| Former Congressman Keith Ellison: Trump’s Attacks on Ilhan Omar Are ‘Violent Incitement’ Posted: 17 Apr 2019 03:17 PM PDT  Win McNameeFormer congressman Keith Ellison has a theory for why President Donald Trump is working to make Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) public enemy number one."She, simply by her existence, is a person who he doesn't believe belongs," Ellison said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast. "She's a Muslim, she's a woman, she wears a hijab, she's black, before she ever opens her mouth she's offensive to him."Omar has been a constant lightning rod for controversy since arriving in Washington, where her comments about the Israel lobby have drawn intense criticism from her Democratic and Republican colleagues alike. After conservatives seized on a snippet of a speech in which Omar appeared to downplay the September 11th attacks, the president took his criticism of her to a new level, tweeting to his millions of followers last weekend a video of the congresswoman's remarks, superimposed with images of the Twin Towers burning.Ellison, now the attorney general of Minnesota, has an idea of what the freshman lawmaker who holds his old seat is going through. He arrived in Congress in 2007 as the first Muslim to ever serve in that body, and faced suspicion and allegations of disloyalty from his colleagues from the moment he was sworn in on a copy of the Quran. Twelve years later, there are three Muslim members of Congress, and more Muslim-American officeholders around the country than ever.But the environment that Omar faces, said Ellison, is probably the most hostile one ever for a Muslim elected official – which is saying quite a bit, considering that Ellison faced death threats of his own and casual suggestions from his colleagues, like former Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Steve King, that he was aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood and failed to sufficiently renounce Sharia law.Since Trump tweeted the video of Omar, death threats on her have increased exponentially, her office has told media. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving to increase the congresswoman's security detail, as Trump insists he was right to go after the congresswoman and claims she has "a way about her" that is "very, very bad for our country."Asked if he worried for Omar's safety, Ellison sighed. "Sure I do. There's crazy people out there," he said. "We live in a very dangerous political environment and she's in the danger zone as much as anyone. I pray for her and I urge people to calm the rhetoric down."Ellison also urged Twitter to do more to censure Trump's video. "That is incitement, that's violent incitement," he said of the video. "There's no two ways about it.""Everyone knows what happened to Gabby Giffords," he went on, referencing the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head during a constituent event in 2011. "It makes it difficult for you to engage the public because you don't know where the hostility is coming from, and it is unnatural to be the target of that much unwarranted hatred. It's strange, it's weird. She's bearing a burden."Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the number two Republican in the House, Ellison noted, was also shot at a baseball practice in 2017. To congressional Republicans who have spent months going after Omar and forcing all Democrats to answer for her, Ellison also had some choice words. "It's wildly irresponsible," he said. "I don't know if they don't realize they're risking her safety or they just don't care… 'Just don't care' is a real option, because they have every reason to suspect their rhetoric could lead to some very negative, foreseeable consequence. They should know it."Ellison predicted things would get worse before they get better, and tied Trump's rhetoric on Omar to his 2020 reelection strategy. "I keep thinking there's gotta be a floor with him but there absolutely simply is no floor, there's no low depth he won't go to," he said. "It's clear to me he is trying to whip up nativism, tribalism, bigotry of all kinds, and turn the country against itself for his own benefit."He cautioned Omar against getting pulled into these spats, advising that she focus instead on why she came to D.C. in the first place.Omar, said Ellison, "should pivot back to those issues that made her want to be a member of Congress, and just stay on them. She wanted to do something about student debt, jobs and the economy, the environment… Get back to that, and don't let them pull you off. Use the heightened profile to raise the issues you're passionate about."Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Rod Rosenstein looked deadpan as William Barr spoke. And Twitter took note Posted: 18 Apr 2019 01:54 PM PDT  Rod Rosenstein stood with a deadpan expression as Attorney General William Barr briefed reporters on special counsel Robert Muller's report
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| Time-lapse shots of Notre-Dame spire may yield clues on blaze Posted: 18 Apr 2019 08:57 AM PDT  Europe Echafaudage was one of five companies contracted to restore Notre-Dame's 90-metre (295-foot) spire, which collapsed in the blaze, crashing through the cathedral's vaulted ceiling. Footage from the camera, which was placed on the northern belltower and is now in the hands of investigators, shows the first smoke coming out of the spire's base, Marc Eskenazi, a representative for Europe Echafaudage, told Reuters. At a reception for many of the 400 firefighters who extinguished Monday's blaze, President Emmanuel Macron said he had spoken to Pope Francis by phone and that the pontiff would visit France "at a time of his convenience".
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| Iran Rouhani says floods revealed 'vicious' nature of US Posted: 17 Apr 2019 06:50 AM PDT  Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that the United States' reaction to floods that killed dozens of people had revealed Washington's "vicious" nature. At least 76 people have died after torrential rainfall which has also caused billions of dollars worth of damage since March 19. Iran's Red Crescent has repeatedly complained that US banking sanctions re-imposed last year make it impossible to receive donations from outside the country.
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| A robot that kind of looks like Wall-E’s big brother helped save Notre Dame Posted: 18 Apr 2019 12:11 PM PDT  Notre Dame was reportedly only about 15 to 30 minutes away from a fire completely destroying the historic cathedral earlier this week when Paris firefighters decided to play their last hand. Commander Jean-Claude Gallet knew it was time to send their very best firefighter into the heart of the blaze in a last-ditch effort to save the building.Needless to say, a lot was riding on Colossus, an 1,100-pound tank of a robot that can spray more than 660 gallons of water a minute, as he rumbled toward the cathedral.Colossus, manufactured by a French company called Shark Robotics, took aim at the cathedral's stone walls. According to Gallet, it was the heroically named Colossus robot -- fighting the fire from the inside that tore through the structure as the world watched in horror -- that saved the day. And made it less critical for firefighters to enter the building and risk their own lives."Time was against us, the wind was against us and we had to get the upper hand," Gabriel Plus, a spokesman for the Paris fire brigade, told The Times of London. "The priority we set was to save the two belfries. Imagine if the timber of the belfries had been weakened and the bells had collapsed. That was really our fear. In the beginning, it was not impossible to imagine that the cathedral structure could collapse."The Colossus robot, according to Shark Robotics, is 2.5 feet wide and a little more than 5 feet long. It can be controlled via joystick from as far as 1,000 feet away, it can crawl up stairs and it can withstand not only water and fire but even thermal radiation, according to the company.Lithium ion batteries also allow it to last for as much as eight hours.According to the company, Colossus is deployed with the Paris Firefighter Brigade as well as a variety of other French regional services. Its presence allowed the Paris firefighters to act quickly when they'd previously been weighing a decision they didn't know how to answer -- should they direct the firefighters on hand toward saving the roof from fire? Or focus on keeping the flames from spreading throughout the structure?Complicating matters was the fact the wind was blowing, and a police drone flying above the cathedral didn't reveal much in the way of actionable information.Reliance on the Colossus robot during this incident, of course, has already sparked talk of relying on such machines even more in dangerous settings that involves fires or other elements. Companies and individuals from around the world have already started pledging funds to help rebuild the 855-year-old cathedral, but it's certainly worth highlighting the fact that it's able to rebuilt and saved at all thanks to a quick-acting, talented firefighter that also happens to be a robot.
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| Black churches destroyed by arson see huge spike in donations after Notre Dame fire Posted: 17 Apr 2019 12:02 AM PDT  The fire at Notre Dame cathedral on Monday prompted immediate pledges of millions of euros to help rebuild it.On Tuesday, it spurred donations to do the same for much smaller places of worship thousands of miles away that were recently destroyed by arson.A crowdfunding campaign for three fire-ravaged black churches in Louisiana received more than $940,000 (£720,000) after it was widely shared on social media on Tuesday.Many users noted that while hundreds of millions of euros had already been pledged to rebuild the famous cathedral, the small churches in Louisiana were still struggling."These communities need to know that people care about them and what they're going through," Jessica Piombo, a professor who lives in Monterey, California, wrote on the campaign's page."Every little bit counts."The campaign was posted on GoFundMe last Wednesday by the Seventh District Baptist Association, which includes 54 Baptist churches in southwest Louisiana, including the three that were burned.The association noted that donations would go to rebuilding and replacing what was destroyed, from pews to sound systems and musical instruments.A screen shot of the campaign's page from early on Tuesday morning showed that it had raised $92,939 (£71,000).That number shot upward as the day wore on, including many smaller donations.More than 15,000 people had donated as of 11pm Eastern Time, and a spokesman for GoFundMe said the campaign had received donations from all 50 states.Those who shared the campaign on Twitter included Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and first lady; journalist Yashar Ali; and Jake Tapper, the CNN anchor.The fires occurred on 26 March, 2 April and 4 April in St. Landry Parish, north of Lafayette.The first was at St. Mary Baptist in Port Barre; the two others were at Greater Union Baptist Church and Mount Pleasant Baptist in Opelousas, the St. Landry Parish seat.The churches had been the spiritual homes of generations of black families.The man accused of setting them, Holden Matthews, 21, is the son of a deputy sheriff and has been charged with arson and hate crimes."Let me say it like this: the only building that had any sign of any furniture remaining was Mount Pleasant," said Freddie Jack, president of the association and the pastor of St. John Baptist Church in Ville Platte, Louisiana."St. Mary and Greater Union, all you see is charcoal. It's a total, complete loss at all three sites."While the churches had insurance, the coverage is limited. Greater Union Baptist Church was also paying down a mortgage taken out for a recent renovation.To complicate matters further, the new churches will have to meet stricter building codes imposed after Hurricane Katrina, Mr Jack said.At first, he set a fundraising goal of $600,000 (£460,000), but on reflection he decided to triple that number to $1.8 million (£1.38 million), based on his own experience building his church more than a decade ago.Whatever money is raised will be split among the three destroyed churches, each of which has more than 100 regular members, according to Mr Jack, who met with the pastors of those churches on Monday night."They have a long road ahead of them," he said. "They're a long way from full recovery, but the generosity of the people seems to be speaking volumes."The New York Times
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| Boeing conducts final test flight of 737 MAX with software fix Posted: 17 Apr 2019 10:08 PM PDT  Boeing has conducted a final test flight of a 737 MAX model with an updated anti-stall system prior to its certification by aviation authorities, the aerospace manufacturer said Wednesday. CEO Dennis Muilenberg tweeted a video where he said the test flight was carried out on Tuesday, adding that test pilots have completed 120 flights totaling more than 203 hours of airtime with the software fix for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). Investigators have zeroed in on the system as a factor behind the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes in October and in March respectively, killing nearly 350 people in total.
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| Pilots Say American Airlines Plane Rolled on Its Own and Hit a Sign During Takeoff Posted: 18 Apr 2019 08:52 AM PDT  American Airlines pilots flying an Airbus A321 say it banked on its own during takeoff, causing a strike to the plane's left wing. The incident is now under investigation.
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| These Are the Health Companies at Risk in the ‘Medicare for All’ Debate Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:52 AM PDT  Health insurers and now hospitals have led the sector-wide plunge even as policy analyst like Veda's Spencer Perlman argue that Medicare for All has a slim shot at becoming law. "There may be more pain to come but the worst of it may be behind us (let's hope)," Evercore ISI equity analyst Ross Muken told clients in a note.
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| 'What's with @FoxNews?': Trump fumes after Bernie Sanders town hall Posted: 17 Apr 2019 06:11 AM PDT  Bernie Sanders drew big ratings and rave reviews for his Fox News town hall on Monday night. And President Trump isn't happy about it.
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| Lori Loughlin’s Daughter Reportedly Under Criminal Investigation in College Cheating Scandal Posted: 18 Apr 2019 02:11 AM PDT  Frazer Harrison/GettyJust days after Lori Loughlin pleaded not guilty in the college admissions bribery scam, media reports suggest one of her daughters could be next to face a criminal probe.Loughlin and her designer husband Mossimo Giannulli are each accused of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering after allegedly paying $500,000 for each of their daughters to be USC rowing recruits despite neither being active in the sport. Each count carries a maximum 20-year prison term.Their eldest daughter, Isabella Giannulli, 20, deleted her popular Instagram account late Wednesday just as reports surfaced that she received a formal letter from prosecutors that could lead to potential charges.The Daily Mail reports that Loughlin's daughter received a letter of intent from federal prosecutors in Massachusetts in early April as part of the ongoing Operation Varsity Blues investigation. Last week, the Wall Street Journal also reported that several students had received 'target letters' from federal investigators in cases where the student may have been complicit. Several students whose parents are accused of buying or bribing officials to ensure their children's college admission have been suspended, but so far none have been criminally charged. The Daily Mail, quoting an unnamed source, reported that Loughlin's daughter had received a letter. "It is a not-so-veiled threat. [The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts] is making it pretty clear that they have evidence that very strongly suggests she knew of the illegal plot."Loughlin's younger daughter Olivia Jade, 19, who is also implicated in the ordeal, still has her very popular Instagram account up though she has not posted anything since Feb. 28. This week the famous couple rejected a plea bargain that would have potentially kept them from serving jail time in exchange for a guilty plea. An associate of Loughlin told CNN that she felt she had to plead not guilty. "Lori doesn't understand why she's getting so much criticism for pleading not guilty," the friend told CNN. "People must not realize that she had no choice. The plea deal has been taken off the table, and this is the only way they've been told she and Mossimo can avoid jail time and get another plea. They are hoping justice will prevail."Felicity Huffman, who is one of 13 parents accused in the scandal, did enter a guilty plea this week along with several other parents embroiled in the scandal. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
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| McDonald's pulls Signature Crafted burgers, doubles down on Quarter Pounders Posted: 18 Apr 2019 07:36 AM PDT ![McDonald's pulls Signature Crafted burgers, doubles down on Quarter Pounders]( "McDonald's pulls Signature Crafted burgers, doubles down on Quarter Pounders") McDonald's Corp said it would remove costlier, premium burgers from its menus in favor of its more popular Quarter Pounders, shifting its focus to simpler and quickly-served burgers. The company said its new deluxe and bacon Quarter Pounders received good feedback and it would continue to focus on such items. "It (the removal) probably has more to do about the process of cooking the burger in McDonald's than it does what the consumer is saying about the food," said Howard Penney, a managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: I invited Barr to the Bronx to talk climate change. He said no. Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:49 AM PDT  Ocasio-Cortez continued to tease a Kentucky Republican lawmaker for backpedaling on his invitation for her to visit the Bluegrass State.
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| Amazon to pull plug on China retail operations: report Posted: 18 Apr 2019 12:15 AM PDT  Amazon plans to close down its online retail operations that cater to consumers in China in an apparent admission of defeat to local e-commerce rivals such as Alibaba and JD.com, a report said on Thursday. The US e-commerce pioneer will maintain other operations in China such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kindle e-books and cross-border teams that help ship goods from Chinese merchants to customers abroad, Bloomberg News said, citing unidentified people familiar with the plans. An Amazon spokesperson did not explicitly confirm plans to throw in the towel on domestic e-commerce, but said the company was looking to focus more on cross-border sales.
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| Madeira bus crash: 29 people dead after tourist coach overturns on Portuguese island Posted: 17 Apr 2019 04:31 PM PDT  A tour bus carrying German tourists crashed on Portugal's Madeira Island on Wednesday, killing 29 people and injuring 27 others, local authorities said. The bus carrying 55 people rolled down a steep hillside after veering off the road on a bend east of the capital, Funchal, and struck at least one house, local mayor Filipe Sousa told cable news channel SIC. "I have no words to describe what happened. I cannot face the suffering of these people," he said. Pedro Calado, vice president of Madeira's regional government, told a news conference that the injured, including the Portuguese driver and a local tour guide, were taken to a local hospital. He did not say whether anyone not on the bus was among the victims. He declined to provide a breakdown of the victims' nationalities, but Mr Sousa said the bus was carrying a group of German tourists. Emergency services inspect the scene of a tourist bus crash in Canico, Santa Cruz, Madeira Island, Portugal, 17 April 2019 Credit: HOMEM GOUVEIA/REX Those injured were taken to a hospital in Funchal, the capital city of Madeira. Three of the injured underwent surgery, 23 were under observation and two were discharged. There were no children among the victims, the hospital said. A regional civil protection official said the tourists involved in the accident were aged between 40 and 50 years old. Germany's Bild daily also reported that many of the tourists were retirees, and those killed included 18 women and 11 men. The deadly accident took place at 6.30 pm near a botanical garden in the hotel district in Canixo, a quiet coastal community in the south-east of Madeira known as Canixo de Baixo. At least 14 ambulances were said to be at the scene, next to Quinta Splendida Wellness & Botanical Garden. Residents said the weather was fine at the time of the accident, which happened in daylight in the early evening. Authorities said they were investigating the possible cause. A man receives medical assistance after the crash Credit: AFP A receptionist at Quinta Splendida Wellness & Botanical Garden, which is a hotel set in a large expense of landscaped botanical gardens, confirmed the incident had happened very near the hotel but said it did not involve any hotel guests. Local television showed distressing images of bodies scattered over the rural hillside next to the Atlantic Ocean, while the walking wounded were seen being helped away from the scene by emergency responders. Several survivors were sat by the side of the road. Madeira is a popular vacation destination for Europeans. A video grab obtained from drone footage shows the wreckage of a tourist bus that crashed in Canico, on the Portuguese island of Madeira Credit: AFP Portuguese president Marcelo Sousa is heading to Madeira on a Portuguese Air Force plane. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a tweet that he had sent condolences to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I learned of this tragic accident in Madeira with deep sorrow," he said. Mrs Merkel's spokesman said "terrible news is reaching us from Madeira." Steffen Seibert said on Twitter that "we are in deepest sorrow over all those who lost their lives in the bus crash." He added: "Our thoughts are with the injured." Germany's foreign ministry said its embassy in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, was in contact with local authorities in Madeira. Mr Seibert said the government had set up a telephone hotline for people worried about family members. Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.
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| Samsung's Ambitious Galaxy Fold Smartphone Is Already Breaking, Reviewers Say Posted: 17 Apr 2019 12:22 PM PDT  Several tech reviewers are having problems with the ambitious foldable phone
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| Donations for gutted Brazil museum a fraction of Notre-Dame's Posted: 17 Apr 2019 10:20 PM PDT  As donations for the restoration of the Notre-Dame cathedral top $900,000, the director of Brazil's devastated National Museum can only hope for such deep pockets in his own country. Nearly eight months after a faulty air conditioning system sparked a fire that gutted Latin America's main natural history museum and destroyed most of its collection, just $280,000 or so has been raised for its reconstruction. "We are very happy for the extremely positive reaction of French society and we hope that following this example Brazilian businesses and millionaires will start to send us their donations," Alexander Kellner, director of the Rio de Janeiro-based museum, told AFP.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS Posted: 17 Apr 2019 07:40 AM PDT |
| Trump Directed White House Counsel to Tell Acting AG, ‘Mueller Has to Go’ Posted: 18 Apr 2019 12:21 PM PDT  President Trump tried unsuccessfully to have the Justice Department fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to the redacted version of Mueller's final report released Thursday.White House Counsel Don McGahn told Mueller's investigators that in June 2017, a month to the day after Mueller was appointed, Trump called McGahn and directed him to tell the acting attorney general "Mueller has to go," according to the report.McGahn refused the president's request, later telling White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter that he had planned to resign rather than follow through on the directive. However, he said he had not told Trump specifically that he planned to quit.Seven months later, in January 2018, Trump's efforts to have McGahn initiate the process of terminating Mueller were splashed across the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post, frustrating the president, who called McGahn into the Oval Office for a private meeting."Fake news, folks. Fake news. A typical New York Times fake story," Trump said at the time.Trump made "repeated attempts to get McGahn to change his story," and asked him to put out a statement and later a letter refuting the news stories, both requests McGahn refused, objecting that the media reports were correct, the Mueller report says. McGahn also "shrugged off" the idea Trump might fire him, saying "the optics would be terrible if the President followed through with firing him on that basis."Porter told the special counsel that he recalled Trump saying of McGahn, "If he doesn't write a letter, then maybe I'll have to get rid of him." Porter added that Trump referred to McGahn as a "lying bastard" who had leaked to the press to boost his own reputation.Trump also complained about McGahn's interview with Mueller's team and asked him why he had told the investigators about being directed to have the special counsel removed. He criticized McGahn's note-taking habit as well, telling him, "Lawyers don't take notes."McGahn later told the special counsel that Trump said to him, "I never said to fire Mueller. I never said 'fire. ' This story doesn't look good. You need to correct this. You're the White House counsel."The president argued during the Oval Office meeting that he had meant for McGahn to raise the issue of Mueller's conflicts of interest with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and leave the decision to Rosenstein, but McGahn responded that that was not how he had understood Trump's directive."The President's personal counsel called McGahn's counsel and relayed that the president was 'fine' with McGahn" after the meeting, the report said."Substantial evidence indicates that in repeatedly urging McGahn to dispute that he was ordered to have the Special Counsel terminated, the President acted for the purpose of influencing McGahn's account in order to deflect or prevent further scrutiny of the President's conduct towards the investigation," the report concluded.
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| The Latest: FBI says armed woman 'infatuated' with Columbine Posted: 16 Apr 2019 09:38 PM PDT  LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — The Latest on lockdowns at Columbine High School and other Denver-area schools (all times local):
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| North Korea calls for 'immature' Mike Pompeo to be dropped from nuclear talks with US Posted: 18 Apr 2019 02:49 AM PDT  North Korea has called for US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to be removed from nuclear talks because of his reckless and immature behaviour, according to reports.The official KCNA news agency quoted Kwon Jong Gun, a senior foreign ministry official, as accusing Mr Pompeo of "fabricating stories like a fiction writer.""Whenever Pompeo pokes his nose in, the talks go wrong without any results even from the point close to success," Mr Kwon said."I am afraid that, if Pompeo engages in the talks again, the table will be lousy once again and the talks will become entangled."Therefore, even in the case of possible resumption of the dialogue with the US, I wish our dialogue counterpart would be not Pompeo but other person who is more careful and mature in communicating with us."The statement was made shortly after North Korea announced that its supreme leader Kim Jong-un had overseen the testing of a new tactical guided weapon.It was the North's first weapon's test since negotiations over nuclear disarmament and US sanctions broke down at the second summit between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump in February.Last week the North Korean leader announced that he would only consider a third summit if the US brought the "right attitude" to talks and changed its "hostile" policy, including tough sanctions, before the end of the year.On Monday, Mr Pompeo responded by saying that Mr Kim had promised to denuclearise during his first summit with Mr Trump and that officials were trying to "chart a path forward so we can get there." The North Korean statement by Mr Kwon accused Mr Pompeo of "talking nonsense"."We cannot be aware of Pompeo's ulterior motive behind his self-indulgence in reckless remarks; whether he is indeed unable to understand words properly or just pretending on purpose," said Mr Kwon."However, it is a very dangerous situation if he really did not grasp the meaning. If his behaviour is intended, I think it is none other than silly calculation to be free from the constraint that the US should make a move until the end of the year, misrepresenting the meaning of our requirement as the finalization of the working level negotiation by the end of the year by help of his talented skill of fabricating stories like a fiction writer."Mr Pompeo was also accused of "spouting reckless remarks hurting the dignity of our supreme leadership" – believed to be a reference to the secretary of state's agreement that Mr Kim was a "tyrant".Additional reporting by agencies
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| 28 killed on Portuguese island of Madeira as tourist bus plunges off embankment and hits a house Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:19 AM PDT  A bus carrying German tourists plunged off an embankment on the Portuguese island of Madeira, leaving 28 dead.
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| South Sudan offers to mediate political transition in Sudan Posted: 17 Apr 2019 09:53 AM PDT ![South Sudan offers to mediate political transition in Sudan]( "South Sudan offers to mediate political transition in Sudan") "The president has offered to mediate the ongoing negotiations among various groups in Sudan with the hope that the new transition will usher in a new day in Sudan...," a statement by Kiir's office said. South Sudan's petroleum minister told Reuters he had traveled to Khartoum to meet the new leadership, alongside a high-level delegation that included Juba's security service chief and a presidential adviser on security. Sudan's south won statehood after almost half a century of civil war, marked by the mass abduction and enslavement of children, scorched earth tactics, ethnic cleansing and famines.
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| NTSB investigating American Airlines JFK flight that 'struck an object' at takeoff Posted: 17 Apr 2019 01:20 PM PDT  The plane reportedly tipped in strong wind, and a wingtip hit a runway marker during takeoff.
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| The Best Portable Hammocks You Can Take Anywhere Posted: 17 Apr 2019 09:11 AM PDT |
| Rich vs poor: Donations row shatters French unity over Notre-Dame Posted: 18 Apr 2019 04:41 AM PDT  France's culture minister pleaded Thursday for an end to the controversy over the 850 million euros (950 million dollars) pledged to restore Notre-Dame cathedral, which critics have suggested would be better spent on the poor. Some of France's biggest companies and billionaires, including luxury goods tycoons Francois-Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault, have pledged amounts of 100 million euros or more to rebuild the landmark after it was gutted by fire on Monday evening. The vast sums have drawn fire in a country where wealth inequality and the plight of the low-income households have been highlighted during five months of demonstrations by "yellow vest" protesters.
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| Exclusive: Dispute flares among U.S. officials over Trump administration Iran arms control report - sources Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:39 AM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump is intensifying a drive to contain Iran's power in the Middle East, which has raised fears that his administration wants to topple the Tehran government or lay the groundwork to justify military action. The administration says it is trying to halt Iranian "malign behavior" in its support for Islamist militants in the region and denies seeking the overthrow of the Islamic republic's government. The clash among U.S. officials emerged on Tuesday when the State Department posted on its website, and then removed, an unclassified version of an annual report to Congress assessing compliance with arms control agreements that the sources saw as skewed against Iran.
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| Woman accused of making threats against Columbine high school found dead Posted: 17 Apr 2019 11:20 AM PDT  Sol Pais, 18, who was described as armed and 'infatuated' with the Colorado school shooting, apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot woundA police vehicle sits outside a high school as some Denver area schools closed during the police search for an armed woman in Littleton, Colorado. Photograph: Rick Wilking/ReutersThe young woman being hunted in Colorado after making threats against Columbine high school just days before the 20th anniversary of the mass shooting there was found dead by police on Thursday, apparently as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, law enforcement officials said.Sol Pais, 18, who authorities said had traveled to the Denver area on Monday from her home in Florida, had been declared armed and dangerous on Tuesday after purchasing a pump-action shotgun and ammunition. She was hunted down in a forested campground in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, west of Denver, late morning on Wednesday.At first the FBI put out a statement on Twitter declaring she was "no longer a threat to the community". Then law enforcement later confirmed that she was dead.> UPDATE: THERE IS NO LONGER A THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY. More information to follow shortly. FindSol> > — FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) April 17, 2019Pais was said to be obsessed with the 1999 school shooting of students and teachers at the high school in Littleton, near Denver, which killed 13. The two students who perpetrated the massacre died, in addition to their victims.Schools in and around Denver were closed on Wednesday after she made unspecified threats.The anniversary of the Columbine high school shooting is on Saturday. The tragedy ushered in the modern era of repeated US school shootings.Just a few minutes before its tweet that Pais was no longer a threat, the FBI had said that it was searching in the area of Mount Evans, west of Denver, and images on television showed investigators in snowy forest, aided by a snowcat vehicle with caterpillar tracks.> We can confirm there is investigative activity around the base of Mt. Evans. The investigation is active and ongoing. More information will follow soon. FindSol> > — FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) April 17, 2019The Jefferson county sheriff, Jeff Shrader, held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, during which he said it had appeared that Pais had killed herself.She was found dead as police closed in, but Shrader said: "I don't believe they were in active pursuit at the time she died."He said he believed Pais had purchased the weapon legally after arriving in Colorado from Florida, where she lived near Miami, and from where she was reported missing on Monday by her parents.Police were searching her home in Surfside, Florida, on Wednesday, and schools in the Denver area were put into lockdown on Tuesday and then closed on Wednesday while she was still at large in the area, following unspecified threats.Shrader said Pais's body was found "not far from Columbine". The school is in Littleton, near Denver, and the woman was in densely wooded snowy hillside terrain, at a campground in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the Arapahoe national forest.She was said to have had a fascination with the Columbine school shooting and its perpetrators."Looking at school shooters there are some real indicators, the fact that she purchased a plane ticket and made this pilgrimage here. There is no evidence that she was [seen] on the Columbine property, but the fact of her history and the fact that she bought a firearm indicate that she was a threat," said John McDonald, executive director of the Jefferson county department of school safety.The sheriff said it was not clear what, if anything, Pais would have been charged with if she had been captured."She would have been subject to being taken into custody for a mental health check, 72 hours holding and treatment, to assess the threat," Shrader said.Frank DeAngelis, the former principal of Columbine high school who was in charge on the day of the massacre in 1999 and has been there ever since, said that when the alarm was sounded about the threat on Tuesday, the school employed its lockdown system "like clockwork"."The kids knew exactly what to do. There was help there. It was much more reassuring than it was 20 years ago," he said on Wednesday.
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| Israel's president formally nominates Netanyahu as PM Posted: 17 Apr 2019 08:33 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's president on Wednesday formally nominated Benjamin Netanyahu for a fourth consecutive term as prime minister, officially launching a process that is expected to result in a new government dominated by religious and nationalist parties in the coming weeks.
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| The Royal Navy Wants Robotic Submarines (Here's Why That Matters) Posted: 17 Apr 2019 07:13 AM PDT  The U.K. Ministry of Defense in April 2019 launched a $3.3-million competition to begin developing a large, robotic submarine.The contest could lead to the acquisition of an operational autonomous sub for the Royal Navy -- and could help the British fleet partially to fill the undersea gap resulting from deep cuts to its sub force.The ministry asked industry by June 2019 to submit proposals for an extra-large unmanned underwater vehicle, or XLUUV."The Royal Navy says that contract will have two stages, a one-year long research, design and refit stage and a testing and trialing stage," U.K. Defense Journal explained. "In the latter stage it is expected that the system will be tested in representative environments for extended periods; the sea trials in stage two may be up to two years long."The government's request for proposals sketched three different operational scenarios for the possible, future robo-sub.In the covert intelligence-gathering role, the XLUUV "is tasked to gather covert intelligence of traffic transiting in a maritime operational area," according to the RFP.
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| Pete Buttigieg: Outrage over anti-gay protestors dressed as 2020 candidate 'whipping Jesus on a cross' Posted: 17 Apr 2019 09:55 AM PDT  Pete Buttigieg has been confronted by anti-gay hecklers along the campaign trail this week, with demonstrations taking a bizarre turn at an Iowa rally. A notorious anti-abortion activist dressed as the Indiana mayor began whipping a man wearing a costume of Jesus Christ near a Marshalltown campaign stop Wednesday morning, a day after that same protestor attempted to interrupt another event held by Mr Buttigieg.That man, Randall Terry, can be seen in a video captured by freelance Getty Images video producer Marcus DiPaola donning a "Mayor Pete" sign around his neck as he whips the other demonstrator, who is holding a cross on his back. A third protestor dressed as the devil can be heard shouting on a loudspeaker, "Yes, more blood, Peter!" and "Every vote is a lash on the back of Christ." Mr Buttigieg has remained notably calm throughout each of the heckling attempts, receiving attention for his thoughtful responses to the issue of his sexuality and how it plays into voters opinions of him. His audiences have also typically kicked in with support, drowning out the noise with chants and cheers.When Mr Terry began shouting at the mayor's Des Moines rally Tuesday night, Mr Buttigieg responded, "The good news is, the condition of my soul is in the hands of God.""But the Iowa caucuses are up to you," he added, pointing to the crowd. The mayor also harkened back to his own religious views during a separate heckling event at another Tuesday rally.As a heckler shouted claims about Mr Buttigieg supporting "the murder of unborn babies," the 2020 candidate joked that "coffee after church gets a little rowdy sometimes." "That gentleman believes that what he is doing is in line with the will of the creator," Mr Buttigieg said, as the man was escorted out of the room by security. "I view it differently. We ought to be able to view it differently."Mr Terry is a controversial figure, described as an "attention seeker" who travels cross country to participate in spectacles like the Wednesday morning demonstration. The anti-abortion group he previously founded, called Operation Rescue, reportedly cut all ties with him nearly 18 years ago and considers him too radical to have any sort of relationship.
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| National Mustang Day at New York Auto Show marks 55 years of Ford's icon Posted: 17 Apr 2019 06:30 AM PDT  The Mustang car takes a bow at the New York Auto Show and around the country. April 17 is its big day.
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| 2020 Hyundai Venue Preview Posted: 18 Apr 2019 05:42 AM PDT   2020 Hyundai Venue Crossover Packs Versatility and Tech Into Tiny Package It's fitting that Hyundai took the wraps off the tiny Venue SUV at the New York International Auto Show, because it's sm...
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| Historic US church tests sprinklers in wake of Notre Dame Posted: 17 Apr 2019 03:00 PM PDT  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A sprinkler system check at a church that was frequented by George Washington and Benjamin Franklin drew a crowd Wednesday, with dozens of people watching as sheets of water poured from the 196-foot (60-meter) steeple.
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| Sporadic violence as millions vote in second phase of India's mammoth election Posted: 18 Apr 2019 08:24 AM PDT  The Election Commission said 66 percent of more than 155 million eligible Indians had voted, as per provisional data, in 95 constituencies in 12 states. Results of the election to India's 545-member parliament are expected on May 23. In focus are the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where the main opposition Congress party and its allies need to win big if they hope to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from securing a second straight term.
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| White supremacist gets life for running down black man Posted: 17 Apr 2019 01:07 PM PDT  A white supremacist who ran down and killed a young black man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 28 years.
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| Iran's Rouhani calls on Mideast states to 'drive back Zionism' Posted: 18 Apr 2019 02:09 AM PDT  Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called on Middle East states on Thursday to "drive back Zionism", in an Army Day tirade against the Islamic republic's archfoe Israel. Speaking flanked by top generals before troops began their annual march-past, Rouhani also sought to reassure the region that the weaponry on display was for defensive purposes and not a threat.
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| Trump's lapdog: Today's Toon Posted: 18 Apr 2019 03:52 PM PDT  Want to keep up with USA TODAY's editorial cartoons? Bookmark this page. We'll update it frequently.
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| Opioid crisis: US doctors accused of trading prescriptions for sex and cash in major scandal Posted: 18 Apr 2019 05:25 AM PDT  Scores of medical professionals across seven states were charged by federal prosecutors on Wednesday with schemes to illegally distribute millions of pain pills — in some cases exchanging opioid prescriptions for sex, in others for cash with an added "concierge fee", and in one case routinely prescribing opioids to friends on Facebook.Officials called the case the "single largest prescription opioid law enforcement operation in history".The indictments, unsealed in federal court in Cincinnati on Wednesday, accuse 60 people, including 31 doctors, seven pharmacists and eight nurses of involvement in the schemes, which included opioid prescriptions issued for gratuitous medical procedures like unnecessary tooth-pulling.In some cases doctors simply handed out signed blank prescription forms."These cases involve approximately 350,000 opioid prescriptions and more than 32 million pills — the equivalent of a dose of opioids for every man, woman and child across the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia combined," Brian Benczkowski, an assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's criminal division, said at a news conference.Most of the charges were filed against people in those five states; one person was charged in Pennsylvania and one in Louisiana.Nationally, more than 70,000 deaths in 2017 were attributed to drug overdoses, with about one-quarter of them caused by prescription opioids.States wholly or partly in Appalachia recorded some of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths that year: West Virginia was first in the nation, Ohio second and Kentucky fifth."The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history, and Appalachia has suffered the consequences more than perhaps any other region," Attorney General William Barr said in a statement.Prosecutors accused the medical professionals who were charged on Wednesday of conducting a wide range of schemes.Some involved small leagues of doctors and their office staffs, while in other cases, people acted alone, according to the indictments.Some doctors performed unneeded medical procedures to justify the pills they prescribed, prosecutors said, while others simply passed out prescriptions without going to the trouble of disguising their purpose.One of the doctors facing charges in Ohio had at one time prescribed more controlled substances than anyone else in the state, prosecutors said.A pharmacy in Dayton, Ohio, was accused of dispensing more than 1.75 million pills.And a doctor in Tennessee who called himself the "Rock Doc" was accused of prescribing hundreds of thousands of pills in exchange for sex.A doctor in Alabama, federal prosecutors said, "allegedly recruited prostitutes and other young women with whom he had sexual relationships" to become his patients, and allowed them to use illicit drugs at his home.In some cases, the quantity of drugs prescribed to the same patients at short intervals indicated that they could have been taking as many as 15 pills a day, prosecutors said.The charges announced Wednesday include unlawful distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud.Prosecutors said that the charges could result in sentences of up to 50 years in prison.The indictments stem from four months of investigative work by the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Task Force, a group of prosecutors, federal agents and data analysts that was created in December 2018 to find patterns suggesting that doctors were prescribing inordinately high numbers of pain pills, and then follow up with traditional law enforcement techniques, including the use of informants and undercover investigators.Cases like this have been prosecuted before, including a Justice Department operation in June that resulted in charges against 162 defendants, including 76 doctors, for fraudulently prescribing and distributing opioids.Those cases were handled within the larger health fraud unit at the Justice Department.The Appalachian task force is different, Benczkowski said, because it is exclusively concerned with corrupt medical professionals, and is "doing it in a region of the country that is probably the hardest hit."The New York Times
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| View Refreshed 2020 Audi R8 Photos Posted: 17 Apr 2019 03:38 PM PDT |
| New York Auto Show: Here's what Lincoln's new Corsair SUV offers luxury drivers Posted: 17 Apr 2019 08:28 AM PDT  Debuting at the New York auto show, the 2020 Lincoln Corsair compact SUV is aimed at young and female buyers.
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| As police wait to arrest him, ex-Peru president kills self Posted: 17 Apr 2019 08:56 PM PDT  LIMA, Peru (AP) — Former President Alan Garcia mortally wounded himself with a gunshot to his head Wednesday as officers waited to arrest him in a big graft probe that has put Peru's most prominent politicians behind bars and provoked a reckoning over corruption.
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| Qualcomm settlement with Apple paves way for Huawei dispute -analysts Posted: 17 Apr 2019 04:55 AM PDT ![Qualcomm settlement with Apple paves way for Huawei dispute -analysts]( "Qualcomm settlement with Apple paves way for Huawei dispute -analysts") Qualcomm Inc's surprise settlement of a prolonged legal fight with Apple Inc paves the way for the chipmaker to resolve a similar dispute with China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, ahead of the launch of 5G phones, several analysts said. Shares of Qualcomm, which closed up 23 percent on Tuesday, rose another 10 percent in premarket trade on Wednesday after it signed a six-year patent license deal with Apple. If Wednesday's gains hold, Qualcomm would tack on more than $20 billion in market value since announcing the settlement.
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| Here's Everything That's Open and What's Closed on Easter 2019 Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:05 AM PDT  Wondering where to get eggs on Easter Sunday 2019? Don't worry, we know!
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| Paloma Contreras Launches Linen, Lighting, and Decor Collection with Williams Sonoma Home Posted: 17 Apr 2019 07:39 AM PDT  The interior designer brings her classic yet contemporary touch to her first product collaboration, a 19-piece series with the retailer
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| Opposition candidate the official winner in tight Istanbul vote Posted: 17 Apr 2019 10:30 AM PDT  Turkish election authorities on Wednesday confirmed opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's win over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP candidate after a recount of last month's disputed Istanbul election. Thousands of cheering supporters greeted Imamoglu outside the Istanbul town hall after he received his mandate certificate, though electoral authorities must still rule on an AKP appeal for a rerun over alleged irregularities in its narrow Istanbul defeat. "This is a new dawn for Istanbul," Imamoglu told the chanting crowds from the roof of a campaign bus.
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| GoFundMe campaign raises more than $700,000 for boy thrown off mall balcony Posted: 17 Apr 2019 08:41 AM PDT  A GoFundMe campaign for a 5-year-old boy who was tossed over a third-floorbalcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota has raised over $700,000
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