| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff, spokesman leave her office Posted: 02 Aug 2019 04:24 PM PDT  Saikat Chakrabarti to work for climate change non-profit
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| Police chief: Officer faked shooting, distress call Posted: 01 Aug 2019 04:48 PM PDT  An Alabama police officer staged a shooting last month to make it look like he was under attack, a police chief said Thursday. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said that Officer Keith Buchanan made a distress call early July 21 while patrolling an isolated area. Shots could be heard in the background, and an abandoned police car was later found with a bullet hole.
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| ‘Moscow Mitch’ Puts McConnell on Defense Over Election Security Posted: 01 Aug 2019 08:05 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's rare display of defensiveness and anger this week after refusing to consider election-security legislation illustrates the increasing pressure on him to address an issue that President Donald Trump has largely dismissed.The Kentucky Republican accused critics of "modern-day McCarthyism" after they tagged him online as MoscowMitch and charged him with leaving the U.S. vulnerable to new meddling by Russia in the 2020 election. With the Senate about to leave Washington for a five-week August break, there's no resolution in sight."We're open to any suggestions people may have about how to improve the system," McConnell told reporters Tuesday, days after his Senate GOP blocked Democratic efforts to bring up several proposals.Pressure ramped up on McConnell dramatically over the past week after FBI Director Christopher Wray and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller warned Congress that Russia is actively meddling and plans to interfere in the 2020 elections. More needs to be done to deter the Russians, the two men said.A Senate Intelligence Committee report warning of Russian attacks on state election systems added to the fire. So did Trump's decision to replace widely respected Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats with Texas Representative John Ratcliffe, a conservative Republican who agreed with Trump's use of the term "witch hunt" to describe Mueller's Russia probe.Trump said Tuesday that the intelligence agencies have "run amok" and that Ratcliffe will "rein it in."'Legislative Graveyard'The president has frequently dismissed any suggestion that Russia's actions had anything to do with his electoral victory. The New York Times reported in April that his Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had told then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen not to bring up Russian election-meddling in front of the president.The president said this week on Twitter, though, that the voting system should have "Paper Ballots as backup (old fashioned but true!)."After Senate Democrats unsuccessfully tried to bring up several election-security bills last week, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of turning the chamber into a "legislative graveyard.""Here's an easy way for Leader McConnell to silence the critics who accuse him of blocking election security: stop blocking it," Schumer said.MSNBC's Joe Scarborough described McConnell as "Moscow Mitch," kicking off the social media trend. And Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank called him a "Russian asset."McConnell has proudly called himself the "grim reaper" for Democratic proposals he views as socialist, and his campaign is selling T-shirts bearing the phrase.But McConnell made an angry floor speech Monday defending his record of being tough on Russia. He blasted Scarborough and others for "modern day McCarthyism" and said he's open to any ideas to upgrade security. But he hasn't identified anything he supports beyond the $380 million Congress appropriated last year.'One-Size-Fits-All'Senate Rules Chairman Roy Blunt said Republican opposition to Democratic proposals, including those passed by the House last month, is based in part on concern that further nationalizing the local election systems would create centralized vulnerabilities that can be more easily exploited by foreign actors."That system would not be improved if it were directed by Washington, D.C., in a one-size-fits-all solution," Blunt said on the Senate floor Wednesday.McConnell's resistance to election bills isn't new — he's long opposed federal control over elections and has led opposition to campaign-finance regulations for decades.But while McConnell touted his opposition to election-related legislation as efforts to block Democrats from seeking partisan advantage from a crisis, the majority leader also has effectively stuffed a number of bipartisan bills into a legislative drawer.In a May hearing, Blunt pointed to McConnell as the reason why election security legislation wasn't debated on the chamber's floor last year and wouldn't be this year either.Disclosure of AdsStalled bipartisan proposals include the Secure Elections Act written by Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma with Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota in the previous Congress, as well as Klobuchar's Honest Ads Act requiring disclosure of election ads on the Internet, which is co-sponsored by GOP Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham."We were blocked at the Rules Committee," Klobuchar said on the Senate floor Thursday. "This is not about one election or one party. This is about our democracy and our national security."Lankford has said the window for upgrading election systems before 2020 has closed. Even if new standards and funding are passed to aid states with upgrades for things like paper ballot backups, he said, there's not enough time to put them into effect. Lankford said this week he's still working on a new version of his bill.Other bipartisan measures aimed at punishing Russia have stalled as well.GOP Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Chris Van Hollen of Maryland this week renewed their push for a bill to impose stiff sanctions on Russia or other countries that meddle in future elections. They want to add it to a major defense policy bill in a conference committee, and Rubio said he hasn't been able to get a hearing in the Banking Committee.McConnell told reporters more than a year ago that the Senate might vote on the bill, but never brought it to the floor.Ratcliffe's ConfirmationAnother Russia sanctions bill from New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and Graham will be considered in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where Menendez is the ranking Democrat. The panel's GOP chairman, Jim Risch, on Wednesday agreed to revisit the long-stalled bill when the Senate returns in September.Senator Susan Collins of Maine became the first Republican to sponsor Intelligence Democrat Mark Warner's proposal to require campaigns to notify authorities of contacts from foreign agents. This measure took on greater significance after Trump told ABC in an interview that he might accept campaign help from foreign actors. He later walked back those comments.Collins will play a key role in considering confirmation of Ratcliffe because she's on the Intelligence Committee, where Republicans have only a one-seat majority. Democratic leader Schumer has already said he'll fight Ratcliffe as an unqualified Trump loyalist.While McConnell praised Coats and singled out his role in helping coordinate the response to Russia's election-meddling efforts, the majority leader has had little to say about Ratcliffe. He told reporters he hasn't met the nominee and will wait to discuss his qualifications.(Updates with Klobuchar quotes in 20th paragraph)\--With assistance from Daniel Flatley.To contact the reporter on this story: Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Man opens fire in national park ‘because he thought he saw Bigfoot’ Posted: 01 Aug 2019 01:21 AM PDT  A gun-wielding camper has opened fire in an American national park – because he says he saw Bigfoot.The man, who has not been named, offloaded several rounds at Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, after telling other overnight visitors the half-man-half-ape had lunged at him.Park rangers have since said they had found no evidence Bigfoot was there – but are investigating the fact a firearm was fired.Madelyn Durand and Brad Ginn, who reported the incident, said the shooter had woken them at 11pm on Sunday by shining a flashlight in their tent."We got out and saw a man [and his son] who told us their campsite had been destroyed by someone or something," said Ms Durand, 22. "We heard them coming back about 10 minutes later. We heard them yelling 'I see it'."We saw the flash from his gun, and he shot maybe 20 yards from the side of our tent into the pitch-black darkness."Asked if she was scared, the Western Kentucky University student told CNN: "I was mostly just concerned about him shooting the gun in the middle of the night without him really seeing anything."The couple called 911 and decided to hike the five miles back to their car without staying the night, she added.It is unclear what happened to the shooter but park spokeswoman Molly Schroer said rangers knew who he was and that no threat remained in the area.Although US laws prohibit the discharge of firearms in national parks, she said no charges had been brought as yet.The incident comes just eight months after a Montana man reported being shot at in a forest by a gunman who then told him he had mistaken him for Bigfoot. The legendary creature, also known as Sasquatch, is more commonly associated with America's Pacific Northwest region but sightings have been reported all over the country.
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| Truck driver was on drugs, reaching for drink at time of deadly New Hampshire crash, report says Posted: 02 Aug 2019 09:26 AM PDT  Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, a 23-year-old truck driver employed by Westfield Transport Inc., has been charged with seven counts of negligent homicide.
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| India's top court to hear Ayodhya religious dispute on daily basis Posted: 02 Aug 2019 06:05 AM PDT  India's top court will hear arguments every day in an effort to resolve a decades-old dispute over what should be built on the ruins of a 16th-century mosque, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said on Friday. The move strengthens hopes for eventual resolution of a quarrel at the center of fraught ties between India's majority Hindus and its Muslim community, which accounts for 14% of a population of 1.3 billion. Many devout Hindus believe the site in Ayodhya, in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, to be the birthplace of one of their most revered deities, the Lord Ram.
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| Canada raises detained citizens with China Posted: 02 Aug 2019 11:52 AM PDT  Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday she had spoken to her Chinese counterpart in their first public meeting since the countries became embroiled in a diplomatic spat over two Canadians detained in China. Freeland told reporters she brought up the arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor with Wang Yi during a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Thailand.
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| 1969 Plymouth Road Runner Heads To The Auction Block Posted: 01 Aug 2019 04:07 PM PDT  It will be at the Saratoga Auto Auction this fall. The Saratoga Auto Auction will take place at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center this fall from Friday, September 20, 2019 through Saturday, September 21, 2019. The beautiful red 1969 Plymouth Road Runner convertible you see here will be crossing that auction block. This Road Runner is a numbers-matching classic powered by a 383 cubic-inch V8 engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission. It's just one of 769 models produced in that configuration for 1969. This beauty also has Edelbrock carbs with the factory intake and exhaust. It pushes out a satisfying 335 horses so you can really feel the wind in your hair.The Plymouth Road Runner was a mid-size car that was manufactured between 1968 and 1980; its main focus was on performance. By the year 1968, some of the original muscle cars increased in price as they gained more features. Plymouth decided to counter this trend by developing the Road Runner and marketing it with a lower price; it fell below the upscale GTX model.The 1969 model retained its look for the most part, but with slight changes to the taillights, grille, and side marker lights. Optional bucket seats were offered and the model sported new Road Runner decals. The Road Runner also added a convertible option for 1969 with 2,128 such models produced–all with the 383 cubic-inch motor and just ten with the 426 Hemi. Production numbers were broken down further according to the transmission type.This Plymouth Road Runner convertible was treated to a frame-off restoration and is in excellent condition. Just look at that stunning scorch red exterior with black stripes and the contrasting white top. The interior is also white and gives off added contrast when the top is down. You can register to bid on this classic right here. Read More: Show-Quality Silver Platinum 1969 Plymouth Road Runner 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Will Drive You Plum Crazy
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| Iowa newlywed, 22, drowns on honeymoon during first-ever time in ocean, just 3 days after wedding Posted: 01 Aug 2019 08:45 AM PDT  A 22-year-old Iowa man tragically drowned Tuesday during his Floridahoneymoon, just three days after he and his bride said, "I do
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| ‘Constant chaos’: Senate Republicans eye summer exit Posted: 01 Aug 2019 02:00 AM PDT  "All of us want to get back to where there's a lot of sanity. And that's back home," says Mike Rounds.
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| US fighter jet crashes in Death Valley, 7 park visitors hurt Posted: 31 Jul 2019 06:43 PM PDT  A U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed Wednesday in Death Valley National Park, injuring seven people who were at a scenic overlook where aviation enthusiasts watch military pilots speeding low through a chasm dubbed Star Wars Canyon, officials said. The crash sent dark smoke billowing in the air, said Aaron Cassell, who was working at his family's Panamint Springs Resort about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away and was the first to report the crash to park dispatch. "I just saw a black mushroom cloud go up," Cassell told The Associated Press.
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| Washington Residents Share Tales of What They Believe Was a Terrifying Encounter with Bigfoot Posted: 02 Aug 2019 09:14 AM PDT  Stories of Bigfoot have been spread across the Pacific Northwest for hundreds of years, and two Washington residents are sharing their possible encounters with Sasquatch.
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| Indonesia lifts tsunami warning after powerful quake off Java Posted: 02 Aug 2019 08:14 AM PDT  Indonesian authorities lifted a tsunami warning late Friday after a powerful earthquake earlier struck off the southern coast of heavily populated Java island. The USGS initially put the quake's magnitude at 6.8 and at a shallower depth before raising its intensity. Indonesia's disaster agency pegged the quake at magnitude 7.4 and warned it could spark a tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet).
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| Ukrainian president's staff chief tries to quit after two months Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:46 AM PDT  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff sent in a letter of resignation, after two months in his job, but Zelenskiy has not signed it, according to a statement on the presidential website on Friday. Mystery has surrounded the status of Andriy Bogdan, the head of the presidential administration, since Thursday evening. The local news agency Interfax Ukraine had reported Bogdan's resignation but later retracted the story.
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| Trump Calls Hong Kong Protests ‘Riots,’ Adopting China Rhetoric Posted: 01 Aug 2019 11:30 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump labeled recent protests in Hong Kong as "riots," adopting the language used by Chinese authorities and suggesting the U.S. would stay out of an issue that was "between Hong Kong and China.""Something is probably happening with Hong Kong, because when you look at, you know, what's going on, they've had riots for a long period of time," Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday before departing for a campaign rally in Cincinnati.Trump said he didn't know what China's attitude was toward unrest in the former British colony, which is home to tens of thousands of Americans. "Somebody said that at some point they're going to want to stop that," Trump said. "But that's between Hong Kong and that's between China, because Hong Kong is a part of China."Trump's comments about the protests in Hong Kong could bolster the city's Beijing-backed government to crack down, despite the U.S. State Department's official efforts to defend protesters' freedom of expression. Protests erupted outside police stations earlier this week when the Hong Kong government charged 44 demonstrators with a colonial-era rioting statute that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.The Global Times, a nationalistic newspaper published by China's Communist Party, signaled approval with an article headlined "Trump tells truth about HK riot." The ruling party has long used such allegations to justify using force against dissidents, dubbing the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square a "counter-revolutionary riot.""The use of the term riot is a bit sensitive to the protesters," said Joseph Cheng, a retired political science professor who is involved in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. "More significant still, I think people will pay attention to the fact that he said this is something between China and Hong Kong. It appears to the Hong Kong people that the Hong Kong issue is not an important issue in the agenda of the president."Hong Kong protesters have so far largely enjoyed support from American officials and business groups. Activist Joshua Wong urged the president to reconsider his comments, tweeting an Aug. 1 letter from American lawmakers including Senators Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, urging the White House to condemn Beijing's actions.Hong Kong has been stricken by weeks of escalating protests -- including crowds of more than 1 million people -- in response to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's now-suspended proposal to allow extraditions to mainland China. Protests have turned more violent as some demonstrators grow frustrated with the government's refusal to meet their demands, including the bill's formal withdrawal and the revival of plans for direct leadership elections.Here's What Hong Kong's Protesters Plan NextOn Friday, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told Bloomberg TV's Haslinda Amin in Bangkok that the U.S. has urged China to "do the right thing" on Hong Kong. People should be free to express their views, he said, urging all sides to "proceed in a way that is not violent" and adding that violence was "not constructive" in trying to resolve the disputes.Pompeo didn't say what the U.S. might do if China decided to intervene militarily. "One thing this administration has been really good about is not tipping our hand to what we will or won't do," he replied, declining to comment further.Hong Kong's rioting law was passed by the U.K.-appointed government in 1967, when the city was in the depths of unrest driven by leftists sympathetic to the Communist Party. The law holds anyone who commits a "breach of the peace" while participating in a unlawful assembly liable for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.China has recently sought to blame the U.S. for crimes committed by some protesters on the front lines of rallies, saying violence was the "creation of the U.S." and calling the country a "black hand" behind the demonstrations. Tying the U.S. to the unrest could serve several purposes for Beijing, including discrediting the protesters, rallying mainland sentiment against them and potentially justifying more direct intervention.China Says Hong Kong Protest Violence 'Is Creation of U.S.'After eight weeks of unrest -- and more anti-government protests planned for this weekend -- anxiety is growing that Beijing might call in the People's Liberation Army. China seems willing to at least feed the speculation with hints and signals, including the release of a video Wednesday showing troops practicing riot control.In his remarks, Trump signaled that he considered the issue China's internal matter to resolve. "They'll have to deal with that themselves. They don't need advice," he said.To contact the reporters on this story: Derek Wallbank in Singapore at dwallbank@bloomberg.net;Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@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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| RFK granddaughter dies; police awaiting toxicology reports Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:59 PM PDT  Authorities said Friday they are looking to toxicology reports for clues to the death of Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the 22-year-old granddaughter of assassinated presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. The Kennedy family confirmed the death in a statement after police responded to a call Thursday afternoon about a possible drug overdose at the storied Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. The statement was issued by Brian Wright O'Connor, a spokesman for Saoirse Hill's uncle, former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II.
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| Princess Haya custody case tests Britain's loyalties to allies Jordan and UAE Posted: 01 Aug 2019 09:46 AM PDT  Hugging her brother who clasps a protective arm tightly around her shoulder, Princess Haya bint Al-Hussein appears eager to ensure the flag of her native Jordan on her jumper is prominent in her latest photograph. The Jordanian princess is locked in an acrimonious legal battle in the British courts with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the multi-millionaire ruler of Dubai, over the welfare of their two children. The picture, probably taken at her £85 million home in Kensington, shows her and Prince Ali bin al-Hussein staring intently at the camera. The caption, posted yesterday alongside the photograph on the prince's Twitter account, reads: "Today with my sister and apple of my eye." اليوم مع أختي و قرة عيني هيا بنت الحسين pic.twitter.com/kWRXx1J1M3— Ali Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) July 31, 2019 Some commentators in the Middle East believe the message she wants to relay is clear - she has returned to the bosom of her Jordanian family. The 45-year-old mother fled with her children from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where she lived with the sheikh, the country's vice-president and prime minister, apparently "in fear for her life" in April. The estranged and sixth wife of Sheikh Matktoum, 70, has asked a judge in the High Court to make an arranged marriage protection order for one of her children, as well as a non-molestation order. The sheikh, who founded the Godolphin stables and is a friend of the Queen, has applied to the courts for the "summary return" of the youngsters to the UAE. Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein ( wearing white), arrives at the High Court in London this week with lawyer Baroness Shackleton Credit: i-Images This latest picture has fueled speculation in the Middle East that the break-up could trigger a diplomatic crisis between the UAE and Jordan. Meanwhile, the fact courts from a third country - Britain - are ruling on what's best for children belonging to the royal families of two different foreign countries is unprecedented. Some experts say it puts Britain in an awkward position because it tests loyalties to two of its most important Middle East allies. "British courts are absolutely independent and impartial, and will consider this case with the same objectivity as they would in any other," Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, said. "Having said that, I do believe such a sensitive case, with implications that could impact the UK's foreign relations in the region, and the reputations of two royal families, would be better handled privately." While Jordan has made no official mention of the hearing, the case has been widely discussed by nationals of both countries on social media. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a prominent Emirati political scientist, wrote this week on Twitter: "A sensible and respectable princess of strong lineage does not flee, kidnap, disappear or show ingratitude, and certainly does not trouble the spirit of someone who cherished, loved and provided for her and treated her with dignity." The message came after the sheikh himself posted a cryptic poem about deceit on online and another about the UAE's "shining sword" that would protect it from foes. Qusai Zreiqat, a Jordanian, posted: "She is a daughter of a king, a granddaughter of a king and a sister of a king before there was a country called the Emirates."
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| Idaho girl, 9, clings to life after losing 'half of her skull' in freak accident Posted: 01 Aug 2019 06:14 AM PDT  Shaylyn Bergeson, 9, is clinging to life after falling from a tree and landing on a piece of rebar that punctured the left side of her brain.
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| Woman caught throwing puppy in bin Posted: 01 Aug 2019 02:50 AM PDT  A woman caught on CCTV throwing a puppy into a waste skip is being hunted by animal cruelty investigators.The woman is seen holding the dog by the scruff of the neck before she launches it into the bin and walks off.Officers were called to the scene, at an apartment complex in Oklahoma City, after the manager of the property saw the incident while reviewing security footage.Manager CR Head said: "It's very disturbing, you know. They left it [the dog] there for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, crawled back in the dumpster, threw the dog back on the ground."That people would be here doing that, not only to an animal, what if they treat another human being like that? It's not a good combination."He added: "I don`t want anything like that going on here. We want a safe environment."He suggested the woman involved was related to a someone who lived at the complex.Ion Gary, animal welfare superintendent with Oklahoma Animal Welfare, said it was clear case of animal cruelty."This is something our officers will be investigating," he told local news network WCSC-TV. "There is potential for even felony level cruelty."Police said they would not make an official report as the woman had removed the dog by the time they were called.
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| Money row sparks deadly Nigeria jihadist infighting: sources Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:57 AM PDT  A dispute over money within a Nigerian jihadist faction affiliated to the Islamic State group has spiralled into clashes that has killed "scores" of fighters, sources said. The infighting -- which erupted into gun battles on July 26 -- has exposed divisions inside the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, three sources with deep knowledge of the faction's internal workings told AFP. The disagreement centred on sharing income mainly generated by taxing cattle herders and fishermen in areas the jihadists control around Lake Chad, said the sources, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
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| Gaetz: I'm confident Barr with get to the bottom of leaked FBI memos Posted: 01 Aug 2019 04:26 PM PDT  Rep. Matt Gaetz reacts to DOJ's decision to not prosecute Comey for leaking FBI memos.
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| Alaska boaters likely killed by falling glacier ice, officials say Posted: 01 Aug 2019 05:25 PM PDT  The bodies of three boaters from Europe who died in an Alaska lake were surrounded by frozen debris, a sign that the victims were killed by ice that fell from the melting glacier that feeds the lake, officials in the city of Valdez said on Thursday. The victims were identified by the city as two Germans and an Austrian and were found dead on Tuesday morning in Valdez Glacier Lake, about 120 miles (193 km) east of Anchorage. The victims were found in an area that "was littered with floating icebergs, glacial slush and challenging terrain for recovery," said a statement released by Valdez city officials.
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| Fox News Host Neil Cavuto Tells Viewers Trump Is Wrong: ‘China Isn’t Paying These Tariffs. You Are.’ Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:12 PM PDT  Immediately after President Donald Trump boasted to White House reporters that the United States rakes in billions of dollars from China because of his tariffs, Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto issued an on-air fact-check of the president's remarks, directly telling his viewers that Trump is wrong.While taking questions on the White House lawn Friday afternoon, the president insisted Americans farmers are fully behind his trade war and support his latest tariffs on $300 billion worth of goods from China."Remember this, our country is taking in billions and billions of dollars from China," Trump exclaimed. "We never took in ten cents from China. Out of that many billions of dollars, we're taking a part of it and giving it to the farmers because they've been targeted by China. The farmers, they come out totally whole."Right away, Cavuto cut away from the president's impromptu press gaggle to point out that, once again, Trump was not telling the truth when it came to who pays for tariffs."I don't know where to begin here," the Fox News host said. "Just to be clarifying, China isn't paying these tariffs. You are. You know, indirectly and sometimes directly."Lou Dobbs Lashes Out at Fox Business Host Who Confronts Him About Trump's Exploding DebtHe continued: "It's passed along to you through American distributors and their counterparts in the United States that buy this stuff from the Chinese and have to pay the surcharges. Not the Chinese government."Cavuto went on to say that he does not understand what the president was talking about regarding "devaluation of added cost in China" before noting that this latest round of tariffs "will be felt by consumers directly."The longtime Fox News and Fox Business Network anchor has been somewhat critical of the president's economic policies of late. Earlier this week, he got into a heated on-air debate with Trump-boosting Fox Business host Lou Dobbs over the exploding national debt and deficit under the Trump administration.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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| How innovative Hong Kong protesters are using lasers, traffic cones and parkour in battle with police Posted: 02 Aug 2019 01:01 PM PDT  In her pink top and billowy skirt there is little outward sign that Diana, 24, spends her weekends executing inventive, eye-catching protest tactics on the frontlines of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. Millions of young people have taken to the streets all summer to fight for the city's freedoms in the face of growing repression from China. In increasingly chaotic clashes, the protesters at the frontline bring with them a variety of homespun tools to confound highly-trained riot police backed by extensive surveillance capabilities. During the week Diana - not her real name - taps furiously on her phone chatting with fellow frontline activists about new ways to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Hong Kong protestors are on another level. Here they're using lasers to avoid facial recognition cameras. A cyber war against Chinese artificial intelligence. pic.twitter.com/t1hIczr5Go— Alessandra (@alessabocchi) July 31, 2019 Green laser-pointers are a must-have, shone at police cameras to prevent protesters' faces from being captured - any who are identified risk a 10-year prison sentence for rioting - or target officers' eyes. Last weekend, as clashes between protesters and police descended into pandaemonium, Diana swung the beam to-and-fro to direct the pace of charges and retreats. "I don't know why, I just had the idea," she said. Effective protesting is all about "having a team of people," said Brian, 20, who also declined to give his real name for fear of arrest. Protesters drag cones to block traffic on a busy road in the centre of the city One group, protesters explained, distracts police with the lasers or other bright lights so a second team can counter-attack. A third group leads changes to the formation and a fourth at the rear keeps spirits high by drumming and shouting slogans, while scouts and runners pass supplies and news between different frontlines. Some protesters trained in parkour scale overpasses to assess the situation on the ground or drop objects to deter police. Others work together to snuff out tear-gas, swiftly dropping traffic cones over the smoking canisters then pouring water into them through the nozzle. Interesting way how HongKong protesters deal with tear gas pic.twitter.com/BaDpu6WtWg— Ali Özkök (@Ozkok_A) July 28, 2019 This is a dangerous business, drawing giant blisters on protesters' arms and gasps on widely-shared social media clips. To stymie facial recognition, demonstrators also spray paint surveillance cameras or unfurl umbrellas around groups in action – for instance, when they are removing metal street gates or bus stop sign poles to erect barriers to block police and indicate safe zones for protesters. When they head home, protesters leave behind cash at subway stations to avoid being tracked through their public transport cards. "We're just private citizens – our abilities are not better than the police," said Brian, one of the protesters who stormed the legislative building in early July. "They have full professional gear that is many times better than ours…so we can only find other methods, like using the lasers or strong lights, to make it harder for them to target us." As the movement continues with more rallies planned this weekend, many demonstrators have also upgraded their makeshift gear – gone are thin face masks and surfboards that were "useless" against police batons and giant riot shields, said Diana. Now demonstrators pull up metal street signs to use as shields, don arm and leg guards, procure iron rods, and bring everything from bricks to eggs to throw. Communication is carefully restricted, too. Frontline defenders never store each other's contact information and limit tactical chats to small numbers while designated messengers pass information between the groups. The laser beams can disorient police and block facial recognition technology Credit: SIPA USA The idea is to prevent police from tracking down too many people in case one person is arrested or devices are confiscated. Across the city, activists target visitors from mainland China - where news of the protests are restricted to government propaganda - by using Airdrop to send information on why there are protests, the real story behind Tiananmen Square and emphasise that foreign forces do not control the movement. Many protesters also keep their frontline participation from family, friends, and colleagues, so as to keep them from worrying and preserve relationships over differing political opinions. "Every weekend, I feel so angry, passionate, desperate," said Diana. "But on weekdays, you have to pretend to be a normal person and go to work. A protester uses a traffic cone to cover a tear gas canister Credit: AP The double life can be hard to balance – she recently got home at 2 am after choking on streams of tear gas before heading to the office by 7 am. Seconds before a standoff exploded, one frontliner was overheard asking his mother not to ring again, saying his movie was not over yet. The frontliners draw parallels and inspiration for their own fight from the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, though many worry that police or protester deaths are on the horizon – a development that could finally begin to splinter public opinion, which has largely been in support of the movement. Protesters, however, say the Hong Kong government already has blood on its hands, given a series of protest-related suicides in recent weeks. To them, success is the only option after being thwarted in the 2014 pro-democracy protests dubbed the Umbrella Revolution. "Every time I stand out, I walk and fight for those who committed suicide and those who have been arrested," said Diana. "They were sacrificed; we can't go back and say we forgive the government."
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| Why Did Two Chinese SU-30 Fighters Fly Within 150 Feet of a Nuclear 'Sniffer' Plane in 2017? Posted: 01 Aug 2019 07:00 PM PDT  A U.S. official told CNN the two Chinese jets came within 150 feet of the U.S. plane, with one flying upside-down directly above it.As reported by CNN a U.S. Air Force (USAF) WC-135 was intercepted by two Chinese Sukhoi Su-30 fighters on May 17, 2017 while flying in international airspace over the East China Sea.According to the statement from Air Force Lt. Col. Hodge, the American flight crew described the encounter as "unprofessional.""While we are still investigating the incident, initial reports from the U.S. aircrew characterized the intercept as unprofessional. The issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels," He explained.(This first appeared in 2017.)A U.S. official told CNN the two Chinese jets came within 150 feet of the U.S. plane, with one flying upside-down directly above it.The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, whose mission is looking for distinctive elements a nuclear test of any type would emit into the air, has been regularly deployed on routine missions in Northeast Asia where it has been used to gather evidence of possible nuclear tests by North Korea.
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| Afghanistan peace deal would see US troop numbers slashed: reports Posted: 01 Aug 2019 08:20 PM PDT  A proposed peace deal would see the United States withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan in exchange for promises from the Taliban that it would renounce Al-Qaeda, US media reported on Thursday. The US and the Taliban are soon expected to begin their eighth round of talks in Doha to reach a deal that would end America's nearly 18-year involvement in Afghanistan. The Washington Post reported that an initial deal to end the war would see US troop numbers in the country fall to as low as 8,000 from their current level of around 14,000.
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| 'It was terrible': 1 dead, up to 7 missing after natural gas line explosion in Kentucky Posted: 01 Aug 2019 08:05 PM PDT  A natural gas explosion happened after a pipeline ruptured in Kentucky near the Moreland community by Junction City and Hustonville.
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| 10-Year-Old Girl Crashes Mom's SUV While Driving Herself to McDonald's Posted: 01 Aug 2019 02:36 PM PDT  Kansas City police say a 10-year-old girl went to the hospital Wednesday morning after she crashed her mom`s SUV into a minivan and electrical box while trying to go to McDonald's.
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| Woman killed by apparent stray bullet as Texas officer fires at dog Posted: 01 Aug 2019 11:48 PM PDT ![Woman killed by apparent stray bullet as Texas officer fires at dog]( "Woman killed by apparent stray bullet as Texas officer fires at dog") The officer and other emergency personnel had been sent to investigate a report that a woman had passed out in a grassy area, Arlington police said in a statement. The officer found the woman lying on the grass with a dog nearby. When he called out to her to check on her condition, the dog began running toward him and barking, police said in the statement.
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| 'She Went Back With Me.' Ilhan Omar Trolls Trump by Posing With Pelosi in Ghana Posted: 01 Aug 2019 11:54 PM PDT  The Congresswoman posted photos of herself and Nancy Pelosi in Ghana
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| Prosecutors challenge Barr's bid to change immigration rules Posted: 02 Aug 2019 09:02 AM PDT  More than 40 elected state and local prosecutors on Friday challenged Attorney General William Barr's bid to give himself more authority in deciding whether to deport immigrants with criminal convictions. Barr wants to change immigration rules that defer to state and local decisions on criminal cases that may affect whether an immigrant is deported. It's one of several efforts Barr is making to gain greater authority in deportation cases.
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| Is the End of Iran's Regime Finally Near? Posted: 01 Aug 2019 05:30 PM PDT  Pressure can work on Iran. There has been, for more than a decade, a curious line of argument that pressure upon Iran is counterproductive. Iran and the United States are as close to direct conflict as they have been for three decades, since Operation Praying Mantis in 1988 which was, at the time, the largest surface naval engagement since World War II.A lot of ink has been spilled and oxygen expended discussing the matter, some of it good and some of it simplistic. Here a few thoughts, informed by being lucky enough to spend close to seven months studying in the Islamic Republic while finishing a doctorate in philosophy on Iranian history. I worked on the Iran desk at the Pentagon during the George W. Bush administration, frequently visit the Persian Gulf, and have followed Iran almost continuously for a quarter century.(This first appeared in June 2019.)
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| Battle Brews to Dump Jim Crow-Era Voting Rules in Deep South Posted: 02 Aug 2019 08:25 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mississippi has the highest percentage of African Americans of any state in the U.S. It hasn't elected a black official statewide in more than 130 years. Jennifer Riley Collins wants to break that streak.To become Mississippi's first black attorney general, Collins, a decorated U.S. Army colonel and civil rights lawyer, is getting help from the country's first black attorney general, Eric Holder. He's leading a lawsuit aimed at the state's 1890 constitution, which more than a century later still has provisions expressly crafted to stop African Americans from getting elected.If successful, the federal suit would scrap rules requiring candidates for statewide office to win both more than 50% of the popular vote and more than half the state's 122 state legislative districts -- two-thirds of which are majority white. If a candidate doesn't meet both conditions, the state House of Representatives chooses the winner regardless of who got the most votes.As racial divisions emerge as a subtext in the 2020 U.S. presidential race, the litigation could rewire the power structure in one of the nation's reddest states. Even if unsuccessful, it is bringing fresh attention to an extreme example of voter suppression: In Mississippi, racial animus isn't just a subtext. It's codified in the text that governs the state, lawyers and state politicians say."Our system was specifically designed to minimize the chances of an African-American being elected to statewide office in Mississippi,'' said Democratic House Minority Leader David Baria.The U.S. Supreme Court blessed partisan-drawn political boundaries in a June ruling, six years after the court weakened minority-voting protections across the U.S. But Mississippi stands out as an example of the consequences of gerrymandering on steroids."I can't think of another law I've been involved in challenging that was put in place specifically to discriminate against black voters and would have such a profound statistical effect on their ability to elect a state official statewide,'' said Marc Elias, who is involved in the Holder case and is considered one of the country's top Democratic elections attorneys.Sharing a fish dinner with two colleagues at the wood-paneled Parlor Market near the Capitol in Jackson, Baria said the state's election system is outrageous even among "the other racist states.''"Even Alabama doesn't do this,'' added lawmaker Earle Banks.The Holder suit was filed against Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, both Republicans. In a response to the suit, attorneys for them rejected the claims of racial intent."Neither the Speaker nor the Secretary wish to defend the motivations behind a law allegedly enacted with racial animus," the response stated. "However, both the allegations in the complaint and the timing of its filing demonstrate that this lawsuit is not about race, and it is not about vindicating alleged wrongs to plaintiffs' rights to vote -- it's about partisan politics."The Mississippi power structure has survived both the Democrats who created it and the Republicans who now oversee it.But just this week a federal appeals court affirmed a ruling that Mississippi's legislature illegally gerrymandered a state Senate district in 2012 by adding a portion of a wealthy predominantly white county to the poorer Delta counties to dilute black voters there. About a third of the state's African-Americans live in the Delta region.The fight in Mississippi is part of a larger political battle over voting rights prompted by the changing demographics of the electorate. Holder is fighting gerrymandering across the U.S. with his National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which Elias said looks for "provisions that are going to affect the voting rights of individuals in ways that could, down the road, affect redistricting.''In Mississippi, the voting-eligible black population is nearly 37% of the total -- the highest of any state, according to the most-recent U.S. Census.'Control of White People'The white men who penned the state constitution -- then part of the segregationist Democratic Party -- made no secret of their intent, saying openly that they wished to blunt African Americans' post-reconstruction political power. Mississippi's senior U.S. senator at the time, James George, called the 1890 constitutional convention to create a governing document that would ensure "a home government, under the control of the white people of the state.''The constitution used proxies for race to discriminate against black voters without saying so outright in its text. Most have been outlawed over time.The surviving provisions are the target of two federal lawsuits: Holder's, which was filed by the Mississippi Center for Justice in Jackson, and a consolidated suit by the justice center and the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center. The latter targets language intended to strip voting rights from black felons but not whites. Daniel Jordan III, a federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush, granted that suit class-action status in February.Almost one in 10 Mississippi adults was disenfranchised in 2016 (the most recent statistics), more than triple the national rate. Nearly 16 percent of the state's African-American adults have lost their voting rights, according to The Sentencing Project.'Socially Estranged'The fight over Mississippi's constitution reflects a national one over how easy it should be to vote. Democrats have pushed convenience while Republicans have advocated stricter limits in the name of preventing voter fraud, including President Donald Trump's short-lived election integrity commission in 2017.The issue for both major political parties is the population growth of demographic groups across the nation that have traditionally voted for Democrats, at the same time the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have cleared the way for a new wave of restricting voter participation, said Greg Magarian, a constitutional law professor at Washington University in St. Louis."The Supreme Court's racial-jurisprudence has been getting more conservative for 50 years,'' he said.States have enacted voting restrictions that -- like Mississippi's constitution -- don't explicitly say they target minorities but disproportionately affect them, even as they hurt some poorer whites, too. "They target the socially estranged, or people without driver's licenses or who don't know how to use government documents,'' Magarian said.Partisan gerrymandering, which the Supreme Court legalized in June, also serves as a proxy for illegal racial gerrymandering, he said.Even if the effort is driven by partisanship rather than racial intent, the effect is the same, he said: "I wouldn't be surprised if some of these conservative lawmakers don't have a racist bone in their bodies. But you screw over the Democrats, you're screwing over African-Americans.''Mississippi makes it harder to vote than any other state, according to a study published last year in Election Law Journal, a peer-reviewed legal publication focusing on voting rights. Gerrymandering, a strict voter ID law, and deep legislative disinterest in making voting easier all contribute, as do the surviving barriers in the state constitution, said Corey Wiggins, director of the Mississippi NAACP.'Furtive' OffensesThe lawsuit that includes the Southern Poverty Law Center challenges a constitutional list of crimes that cost felons the right to vote. It was designed to capture the mostly non-violent felonies historically believed to be more common among blacks. A state Supreme Court opinion in 1896 declared that the black population was "careless, landless ... and its criminal members given rather to furtive offences than to the robust crimes of the whites." Today, theft costs Mississippi felons the vote. Aggravated assault does not.The constitution's authors provided a remedy – for whites. To get voting rights back, an ex-convict must find a legislator willing to sponsor a bill in his name, get it passed by two thirds of both the House and Senate and signed by the governor. The intent was a fix "for white men who could negotiate the system,'' according to historian Dorothy Pratt, whose book on the 1890 convention, "Sowing the Wind," is cited in both constitutional challenges.The provision targeted in the Holder lawsuit has a broader effect. Today, an African-American backed candidate for statewide office needs 55 percent of the popular vote to win enough districts to clear the constitutional hurdle, the suit says.Holder's group has looked at the data and found the discriminatory law could have "a real effect on electoral outcomes this year,'' says Elias. "It's a fairly unusual circumstance.''One of the likeliest beneficiaries is white – and could directly impact Holder's long term goal. Mississippi attorney general Jim Hood, the only Democrat in statewide office now, is in a tight race for governor, an office with veto power over redistricting maps.His current campaign statement: "The candidate with the most votes should win, period.''Collins, the attorney general candidate and former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Mississippi, also stands to benefit if it succeeds. She hopes the state settles."I think Mississippi is ready to move forward," Collins said in an interview at her downtown Jackson campaign office. "We just have to make sure that barriers that were intentionally put in place to exclude or marginalize one community over another are torn down."(Updates with today's outcome of a federal voting rights lawsuit in paragraph 13.)\--With assistance from Michael Sasso.To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Newkirk in Atlanta at mnewkirk@bloomberg.net;Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Anita Sharpe at asharpe6@bloomberg.net, Flynn McRobertsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| View Photos of the 1987 Porsche 962 IMSA GTP Posted: 02 Aug 2019 12:00 PM PDT |
| Young Afghans wary as possible US-Taliban deal nears Posted: 02 Aug 2019 07:16 AM PDT  With momentum apparently building for a breakthrough in talks between Washington and the Taliban, younger Afghans whose lives have been overshadowed by nearly 18 years of war are sceptical any deal will bring them peace. "We cannot trust the Taliban and their commitments because they were cruel and oppressive in their regime," said Abdul Jamil Qureshi, a 23-year-old psychology student at Kabul University. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy leading America's push for peace with its longtime adversary, is expected to meet the Taliban in Doha this weekend for the latest in a months-long series of talks, with expectations high.
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| Mexico president orders probe into shooting of Honduran migrant Posted: 02 Aug 2019 08:29 AM PDT  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday instructed officials to investigate the killing of a Honduran migrant in the northern city of Saltillo to determine the role of officials in his death. The man, who was in Mexico with his eight-year-old daughter, was shot and killed at a train station on Wednesday by a member of a state police unit, Coahuila state officials said. Mexico's government is trying to tighten its borders under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican goods entering the United States if Mexico does not halt a surge in migrants from Central America.
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| Jesse Jackson pays homage to Roma at Auschwitz ceremony Posted: 02 Aug 2019 12:11 PM PDT  American civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed and mourned at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Friday as he joined survivors paying homage to an often-forgotten genocide — that of the Roma people — on a key 75th anniversary. In addition to the 6 million Jews killed in death camps such as Auschwitz, the Nazis killed other minorities during World War II, including between 250,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti. Broadly speaking, Sinti are people who arrived from India and settled in Western and Central Europe many centuries ago, while Roma are centered largely in Eastern Europe.
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| A New Alzheimer's Blood Test Proved 94% Accurate in Finding Brain Changes Related to the Disease Posted: 01 Aug 2019 01:00 PM PDT  A blood-based test could identify Alzheimer's disease earlier, which could give patients a better chance of slowing or eventually preventing the brain disease
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