| Family speaks out after girl with special needs was brutally attacked by multiple teens in viral video Posted: 26 Jul 2019 09:35 AM PDT  The family of a 15-year-old Chicago girl with special needs said she is doingOK after she was brutally beaten by a group of teenagers in an attack that wascaptured on video, WLS-TV reports
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| Reuters photo captures Guatemalan mother begging soldier to let her enter U.S. Posted: 25 Jul 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Ledy Perez fell to her haunches, a clenched hand covering her face as she wept, an arm clutching her small 6-year-old son, who glared defiantly at the Mexican National Guard soldier blocking them from crossing into the United States. The plight of this mother and son who had traveled some 1,500 miles (2,410 km) from their home country of Guatemala to the border city of Ciudad Juarez, only to be stopped mere feet from the United States, was captured by Reuters photographer Jose Luis Gonzalez as twilight approached on Monday. "The woman begged and pleaded with the National Guard to let them cross ... she wanted to cross to give a better future" to her young son Anthony Diaz, Gonzalez said.
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| Another 'straight pride' parade plans draw critics: 'That’s all hate crime stuff to me' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 02:54 AM PDT  Modesto, California, officials are weighing whether to approve a "straight pride" parade to "celebrate" heterosexuality and western civilization.
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| Kellyanne Conway signals the GOP line on Mueller: He 'may be feeble' Posted: 25 Jul 2019 09:22 AM PDT  The White House counselor on Thursday endorsed a talking point that has emerged in the aftermath of the former special counsel's testimony before Congress.
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| India farmers shocked as suspected meteorite crashes into rice field Posted: 25 Jul 2019 02:29 AM PDT  A suspected meteorite the size of a football plunged into a rice field in eastern India, startling farmers, authorities said Thursday. "The farmers were working in the paddy field when this heavy rock fell from the sky with a very loud noise," Shirsat Kapil Ashok, the magistrate for Madhubani district in Bihar state, told AFP. The find is being analysed by scientists as a possible meteorite.
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| Austrian triathlete Nathalie Birli survives kidnapping after convincing man to free her Posted: 26 Jul 2019 06:59 AM PDT  An Austrian triathlete survived a kidnapping in which she was first hit by a car, tied up with duct tape and then taken to a remote house where she was held for hours before convincing her abductor to release her, police said. A 33-year-old man has been arrested. Nathalie Birli, 27, was training with her bicycle on a road in Kumberg in southern Austria on Tuesday afternoon when she was abducted, Graz police spokesman Fritz Grundnig said. The attacker, whose name wasn't given according to Austrian privacy rules, was arrested on Wednesday. Birli said that she was on her bicycle when a car rammed into her and knocked her over, according to an interview published in local newspaper Krone on Thursday. She said she broke her left arm in the fall and the driver then beat her with a stick and threw her into the back seat. Birli, who has a 14-week-old son, said that she lost consciousness for a while, and when she woke up she was naked and tied to an armchair, Krone reported. "He was full of hatred," she said. "He blindfolded me, forced me to drink wine and schnapps and he always held a knife in his hand." Birli said at some point he held her nose and mouth and she thought he wanted to suffocate her but then stopped and forced her into a bathtub with cold water "to drown me." She said the situation began to change when she saw that there were a lot of orchids in the house and she expressed her admiration for the plants. "All of a sudden the attacker was nice to me," Birli told Krone. He told her that he was a gardener and started talking about his horrible life - "a dead father, a mother addicted to alcohol and girlfriends who betrayed him," Birli said. Birli said that was the moment when she suggested a "deal" to the man. "'Let's pretend it was an accident,' I offered him, 'and you let me go.'" He agreed, took off the duct tape and drove her all the way home, she said. "I went right into the house, locked the door and called my partner," Birli said. Police managed to track down the suspect and he was arrested early Wednesday by Austria's Cobra special forces. Birli, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, said the experience was like a "bad movie" and thanked all who went out looking for her when she was missing. "Thank God I could liberate myself, and other than a fractured arm and a head injury, I'm fine," she said.
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| Dr. Leana Wen's departure from Planned Parenthood exposes the organization's true identity Posted: 25 Jul 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Leana Wen's firing captures what pro-life activists have been arguing for years, that Planned Parenthood cares only about maintaining abortion clinics
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| Sightings confirmed in Canada manhunt after murder of 3, including NC woman, as suspect's father speaks out Posted: 26 Jul 2019 08:20 AM PDT  Two teens are accused of killing a young couple, Chynna Deese of North Carolina and Lucas Fowler of Australia, as well as a third victim from Canada.
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| Trump-supporting Republican hoping to oust Ilhan Omar charged with stealing from shops Posted: 26 Jul 2019 08:11 AM PDT  A Donald Trump-supporting Republican running against Ilhan Omar for Congress in 2020 is accused of shoplifting hundreds of items from stores in Minnesota, according to reports.Danielle Stella, the 31-year-old candidate for the Midwest state, is believed to have been charged with felony theft after getting arrested at a branch of Target in the suburbs of Minneapolis.The Republican is accused of stealing 279 items worth just over $2,300 (£1,850) from the popular retailer in January, and attempting to rob a bottle of tick spray for cats at a nearby grocery store in April."I am not guilty of these crimes. In this country I am innocent until proven guilty and that is the law," she said in a series of text messages to The Guardian after it first reported details of the criminal complaint."If I was guilty of crimes, I would never run for public office, putting myself in the public eye under a microscope to be attacked by all political sides."Earlier this week, Ms Stella was revealed to be an apparent supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory.The online movement claims – without any basis in fact – that people working for the Trump administration are dropping clues about a "deep state" network of paedophiles.A representative of her campaign told the Right Wing Watch website that Ms Stella "stands 100%" with QAnon.A former Stella campaign aide later told The Daily Beast that the candidate "tries to portray herself as she supports it, but she doesn't even understand it".Last month Ms Stella officially registered as a Republican candidate for Minnesota's fifth district, currently represented by Ms Omar – one of the four congresswoman of colour attacked by Mr Trump in his racist "go back" tweets.This week the right-wing candidate accused Ms Omar of "trying to start a civil war of race baiting this Country," and repeated Mr Trump's rhetoric by saying the so-called "squad" were "attempting to destroy our Country from within".
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| View Photos of our New Long-Term 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt Posted: 25 Jul 2019 10:44 AM PDT |
| Giant dinosaur bone found in southwestern France Posted: 25 Jul 2019 12:28 PM PDT  The thigh bone of a giant dinosaur was found this week by French paleontologists at an excavation site in southwestern France where remains of some of the largest animals that ever lived on land have been dug up since 2010. The two-meter long femur at the Angeac-Charente site is thought to have belonged to a sauropod, herbivorous dinosaurs with long necks and tails which were widespread in the late Jurassic era, over 140 million years ago. "This is a major discovery," Ronan Allain, a paleontologist at the National History Museum of Paris told Reuters.
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| Why the U.S. Navy SEALs are Falliing Apart Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:23 AM PDT  SEALs were walking on water as the best military force in the world a decade ago. They killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. They rescued Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates. No one seemed more professional or capable than they were.The only thing more remarkable about how much esteem the SEALs had is how far they've fallen since then. In the latest disgrace, the special operations commander in Iraq just unceremoniously kicked out a SEAL platoon, "Due to a perceived deterioration of good order and discipline within the team during non-operational periods," U.S. Special Operations Command has announced."The Commander lost confidence in the team's ability to accomplish the mission," A SOCOM news release said.Defense officials are not saying exactly what these special operators did to deserve being sent back to San Diego early, but Navy Times Editor Carl Prine revealed the SEALs allegedly threw an alcohol-soaked July 4th party.Coincidentally, the SEALs came from the same team as Eddie Gallagher, who was recently found not guilty of murder after being accused of stabbing a wounded ISIS fighter to death in Mosul in 2017, according to San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Andrew Dyer.
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| Photo of mother begging Mexican guard becomes symbol of migrants' struggle Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:15 AM PDT  Viral images show Ledy Pérez sobbing as she pleads with an armed guard to let her and her son aged six cross the US-Mexico borderGuatemalan migrant Ledy Pérez embraces her son, Anthony, while praying to ask a member of the Mexican national guard to let them cross into the US, as seen from Ciudad Juárez. Photograph: José Luis González/ReutersLedy Pérez grasped her six-year-old son and sobbed as she begged a Mexican guard to let her bring him across the US-Mexico border and to, hopefully, a better future than the one she faced at home in Guatemala.The image of Pérez embracing her son, Anthony Díaz, as he stares at guards clad in desert fatigues and armed with assault rifles has made headlines in Mexico and gone viral in the US.Through sobs, Pérez repeatedly asks the officers let her pass in a video posted by Mexico's El Universal newspaper. "Don't let them send me back," she says. "I just want to give my son a better life."Ledy Pérez reacts while holding hands with her son, Anthony, while asking to members of the Mexican national guard to let them cross into the US. Photograph: José Luis González/ReutersFamilies arrived at the US border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador at record rates in the spring, fleeing a toxic mix of violence, poverty, food insecurity, climate change and corruption.Under pressure from the US to stem the flow, Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, directed nearly a third of the country's militarized national guard police force to patrol the border. He insists the rights of migrants must be upheld, but the image of Pérez's plight garnered criticism in Mexico.On Tuesday, former Mexican president Felipe Calderón retweeted the photo and wrote: "What a pity! The Mexico government should not have accepted this"The national guard deployment, along with the hot summer weather, saw the number of people apprehended at the border fall in June though the factors driving people out of the region, known as the Northern Triangle, have not been resolved.Pérez embraces her son while facing Mexico's national guard. There was no overt aggression in the nine-minute encounter in Ciudad Juárez, the photographer, José Luis González, told Reuters. Photograph: José Luis González/ReutersThe Reuters photographer José Luis González captured the powerful images and said the soldier centered in the photo did not provide his name, but said he was only following orders. There was no overt aggression in the nine-minute encounter in Ciudad Juárez, González told Reuters.Pérez was undaunted by the soldiers' steely response and lunged for the border with her son when the soldier looked away, Gonález said. Sprinting across the riverbank, the pair made it out of the national guard's jurisdiction into US territory, where they were taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).From there, they could be brought to a US detention facility, freed until their immigration case is heard by a judge or returned to Mexico while their asylum claim is processed.Pérez embraces her son as she pleads with Mexican armed police. Photograph: José Luis González/ReutersThe crossing Pérez and Anthony eventually made is often characterized as an "illegal" entry, despite the Trump administration making legal crossings for asylum seekers nearly impossible. The difficulty of requesting asylum has driven people to attempt entry at other parts of the border, often with the intent of being apprehended by US border patrol.Under an informal policy known as "metering", asylum seekers must wait months before they are allowed to approach US officials and request asylum. Nearly 20,000 people who have managed to request asylum from a US official have since been returned to Mexico to wait for their case to be processed as part of the Trump administration's opaque Remain in Mexico policy. The returned migrants have told journalists, advocates and courts that they were extorted, assaulted and raped in Mexico.Pérez and Anthony sprinted across the riverbank, made it out of national guard jurisdiction and into US territory, where they were taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection. Photograph: José Luis González/ReutersIt is unclear what comes next for Pérez and her son, but the photographer said her face in the photos was "a small reflection of all migrants' suffering".González said: "A lot of people judge migrants, ask why don't they stay in their country, why do they come here or why are they crossing into the United States … Every migrant has a story."
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| Hong Kong protesters rally at airport to 'educate' visitors Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:46 AM PDT  Thousands of Hong Kongers, including flight attendants, held a rally in the airport's arrivals hall on Friday to "educate" visitors about the demonstrations currently gripping the international finance hub as it braces for another weekend of protests. The rally is the latest bid to keep pressure on Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leaders after seven weeks of largely peaceful mass demonstrations followed by violent clashes, an unprecedented challenge to Beijing's authority since the city's 1997 handover. The protests were triggered by a controversial bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but they have evolved into a call for wider democratic reforms and a halt to sliding freedoms.
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| Widow of serial killer's victim: 'Mr. Kohlhepp, I forgive you' Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  Sixteen years after her husband was gunned down, Melissa Brackman and her teenage son were face-to-face with the killer inside a courtroom.
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| Today's Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years Posted: 26 Jul 2019 06:25 AM PDT  The global climate is changing faster now than it has at any point in the past 2,000 years.That's the conclusion of a trio of papers published July 24 in the journals Nature and Nature Geoscience that examined the global climate over the past two millennia. The researchers showed that none of the past fluctuations -- that is, not the Little Ice Age, the warm period known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly or any other famous shift -- had the global reach that modern climate change is having. Past fluctuations tended to be localized, affecting primarily one region at a time. Modern climate change, by contrast, is messing with the entire world."Temperatures did not rise and fall everywhere in step [in the past]," editors wrote in an accompanying opinion piece in Nature Geoscience. "Specifically, early cool or warm intervals that lasted for centuries peaked at different times in different regions."That's a radical departure from modern climate change, Scott St. George, a climate researcher at the University of Minnesota who wasn't involved in the research, wrote in a news and views article for Nature. [10 Climate Myths Busted]"Although the Little Ice Age was the coldest epoch of the past millennium, the timing of the lowest temperatures varied from place to place," St. George wrote. "Two-fifths of the planet were subjected to the coldest weather during the mid-nineteenth century, but the deepest chill occurred several centuries earlier in other regions. And even at the height of the Medieval Climate Anomaly, only 40% of Earth"s surface reached peak temperatures at the same time. Using the same metrics, global warming today is unparalleled: for 98% of the planet's surface, the warmest period of the Common Era occurred in the late twentieth century."That means that almost every part of the planet had its hottest decades in the past 2,000 years at the same time.And the 21st century, which is outside the scope of these papers, has been much hotter than the 20th century so far. In fact, the world is on track to keep warming as greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere.To develop a rigorous picture of global temperatures over the past 2,000 years, the researchers relied on nearly 700 records from the so-called PAGES 2k proxy temperature database. That database rounds up evidence from ice cores, trees, coral and other substances that change their appearance or chemical composition based on global temperatures. The researchers used those records to build a detailed map of climate fluctuations the world over. And none of them look like the consistent, persistent shifts we're seeing today.Of course, the causes are different, too. Evidence from the previous 2,000 years shows that short-lived volcanic events were the main drivers of climate fluctuations, the authors wrote. Human activities were perhaps a very minor secondary factor over that period. Now, humans are the ones driving the bus. And this time, it's headed toward the edge of a cliff. * Images of Melt: Earth's Vanishing Ice Caps * 50 Interesting Facts About Earth * 9 Real Ways the World Could EndOriginally published on Live Science.
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| Trump news - live: President invents imaginary word as bizarre propaganda video shown to right-wing youth group emerges Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:00 AM PDT Donald Trump has continued to lash out in the wake of Robert Mueller's explosive testimony in front of Congress, while taking the time to make up words and tweet about the imprisonment of A$AP Rocky.The president is trying to undo the damage from the hearings involving Mr Mueller, who said he was not able to say that his report had cleared Mr Trump of any wrongdoing.He has also been wrapped in another controversy after he spoke in front of a bizarre version of the presidential seal, which included references to the Russian flag and a set of golf clubs.Yet more footage has emerged from that same Turning Point USA event, which showed the president being introduced by a bizarre campaign video that highlighted Mr Trump's sporting prowess and popularity among friends.It also comes as the president's administration announced it would begin federal executions for the first time in more than 15 years.Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
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| View Photos of the 2020 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro Posted: 26 Jul 2019 11:51 AM PDT |
| North Carolina Woman Uses Racial Slur to Insult Black Restaurant Customers Posted: 26 Jul 2019 06:32 AM PDT  North Carolina Woman Uses Racial Slur to Insult Black Restaurant Customers
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| U.S. presidential hopeful Harris would spend $60 billion on historically black colleges Posted: 26 Jul 2019 03:00 AM PDT ![U.S. presidential hopeful Harris would spend $60 billion on historically black colleges]( "U.S. presidential hopeful Harris would spend $60 billion on historically black colleges") Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris will unveil a plan on Friday to invest $60 billion in historically black colleges and universities if elected, the latest effort by the U.S. senator from California to reach out to black voters. Harris is one of two dozen Democrats in a field led by former Vice President Joe Biden seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.
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| Syrian girls captured in viral photo fight for survival Posted: 26 Jul 2019 07:41 AM PDT  The picture went viral on social media networks: two dust-covered Syrian girls, trapped in rubble, grab their baby sister from her shirt as she dangles from a bombed-out building. The picture was captured on Wednesday by Bashar al-Sheikh, a photographer working with local news website SY24, moments after warplanes pummelled the town of Ariha in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. Of the three girls shown in the photo, one is dead and two are fighting to stay alive, after regime airstrikes hit their home, said Dr. Ismail, who treated the victims in a nearby hospital but asked that his last name not be revealed.
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| What we know about the arrest of 16 Marines on human smuggling, drug charges Posted: 26 Jul 2019 11:50 AM PDT  The arrest of 16 Marines at Camp Pendleton is related to an two earlier arrests on human smuggling charges.
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| Basil From Mexico Is Likely Cause of Cyclospora Food Poisoning Outbreak Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:04 PM PDT  A food poisoning outbreak tied to 132 cyclospora illnesses in 11 states was likely caused by fresh basil imported from Mexico by Siga Logistics de RL de CV, the Food and Drug Administration annou...
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| American Airlines passenger smashes laptop on partner's head in viral clip Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:13 AM PDT  An unruly passenger was removed from an American Airlines plane at Miami International Airport Sunday after she smashed a laptop over her partner's head.
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| Trump news - live: Unprecedented impeachment call issued as president renews attack on Mueller and invents imaginary word Posted: 26 Jul 2019 08:51 AM PDT  Donald Trump has continued to lash out in the wake of Robert Mueller's explosive testimony in front of Congress, while taking the time to make up words and tweet about the imprisonment of A$AP Rocky.The president is trying to undo the damage from the hearings involving Mr Mueller, who said he was not able to say that his report had cleared Mr Trump of any wrongdoing.He has also been wrapped in another controversy after he spoke in front of a bizarre version of the presidential seal, which included references to the Russian flag and a set of golf clubs.Yet more footage has emerged from that same Turning Point USA event, which showed the president being introduced by a bizarre campaign video that highlighted Mr Trump's sporting prowess and popularity among friends.It also comes as the president's administration announced it would begin federal executions for the first time in more than 15 years.Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
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| 2 North Carolina bomb squad agents injured in explosion Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:29 AM PDT |
| Amanda Knox: Yes, I Asked Supporters to Donate to My Wedding But It’s Not a Crowdfunder Posted: 25 Jul 2019 06:11 AM PDT  Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty ImagesAmanda Knox now says that her wedding registry site, which she tweeted to her 40,600 followers and which originally openly asked for financial help for her space-themed wedding before it was changed late Wednesday, is not an attempt at crowd funding the nuptials set for Leap Day, February 29, 2020. The site, which offers 18 options to donate between $25 and $10,000 earmarked for everything from a time machine to the open bar, was created by Knox and her fiancé poet Christopher Robinson.Before the backlash, Knox and Robinson had written that they weren't expecting to be planning a wedding and Amanda's first ever return trip to Italy at the same time. They then went on to say that "with scant time to plan, and no financial backing, we had to spend our wedding funds on this challenging and important journey." The Italy Innocence Project has since confirmed to The Daily Beast and others that they did pay Knox's airfare and lodging for the conference, as they did for all the guest speakers. After the backlash, the couple removed any reference to their Italian trip, wedding fund or financial woes and changed the words "we're asking for help" to "we're accepting donations."Amanda Knox Wants You to Pay for Her Space-Themed WeddingKnox's denials were published by ABC News and The Stranger website, which have both consistently supported her claims of innocence over her original conviction and final acquittal in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, in 2007.Knox told ABC News that she did not mean for anyone to confuse inviting donations for crowd funding. "I did not put it out there expecting to get a dime from anyone," Knox told ABC, despite the handy buttons provided to do just that. "Our wedding registry was never meant to be a crowdfunding source. It was meant for our family and friends and any well-wishers that I have." She then added, "I have a lot of haters in this world but I have a lot of family, friends and supporters as well. I wanted to share with them this fun, creative idea."In an interview with the Seattle-based The Stranger website, Knox said she had expected a certain amount of backlash, but not the extent she and Robinson received. "I always anticipate that there is a strong contingent of people out there who are going to view everything I do in the worst possible light, and the tabloids are always going to view things in the worst possible light," she said. "They've always reliably done that. But crazily enough, I admit that I did not anticipate the amount of vitriol. I should have." Knox and her fiancé launched the registry, which is not password-protected or restricted to guests, earlier this week on social media. "Let's face it, we don't need any more stuff. So please, no gifts, and no pressure," the couple write. "But if you feel so inclined, we welcome help putting on the best party ever for our family and friends! Instead of a traditional registry, we're accepting donations towards the cost of the wedding."Knox received immediate backlash for the plea for donations on social media, with a number of people writing that while they supported her innocence in the murder accusations, asking for people to pay for her wedding was a step too far. Knox sought to calm the situation with her own tweet blaming the press for picking up on the registry, the link to which she tweeted. "To those hating on us all day, you've been duped by the outrage machine. You gave ad $ to tabloids that profit by making you angry about things that don't matter," she wrote. "Our wedding will be crazy & fun & barebones if it needs to be, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter."The publicity did not apparently lead to a wedding preparation windfall. "We got a handful of donations," Knox said in her interview with The Stranger. "And a truckful of hate."Editor's note: Barbie Latza Nadeau is the author of Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox, which was adapted for film in 2014.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Japan May Soon Gain a Powerful Trade Weapon Against South Korea Posted: 25 Jul 2019 02:36 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Japan could soon gain a powerful new trade weapon against its neighbor South Korea.Tokyo set Wednesday as the deadline for public comments on whether to remove South Korea from a so-called "white list" of trusted export destinations, a bureaucratic process intended to stymie weapons proliferation. Such a move could restrict exports on hundreds of items to South Korea, hamstringing the country's giant tech sector and potentially the production of a swathe of the world's most popular gadgets.A dispute between two of Asia's largest economies escalated this month when Japan slapped curbs on the export to South Korea of three materials vital to semiconductor and display manufacturing. That came after tensions flared over whether Japan has sufficiently compensated Koreans who suffered under Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula.Stripping South Korea of its white-list designation could deal a further blow to Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The move could affect 97% of Japanese imports, though any disruption should prove short-lived, economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said this week. Specifically, South Korean firms would need to get individual approvals from the Japanese government for exports of 857 non-sensitive products out of 1,120 Japanese strategic materials.The other 263 products are sensitive materials for which Japan already requires approval, Park So-yeon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, said in a note Wednesday. Although it isn't clear which items will be most affected by white-list removal, promising sectors such as semiconductors as well as new energy vehicles might be impacted once blanket approval for products from chemicals to machinery are removed, analysts say.Chip Firms Face CrunchJapan accounts for about 32% or roughly $3.8 billion of South Korea's chip manufacturing equipment imports. The larger nation yields about 83% or $422 million of its smaller neighbor's display manufacturing gear imports, according to Lee Joo-wan, research fellow at Hana Institute of Finance.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government said it's making the moves because it found evidence that South Korea has not offered proper management of sensitive materials -- a charge the government of President Moon Jae-in has denied. Their fight has played well at home for both leaders, with Moon and Abe enjoying climbs in support for their tough stands.U.S. technology companies, however, urged Japan and South Korea to cool tensions, saying too much was at stake globally."Non-transparent and unilateral changes in export control policies can cause supply chain disruptions, delays in shipments, and ultimately long-term harm to the companies that operate within and beyond your borders and the workers they employ," five of America's largest tech industry groups wrote in a joint letter to the trade ministers of Japan and South Korea.Still, economists at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch see little chance of tensions developing into a full-fledged trade war."We do not believe that such a de-listing would necessarily lead to large, sustained disruptions in Japan-Korea trade activities, due to mutual trade dependence," Goldman economists wrote in their note.Colonial ClaimsSouth Korea on Wednesday appealed to Japan to keep it on the list. It would hurt economic ties, the trade ministry said in a statement, as Seoul sought to convince the World Trade Organization's general council that Japan is violating its rules -- a charge Tokyo denies.South Korean deputy trade minister Kim Seung-ho told the WTO on Wednesday that Japan's trade restrictions were being deployed as a political tool to prevent forced-labor victims from asking Japanese companies for compensation stemming from forced-labor practices during World War II, according to an official with knowledge of the remarks, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.Japanese Ambassador to the WTO, Junichi Ihara, rejected Kim's claim. He said Tokyo's trade restrictions were a national-security matter and were not appropriate for discussion at the WTO.Resolving the export-curbs issue is difficult because it's become entangled with a dispute over South Korean court rulings, ordering the seizure of Japanese corporate assets to compensate Koreans forced to work in colonial-era factories and mines. Tokyo has put pressure on Seoul to accept an arbitration process stipulated in a 1965 treaty that set up basic relations to settle the so-called conscripted labor issue.Japan's decision to remove a country from the white list lies with its cabinet. But before that takes place, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will assess the public comments received and compile a set of responses. An actual decision is expected in August but in theory, Japan could decide as early as this week.The period for accepting public comments on removing South Korea was 24 days, as opposed to most cases where the window is around 30 days. That suggests the cabinet decision may come sooner rather than later. Once a decision is made, the amendment to the relevant law is publicized and comes into force 21 days after its publication.Japan could arguably end up hurting its own economy. A Japanese government official has said that removing South Korea from the white list would mean domestic exporters lose access to general bulk licenses for exporting goods. They would still be able to access special bulk licenses, instead of applying for individual approvals, that require inspection from Japan's economic ministry, the official said.Tokyo still had questions about South Korea's general weapons export screening system, Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko said, giving no clear indication on when Japan might make its next move after the deadline for comments closed."We will put the public comments received in order, and disclose them at the appropriate time," he told reporters in Tokyo Wednesday.(Corrects wording in 13th paragraph to reflect South Korean official's remarks about forced-labor victims asking Japanese companies for compensation.)(Updates with WTO appeal starting in 13th paragraph.)\--With assistance from Yuko Takeo and Bryce Baschuk.To contact the reporter on this story: Sohee Kim in Seoul at skim847@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Edwin ChanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. tax collectors urge owners of virtual currencies to pay back taxes, file amended returns Posted: 26 Jul 2019 11:06 AM PDT |
| Gunmen dressed as police steal £24 million of gold destined for New York and Zurich from Sao Paulo airport Posted: 26 Jul 2019 01:29 AM PDT  Eight armed men carried out a sophisticated heist at Sao Paulo's main international airport and managed to escape with some 750 kilos of precious metals, airport authorities said Thursday. GRU Airport, which holds the Guarulhos operation concession, said the thieves hauled away gold destined for Zurich and New York by using two cars that looked like police patrol vehicles. They also dressed as officers, covered their faces and carried long weapons before making their getaway, according to security camera footage shown on Globo TV. The television outlet said the vehicles were later abandoned in Jardim Pantanal, a neighborhood located 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the airport. The operator said there were no shootings or injuries during the assault. But a police officer said an airport official and eight members of his extended family, including four minors, had been kidnapped for 12 hours. They were expected to give testimony in the next few hours, he added. The officer requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Sao Paulo police said they had reinforced surveillance around the area and were searching for the stolen cargo. GRU Airport said flights continue to operate normally.
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| $250 million Sandmann lawsuit against Washington Post dismissed by federal judge Posted: 26 Jul 2019 02:26 PM PDT  Nick Sandmann and Nathan Phillips were captured on videos that went viral in January when they stood across from each other on the National Mall.
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| Indonesia's Mount Tangkuban Perahu volcano erupts as tourists flee 600-foot ash cloud Posted: 26 Jul 2019 08:28 AM PDT  An Indonesian volcano popular with tourists erupted Friday, forcing visitorsto flee the area
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| US border patrol chief says she didn’t realise racist Facebook group was racist Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:22 AM PDT  The revelations over secret Facebook groups popular with US Border Patrol agents were eye-popping.A constant stream of racist, sexist and violent images persisted for years, reporters revealed. Days later, officials said those responsible for posts were previously investigated, with unclear results.Then, in testimony on Wednesday, Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost acknowledged she herself was a member of one of the groups, and had been active since at least autumn 2018, according to images published by The Intercept.Her reason for involvement in the group was to evaluate "how I am representing my workforce", she told lawmakers in a hearing about oversight within her agency.Ms Provost sighed deeply. "I didn't think anything of it at the time," she told the House appropriations subcommittee, and said she was unaware about the nature of the posts until ProPublica published a report on 1 July.The posts contain caustic remarks about the deaths of migrants, sexually explicit images and xenophobic comments.Her admission raised a question: why did she not use her membership in the group to instead measure cultural sentiment among agents, attitudes about migrants or possible concerns she could address at the top?"She either missed it from failure to effectively do her job or actively avoided thinking about it," Josiah Heyman, director of the Inter-American and Border Studies centre at the University of Texas at El Paso, said on Thursday.Part of Ms Provost's duties is to visit facilities and meet agents, where front-line supervisors may downplay realities of a recruiting and morale crisis.Facebook, then, could provide an unvarnished look at how agents view themselves and their duties – or in this case, watch troubling cultural issues rise to the surface as the agency faces intense scrutiny.Ms Provost looked for candid words about her performance, Mr Heyman noted, "but she manifested no curiosity about candid things being said in other regards".More than 60 active and eight former agents are being investigated for their involvement in the group, Associated Press reported.Some posts questioned the authenticity of a photo of a drowned migrant man and his young daughter.Another showed a crudely doctored photo of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez performing forced oral sex on Donald Trump.Customs and Border Protection, the agency that includes Border Patrol, did not return a request for comment about why Ms Provost did not use the group in a manner that could have prevented the organisation's latest black eye.In her testimony, Ms Provost said she is "as outraged as everyone else".She "condemned" the posts in a message to the agency, launched investigations into agents who posted or responded to posts and turned over her passwords to agency oversight officials, who told her she had logged on to Facebook nine times over a one-year period, mostly to keep up with friends and family.Yet Ms Provost said the posts at the private group page "I'm 10-15," after the law enforcement code for "aliens in custody", were not indicative of cultural rot within the Border Patrol.She called offenders "a few bad apples" among about 20,000 agents. The group for current and former agents included about 9,500 members, though other groups exist.Mr Heyman suggested the posts indicate cultural and attitude problems that he said officials have been reluctant to address.He led a survey of about 1,100 migrants deported to Mexico, and nearly a quarter of respondents said they were verbally abused by US immigration agents, primarily Border Patrol. 11 per cent reported physical abuse."The posts are very consistent with that we found," he said. It's not just 'this person is out of status, and I need to apply law ... but I hate this person, I want to humiliate this person'."Washington Post
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| '45 is a puppet': Can you spot the mistakes in the fake presidential seal behind Trump? Posted: 25 Jul 2019 08:24 AM PDT  A doctored presidential seal with a double-headed eagle holding golf clubs was displayed before President Trump gave a speech on Tuesday.
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| So Much of the Arctic Is on Fire, You Can See It From Space Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:09 AM PDT  Wildfires burning large swaths of Russia are generating so much smoke, they're visible from space, new images from NASA's Earth Observatory reveal.Since June, more than 100 wildfires have raged across the Arctic, which is especially dry and hot this summer. In Russia alone, wildfires are burning in 11 of the country's 49 regions, meaning that even in fire-free areas, people are choking on smoke that is blowing across the country.The largest fires -- blazes likely ignited by lightning -- are located in the regions of Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Buryatia, according to the Earth Observatory. These conflagrations have burned 320 square miles (829 square kilometers), 150 square miles (388 square km) and 41 square miles (106 square km) in these regions, respectively, as of July 22. [In Photos: Fossil Forest Unearthed in the Arctic]The above natural-color image, taken on July 21, shows plumes rising from fires on the right side of the photo. Winds carry the smoke toward the southwest, where it mixes with a storm system. The image was captured with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP, a weather satellite operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.The Russian city of Krasnoyarsk is under a layer of haze, the Earth Observatory reported. And while Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city, doesn't have any fires as of now, smoke carried there by the winds caused the city's air quality to plummet.Wildfires are also burning in Greenland and parts of Alaska, following what was the hottest June in recorded history. It's common for fires to burn during the Arctic's summer months, but the number and extent this year are "unusual and unprecedented," Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), a part of the European Union's Earth observation program, told CNN.These fires are taking a toll on the atmosphere; they've released about 100 megatons of carbon dioxide from June 1 to July 21, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide Belgium released in 2017, according to CAMS, CNN reported.The Arctic is heating up faster than other parts of the world, making it easier for fires to thrive there. In Siberia, for example, the average June temperature this year is nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than the long-term average between 1981 and 2010, Claudia Volosciuk, a scientist with the World Meteorological Organization, told CNN.Many of this summer's fires are burning farther north than usual, and some appear to be burning in peat soils, rather than in forests, Thomas Smith, an assistant professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics, told USA Today. This is a dangerous situation, because whereas forests might typically burn for a few hours, peat soils can blaze for days or even months, Smith said.Moreover, peat soils are known carbon reservoirs. As they burn, they release carbon, "which will further exacerbate greenhouse warming, leading to more fires," Smith said. * In Photos: The Deadly Carr Fire Blazes Across Northern California * In Photos: Devastating Wildfires in Northern California * In Photos: The Vanishing Ice of Baffin IslandOriginally published on Live Science.
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| Turkey determined to destroy 'terror corridor' in Syria Posted: 26 Jul 2019 04:09 AM PDT  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his country is determined to destroy "to pieces" what he called a "terror corridor" in northern Syrian — regardless of whether or not Turkey and the United States agree on the establishment of a safe zone. Officials from the U.S. and Turkey have been holding talks for a safe zone east of the river Euphrates to address Turkey's security concerns stemming from the presence of Kurdish fighters in the region. Turkey views Kurdish fighters — who have battled the Islamic State group alongside U.S. forces — as terrorists, allied with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.
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| Two Israeli men shot dead in apparent Mexico City shopping mall hit Posted: 25 Jul 2019 02:25 PM PDT ![Two Israeli men shot dead in apparent Mexico City shopping mall hit]( "Two Israeli men shot dead in apparent Mexico City shopping mall hit") Two Israeli men were shot dead in an apparent gangland hit at a luxury Mexico City shopping mall, authorities said on Thursday, in the latest flare-up of violence convulsing the capital. Mexico City police said a woman and a man opened fire on the Israelis on Wednesday afternoon in a restaurant in the upscale Plaza Artz Pedregal in the southwest of the capital, then fled. The Israeli embassy in Mexico identified the men as Alon Azulay, 41, and Benjamin Yeshurun Sutchi, 44.
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| Warren Fellowship Applicants: Campaign Program Was a ‘Great Scam’ Posted: 26 Jul 2019 01:34 AM PDT  Stephen Lam/ReutersSen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has built much of her political career as a champion of workers and consumers against the deceptive and exploitative practices of corporations and employers.But as she navigates the latest chapter of that career arc—a run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency—the Massachusetts Democrat faces criticism from several of her own supporters who said the lowest tier of her campaign structure doesn't match the image she projects. Two early converts to Warren described the process for entry into her campaign's volunteer fellowship program as deceptive and at times exploitative in interviews with The Daily Beast. They said they were pushed toward unpaid positions over paid ones, misled over the availability of financial assistance, and asked to sign highly restrictive nondisclosure agreements that worker advocacy groups concede are irregular. Both applicants verified their accounts with emails and text messages from the Warren campaign. The complaints from those offered unpaid fellowships could raise new questions for Warren as she seeks to put her lengthy history of advocating for consumer and worker rights at the center of her rising campaign. "What was sold to me was very different than it actually was," said Jonathan Nendze, a rising senior at Seton Hall University who was offered a volunteer fellowship position on Warren's campaign. "It was kind of a great scam of getting people to show up and work in the capacity of volunteer, but to function as a paid intern in the amount of work they're doing," he said.Like other Democrats running for the White House, Warren's campaign offers paid internships. But unlike many others, the campaign also offers volunteer fellowships and volunteer fellowships for academic credit. Earlier this month, The Daily Beast reported that some workers' rights groups and activists worried that having an unpaid option could lead to a loophole for campaigns to exploit free labor. In the aftermath of that report, two applicants who were offered positions in Warren's volunteer fellowship program in early-voting states came forward to say that they felt their experiences illustrated those fears. Nendze told The Daily Beast that he drove about five hours from Little Falls, New Jersey, to Manchester, New Hampshire, for what he hoped would be an exciting entryway into the field of political campaigns. Prior to arriving in Manchester, he said, he had multiple communications with Warren campaign workers over the fellowship program. But as those talks continued, it became increasingly unclear what the difference between volunteer fellow and paid intern was."The way they always communicated it was always fellow/intern, like they were synonymous," he said. "Their application kind of took advantage of people who were really eager to get experience."Prior to orientation, Nendze said he was told multiple times that an organizer would get back to him about possible payment. "I was getting super-concerned," Nendzes said. "I had no information about where to go, if I was being paid. If they had told me upfront that I was unpaid, maybe I would have been able to prepare better."Ultimately, Nendze was offered a position as a volunteer fellow. As part of the on-boarding process, he was sent a mandatory non-disclosure agreement—to sign upon accepting the offer and passing the campaign's vetting process—stating that volunteer fellows would "not communicate with any member of the press" or "make any statement that may impair or otherwise adversely affect the goodwill or reputation" of Warren for President, Inc., among other provisions. The Campaign Workers Guild, a group focused on improving working conditions on campaigns, said providing NDAs to unpaid volunteers on campaigns is not a common practice, though it occasionally happens in large-scale races. Former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the only Democratic 2020 campaigns to offer a similar unpaid fellowship program, does not require volunteer fellows to sign NDAs, a campaign official confirmed. Nendze said he did not sign the agreement. The emails sent to Nendze were reviewed by The Daily Beast. Warren's campaign, which brought in $19.1 million in fundraising during the second quarter of 2019, declined to comment specifically on the use of NDAs for volunteer fellowship positions. Additionally, it has defended the use of unpaid volunteer fellowships on grounds that many fellows "receive stipends from educational institutions or other third-parties" and that those in the intern and fellowship programs have "access to cost-free supporter housing while they're working in-state." But according to internal campaign emails obtained by The Daily Beast, the campaign has not always clearly conveyed this to the fellows themselves. In one email to Nendze and other incoming fellows, Eleanor Wood, the campaign's New Hampshire's deputy organizing director, wrote that the team would "do our best" to provide housing, rather than guarantee it."If you are moving to NH, we will do our best to provide summer supporter housing," Wood wrote in an email dated on May 31, describing "a cohort of 50+ volunteer fellows and paid interns" in New Hampshire. The Warren campaign reiterated that all fellows and interns receive free housing. The promise of free housing was the biggest draw for Cole, a political science major who recently graduated from the University of Chicago and initially agreed to a volunteer fellowship position with the Warren campaign in Des Moines, Iowa. Cole, who asked that his last name not be used, recalled telling Grace Smith—a Polk County field organizer with the Warren campaign—that he didn't believe he could cover living expenses without being paid. "She said it's totally understandable," he said, describing their conversation. "There's this great housing program," Cole said Smith stressed.Cole was offered the position by Smith over the phone on May 24. The following night, she sent a text message saying she was "hoping to hear back" from Cole about a decision that day. It was just a few hours before midnight, according to records reviewed by The Daily Beast."She was really, really selling me on it in a way that she just wanted me to say yes to add another person," Cole said. He ultimately texted back that would commit to joining the campaign for the summer.Cole's initial excitement over the post—Warren was his first choice in the Democratic field of nearly two dozen contenders—soon dissipated, as he became increasingly concerned about the demands and benefits of the fellowship program.In one email exchange, Cole asked Smith about the ease of getting around Des Moines without a car, which he made clear he would not have for the program. He was told that it was not necessary but "may require a fair amount of Ubers" and that he could "probably snag a good amount of rides from other fellows and/or staff here and there," according to internal emails. Cole said he immediately became concerned with the potential costs associated with taking frequent Uber rides when he was not being paid. Like Nendze, Cole was also concerned about the availability of housing while he volunteered for the Warren campaign. Those fears were assuaged somewhat when Anna Kucher, the campaign's regional organizing director based in Iowa, sent an email sent to interns and fellows introducing herself on May 26. About two weeks later, she sent a follow-up note. "I know you are all anxious to receive your housing details, and I will be sending out emails on a rolling basis based on when you submitted your request from Today - Thursday," she wrote on June 10. "Don't worry about not having a bed to sleep in, we have enough hosts confirmed and are just putting together the puzzle pieces of folks timeline here in IA, allergies, etc. Once you receive your host contact info, it's very important that you reach out to the immediately within 24 hours to confirm logistics and details of your arrival!"But six days before the fellowship was slated to begin, Cole said he had still not yet heard anything about his free supporter housing assignment. He said he ultimately felt relieved that he was offered a paid position at a firm elsewhere, which he decided to accept, after not hearing about the housing arrangements days before he was expected to relocate."Before you start a campaign you should have these basic processes done," he said. "To be treated the way I was is disheartening." Just under a week after The Daily Beast contacted Warren's campaign to detail multiple specific complaints from applicants offered volunteer fellowship positions, it appears someone decided the campaign's most junior members could use rallying. On July 24, Warren hosted a call featuring campaign manager Roger Lau to thank interns and fellows in her program. After the call, an outpouring of praise surfaced on social media, with about a dozen people tweeting their gratitude for the candidate's outreach. "HI @ewarren CALLED ALL OF THE FELLOWS AND INTERNS ON HER CAMPAIGN TODAY AND I ONLY CRIED A LITTLE!!! FEELING SO SO SO BLESSED TO WORK FOR OUR NEXT PRESIDENT AND FEELING SO LUCKY THAT SHE'S SO WONDERFUL AND SMART AND CARES SO MUCH ABOUT EVERY PERSON ON HER TEAM!!! BRB CRYING AGAIN," one person tweeted. "REAL PIC OF ME LISTENING TO @ewarren AS SHE CALLS EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF HER CAMPAIGN FELLOWS AND INTERNS TO THANK US FOR OUR WORK IN THE FIELD!!!!!!!!! ������������������" another tweeted. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| 27 children removed from Montana treatment facility over allegations of 'egregious' abuse Posted: 26 Jul 2019 03:22 PM PDT  The allegations include physical and psychological abuse and assault at the Ranch for Kids in Rexford, Montana health officials said Tuesday.
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| Loose tire rolls down New Jersey highway until crashing into car Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:34 PM PDT  It was a wild scene in New Jersey when a wayward tire rolled down the highway until it went flying into a moving vehicle.
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| Father of slain Mississippi student Ally Kostial shares heartbreaking photo on day of her vigil Posted: 26 Jul 2019 12:35 PM PDT  The father of murdered University of Mississippi student Ally Kostial took to Facebook to share a photo of his daughter taken when she was a small child.
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| ‘A level of chaos not seen in Britain since the war’: US TV presenter delivers devastating assessment of Boris Johnson Posted: 25 Jul 2019 07:39 AM PDT  A leading US television news host has delivered a brutal assessment of the new prime minister Boris Johnson, saying Britain now faces a "level of chaos … not seen since World War II."Lawrence O'Donnell, host of the MSNBC network's The Last Word, could barely contain his astonishment at the "crazy" process that allowed the Tory MP to take power after "just over one-tenth of one per cent of the British population" voted in the leadership contest.The veteran anchor attacked Mr Johnson for offering "impossible" promises and said he was someone who did not "distinguish between fact and fiction".Explaining the prime minister's Brexit strategy to US viewers, he said: "Boris Johnson says he will simple lead the United Kingdom out of the European Union without any exit deal at all, which would instantaneously bring a level of chaos to Britain not seen since World War II."British viewers who shared the clip on social media expressed their surprise at such honesty. "Quite remarkable views of our new PM from American news media," wrote one."If you think the [US] electoral college is crazy, the United Kingdom has just outdone it," said Mr O'Donnell at the beginning of his segment."Boris Johnson just become the British prime minister without even having an election," he added, describing the leadership contest – which allowed teenagers as young as 15 to take part – as a "private vote" of Tory party members."Voters included children, because there are no real laws about this kind of private voting within a party, and the voters were obviously dominated by people who, like Boris Johnson, do not distinguish between fact and fiction."Referring to the "gloom" greeting Mr Johnson's arrival at No 10, he added: "No British prime minister has even been more unpopular on his very first day in office than Boris Johnson."Like his predecessor Boris Johnson is promising to do the impossible and negotiate a new exit deal with the European Union, but unlike his predecessor he is also promising to do the impossible when he fails to negotiate a new exit deal."Comparing Mr Johnson to Donald Trump, Mr O'Donnell's guest Brian Klaas, a political scientist and columnist, said there was "disbelief" in London at Mr Johnson's arrival at No 10."You now have on both sides of the Atlantic a narcissistic, serial liar who has larger than life hair, who was born in New York [and] who has made racist statements," he said.
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| Salvini wants Europe to take migrants from Italy coastguard Posted: 26 Jul 2019 07:14 AM PDT  Far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday ordered 135 migrants and refugees rescued in the Mediterranean to remain aboard an Italian coastguard vessel until other European countries agree to take them in. Salvini, also deputy prime minister, has been trying to take a hardline against migrants rescued at sea being brought to Italy, which he says bears an unfair share of their numbers. The migrants were spotted aboard two makeshift boats, one by Tunisian fishermen and the other by Italians, on Wednesday, the day before at least 115 other migrants are believed to have drowned in a shipwreck off Libya.
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| View Photos of the 2020 BMW 2-series Gran Coupe Prototype Posted: 25 Jul 2019 05:02 AM PDT |
