| Showdown looms between Congress and attorney general over Mueller report deadline Posted: 05 May 2019 10:00 PM PDT ![Showdown looms between Congress and attorney general over Mueller report deadline]( "Showdown looms between Congress and attorney general over Mueller report deadline") U.S. Attorney General William Barr is headed for a showdown on Monday with Democrats in Congress, as lawmakers prepared to begin contempt proceedings against the top U.S. law enforcement officer if he fails to hand over the full, unredacted Mueller report. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler gave Barr until 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) to produce the full report and underlying evidence from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 22-month investigation into Russian election meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Nadler has subpoenaed the material but Barr missed an initial deadline to provide it last week.
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| Palestinians step up rocket attacks as Israel strikes Gaza Posted: 05 May 2019 06:01 PM PDT  Israeli forces struck dozens of targets throughout Gaza, including militant sites that the military said were concealed in homes or residential areas.
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| US sends naval strike group to Middle East in 'message' to Iran Posted: 06 May 2019 01:19 AM PDT  The US is sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a fleet of bombers to the Middle East in response to a "troubling and escalatory indications" of Iranian activity in the region, the White House announced. John Bolton, the White House national security advisor, gave no details of the threats but said the deployment was "a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on US interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force". "The US is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces," Mr Bolton said. The US announcement came amid reports that Iran is planning to withdraw from parts of the 2015 nuclear agreement on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's order to pull American out of the international deal. Iranian media reported that Tehran was planning a partial withdrawal from the deal rather than fully pulling out. The decision was reportedly made out of Iranian frustration with US sanctions and with European countries for not doing more to stand up to Washington's efforts to choke off Iran's economy. The US is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, and a group of support ships to the Persian Gulf as part of the deployment. They will be joined by a bomber task force from the US Air Force. The US has repeatedly warned it will not tolerate attacks by Iran or its proxies against US forces in the region or its allies. The White House sees Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group; the Houthis rebels in Yemen; and Shia militias in Iraq as all potential sources of danger along with Iran's own military forces. The aircraft carrier departed from Virginia on April 1 and several analysts questioned whether the White House was trying to make a routine deployment to the Middle East appear like a dramatic escalation. "The US routinely deploys carriers to the Gulf as a show of force intended to deter Iran," said Becca Wasser, a policy analyst with the Rand corporation. "White House message is piggybacking on planned operations to make a point." The announcement came as tensions continued to mount between Iran and the US over the Trump administration's strategy of bringing massive sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The US announced recently that it would sanction any country that bought Iranian oil, escalating from its previous stance of allowing some countries to buy Iran's oil in limited circumstances. The UK, France, Germany and the EU, which all support the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, said in a joint statement they were disappointed at the US decision to intensify sanctions. "The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions is an essential part of the [nuclear deal] – it aims at having a positive impact not only on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of the Iranian people," the European powers said. Iran's government has repeatedly condemned the US sanctions but also said the EU was not doing enough to make sure that Iran was still able to trade. The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), which is close Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, reported Iran was planning to withdraw from certain parts of its commitments under the nuclear deal. Iranian officials have been hinting at a partial withdrawal for several weeks. "Iran's patience is running thin and our inaction towards the consequences of the US exit for the nuclear deal are not limitless," said Abbas Araghchi, a senior Iranian diplomet. "This deal has more of a security nature than an economic one and EU must pay its own costs too." European and Iranian officials are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the situation.
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| Security high in restive Kashmir as India votes again Posted: 06 May 2019 01:46 AM PDT  India held the next stage of its marathon election on Monday, with 90 million people eligible to vote in key seats for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party and security heavy in restive Kashmir. The world's biggest poll has been plagued by violence, with militants throwing a grenade at a voting booth Monday and shooting dead a candidate in south Kashmir over the weekend. At the 2014 election, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 39 of the 51 constituencies up for grabs on Monday, as he swept to power and the opposition Congress party suffered its worst ever result.
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| Hero student who tackled North Carolina gunman remembered as 'selfless' Posted: 05 May 2019 07:52 PM PDT ![Hero student who tackled North Carolina gunman remembered as 'selfless']( "Hero student who tackled North Carolina gunman remembered as 'selfless'") Riley Howell, 21, was one of two people killed on Tuesday at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte when a former student opened fire inside a classroom of nearly 50 students. Four other students were injured. Howell, a member of the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), was given full military honors at the memorial.
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| ‘The View’ Confronts Crenshaw for Defending Trump on Charlottesville: ‘Why Do You Apologize for Him?!’ Posted: 06 May 2019 10:54 AM PDT  Appearing on The View on Monday, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) was challenged by hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin when he claimed that President Trump never referred to white nationalists or neo-Nazis as "very fine people" during his response to the deadly 2017 Charlottesville rally.Towards the end of his multi-segment Monday morning interview, the Texas Republican was asked about his vocal criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Crenshaw, in case you forgot, helped spark conservative outrage against Omar last month, resulting in increased death threats against her when he attacked her for out-of-context remarks about 9/11.Meghan McCain asked Crenshaw why he felt Democrats were "reluctant to call [Omar] out," prompting the GOP congressman to reply that it was because "we're playing a team sport today.""We just had a long discussion about how Republicans feel about Trump," Crenshaw added. "I think you're seeing the same issues play out on the Democrat side with somebody on their own team and they're not sure how to handle it even though might, behind closed doors, disagree with what she's saying."Co-host Joy Behar then jumped in, noting that Omar is a new congresswoman before contrasting conservatives' reaction to her with the president's Charlottesville response."On the right, what we have is the President of the United States in Charlottesville saying there are good people on both sides and people are yelling 'Jews will not replace us.' There are not good people on both sides," she exclaimed.Crenshaw interrupted, claiming that "in the same sentence" the president said that he was "definitely not referring to white nationalists." (This, however, is not entirely true, as the president insisted there were "very fine people" on the side of a rally organized entirely by white supremacists and neo-Nazis.) "Why do you apologize for him?!" Behar shot back, causing Crenshaw to double down on his defense, telling her she needed to "read what he actually said."Hostin, meanwhile, claimed that Trump didn't admonish white supremacists in the same sentence but rather in a fumbling later statement. As they continued to argue about whether or not Trump condemned white nationalists, McCain rallied to Crenshaw's defense, saying she didn't "think it matters" because "bigotry and any kind of statements like these should be called out."As for Crenshaw's assertion that Trump said he wasn't referring to white nationalists during his Aug. 15, 2017 remarks, this really comes down to hair-splitting and not looking at the comments in a larger context."Excuse me, they didn't put themselves down as neo-Nazis, and you had some very bad people in that group," Trump said at the time. "But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
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| Rainbow Sangria, Mermaid Mules, and More Creative Cocktail Recipes Posted: 07 May 2019 02:29 PM PDT |
| Families of Lion Air crash victims criticise Boeing over alert issue Posted: 06 May 2019 02:18 AM PDT  Families of victims in the Indonesia Lion Air crash hit out at Boeing Monday over its admission that engineers had identified a safety system glitch well before the fatal accident, in the latest knock to the plane maker's reputation. Boeing said Sunday engineers had found the safety alert issue on its 737 MAX aircraft in 2017, a year before the deadly crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people. According to Boeing, a supposedly standard piece of equipment that tells pilot about disagreements between angle of attack (AOA) indicators -- which measure the plane's angle vis-a-vis oncoming air to warn of impending stalls -- did not activate unless an additional optional indicator was purchased by airlines.
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| The Latest: Possible attack on US forces led to deployments Posted: 06 May 2019 07:27 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the United States and Iran (all times local):
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| Florida's Gillum calls bill to limit voting by ex-convicts a 'poll tax' Posted: 06 May 2019 02:07 PM PDT  Andrew Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor who last November lost a close race to become Florida's governor, sharply criticized new restrictions placed on voting by people with felony convictions at a congressional hearing on Monday. "The unfortunate thing" about Florida, Gillum said, was that "we almost look directly at how we disenfranchise as many people as we possibly can," citing alleged attempts to close polling sites and dismiss absentee ballots. Gillum made his comments at a Monday hearing of the Committee on House Administration devoted to voting rights in Florida.
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| Christian-Muslim clashes rock Easter attacks town in Sri Lanka Posted: 06 May 2019 01:17 AM PDT  Hundreds of security forces entered Negombo to impose a curfew after dozens of Muslim-owned shops, homes and vehicles were attacked. "I appeal to all Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters not to hurt even a single Muslim person because they are our brothers, because they are part of our religious culture," said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo.
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| Presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) wants national gun owner registry Posted: 06 May 2019 10:17 AM PDT  Senator Cory Booker put forth a national licensing proposal calling for all gun owners to obtain federal firearms licenses.
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| U.S. House panel readies contempt vote against Barr over Mueller report Posted: 06 May 2019 05:25 PM PDT ![U.S. House panel readies contempt vote against Barr over Mueller report]( "U.S. House panel readies contempt vote against Barr over Mueller report") The Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee released a report citing Barr, an appointee of President Donald Trump, for contempt of Congress after the expiration of a second deadline to produce the full report. Barr also skipped a hearing before the committee last week. The panel will vote on whether to move ahead with a contempt citation on Wednesday, and if it does so, the full House will vote on the issue.
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| Scientists Figured Out How to Make Neural Networks 90 Percent Smaller—but Just as Smart Posted: 07 May 2019 06:37 AM PDT ![Scientists Figured Out How to Make Neural Networks 90 Percent Smaller—but Just as Smart]( "Scientists Figured Out How to Make Neural Networks 90 Percent Smaller—but Just as Smart") Now that AI can get the job done without the dead weight, the applications could be huge.
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| The Latest: American among those killed in Russia plane fire Posted: 06 May 2019 04:53 PM PDT  MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the deadly plane fire at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport (all times local):
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| Where teachers can get free food and discounts for Teacher Appreciation Week May 6-10 Posted: 07 May 2019 11:48 AM PDT  For Teacher Appreciation Week and Teacher Appreciation Day, businesses across the nation are showering educators with freebies and special discounts.
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| Anadarko calls Occidental takeover offer 'superior' to Chevron's Posted: 06 May 2019 07:39 PM PDT  US oil group Anadarko said Monday that Occidental Petroleum's takeover bid is "superior" to Chevron's, amid a fierce battle over the company's assets in the shale-rich Permian Basin in Texas. After initially siding with Chevron, Anadarko reopened talks when Occidental raised its share price. Last week, Occidental also upped its cash offer to $38 billion.
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| Joe Biden Has to Do More Than Name-Drop Obama to Win Black Voters Posted: 06 May 2019 02:06 AM PDT  Sean Rayford/GettyFormer Vice President Joe Biden's initial pitch to Democratic voters was aimed squarely at the Rust Belt working class, but on a weekend trip through South Carolina, the early frontrunner for the party's presidential nomination pivoted to courting black voters in the Palmetto State, highlighting his role in the Obama administration and warning of voting restrictions that hark back to the days of Jim Crow."Last year, 24 states introduced or enacted at least 70 bills to curtail the right the vote. And guess what—mostly directed at people of color," Biden told the crowd at a community center in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday. "We have Jim Crow sneaking back in.""You know when everybody has an equal right to vote, guess what—they lose. They lose," Biden continued, referring to Republicans, whose victories in statewide elections in nearby Georgia and Florida last year sparked accusations of systematic voter suppression. "Folks, it's just absolutely wrong."By highlighting the importance of expanding voter access, as well as his long relationship with President Barack Obama—in his speech, Biden referred to Obama as "my buddy" and "my friend" multiple times before joking that "I shouldn't be so casual"—Biden pitched himself as a candidate with a broader coalition of supporters beyond the white working class. But the former vice president's history as an architect of the modern criminal justice system has activists and academics concerned that Biden hasn't sufficiently addressed the legacy of mass incarceration in marginalized communities.Biden, who served in the U.S. Senate for three decades, was a driving force behind the implementation of aggressive criminal justice policies in the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the writing and passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which he himself dubbed the "1994 Biden Crime Bill" in 2015. Now, 25 years after the passage of this landmark bill, criminal justice advocates say the policy led to mass incarceration that disproportionately affected black communities and are calling on him to undo that legacy in order to win their support."He's in a precarious situation," said Dr. Keneshia Grant, a professor of political science at Howard University whose research focus is the political impact of black migration in the United States. "He absolutely has to be saying things like, 'people's attempts to disenfranchise you is like Jim Crow,' but that creates a difficult situation for him." "The '94 crime bill helped shape crime policy for almost the next 20 years," said Nicole D. Porter, director of advocacy at the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that seeks to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system. "It was adopted at a time when the approach to crime was very punitive—there was little resistance to adopting tougher penalties at the federal and at the state level, particularly in communities that were undergoing disinvestment."The legislation, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, was the largest crime bill in American history, and included a (since expired) ban on assault weapons, the Violence Against Women Act, and created guidelines for states to track sex offenders. But the bill included controversial provisions, including a so-called "three strikes" provision, the elimination of Pell Grants for incarcerated inmates, and provided nearly $10 billion for the construction of new prisons. The bill also increased incentives for states to sentence criminals to longer sentences, leading to an era of mass incarceration: More than 2 million Americans are currently imprisoned."It's not that he was swept up on the tough on crime—he drove the train. He was chair of the Judiciary Committee, he wrote a lot of these bills," Michael Collins, director of national affairs for Drug Policy Action, told The Daily Beast. "The 'War on Drugs' has always been a war on people of color—we knew that back in the 1990s, and it didn't stop Joe Biden then, and this is why we have this mass incarceration mess right now."Biden's legacy on criminal justice may complicate efforts to capitalize on high initial approval ratings among black voters, who make up more than half of registered Democrats in South Carolina."He's going to have to run a very issue-oriented campaign if he's going to win black voters in South Carolina. He can't just show up and say, I was Barack Obama's vice president, because that ain't going to work," former South Carolina state legislator Bakari Sellers, who has endorsed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) for president, told The Daily Beast. "I find it ironic that Hillary [Clinton] got pure hell for the '94 crime bill when Joe Biden actually wrote the '94 crime bill," Sellers said. "He's going to have to answer those questions, and he's going to have to answer with policy points… He has to reconcile with his record, and he's not answering those questions now."Advocates were quick to point out that as the Democratic consensus on criminal justice has changed, so too have Biden's views—to a point."Biden has followed the politics on this issue," Porter said. "As vice president in 2010, he anchored a reform... to scale back the 100-to-one crack cocaine-to powder disparity."The former vice president has indicated that there are certain positions he has taken on crime that he now disavows. At the National Action Network's Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in January, Biden said that on criminal justice reform, "I know we haven't always gotten things right, but I've always tried," alluding to the crime bill as "a big mistake when it was made."But undoing the legacy of "tough-on-crime" legislation, criminal justice reform advocates said, requires more than an apology."A stopped clock can be right twice a day, but when you look at the totality of Biden's career, he has been one of the top cheerleaders in the War on Drugs," Collins said. "The only reason we're seeing any contrition here is because he's running for president—if he was retired, we wouldn't be seeing apologies or any of these explanations."If Biden is serious about mitigating his role in the modern carceral state, Sellers said, he'll begin detailing concrete policy proposals to "unravel some of the damage that he's done.""Moving forward, when he does talk about criminal justice, he's going to have to talk about it in ways that are first, apologetic, and two, super clear about policy proposals to mitigate the effects of his past positions," Grant echoed.To "account for the harm done in this country during the era of mass incarceration," Porter suggested the elimination of mandatory minimums across the board, redirecting resources to focus on crime prevention and helping people who exit the prison system successfully enter into society, and full sentencing parity in drug possession cases—as well as provisions making such changes retroactive."It would take 75 years for the country to get back to the incarceration rates of the early '80s" at current rates of release, Porter said, which means that undoing mass incarceration requires policies "as substantial and muscular as the politics that drove the punitive reforms in the '80s and '90s."The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the former vice president's views on such proposals by press time.There is historical precedent for a president undoing the damage caused by previous positions and policies, Grant said, citing the case of President Lyndon Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act into law."Lyndon Johnson starts out as a legislator who is not particularly helpful in the civil rights movement," Grant noted. "Now when you think about him and think about his evolution on race, you can point to the Civil Rights Act to say, this is something he did to make up for his past or change his trajectory."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
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| Deceased pets recovered from plane in Florida river Posted: 06 May 2019 12:10 PM PDT  According to authorities, deceased pets have been recovered from a chartered jet that ran into a river at a Florida military base.
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| Iran's Zarif says Tehran not pulling out of nuclear deal: state media Posted: 07 May 2019 03:02 PM PDT  Iran will reduce some "voluntary" commitments within its nuclear deal with world powers as a response to members' inability to resist U.S. pressure, but will not withdraw from it, state media on Wednesday quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying. Iran's state media said earlier Tehran would write to the countries still signed up to the deal - U.S. allies Britain, France and Germany as well as Russia and China - on Wednesday to give them details about plans to "diminish its commitments" under the deal. "Iran's future actions will be fully within the (nuclear deal), from which the Islamic Republic will not withdraw," Zarif said, according to state media.
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| Here's the Story Behind Ezra Miller's Insanely Eye-Popping 2019 Met Gala Optical Illusion Look Posted: 07 May 2019 08:23 AM PDT  Bow to the king of "Camp"
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| Qatar to send money for West Bank, Gaza after Israel truce Posted: 07 May 2019 09:56 AM PDT  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar on Tuesday said it is sending $480 million to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire deal ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants since a 2014 war.
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| Third parent pleads guilty in college admissions scandal: This one paid $400K to get son into Georgetown Posted: 07 May 2019 01:56 PM PDT  Stephen Semprevivo pleaded guilty Tuesday to paying $400,000 to Rick Singer to get his son into Georgetown University, part of a nationwide scandal.
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| Boeing knew of 737 MAX safety system glitch year before deadly crash Posted: 05 May 2019 06:10 PM PDT  Boeing engineers identified a fault with a pilot warning system on its 737 MAX aircraft in 2017, a year before the deadly Lion Air crash, the company said Sunday. Boeing said that management was unaware of the issue until the crash in Indonesia, which killed 189 people, and the planes were not grounded until after another of the type operated by Ethiopian Airlines went down several months later, leaving a further 157 people dead. According to Boeing, a supposedly standard piece of equipment that tells pilot about disagreements between angle of attack (AOA) indicators -- which measure the plane's angle vis-a-vis oncoming air to warn of impending stalls -- did not in fact activate unless an additional optional indicator was purchased by airlines.
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| Meghan gives birth to a boy, says 'thrilled' Prince Harry Posted: 06 May 2019 08:22 AM PDT  Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has given birth to a boy, her husband Prince Harry announced in a statement to television cameras on Monday, adding that mother and baby were "doing incredibly well". "I am very excited to announce that Meghan and myself had a little boy early this morning -- a very healthy boy," a beaming Harry told reporters in Windsor. "Mother and baby are doing incredibly well.
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| UPDATE 3-Kinder Morgan's $1.75 bln gas pipeline hit with steel tariff -filing Posted: 06 May 2019 01:14 PM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Kinder Morgan's $1.75 bln gas pipeline hit with steel tariff -filing]( "UPDATE 3-Kinder Morgan's $1.75 bln gas pipeline hit with steel tariff -filing") U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc will pay a tariff on imported steel used in a $1.75 billion natural gas pipeline project, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled on Monday, dealing a setback to energy industry efforts to avoid the penalties. The Trump administration last year slapped a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum in a bid to safeguard U.S. jobs against overseas rivals. Energy companies have opposed the tariffs, saying they add cost to businesses contributing to the nation's energy security.
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| EU-Iran trade vehicle unlikely to meet anti-money-laundering norms: U.S. Posted: 07 May 2019 10:19 AM PDT  France, Britain and Germany have set up the special purpose vehicle called Instex, a conduit for barter-based trade with Iran, in an effort to protect at least some of Iran's economy from sweeping U.S. sanctions and keep alive a big-power nuclear deal that Washington is about to quit. The three European Union members have been trying to get Iran to keep its commitments under the deal to cut back its nuclear program - which Washington distrusts - by helping it to circumvent the trade sanctions that Washington has reimposed.
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| New threats by Trump on trade take bigger toll on U.S. farmers Posted: 06 May 2019 11:28 AM PDT  Already reeling from the president's trade war with China, U.S. farmers received more bad news on Monday.
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| This U.S. Ally Could Buy Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter and S-500 Air Defense System Posted: 06 May 2019 12:40 AM PDT  Turkey's plans to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system marked a major shift in Ankara's defense orientation, eliciting a sharp response from Washington. Nonetheless, the S-400 deal barely scratches the surface of the blooming Turkey-Russia defense relationship and the threat that it poses to NATO's military coherence.The Kremlin and Rosoboronexport-- Russia's state arms exporting agency—are seeking to capitalize on the political goodwill from the S-400 sale with several other high-profile contracts, including Russian jet fighters and next-generation missile defense system. When the US defense department suspended F-35 transfers to Ankara "pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forego delivery of the S-400" early last month, Russian and western defense commentators speculated that Russia would pounce with a snap Su-35 offer. It now appears, however, that Moscow has its sights set on a bigger deal. In an interview given to Turkish state media, Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov suggested that Moscow is open to inking a Su-57 contract: "These fifth-generation Russian fighter jets [the Su-57] have outstanding qualities, and show promise for export."
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| Post-apartheid South Africa is world's most unequal country Posted: 07 May 2019 09:01 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Perhaps nowhere in today's South Africa is the country's inequality on more dramatic display than in the neighboring Johannesburg suburbs of Sandton and Alexandra.
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| Doug Schoen cautions Democrats: Let's hear from Robert Mueller, but then let's move on Posted: 06 May 2019 01:49 PM PDT  Fox News contributor Doug Schoen points to the price Republicans paid for pushing impeachment against the popular will.
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| Total to buy Anadarko's Africa assets if Occidental wins takeover fight Posted: 06 May 2019 03:34 AM PDT  French energy giant Total said it has reached a deal with Occidental to acquire Anadarko Petroleum's oil and gas assets in Africa -- but only if the mid-sized US firm Occidental wins its fierce takeover battle for Anadarko with the much bigger Chevron. The move further bolsters Occidental's hostile takeover bid for Anadarko after American mega-investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway got involved last week, investing $10 billion in Occidental. Anadarko's board had already approved an offer from Chevron when Occidental unveiled a higher bid last month, kicking off a tug-of-war over the company's assets in the shale-rich Permian Basin in Texas.
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| Cheeky kid flips off TV crew in the middle of live broadcast Posted: 05 May 2019 07:17 PM PDT  It's one of the perils of live TV: Someone out there is going to ruin the shot.Even in the quaint surrounds of Windsor in the UK, where a reporter for Australian show Sunrise was upstaged by a kid in a passing car on Sunday night.SEE ALSO: Kids hack dad's facial recognition lock in easiest way possibleWindsor Castle is one of the official residences for the British Royal Family, where the Queen usually spends her weekends -- and where reporter Edwina Bartholomew was covering the imminent arrival of the royal baby of Meghan and Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. While the castle might be a place of good etiquette, don't expect that on the streets of Windsor, where you might be accosted by a kid who'll flip you off for fun."Speaking of bad parenting, what about that little kid who pulled up behind me before," Bartholomew said on Sunrise. "What a little rotter." While flipping off a live TV crew is admittedly pretty funny for the rest of us, unfortunately for the kid, the video evidence won't help him when his parents eventually find out.> Gee I hope that wasn't little Prince George on his way to visit his new cousin.... https://t.co/U0iY1cGigL> > -- Bianca Stone (@Bianca_Stone) May 5, 2019> Stay classy, Windsor royalbaby https://t.co/vAtKvA8iae> > -- Edwina Bartholomew (@edwina_b) May 5, 2019 WATCH: Burger King launches line of 'Unhappy Meals' in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month
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| Syrian rebels say goal of Russia's Idlib assault is to take highways Posted: 05 May 2019 06:08 PM PDT ![Syrian rebels say goal of Russia's Idlib assault is to take highways]( "Syrian rebels say goal of Russia's Idlib assault is to take highways") The sixth day of the campaign by government forces saw heavy aerial attacks targeting the city of Jisr al-Shughour and the al-Ghab plain, as well as the towns of al-Latamenah and Maarat al-Numan in the south of Idlib province, the rebels said. Taking those areas would bring President Bashar al-Assad close to regaining control over the strategic M5 and M4 highways from Aleppo to Hama and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, two of Syria's most important pre-war arteries. The first few days of the assault struck at towns in northern Hama and southern Idlib province inside a buffer zone agreed in September between Russia and Turkey as part of a deal which averted a major offensive on the area, the last major foothold of the Syrian rebellion.
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| President Trump Pardons a Former U.S. Soldier Convicted of Killing an Iraqi Prisoner Posted: 07 May 2019 07:50 AM PDT  President Trump has granted a full pardon to former U.S. soldier Michael Behenna, who was convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner in 2009
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| The Met Museum Pulls Out All the Stops in Its Quest for Camp Posted: 06 May 2019 01:16 PM PDT  Go inside this year's Met Costume Institute exhibition and gala with head curator Andrew Bolton and acclaimed theatrical designer Jan Versweyveld
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| Two Reuters reporters freed in Myanmar after more than 500 days in jail Posted: 07 May 2019 07:37 AM PDT  Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail in a case that raised questions about Myanmar's progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates. It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners across the country around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on April 17. Swamped by media and well-wishers as they walked through the gates of Insein Prison, on the outskirts of Yangon, a grinning Wa Lone gave a thumbs up and said he was grateful for the international efforts to secure their freedom.
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| Dragon Drama: Game of Thrones Has an Air Power Problem Posted: 06 May 2019 11:08 AM PDT  Following the epic siege of Winterfell, the Game of Thrones episode "The Last of the Starks" confronts its protagonist Daenerys Targaryen with wrenching military dilemmas that might have been ripped from today's headlines—and issues on the ethical issue of force that remain highly controversial today.While her ally Jon Snow advances troops south by land, Daenarys moves her Unsullied infantry by sea to rebase her forces at Dragonstone, a fortress which offers a convenient staging ground for her ultimate goal: the capture of the capital of King's Landing, held by the villainous Cersei Lannister. Daenerys flies over her fleet with her two dragons, confident in her supremacy as Cersei has no air force, and her infantry and cavalry lack effective anti-dragon weapons.Cersei's advisor Qyburn, however, has developed and mass-produced huge crossbows called 'scorpions'—ballistas which have the range and penetrating power to harm Daenerys's dragons. In the real world, ballistae were first developed by the Greeks and Romans as a form of naval and siege artillery (they played a role in Caesar's conquest of modern day France and Great Britain) and had an effective range of a few hundred meters.
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| Watch a Tesla Model 3 quickly swerve on its own to avoid an accident at the last second Posted: 06 May 2019 04:06 PM PDT  It's a shame that much of the narrative surrounding Tesla these days centers on the company's stock price, Elon Musk's shenanigans on Twitter, or other trivial details that don't truly capture some of the impressive automotive innovations Tesla has rolled out at a slow and steady pace over the years.Even today, a talking head on CNBC proclaimed that the 'Tesla dream' had come to an end and that the reality is that Tesla simply is unable to execute as promised. But if we move past the talking points, there's a lot of good news lurking beneath the surface. As a prime example, the number of Tesla vehicles on the road has exploded in recent years. To this point, Tesla deliveries from Q1 of 2018 to Q1 of 2019 jumped by an astounding 110%. In turn, we've seen a discernible uptick in videos depicting Tesla vehicles on Autopilot avoiding potentially tragic collisions.The latest example was posted to Reddit earlier today and depicts a Model 3 swerving out of harm's way after being rear-ended and almost careening into a car ahead:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVdTAwU07Jc"This morning I was rear ended coming to a stop by a lady driving about 40-50 mph," the uploader of the video notes. "The swerve in the video is not me. I don't really remember in the moment but I think it was the Tesla that avoided the front collision. Saved me from bigger damage."Now is it possible that the driver instinctively swerved to the left to avoid the car ahead and simply doesn't remember? Of course. That said, there are rumblings on the Reddit thread that Tesla will take a look at the logs and see exactly what happened.Interestingly enough, this is the second Autopilot video we've seen make the rounds in just the last two weeks:https://twitter.com/RaghuKonka/status/1120209206995406848
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