| Lawsuit challenges California's assault weapons ban Posted: 15 Aug 2019 07:38 PM PDT  A gun-rights group sued Thursday to block California from enforcing its assault weapons ban, contending it violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The lawsuit was the latest among gun advocacy and lobbying groups to challenge California's firearms laws, which are among the strictest in the country, and comes after a recent series of deadly mass shootings nationwide involving military-style rifles. The lawsuit was filed in the same San Diego federal court district where a judge in April tossed out a nearly two-decade-old California ban on sales and purchases of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 bullets.
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| Obama told Biden advisers not to let the former Veep ‘damage his legacy’ in his 2020 presidential run Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:55 PM PDT  Obama is reportedly concerned that Biden is relying on advisers who are "too old and out of touch with the current political climate,"
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| 3-year-old girl alone on Texas boat said ‘daddy went swimming;’ man’s body found Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Texas authorities found a man's body after searching for a missing father whose little girl was found sleeping alone in a boat on Lake Granbury on Friday.
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| Woman survives plunging a mile after parachute fails to open Posted: 16 Aug 2019 04:49 AM PDT  A woman cheated death when she fell nearly a mile to the ground after her parachute and emergency back-up apparently both failed to open.Witnesses who saw her plunge nearly 5000ft to the ground said it was a miracle she wasn't killed.She hit a clump of trees, breaking her fall, and escaped with only fractured bones, including broken vertebrae.Police Quebec in Canada are investigating whether there was any criminal negligence.After jumping from the plane at a skydiving centre in Trois-Rivieres, the woman escaped with her life by hitting a wooded area.Denis Demers, who saw her fall, told Radio-Canada: "It's a miracle. I don't know how a person can survive a fall from an airplane like that."He said it appeared that neither the main parachute nor the emergency back-up had opened.Police told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the 30-year-old parachutist, who has not yet been identified, was an experienced skydiver.She was admitted to hospital but her life was not in danger, they said.Another witness, Oceane Duplessis, said she was getting ready to get on another plane when she saw the woman."We watched all the way to the end. We kept hoping something would happen," she said. "We were very worried. Very."According to Scienceabc.com, a person without a parachute will fall at a typical speed of 120mph – or 60 metres (196ft) a second.The skydive company, which is reported to be investigating, has been contacted for comment.
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| A couple in Australia and their pet dog were attacked by a giant carnivorous lizard Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:45 AM PDT  A 72-year-old man was seriously injured after attempting to break up a fight between his pet dog and a giant Goanna lizard.
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| Ford Celebrates 25th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise With Mustang Alley Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:19 AM PDT  America's largest annual celebration of automotive culture is currently underway.If you're anywhere close to the vicinity of Detroit on the third Saturday in August (tomorrow, August 17, 2019), you'll get the chance to experience the Woodward Dream Cruise. This is the largest single-day gathering of gearheads in the world, according to event organizers. Classics, hot rods, muscle cars, custom builds, and more invade Woodward Avenue for a day of cruising and hanging out. In addition to a large number of cars that will be present, roughly 1.5 million spectators will join in on the fun.This year, Ford will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Woodward Dream Cruise with Mustang Alley, in addition to a wide range of special activities. On Thursday, August 15, Ford hosted the "Playing to Win Breakfast – How Ford Icons Continues to Be a Competitive Strength" and the "Track Talk – How Ford Racing Benefits the Rest of the Company Plus Reveal of a New NASCAR Mustang." There were also live engine builds and discussions on the durability testing behind the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500.Today, Ford and JDRF announced a custom 2020 Mustang Shelby in a one-of-one paint color that will be raffled off as part of JDRF's annual push to raise funds for Type 1 diabetes research. The build is deemed the "Venom Mustang." There will also be a Power Lunch today with Ford performance team members, including Carl Widmann, Ford Performance chief engineer, and Tom Barnes, Mustang engineering manager. Last, but not least, watch as the Ford Performance lineup of vehicles takes Woodward in a V formation known as the "Flying V."If you haven't been able to make the last two days of events, do not fret; tomorrow is the biggest day of this occasion. Be sure to come out on Saturday, August 17 to join the "Mustang Alley – 21 Years of a Mile of Mustangs." Ford expects as many as 1,000 Mustangs lined up for nearly a mile (9 Mile and Woodward Avenue, all day). Also held tomorrow is the "Woodward Watching – Hang Out and Get to Know Top Ford Executives." Join some of Ford's top-ranking executives to talk cars (Ford Media Clubhouse, all day).Additional Activities and Opportunities at the Ford Media Clubhouse:(1) Ford designers live sketches their favorite automotive concepts and ideas (Thursday through Saturday with sessions starting each day at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. EDT)(2) Media-only driving opportunities in 2019 Mustang Bullitt, 2019 Mustang GT, 2019 Mustang Shelby GT350, F-150 Police Responder, right-hand drive Mustang GT, and a vintage Mustang(3) Video and photo opportunities with static display vehicles including current and heritage Ford GTs, 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500s, 2019 Mustang Shelby GT350R, Ford F-150 Raptor, 10 millionth Mustang in Wimbledon White, Mustang NASCARs and more(4) Scissor lift for media to grab bird's-eye view and capture Woodward Dream Cruise videos and images(5) Ford Mustang remote control racing on a custom-built miniature all-seasons trackFord Consumer Display Locations (Saturday only, Aug. 17)Mustang Alley: 9 Mile between Woodward Avenue and Bermuda Street, FerndaleFord family fun zone: Pioneer Park, 4232 Parkway Drive, Royal OakFull Ford Performance lineup display: Duggan's Irish Pub, 31501 Woodward Ave., Royal OakFord trucks display: CVS, 30900 Woodward Ave., Royal OakBronco Club parking: Memorial Park, 23925 Woodward Ave., Pleasant RidgeFord Fund's Driving Skills for Life display: Westborn Market, 27659 Woodward Ave., BerkleySource: Ford Media Read More: * Motorious Digital Car Show At Woodward Dream Cruise * 1995 Chevrolet Impala SS Takes Emotional Cruise To Woodward
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| Sen. Bernie Sanders to Israel: Ban U.S. congresswoman — then don’t take U.S. money. Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:38 PM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders has suggested Israel should now decline the billions of dollars it receives in U.S. aid in the wake of its ban on Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country.
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| Planet 10 times Earth's mass may have smacked Jupiter long ago Posted: 15 Aug 2019 12:10 PM PDT  Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, may have been smacked head-on by an embryonic planet 10 times Earth's mass not long after being formed, a monumental crash with apparent lasting effects on the Jovian core, scientists said on Thursday. The violent collision, hypothesized by astronomers to explain data collected by NASA's Juno spacecraft, may have occurred just several million years after the birth of the sun roughly 4.5 billion years ago following the dispersal of the primordial disk of dust and gas that gave rise to solar system. "We believe that impacts, and in particular giant impacts, might have been rather common during the infancy of the solar system.
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| Arrests precede major demonstrations in Portland, Oregon Posted: 16 Aug 2019 02:50 PM PDT  Authorities arrested the leader of a right-wing group on the eve of a rally that's expected to draw people from around the U.S. to Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, prompting Patriot Prayer's Joey Gibson to urge his followers to "show up one hundred-fold" in response. Self-described anti-fascists have vowed to confront the right-wing groups at the downtown rally and the arrests of Gibson and five other right-wing supporters appeared to be intended to send a signal from police to organizers to remain peaceful or stay away. In a video he livestreamed on Facebook, Gibson accused the police of playing politics by arresting him and other right-wing members but not the masked demonstrators who beat up conservative blogger Andy Ngo at a June 29 rally.
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| Dozens of US teens hospitalized with lung disease after vaping Posted: 15 Aug 2019 01:43 PM PDT  US health officials are investigating the cases of dozens of people, mainly teens, who were hospitalized with severe lung injuries in recent weeks after vaping, though the precise cause of their illnesses remains a mystery. Health departments in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin have issued statements describing cases involving patients who exhibited coughs, shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue, symptoms that led them to hospitals where they had to be intubated. Officials in the three states, which have reported at least 30 confirmed cases and 22 under investigation, said it was too early to say whether the illnesses were connected, but were working with each other and the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention to investigate further.
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| House Democrats Set to Move on New Gun Control Legislation Posted: 16 Aug 2019 09:07 AM PDT ![House Democrats Set to Move on New Gun Control Legislation]( "House Democrats Set to Move on New Gun Control Legislation") (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats announced Friday that the Judiciary Committee will cut short its six-week August recess to begin work on a flurry of gun control bills in response to deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.The massacres of 31 people in El Paso and Dayton reignited the debate on gun laws, though it's unclear how far Senate Republicans are willing to go even with President Donald Trump saying he's open to expanding background checks and so-called red flag laws to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people."There is more that we can and must do to address the gun violence epidemic," committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said in a statement. "I call on my Senate colleagues to join us in this effort by swiftly passing gun safety bills the House has already passed and also by acting on the additional bills we will be considering."At the top of the committee agenda is a measure (H.R. 1186) to restrict the sale and importation of large capacity ammunition magazines such as those used in several mass shootings. Other bills are aimed at preventing gun ownership by those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes and against those who have a protection order issued against them.The list doesn't include an assault weapons ban. The committee will examine that issue at a separate Sept. 25 hearing. The now-expired assault weapons ban, passed in 1994, caused massive political fallout for Democrats, contributing to their loss of the House that year.The House has already passed a bill to increase background checks and Senate Republicans and the Trump administration have shown some openness to considering some version of that bill.At a rally Thursday night in New Hampshire, Trump focused on keeping weapons away from "deranged and dangerous people" while adding that, "We will always uphold the right to self defense and we will always uphold the Second Amendment."To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| After Jeffrey Epstein's suicide, Ghislaine Maxwell may have taken his place as the 'kingpin' prosecutors are looking to take down. But experts say don't expect criminal charges anytime soon. Posted: 15 Aug 2019 08:27 PM PDT  "This is not a television show where you see a crime in the first minute and an arrest in the 10th," one former federal prosecutor said.
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| Greyhound riders are being asked for immigration papers at South Florida bus terminals Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Federal immigration agents are beefing up their efforts to apprehend undocumented immigrants in South Florida as part of a nationwide effort to "keep communities safe."
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| 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Pro Touring Boasts Show Quality Posted: 16 Aug 2019 06:06 AM PDT  It's custom-built with low mileage and ready to win some trophies. Volo Auto Museum is excited to announce this incredibly stunning 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Pro Touring for your consideration. With only 270 miles clocked since its custom pro-touring build and $95,000 invested, this is a great value. The car is currently up for sale at a price of $42,995, and you can make an offer right here. An extensive amount of work, heart, and soul was put into this car with precise attention to detail. Every single part of the Z28 was removed from the vehicle during the pro-touring build. Even at first glance, you know that this is a show car. But it doesn't just boast a mean face, this car handles great and is satisfyingly fast.The exterior has custom body features that will really help it stand out among the sea of muscle cars at any car show. It has a reverse scoop molded into the hood and fender vents, as well as a dovetail out back molted onto the quarters and trunk. Other minor touches include filled-in marker lights, a custom gas filler door, filled seams, and custom door handles. The Carbon Flash Black metallic paint (a Corvette color) is lustrous and goes well with the wide non-metallic black stripe on the center of the hood and trunk. This beauty sits on 18-inch Rev wheels wrapped in Michelin Super Sport performance tires, with wider rubber at the rear.The interior on this '81 Camaro Z28 has been completely restored from the carpet to the headliner. The instrument panel looks like carbon fiber with great-looking digital gauges. It also has a leather-wrapped steering wheel on a tilt column. Additional cabin features include new Vintage Air Heat electric controls, a new modern stereo with molded-in kick panel speakers and 6x9s in the back, and a digital screen for the fuel injection.This 1981 Camaro Z28 Pro Touring is powered by a desirable, all-aluminum, performance-built LS 5.3-liter V8 engine that puts out 420 horsepower. It also has a NOS system for another instant 150 horsepower! What's more, this Z28 is equipped with a High Ram polished aluminum Holley intake, Holley EFI electronic fuel injection, Accel coils, stainless headers, and custom polished aluminum air induction tubes. It has 65-pound injectors and a 43-pound fuel pump. A Griffin radiator with dual electric fans and a custom shroud keep this bad boy cool. Pop the hood at a car show and wait for all the oohs and ahhs you'll get. The engine bay is pristine and is sure to outshine its competition. Read More: * Freshly Restored 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS Pro Touring * Burn Rubber For Days In This 1965 Ford Mustang Pro Touring
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| Rhode Island Prison Officer Resigns After ICE Protesters Allege He Drove a Truck Into Them Posted: 15 Aug 2019 05:55 PM PDT  'It was a shocking escalation of violence,' says a witness
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| Air Purifiers That Will Actually Help You Breathe Better Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:43 AM PDT |
| Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad' Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:20 PM PDT ![Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad']( "Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad'") Mexican authorities arrested a U.S. citizen suspected of supporting militant Islamists in an example of Mexico's security cooperation with the United States even as the two neighbors grapple with sharp disagreements over trade and migration. The unidentified American man sought by Interpol was under investigation for supporting terrorist groups and will be deported to the United States later on Friday, the Mexico's attorney general's office said in a statement. The man was detained at a migrants office near Mexico's border with Guatemala in the town of Huehuetan with the help of officials from Mexico's National Migration Institute.
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| Tears and shouting as Australia dilutes Pacific climate warning Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:20 AM PDT  A Pacific summit has descended into tears, recriminations and shouting between pro-coal Australia and low-lying island nations facing an existential threat from climate change. The annual Pacific Island Forum wrapped up in Tuvalu late Thursday with Australia and the group's 17 other members sharply at odds, potentially undermining Canberra's efforts to curb China's growing influence in the region. "There were serious arguments and even shouting, crying, people, leaders were shedding tears," Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga told Australia's national broadcaster ABC after the summit broke up with a communique with "watered down" language on global warming.
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| Israel bans Omar and Tlaib after Trump says 'it would show great weakness' to let them in Posted: 15 Aug 2019 09:32 AM PDT  The Israeli government on Thursday announced that it will bar Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., from entering the country after President Trump urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban them from visiting.
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| Tennessee inmate executed in electric chair for killings Posted: 16 Aug 2019 06:39 AM PDT  Tennessee executed its third inmate in the electric chair since November, killing a man Thursday who maintained that he didn't stab a mother and her 15-year-old daughter to death in 1986. State officials pronounced 56-year-old Stephen West dead at 7:27 p.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. This week, West decided he preferred to die in the electric chair after previously voicing no preference, which would have defaulted him to lethal injection.
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| Tom Homan shares exclusive video of attack on Washington ICE detention center Posted: 15 Aug 2019 04:19 AM PDT  Former acting ICE director and Fox News contributor Tom Homan releases new video of fires set outside a ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington to show how the left's 'hateful rhetoric' is threatening American lives.
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| Germany expects No Deal and will not renegotiate, says leaked briefing Posted: 16 Aug 2019 04:17 AM PDT  Germany expects a No Deal Brexit and is not prepared to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, according to leaked details of an internal briefing paper for Angela Merkel's government. The leaked paper is the first evidence that Germany may be preparing to let Britain walk away with No Deal rather than back down to Boris Johnson's demand to drop the Irish backstop. The paper was prepared by civil servants for the German finance minister, Olaf Scholz, ahead of face-to-face talks with the chancellor of the exchequer, Sajid Javid, in Berlin on Friday. In public, Mr Scholz has said Germany will do everything it can to secure a deal with the UK. But according to details leaked to the usually reliable Handelsblatt newspaper, the briefing paper calls for the European Union to stick to its previous line of refusing to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. It warns that there is now a "high probability" of a No Deal Brexit on October 31, but says the EU must not "lose its nerve". Preparations by Germany and the rest of the EU-27 to manage the impact of No Deal are "largely complete", and the European Commission is not planning any further emergency measures, it says. Mr Javid is the first senior minister from the Johnson government to hold face-to-face talks with his German counterpart Credit: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP The paper says it is "currently unforeseeable that Prime Minister Johnson will change his tough negotiating position" and predicts that he may use next weekend's G7 summit in Biarritz for a "big moment" to announce success or failure in negotiations. "Against this background, it is important from the EU perspective to stick to the previous line" of refusing to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, it says, adding that even if the EU were to agree to drop the Irish backstop, it is not clear that Mr Johnson would be able to win approval for a revised withdrawal agreement in parliament. The UK has made repeated attempts to split the EU side, and "the EU-27's unity in adhering to the negotiated exit agreement" has been "decisive", the paper says. Germany has already passed more than 50 laws and measures to deal with the impact of a No Deal Brexit, and the paper provides details of arrangements in the finance ministry's area of tax and banking. It cites a transitional agreement between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and BaFin, the German financial regulator on cross-border financial services, and says German customes authorities are prepared for the increased workload expected under No Deal.
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| Students caught in visa sting at fake university may sue U.S., court rules Posted: 15 Aug 2019 11:30 AM PDT ![Students caught in visa sting at fake university may sue U.S., court rules]( "Students caught in visa sting at fake university may sue U.S., court rules") A federal appeals court said foreign-born students may sue the U.S. government over claims it wrongfully canceled their visas, following a sting where it set up a fake university to entrap corrupt visa brokers. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia revived a proposed class action on behalf of more than 500 students who said they were deprived of due process when the government revoked their lawful immigration status after ensnaring them in the sting. Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Theodore McKee also faulted the government's "flip-flop" over whether the students, including many from China and India, who thought they had "enrolled" at the fictitious University of Northern New Jersey were innocent victims, or participants in the fraud.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Honda Civic hatchback Posted: 15 Aug 2019 08:09 AM PDT |
| Mexico does not want El Paso shooter executed Posted: 16 Aug 2019 01:24 PM PDT  President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that Mexico does not want the El Paso shooter who killed 22 people, including eight Mexicans, to be executed, and may seek to extradite him from the United States. The confessed shooter in the mass killing in the Texas border city, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, potentially faces the death penalty in the US. Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist, said that while Mexico condemns Crusius's "reprehensible, abominable" crimes, it does not want to see him put to death.
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| Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell pictured at burger bar in first public sighting since financier’s death Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:55 AM PDT  The "missing" former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein and the woman accused of recruiting young women for him – claims she has strongly denied – has been spotted eating at a fast food restaurant in Los Angeles.In the days since the death of the disgraced financier, accused of sex trafficking young girls, much attention has focused on the whereabouts of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late press baron Robert Maxwell, and Epstein's longtime confidante. Reports suggested she was living in France or elsewhere in Europe, or even in Massachusetts.The matter now seems to have been at least party cleared up after a tabloid newspaper published a picture of her taken in an unlikely location."Well, I guess this is the last time I'll be eating here," the 57-year-old is said to have remarked after being snapped at an In-N-Out restaurant in Los Angeles, according to the New York Post.The newspaper claimed Ms Maxwell was enjoying a burger, fries and a shake, while she sat reading The Book of Honour: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives, a 2000 nonfiction bestseller by journalist Ted Gup.While Ms Maxwell has never been charged with any crimes relating to Epstein's alleged actions in Florida and New York, this week one of his accusers filed a lawsuit against her, alleging she conspired with members of the disgraced financier's household staff "to make possible and otherwise facilitate the sexual abuse and rape" the alleged victim she said she endured in 2002 at the age of 15.Three years ago, she was sued for defamation by another of Epstein's alleged victims, Virginia Giuffre, for calling allegations against her "obvious lies". The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Ms Giuffre had said that she was groomed from the age of 15 by Ms Maxwell and forced to have sex with Epstein and several powerful men, all of whom have denied the allegations.The public sighting of Ms Maxwell comes as two women who said they were recruited 15 years ago to provide massages to Epstein, only to be later sexually molested by him at his Manhattan mansion, filed a $100m (£82.3m) lawsuit against the financier's estate. The lawsuit filed on Thursday night in Manhattan is at least the second against the estate over the 66-year-old's alleged misconduct, following his 10 August 10 death of an apparent suicide. Lawyers who represented Epstein did not immediately respond on Friday to requests for comment. The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, said they now live in Okinawa, Japan, and Baltimore. > Jeffrey Epstein's gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell spotted at In-N-Out Burger in first photos since his death https://t.co/ZeGqWbvFKx pic.twitter.com/cmJC07v5qm> > — New York Post (@nypost) > > August 15, 2019Prior to his death, Epstein had pleaded not guilty in July to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls from 2002 and 2005. Prosecutors said he recruited and paid girls to give him massages, which became sexual in nature. Attorney general William Barr said the government will continue its investigation into any possible co-conspirators.He has also ordered a probe into how Epstein was able to kill himself, while supposedly being under a routine of close monitoring at the New York jail where he was being held awaiting trial. There has been a flood of conspiracy theories about Epstein's death since he was found a day after fresh documents about the accusations against him were unsealed by a court. Among those to spread such theories has been Donald Trump, who was once a regular associate of Epstein, and who in 2002 told a magazine he was "a terrific guy". An autopsy of Epstein found that his neck had been broken in several places, two law enforcement sources said. Epstein had been alone in his cell when he was found hanging there. He had previously been on suicide watch.Additional reporting by Reuters
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| China police exercises across from Hong Kong seen as threat Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:26 AM PDT  Members of China's paramilitary People's Armed Police marched and practiced crowd control tactics at a sports complex in Shenzhen across from Hong Kong on Friday, in what some interpreted as a threat against pro-democracy protesters in the semiautonomous territory. A stadium security guard said "it wasn't clear" when the paramilitary police would leave the grounds.
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| She wanted a late-night hookup, but he fell asleep. So she burned his house down, police say Posted: 16 Aug 2019 01:05 PM PDT  Police accuse Taija Russell, 29, of sending a series of angry texts, then buying lighter fluid, matches and a lighter at a nearby gas station.
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| Florida man uses front-end loader to dump dirt on car his girlfriend drove, cops say Posted: 16 Aug 2019 01:54 PM PDT  Beware boyfriends in front-end loaders.
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| India Hints It May Be Reconsidering Its Doctrine on Nuclear Weapons Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:52 AM PDT ![India Hints It May Be Reconsidering Its Doctrine on Nuclear Weapons]( "India Hints It May Be Reconsidering Its Doctrine on Nuclear Weapons") (Bloomberg) -- India today hinted that it may be rethinking its doctrine of "No First Use" for nuclear weapons.Defense minister Rajnath Singh tweeted to say the South Asian nation remains "firmly committed" and "has strictly adhered to" the doctrine but "what happens in the future depends on the circumstances."India is engaged in ongoing tensions with nuclear rival Pakistan over its decision to revoke autonomy of Kashmir region, to which both countries stake a claim. Singh tweeted after visiting India's nuclear weapons testing site at Pokharan.The defense ministry spokesman A. Bharat Bhushan Babu didn't answer calls seeking comment.Since a series of nuclear tests in 1998, India declared a "no-first-use" policy under which it won't be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict with its neighbors, but will retaliate should deterrence fail. Unlike Pakistan, India's other neighbor and rival China also has a declared no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons."This is a clear statement that India's position has changed and that India may no longer feel bound by the doctrine of No First Use," said Akhil Bery, South Asia analyst at Eurasia Group. "While there have been evolutions in the past, this seems to indicate a strategic shift."(Updates with analyst comment in last paragraph.)\--With assistance from N. C. Bipindra.To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni KrishnanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| O'Rourke calls for mandatory gun buyback, licensing Posted: 16 Aug 2019 04:00 AM PDT ![O'Rourke calls for mandatory gun buyback, licensing]( "O'Rourke calls for mandatory gun buyback, licensing") If enacted, anyone who failed to forfeit a banned assault weapon would be fined, O'Rourke saide.
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| Exclusive: China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:25 AM PDT ![Exclusive: China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions]( "Exclusive: China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions") SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - While in the Indian Ocean heading toward the Strait of Malacca, the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Pacific Bravo went dark on June 5, shutting off the transponder that signals its position and direction to other ships, ship-tracking data showed. A VLCC typically transports about 2 million barrels of oil, worth about $120 million at current prices. On July 18, the transponder of the VLCC Latin Venture was activated offshore Port Dickson, Malaysia, in the Strait of Malacca, about 1,500 km (940 miles) from where the Pacific Bravo had last been signaling its position.
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| Kid Who Casually Found a Woolly Mammoth Tooth on His Vacation Would Like to Get it Back Posted: 15 Aug 2019 08:53 AM PDT  It's quite the souvenir.
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| Hezbollah shows 'missile arsenal' used against Israeli warship Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:37 AM PDT  Hezbollah released footage of what it says are anti-ship missiles of the kind it used 13 years ago against Israel before marking on Friday its self-declared "victory" in the 2006 war. Israel has fought several conflicts against the Iran-backed Hezbollah, the last in 2006. More than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, the majority soldiers, died during the last conflict but many in Israel consider the war a failure as Hezbollah was not defeated.
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| Jeffrey Epstein kept painting of Bill Clinton in drag at his house Posted: 15 Aug 2019 08:59 AM PDT  Jeffrey Epstein kept a bizarre painting of Bill Clinton on prominent display in his New York townhouse, it was reported on Thursday. Epstein's $77 million (£63.5m) home in the Upper East Side – the largest private home in the City, with 40 rooms over seven floors – was described by the young girls he allegedly abused as being full of surreal and intimidating art. Among the most unusual of works is an oil painting of Mr Clinton, dressed in a blue dress similar to the infamous one worn by Monica Lewinsky, and wearing red stilettos. Mr Clinton is shown lounging in a chair in the Oval Office, and leering at the camera. The painting was spotted by a visitor to the house in October 2012. Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan town house The art work, dubbed Parsing Bill, was painted and sold by a New York-based Australian artist named Petrina Ryan-Kleid. The two men were friends in the 2000s, with Mr Clinton taking four trips on Epstein's private jet as part of his work with the Clinton Foundation. These trips, accompanied once by actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker, sparked a surge of interest in the mysterious Gatsby-esque Epstein. "Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of 21st-century science," said Mr Clinton, through a spokesman, in 2002. "I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratisation, empowering the poor, citizen service and combating HIV/Aids." Mr Clinton also met the financier at his New York home, although he never visited Epstein's ranch in New Mexico, waterfront home in Florida or his private island in the Caribbean. Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump, pictured at Mar-a-Lago in 1997 The pair appeared to grow apart, however, and were not seen together in Epstein's later years, after he was charged by police in Florida in 2005 for prostitution of a minor. A spokesman for Mr Clinton said after Epstein's July 6 arrest that the former president was completely unaware of Epstein's "terrible crimes" and hasn't spoken to the ultrawealthy sex offender in "well over a decade". Some speculated that Epstein's decision to hang the ghoulish painting was in response to his being "dumped" by his former friend. Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photo taken for the NY Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry Epstein was known for his eyebrow-raising tastes in furnishings. A life-size female doll, hanging from a chandelier, greeted his guests as they arrived. At the bottom of the staircase is a chess board, with each of its customized figurines modelled after one of his staffers and "dressed suggestively," a visitor told The New York Times. The entrance hall as decorated with "row upon row of individually framed eyeballs, imported from England," Vanity Fair reported in 2003. The same article described how Epstein kept a stuffed black poodle in his study, placed on top of a grand piano. "I want people to think what it means to stuff a dog," Epstein told the magazine.
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| 6 Philadelphia police officers shot; suspect surrenders after hourslong standoff Posted: 15 Aug 2019 05:41 AM PDT  A gunman surrendered early Thursday morning following a standoff with Philadelphia police that lasted more than seven hours leaving six officers shot and three others injured.
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| View Photos of the 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Posted: 15 Aug 2019 02:20 PM PDT |
| 'We have to do something': Mayor calls for gun control after Philadelphia shooting; suspect identified Posted: 15 Aug 2019 10:14 AM PDT  A gunman is in custody after shooting six Philadelphia police officers in an hourslong standoff that ended early Thursday. Here's what we know now.
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| Shoppers panic as security officer fires at man with knife Posted: 16 Aug 2019 05:16 PM PDT  A man who robbed an armored car guard at a Southern California shopping plaza was captured Friday after the guard fired gunshots that sent panicked shoppers fleeing, police said. No one was injured but the exchange caused chaos and fears of a mass shooting at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The man wasn't hit and ran off with a bag of money but police swarmed the area and he was captured within an hour at a nearby parking structure a few blocks from the famous Santa Monica Pier.
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| ‘I’m worried’: Allies fear NRA has lost its power in Washington Posted: 16 Aug 2019 02:04 AM PDT  The NRA might not be able to fight the momentum for change after a pair of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.
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| Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:09 AM PDT ![Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone]( "Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone") Vietnam has demanded that China remove an oil survey vessel and its escorts from the Southeast Asian country's exclusive economic zone, amid a month-long standoff in waters seen as a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges Beijing's maritime claims. Reuters first reported on Tuesday that the Haiyang Dizhi 8, conducted by the China Geological Survey, had returned to the area escorted by at least two Chinese coast guard vessels. "Vietnam has made contact with China to protest its repeated violations and demanded that China withdraw the vessel group from Vietnamese waters," Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.
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| GPS monitoring violates some sex offenders’ rights, NC Supreme Court rules Posted: 16 Aug 2019 01:42 PM PDT  Sex offenders have rights, too, and in some cases the state has been violating those rights, the NC Supreme Court ruled on Friday.
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| Zimbabwe police beat protesters defying regime 'worse than Mugabe' Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:08 PM PDT  Riot police in Zimbabwe on Friday fired teargas and beat demonstrators who defied a protest ban, as the opposition accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government of surpassing Robert Mugabe's regime in brutality. Scores of people gathered in a square in the capital Harare to demonstrate against the country's worsening economy, despite massive police deployment and a ban upheld by a court the same morning. Police cornered one group of protesters and beat them with batons, an AFP reporter saw.
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| Fearful Argentines Pull Dollars From Banks After Election Shock Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:32 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Argentines have been withdrawing dollars from banks and keeping them at home since President Mauricio Macri's defeat in a key primary election sent the peso tumbling.Savers pulled more than $700 million from their dollar-denominated accounts on Monday and Tuesday alone, according to the most recent official data. That's equivalent to 2.3% of total dollar deposits in the financial system. It was also the largest two-day withdrawal in percentage terms in more than five years.Long used to currency crises, many Argentines are still traumatized by the so-called corralito -- economic measures to stop a 2001 bank run that effectively froze bank accounts and halted dollar withdrawals.Those dollars are considered part of the central bank's gross foreign reserves, and the withdrawals help explain why reserves dropped by $2.6 billion this week, to $63.7 billion.Argentine Central Bank Revamps Strategy to Defend PesoForeign reserves are also falling because policy makers are selling dollars to shore up the peso -- so far this week, $503 million were used in currency market interventions. Argentina on Friday is expected to use an additional $500 million from its reserves to pay maturing Treasury bills known as Letes.To contact the reporter on this story: Ignacio Olivera Doll in Buenos Aires at ioliveradoll@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Jaramillo at ajaramillo1@bloomberg.net, ;Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Walter BrandimarteFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A Wisconsin college student was arrested after tearing up a classmate's swastika sign Posted: 16 Aug 2019 11:52 AM PDT  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior Grae Hosmanek was participating in an event organized by Students Supporting Israel when she was arrested.
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