| It's business as usual at Mexico's southern border despite Trump deal Posted: 08 Jun 2019 07:22 PM PDT  On Saturday, at the busiest crossing point along Mexico's porous southern border with Guatemala, evidence of Mexico's promised crackdown on waves of new arrivals trying to reach the United States was nowhere to be seen. Within sight of a bridge connecting Mexico to Guatemala, a fleet of about 16 rafts carried migrants hoping to escape poverty and gang-related violence in Central America. Nothing else outwardly changed despite a deal struck in Washington on Friday in which Mexico vowed to stem the northern flow of migrants with a crackdown on illegal crossings across the Guatemala border.
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| American Airlines cancels 737 MAX flights through September 3 Posted: 09 Jun 2019 12:40 PM PDT  American Airlines has canceled all scheduled flights with Boeing 737 MAX jets through September 3, extending the grounding of its fleet after two crashes involving the same aircraft model killed 346 people. The airline had previously canceled all 737 MAX flights through August 19 as it awaited recertification of the aircraft in the wake of the crashes. The extension means that American Airlines will have canceled 115 flights since grounding its 14 737 MAX aircraft.
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| Pauley Perrette says she won't return to 'NCIS' because she's 'terrified' of Mark Harmon Posted: 08 Jun 2019 09:05 AM PDT  Pauley Perrette says she will never return to "NCIS" – and she says that's because of her former co-star Mark Harmon.
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| Mother calls for investigation after she says officer pulled gun on her black son Posted: 09 Jun 2019 10:28 AM PDT  A mother wants an independent investigation Friday after she says a Utah police officer pointed a gun at her 10-year-old son's head in what she calls a racially motivated incident.
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| Google walkout organizer quits, citing retaliation fear Posted: 07 Jun 2019 06:58 PM PDT  A Google worker who helped organize a massive walkout to protest the company's handling of sexual misconduct said Friday she had quit her job. In a post at Medium, Claire Stapleton said her decision to resign was based on her expecting another child but also because she was marked for retaliation by department heads after the walkout late last year. Google told AFP that it thoroughly investigated Stapleton's claims and found no evidence that she was targeted for retaliation in the workplace.
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| Did China Really Test a New Submarine-Launched Nuclear Missile? Posted: 08 Jun 2019 01:30 AM PDT  Last week, world media was abuzz with reports that China had test-fired the JL-3, its most advanced submarine-launched ballistic missile.But did it really happen?Two anonymous Chinese military sources told the South China Morning Post that the test was of an older ballistic missile. "A missile test by the People's Liberation Army on Sunday did not feature the country's next-generation long-range weapon, but instead involved a mid-range Dongfeng missile refitted with improved guidance systems," one source said.The denials are part of a bizarre frenzy that began on June 2, when people in northeastern China reported seeing an object "with a glowing fiery tail streak across the sky" at 4 a.m. on June 2, according to China's state-influenced Global Times news site. Convinced they had seen a UFO, they posted videos and photos on Weibo.But Western defense analysts, noting Chinese maritime authorities had ordered the Bohai Bay area of the Yellow Sea closed to traffic that Sunday, speculated that the Chinese Navy was testing the JL-3. The first JL-3 flight test had also been conducted from Bohai Bay in November 2018. Once completed, the new missile, with an estimated 5,600-mile range, will enable Chinese submarines in the Western Pacific to hit the continental United States.
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| Notorious gangster wrote letter praising Trump and complaining about Mueller investigation Posted: 09 Jun 2019 05:14 AM PDT  As a man who ordered the murder of at least 19 people and spent more than two decades running one of America's most deadly crime gangs, James "Whitey" Bulger is not someone most politicians would want an endorsement from.But the notoriously ruthless Boston crime lord was, it seems, a big supporter of Donald Trump.The gangster – who was murdered, aged 89, in prison last year – praised the US president in a series of letters written from his cell.He called the entrepreneur-turned-commander-in-chief a "man of the hour", and said he admired how he was "tough and fights back instead of bowing" to critics."He has," Bulger wrote, "my vote so far".He meant it metaphorically: in Oklahoma where he served much of his life sentence, prisoners are not on the electoral roll.The letters of praise came to light after their recipient, a nurse from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, named Janet Uhlar, passed them to America's NBC News in an apparent bid to show a different side to the infamous gangster.In one of the missives from August 2018, Bulger comments on Mr Trump's foreign policy: "Feel China respects him and hesitant to try to bully him."In another, he refers to Robert Mueller's investigation into the president's ties to Russia."Sorry to hear Trump is being boxed in by so many," Bulger wrote. "Trump is experiencing what Mueller and company can orchestrate…[Mueller] should observe biblical saying, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone'."The passage hints at a possible history between the two men. Mr Mueller was the FBI director when the agency was accused of protecting Bulger from prosecution in return for information on other gangs.In another letter, the convict – once number two on America's most wanted list behind only Osama bin Laden – refers to allegations Mr Trump paid off two women who claim they had extramarital affairs with the businessman."My bet is he's happy with present wife and settled down," writes Bulger. "No way would he wind up in Oval Office with a Monica Lewinsky. That was a scandal! Same media that attacks Trump would cover up for Bill Clinton."The series of letters, sent over six years, also reflect on the gangster's own life of crime and hint at his wish for a peaceful death – something he was denied when he was fatally bludgeoned by a fellow-prisoner at Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia in October.Before he was caught and convicted, Bulger was the head of the ultra-violent Winter Hill Gang which operated in Boston and neighbouring city Somerville from the 1970s to the 1990s, when he went into hiding after receiving a tip from a corrupt FBI agent that he was about to be arrested.He eluded law enforcement for 16 years before finally being arrested in Santa Monica, California, in 2011.Ms Uhlar started her pen-relationship with Bulger after she was a juror on his 2013 trial.
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| Sudan protesters want civil disobedience to pressure army Posted: 08 Jun 2019 10:21 AM PDT  Pro-democracy protest leaders on Saturday called on Sudanese to take part in acts of civil disobedience in a bid to pressure the military to hand over power after the deadly break-up of their main sit-in in the capital of Khartoum earlier this week. The call came a day after Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met separately with the ruling generals and the protest leaders in an effort to revive talks that were almost dead after the dispersal of the sit-in outside the military's headquarters on Monday. The Sudan Doctors' Central Committee, one of the protest groups, said at least 113 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded since Monday.
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| To deter shootings, Americans shun naming suspects, weigh demolishing sites Posted: 08 Jun 2019 06:32 PM PDT  As the superintendent of Jefferson County School District in Colorado, Jason Glass oversees one of the most troubled pieces of property in the United States: Columbine High School. The site of the one of the first -- and still among the deadliest -- school shootings in the country, Columbine has proved an enduring headache for the school district ever since two students killed 12 of their classmates, a teacher and themselves in 1999. In an open letter published this week, Glass detailed how every year hundreds of people try to get on campus to "reconnect with the 1999 murders," while in the years that followed, many other school shooters took inspiration from the Columbine attack.
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| American Airlines extends Boeing 737 MAX cancellations through September 3 Posted: 09 Jun 2019 07:23 AM PDT  The largest U.S. airline had previously said it was cancelling flights Aug. 19 after the Boeing Co plane was grounded worldwide in March following two deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. American Airlines said Sunday it is extending those cancellations through Sept. 3. Boeing has yet to complete a certification test flight and formally submit its software upgrade and training changes to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for approval.
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| After backlash for slain giraffe photo, hunter says animal was 'majestic,' 'delicious' Posted: 09 Jun 2019 11:05 AM PDT ![After backlash for slain giraffe photo, hunter says animal was 'majestic,' 'delicious']( "After backlash for slain giraffe photo, hunter says animal was 'majestic,' 'delicious'") The pictures of Kentucky trophy hunter Tess Talley were first posted on Twitter last June sparking outrage over the killing online.
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| Four men arrested in attack on two LGBT women who refused to kiss on London bus Posted: 09 Jun 2019 07:51 AM PDT  Melania Geymona, one of the victims, says she shared the gruesome image on Facebook to show how common violence is towards marginalized groups.
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| NASA set up a webcam so you can watch them build the Mars 2020 rover Posted: 07 Jun 2019 07:05 PM PDT  NASA's mission to Mars in 2020 is a very, very big deal. After the death of Opportunity a number of months back, NASA has just one rover left on the Red Planet and Curiosity isn't exactly a spring chicken. Curiosity's two-year mission has long since lapsed and the rover has spent nearly 2,500 days on Mars since landing back in 2012.Now, with excitement over the Mars 2020 mission at a fever pitch, NASA is offering us all a seat right inside its Jet Propulsion Laboratory where the rover is slowly taking shape. A newly-installed webcam provides a live look at the scientists hard at work testing and assembling all the important parts that will make the new rover tick.The cam is set up in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's clean room, where engineers dressed in white suits add to the rover and ensure its various components are in good working order for its eventual launch.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaNiYPglK58NASA describes the stream thusly:> Affectionately called "Seeing 2020," the webcam provides the video feed (without audio) from a viewing gallery above the clean room floor. You can also watch and participate in live webchats with members of JPL's social media team and the Mars 2020 team as they answer questions from the public about the mission. These "Seeing 2020" webchats will occur Mon.-Thu. at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. PDT (2 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT), with additional moderated chats when special activities (like drive tests) occur.At present, NASA plans to launch the Mars 2020 mission sometime on or immediately after July 17th, 2020. It won't actually arrive at Mars until 2021, and going by the current schedule it should get there on February 18th of that year.The mission carries a number of scientific objectives, but perhaps the most exciting is the plan for the rover to collect and store samples from the Martian surface in secure containers that will be picked up by a later mission and then brought back to Earth where eager scientists will be waiting to study them.
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| What's the Difference Between AmazonFresh and Amazon Prime Now? Posted: 07 Jun 2019 06:54 PM PDT  If you want to get fresh groceries through Amazon, the main two channels you can try are the delivery services AmazonFresh and Amazon Prime Now. What's the difference? Great question. When we ask...
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| Crater Of Death: Union Soldiers Tried to Tunnel Beneath Confederate Defenses (It Backfired) Posted: 08 Jun 2019 05:00 PM PDT  It was just after 3 am on Saturday, July 30, 1864. A month of relative quiet along a two-mile stretch of Union and Confederate trench lines immediately east of Petersburg, Virginia, was about to come to an explosive end. In the aftermath of several earlier Federal attacks on the strategically vital city in mid-June, a portion of Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's IX Corps picket line lay only 400 feet from Elliot's Salient, a highly fortified position on high ground that formed an angle protruding out from the main Confederate line, commanded by Maj. Gen. Bushrod Rust Johnson.To support the defenders' artillery and mortars, a second line, or "cavalier trench," had been dug close behind the main redoubt. Elliot's Salient boasted four smoothbores of Lt. Col. William Pegram's battery and was backed by two regiments of veteran infantrymen of Brig. Gen. Stephen Elliot's South Carolina Brigade. Across a north-south ravine from Elliot's Salient were trenches occupied by the troops of Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants' 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, many of them coal miners in civilian life.
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| ‘All I have done, no credit!’ Enraged Trump defends US-Mexico migrant deal Posted: 09 Jun 2019 09:48 AM PDT  President tweets ire at New York Times and opponents as agreement to avoid tariffs comes under scrutiny Donald Trump supporters stand near the border during a rally as Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border in Calexico, California, on 5 April 2019. Photograph: Sandy Huffaker/Reuters The Trump administration was forced to defend its immigration agreement with Mexico on Sunday, amid reports that key provisions in the deal, forged under the threat of trade tariffs, were mostly old commitments agreed to months ago. A surge in migration to America's southern border continues, with May marking the highest number of monthly apprehensions made by US authorities in the past 13 years. In the deal announced with significant self-congratulation by Donald Trump on Friday, Mexico agreed to deploy its national guard and to expand a heavily criticised program that keeps migrants seeking asylum in the US in Mexico as their claims are processed. Trump withdrew a threat of 5% tariffs on all Mexican goods. But on Saturday the New York Times reported that Mexico had already agreed to key provisions in the joint declaration during secretive negotiations over the past six months. On Sunday, the president fired off a series of enraged tweets as he headed for a second day of golf at his course in Sterling, Virginia. Lamenting what he called "another false report in the Failing New York Times", he wrote: "If President Obama made the deals that I have made, both at the Border and for the Economy, the Corrupt Media would be hailing them as Incredible, & a National Holiday would be immediately declared. If Obama made the deals that I have made both at the Border and for the Economy, a National Holiday would be declared Donald Trump "With me, despite our record setting Economy and all that I have done, no credit!" The Times report said US attempts to secure a "safe third country" policy, giving the US the ability to reject asylum seekers if they had not sought refuge in Mexico first, had failed. In his tweets on Sunday, Trump alluded to provisions being agreed to by the two nations that were not announced on Friday. "There is now going to be great cooperation between Mexico & the USA, something that didn't exist for decades," he wrote. Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, told a rally in Tijuana on Saturday his government was "celebrating yesterday's important agreement because it was putting us in a very difficult situation with these tariffs because we would have had to impose the same measures on US products." He added: "What follows? Keeping our commitments: reinforcing our [southern] border, applying the law and respecting the human rights" of migrants. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has continued to stress it will revisit the threat of tariffs against one of its closest trading partners should its promises on the border fail to materialize. On Sunday, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin argued on CNBC that the deal was a significant diplomatic achievement. But he added: "I have every reason to believe they [Mexico] will meet their commitments, so I think that will be the case, but if for whatever reason they don't, the president reserves the right to put on tariffs." Trump's threat of tariffs met with bipartisan criticism, with Republicans in the Senate demanding the president delay his plans and meet with them directly. I am tired of a president who consistently goes to war, verbal war, with our allies, whether it is Mexico or Canada Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator running for the Democratic presidential nomination, slammed Trump on Sunday for pursuing a "trade policy based on tweets". "What the world is tired of," he told CNN's State of the Union, "and what I am tired of is a president who consistently goes to war, verbal war, with our allies, whether it is Mexico, whether it is Canada." The deal with Mexico clears one obstacle from the path of the USMCA, the trade deal Trump negotiated to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta. It will still face significant hurdles in Congress. In May, US Customs and Border Protection recorded over 132,000 apprehensions at the southern border, by far the highest number this year and a significant increase from April which fell just shy of 100,000 apprehensions. The vast majority of these were of family groups, mostly from Central America. The US immigration court system faces historically high backlogs, with almost 900,000 cases pending. Immigration officials have complained that they lack the resources to adequately accommodate the surge amid a recent spike in child deaths in immigration custody. The Trump administration has sought to deal with the escalation in border crossings with a series of hardline reforms, including an attempt to vastly curtail the rights of asylum seekers by opening the door to indefinite detention in certain cases. Sanders again urged the administration to explore bipartisan reform. "Trump has been demonizing undocumented people in this country," he said. "That is his part of his strategy of dividing us up … What we need is a border policy that is humane, that among other things, expedites the asylum process by bringing in a whole lot more legal staff and judges, so people do not have to wait."
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| US prosecutors say they won't enforce strict abortion laws Posted: 07 Jun 2019 06:06 PM PDT  A group of American prosecutors pledged on Friday not to enforce strict abortion laws in response to attempts to tighten access to the procedure in parts of the United States. The lawyers added that "many of the laws are so vaguely written" anyone involved in the abortion process could be prosecuted. The attorneys who signed the pledge come from 24 states and the US capital Washington, with 12 being statewide attorneys general and the rest being local elected prosecutors who can make their own charging decisions.
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| The Polaris ACE 900 XC Is the Ultimate Bug-Out Buggy Posted: 09 Jun 2019 12:00 PM PDT  Whether you consider it an ATV with a steering wheel or a single-seat side-by-side, the ACE 900 is a lot of fun on the trails.
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| California utility to cut power to 27,000 customers to reduce wildfire risk Posted: 08 Jun 2019 07:50 AM PDT  Utility PG&E Corp planned to proactively shut off power on Saturday to 27,000 customers in Northern California due to an increased risk of wildfires, officials said. The shut down would begin at 9 p.m. local time in and around the Sierra Foothills, an area spanning parts of Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties northeast of San Francisco and near the border with Nevada, the utility said on Twitter. The area includes portions of Paradise, the town that was destroyed by November's deadly wildfire known as the Camp Fire, which killed more than 80 people.
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| Iran unveils new air defence system as it warns Europe to normalise ties Posted: 09 Jun 2019 10:34 AM PDT  An increasingly isolated Iran unveiled a new "domestically produced" air defence system on Sunday, hours after urging European countries to uphold commitments made under the nuclear deal, or face the consequences. The new system, the Khordad 15, can trace six targets at the same time – including fighter jets, bombers and drones – and destroy them with missiles. "Iran will increase its military capabilities to protect its national security and interests, and it will not ask permission from anyone on this matter," said Defence Minister Amir Hatami at the unveiling. With the 2015 deal unravelling quickly and relations with the US increasingly frosty, Iran is scrambling to showcase its strength even as it lurches towards potential financial ruin. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was speaking in advance of a visit from his German counterpart Heiko Maas. Mr Zarif said Europeans have "a duty" to ensure that Iran's economic relations return to normal. He criticised European and Western policies as having "only caused damage in the region" and warned that "Europeans are not in a position to criticise Iran for issues outside the JCPOA," using the acronym for the nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has given Europe and China a 60-day deadline to challenge the US Credit: Official President website/Handout via REUTERS "Now some countries like Germany have stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia for bombarding the people of Yemen, some other countries haven't done so," he added. "In general, the West has allowed the autocratic regimes in our region to commit crimes." The tough talk follows a move by Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, to walk back from various commitments in the deal last month. In early May, he gave Europe and China a 60-day timeline to challenge the US position or risk Iran resuming enriching uranium to a higher degree than that permitted by the accord. Iran on Friday rejected a suggestion by France to re-open nuclear talks, citing an increased risk of total collapse should the existing agreement be broadened. The purpose of Mr Maas's visit to Iran is to explore different means of preserving the fraying nuclear non-proliferation pact. Such a diplomatic coup would offer Iran an economic lifeline and give the deal's western signatories a mechanism for ensuring Iran's ballistic mission development is kept under control and potentially curb its regional military adventures. Iran has long insisted its nuclear activities are peaceful, even as it refuses to discuss its missile programme.
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| LGBT+ pride marches in US interrupted by neo-Nazis and stampede Posted: 09 Jun 2019 02:05 AM PDT  Separate LGBT+ pride marches in the US were disrupted on Saturday, one by a stampede triggered over fears of a shooting and another by one of America's biggest neo-Nazi groups. In Washington DC, seven people were taken to hospital after fears of a potential gunman at the pride event sparked panic. Hundreds of people were gathered at the Dupont Circle for the parade when people started running after hearing what they thought was a gunshot. "As the officers were going to the scene, there was a crowd of people going away from it and some of the individuals in the crowd said there was a man with a gun and that someone had fired a shot," said Guillermo Rivera, a commander with the Metropolitan Police Department.A man was taken into custody and is facing a gun possession charge, he said.Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted that she had been briefed by police and there were "no shots fired".Elizabeth Hernandez, 19, was among those celebrating in the city when she said she heard "pop, pop" and suddenly barricades were being thrown over and a crowd of people starting running frantically from the area."Everything fell and everyone said 'Run!"' said Ms Hernandez, of Falls Church, Virginia. In Detroit, an armed white supremacist group called the National Socialist Movement (NSM) descended on the annual Motor City Pride Festival, where they held placards, gave Nazi salutes and displayed armbands with swastikas.Photos from the event, which was attended by thousands of LGBT+ supporters, showed a group of around 10 neo-Nazis marching surrounded by police officers. Dressed in black with a number carrying firearms and shields, the NSM marchers tore apart pride flags and pushed over at least one counter-demonstrator. One even appeared to urinate on an Israeli flag. "Literally f****** Nazis are at Motor City Pride right now, please be safe out there y'all," one user tweeted on Saturday afternoon. "Even if they deserve it, do not engage. Our safety at our Pride is the most important thing." Meanwhile, in Poland, central and eastern Europe's biggest pride parade went ahead without major incident, despite rising tensions in the country over the rights of LGBT+ people. Tens of thousands of people, accompanied by diplomats from the US, Canada and other western countries, took to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday at a time when the Polish government is depicting the LGBT+ community as a threat. In a first, the Polish capital's mayor also participated. Opening the parade, Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski noted it is now common for cities across Europe to support pride marches. "Not everyone has to go to the Equality Parade but everyone should respect minority rights," Mr Trzaskowski told the crowd from a parade float. "It's really important for me that Warsaw be open, that Warsaw be tolerant." City Hall said some 47,000 people took part.Additional reporting by agencies
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| United Technologies and Raytheon agree to merge Posted: 09 Jun 2019 02:59 PM PDT ![United Technologies and Raytheon agree to merge]( "United Technologies and Raytheon agree to merge") A Raytheon and United Technologies pairing could result in an aerospace and defense powerhouse worth more than $100 billion, second only to Boeing.
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| ‘Whitey’ Bulger Wrote Letters Praising Trump to a Juror Who Convicted Him Posted: 08 Jun 2019 07:34 AM PDT  U.S. Marshals Service/U.S. Dept. of Justice Handout/ReutersJust months before he was bludgeoned to death in a West Virginia prison, notorious Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger poured his heart out in a series of letters praising President Trump (he had his vote) and criticizing Robert Mueller, whom he said should be nicer.The 75 missives were sent to the most unusual of pen pals—a juror who helped to convict him of the 11 murders he carried out during the 1970s and 80s. Janet Uhlar, a nurse from Cape Cod, shared the letters and photos Bulger sent her with NBC News last week. Uhlar, who says she did not doubt Bulger's guilt, told NBC that she was troubled by how the U.S. government handled the case, especially the way they cut deals with criminals to testify in Bulger's trial. Psycho, Gangster, Rat: Whitey Bulger Gets What He Had ComingBulger wrote often about politics and was particularly fond of Donald Trump, writing that he was sure history would look back favorably on the 45th president and unfavorably on former special counsel Robert Mueller. "Sorry to hear Trump is being boxed in by so many," Bulger wrote in 2018. "Trump is experiencing what Mueller and company can orchestrate,"In another letter he wrote, "[Mueller] should observe biblical saying - 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.'"Then the convicted killer mused that Trump would might outlast all his critics. "History may show Trump was the man of the hour," Bulger wrote August 2018, adding, "Feel China respects him and hesitant to try to bully him."Bulger also wrote, "Trump is tough and fights back instead of bowing down to pressure—and caving in to press!" The 89-year-old criminal also mused about Trump's marriage. "My bet is he's happy with present wife and settled down," Bulger wrote in one of the letters shared with NBC News. "No way would he wind up in Oval Office with a Monica Lewinsky—That was a scandal! Same media that attacks Trump would cover up for Bill Clinton."Uhlar reached out to the convict in a random letter in 2013, to which he replied, "No disrespect, but I don't trust prosecutors, judges, jurors, FBI agents, CIA..."Bulger went on to write more than 75 letters–some in flowery cursive penmanship and others in tiny block print–to Uhlar over the next five years. "All I want is peace and quiet for these last days and sit out on prison yard in my wheelchair," he wrote just two months before he was murdered in prison. "Good friends 'lifers' went out that way under blue sky."Uhlar did not share what she wrote in the letters to Bulger, which are presumably in the possession of his surviving family members. "I get some strange mail at times—a grandmother from Kansas—hates Trump wants him 'impeached'," he wrote. "She assumes I hate him? Why Because I'm in prison?"Shortly after the two started corresponding, Uhlar's son Josiah died of a drug overdose, to which Bulger showed his softer side. "I'm glad your family are there for you, Janet," he wrote in January 2015. "I'm sure Josiah would want you to understand he loved you and in desperation wanted to have a period free of pain."He also wrote fondly of his long-time girlfriend Catherine Grieg, who is to be released to a halfway house after being convicted of harboring a fugitive when she hid him while he was a fugitive. "My No. 1 interest is Catherine's health and freedom—hurts to see her here and stoic," Bulger wrote. "Catherine love of my life. We loved these beautiful creatures—had a humbling effect on me. Made me feel and in our 16 years on the run Catherine did for me what the police beatings, prisons couldn't—kept me Crime free for 16 years and Happiest of our lives."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Sri Lanka president sacks intelligence chief over Easter attacks probe Posted: 08 Jun 2019 01:30 AM PDT  Sri Lanka's president has sacked the national intelligence chief and will not cooperate with a parliamentary investigation into security lapses before the Easter suicide bombings, officials said Saturday. Maithripala Sirisena summoned an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday night to oppose a parliamentary select committee probe into the April 21 attacks that killed 258 people, including 45 foreigners, and wounded nearly 500. Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis was sacked after testifying to the inquiry last week that the attacks could have been averted.
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| Missouri health officials seek answers on abortion clinic Posted: 07 Jun 2019 06:27 PM PDT ![Missouri health officials seek answers on abortion clinic]( "Missouri health officials seek answers on abortion clinic") The state Department of Health and Senior Services said a March health inspection of the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic "identified serious concerns, one of those involving the handling of fetal tissue extracted from abortions." The agency said that led it to investigate Boyce and Bynum Professional Services, which handles fetal tissue from abortions at Planned Parenthood. The agency declined to provide additional details about allegations that some women remained pregnant after receiving abortions at Planned Parenthood and did not specify how many instances it reviewed, citing the ongoing investigation.
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| Tory Prime Minister Candidate ‘Deeply Regrets’ Cocaine Use Posted: 08 Jun 2019 04:58 AM PDT  Days before Conservative members of parliament open nominations for candidates to be their new leader, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he used the Class A drug on several occasions when he was working as a journalist. The revelations emerged in a Gove biography by the journalist Owen Bennett due to be published next month, and were subsequently confirmed by the Daily Mail newspaper. The 51-year-old is the second favorite to replace May and one of the figureheads of the leave campaign, while Boris Johnson remains the front-runner, according to OddsMonkey.
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| Factbox: How will Britain's Conservative Party choose PM May's successor? Posted: 09 Jun 2019 04:28 AM PDT  Britain's ruling Conservative Party will decide the country's next prime minister in late July in a contest that will bring in a new leader who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union. Theresa May resigned as the party's leader on Friday, having failed to deliver Brexit on schedule or find a way to get parliament to approve her exit plan. Candidates putting themselves forward for the leadership must be backed by eight other Conservative lawmakers.
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| 10 deals you don’t want to miss on Saturday: $20 off PlayStation Plus, $26 headphones, $17 Wi-Fi extender, more Posted: 08 Jun 2019 04:27 AM PDT ![10 deals you don't want to miss on Saturday: $20 off PlayStation Plus, $26 headphones, $17 Wi-Fi extender, more]( "10 deals you don't want to miss on Saturday: $20 off PlayStation Plus, $26 headphones, $17 Wi-Fi extender, more") Welcome to another special weekend edition of our daily deals roundups. Highlights from Saturday's list include the return of a Black Friday sale that shaves $20 off 12-month PlayStation Plus codes (they're stackable so you can buy several and add multiple years to your balanace!), hot new true wireless earbuds for just $26.39 when you use the coupon code BGRSPTFP at checkout, the best-selling Wi-Fi range extender on Amazon for just $16.99, $50 off Bose's awesome compact sound bar, the lowest price ever on the Ring Video Doorbell 2, $5 off Fire TV Sticks, $20 off Echo Dots, $14 off AirPods 2, soft white LED light bulbs for just $1 a piece, a massive 50% discount on a top Blendtec blender, and more. Check out all of today's top deals below.
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| Queens Woman Says She Was Sickened at Dominican Republic Resort Where American Tourists Died Posted: 07 Jun 2019 08:25 PM PDT  A New York woman says she was poisoned at the same Dominican Republic resort where three American tourists died.
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| This 100 Year Old Gun Ages Like Fine Wine: Best 1911s for 2019 Posted: 08 Jun 2019 09:00 AM PDT  The 1911 is the most ubiquitous and recognizable handgun in existence today.You've seen the 1911 in hundreds of movies, and it's probably the first gun that comes to mind when you think of a pistol.Before we take a look at our top picks for cheap 1911s, let's explore the history of this iconic gun.HISTORY OF THE 1911The 1911 pistol is an American icon. It has been in the the hands of 5 generations and its popularity is still rising. This pistol has become synonymous with power, durability and the American military.Military and law enforcement quickly adopted the original design by John Moses Browning (JMB) as a sidearm. The high versatility of the perfect and straightforward design of the gun made it appropriate for different purposes from self-defense to hunting, target-shooting or competitions.At the end of the 1800's, there was a huge demand for a more reliable gun, a self-loading pistol.The standard back then was the .38 Long Colt, but a more reliable .45 was required. This was exactly what JMB had in mind when he crafted the semi-automatic pistol that would pass the most rigorous US military tests.Simulations included shooting the gun after it has been thrown in mud, submerged in acid or loaded with deformed cartridges. Over 6000 test rounds were performed at the time on this piece of metal, which was the only one to emerge from the competition with other notable brands such as Smith & Wesson and Savage.
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| Trump is avoiding a crisis of his own making with US-Mexico migrant deal, critics say Posted: 08 Jun 2019 03:09 PM PDT  Critics say Trump's deal with Mexico over migrants avoided a political crisis of his own making – one that could have wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy and sparked a political revolt from within his own party.
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| Stonewall 50: Don’t Forget the Black & Brown LGBTQ Struggle Posted: 07 Jun 2019 08:22 PM PDT  CarlosDavid.orgOn June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village became a major catalyst in the movement for LGBTQ rights. Transgender activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were among the boldest and most outspoken leaders who stood up against the ongoing police brutality and harassment that plagued the now landmark gay bar for months. Wilson Cruz on Stonewall 50: 'I Am Inspired by All the LGBTQ People of Color Who Ignited the Revolution'The actions that occurred that night at Stonewall weren't a protest, but a riot—violent, disruptive, and purposely resistant. The LGBTQ community had enough of the state-sanctioned discrimination and abuse. Blood was shed, fighting ensued, arrests were made—the police were not there to protect and serve, but to persecute and torture. Johnson, who was celebrating her 25th birthday that night, was the first to resist, followed by Rivera who threw one of the first bottles at the oppressive police. The revolution sent shockwaves across the nation as many other cities began to stand up and fight back against LGBTQ inequality. Fifty years later, we owe our current progress to these two fearless black and brown transgender women who risked their lives in the fight for LGBTQ liberation. Today, we have marriage equality, a gay candidate running for president, mainstream media representation, and Congress just recently pushing to pass the Equality Act—a law that would extend civil rights and protections to all LGBTQ Americans nationwide. On Thursday, NYC Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill made an unprecedented apology on behalf of the Police Department for the conduct of the officers during Stonewall. "The actions taken by NYPD were wrong—plain and simple," O'Neill said during a Pride event at police headquarters. His remarks were a long overdue apology for a major gross abuse of police force.Despite the diverse leadership it initially took for the movement to advance, many of the achievements since have benefited the most privileged within our community: white cisgender gay men. Browse through any disparity study on LGBTQ people, and black members of the community are often hit the hardest. Despite the public awareness of these setbacks, black and brown queer people continue to be underrepresented in LGBTQ leadership, media, and visibility. LGBT pioneer Sylvia Rivera leads an ACT-UP march past New York's Union Square Park, June 26, 1994.Justin Sutcliffe/APAnd while many had hoped for racial harmony within the LGBTQ community, I've learned first-hand that we still have a long way to go. As the former LGBTQ editor for Philadelphia magazine, I've spent the past three years covering racial discrimination in our own rainbow flag-waving backyard. From gay bar owners insulting black patrons with racial slurs, to white-led LGBTQ nonprofits being protested against by diverse community members, I've come to recognize that the fight for diversity and inclusion is not just happening outside of the LGBTQ community, but within it. But this is nothing new. History has already shown us that black queer and transgender people have always had to remind the rest of the community of our prominence—despite the fact that the movement was co-led by us since the beginning. While many people rightfully praise the late gay political icon Harvey Milk, our community doesn't give as much respect to civil rights legend Bayard Rustin. Rustin, a black gay activist who openly embraced both his identities at a time when they were being federally marginalized, took on some tough battles. Throughout the 1940s until his death in 1987, Rustin was a steadfast revolutionary who was intersectional and strategic. He led the effort to get the historic 1963 March on Washington off the ground and advocated for equal legal protections for LGBTQ people before it was popular. "The only final security for all is to provide equal protection for every group under the law," Rustin said while testifying before the General Welfare Committee of New York City Council in 1986.But Rustin was only one of several black LGBTQ activists who were ahead of their time. The Combahee River Collective Statement, formulated by a group of black queer women in 1974, was a groundbreaking manifesto that reshaped the way we now discuss feminism and intersectionality.Co-founded by acclaimed black lesbian activist Barbara Smith, the Combahee River Collective gave a voice to black queer women at a time when they were excluded from mainstream movements. Some of the intersectional values expressed by this trailblazing group can be seen in many movements today, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, whose founding leadership include black queer women.Such activism wasn't just projected in policy and direct action, but through pop culture. The legendary James Baldwin and Alice Walker weren't the only black queer writers who spoke truth to power—the 1986 anthology In the Life, edited by Joseph Beam, also redefined how we saw ourselves as well. At 27 years old, it never really dawned on me how much black queer culture has been highly consumed by society at large until I watched the groundbreaking 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning which spotlighted the immersive and deep history of New York City's black queer ballroom drag scene. While many now freely use the colloquial phrases "throwing shade," "read you for filth," and "spill the tea," it was impoverished black queer and transgender drag performers who originated those terms decades ago while facing a HIV/AIDS epidemic that still hasn't gotten better for people like them. Fast-forward to now, and we're still talking about the ballroom scene's impact through the new hit show Pose on FX that includes a remarkable amount of diverse LGBTQ actors, writers, producers, and directors. Films such as the Oscar-winning film Moonlight, books such as Charles Blow's Fire Shut Up In My Bones, and the rise of black LGBTQ voices from public figures such as Billy Porter, Lena Waithe, Roxane Gay, Janet Mock, Janelle Monáe, Laverne Cox, Sharron Cooks, Raquel Willis, Tre'vell Anderson, Don Lemon, and other countless activists and entertainers, give me hope. But again, we still have a long way to go. Right now, LGBTQ progress is being threatened under the presidency of Donald Trump. We have already witnessed ongoing federal setbacks to policies impacting the transgender community and those living with HIV. The unaddressed racial pitfalls that have unfairly crippled black and brown LGBTQ people have made matters worse in the very safe spaces we should be considering home.It hurts to see the lack of diversity and the erasure of black queer and transgender revolutionaries during Pride month, and to see companies that still lack our visibility in their offices take up space in our parades. Pride wouldn't exist without the work of black and brown LGBTQ activists who risked their lives and reputations on behalf of a community that haven't paid their proper respects. As we move into the next 50 years, let's not continue to ignore and silence the accomplishments of black and brown LGBTQ community members. Give them a seat at the table and a mic at the podium. Pay them in equity and access, not tokenization and exploitation. It can't be a true Pride celebration until we are all free. This is what Marsha P. Johnson would have wanted because she once said so herself: "As long as gay people don't have their rights all across America, there's no reason for celebration."This Pride season, it's time to put the rainbow flags and cocktails down and put our fists back up. The revolution is still not over; there's plenty of work to be done.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| This Lifted Honda Civic Type R Is a Rally Fantasy Come to Life Posted: 09 Jun 2019 07:00 AM PDT  Everything's better with big flares and all-terrain tires.
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| Biden flips his stance on the Hyde Amendment Posted: 08 Jun 2019 10:40 AM PDT  Democratic strategists Robin Biro and Max Burns weigh in on the impact Joe Biden's flip on the Hyde Amendment will have on his presidential campaign.
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| US mayor apologises for saying LGBT+ people and abortion rights campaigners should be killed Posted: 09 Jun 2019 02:03 AM PDT  A US mayor has been forced to apologise amid calls for his resignation after suggesting "killing out" gay people, abortion campaigners and "socialists".In a since-deleted post on Facebook, Mark Chambers, who is mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama, said killing off minority groups would be necessary in a coming "revolution"."We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby-killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics," the mayor posted on Facebook.Mr Chambers has been its mayor since 2004 in the town in the north west of Alabama. Despite Carbon Hill having just 2,000 residents, the public post attracted a much wider backlash.This was enflamed further when one of Mr Chambers' friends on the site responded, saying: "Society is giving the minority more rights than the majority."I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution."In a reply the mayor said: "The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it's bad to say but without killing them out there's no way to fix it."Mr Chambers initially denied that he had been responsible for the post when challenged on it by local news channel WBRC-TV, claiming it had been written by someone else.However he subsequently posted an apology to his Facebook page, which is no longer publicly available."I and I alone am responsible for the comment that was made," Mr Chambers wrote."Although I believe my comment was taken out of context and was not targeting the LGTBQ community, I know that it was wrong to say anyone should be killed."I am truly sorry that I have embarrassed our city, I love this city and while in office I have done everything in my power to make this a better place for our families."Responding to the story, the National Centre for Transgender Equality highlighted the case of Dana Martin, a trans woman in nearby Montgomery who was the first trans person murdered in 2019.Alabama also has some of the strictest abortion legislation in the country. A bill passed in May outlawed the procedure even in the case of rape.Mr Chambers was reportedly asked to resign by at least one member of a subsequent town council meeting. However, other city leaders said they supported the mayor, who hired the town's first black police chief and raised budgets in his time in office.Since taking office Donald Trump has regularly championed the idea that white, working class Americans are losing out as a result of migration or equality measures aimed at helping marginalised groups.International Pride month, in June, has started with controversy over te US banning its embassies from flying the LGBT+ pride flag.
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| Venezuela's Maduro says border with Colombia to reopen Posted: 07 Jun 2019 11:06 PM PDT  Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Friday ordered the reopening of the country's border with Colombia in western Tachira state, near where international aid refused by Caracas has amassed. The economically-devastated South American nation is suffering from shortages of food, medicine and other essentials amid a power struggle between Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries including the United States.
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| Puerto Rican Day Parade honors arts, culture trailblazers Posted: 09 Jun 2019 12:10 PM PDT  With Puerto Rican pride on full display along New York City's Fifth Avenue, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday he's returning to the island to help rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria. Speaking at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Cuomo said he's also appointing a commission to oversee the construction of a memorial, located in Manhattan's Battery Park City, to victims of the 2017 storm. Cuomo, a Democrat, said more than 300 students from state-run colleges will travel to Puerto Rico over the summer to help the recovery.
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| Turkey says it has 'neutralized' 43 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq Posted: 08 Jun 2019 02:03 AM PDT ![Turkey says it has 'neutralized' 43 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq]( "Turkey says it has 'neutralized' 43 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq") Turkey's Defence Ministry said on Saturday a total of 43 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been "neutralized" as part of an operation Ankara launched in northern Iraq 13 days ago. The Turkish military launched what it dubbed "Operation Claw" in northern Iraq's Hakurk region on June 27 with artillery and air strikes followed by operations by commando brigades. The PKK militant group is based in northern Iraq, notably in the Qandil region to the south of Hakurk.
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| See This Missile? It Might be the Navy's Most Crucial Weapon in Years Posted: 09 Jun 2019 02:12 AM PDT  The open-versus-closed seeker dichotomy explains why the Navy uses closed-seeker SM-2s and SM-6s for interceptions in the atmosphere, and special, open-seeker SM-3s for interceptions above the atmosphere. Modifying an SM-6 to hit ballistic missiles in space pretty much would make it an SM-3.The U.S. Navy in late January 2019 confirmed the designation of its newest cruise missile, in the process clarifying its long-term plan for arming its growing fleet of warships.The plan heavily leans on one missile, in particular. It's the SM-6, an anti-aircraft weapon that quickly is evolving to perform almost every role the Navy assigns to a missile.(This first appeared earlier in the year.)The Navy dubbed the newest version of the venerable Tomahawk cruise missile the "Block V" model, Jane's reported. There are two separate variants of the Block V missile, one with an anti-ship warhead and another with a warhead the Navy optimized for striking targets on land.Raytheon's Tomahawk has been the subject of controversy in Washington, D.C. In order to save money the Obama administration wanted to pause production of the long-range missile, which since the 1980s has been the Navy's main weapon for striking land targets from the sea.
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| Asteroid nearly the width of a football field has small chance of hitting Earth this year Posted: 09 Jun 2019 11:11 AM PDT ![Asteroid nearly the width of a football field has small chance of hitting Earth this year]( "Asteroid nearly the width of a football field has small chance of hitting Earth this year") An asteroid called 2006 QV89, which has a diameter slightly smaller than the width of a football field, is set to pass by Earth in September.
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| Fear, anger as border guards tighten net in southern Mexico Posted: 09 Jun 2019 12:40 AM PDT  Sitting inside a truck at a checkpoint near Mexico's southern border, a soldier is scrolling through images on a screen, looking for human forms hidden in cargo vehicles. The scanning equipment delivering the images to his computer is part of Mexico's new bid to stop undocumented migrants and human traffickers. It is a crackdown that is about to get stronger, under the deal the Mexican government struck Friday with the United States to avoid President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs.
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| Xbox E3 live stream: Watch the Xbox E3 2019 press conference live right here Posted: 09 Jun 2019 12:00 PM PDT  With Sony sitting E3 out for the first time this year, Microsoft has the opportunity to dictate the narrative of the show. This is, by default, the biggest press conference of E3 2019, and the Xbox team is expected to take full advantage of that with game reveals, discussion of next-generation consoles, and demos of new technology.The Xbox E3 2019 Briefing begins on Sunday, June 9th at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, and although you can get free stuff by watching on Mixer, we've also embedded the stream at the top of the post. Microsoft will also be hosting a special E3 2019 edition of Inside Xbox, so be sure to tune back in on Monday to see more games in action.Recent leaks and reports have suggested that much of the briefing will focus on Microsoft's xCloud technology, which is nearly ready for primetime. Microsoft has already said that public trials of xCloud -- which will allow gamers to play Xbox One games on phones, tablets, and other devices -- will begin in 2019, so in addition to a live demo of xCloud running on multiple devices, we might also get an official start date for the trials.We should also see a bunch of first-party Xbox One titles, including Halo Infinite, which Microsoft slyly revealed at E3 last year without actually showing off any gameplay. Gears 5, Age of Empires, and possibly the rumored Fable reboot should all make an appearance as well, as should several triple-A third-party games.Finally, it seems inevitable that Microsoft will now at least begin to talk about its next-generation hardware. We don't expect a full reveal until 2020, but now that Sony has let the cat out of the bag when it comes to the next PlayStation console, it would be surprising if Microsoft didn't follow suit on stage today.
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| Boeing's 'New' AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter Might Just Be a 'Re-Run' Posted: 09 Jun 2019 12:44 PM PDT  The new Block II Compound would increase aircraft speed to 185 kts, increase payload to 5,900 pounds hover-out of ground effect (HOGE) on takeoff, and increase the range to 460 nm.Boeing has released concept footage of a high-speed Apache attack helicopter during the Vertical Flight Society's 75th Annual Forum & Technology Display- and it looks awfully familiar.(This first appeared last month.)Known as the Advanced AH-64 Block 2 Compound, the concept will serve as an interim solution in the U.S. Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.Interestingly enough, the high-tech mode doesn't seem so high-tech, when one looks back at the AH-56 Cheyenne, which first flew in 1967.Derived from the Army's Advanced Aerial Fire Support System program, which ultimately ended in only ten being built.Advanced before its time, the Cheyenne was an impressive helicopter that was limited only by the technology of the era.While the AH-64 Apache technology partially came from the Cheyenne, the development has seemingly come full-circle. In addition to powerplant and control changes, the weapons "wings" and 30mm chain gun have also undergone changes.With a rear-mounted pusher propeller, a large vertical fin and a new engine exhaust setup, the new Block 2 Compounds are rather futuristic.According to Defence Blog, Boeing is dead set on keeping the Apache fleet "capable on the highly complex multi-domain battlefield of the future through 2060."
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| Despite Trump Administration Request Denials, U.S. Embassies Are Displaying Pride Flags Around the World Posted: 09 Jun 2019 08:29 AM PDT  Trump's State Department has denied requests by U. S. embassies around the world to fly rainbow flags on embassy flagpoles
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| US carrier in Persian Gulf region sends clear signal to Iran Posted: 08 Jun 2019 12:32 PM PDT  Under a starry sky, U.S. Navy fighter jets catapulted off the aircraft carrier's deck and flew north over the darkened waters of the northern Arabian Sea, a unmistaken signal to Iran that the foremost symbol of the American military's global reach is back in its neighborhood, perhaps to stay. The USS Abraham Lincoln , with its contingent of Navy destroyers and cruisers and a fighting force of about 70 aircraft, is the centerpiece of the Pentagon's response to what it calls Iranian threats to attack U.S. forces or commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf region. In recent years, there has been no regular U.S. aircraft carrier presence in the Middle East.
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