| Barr’s Review of FBI ‘Spying’ on Trump Campaign Has Wide Reach Posted: 03 May 2019 01:00 AM PDT  In a contentious hearing this week on Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, Democrats accused Barr of sounding like President Donald Trump's personal lawyer. Barr told the Senate Judiciary panel that he has assembled a team to determine whether there was any improper "spying" on the Trump campaign in 2016, including whether intelligence collection began earlier than previously known and how many confidential informants the FBI used.
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| Boeing 737 slides off runway into Florida river, 21 hurt Posted: 03 May 2019 10:52 PM PDT  The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said on Twitter that all 21 of the injured were taken to a hospital, where they were listed in good condition. The plane, a chartered Boeing 737-800 arriving from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba with 136 passengers and seven crew members, crashed into the St. Johns river at the end of the runway at Naval Air Station Jacksonville at about 9:40 p.m. local time, a spokesman for the Florida air base said. Every person is alive and accounted for," the sheriff's office said on Twitter.
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| For Jews, America was once exceptional. Now, anti-Semitism is as strong here as in Europe. Posted: 03 May 2019 02:00 AM PDT  I was used to being harassed, abused and put in danger when I prayed in synagogues abroad. Never did I think America would become just as dangerous.
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| Couple Says American Airlines Employee Called Police Officer `A Killer` Posted: 03 May 2019 11:01 AM PDT  American Airlines is in the spotlight because of an incident that was partly caught on video a couple of weeks ago. It happened when a New Jersey family's flight got redirected to Memphis International Airport.
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| Ilhan Omar: Democratic congresswoman fires back at Mike Pence in row over Venezuela Posted: 04 May 2019 07:48 AM PDT  Ilhan Omar has hit back after US Vice President Mike Pence said she "does not know what she is talking about" in regards to ongoing political unrest in Venezuela.Ms Omar, one of the first Muslim women to serve in the US congress, argued that America was partly to blame for the conflict in Venezuela.Mr Pence's criticism of her views was something "women of colour have heard" before, she said."Instead of 'we disagree,' it's 'she doesn't know what she's talking about'. They have to make us feel small," the Minnesota Democrat tweeted. "This from an administration that thinks climate change is a Chinese hoax".Ms Omar apportioned blame on American foreign policy for the political turmoil in Venezuela – arguing the US promotes regime change that is harmful to both America and the people in the countries targeted."A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela, and we've sort of set the stage for where we're arriving today," Ms Omar said."This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela, and it certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States."Ms Omar made the remarks during an appearance on the radio programme Democracy Now! where she discussed US interventions in Central America broadly and the long term impacts of US sanctions.Sanctions have been a key US foreign policy tool for several decades now, and the Trump administration can be noted for its heavy use of the measure.Asked why he criticised Ms Omar on social media, Mr Pence told Fox News anchor Sandra Smith it was "because the congresswoman doesn't know what she's talking about.""Nicolas Maduro is a socialist dictator who has taken what was once one of the most prosperous nations in this hemisphere and brought it literally to a level of deprivation and oppression and poverty that we have never seen," Mr Pence said of the embattled Venezuelan president. "That is not a result of US policies."Ms Omar's remarks come as protests continue in Venezuela, where National Assembly and opposition leader Juan Guaido unsuccessfully tried to initiate a military uprising against Mr Maduro earlier this week. The Trump administration announced support for Mr Guaido in January, recognising him as the country's interim president over Mr Maduro and looking for ways to support him economically.In March, the US administration implemented new sanctions on Venezuela in order to force Mr Maduro to relinquish his power to Mr Gauido.Mr Guaido's efforts and those sanctions culminated this week in mass protests in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, where violence erupted as Mr Guaido and Mr Maduro battled for power. Economic conditions in Venezuela have deteriorated since Mr Maduro – who has repeatedly blamed attempts to overthrow him on the US - took power in 2013. The oil-rich country is plagued with economic and political turmoil – with hyperinflation leaving the currency practically worthless and causing the cost of essentials to skyrocket, leaving many unable to afford basics such as food and medicine.
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| UNCC student to be honored, Kentucky Derby and spring meteor shower: 5 things you need to know this weekend Posted: 04 May 2019 02:31 AM PDT  Slain UNCC student Riley Howell will be honored with weekend events, the annual Kentucky Derby runs and more of the weekend's news to know.
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| Guatemalan boy who died in US custody suffered from brain infection Posted: 03 May 2019 09:13 AM PDT  Juan De León Gutiérrez, 16, travelled to the US from Camotán, hoping to be reunited with his older brother A group of migrant families walk from the Rio Grande near McAllen, Texas, on 14 March. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP A Guatemalan boy who died at a Texas children's hospital after being detained on the US southern border was suffering from a brain infection, the Guardian has learned. He was the third migrant child from Guatemala to die in US government custody in the past five months. Juan De León Gutiérrez, 16, had travelled to the US from Camotán, a poor rural community in the Chiquimula region of eastern Guatemala, hoping to be reunited with his older brother. It is unclear when or where the boy first fell ill, but he died on Tuesday, days after being detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and transferred to a government-contracted children's detention shelter. "My son was always healthy," his mother, Tránsito Gutiérrez Oloroso, told local newspaper Prensa Libre. "I ask that they treat his remains with dignity." Juan was diagnosed with a frontal lobe infection at Driscoll children's hospital in Corpus Christi. Medical treatment – including surgery to alleviate the pressure caused by the infection – failed, and he died on 30 April after several days in intensive care. The boy's older brother, who lives in Texas, visited him in hospital. Consular officials in McAllen hope to repatriate his body to Guatemala within the next few days. Silvia Samines, the deputy Guatemala consul in McAllen, said that efforts had been made to obtain humanitarian visas for the boy's parents so that they could visit him in hospital, but they were unable to travel due to their advanced age. "We have started the relevant procedures in order to repatriate the body as soon as possible," she said. The 16-year-old was under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) when he fell ill. ORR contracts private firms and charities to house thousands of children separated from their parents at the border by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials – as well as those detained after making the perilous overland journey from Central America without adult relatives. Two other Guatemalan children died in US custody within weeks of each other in December 2018, but unlike the latest case, they were in custody of CBP. Jakelin Caal, seven, who died on 8 December at an El Paso children's hospital, and Felipe Gómez Alonzo, eight, who died on Christmas Eve at a New Mexico hospital, were part of a mass exodus from the impoverished Central American country. Almost two-thirds of Guatemala's population live in poverty and half its children suffer from chronic malnutrition. In November, Guatemalans overtook Mexicans as the largest nationality taken into CBP custody – an extraordinary figure considering that the population of Mexico is seven times larger than that of its southern neighbour. Juan entered the US near El Paso, and was detained by CBP on 19 April. He was taken by Ice agents on 20 April to a children's facility in Brownsville which is run by Southwest Key – a not-for-profit organisation which houses up to 5,000 migrant children in more than 20 shelters. Juan was in apparently good health when he arrived, but the next morning he was taken to an emergency room after complaining of a fever, chills and a headache. He was discharged back to the shelter later that day, according to a statement by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The boy's health deteriorated, and he was returned to the emergency room by ambulance on 22 April, said ACF. From there, the sick boy was admitted to the intensive care unit at the children's hospital with the brain infection. Southwest Key has not commented on Juan's death, but an ACF spokeswoman, Evelyn Stauffer, said in a statement: "Arrangements were made for the minor's brother and Guatemalan consular officials to visit the minor while he was hospitalised. The family who resides in the home country received frequent updates from hospital staff. The cause of death is currently under review, and, in accordance with standard ORR policies and procedures, the case will be subject to full review."
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| Hardships from Hawaii volcano stretch on 1 year later Posted: 03 May 2019 03:33 PM PDT  PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) — A year after a volcano on Hawaii's Big Island rained lava and gases in one of its largest and most destructive eruptions in recorded history, people who lost their homes and farms in the disaster are still struggling to return to their cherished island lifestyle.
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| Envoy says US ready for 'all sides' to lay down arms in Afghan war Posted: 04 May 2019 08:59 AM PDT  The US special envoy tasked with forging a peace deal with the Taliban said Saturday that America stands ready for "all sides" to lay down arms in the 17-year conflict. Peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is leading the latest round of talks with the Taliban in Doha, where the two foes are pursuing a deal that would see the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in return for Taliban security guarantees. Khalilzad's comments come a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was prepared to call an "immediate" and "permanent" ceasefire -- but the Taliban rebuffed the offer.
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| The Farcical Bill Barr Scandal Posted: 03 May 2019 03:30 AM PDT  An investigation into whether the president of the United States committed treason has devolved into a squabble over Attorney General Bill Barr's brief letter saying that he didn't.We've gone from Donald Trump allegedly betraying the nation to Bill Barr allegedly betraying the nation, from potential Trump impeachment to potential Barr impeachment.Barr's offense, of course, is writing a quick letter summarizing the top-line conclusions of the Mueller report. Ever since, he's been the focus of conspiracy theories and the target of smears.The anti-Barr fury reached a new level with the news that Robert Mueller wrote him a letter complaining about the summary. Not since the Zimmermann telegram has a missive so exercised Washington, at least the segment of it that's been in a perpetual lather of outrage since November 2016.Let's be clear: If Barr wanted to cover for Trump, he could have crimped the Mueller probe, sat on the report or redacted the report into meaninglessness. He did none of the above.No one can claim his summary of findings was inaccurate. According to Barr, even Mueller conceded as much in a phone call. Mueller instead complained about the press coverage of the Barr summary, which isn't, strictly speaking, the attorney general's responsibility.Barr's conduct is defensible on its own terms. He wanted to get the basic verdict out because the investigation had so roiled our national life, especially the possibility that there was collusion with the Russians.When Mueller came back to him with a request for release of the summaries from the report, Barr declined because he didn't want to get into piecemeal releases when the full report would soon be available.That's what makes the controversy so nonsensical. Barr went further than required by the regulations to release the entirety of the report, letting everyone decide for themselves. What else was he supposed to do?Of course, Barr's summary letter inevitably lacked the narrative force and details of the 400-page report, but we know that . . . because he released the report.The notion that Barr was deceptive in congressional testimony is similarly absurd. In an exchange with Senator Chris Van Hollen last month, he was asked if Mueller supported his "conclusion," meaning his judgment that the president didn't obstruct justice. Barr accurately said he didn't know.Representative Charlie Crist asked Barr if he knew what Mueller officials anonymously complaining about his letter were referring to. Barr said he didn't (he presumably hadn't talked to these anonymous officials), but volunteered that they probably wanted more information out.Ultimately, the firestorm over Barr's letter is a misdirection, and he's a scapegoat. If Robert Mueller wanted to recommend charging Trump with obstruction of justice, he could have done so. Instead, he punted, and now he — or people around him — is upset that the Barr letter accurately stated his convoluted not-guilty/not-exonerated bottom line.As for the Democrats, if they disagree with Barr's conclusion that Trump didn't commit a chargeable crime, it is fully within their power to impeach the president for abuse of power.Democrats still want someone else to do their work for them. First, they wanted Mueller to blow Trump out of the water, and now they want Barr to adopt a frankly adversarial posture toward the president.Barr is not the one distorting procedure or norms here. It's the Mueller team that declined to make a call on whether Trump had committed a crime or not (the job we ordinarily ask prosecutors to do), yet catalogued his conduct in a quasi-indictment written for public consumption (which prosecutors aren't supposed to do) and, now we know, cared very much about the media narrative around its report (a public-relations or partisan question, not a legal one).That Barr and his letter are the focus of such political and media ire is a symptom of the lunacy of this era, rather than anything rotten in his Department of Justice.© 2019 by King Features Syndicate
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| Churches in Sri Lankan capital cancel Sunday mass due to threat Posted: 02 May 2019 10:33 PM PDT  Sri Lankan security forces have said they were maintaining a high level of alert as intelligence reports indicated the militants were likely to strike before the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is due to begin on Monday. Colombo's Archbishop, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, said on Thursday that a "highly reliable foreign source" had warned of an attack on a prominent church. Sri Lankan authorities, who have come under fire for not acting on repeated warnings about attacks, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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| 2020 Vision: ‘Buttabeep, Buttaboop,’ Buttigieg — Who’s winning the Oprah primary? Posted: 03 May 2019 10:13 AM PDT  The buzz surrounding Pete Buttigieg has led to a bump in national polls, donations and Twitter followers. But, perhaps most importantly, it's earned him notice — and a nickname — from Oprah Winfrey.
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| Boeing plane skids into Florida river in crash-landing, no fatalities Posted: 03 May 2019 09:48 PM PDT  A Boeing 737 slid off a runway into a river after crash-landing at a Florida naval air station Friday, officials said, with no fatalities reported. The plane carrying 143 people including crew from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba ended in shallow water next to the air station in Jacksonville, with all passengers safely evacuated, naval authorities said. "There were 136 passengers and seven aircrew on board and all have been accounted for," Naval Air Station Jacksonville said in a statement.
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| Venezuela's neighbors accuse Maduro of protecting 'terrorist groups' in Colombia Posted: 03 May 2019 06:01 PM PDT  The Lima Group regional bloc on Friday accused the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of protecting "terrorist groups" in Colombia, keeping up pressure days after an attempted military uprising failed to dislodge Maduro from power. The bloc, a dozen countries in the Americas that meet regularly to discuss Venezuela, did not provide details on the groups in Colombia that it alleged Maduro was protecting.
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| Curacao to quarantine cruise ship for measles case Posted: 03 May 2019 02:14 PM PDT  WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — Authorities in Curacao announced Friday they will quarantine a ship with 300 people aboard that is heading to the Dutch Caribbean island after they were banned from disembarking in nearby St. Lucia because of a confirmed case of measles.
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| Ted Bundy: Who was the serial killer and how did he die? Posted: 03 May 2019 11:44 AM PDT  Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, a biopic about serial killer Ted Bundy, has just been released.Zac Efron portrays the murderer in the Netflix film, while Lily Collins stars as Bundy's former girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer.Bundy is believed to have started killing and assaulting women in the 1970s, murdering dozens of them until the end of the decade.Here is what you should know about Bundy before you see Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile:Who was Ted Bundy?Theodore Robert Bundy was born on 24 November, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, and grew up in Tacoma, Washington. He dropped out of college before returning to the University of Washington and obtaining a degree in psychology in 1970, per a New York Times article published in 1978 while he was on trial.Bundy later entered law school but abandoned those studies as well. By 1971, Bundy was volunteering at a suicide hotline where he met the true crime writer Ann Rule, who later authored the book The Stranger Beside Me about her friendship with Bundy.Did Ted Bundy confess to his crimes?Bundy confessed to 30 killings across seven states by the time of his death.However, the actual death toll might be higher. Several unsolved murders have been linked to Bundy, even though evidence hasn't been sufficient to establish culpability.Bundy himself suggested that the actual number of his victims might be higher.When and how did he die?Bundy was executed by electrocution on 24 January, 1989, after being convicted on three separate murder cases – the killing of 12-year-old Kimberly Diane Leach, and the slayings of Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University.He was 42 years old at the time of his death.More than 100 people cheered outside the Florida State Prison, setting off firecrackers and lighting sparklers, according to the Associated Press's report of the execution.Who was his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer?Kloepfer, a single mother, started dating Bundy in 1969. The relationship started until the mid 1970s.Around that time, Kloepfer developed doubts about Bundy and gave his name to the police, though authorities didn't consider him a serious suspect.Kloepfer published a book about her relationship with Bundy, titled The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy, in 1981 under the name Elizabeth Kendall. Bundy was on death row at the time.She has remained out of the public eye for years, and Michael Werwie, the screenwriter of Extremely Wicked, told Vanity Fair she was "not findable".
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| William Barr: The New Cheney Posted: 04 May 2019 02:30 AM PDT  I can't think of a better illustration of our partisan divide than the reactions to Attorney General William Barr's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Democrats are furious at Barr's defense of his rollout of the Mueller report and his assertions of executive power. Some Democrats want Barr to resign, others want him to be impeached, and Nancy Pelosi says he's guilty of lying to Congress. Republicans have found a hero.Barr is the new Dick Cheney: a stocky, bespectacled, confrontational, blunt, intelligent, unapologetically conservative, experienced, high-powered official who believes in and fights for the office of the president. Just as Democrats loathed Cheney as a bugaboo manipulating President George W. Bush to further the interests of Halliburton, they attack Barr as a dishonest factotum of President Trump's. The qualities that drove Democrats batty over Cheney — his inscrutability, his cleverness, his asperity, and above all his success — make them incensed about Barr. These happen to be qualities Republicans find appealing.What's behind conservative support for Cheney and Barr is their lack of embarrassment. Most Washingtonians, no matter their party, find it important to be held in esteem by the city's tastemakers, who are overwhelmingly liberal. Not these two. The classic Cheney moment was his 2004 exchange with Pat Leahy on the Senate floor. Cheney complained that Leahy had called him a war profiteer. Leahy responded that Cheney had said he was a bad Catholic. So Cheney ended the conversation by telling Leahy to perform a physically impossible four-letter act. "You'd be surprised at how many people liked that," Cheney recollected in a 2010 interview. "It's sort of the best thing I ever did." He's selling himself short.Republican fans of Barr circulated clips of his Senate appearance Wednesday even as media coverage of his testimony was uniformly negative. No Democrats are held in less esteem by conservatives than are the ones on the Judiciary Committee. They will never live down their treatment of Brett Kavanaugh. Trump supporters nodded in agreement when Barr said the controversy over his March 24 description of the Mueller report is "mind-bendingly bizarre." They chuckled when he said Mueller's March 27 letter to him was "a bit snitty and I think it was probably written by one of his staff members." They guffawed when Barr described the verb "spying" as "a good English word." They cheered when Richard Blumenthal asked for notes Barr had taken of his phone conversation with Mueller and Barr told him no. "Why should you have them?"Where his predecessor was genial and deferential to Congress and the press, Barr is disdainful and combative. At his April 18 press conference before the publication of the Mueller report, a CBS reporter asked Barr if his use of the word "unprecedented" to describe the circumstances of the Russia investigation was "quite generous to the president and his feelings and emotions." Barr replied, "Is there another precedent for it?" "No," the reporter acknowledged sheepishly. Another reporter wondered, "Is it an impropriety for you to come out and sort of spin the report before people are able to read it?" Barr said, "No," and left the room. Lib owned.In 2001, Cheney fought with Henry Waxman over records related to the former's energy task force. Almost two decades later, Barr and Jerry Nadler face each other in a standoff over whether a sitting attorney general ought to be questioned by staff counsel. Not even CNN "could locate an instance where a Cabinet official was interviewed by staff members during a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee." But that hasn't stopped Nadler from claiming there's "ample precedent" for his request. Committee Democrat Steve Cohen accuses Barr of being afraid of staff attorneys, but anyone who's watched Barr before Congress knows he doesn't spook easily. The fight with Nadler is over optics. Nadler wants his hearing to evoke memories of Watergate and Iran-Contra. Barr has no problem denying him the opportunity.The Democrats have a dilemma. Their base would like to impeach Trump, but the public at large is against it, and Democratic voters themselves don't put impeachment high on the priority list. The people most interested in impeachment, it seems, are cable-news anchors and the same four Democrats — SwalwellSchiffLieuBlumenthal — who appear on their shows day after day. Pelosi has adopted a too-clever-by-half strategy of letting the committee chairmen hound the Trump administration while leadership resists full-bore impeachment. The danger of overreach is real.Barr is an obstacle not just because of his support for a strong presidency. He also shows every sign of wanting to get to the bottom of malfeasance at the FBI and DOJ during the 2016 campaign. His critics decry his use of the word "spying" to describe surreptitious intelligence gathering on Trump advisers, but the day after his Senate testimony the New York Times revealed that George Papadopoulos had been contacted by a second FBI employee as part of the Bureau's counterintelligence probe. It was another vindication of Barr, who had told Congress last month the question wasn't if spying had occurred, but if it had been "adequately predicated.""I think we did the right thing," Dick Cheney tells James Rosen in Cheney One on One. "And I don't have any problem defending it." Bill Barr gives every indication of feeling the same way. That's why he's become a Democratic target. And a GOP star.This article originally appeared in the Washington Free Beacon.
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| Porsche 917 Living Legend Concept in Photos Posted: 03 May 2019 07:20 AM PDT |
| ISIS, defeated on the ground, returns to its roots with bombs and bloodshed Posted: 03 May 2019 02:00 AM PDT  President Trump has boasted about the defeat of the ISIS caliphate, a swath of territory in Syria and Iraq formerly controlled by the Islamist fundamentalist army. But ISIS hasn't disappeared, just retreated to fight a terror war — of which the Sri Lanka attacks may have been one of the opening battles.
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| ExxonMobil sues Cuban companies for nationalized assets Posted: 03 May 2019 09:57 PM PDT  US giant ExxonMobil has filed a lawsuit against Cuba's state-owned oil company and a major business group for what it called "unlawful trafficking" of its assets after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. The suit, filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, seeks $280 million from Cuba-Petroleo (Cupet) and Cimex, which operates service stations on the island nation. The lawsuit from America's biggest oil producer came as the administration of US President Donald Trump lifted the suspension of Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act.
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| UPDATE 2-Trump, Putin discuss possible new nuclear accord -White House Posted: 03 May 2019 09:13 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Trump, Putin discuss possible new nuclear accord -White House]( "UPDATE 2-Trump, Putin discuss possible new nuclear accord -White House") U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour on Friday, discussing the possibility of a new nuclear accord, North Korean denuclearization, Ukraine and the political situation in Venezuela, the White House said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Trump and Putin talked about the possibility of a new multilateral nuclear accord between the United States, Russia and China, or an extension of the current U.S.-Russia strategic nuclear treaty.
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| ‘Those Are Things You Don’t Forget.’ How a Young Audrey Hepburn Helped the Dutch Resistance During World War II Posted: 03 May 2019 12:30 PM PDT  Audrey Hepburn — born May 4, 1929 — was just a teenager when she first became involved in Dutch resistance against the Nazis
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| Family of girl injured in Poway synagogue shooting: We fled violence in Israel. We thought it was safe here Posted: 04 May 2019 11:18 AM PDT  Eden Dahan — mother of Chabad of Poway shooting victim Noya Dahan — says her family left Israel's violence seeking a better life in America.
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| Measles-plagued Scientology ship leaves St Lucia Posted: 03 May 2019 08:54 AM PDT  A cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology that was quarantined in St Lucia for two days because of a measles case has left the Caribbean island and was headed toward Curacao on Friday, maritime tracking services said. The Freewinds left the port capital Castries on Thursday at 11:15pm (0315 GMT Friday) and was cruising toward Willemstad in Curacao, a distance it previously covered in two days, according to myshiptracking.com and cruisin.me. A spokeswoman for St Lucia's health ministry confirmed that the ship had left the island.
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| Spain refuses to hand over Venezuela opposition leader taking refuge in embassy Posted: 03 May 2019 01:46 AM PDT  Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said president Nicolas Maduro's generals are willing to defect from his regime imminently, as Spain vowed to protect the politician. Speaking from the gates of the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, on Friday Mr Lopez said: "It's a crack that will become a bigger crack... that will end up breaking the dam". Mr Lopez said he had spoken with senior members of the military who supported the end of Mr Maduro's socialist government amid a failing economy and nationwide blackouts. Spain has refused to hand Mr Lopez, a leading figure in the country's opposition movement, over to Venezuelan authorities, saying "Spain trusts that the Venezuelan authorities will respect the inviolability of the Spanish Ambassador's residence." The politician had been under house arrest for months but escaped to appear alongside his successor in the movement, Juan Guaido, on Tuesday as they called for a military uprising aimed at toppling Mr Maduro. Lopez emerged on Tuesday from two years of house arrest with the help of defecting soldiers Credit: Anadolu He later sought refuge in the Spanish embassy after the uprising stalled and a court issued a warrant for his arrest. Mr Lopez claimed he had met with generals who were committed to ending Mr Maduro's "usurpation" and helped him escape his house arrest. "I had meetings in my house when I was under house arrest. I met there with commanders, I met there with generals. I met there with representatives of specific parts of the armed forces and specific parts of the police forces," he said. He added that he believed Mr Maduro's government would fall "in weeks." That brought a rebuke from Venezuela's ambassador in Madrid Mario Isea, who accused Mr Lopez of using "the ambassador's residence as an operational base to abet a military uprising". Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro demonstrate against the US President Donald Trump Credit: YURI CORTEZ/ AFP Spain's acting foreign minister Josep Borrell later warned Mr Lopez not to turn the embassy into "a centre of political activism." After a week of growing tensions Donald Trump, the US president, and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin talked for more than an hour on Friday during which time they discussed Venezuela. Mr Trump said he stands by the Venezuelan people and urged a peaceful solution to the crisis during the phone call with Mr Putin. The two leaders also talked about a new arms control treaty, North Korea and briefly discussed special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian election meddling. Mr Trump's national security team and the commander of US Southern Command said they held a meeting at the Pentagon to review and refine military planning and various options for responding to the crisis in Venezuela. The ongoing unrest claimed a fifth fatality on Friday when 15-year-old boy was killed during a protest in the northwestern state of Merida. The non-government Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said Yonder Villasmil was killed during a demonstration over power outages on Thursday night. More than 200 people have been injured in clashes rocking the nation this week after Mr Guaido, called for protests to spark a military uprising. Mr Guaido has called for a return to the streets on Saturday morning, saying at a press conference that Venezuelans should try talking to soldiers directly and telling them to "join the movement."
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| Protect your Apple Watch Series 4 from scratches with this $9 clear case Posted: 03 May 2019 03:25 PM PDT ![Protect your Apple Watch Series 4 from scratches with this $9 clear case]( "Protect your Apple Watch Series 4 from scratches with this $9 clear case") The cheapest Apple Watch Series 4 model you can buy costs $400, and it goes all the way up to $1,500 depending on how fancy you want to get. In other words, you're making a pretty sizable investment regardless of which model you choose. Do yourself a favor and spend another $9 to protect your precious watch from scratches by picking up a Smiling Apple Watch 4 Clear Case With Built in TPU Screen Protector. It's available for both the 40mm and 44mm models, and it might be the best $9 you spend all month.Here's some additional info from the product page: * [Designed for the 40mm or 44mm] This case fit for apple watch 2018 newest series 4 Apple Watch 40mm, high-quality TPU case with built in screen protector. * [Precise cutout]: This 40mm watch case was designed with precise cutouts for functional buttons and ports. * [Ultra Slim]: This apple watch case front cover is only 0.3mm and total 0.5oz weight not add any bulk and you will not lose any touch sensitivity. * [Shock-proof]: Made of high quality, anti-scratch TPU, this case covers the full front and curved edges of the iwatch, offering full protection for your apple watch against scratches, drops, and bumps. * Includes: 2 pack high quality TPU case for the 40mm or 44mm series 4 apple watch
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| Turkey Begins Offensive on Kurdish Militias After Attacks Posted: 04 May 2019 12:26 PM PDT ![Turkey Begins Offensive on Kurdish Militias After Attacks]( "Turkey Begins Offensive on Kurdish Militias After Attacks") Turkish forces killed 28 Kurdish militants after they carried out two separate attacks from hideouts in Syria and Iraq that left four Turkish troops dead, the state news agency Anadolu reported. Saturday's cross-border offensive marked one of the deadliest days recently for the Turkish military, which conducted the attack along with the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group supported by Turkey.
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| US STOCKS-Strong jobs report sets off broad-based rally on Wall Street Posted: 03 May 2019 10:40 AM PDT ![US STOCKS-Strong jobs report sets off broad-based rally on Wall Street]( "US STOCKS-Strong jobs report sets off broad-based rally on Wall Street") Wall Street's main indexes rose in a broad-based rally on Friday, as job growth surged in April and unemployment rate dropped, pointing to solid expansion in the domestic economy. The Labor Department said employers added 263,000 jobs in April, which blew past expectations, and the unemployment rate dropped to a more than 49-year low of 3.6%. Falling unemployment is expected to put an upward pressure on inflation and supported the Federal Reserve's decision to be patient with interest rate hikes.
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| After Barr's Snub, Democrats Lack Options to Compel Cooperation Posted: 03 May 2019 08:37 AM PDT  Democrats seeking to compel -- or punish -- Barr and others who ignore Democratic invitations and subpoenas could pursue contempt proceedings, which carry no tangible penalty when branches of government face off, or take action in court, which would be protracted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders are resisting the other obvious option -- moving to impeach the president -- even as Republicans goad them on.
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| Charter plane in Florida river at end of runway Posted: 04 May 2019 09:59 AM PDT  A chartered jet carrying 143 people from the US military base in Cuba tried to land in a thunderstorm in north Florida and ended up in the river next to Naval Air Station Jacksonville. (May 4)
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| Teslas for the robotaxi fleet: With every update, owners feel like they got a new car Posted: 03 May 2019 07:36 AM PDT  Over the years, Telsa has released useful updates like Autopilot, Dog Mode and Valet, along with fun features like Fart Mode and Romance Mode.
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| Verizon’s new BOGO deal covers iPhones, Pixels, and Samsung phones Posted: 03 May 2019 02:56 PM PDT  Verizon is back at it with another of its BOGO (buy one get one) devices offers, this time coinciding with Mother's Day which is right around the corner.The limited-time deals are live now, and they include the usual pretty solid offers on some of the hottest smartphones by making them available for free or at a discount when you purchase another phone at full-price. The BOGO this time includes the opportunity to score $1,100 in bill credits when you buy two new Pixel 3s and you also add a new unlimited line. You'll save $300, no trade-in required, when you buy a new Pixel 3, then you'll get another $800 via bill credits when you buy another either Pixel 3 or 3XL, along with the unlimited line.As we always note with these BOGOs from Verizon, there are important caveats. For this particularly offer, both of the new Pixels would need to be paid for on a monthly installment plan. Within two months, the $1,100 would then begin to be applied to your bill, spread over 24 months.It's definitely a good deal if you're already a Verizon customer and thinking about a new line and device. The same goes for anyone thinking about becoming a Verizon customer. The full rundown of deals and the relevant details can be found on Verizon's site here, and among the other offers as part of this BOGO, you can: * Buy one Samsung Galaxy S10+ and get $750 off a Galaxy 10, 10+, 10e or Note 9. * Buy one Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and get $750 off a Galaxy 10, 10+, 10e or Note 9. * Finally, if you buy an iPhone XR, iPhone XS MAX, iPhone XS, or iPhone X you can get a free iPhone XR (or take $750 off a second iPhone X model).Verizon hasn't specified an end-date for this particular BOGO, but since it's tied to Mother's Day you've got at least all of next week, through Sunday May 12, to take advantage of it.
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| Sri Lanka blasts show Asia is fertile ground for IS ideology Posted: 02 May 2019 07:51 PM PDT  The Islamic State group's self-proclaimed "caliphate" may have collapsed in the Middle East but Asia provides fertile territory for a resurrection, analysts say, as last month's bloody Easter Sunday suicide attacks in Sri Lanka have shown. Factors including poverty, discrimination, radicalisation via social media, weak governance, and poor gathering and sharing of intelligence mean the region is vulnerable to attacks by extremists operating under the IS banner -- even if they aren't directly supported by the group. IS lost the last of its Middle East territory in late March but analysts warned the defeat would not kill off their ideology, and just weeks later the group claimed responsibility for one of the worst militant strikes on civilians in Asia.
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| 10-month-old baby dies after migrant family's raft capsizes in Rio Grande Posted: 03 May 2019 09:30 AM PDT  Border Patrol agents responded to reports of a capsized raft carrying migrants who were attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.
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| The Mueller Report Made It Clear: America's Response to Russia Has Been Far Too Weak Posted: 03 May 2019 09:30 AM PDT  It's time for a stronger retaliation against Russia, writes James Stavridis
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| The 2019 Volkswagen Arteon in Photos Posted: 03 May 2019 10:28 AM PDT |
| These Wireless Earbuds Cost Way Less Than Beats Posted: 03 May 2019 01:54 PM PDT  Now on sale for over 60 percent off.
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| The U.S. Air Force First F-35 Combat Doesn’t Prove Anything Posted: 03 May 2019 05:00 PM PDT  If dropping bombs on caves and tunnels were a guarantee of a weapon's success, the F-35 would be awesome.On April 30, two U.S. Air Force F-35A stealth fighters attacked ISIS positions in Iraq. "The F-35As conducted the airstrike using a Joint Direct Attack Munition to strike an entrenched Daesh tunnel network and weapons cache deep in the Hamrin Mountains, a location able to threaten friendly forces," according to the Air Force announcement.The strike marked the first time—or at least the first public admission—that the Air Force had used the Lightning II in combat. In September 2018, the Marine Corps became the first U.S. service to fly an F-35 combat mission, with a strike against Taliban positions in Afghanistan, followed by more than 100 F-35B sorties in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria from aircraft based on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex. First blood for the F-35 probably belongs to the Israeli Air Force, which has sent its F-35Is on missions over Syria.The initial Marine F-35 strikes in Afghanistan, and before that, Air Force F-22s attacking Taliban drug labs, drew as much ridicule as praise. Some questioned the use of expensive aircraft (the F-35 costs around $100 million apiece, the F-22 $400 million) to take out huts and tunnels. An F-35 mission costs $35,000 per flying hour, while for the F-22, it's $70,000.
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| 12 killed in pro-regime attacks on northwestern Syria Posted: 03 May 2019 08:58 AM PDT  Attacks by Syrian regime forces and their Russian allies killed 12 civilians in the country's northwest on Friday in the latest violation of an eight-month-old truce, a war monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four women were among the 12 people killed in shelling and airstrikes on several towns and villages in Idlib and neighbouring Hama province. "The attacks have been continuously escalating for four days," Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP.
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| Apple Watch Series 4 has never been as cheap as it is in this surprise sale Posted: 03 May 2019 04:58 AM PDT  Yesterday evening, we told you about the first big Apple Watch Series 4 sale. It came as a complete surprise when Amazon slashed a number of different Apple Watch S4 models to their lowest prices ever, and readers rushed to the site to take advantage of these killer deals. Well, it hasn't even been 24 hours but we're telling you about it again. Why? Because the odds are fairly good that these deals will end at some point over the weekend, and we want to make sure that as many people as possibly have the opportunity to snag an Apple Watch Series 4 at all-time low prices.Amazon has slashed $50 off the wildly popular Apple Watch Series 4 in Space Gray Aluminum Case with a Black Sport Band in both 40mm and 44mm sizes, which drops the price to $349 and $379, respectively. The Space Gray model with a Black Sport Loop Band is also down to $349 for the 40mm model and $379 for the 44mm model. Finally, you can also save $50 on the Apple Watch Series 4 in Silver Aluminum Case with a Seashell Sport Loop Band. We have no idea when prices will be this low again, so hurry!Here's more info from the product page: * GPS * Over 30% larger display and 50% louder speaker * Electrical and optical heart sensors * Digital Crown with haptic feedback * 50% louder speaker * S4 SiP with faster 64-bit dual-core processor * Improved accelerometer and gyroscope for fall detection * Swim proof - Water resistant upto 50 meters * watch OS 5 * Aluminum case
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| UPDATE 1-Trump says he will decide over next week whether to let McGahn testify for Congress Posted: 03 May 2019 12:25 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Trump says he will decide over next week whether to let McGahn testify for Congress]( "UPDATE 1-Trump says he will decide over next week whether to let McGahn testify for Congress") U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he will decide in the coming days whether he will allow former White House lawyer Don McGahn to testify before U.S. lawmakers or whether he will invoke executive privilege to block his testimony. U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler last Monday subpoenaed McGahn to testify before the panel in its investigation of possible obstruction of justice by Trump. "That'll all be determined over the next week or so," Trump told reporters on Friday when asked if he had decided whether to invoke executive privilege over the subpoena, adding that he had been transparent with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
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