ultimatum for the survival of the landmark agreement.
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| The Latest: Capital murder charge filed in police shooting Posted: 20 May 2019 09:35 AM PDT ![The Latest: Capital murder charge filed in police shooting]( "The Latest: Capital murder charge filed in police shooting") AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on shootings of police officers in Auburn, Alabama (all times local):
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| 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback Restoration Is A Work Of Art Posted: 21 May 2019 03:38 AM PDT  The Ford Mustang is an American automotive icon known the world over. Ford's pony car is the four-wheeled embodiment of the American dream. Petty's Garage is well-known for its work on modern Mustangs, enhancing their performance and producing limited edition special models.
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| Ford to cut 7,000 jobs, 10% of global staff Posted: 20 May 2019 07:21 AM PDT  Ford plans to cut 7,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its global workforce, as part of a reorganization as it revamps its vehicle offerings, the company said Monday. The reorganization will involve some layoffs and reassignments and should be complete by the end of August, a Ford spokeswoman said. Ford has been phasing out most sedan models in the United States as more consumers have opted for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.
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| Could One of America's Allies Take Down the F-35 Program? Posted: 21 May 2019 01:01 AM PDT  What does America need to save its troubled F-35 stealth fighter?Turkey, that's what.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan recently warned that the multinational F-35 program, of which Turkey is a member, would fail if Turkey were excluded. Turkey is facing sanctions, including being dropped from the F-35 program if it goes ahead with purchasing Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, which has raised Washington's fears that F-35 secrets might be leaked to Russia. The U.S. has stopped shipping equipment to Turkey for that nation's planned purchase of 100 F-35s, while the first two aircraft officially delivered to Turkey are still in the United States.For its part, Ankara is adamant that it has a right to purchase both American stealth fighters and Russian anti-aircraft missiles, despite the fact that the S-400 is one of the most likely Russian weapons to be used against the F-35. "We were surely not going to remain silent against our right to self-defense being disregarded and attempts to hit us where it hurts," Erdogan said at a Turkish defense trade show. "This is the kind of process that is behind the S-400 agreement we reached with Russia.""Nowadays, we are being subject to a similar injustice - or rather an imposition - on the F-35s ... Let me be frank: An F-35 project from which Turkey is excluded is bound to collapse completely."
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| Baby cut from teen mother's womb in Chicago opens eyes for the first time while being held by dad Posted: 21 May 2019 06:26 AM PDT  Marlen Ochoa Lopez's baby has opened his eyes for the first time since being cut out of the 19-year-old's womb in Chicago.
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| PHOTOS: Vivid Sydney 2019 Posted: 20 May 2019 01:34 PM PDT ![PHOTOS: Vivid Sydney 2019]( "PHOTOS: Vivid Sydney 2019") An illuminated trail of almost 300 lit lanterns of endangered species will glow every night at the zoo during Vivid Sydney which runs from May 24 throughout Sydney with hundreds of lit buildings and exhibits which attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
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| Abortion ban: Georgia prosecutors refuse to enforce 'heartbeat' law Posted: 21 May 2019 03:37 AM PDT  District lawyers in Georgia have announced they will not prosecute women for getting an abortion after the US state effectively banned the procedure.Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed the controversial "heartbeat" abortion ban into law earlier in the month – giving the southern state one of the most restrictive laws in the US.The legislation, which has provoked outrage among women's rights groups, bans abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. This can be as early as six weeks – at which point most women do not yet know they are pregnant. The bill imposes jail sentences for women found guilty of aborting or attempting to abort their pregnancies, with the potential for life imprisonment and the death penalty. It is not scheduled to come into effect until 1 January and is expected to face challenges in the courts – with it potentially being postponed. But anti-abortion activists hope challenges will lead to the US Supreme Court reversing Roe vs Wade – the landmark Supreme Court decision which legalised abortion nationwide in 1973 – especially with new conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh sitting on the court.The Supreme Court has previously ruled that states cannot ban abortion before a foetus is viable – about 23 to 25 weeks.District prosecutors for Georgia's four most populous counties – Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb – have said they would not, or could not, prosecute women under the controversial new law."As District Attorney with charging discretion, I will not prosecute individuals pursuant to HB 481 [the heartbeat bill] given its ambiguity and constitutional concerns," DeKalb County district attorney Sherry Boston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution."As a woman and mother, I am concerned about the passage and attempted passage of laws such as this one in Georgia, Alabama, and other states."She added: "There is no language outlined in HB 481 explicitly prohibiting a district attorney from bringing criminal charges against anyone and everyone involved in obtaining and performing what is otherwise currently a legal medical procedure".According to the publication, the technical language of the bill means that district attorneys could potentially seek a murder charge against someone who breaches the heartbeat law."As a matter of law (as opposed to politics) this office will not be prosecuting any women under the new law as long as I'm district attorney," Gwinnett County DA Danny Porter said. He said he did not think it would be possible to prosecute a woman for either murder or unlawful abortion if she got an abortion after six weeks.John Melvin, acting District Attorney of Cobb County, echoed this position, saying women could "absolutely not" be prosecuted under the unlawful abortion statute.Fulton County district attorney Paul Howard "has no intention of ever prosecuting a woman under this new law", a spokesperson said, adding that he also would not prosecute abortion providers.Georgia's new bill does include exceptions for cases involving rape, incest, or in situations where the health of a mother is in danger."Planned Parenthood will be suing the State of Georgia. We will fight this terrible bill because this is about our patients' lives," Dr Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said.Georgia's bill comes after Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a controversial abortion bill into law last week that is the most restrictive abortion bill in the US.Under the law, doctors would face 10 years in prison for attempting to terminate a pregnancy and 99 years for carrying out the procedure. The abortion ban, which has been branded a "death sentence for women", would even criminalise performing abortions in cases of rape and incest. Ms Ivey said the new law might be "unenforceable" due to Roe v Wade but said the new law was passed with the aim of challenging that decision.Alabama state lawmakers compare abortions in America to the Holocaust and other modern genocides in the legislation – spurring Jewish activists and abortion rights groups to rebuke the bill as "deeply offensive."Alabama's new bill comes as politicians in several other states propose legislation to restrict abortion – with some 16 other states looking at new measures.More than a dozen other states have passed or are considering versions of Georgia's law. Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have also approved bans on abortion once a foetal heartbeat is detected. On Friday, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill banning abortions after eight weeks.Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia vowed to sue on the day the governor signed Georgia's heartbeat bill. It has also fuelled many in the entertainment industry to threaten to boycott Georgia."We're putting lawmakers on notice: Your votes are far outside the mainstream, and we will now spend our time and energy launching a campaign to replace you," Staci Fox, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, said at the time.A federal judge blocked a heartbeat bill in Kentucky which was scheduled to come into effect instantly as it could be unconstitutional, while Mississippi passed a six-week abortion law in March that is not due to come into force until July and is also facing challenges.Ohio passed a similarly restrictive law in 2016 which was vetoed by the governor.
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| Oklahoma reels, Missouri declares state of emergency from storm, floods Posted: 21 May 2019 01:46 PM PDT  Rescue crews using boats pulled at least 50 people from rising water as heavy downpours inundated roads and homes, Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Keli Cain said, although there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. Only the tops of cars engulfed by water were could be seen in video footage of roadways near Oklahoma City, and some houses were entirely surrounded by floods. "It's real dangerous," said Ross Reuter, a spokesman for Canadian County, where 10 people were rescued.
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| How do Democrats beat Trump? Hickenlooper says Biden's backward-looking message isn't the way Posted: 20 May 2019 11:33 AM PDT  "When you are rebuilding, never say you are going to rebuild what was there before," Hickenlooper told USA TODAY. "It won't satisfy. "
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| These impossibly sleek Pixel 4 renders look so much better than the iPhone 11 Posted: 21 May 2019 05:17 AM PDT  The Pixel smartphone series began its life as a shameful iPhone copycat. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise since the original Pixel and Pixel XL phones were designed by Google in partnership with HTC. Once a market leader, HTC had already fallen quite far at that point, and it had just released its own iPhone 6 copycat in hopes of boosting sales. Google's first-generation Pixel phones were based on the design of that iPhone 6 ripoff, which was called the HTC One A9s. The Pixel was basically an Android-powered iPhone 6, while the Pixel XL was an Android-powered iPhone 6 Plus. The only real difference in designs was the big glass panel the Pixel phones had on the back.Google's current-generation Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL aren't quite as blatant when it comes to copying Apple. Of course, the larger Pixel 3 XL still takes inspiration from Apple's latest iPhone models and includes a big notch at the top of the display. If everything we've heard so far pans out, however, Google's Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones will be nothing like Apple's iPhone XS or the next-generation iPhone 11. Instead, they'll take design cues from Samsung's Galaxy S10 series -- and if the results end up looking anything like the renders you're about to see in this post, there's a very good chance that Google's 2019 Pixel phones will look even better than the iPhone 11 series handsets Apple is planning to release later this year.Thanks to months worth of leaks and rumors, we know almost exactly what Apple's iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Max, and iPhone 11R will look like when they're announced this coming September. In a nutshell, the iPhone 11 is going to be a copy of the iPhone XS, but it'll have a huge square camera bump on the back that houses Apple's new triple-lens camera system. Here's what it'll look like when Apple unveils the iPhone 11 series in a few months:It doesn't look bad, not by a long shot, but it also isn't anything special. For the second time, Apple plans to use almost the same exact smartphone design for three straight years instead of two, just like the company did with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7.In contrast to the iPhone 11 series phones set to debut in September, rumors suggest Google's next-generation Pixel 4 lineup will feature a complete design overhaul. Google is said to have ditched the massive, unsightly bezels on its Pixel 3 phones in favor of an all-screen design with hole-punch cameras just like the Galaxy S10 from Samsung. In fact, the Pixel 4 will supposedly have one hole-punch selfie camera like the Galaxy S10 and S10e, while the larger Pixel 4 XL will apparently have dual selfie cameras in an oblong cutout, just like the Galaxy S10+.Graphic designer Jonas Daehnert, who goes by @PhoneDesigner on Twitter, has seen the same rumors as the rest of us. Unlike the rest of us, however, Daehnert has the chops to turn those rumors into reality by mocking up lifelike smartphone designs. He recently turned his attention to the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, and the results are absolutely stunning. Take a look:And here's his vision of the Pixel 4 XL in white:There may end up being a few things here and there that are off the mark. For example, the latest rumor suggests that Google's new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones won't have any buttons on them at all. But for the most part, these renders are likely a very good indication of what we can expect from the real Pixel 4 series phones once Google releases them this coming October.
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| Bernie Sanders Launches a Deeply Misguided Attack on Charter Schools Posted: 20 May 2019 01:27 PM PDT  One of the great benefits of living life well outside the Beltway is that it's easy to take my eyes off the swamp, look to the states surrounding me, and see places where politics actually function as they're supposed to. I can even, occasionally, see those issues on which Democrats and Republicans might work together, united in common purpose, for the common good.Exhibit A: the charter-school movement. It's granted an invaluable degree of educational choice to families who long lacked the flexibility that prosperous suburban and upper-middle-class parents take for granted, and its extraordinary growth is a bipartisan achievement.There are times when it seems like everyone likes charter schools. The Trump Department of Education has issued hundreds of millions of dollars in charter-school grants. The Obama administration invested in charter schools. As Newark mayor, Democrat Cory Booker "bet big" on charter schools, and athletes and celebrities have personally invested in their success, often with outstanding results.Of course, not every charter school is good. Not every charter school is a success. But if there has ever existed anything like a broad point of left–right agreement in the American education debate, it's that charters represent a vital piece of the educational puzzle, an option that can and does transform students' lives.So why did Bernie Sanders announce last week that, if elected president, he would declare war on charter schools? His poorly named Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education (after all, urban, nonwhite students are among the prime beneficiaries of charter-school choice) would "ban for-profit charter schools," and "halt the use of public funds to underwrite new charter schools" until they complied with a series of federal conditions that would change their governance and facilitate their unionization (many charter-school faculties aren't unionized). In so doing, it would remove many of the distinctive qualities that helped make charter schools truly competitive with conventional public schools.It's tempting to explain the plan as little more than coalition politics, Sanders's effort to cozy up to the teachers' unions at the expense of student welfare. But that's unfair. I know enough people in the greater Bernie orbit to know that they sincerely believe a unionized public-school monopoly in K–12 education represents the best chance for new generations of kids. They believe that, properly funded and led, such a system would facilitate academic achievement and social cohesion.But here's the core problem: The interest in a collective solution to a series of individual educational challenges understates the reality that choice, by itself, is a vital value in a child's education. And the power of choice cannot be measured by test scores alone, even though the best charter schools yield spectacular results.I think about my own parenting experience. Like many millions of American families who take their power over their kids' education for granted, we enjoy multiple privileges a poor family doesn't. We have the job flexibility to live in any number of places, and we can afford housing in a good school district. If we lived in a county or town with a struggling school district, we could afford modest private-school tuition. And back when we lived in Center City, Philadelphia — at a time when we couldn't easily move and couldn't afford private school — we were fortunate enough to win a lottery to put our oldest child in an outstanding charter elementary school.With each of the choices we've made for our kids' education over the years, test scores were among the least important factors we considered. We wanted to know the culture of the school and the character of the teachers. We wondered about athletic opportunities. We were concerned with peer and parental influence. The school was going to play a part in raising our children, and a slight percentage change in a math or language test score was meaningless compared to our concern with the growth and development of their personal characters.The Sanders approach wouldn't take away choice from parents like us. We could still find private schools. We could still move to better school districts. We could still home school. Charter schools exist in the suburbs and in rural America, but they haven't had the same impact there that they've had in American cities. We'd barely feel the effects of the Sanders policy; its brunt would instead be borne by America's most vulnerable families. Sanders's plan tells those families that he knows what's best for them, that his partners in the unions know how to build the schools they need better than they do.This is anything but equity. It's anything but fairness. One of the enduring challenges of American public life is the sad reality that children face fundamentally different educational opportunities through the accident of birth. The existence of choice itself is a luxury. It's a thing of immense value, and many millions of parents can't even comprehend a life where they don't have the true, final word over their child's education.I'm writing these words as I fly to give a series of speeches in Texas sponsored by the Texas Charter Schools Association and the National Review Institute. I've been writing and speaking about school choice for much of my adult life. I've been litigating on its behalf for just as long. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that the desire to choose what's best for one's own child crosses racial, religious, and partisan lines. It's a broadly felt human need.Bernie Sanders makes his intentions crystal clear. In his plan, he writes, "We do not need two schools systems; we need to invest in our public schools system." This is exactly wrong. One size does not fit all. Sanders looks at parents and declares that he knows best. Parents should look back at him and respond, quite simply: I know my child, and I want to shape his destiny. Your collective solutions cannot meet my family's needs.Editor's Note: A previous version of this article contained a reference to the success of LeBron James's I Promise school in Akron, Ohio, as an example of celebrity support for charter schools. The I Promise School is not a charter but a nontraditional public school that operates within the Akron public-school system. We regret the error.
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| Mountain region of Slovakia named best destination in Europe 2019: Lonely Planet Posted: 20 May 2019 02:16 PM PDT  A wild, rugged, mountainous region of Slovakia dotted with plunging waterfalls and lakes and hiking trails has been named the top European destination of 2019 by the travel experts at Lonely Planet.
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| If You Crash a Mercedes-Benz in the Future, It Could Deploy a Robot to Warn Other Drivers Posted: 21 May 2019 05:30 AM PDT  This cute Roomba-like robot is designed to deploy from the back of a crashed vehicle to warn approaching traffic of danger.
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| Chips are down: Huawei U.S. blacklisting knocks semiconductor stocks Posted: 20 May 2019 05:59 AM PDT  U.S. and European chipmakers fell sharply on Monday amid worries the Huawei Technologies suppliers may suspend shipments to the Chinese firm due to a U.S. crackdown. The selling came after Nikkei Asian Review reported that Infineon had halted shipments to Huawei after Washington added the world's No. 2 smartphone maker to a trade blacklist last week, imposing restrictions that will make it difficult to do business with U.S. companies. Reuters reported that Alphabet Inc's Google had suspended some business with Huawei and Lumentum Holdings Inc, seen as a major supplier of Apple Inc's face ID technology, said it had discontinued all shipments to Huawei.
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| Alabama rape victim speaks out against anti-abortion bill Posted: 20 May 2019 10:06 AM PDT  After being raped by a co-worker two years ago, Samantha Blakely had an abortion. The 25-year-old Blakely is among women speaking out after the conservative southern US state adopted the toughest anti-abortion legislation in the country. The Alabama bill, which takes effect in November unless it is blocked in the courts, places a near-total ban on ending a pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest.
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| Trump: U.S. will respond with 'great force' if Iran attacks interests Posted: 20 May 2019 04:43 PM PDT  "I think Iran would be making a very big mistake if they did anything," Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Monday evening for an event in Pennsylvania. "If they do something, it will be met with great force but we have no indication that they will." His comments came as two U.S. government sources said the United States strongly suspects Shi'ite militias with ties to, and possibly encouragement from, Iran fired a rocket on Sunday into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. The sources, who are familiar with U.S. national security assessments and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States was still trying to establish which militia fired the Katyusha rocket on Sunday and the extent, if any, of Iranian involvement.
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| Trump to Pennsylvania voters: 'Biden deserted you' Posted: 20 May 2019 06:58 PM PDT  President Trump had Joe Biden on the brain during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania Monday.
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| 11 people killed in reported gun attack at bar in Brazil Posted: 19 May 2019 10:11 PM PDT ![11 people killed in reported gun attack at bar in Brazil]( "11 people killed in reported gun attack at bar in Brazil") RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A gang of gunmen reportedly attacked a bar in the capital of Brazil's northern Pará state Sunday afternoon, and authorities said 11 people were killed.
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| China's Tariff List Advertises Its Trade War Weakness Posted: 20 May 2019 10:31 AM PDT  Unless Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his advisors are completely incompetent, there's only one way to interpret Beijing's list of U.S. products that will be slapped with retaliatory tariffs on June 1 if the trade war with the United States isn't somehow deescalated pronto: China increasingly realizes that it's playing a losing hand in the trade war, and its counter-moves have been made mainly for public consumption in China.After all, the ostensible purpose of retaliation is inflicting enough pain on the target to change behavior. Therefore, you'd think that most of the new China tariffs would hit products that generate major earnings either for the entire U.S. economy or for key political constituencies (as with the previous import taxes on soybeans). But according to a compilation by Quartz.com, few of the goods scheduled by China to take the biggest (25 percent) tariff hits merit these definitions. Indeed, many aren't even made in the United States anymore, or certainly not in meaningful quantities, much less exported to any measurable extent to China.If you doubt that such items are found on China's list, then check out the following American-made products that Quartz contends will get hit by those steepest Chinese tariffs, and the dollar value of their exports to the People's Republic in 2018. They are ostensibly judged to contain the greatest economic and/or political shock potential.Women's swimsuits: $2,542.Miscellaneous knitted or crocheted fabrics: $2,893.Men and boys' underwear: $229,455.Men and boys' wool/animal hair trousers: $49,629.Men and boys' overcoats: $4,900.
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| Scouted: The Sleek, Black Stainless Steel Version of the 6QT Instant Pot LUX60 Is on Sale for $50 Posted: 20 May 2019 03:00 PM PDT  Right now, you can add the sleek, black stainless steel edition of the 6QT Instant Pot LUX60 to your kitchen while it's on sale for $50. That's a savings of 50% on a gadget that could easily replace half of the other things you use in your kitchen on a regular basis.What's so great about this Instant Pot? I mean, just look at it. It's like the original Instant Pot's cool teen brother. It's like the original Instant Pot got a makeover montage in an early-Aughts romcom. You get everything the Instant Pot has to offer, from the pressure cooker to the rice cooker to the steamer. It's still the six-in-one gadget you love, just with a black stainless steel outside, and it's on sale. If the original super shiny Instant Pot clashed with your aesthetic, this is the version for you. Want one that makes a bit more of a statement? You can get a red stainless steel version for $60.Scouted is internet shopping with a pulse. Follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter for even more recommendations and exclusive content. Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| The 11 Best Deals During Walmart's Memorial Day Weekend Sale Posted: 20 May 2019 12:31 PM PDT |
| The 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Will Be GM's Next Electric Car Posted: 20 May 2019 09:04 PM PDT  The new EV is a crossover based on the same platform as the Bolt EV.
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| U.S. Supreme Court Again Defers Action on Abortion Cases Posted: 20 May 2019 06:35 AM PDT  The appeals were on a list of cases the justices could have discussed at their private conference last week. In one, the state is seeking to bar abortions motivated by the risk of a genetic disorder and require clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains. In the other, Indiana aims to reinstate a requirement that an ultrasound be performed at least 18 hours before an abortion.
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| WRAPUP 2-Southwest Airlines mechanics dispute ends just as American's heats up Posted: 21 May 2019 10:46 AM PDT ![WRAPUP 2-Southwest Airlines mechanics dispute ends just as American's heats up]( "WRAPUP 2-Southwest Airlines mechanics dispute ends just as American's heats up") Southwest Airlines Co's mechanics union said on Tuesday its members had overwhelmingly voted to ratify a tentative contract agreement with the airline, ending seven years of labor negotiations fraught with legal disputes and flight disruptions. The agreement, which brought to a close one of the most disruptive labor disputes to hit a top-four U.S. airline in more than a decade, came a day after rival U.S. carrier American Airlines Group Inc said it was filing a labor-related lawsuit against its mechanics. Mechanics at both American and Southwest have complained that the airlines are moving to outsource maintenance work that has traditionally been done in-house.
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| President Trump blasts Fox News, Joe Biden and 'artificial lights' at Pennsylvania rally Posted: 21 May 2019 06:42 AM PDT  President Donald Trump went after Fox News and blasted several Democratic candidates angling to unseat him during a Pennsylvania rally.
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| 2019 Petty’s Garage Warrior Mustang Available To Public Posted: 20 May 2019 07:16 AM PDT  In 2017, Military Auto Source (MAS) teamed up with Petty's Garage to offer deployed performance enthusiasts an exclusive opportunity – to own a new custom-built Warrior Edition Mustang. This highly successful collaboration continued on for the 2018 model year, with a 2018 Petty's Garage Warrior Mustang and F-150.
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| Google and Android system start to cut ties with Huawei Posted: 20 May 2019 02:27 AM PDT  US internet giant Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers most of the world's smartphones, said it was beginning to cut ties with China's Huawei, which Washington considers a national security threat. The move could have dramatic implications for Huawei smartphone users, as the telecoms giant will no longer have access to Google's proprietary services -- which include the Gmail and Google Maps apps -- a source close to the matter told AFP. Reports also emerged Monday that several US chipmakers providing vital hardware for Huawei's smartphones have stopped supplying the Chinese firm.
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| Boeing Had Big Plans to Build Its Very Own F-35 (And Flopped) Posted: 20 May 2019 02:59 PM PDT  The fundamental issue with the Joint Strike Fighter was that is was always an overambitious program to replace multiple specialized types with one aircraft in the hope that it could perform every role equally well. The result is predictably a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.On October 26, 2001, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that Lockheed Martin's X-35 had won the Joint Strike Fighter contest over Boeing's X-32.(This first appeared in late 2015.)The win secured Lockheed's future as the manufacturer for all of America's fifth-generation fighter platforms. But Lockheed's resultant F-35 has suffered myriad delay, technical glitches, unrecoverable technical shortfalls and massive cost overruns. Already the largest ever defense program with an estimated price tag of $233 billion in 2001 for a total of 2,866 aircraft, the F-35 program is now estimated to cost more than $391 billion for 2,457 jets, according to the Government Accountability Office.Moreover, while the short-takeoff vertical landing F-35B was originally projected to achieve initial operational capability with the U.S. Marines in 2010, it only reached that milestone in 2015—five years late. Meanwhile, the conventional F-35A and the F-35C carrier variant were both slated to achieve initial operational capability with Block 3 software in 2012—but that software block is now scheduled to be delivered for operational testing in 2017 at the earliest.
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| Grad attempts a backflip during graduation ceremony, and it doesn't go well Posted: 20 May 2019 07:04 AM PDT  After slogging through four (or more) years of all-nighters, unforgiving professors, and incomprehensible readings, college grads deserve to jump for joy. Or perhaps, backflip for joy?Twitter user @viridianna_g captured a moment of pure graduation elation at the El Paso Community College ceremony -- that is, until their hype came tumbling down.SEE ALSO: 15 perfect graduation cap designs for fans of 'The Office'Walking across the stage, the stereotypical scene plays out. Names are read, hands are shook, and useless pieces of paper worth thousands of dollars in debt are given out. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, save one administrator attempting to be hip with the kids and fist bump the grads. That is, until one grad goes for it, the perfect physical representation of years of being released from the confines of higher education. A backflip. What could go wrong? Well, just about everything. And Twitter absolutely lost it. > "Yea that's me in the air. You're probably wondering how I got here" pic.twitter.com/SDGX7pEABY> > -- Ahmed☜ (@maulid_80) May 19, 2019> It was at this moment the "Demetrius" realized that he done f*&$ed up.> > -- Damu K. Bobb (@DamuBobb) May 19, 2019> His parents when he get home pic.twitter.com/oRspZIb6Uz> > -- † (@Taj_Uub) May 19, 2019> I was looking at the dude giving everyone a "pound" instead of a handshake then I saw some dude flying in the air > > -- please say sike (@fatherrs) May 18, 2019> Mans said: pic.twitter.com/MFmvdMRwJA> > -- Ivin Setnomarim (@IvinSetnomarim) May 18, 2019> I'm.worried about this guy's knee.> > -- jonoski (@jonoski7) May 18, 2019> He almost had it. Whyyyy? pic.twitter.com/1UWnAHLVoI> > -- Padrino (@wagush) May 18, 2019> reaction* and I wasn't even expecting that...I thought one of the girls would trip over their heels or something. > > -- Nyawira (@GraceJustBeing) May 18, 2019> I was watching the whole thing wondering when something was gonna happen. pic.twitter.com/ueJsDw03V0> > -- Padrino (@wagush) May 18, 2019> What's hilarious is the fact he said "wait" to the dean only for that!> > -- Mzee Edd (@005e5n) May 18, 2019> Boutta be in his seat like this afterwards pic.twitter.com/amMFbSEfe0> > -- Damian Ruvalcaba (@cashmoneydame) May 18, 2019> His family in the crowd like pic.twitter.com/4zZzuchSua> > -- Blu' P.R.I.N.T (@richthanfamous5) May 19, 2019In an attempt at sticking it to the system, he only stuck it to himself. So for anyone about to graduate, let this be a reminder to save the theatrics for when you're not in front of thousands of people who can clown you about it later. WATCH: Harvard, MIT alumnus donates $4.5 million to each school for cannabis research
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| Police arrest suspect who allegedly killed 1 officer, wounded 2 others Posted: 20 May 2019 02:56 PM PDT  A man who opened fire on police responding to a domestic disturbance report, killing one officer and wounding two others, was arrested on Monday and charged with capital murder, authorities said. Grady Wayne Wilkes, 29, was being held without bond in the shooting death of Auburn, Ala., Officer William Buechner, who had been with the police division for more than 13 years.
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| GMC Limits the Sierra's New CarbonPro Bed to a Pricey Option Package Posted: 20 May 2019 01:51 PM PDT  The carbon-composite bed in the 2019 GMC Sierra will be available on a limited basis this summer and more widely in the 2020 model.
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| UPDATE 2-French widow sues Boeing for at least $276 mln over Ethiopian crash Posted: 21 May 2019 06:09 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-French widow sues Boeing for at least $276 mln over Ethiopian crash]( "UPDATE 2-French widow sues Boeing for at least $276 mln over Ethiopian crash") A French woman whose husband died in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX airliner in Ethiopia has filed a U.S. lawsuit against the planemaker, seeking at least $276 million in damages. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 in March killed all 157 passengers and crew aboard and followed the death in October of 189 people on a Lion Air 737 MAX which plunged into the ocean off Indonesia in similar circumstances. Dozens of families have sued Boeing over the Lion Air crash, and several lawsuits have been lodged over the Ethiopian crash near the capital Addis Ababa, which led airlines around the world to ground the Boeing 737 MAX.
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