| Schumer to Urge Trump to Reallocate $5 Billion in Border-Wall Money to Fight Gun Violence, White Supremacy Posted: 13 Aug 2019 05:28 AM PDT  Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is expected to formally petition President Trump to withdraw his request for $5 billion in border-wall funding and redirect the funds to combat "the dual scourges of gun violence and violent white supremacist extremism."Schumer will ask that Trump reallocate the border-wall funds funds, which he appropriated without congressional consent by declaring a national emergency, to programs such as the Department of Homeland Security counter-violent extremism programs, FBI domestic-terrorism investigations, and Centers for Disease Control gun-violence research, Politico reported on Monday."The dual scourges of gun violence and violent white supremacist extremism in this country are a national security threat plain and simple, and it's time the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress starting treating them as such," Schumer said in a statement provided to Politico. "Now Republicans and this administration need to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to addressing gun violence and stopping the rise of domestic terrorism, especially stemming from white supremacy. Democrats are prepared to work in a bipartisan fashion to respond to Director Wray's clarion call on a briefing call with Senate Democrats last week for additional resources to address this national security crisis on our own soil."The suspected gunman who killed 22 people at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart earlier this month specifically targeted Hispanic immigrants.While it remains highly unlikely that Trump will abandon his long-running effort to build a wall on the southern border, Schumer's request is intended to place public pressure on Republicans at a time of national outrage over the spate of mass shootings that shook the country two weekends ago.In his latest budget, Trump requested an additional $8.6 billion in border-wall funding, on top of the $5 billion that he appropriated from the Department of Homeland Security construction accounts and the $3.6 billion he secured in Pentagon assistance.
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| Canadian fugitives suspected in three murders died by suicide Posted: 12 Aug 2019 03:39 PM PDT  Two teenage murder suspects who led authorities on a 15-day manhunt across Canada died of apparent suicide by gunfire, a medical examiner has revealed. In a statement released on Monday afternoon, police said the autopsies confirmed that the bodies found near the Nelson River outside Gillam, Manitoba, last week belong to fugitives Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, and Kam McLeod, 19. Officials said two firearms were found with the teens. "The two died in what appears to be suicides by gunfire," federal police said in a statement. Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, wanted over the murders of an Australian man and his American girlfriend, as well as of a Canadian university professor, had led police on a cross-country manhunt. Initially, the pair were reported missing themselves after their car was found torched in British Columbia province, but police then discovered the third body, and the teens were named as formal suspects. Their remains were found in dense brush in the central province of Manitoba about eight kilometers (five miles) from a burned-out stolen vehicle belonging to one of the victims, discovered on July 22. It is unclear when exactly the pair died. However, police said there are "strong indications" that they had been alive for a few days since last being seen near the town of Gillam, Manitoba - which had sparked a massive police search of the area. Police are conducting a forensic analysis of two firearms located with the teens in order to confirm that they were used in the British Columbia murders.
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| 'Sorry for the inconvenience': Hong Kong protesters apologized to furious passengers after the city's airport was paralyzed for a second day Posted: 13 Aug 2019 08:51 AM PDT  Hong Kong protesters used carts to block departure gates, sending a message to the government and drawing attention to alleged police brutality.
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| Family sues Glenview nursing home over video of aides taunting woman, 91, with dementia; aides charged and fired Posted: 13 Aug 2019 07:27 AM PDT  Two nursing home aides in north suburban Glenview have been fired and charged after a Snapchat video showed them taunting a 91-year-old woman with dementia. Her family is now taking legal action.
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| How to Grill Pineapple for Tacos, Salsa, Sundaes, and More Posted: 12 Aug 2019 02:59 PM PDT |
| Charlottesville Survivor Blasts Terry McAuliffe’s ‘Ahistorical’ Book About Deadly Attack Posted: 13 Aug 2019 01:52 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyFormer Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's new book, Beyond Charlottesville, tries to tackle the issues of white supremacy that resulted in a deadly neo-Nazi rally in August 2017. But the book isn't a hit with everyone in its namesake city.Beyond Charlottesville centers on Unite the Right, the 2017 white supremacist rally where a neo-Nazi drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters, killing one. Two state troopers also died in a helicopter crash while monitoring the rally. Activists and independent investigators criticized the police response to the rally, claiming that miscommunications between a variety of police forces allowed the event to devolve into violence. McAuliffe's book omits context about the bureaucratic chaos—and at points is outright wrong, critics say."The book is about racism and white nationalism, the rise of it in the country," McAuliffe told The Daily Beast. "I talk about the issues we've had in Virginia. As I always say, horrible as Charlottesville was, the one benefit was it did rip off the scab on racism and we need to have a frank discussion."But some survivors of the Unite the Right car attack say McAuliffe's version of the story isn't completely frank. Some of those survivors have interrupted McAuliffe's book talks, including an event at D.C.'s Politics and Prose earlier this month."The story he's telling in Beyond Charlottesville is ahistorical. It's not accurate," Anna Malinowski, one of the protesters, told The Daily Beast.A report this week in Charlottesville's Daily Progress, the city's sole daily newspaper, highlighted some of the inaccuracies, from small factual errors, to larger issues of framing.In Beyond Charlottesville, McAuliffe says he "knew without a doubt that we'd done everything we could at the state level to prepare for Charlottesville, but obviously somewhere in the implementation and coordination, those plans went off the rails."But, as the Daily Progress noted, an official Charlottesville investigation revealed a high level of dysfunction at the local and state levels, including miscommunication between local and state police forces during the rally.The Progress also took issue with McAuliffe's explanation for why it took so long for state officials to declare a state of emergency. (McAuliffe wrote that he was waiting for the city to declare an unlawful assembly, which in fact they had declared during the previous night's torchlit march, and again on the rally's second day, in addition to a local state of emergency.). In the book, McAuliffe also describes calling Charlottesville's then-mayor Mike Signer and recommending he ban guns from the rally area, a move Signer could not legally make. Signer objected to elements of the book in his own op-ed for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "It's well-written and contains a powerful personal condemnation of white supremacy that deserves attention. However, it also contains errors and omissions," Signer wrote, accusing McAuliffe of shifting too much blame onto the city.The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia released a similar critique."Governor McAuliffe's book is yet another example of a politician's effort to pass the buck of responsibility when there was a clear failure of leadership," the ACLU of Virginia told the Progress in a statement. "The leaders had ineffective and uncoordinated plans for managing the protest."Survivors and investigators blamed some of the day's chaos on poor police coordination between too many agencies."They pretty much brought in the cavalry when they found out there would be a lot of white nationalists there. There were Virginia State Police, there were National Guard, there were city and county police," Malinowski, who narrowly avoided being hit by the car, said. "There was lots of fighting going on that was incited by the white supremacists, and the police basically did nothing either to prevent it or stop it while it was happening."At the D.C. protest this month, Malinowski and other protesters accused McAuliffe of "using black folks as political currency" and not paying attention to what they say are white supremacists in law enforcement.They also objected to McAuliffe's plan to donate some proceedings to the Virginia State Police Association. This last point is of particular contention between the former governor and the Charlottesville activists.At least one person at the D.C. protest chanted "cops and Klan go hand in hand," a slogan popular among some activists on the left. They mean some of the chant literally (a number of law enforcement officers have been found to have white supremacist ties) and some of it more figuratively, in the context of police brutality against people of color. (After Unite the Right, many Charlottesville locals turned an eye to stop-and-frisks by the city's police, which disproportionately affect minorities in the city.)McAuliffe's book also addresses structural racism. But he said the chant was beyond the pale."They call the KKK and the police the same thing and that, to me, is very disrespectful to all law enforcement," McAuliffe said. "Everybody had the same goal that day, and it was to keep everybody safe. But to call police the KKK is highly offensive, highly disrespectful."Malinowski and others said the money would be better spent on survivors, some of whom have struggled to pay medical bills, or to make rent after injuries from the car attack pushed them into unemployment. Matthew Christensen, who recently served as an advocate for victims of the attack, said the problem is the result of a complicated victim support system, which sees many survivors relying on a private victims' fund called Heal Charlottesville. "I have a Master's in social work," Christensen said. "Some of the bureaucracy we were working with was difficult for me. For anyone else, especially people dealing with trauma, it'd be exponentially more difficult."Survivors can technically apply for a state fund that compensates victims of crimes. But that system only pays out in cases of "last resort," and has redirected survivors to the Heal Charlottesville fund. As of June, the fund had expended all its funds, a spokesperson told The Daily Beast. Since the protests, McAuliffe said he would split the book's proceeds between the police association, the Heather Heyer Foundation (as originally planned), and the Heal Charlottesville Fund."I say to anybody: if you've got outstanding bills, all of us—the whole community, the whole state —ought to be involved in assisting," he said. "We reached out to a couple of the groups, which is somewhat surprising to me because the main one, [the administrators of the Heal Fund], said they have a surplus left and they have no claims in front of them."(The Heal Fund told The Daily Beast it does not have a surplus, although it has secured money for survivors' ongoing claims.)McAuliffe said his book was especially timely as President Donald Trump launches Twitter attacks against legislators of color. "It's a very opportune time to have this big discussion on where we go as a nation, because we are so split today as a country," he said. "The hatred and the racism and what's going on in the country today needs to be addressed and we need to have a conversation. We need elected officials to do something about it."Malinowski, meanwhile, said the book was too late."The only thing he should be saying is 'I messed up, I should have done more to protect these people,' and he's not saying that. He's trying to be the hero in his book."Editor's note: this story has been updated to clarify the recipients of McAuliffe's book proceeds.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Pakistan Urges UN Security Council to Meet on Kashmir Standoff Posted: 13 Aug 2019 02:33 PM PDT ![Pakistan Urges UN Security Council to Meet on Kashmir Standoff]( "Pakistan Urges UN Security Council to Meet on Kashmir Standoff") (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan called on the United Nations Security Council to convene an urgent meeting on India's decision to revoke autonomy for the disputed Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, a move it says could spark a new conflict between the two South Asian nuclear powers.India's recent actions "pose a threat to international peace and security, willfully undermine the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu & Kashmir," and violate the human rights of the Kashmiri people, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote in a letter Tuesday to the Security Council. There is a "clear and present danger" that India will provoke a conflict with Pakistan to divert attention from its recent actions, Qureshi said.Pakistan's always strained relations with its neighbor are being put to a new test after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended seven decades of autonomy for the disputed state of Kashmir. Kashmir, in the Himalayas, has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence from British rule, and is claimed by both.Modi's move gives India's central government control of the local police and allows Indians outside Kashmir to buy property there. Modi said it would usher in a new era of prosperity for Kashmiris.India has traditionally sought to keep its disputes with Pakistan away from international fora like the UN while Pakistan, asserting that India is violating international law, wants the world body to put the issue on the Security Council's agenda.To contact the reporter on this story: David Wainer in New York at dwainer3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry LiebertFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Devastating photos show the damage of Typhoon Lekima, which left at least 44 people dead and forced 1 million to evacuate in China Posted: 11 Aug 2019 09:55 PM PDT  A million people were evacuated from their homes and thousands of flights were cancelled across major airports in China.
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| Suspect in student death charged separately with child porn Posted: 13 Aug 2019 10:35 AM PDT  A tech worker accused of killing a Utah college student was charged Tuesday with 19 unrelated counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after investigators said they discovered child pornography on his computer. Ayoola Ajayi had images of children as young as 4, prosecutors said in charging documents. Investigators took the computer as part of the investigation into the death of 23-year-old University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck.
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| Airline leaves group of children as young as eight ‘unaccompanied overnight after flight delayed’ Posted: 13 Aug 2019 06:34 AM PDT  Hudson Hoyt was ecstatic for his first time at Camp New Friends.The 8-year-old, who lives in Beaverton, Oregon, flew east in early August for the camp's week-long summer program outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, specifically for children with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumours to grow on nerve tissue.It was a dream experience for Hudson - at least, until the return flight home via American Airlines, for which point Hudson's mother says he and eight other unaccompanied minors from the camp were temporarily stranded, deprived of food and met with conditions so poor it's made her son reluctant to fly again."I felt scared," Hudson, who suffers from anxiety, said in an interview with The Washington Post. "When the plane stopped moving, I was afraid I was never going to see my mum again."The first plane arrived late for a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to Hudson's mother, Kristie Hoyt, and the children were rushed to their Portland, Oregon, flight without stopping for food. But then the second plane was stalled by delays that were not communicated to the parents. First, fuel spilled on the tarmac. Then, she learned that the airline needed to find replacements for the pilot and co-pilot, who had worked too many hours.When Ms Hoyt asked for a direct phone number for someone with American Airlines who could keep her updated on the children's situation, the mother says she was denied. Updates came after a 12-year-old in the group called her and gave the phone to a flight attendant. The airline never reached out to her directly, she says, even though she was listed as the contact for two children on the trip.With their flight delayed until the next morning, the children's' problems worsened at the Charlotte airport. They stayed overnight in an unaccompanied-minor room, where some of the kids had to sleep on the floor because there were not enough beds and furniture, Ms Hoyt said. Hudson and his friends still hadn't eaten a full meal since breakfast at camp that morning, and the vending machines inside didn't work.Some of the children on the flight required medication with a full meal to prevent seizures and migraines, she says.Ms Hoyt detailed the saga in Facebook posts."American Airlines, how are you okay with leaving 9 unaccompanied children all with medical needs on a plane for over 5 hours and not giving their parents updates?" she wrote Friday night. "Or allowing the kids access to electricity to charge their phones to talk to their parents? You are disgraceful! And harming these children!"After their overnight stay at the airport, Hoyt says the children were rushed onto a plane at about 6am. The children did not receive breakfast aboard the plane as promised, she said, even when the takeoff time was delayed again because "the catering service wasn't delivered."The confusion came to a head when the kids arrived in Portland and the mother was asked to sign for a child who was not hers.In all, Ms Hoyt said the children went more than 24 hours without a full meal. In a 5am text from her son, which she later posted to Facebook, Hudson wrote: "[Our] plane has not take off yet I [have] not had lunch dinner or breakfast."After his adoption, Hudson has struggled with anxiety and abandonment issues, something his mother says they are working to overcome. She and other parents say they were never contacted by the airline, even though American Airlines' policy requires staffers to "call the contacts on the unaccompanied minor form" in the event of a delay or cancelled flight.Kelley Phillips, identified by KATU as another child on the plane, told the network she and her friends had "limited" access to the bathroom and were only provided with snacks."The only thing we had were crackers and soda, which isn't good because we need real food to be able to take our medication," she said.American Airlines issued a public statement of apology and attributed the overnight delay to a mechanical problem. It said the children were kept "safe and comfortable" in the care of airline personnel."Our team is in the process of reaching out to the families involved and sincerely apologises for this travel experience. We will be reviewing with our teams internally to understand how we can do better next time," the airline wrote.Hudson, she said, wants to go back to camp but now has trepidation about flying. After meeting with a counsellor Monday, however, they've narrowed that scope to American Airlines flights, specifically."We're just trying to work through the trauma of it," she said.The Washington Post
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| Chinese state media ups ante over Hong Kong 'mobsters' Posted: 12 Aug 2019 10:11 PM PDT  Chinese state media have ramped up the rhetoric against Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners, describing them on Tuesday as "mobsters", warning they must never be appeased and raising the spectre of mainland security forces intervening to quash them. On Monday, Beijing described unrest and clashes in Hong Kong -- which started as opposition to a proposed extradition law but morphed into calls for democratic reform -- as "terrorism emerging". Chinese state media has repeatedly issued harsh criticism of the protests, which are the biggest threat to Beijing's rule in the semi-autonomous city since the handover in 1997.
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| Tokyo urges caution for Japanese travelers to South Korea Posted: 13 Aug 2019 06:31 AM PDT  Tokyo issued a travel advisory to Japanese citizens visiting South Korea, ahead of crucial anniversaries this week, urging them to be cautious about safety as ties between the neighbours worsen over trade and historical issues. South Korea commemorates girls and women forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels on August 14 and marks August 15 as a national day of liberation from Japanese rule, which ran from 1910 to 1945. Japan's foreign ministry advised Japanese residents in South Korea and visitors to be careful and avoid areas in which Japan-related protests and gatherings are expected to be held on Wednesday and Thursday.
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| Ohio teen who had 10,000 ammo rounds arrested for threatening ‘every’ agent, FBI says Posted: 13 Aug 2019 10:26 AM PDT  An Ohio teen was arrested on Wednesday after making a number of threats to law enforcement online, officials say.
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| A Massachusetts man is the first person this year to be diagnosed with EEE, a rare mosquito-borne virus that can cause personality changes, paralysis, and death Posted: 12 Aug 2019 08:15 AM PDT  Eastern equine encephalitis has also been found in mosquitos in Florida, Delaware, and New York. It has no cure.
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| Prosecco Grapes, Kiwi Pops, and More Easy Fruit Desserts Posted: 13 Aug 2019 02:23 PM PDT |
| 'It's not right': 7-year-old boy shot to death in St. Louis Posted: 13 Aug 2019 11:48 AM PDT !['It's not right': 7-year-old boy shot to death in St. Louis]( "'It's not right': 7-year-old boy shot to death in St. Louis") Xavier Usanga was supposed to start second grade Tuesday. Instead, grief counselors were consoling his would-be classmates at Clay Elementary School, after the 7-year-old boy became the 11th child killed by gunfire in St. Louis since June. Xavier was shot Monday afternoon while standing near a teenager and two other children on the city's north side.
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| The blast that killed 5 Russian engineers was apparently caused by another failed test of Putin's doomsday missile Posted: 12 Aug 2019 02:26 PM PDT  Russia's account of a deadly explosion that rocked a missile test site last week has been changing. It looks to be part of testing a new missile.
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| Mexico march demands justice for girls allegedly raped by police Posted: 12 Aug 2019 05:12 PM PDT  Protesters in Mexico City demanded justice Monday for two teenage girls who say police officers raped them, dousing the capital's security minister in pink glitter and smashing the glass doors of the local prosecutor's office. Shouting "Justice!", around 250 people, mostly women, took to the streets to protest the lack of punishment in the two cases, the latest to trigger outrage over the high rate of violence against women and girls in Mexico.
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| Mexican former minister detained, deepening president's anti-graft quest Posted: 13 Aug 2019 05:53 AM PDT  A judge ordered a former Mexican Cabinet minister to be detained pending a trial over suspected losses to taxpayers, her lawyer said on Tuesday, opening a new front in President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's campaign to eradicate corruption. The detention of former social development minister Rosario Robles is likely to ramp up scrutiny of the administration of Lopez Obrador's predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, whose 2012-2018 presidency was plagued by graft scandals. Lopez Obrador has made rooting out corruption the cornerstone of his career, though he took office in December saying he did not want to rake through the past.
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| India warns China to stay out of Kashmir dispute as crisis intensifies Posted: 12 Aug 2019 03:15 AM PDT  India has issued a warning to China to stay out of the dispute over Kashmir's status, after Pakistan said it would take the issue to the United Nations Security Council with the support of Beijing. The remarks by the Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, came after his Pakistani counterpart visited China in a bid to seek allies for a UN resolution against New Delhi for revoking Kashmir's autonomy. Mr Jaishankar flew to Beijing himself to meet China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, saying at the talks that "the two nations should ensure that it was important that differences between us, if any, should not become disputes". China's foreign ministry said in a statement later that it had taken a "principled" stand on "unilateral" actions by India, and had urged New Delhi to play a constructive role in regional peace and stability. But India's Ministry of External Affairs bluntly said decisions on Kashmir were "an internal matter concerning the territory of India". "India does not comment on the internal affairs of other countries and similarly expects other countries to do likewise," the ministry added. Kashmir China has described India's revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, in place since Partition in 1947, as "unacceptable" and a threat to its territorial sovereignty. As well as the dispute between India and Pakistan, China also claims a strip of Kashmir, Aksai Chin. Following Friday's meeting between Mr Wang and the Pakistani foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Chinese diplomat expressed grave concern about the situation in Kashmir, the cause of two wars between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Mr Wang had assured Mr Qureshi that Beijing would continue to support Pakistan to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, his ministry said in a statement. Kashmir itself on Monday remained under a communications blackout and a police curfew, with information still difficult to come by or verify. The Indian government said it was easing restrictions yesterday, and that the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha had been observed largely peacefully. It also condemned as "irresponsible" a series of tweets by Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, which likened the Indian government to "Nazis" and "fascists". The row spilled over into a Los Angeles beauty event, where former Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was accused of "encouraging nuclear war" over an Instagram caption in which she wrote "Jai Hind", meaning "victory to India" and included the hashtag IndianArmedForces. Referring to the post from February, an audience member at a beauty panel told Chopra: "You are a Unicef ambassador for peace and you're encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan. There's no winner in this." Chopra said: "War is not something that I'm really fond of, but I am patriotic." The woman, who named herself on Twitter as Ayesha Malik, was handed the microphone during the Q&A; portion of a BeautyCon panel featuring Chopra. The exchange was caught on camera. Ms Malik said: "It was kind of hard hearing you talk about humanity, because as your neighbour, a Pakistani, I know you're a bit of a hypocrite." The actress, a Unicef ambassador, was accused of fuelling tensions with a tweet backing Indian armed forces and exclaiming "Jai Hind" (Victory to India) Credit: John Sciulli/Getty Ms Malik added: "As a Pakistani, millions of people like me have supported you in your business of Bollywood." Staff then grabbed the microphone away. Chopra, who is married to US pop star Nick Jonas, replied: "I hear you. Whenever you're done venting. Got it? Done? Okay, cool." The 37-year-old said "war is not something that I'm really fond of, but I am patriotic", adding "but I think that all of us have a sort of middle ground that we all have to walk". She added: "The way you came at me right now, girl, don't yell. We're all here for love. Don't yell. Don't embarrass yourself."
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| 4-year-old dies after accidentally dousing herself with boiling water, Texas cops say Posted: 13 Aug 2019 07:44 AM PDT  A child is dead and a woman has been arrested after a tragic accident in Texas on Saturday.
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| Bill Cosby's appeal to review handling of #MeToo case Posted: 12 Aug 2019 06:49 PM PDT  Bill Cosby's defense team argued Monday that the judge made an error by allowing five other accusers to testify during last year's trial.
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| Hong Kong Leader Defends Police, Dodges Questions and Chokes Up in Press Briefing Posted: 12 Aug 2019 08:36 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's embattled leader warned that the Asian financial center risked sliding into "an abyss," in a contentious news conference in which she continued to sidestep key questions about the government's response to weeks of unrest.Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday repeated her defense of the police's use of tear gas against protesters in residential areas and a train station, saying she wouldn't question law enforcement tactics. She didn't answer repeated shouted questions about whether she should step down or formally withdraw the extradition legislation that prompted the sometimes violent protests that have scared away tourists, disrupted commutes and briefly shut down the city's main airport Monday.Instead, Lam appeared to choke up when cautioning Hong Kong against the risk of "critical injury." "I again call on everyone to set aside prejudices, and be calm to look at the city, our home, do we really want to push it into an abyss?" she said.Lam has offered increasingly dire warnings in her few public appearances, saying last week that "some are trying to ruin Hong Kong and completely destroy the livelihood of seven million citizens."Follow the latest on Hong Kong's unrestThe latest news conference ahead of Lam's weekly meeting with top advisers illustrated the frustration building on the local government as it struggles to quiet the unrest. Lam has offered no concessions since declaring the extradition bill dead a month ago, while her superiors in Beijing demand an end to the protests before addressing any underlying grievances.While China guaranteed Hong Kong a "high degree of autonomy" after regaining control over the former British colony in 1997, the central government has taken an increasingly hands-on approach in recent weeks. A spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing told a briefing Monday -- the agency's third in as many weeks -- that the protests showed signs of "terrorism."Lam, who was repeatedly interrupted by reporters as she spoke Tuesday, said that it would be her responsibility to rebuild Hong Kong's economy and address the people's concerns after the unrest. She said that police continued to use "the lowest level of force" when asked about the use of tear gas.Reporters continued to shout questions as she left. Someone in the gaggle asked whether she still had a conscience.To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Tan in Hong Kong at ztan39@bloomberg.net;Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| General orders ethics review of US special operations forces Posted: 12 Aug 2019 02:20 PM PDT ![General orders ethics review of US special operations forces]( "General orders ethics review of US special operations forces") The head of U.S. Special Operations Command has ordered an ethics review of his commando forces, in the wake of a number of recent incidents of bad behavior and criminal allegations against troops. Army Gen. Richard Clarke said that "recent incidents have called our culture and ethics into question and threaten the trust placed in us." And, he said the review will focus on how the command recruits special operators, how it educates and trains the force and how it addresses ethical failures when they occur. Ken McGraw, a spokesman for Special Operations Command, said Monday that Clarke ordered the review last Friday and expects it will be complete by the end of November.
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| 'The saddest dive of my life': A diver's before-and-after photos reveal the death of a coral reef Posted: 13 Aug 2019 06:02 AM PDT  As our planet and its oceans warm, coral reefs worldwide are experiencing bleaching — when the corals expel their food source and turn ghostly white.
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| Norway mosque "terror attack" suspect remanded in custody Posted: 12 Aug 2019 10:20 AM PDT  A Norwegian man suspected of killing his stepsister and opening fire in a mosque near Oslo this weekend was remanded in custody Monday, suspected of murder, and a "terrorist act" that police say he filmed himself. The man, identified as 21-year old Philip Manshaus, appeared in the Oslo court with two black eyes and scrapes and bruises on his face, neck and hands, probably obtained when he was overpowered at the mosque. The Norway incident comes amid a rise in white supremacy attacks around the world.
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| Muslim pilgrims pray in Mecca as haj winds down without incident Posted: 13 Aug 2019 11:22 AM PDT ![Muslim pilgrims pray in Mecca as haj winds down without incident]( "Muslim pilgrims pray in Mecca as haj winds down without incident") Millions of haj pilgrims began heading back to Mecca for final prayers on Tuesday as the world's largest annual gathering of Muslims wound down without incident despite the logistical challenges and escalating regional tensions. Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, and its organisation of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims participated in a symbolic stoning of the devil, part of the haj rituals, in Jamarat before returning to Mecca, where the Grand Mosque filled with worshippers preparing to depart.
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| Make it simple, Democrats: How to tell the Trump impeachment story and speed it up, too Posted: 13 Aug 2019 01:00 AM PDT  Centralize and simplify the impeachment narrative. Show how Trump's abuses relate to each other and how they started on the day he took his oath.
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| United Airlines passenger accused of placing camera in first-class bathroom Posted: 12 Aug 2019 06:17 AM PDT  The FBI has accused a man of placing a camera in the first-class bathroom of a United Airlines flight earlier this year from San Diego to Houston.
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| These Bosnian refugees came to Charlotte 20 years ago. Why doesn’t it feel like home? Posted: 13 Aug 2019 10:35 AM PDT  When Almedina Suljicic Ijaz had her son a year ago, sadness almost overcame her joy. In that moment, she couldn't help but think of the mothers in Srebrenica, a small town in Ijaz's home country of Bosnia in eastern Europe. The Srebrenica massacre was 24 years ago, but it's still not easy to talk about.
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| Watch a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot crash into a parked truck and burst into flames Posted: 12 Aug 2019 06:03 PM PDT  A Tesla Model 3 burst into flames over the weekend after crashing into a tow truck parked on a highway shoulder. The incident occurred in Moscow and the driver -- named Alexei Tretyakov -- noted that the car was on Autopilot at the time of the crash. Incidentally, Tretyakov made a point of noting that his hands were on the steering wheel at the time, per Tesla's guidelines. As to the specifics of the crash, Tretyakov said he was driving at about 60 miles per hour when he abruptly collided with a tow truck that had escaped his line of sight for some reason. Shortly thereafter, the Tesla caught fire with the flames ultimately destroying the car entirely. Incidentally, there were also two explosions that rattled the car following the accident. At the time of the incident, Tretyakov was in the car with his family. Thankfully, Tretyakov managed to escape with only a broken leg while the rest of his family -- which included two children in the back -- managed to escape with just a few minor bruises. The collision itself was captured on video and can be seen below. If you watch closely, you'll note that the Model 3 didn't veer to the left or do anything unusual. If anything, the Model 3 was exactly in the middle of the lane as it approached a tow truck that was jutting out from the shoulder of the road into the highway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZUB5jvffo A more detailed video of the aftermath, along with the resulting fire and explosion, can be seen below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reTFVSlXTfA Another angle of the incident, along with the aftermath of the fire, can be seen via the video below. https://youtu.be/usHzST-tw40
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| Iran Says It Expects Tanker Held by U.K. to Be Released Soon Posted: 13 Aug 2019 08:24 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Iran expects an oil tanker seized by the U.K. in the Strait of Gibraltar in July will be released soon, the semi-official Fars News agency reported Tuesday, a move that could help to ease concerns about the safety of shipping routes in the Middle East."Official and unofficial documents have been exchanged to resolve the matter and we hope the problem will be dealt with in the very near future," Fars cited Jalil Eslami, deputy for maritime affairs at Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization, as saying. The future of a U.K.-flagged tanker that Iran seized later in the Persian Gulf depends on "the necessary judicial processes," Eslami added.Iran's Grace 1 tanker was seized by the Royal Navy on suspicion it was sending crude oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Tehran denied breaking sanctions and two weeks later impounded the U.K.-flagged Stena Impero near the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important chokepoint for oil.Gibraltar's Supreme Court is scheduled to hold its next hearing on the vessel on Thursday, according to the official Gibraltar news service in Spain. The current detention order for the ship expires late on Saturday, local media reported. A spokesperson for the U.K. Foreign Office said that the "ongoing investigation" into the Grace 1 was a matter for Gibraltar authorities. The tanker seizures and other suspected Iranian operations against shipping in the Persian Gulf region have inflamed a crisis between Iran and the West triggered by the Trump administration's decision to quit the multiparty nuclear deal with Iran a year ago and renew crippling economic sanctions. Iran has responded by abandoning some restrictions on uranium enrichment imposed by the 2015 accord.The frictions on the seas have led the U.S. and U.K. to mount a joint mission to protect commercial shipping lanes in the Middle East. Reports of Israeli involvement in that mission have drawn fire from Tehran, and on Tuesday, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corp's naval forces warned against "any illegal presence in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, especially Israel's.""We in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps are in charge of providing security for the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, and there is no need for strangers," Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said, according to the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency.Last week, Israel's Ynet website reported that Israel is providing intelligence and other, unspecified assistance to U.S.-led efforts to protect Persian Gulf shipping routes. It cited Foreign Minister Israel Katz's remarks to parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee.Israel considers Iran to be its most formidable enemy, due to its nuclear work, ballistic missile program and support for anti-Israel militant groups in the Middle East. Iranian officials have also referred multiple times to Israel's annihilation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied hard against the nuclear deal, and pressed President Donald Trump to abandon it.Israel has been striking Iranian targets in Syria over the past few years in an effort to limit the Islamic Republic's presence in its immediate neighborhood, and according to recent reports, has expanded those operations to hit Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.(Updates with Thursday hearing at Gibraltar court in fourth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Alex Morales and Charles Penty.To contact the reporter on this story: Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Mark WilliamsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| President of Honduras says he faces no US criminal charges Posted: 13 Aug 2019 03:45 PM PDT  Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández offered assurances Tuesday that he faces no criminal charges in the United States and said recent allegations by U.S. federal prosecutors were based on drug traffickers trying to take revenge against him. Hernández came to Washington only days after prosecutors accused him of essentially running a narco-state and of having received campaign contributions from cocaine traffickers in exchange for protection. "That is an allegation from a drug trafficker in a separate trial," Hernández replied when The Associated Press asked him whether he faces formal charges in the United States.
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| UK baby loses all 4 limbs following horrific sepsis infection Posted: 13 Aug 2019 06:53 AM PDT  UK mom warning to other parents after her 11-month-old son loses his limbs to sepsis infection.
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| Mueller fallout continues as Greg Craig trial opens Posted: 12 Aug 2019 02:07 AM PDT  The trial's focus on the art of spinning journalists may fuel existing suspicion in some quarters that the Washington press corps, policymakers and advocates are too intimate.
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| Egyptian tycoon and Mubarak ally Hussein Salem dies Posted: 13 Aug 2019 01:50 PM PDT ![Egyptian tycoon and Mubarak ally Hussein Salem dies]( "Egyptian tycoon and Mubarak ally Hussein Salem dies") Hussein Salem, one of Egypt's most prominent businessmen and an ally of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, died in Spain on Tuesday, his niece and state media said. Salem was arrested in 2011 under an international warrant in Spain, where he fled in the aftermath of the 18-day popular uprising that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule. In 2016, Salem, who also holds Spanish citizenship, struck a deal to allow him and his family to return to Egypt without facing prosecution in return for giving up 75 percent of their wealth.
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| Biden calls for reinstating assault weapons ban, buyback program Posted: 12 Aug 2019 07:53 AM PDT  Former vice president Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, called on Monday for reinstating a ban on assault weapons and including a buyback program to get them off the streets. In a column in The New York Times, Biden also called for stricter background checks for gun buyers and greater use of "smart-gun technology" that allows a weapon only to be fired by its authorized owner. "We have a huge problem with guns," Biden said in the article published about a week after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, left 31 people dead.
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| Inventive Butternut Squash Recipes, From Stuffing to Soup Posted: 12 Aug 2019 07:21 PM PDT |
| Sun City woman attacked by alligator Monday night while walking her dog Posted: 13 Aug 2019 07:51 AM PDT  The gator bit her on the leg and wrist, according to SCDNR.
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| Massachusetts judge allowed to keep $181K salary amid federal charges for obstructing ICE Posted: 13 Aug 2019 01:34 PM PDT  In a reversal, a Massachusetts judge indicted for allowing an undocumented immigrant to evade ICE will be able to keep her $181,328 annual salary.
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| Scaramucci Says He Won’t Vote for Trump, GOP May Need Substitute Posted: 12 Aug 2019 07:54 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted only 11 days as Donald Trump's communications director, said he won't support the president's re-election and suggested the Republican Party consider a different 2020 nominee."At this time I cannot support his re-election and we need to think about someone new to be at the top of the ticket," Scaramucci said in an interview Monday. He doesn't intend to support a Democrat.The loyalist's break with Trump came after the president criticized Scaramucci on Twitter over the weekend. Scaramucci said that he hadn't been in contact with the president since faulting Trump for his handling of recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and for comments about four minority congresswomen."He is not going to call. He knows I am right," Scaramucci said.The White House rejected Scaramucci's criticism."He worked at the White House for less than two weeks and is certainly no expert on this president," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said. "This is all so self-serving on his part and the media plays right into it."Over the weekend, Trump attacked his former communications director following Scaramucci's criticism."Anthony Scaramucci, who was quickly terminated (11 days) from a position that he was totally incapable of handling, now seems to do nothing but television as the all time expert on 'President Trump,"' Trump tweeted. "Like many other so-called television experts, he knows very little about me."The back-and-forth followed what Scaramucci termed "arguably one of the worst weeks" of Trump's presidency."I think you have to consider a change at the top of the ticket when someone is acting like this," the financier told CNN on Monday."The racially charged comments, the divisive tweeting," Scaramucci added, "is not helping the country."The mass shootings in Ohio and Texas that killed 31 people have fueled criticism that Trump hasn't done enough to stem gun violence and has instead fostered extremism. Trump visited hospitals in each city last week, excluding press from those visits but releasing campaign-style photos and videos.Scaramucci said in a cable television interview Thursday that Trump drew negative news coverage of his trip because he made the hospital visits about himself rather than about comforting the gun massacre victims."So, look, the president didn't do well on the trip. He probably would be mad at somebody for saying that," he said on MSNBC."Maybe he'll tweet something negative about somebody for saying he didn't do well, but the facts are he did not do well on the trip because if the trip is being made about him and not the demonstration of compassion and love and caring and empathy for those people," Scaramucci said Thursday. "Then it becomes a catastrophe for him, the administration, and it's also a bad reflection on the country."On Monday, the former White House aide went on to question whether Trump should be sent back -- echoing the president's attacks on the four minority congresswomen."By the way, bullying is very anti-American. Should we send him back?" he said. "The dam is going to break. People are embarrassed now."(Updates with White House comment in sixth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Justin Sink.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Terrence Dopp in Washington at tdopp@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Elizabeth WassermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kansas City, Kansas, police fatally shoot rifle-toting man Posted: 13 Aug 2019 01:32 PM PDT ![Kansas City, Kansas, police fatally shoot rifle-toting man]( "Kansas City, Kansas, police fatally shoot rifle-toting man") Kansas City, Kansas, police shot and killed a man on Tuesday who told a hotel manager that he had killed his wife and was heading to a popular shopping and restaurant area. The "very angry and distraught" man entered the Country Inn & Suites near the Legends Outlet shopping area said he had killed his wife, said Jacob Honeycutt, general manager of the business. You better call police,'" Honeycutt told The Associated Press.
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| From Bill Clinton to Julius Caesar, here are 12 world leaders who were left-handed Posted: 12 Aug 2019 05:06 AM PDT  August 13 is International Left Handers Day. Though left-handers make up just 10% of the world, many of them have very important jobs.
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