| Trump casts himself, military, Republican VIPs as stars of July 4th pageant Posted: 03 Jul 2019 10:25 AM PDT  With U.S. military armored vehicles parked nearby, workers set up a red-carpeted stage on Wednesday for President Donald Trump's planned July Fourth speech, as critics accused him of hijacking a nonpartisan celebration of America's Independence Day. Trump is billing his production on Washington's monument-lined National Mall as a tribute to the American armed forces, featuring fighter jet flyovers, military music, an extended fireworks display and a presidential speech. "Our July 4th Salute to America at the Lincoln Memorial is looking to be really big.
|
| Biden Support Shrinks in Second Post-Debate Poll as Harris Rises Posted: 02 Jul 2019 11:42 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden is barely clinging to front-runner status and Bernie Sanders has fallen sharply as Democratic voters give new attention to Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren after their strong debate performances.Biden remains at the head of the pack of Democratic presidential contenders -- though barely -- in a Quinnipiac University national poll released Tuesday. The former vice president had support from 22% followed by Harris with 20%, a result within the margin of error. Warren had 14% support and Sanders was at 13% in the poll conducted June 28 - July 1.That's an 8 percentage-point drop for Biden since Quinnipiac's June 11 poll and it represents a major boost for Harris, who had support from 7% in the early survey. Sanders also slid from 19% while Warren's standing was little changed.It's the second poll since last week's Democratic debate showing Biden's front-runner status put in peril. A CNN poll released Monday found Biden's lead over the field had shrunk by 10 points as Harris and Warren got significant bumps in support.To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Sobczyk in Washington at jsobczyk@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Woman who 'died' for 27 minutes writes chilling note after she's resuscitated Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:10 AM PDT  An Arizona woman who "died" for a total of 27 minutes asked for a notepadafter she was resuscitated to share an urgent message about the afterlife, herfamily claims
|
| Putin signs bill to suspend Russia's participation in nuclear treaty Posted: 03 Jul 2019 12:30 PM PDT  Vladimir Putin has signed a bill suspending Russia's participation in a pivotal nuclear arms pact with the United States.The Russian president's decree formalises his country's departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, from which the US announced its withdrawal earlier this year.Donald Trump's administration gave notice in February of its intention to pull out on 2 August, citing Moscow's development of a missile that was in breach of the pact.Russia has denied any violations and accused the US of breaking the accord.In a tit-for-tat response, the Kremlin followed Washington in announcing in February it would also suspend its INF treaty obligations The pact, signed by US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned the production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 310 to 3,410 miles.The intermediate-range weapons were seen as particularly destabilising as they take a short time to reach their targets compared to the intercontinental ballistic missiles.That would leave practically no time for decision-makers to gauge how to respond, raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning.Mr Gorbachev has said it was "mistake" for Mr Trump to withdraw from the treaty, telling Russia's Interfax news agency last year: "Under no circumstances should we tear up old disarmament agreements ... Do they really not understand in Washington what this could lead to?,"
|
| Brother and sister dead in murder-suicide at housewarming near Cinco Ranch Posted: 04 Jul 2019 06:04 AM PDT  Three family friends were also shot at the housewarming get together and two teens were unharmed.
|
| Australian student released from North Korea says he's 'very good' Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:33 PM PDT  SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) - An Australian student who was detained in North Korea was freed and safely left the country on Thursday, arriving in Tokyo via Beijing later the same day after Swedish officials helped broker his release. Alek Sigley, 29, who was studying in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, had been missing since June 25.
|
| The Latest: New Hawaii prostitution law is 1st in the nation Posted: 02 Jul 2019 06:04 PM PDT ![The Latest: New Hawaii prostitution law is 1st in the nation]( "The Latest: New Hawaii prostitution law is 1st in the nation") Hawaii is the first state in the U.S. to remove a requirement that a person be a victim of sex trafficking to have a prostitution conviction erased. Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed the measure into law Tuesday. The new law tosses prostitution convictions for those who avoid additional convictions for three years, even if they can't show they have been victims of sex trafficking.
|
| Bad news for Bernie has his backers getting antsy Posted: 04 Jul 2019 05:02 AM PDT ![Bad news for Bernie has his backers getting antsy]( "Bad news for Bernie has his backers getting antsy") His campaign says his organization will win out and that predictions of his demise are way premature.
|
| Americans Are Less Proud to Be Americans This Year Posted: 04 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- As the nation celebrates Independence Day, pride in America has become a casualty of today's polarized political environment.The share of those who say they're either extremely or very proud of being an American reached the lowest point since Gallup first conducted the survey in 2001. For a second straight year, less than half of Americans consider themselves "extremely proud," down from a peak of 70% in 2004 and driven by low patriotism among Democrats and political independents.The gap by political affiliation is at the widest point ever. National pride among Democrats has plunged since President Donald Trump took office, with just 22% now indicating extreme pride, the lowest on record and half what it was months before the last election. Some 76% of Republicans indicate they are extremely proud of being an American.By comparison, "when Barack Obama was in office, Republicans' extreme pride never fell below 68%," according to the report.Several subgroups -- women, liberals and younger adults -- all express lower levels of extreme U.S. pride. The opposite is more readily found among men, conservatives and older Americans.One thing that the majority of Americans do agree on, regardless of political affiliation -- both the American political and the health and welfare system fail to instill pride. Only about a third of respondents say the political system makes them proud to be an American, compared with more than two-thirds who say it doesn't.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Wei LuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| After deadly NH biker crash, thousands of out-of-state traffic notices found untouched by Massachusetts RMV Posted: 03 Jul 2019 08:44 AM PDT  Tens of thousands of notifications detailing traffic incidents involving Massachusetts drivers in other states sat untouched.
|
| View Photos of our Long-Term 2019 Hyundai Veloster N Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:08 AM PDT |
| Know This: A U.S.-Iran War Would Not Be Fought Only in Iran Posted: 02 Jul 2019 10:11 AM PDT  Residents in northern Cyprus were surprised on July 1 when a S-200 missile slammed into the side of a mountain in the wake of an Israeli airstrike in northern Syria. Israel has targeted Iranian bases and weapons transfers to Hezbollah more than a thousand times in the last seven years. Iran has threatened to respond, but Tehran now faces larger concerns as it wrestles with Washington and seeks to raise tensions in both the Gulf, Iraq and Yemen among its allies and proxies.An arc of simmering conflict runs from the waters off Cyprus to the Gulf of Oman where the U.S. Global Hawk was downed in June, to Abha in Saudi Arabia which has been targeted by Iranian-backed Houthi drones. It is a frontline that stretches three thousand miles and marks out the potential flashpoints between the United States and its allies against Iran and its allies and proxies. Viewing the region through this complex map of interlinked conflicts is the best way to see the current U.S.-Iran tensions in the context in which they have grown. It also reveals the possible ways Iran and its proxies might strike at the United States and its allies. In some cases these conflicts have already broken out.
|
| U.S. Vice President Pence abruptly cancels trip to New Hampshire Posted: 02 Jul 2019 03:13 PM PDT  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence abruptly canceled a planned trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday after being called back to the White House for an unspecified reason, White House officials said. "The vice president was called back to the White House but there's no cause for alarm and we'll reschedule the trip soon," Short said. Short said Pence's plane never actually left Washington.
|
| Poll: Biden’s Support among Black Voters Drops after First Debate Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:45 AM PDT  Joe Biden, who continues to lead in early polling of the 2020 Democratic presidential race, appears to be hemorrhaging support among African-American voters after last week's first presidential-primary debate, in which he was taken to task for his controversial remarks about segregationist senators and past opposition to busing.Black voters' support for Biden, 76, fell from 40 percent to 20 percent after the debate, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.Senator Kamala Harris made headlines during the debate when she personally dressed down the former vice president, attacking his record on race."I will direct this at Vice President Biden," began the California senator, who is Jamaican and Indian. "I do not believe you are a racist and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground, but . . . it's personal and it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and careers on the segregation of race in this country.""It was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing," Harris continued. "There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. That little girl was me."Biden made the remarks Harris was referring to last month, at a fundraiser in New York City, where he reminisced about bygone days when politics was characterized by a higher level of civility, citing his ability to get along with two segregationist senators despite their differences as an example."At least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn't agree on much of anything," Biden said. "But today you look at the other side and you're the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don't talk to each other anymore."Harris meanwhile received the biggest spike in support of any Democratic presidential candidate after the debate, gaining four percentage points to hit 10 percent, which puts her fourth behind Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
|
| Australian student detained in N. Korea 'released, safe' Posted: 03 Jul 2019 11:07 PM PDT  A 29-year-old Australian student detained in North Korea surfaced in Beijing airport on Thursday, saying he was in "very good" spirits after being released. For days Sigley's family received no word about his whereabouts or wellbeing, stoking fears he may be the latest in a long line of foreigners to become entangled in North Korea's police state. Then, with little warning, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday told lawmakers that Sigley had "been released from detention in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" and that "he is safe and well".
|
| Search Continues for 2-Year-Old Reported Lost In Rio Grande River Posted: 03 Jul 2019 12:54 PM PDT  Mother told Border Patrol agents she lost her 2-year-old daughter while crossing the Rio Grande river into Texas.
|
| The 2020 BMW X6 Is Bigger, Quicker, and Still Ridiculous Posted: 02 Jul 2019 03:01 PM PDT  BMW's third-generation X6 has aggressive styling and a new M50i performance model.
|
| 'Why kill a 2-year-old?' Texas authorities urging public to look out for 'dangerous' individuals Posted: 03 Jul 2019 02:20 PM PDT  "A 2-year-old was brutally murdered for no apparent reason," Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said about the shooting.
|
| Manslaughter charges for woman who lost baby after being shot in stomach dismissed by prosecutors following outcry Posted: 03 Jul 2019 11:56 PM PDT  A woman indicted for manslaughter after losing her unborn baby when she was shot has had the charge dropped.Marshae Jones, of Birmingham, Alabama, lost the foetus after being blasted in the stomach following a fight in December.The 28-year-old was arrested last week after a grand jury decided she had caused the death by initiating the brawl while knowing she was five months pregnant.But, following a global outcry, a Jefferson County district attorney announced the charges were being discontinued on Wednesday.Lynneice Washington said: "After reviewing the facts of this case and the applicable state law, I have determined that it is not in the best interest of justice to pursue prosecution of Ms Jones. There are no winners, only losers, in this sad ordeal."No further explanation was offered for the sudden change or any rationale given for how grand jurors returned the indictment in the first place.Ms Jones' lawyers said she was pleased with the decision and urged her supporters to now direct their energy to "ensuring that what happened to Marshae won't ever happen again".They had previously called the charge "flawed and twisted", saying it "defies the most basic logic and analysis".The case came shortly after Alabama passed America's most hard-line anti-abortion legislation.The new laws, passed earlier this year, make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a crime punishable by life in prison for the provider. It makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.Officials denied Jones' indictment had anything to do with the legislation but her case sparked outrage across the US and wider world among pro-choice campaigners and advocates for women's rights.Many pointed out the charge was another clear example of the state attempting to punish women for so-called crimes related to their pregnancies.Legal scholars said the arrest raised questions about what other scenarios – such as driving a car or swimming in a pool – could constitute putting a foetus in danger.Jeffery Robinson, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, welcomed the charges being dropped, saying the decision "represents precisely what we want to see in these critical moments: a prosecutor who is not afraid to use prosecutorial discretion and power to refuse to prosecute when the law and justice demands that charges should be dropped."Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said she was pleased to see the case dismissed but noted it would be a mistake to see it as an outlier.She said: "We hope there are no more cases like this in the future, but our experience in 40 years of cases suggests that we will see many more such misuses of the law in the name of foetal personhood in the future."Ms Jones' attacker, 23-year-old Ebony Jemison, had manslaughter charges against her dismissed earlier this year. She herself had said she felt the indictment of her rival was unjust.
|
| Beijing’s Message to Hong Kong: Get in Line or Face Irrelevance Posted: 03 Jul 2019 10:42 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next.After a week of turbulence in Hong Kong, Beijing appears to have settled on its message to the city: continued protests risk throwing away everything that makes it special.A front-page editorial in the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, blasted the protesters who stormed the city's Legislative Council on Monday as "extremists" whose actions threaten to hinder economic and social development and "ruin Hong Kong's reputation as an international business metropolis."The comments play into a widespread anxiety among Hong Kong residents: that the former British colony risks irrelevance as it is swallowed up by an increasingly wealthy and powerful China. Beijing is using this week's unrest to put its own spin on events, sending protesters the message that their actions are more likely to speed up than slow down that trend.State media has presented Hong Kong as a city on the brink. "As the global economic landscape undergoes profound adjustments and international competition becomes increasingly fierce, Hong Kong faces great challenges and cannot afford flux or internal attrition," the People's Daily said.Historic protests erupted in recent months over Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam's decision to push ahead with a controversial bill that would allow extraditions to the mainland, alarming locals and spooking the local business community. The ransacking of the legislature came on the anniversary of the 1997 handover, as tens of thousands of people marched peacefully in a separate annual protest that passed near the complex.On Wednesday, Hong Kong police announced the arrest of 12 suspects, ages 14 to 36, on a range of offenses, including weapons possession and obstructing a police officer, in connection with a protest earlier Monday morning. Dozens more suspects had been identified and a wave of further arrests was expected in "the near future," the South China Morning Post newspaper reported Thursday, citing unidentified people in law enforcement.Activists planned further rallies this weekend, including a Sunday protest intending to spread their message to mainland tourists in the Canton Road shopping district."The protesters now risk losing the moral high ground. This could be a turning point," said Wang Huiyao, an adviser to China's cabinet and founder of the Center for China and Globalization. "The violence could destroy their credibility, and it will be hard for anyone in the West to defend. They will also alienate people who supported the movement."Party NarrativeState broadcaster China Central Television aired footage Tuesday of Lam denouncing the demonstrators and video of police riding in to secure the building. A website run by the Communist Party's nationalist Global Times said the chaos "disrupted public order and challenges the rule of law."It's a narrative that challenges some of China's external critics, leading to an usually public war of words with the U.K., which has usually prioritized smooth relations with Beijing since returning Hong Kong. Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament she was "shocked" by the scenes of violence and, after Chinese Ambassador to London Liu Xiaoming accused the British government of meddling, summoned him to the Foreign Office to explain.U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to "let it be" and not apply new pressure to Hong Kong, while his rival to succeed May as Conservative Party leader, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, told Reuters that he stood with the city's residents "every inch of the way.""The U.K. government chose to stand on the wrong side, it has made inappropriate remarks, not only to interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong but also to back up the violent lawbreakers," Liu said in a televised statement Wednesday. He also said Britain has tried to "obstruct" Hong Kong authorities from "bringing the criminals to justice, which is utter interference in Hong Kong's rule of law."The Chinese government has taken a increasingly firm line against both perceived meddling and the more radical protesters. The foreign ministry and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office have denounced the protesters who stormed the legislature as "extremists."Unrest Returns to Hong Kong: A Day In PicturesOn Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang described Western criticisms as "an ugly act of hypocrisy" while warning countries to choose their words and actions carefully. From the outset of the protests, Beijing has obliquely hinted at the role of "foreign interference" in instigating unrest.In the long run, "it is hard to see a happy ending to this impasse," Simon Pritchard, global research director at Gavekal, wrote in a note."On the Hong Kong side, the student holidays will end and the pragmatism that characterizes most of the population may persuade all but a hard core of protesters to back away," Pritchard said. "If something like this does play out, it will be a fragile truce until the next big challenge to Hong Kong's way of life comes around."(Updates with arrests in sixth paragraph, protests in seventh.)\--With assistance from Crystal Chui, Simon Lee, Wendi Hu and Natalie Lung.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Peter Martin in Beijing at pmartin138@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh, Chris KayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| A Funky Pool Float Is the Perfect Summer Accessory Posted: 04 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| UPDATE 1-Dam bursts in India after rains, killing 11 Posted: 03 Jul 2019 05:17 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Dam bursts in India after rains, killing 11]( "UPDATE 1-Dam bursts in India after rains, killing 11") Heavy monsoon rains caused the breach of a small dam in western India, washing away dozens of homes and killing at least 11 people with 13 missing, a government official said on Wednesday. Seasonal rains have crippled India's financial centre of Mumbai this week, disrupting rail and air traffic in the city of 18 million, while wall collapses have killed more than 30 people. Tuesday's breach of the Tiware dam in the coastal district of Ratnagiri, nearly 275 km (170 miles) south of Mumbai, washed away dozens of homes, an official of the Maharashtra state government said.
|
| Biden raises $21.5 million since late April, trails Buttigieg in fundraising Posted: 03 Jul 2019 04:38 PM PDT  Biden's haul trails that of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg who raised more than $24.8 million in the second quarter.
|
| Government photos show detained migrants pleading for help Posted: 02 Jul 2019 03:11 PM PDT  The images were released Tuesday by U.S. government inspectors who visited facilities in South Texas where migrant adults and children who crossed the nearby border with Mexico are processed and detained. An autopsy report also released Tuesday confirmed that a 2-year-old child who died in April had multiple intestinal and infectious respiratory diseases, including the flu. Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez is one of five children to die after being detained by border agents since late last year.
|
| I asked Latinos why they joined immigration law enforcement. Now I'm urging them to leave. Posted: 03 Jul 2019 03:04 AM PDT  Latinos make up half of American Border Patrol agents. But it's not self-hatred driving them to work for agencies deporting their communities.
|
| Toyota Prius Stalling Problems Continue, Highlighted by a Dealer’s Lawsuit over Five-Year Problem Posted: 02 Jul 2019 02:00 PM PDT  Three recalls to fix more than 800,000 cars have allegedly not remedied tens of thousands of reported failures.
|
| Trump's Political Plan for the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Posted: 02 Jul 2019 10:19 AM PDT  A few days after President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, unveiled the U.S. economic peace plan in Bahrain, Trump addressed the topic during a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Japan. The president said that there would never be an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement if one is not negotiated during his presidency. He also opined that there is a "very good chance" his proposal for solving the decades-long conflict could succeed.The conference in Bahrain was almost uniformly ridiculed by Middle East experts. But with the passage of time the meeting may prove to have served a useful purpose. This is because the preparations for the conference provided two important lessons. And, at least one unrelated but important development in the aftermath of the meeting improves the odds, even if only slightly so, that if launched soon, Trump's political plan may at least get a hearing.The first lesson of Bahrain is that money alone cannot resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict no matter how lucrative the package offered. This point was made clear before, during, and after the conference—even by those most supportive of the effort, such as Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa. Again and again, Arab participants referred to two-state frameworks, notably the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative as prerequisites to the successful application of economic incentives. That reference was important in case Trump's close circle still harbored hopes that the Palestinians could be bribed to accept a deal that ignores their national aspirations; this illusion has been finally put to rest in Bahrain.
|
| A Teen From a 'Good Family' Allegedly Bragged About Raping a 16-Year-Old. Now a Judge Is Under Fire for His Leniency Posted: 03 Jul 2019 11:41 AM PDT  The judge denied a request to try the boy as an adult. An appeals court reversed his decision
|
| Tornado devastates town in China, killing at least 6 Posted: 03 Jul 2019 11:52 AM PDT  A tornado devastated Kaiyuan, China, which is northeast of Beijing on July 3, killing at least 6 and injuring nearly 200 people.
|
| UPDATE 1-Mexico says migrant apprehensions at U.S. border down 30% in June from May Posted: 02 Jul 2019 05:46 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Mexico says migrant apprehensions at U.S. border down 30% in June from May]( "UPDATE 1-Mexico says migrant apprehensions at U.S. border down 30% in June from May") Migrant apprehensions at the U.S. southern border fell 30% in June from the previous month, Mexico said on Tuesday, after introducing controls as part of a deal with the United States to curb the flow of migration or face possible trade tariffs. Citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mexico's foreign ministry said 100,037 migrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in June, down from 144,278 migrants in May, including people who appeared at ports of entry and were deemed inadmissible. "Mexico's effort to control the flow of migrants appears to have broken a growing trend," the ministry said in a statement.
|
| Biden, Buttigieg tested with black voters to mixed results as 2020 race shifts Posted: 03 Jul 2019 05:33 AM PDT  So far just one of the two White House hopefuls seems to be having luck getting the benefit of the doubt from black voters.
|
| California becomes 1st state to ban hairstyle discrimination Posted: 03 Jul 2019 04:48 PM PDT  Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Wednesday a bill making California the first state to ban workplace and school discrimination against black people for wearing hairstyles such as braids, twists and locks. The law by Democratic Sen. Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles, a black woman who wears her hair in locks, makes California the first state to explicitly say that those hairstyles are associated with race and therefore protected against discrimination in the workplace and in schools. "We are changing the course of history, hopefully, across this country by acknowledging that what has been defined as professional hair styles and attire in the work place has historically been based on a Euro-centric model — based on straight hair," Mitchell said.
|
| Boeing makes $100 million pledge for 737 MAX crash-related support Posted: 03 Jul 2019 08:33 AM PDT  SEATTLE/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Wednesday it would give $100 million over multiple years to local governments and non-profit organizations to help families and communities affected by the deadly crashes of its 737 MAX planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The move appears to be a step toward repairing the image of the world's largest planemaker, which has been severely dented by the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane in March just five months after a similar crash of a Lion Air flight in Indonesia. Boeing is the target of a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation into the development of the 737 MAX, regulatory probes and more than 100 lawsuits by victims' families.
|
| Trump baby blimp may not fly over president’s Fourth of July extravaganza Posted: 03 Jul 2019 08:49 AM PDT  Antiwar protest group Codepink was granted a permit to fly the balloon, but only if it is filled with ordinary air and not heliumThe Trump baby blimp in Parliament Square during Donald Trump's visit in London on 4 June. Photograph: Imageplotter/Rex/ShutterstockThe Donald Trump "baby blimp" will appear at a protest near the president's Independence Day celebration in Washington on the Fourth of July – but there is diminishing hope that authorities will allow it actually to fly.The blimp, a giant orange balloon that depicts Donald Trump crying and dressed only in a nappy, became the focal point of protests against both of his two visits to the UK.Codepink, the direct action antiwar protest group behind the latest effort, was granted a permit to bring the blimp to Washington's National Mall while Trump gives an address at the Lincoln memorial, to protest against the "militarization of July 4".But the group has not yet received permission to fly the balloon over the president's Fourth of July extravaganza, which will include the deployment of tanks on the mall, which stretches from the memorial to the Houses of Congress, and an extended fireworks display.The US National Park Service granted Codepink a permit on 1 July to fly the balloon, but only if it is filled with ordinary air and not helium, which is required for it to become airborne.The Codepink co-founder Medea Benjamin said the group has applied for a waiver from aviation authorities to fly the balloon 60cm (2ft) off the ground and said in a brief interview that they remain hopeful the request will be granted."We plan to fly the blimp, hopefully with helium, but if not, with air," she said.In a statement, Benjamin added: "It is ironic that it is right here, in the 'land of the free', the balloon is being grounded."The group has raised more than $16,000 to help cover the costs of flying the balloon.Codepink had initially requested space near the base of the Washington Monument, opposite the Lincoln Memorial, where Trump would have been forced to view the effigy during the event. But they were only granted permission to set up in locations that will be out of Trump's line of sight.The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, infuriated Trump supporters by twice giving permission for the blimp to fly over the British capital during Trump's business trip to the UK last year and his state visit last month.Codepink's logistics manager, Tighe Barry, added, of the Washington arrangements: "This bureaucratic process is designed to force us to just keep the baby on the ground, instead of floating it in the air. It's ridiculous that we have to contact the Federal Aviation Administration to hoist a balloon two feet off the ground.He added: "There is nothing dangerous about helium – there are lots of helium floats in the July 4 parade. And you certainly can't say that a 20ft-tall balloon is going to interfere with Trump's Air Force One."Air Force One and the presidential helicopter, Marine One, are expected to be part of a flamboyant display on Thursday that critics have slammed and say demonstrates weakness rather than strength in its flaunting of military might.
|
| Hong Kong police vow action over parliament storming Posted: 03 Jul 2019 10:55 AM PDT  Hong Kong authorities vowed Wednesday to hunt down the protesters who stormed parliament in an unprecedented challenge to the Beijing-backed government. The semi-autonomous city has been shaken by massive anti-government demonstrations since last month, sparked by a proposed law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. China has appeared irked by former colonial power Britain's public rebukes over the protests, and on Wednesday London summoned the Chinese ambassador.
|
| Look Closely: Is This Picture the Future of the U.S. Navy? Posted: 04 Jul 2019 01:36 AM PDT  Boeing is also looking to convince the Navy that the CMV-22 could fulfill all sorts of secondary roles that S-3 Vikings or helicopters used to fulfill, such as anti-submarine patrols, search-and-rescue of downed airmen, special ops insertion, and electronic warfare.Only time will tell whether the pricy CMV-22B brings about the revolution in logistics the Navy is hoping for.For over fifty years, the Navy has operated C-2A Greyhound cargo haulers with twin turboprop engines to ferry personnel, supplies, mail and spare parts to its massive aircraft carriers at sea—a mission known as Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD). The Greyhound, which is derived from the Navy's E-2 Hawkeye radar planes, can haul up to five tons of cargo or 26 passengers while still managing to land and takeoff from the three-hundred-meter-long carrier flight deck—and then fold its wings to fit in the hangar deck below.(This first appeared last year.)In the late 2000s, however, the Navy began looking to replace the aging Greyhound. Candidates to take up the COD mission included modernized C-2s and the Navy's recently retired S-3 Viking anti-submarine jets. In the end, though, the Navy gave in to urging from the Marines and decided to pursue the most expensive option—the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
|
| PHOTOS: Where migrants are held in U.S. custody Posted: 03 Jul 2019 12:14 PM PDT  The treatment of migrants in federal custody has come under intense scrutiny following recent reports of unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, and prolonged detention of adults and children at several U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities near the southwest border.
|
| The 2021 Ford Mach E Will Combine Electric Power with Mustang-Esque Styling Posted: 03 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT  2021 Ford Mach E
|
| 10-foot-long great white shark surfaces off east coast, headed north Posted: 03 Jul 2019 10:08 AM PDT  A great white shark pays a visit to the waters off the east coast of the United States, including the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland and Virginia.
|
