| Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif arrives in Biarritz in surprise visit to G7 leaders summit Posted: 25 Aug 2019 07:13 AM PDT  Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, unexpectedly flew into Biarritz on Sunday in a dramatic twist to a G7 leaders summit that is already riven by divisions over Russia, China and trade. Mr Zarif, who went straight into talks with French officials after his surprise arrival on an Iranian government Airbus, showed up as French President Emmanuel Macron attempted a high-risk diplomatic gambit to defuse a confrontation that has brought Iran and the United States to the brink of war. His presence caused immediate confusion in diplomatic circles, with a White House official saying that Donald Trump, who dined with other G7 leaders in Biarritz on Saturday night, was not informed in advance. Mr Trump's administration placed Mr Zarif under sanctions last month. But a French diplomatic source said Mr Macron informed Mr Trump of the Iranian foreign minister's visit when the two presidents had lunch on Saturday. Mr Macron then told the other leaders during dinner on Saturday night. "There was a very substantial conversation among the G7 leaders," the source said. The source added that the French and Iranian foreign ministers were also discussing "regional issues and Iran's missile programme". "We are working in total transparency with our US partners," he said. Angela Merkel said she was only informed shortly before Mr Zarif arrived. A White House official said Donald Trump was not told that Emmanuel Macron had invited Javad Zarif Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Pool via REUTERS A highly-placed French political source told the Telegraph: "That [the foreign ministers' meeting] doesn't mean that Mr Trump is actively supporting the talks, only that he is allowing them to happen. If there are advances, he can welcome them and perhaps share the credit. If nothing comes of it, he won't have to disown it because it was a French initiative. If it does succeed in reducing tension, it will be a huge diplomatic coup for Mr Macron." Earlier the French president played down briefings by his aides that the G7 leaders had mandated him to lead talks with Iran, which was quickly denied by Mr Trump who said the idea had not been discussed. Mr Macron said there was no such thing as a "G7 mandate" as the group is a forum for discussion rather than a formal structure. The Iranian foreign ministry said Mr Zarif had flown in for talks on saving the 2015 nuclear deal, but denied that Iran's missile programme was up for discussion. It said no talks with Mr Trump or the US delegation are planned. Mr Macron is hosting Mr Trump, Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Canada's Justin Trudeau, and Giuseppe Conte, Italy's caretaker prime minister, at the 45th G7 summit. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets U.S. President Donald Trump for bilateral talks during the G7 summit Credit: Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS The meeting has exposed deep rifts over everything from the fires in the Amazon rain forest to Mr Trump's trade war with China, and Mr Macron has warned that it will likely be the first summit in the Group's 45 year history to end without a joint communique. There were reportedly lively discussions at Saturday night's dinner of local Basque cuisine when European leaders including Mr Johnson pushed back at Mr Trump's suggestion that Russian president Vladimir Putin, who was suspended from the G7 after annexing Crimea in 2014, should be readmitted to the forum. Mr Trump and Mr Macron have also clashed over a proposed French "digital tax" which would hit US tech giants like Google and Amazon. Mr Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on French wine in retaliation. Mr Trump sought to play down reports of division on Sunday, saying meetings so far have been "very good". "Before I arrived in France, the Fake and Disgusting News was saying that relations with the 6 others countries in the G-7 are very tense, and that the two days of meetings will be a disaster," Mr Trump tweeted. An Iranian government plane is seen on the tarmac at Biarritz airport in Anglet on Sunday Credit: REUTERS/Regis Duvignau "Well, we are having very good meetings, the Leaders are getting along very well, and our Country, economically, is doing great — the talk of the world!" Tensions between the US and Iran have spiralled since Mr Trump last year withdrew from a deal that offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme. Since then the US has pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" in the hope that economic hardship will force the regime in Tehran to accept a more restrictive deal and end its support for armed groups like Hizbollah. The confrontation has caused tension with European allies including Britain which still support the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran continues to hold the Stena Impero, a British flagged tanker that it seized in the Gulf in apparent retaliation for the arrest by Royal Marines of an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar in July. Gibraltar released the Adrian Darya 1, formerly the Grace 1, on August 18, despite a US legal bid to impound it. The Royal Navy sent a third warship to the provide maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. HMS Defender, a type 45 destroyer, will join the type 23 frigates HMS Kent and HMS Montrose.
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| Bolivia president does about-face and will now accept aid to put out wildfires Posted: 25 Aug 2019 10:33 AM PDT  Bolivian President Evo Morales did an about-face on Sunday and said he was now open to international aid to fight the blazes that have engulfed rural villages and doubled in size since Thursday. Morales is also suspending his campaign for re-election for at least a week, just two months from election day, to focus on the wildfires. "There have been offers of aid," Morales told reporters on a tour of some of the impacted areas.
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| A psychiatrist who's worked with inmates where Jeffrey Epstein was held weighs in on his death Posted: 24 Aug 2019 06:22 AM PDT  The Justice Department confirmed Friday that a psychologist OK'd Jeffrey Epstein's release from suicide watch. An expert scrutinized the medical call.
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| Montana is back among states without state-funded preschool Posted: 24 Aug 2019 08:20 AM PDT  Montana enters the upcoming school year back among the handful of states without publicly funded preschool, and the unions and education groups that are otherwise staunch allies of Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock are a big reason why his fledgling pre-kindergarten program fizzled. The state briefly broke from those ranks with a 2017 budget item that provided funding for preschool programs through 10 school districts and seven private providers. Bullock, who is now running for the Democratic nomination for president, touted it as a major win for one of his top priorities of his final term: early childhood education.
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| A Georgia attorney thought a man hit his Mercedes with a golf ball. He ran him over and killed him, DA says Posted: 25 Aug 2019 04:08 PM PDT ![A Georgia attorney thought a man hit his Mercedes with a golf ball. He ran him over and killed him, DA says]( "A Georgia attorney thought a man hit his Mercedes with a golf ball. He ran him over and killed him, DA says") An Atlanta attorney has been charged with murder after he allegedly struck and killed a real estate investor he says hit his car with a golf ball.
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| Journalist killed in Mexico Posted: 24 Aug 2019 10:32 PM PDT  The head of a Mexican news website was found stabbed to death in the center of the country, authorities said Saturday, the 10th such killing this year. The body of Nevith Condes Jaramillo "was found Saturday morning... showing injuries from a sharp object," the state prosecutor said in a statement. Condes Jaramillo, 42, was the head of a local news site in Tejupilco and was also an announcer on a community radio station.
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| BlackRock Mideast Foray May Grow With Israel Infrastructure Push Posted: 25 Aug 2019 04:51 AM PDT ![BlackRock Mideast Foray May Grow With Israel Infrastructure Push]( "BlackRock Mideast Foray May Grow With Israel Infrastructure Push") (Bloomberg) -- The world's largest asset manager BlackRock Inc. could add to its footprint in the Middle East by joining Israel's infrastructure boom.Representatives of the Israeli government and the New York-based financial giant are discussing an investment in the country's infrastructure, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top economic adviser Avi Simhon.BlackRock expressed interest in an investment and Israel offered to help with any regulatory barriers, he said in an interview this month in Jerusalem, adding that it was too early for specifics. A spokeswoman for BlackRock in Israel declined to comment.To cope with a low-interest rate world, investors have looked to real assets including infrastructure to wring greater returns not tied to stock and bond prices. BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink has said the firm was chasing opportunities across the Middle East, broadening its reach to attract customers outside the U.S. in pursuit of what he sees as untapped potential abroad.BlackRock, which has nearly $7 trillion in assets under management, joined KKR & Co. in February in agreeing to invest $4 billion in Abu Dhabi's oil pipelines, securing two decades of guaranteed returns. In April, Fink was among executives in attendance at a financial summit in Riyadh, with BlackRock launching a dedicated Saudi exchange-traded fund tracking the kingdom's mid- and large-cap companies.Toehold in IsraelThe money manager has already been increasing its presence in Israel, after opening its first office in the country two years ago. It's partnered with local institutional investor Altshuler Shaham Group, and this summer cross-listed some of its exchange-traded funds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.Infrastructure may be next, especially now that the government is getting serious about giving the $370 billion economy a makeover. Netanyahu faces voters in a bid for reelection next month, potentially endangering his cabinet. Israel has the worst traffic congestion in the developed world.The Jewish State will invest billions of shekels over the coming decade on projects that range from roads and ports, to a metro in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv. Public-private partnerships are one way that Israel is hoping to fund such spending.Infrastructure BonanzaA team appointed by Israel's Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon in 2017 recommended significantly boosting infrastructure investment by 2030. Anticipated public-private partnerships will amount to about 48 billion shekels ($13.7 billion).Simhon, the chair of Israel's National Economic Council, said the country is dedicated to improving infrastructure and should boost spending. "We'll do it even if it means increasing our budget deficit," he said.To contact the reporter on this story: Ivan Levingston in Tel Aviv at ilevingston@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Paul Abelsky, Stefania BianchiFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UK Hong Kong consulate worker Simon Cheng freed after detention in mainland China Posted: 24 Aug 2019 07:15 AM PDT  A British consulate employee in Hong Kong has been freed by China after being detained for 15 days on the mainland amid rising tensions between the former British colony and Beijing. Simon Cheng, 28, a trade and investment officer at the Hong Kong consulate's Scottish Development International section, went missing on August 8 on his way back from a work trip in Shenzhen, a neighbouring Chinese city. It was not until after the UK expressed "extreme concern" about his disappearance that China's foreign ministry broke its silence, confirming Mr Cheng had been detained without releasing further details. On Saturday, his family announced that he had come back. "Simon has returned to Hong Kong; thanks you everyone for your support! Simon and his family wish to have some time to rest and recover, and will not take any interview," they said in a statement. An activist holds an illustration of Simon Cheng during a gathering outside the British Consulate-General building in Hong Kong Credit: AFP Chinese police in Shenzhen confirmed that Mr Cheng had been detained for violating public security management regulations, and was released after that period on Saturday. Police also said he had "confessed to the facts of his illegal activity," without saying what those activities were. Mr Cheng was not formally charged or tried in court, and his family rejected allegations in Chinese state media that he had been detained for visiting prostitutes. On Friday the UK issued a warning to all travellers to Hong Kong about increased scrutiny from mainland authorities at border crossings. The warning added that mobile phones and electronic devices were being checked by border patrol. Mr Cheng's mysterious disappearance highlights China's murky legal and judicial system – something that help kicked off mass protests early June in Hong Kong. Many fear freedoms enjoyed in Hong Kong, guaranteed for at least 50 years under an agreement that became effective when the former British colony was returned to Beijing, are fast-disappearing under China's ruling Communist Party. Hong Kong crisis | Comment and analysis Millions first took to the streets against a now-suspended extradition proposal that would have sent people to face trial in mainland China, where Communist Party control of the courts contributes to a 99.9 per cent conviction rate. Forced confessions are also common with suspects paraded on state television. "What happened to Simong Cheng – this is a common tactic used by the central government to put pressure on people," said Kammy Yang, 50, an office clerk at a protest on Saturday. "Many Chinese activists were accused of prostitution or tax scams; this is their strategy in China, trying to suppress freedom." Thousands of protesters on Saturday engaged in a series of skirmishes, throwing projectiles from bricks to petrol bombs at police who responded with sprays of tear gas and rubber bullets. It was the first time tear gas had been deployed in 10 days, a period of relative calm as protesters recalibrated their approach in an otherwise tumultuous, violent summer. Demonstrators join hands to form a human chain during the Hong Kong Way event in the Central district of Hong Kong, China, on Friday Credit: Bloomberg "The reasons why protesters are building roadblocks, surrounding police stations, and throwing bricks – it's because the government doesn't respond to us," said Vaso Chan, 28, an office clerk. "It's not fun for any of us to come out during summer break." Protesters spray painted slogans like "Give me liberty or death," Chinazi," and "HK popo Gestapo," on sidewalks and highways. As the political movement has grown, so have protesters' demands, who are now calling for an independent inquiry into police handling of the protests, the resignation of Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, and direct leadership elections. City leaders however have made no concessions, instead thrusting the police to the front lines to handle the situation, further angering protesters. Demonstrations are occurring nearly every day now in the financial hub, disrupting traffic and public transportation. On Saturday, several stations closed along a planned march route. But despite growing unrest, public support for the protesters has stayed strong, with marches and strikes planned through September. "No matter whether those protesters are peaceful protesters or protesters that are standing in the 'front lines', no matter what they do, we will support them," said Mr Chan.
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| Felix Sater: Trump wanted to reveal my secret CIA, FBI work during the campaign Posted: 24 Aug 2019 12:00 PM PDT  During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump wanted to reveal years of secret work that his one-time real estate adviser Felix Sater did for the CIA and FBI, Sater tells the Yahoo News "Skullduggery" podcast.
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| Exclusive: Iran says it will not negotiate missile work, wants to export more oil Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:34 AM PDT  Iran wants to export a minimum of 700,000 barrels per day of its oil and ideally up to 1.5 million bpd if the West wants to negotiate with Tehran to save a 2015 nuclear deal, two Iranian officials and one diplomat told Reuters on Sunday. A second official said "Iran's ballistic missile program cannot and will not be negotiated.
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| Attorneys: Charges expected in Florida nursing home deaths Posted: 25 Aug 2019 04:10 PM PDT  Defense attorneys said Sunday that arrests are expected shortly in the case of a Florida nursing home where 12 patients died after its air conditioning power went out amid sweltering heat following Hurricane Irma in 2017. Lawrence Hashish told The Associated Press his client is one of three nurses, in addition to an administrator, expecting to be charged in connection with the deaths after Hurricane Irma, which blew through Florida on Sept. 10 of that year. The storm knocked out a transformer linking the main air-conditioning unit to the power grid at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, sending temperatures soaring .
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| How conservatives are making the best case against the death penalty Posted: 25 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT  There are many reasons to oppose capital punishment. People of faith have reasons to be against it. So do people who see the inequities in the system.
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| Islamic scholar Ramadan targeted by new rape complaint Posted: 24 Aug 2019 05:44 PM PDT  Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar charged in France with raping two women, has also been accused of taking part in the gang rape of a journalist, French judicial sources said Sunday. The sources confirmed reports on Europe 1 radio and in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that a woman in her 50s had accused Ramadan, 56, of raping her along with a member of his staff when she went to interview the academic at a hotel in Lyon in May 2014. The woman, who filed a criminal complaint in May 2019, also accused Ramadan of issuing "threats or acts of intimidation" aimed at dissuading her from reporting the alleged attack to the police, the judicial sources added.
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| 2 women accused of shoplifting strollers and accidentally leaving their baby behind Posted: 24 Aug 2019 10:30 AM PDT  Two women were arrested for allegedly shoplifting baby strollers and accidentally leaving their own baby behind as they tried to get away.
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| Bat poo no longer blights church and interrupts service, as worshippers rejoice over new scheme Posted: 25 Aug 2019 02:00 PM PDT  Enticing the next generation through their ancient doors, keeping donations topped up and ensuring that the organ is tuned usually rank high among any church's list of priorities. For one congregation in Leicester, however, their problems have been somewhat more ungodly. For years, members of All Saints Church in Braunston-in-Rutland have been plagued by faeces dropping from the ceiling where a 500-strong colony of bats now reside. This has meant that instead of praying or enjoying the 1,000-year-old church building, parishioners have been slipping on its floors, art and furniture has been covered in sheeting and volunteer wardens have spent hours scouring pews and floors of bat excrement. Now, however, the congregation remains clean and dry. Following a pioneering new scheme, entitled the Bats in Churches project, work has been done to fill the gaps in the ceiling to prevent faeces and urine soaking through without harming the animals. It is illegal to stop bats - which are a protected species - from reaching their roost, leaving many churches unable to patch up holes in their walls and doors which bats use for access. As a result, many congregations across the country have often found themselves at the receiving end of their sporadic, plunging excrement. Gail Rudge at All Saints Church at Braunston in Rutland, where bats have roosted and caused damage Credit: ./Photo Copyright John Robertson, 2017. All Saints Church was one of the first to benefit from £3.8million of Heritage Lottery Funds to reduce the impact of bats on the buildings across the UK. It is one of around 100 churches, which hosts a large bat roost, which is now reaping the rewards of clean floors and clean congregants. Sue Willetts, church warden, told the BBC: "Before, we had covers down on the floors to collect the droppings. "We had to clean the pews every time, it took an hour before every single service. Now we use the church how its meant to be." Mrs Willetts said that the bat problem "snowballed" five years ago when an old chimney in the village collapsed, prompting its residents to move into the church instead. She added that after signing up to the scheme, ecologists found gaps between the roof and the church and it was possible to block these gaps without harming the bats. She estimated that the church has received £100,000 worth of scaffolding, building, and ecological study works since applying for funding from the project. Rosemary Riddell, from the Bat in Churches project, said work at All Saints Church "has enabled us to sort of roll out solutions to other churches similar to Braunstone and it's really helped us to learn from their experiences". "[The church] was one of our guinea pigs and we're grateful for their engagement and involvement," she added. More than 100 churches have applied for the Bats and Churches Partnership, which monitors bats to see whether church managers could be allowed to take action to protect their historic buildings. It is funded by a multi-million-pound National Lottery grant. All Saints Church at Braunston in Rutland, Credit: ./Photo Copyright John Robertson, 2017. During the General Synod earlier this summer, The Telegraph reported that bats in the belfry were being mooted as a potential "tool for mission". Bishops visiting York were asked to answer more than 100 questions involving an array of controversial topics such as reporting abuse during confession, non-disclosure agreements and ethical investments in large technology companies; and one was on bats. The Archdeacon of Lincoln, the Venerable Gavin Kirk, asked for an update on the progress of the Bats in Churches project, and "how those afflicted by bats may find out more about it?" Sir Tony Baldry, chair of the Church Buildings Council, responded: "A number of projects involve volunteers from the community in managing and even exploiting the presence of bats, for school projects and the like. Bats might even prove to be a tool for mission, if we can get them to behave politely." Asked how bats may prove to be tools for mission, Sir Tony told the media: "We have to work out how to encourage them out of the belfry to roost in bat boxes in churchyards. "They could then be of interest for projects for schools and A-level students studying the life cycles of bats and so on. They are part of God's creation and are interesting mammals. "There are serious challenges. They poo and urinate over large parts of the church, it is very distressing for parishioners on a Sunday to have to clear a whole load of bat poo off the altar and pews and so for some churches that bats have made almost unusable."
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| Top aides say Trump still determined to hike China tariffs Posted: 25 Aug 2019 07:19 AM PDT  Trump confused the situation Sunday when asked at the G-7 summit whether he is having second thoughts about ratcheting up the trade war with China.
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| UPDATE 3-Israel says air strike in Syria sent 'no immunity' message to Iran Posted: 25 Aug 2019 05:51 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Israel says air strike in Syria sent 'no immunity' message to Iran]( "UPDATE 3-Israel says air strike in Syria sent 'no immunity' message to Iran") JERUSALEM/DAMASCUS, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday an air strike against an arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Syria that it accused of planning "killer drone attacks" showed Tehran that its forces were vulnerable anywhere. A senior Revolutionary Guards commander denied that Iranian targets had been hit late on Saturday and said its military "advisory centres have not been harmed", the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.
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| Oregon defends past nonunanimous jury verdicts to high court Posted: 24 Aug 2019 01:29 PM PDT  Oregon's criminal justice system would be "overwhelmed" if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in an upcoming case that nonunanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional, the state's attorney general has told the court. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in an amicus brief on Friday that if the U.S. Supreme Court finds nonunanimous juries unconstitutional, it could invalidate hundreds or even thousands of convictions in Oregon. Oregon is the only state in America allowing 11-1 or 10-2 jury verdicts in criminal trials, except first-degree murder convictions.
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| Psychologist approved Jeffrey Epstein's removal from suicide watch Posted: 23 Aug 2019 11:27 PM PDT  A psychologist at the federal detention center in New York City where financier Jeffrey Epstein was jailed on sex-trafficking charges had approved his removal from suicide watch before he killed himself, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. The disclosure came in a letter dated on Thursday from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd and addressed to the leaders of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, seeking details about the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death earlier this month. Epstein, who was 66, was found dead Aug. 10 in his cell inside a segregated housing unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan.
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| Immigration: Baby girl in critical condition after illegal border crossing in Texas Posted: 24 Aug 2019 01:57 PM PDT  A baby girl is in critical condition after being detained by the U.S. with her father. They had crossed the Rio Grande illegally in a group of 21 people.
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| Britain sends another warship to Gulf Posted: 24 Aug 2019 11:26 AM PDT  A third British warship is heading to the Gulf, the Royal Navy announced Saturday, amid heightened tensions in the region. Britain has already sent the HMS Kent to cover for frigate HMS Montrose while it undergoes maintenance in nearby Bahrain, and is now redirecting the Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender from its mission to the Pacific. Britain outraged Iran by seizing one of its tankers -- the Grace 1 -- on July 4 on suspicion it was carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
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| NJ Cop Sent to Psychiatric Ward After Wife’s Slaying Will Finally Face Judge Posted: 24 Aug 2019 08:20 PM PDT  Chip East/ReutersA New Jersey cop accused of breaking into his estranged wife's home, shooting her, and then chasing her into the streets to put a final bullet in her head—all while in uniform—will finally face a judge next week.Newark Lt. John Formisano was arrested a couple of hours after the July 15 slaying. But instead of being brought to court, he was taken to a psychiatric unit after telling investigators that he "blacked out" just before the shooting.According to a police affidavit, the 49-year-old exhibited "suicidal behavior." Five weeks later, he was still in the hospital and had not been arraigned in a court of law—frustrating victim Christie Solaro-Formisano's family."What we feel is we want to have some justice. Any justice can bring a small fraction of peace and closure," her aunt, Joy Mandara, said earlier this week. "Right now, it seems justice is working very slowly and differently from how we expected."Uniformed Cop Who Allegedly Gunned Down Screaming Wife Hasn't Faced JusticeAfter The Daily Beast and local media reported on the delay, the wheels of justice seemed to speed up. Prosecutors confirmed Saturday that there will be a hearing in the case on Wednesday, and that Formisano will appear via video hookup from the psychiatric unit.Before the hearing was scheduled, prosecutors had insisted Formisano was not getting special treatment because he is a police officer."If this defendant was a house painter or a businessman on Wall Street in the same circumstances, it would have been handled in the same way," a spokesman for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office told The Daily Beast earlier in the week.At the time of the shooting, Solaro-Formisano and the Newark lieutenant were in the process of getting a divorce.Formisano told investigators that he went to her home to drop off glasses for their 8-year-old daughter, the older of their two children. The mother of two was home with her boyfriend, and went down to the door."He's got a gun!" Solaro-Formisano yelled, according to the boyfriend. "Call 911!"A nightmarish scene ensued. Formisano allegedly chased his estranged wife through the house, shooting at her, then broke down the bedroom door and shot the boyfriend in the abdomen, thigh, arms, and hand.Bleeding from her wounds, Solaro-Formisano ran outside. She was scrambling up the steps to a neighbor's house when the cop allegedly caught up to her and shot her in the head.The neighbor called 911 and identified the gunman. "He's a Newark cop. He lives on the corner. I saw it. I saw him through my window. He's in his uniform," she told the dispatcher.N.J. Cop Claims He 'Blacked Out' Before Killing Estranged Wife, Shooting Her Boyfriend: AuthoritiesAccording to police, Formisano locked his service weapon in the trunk of his car, tossed his cellphone and drove 30 miles. He was nabbed in a parking lot.During a police interview, he did not deny his role in the bloodshed."After entering the residence, Formisano stated he began to suspect that [his estranged wife] had a male guest in the bedroom, at which point he 'blacked out,'" the police affidavit said."He stated that he recalls firing his weapon numerous times."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Joe Biden is my Harvard, not my 'safety school.' He really is my favorite 2020 Democrat. Posted: 25 Aug 2019 10:39 AM PDT  Pundits say there's no enthusiasm for Joe Biden. Why is it so hard to believe that many people, including me, like him best of all the 2020 Democrats?
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| Muslim man left in coma after Thai army interrogation dies Posted: 25 Aug 2019 12:22 AM PDT  A Muslim man left in a coma after being interrogated at a notorious Thai detention centre died Sunday, as pressure mounts on the army to release further findings of a probe into the case. Abdulloh Esormusor, a suspected rebel from the country's restive south died early Sunday morning, more than a month after he was taken to the Inkayuth military camp, his cousin Mohammatrahmat Mamu told AFP. Inkayuth is the Thai army's biggest detention centre in the south, where suspects are taken for interrogation and held under emergency laws and where rights groups have documented torture.
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| Trump’s Offer to Help N.Y. With Subway Baffles Governor's Office Posted: 24 Aug 2019 12:03 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he is ready to help New York extend the Second Avenue subway in New York City, an announcement that left even state Governor Andrew Cuomo baffled."Looking forward to helping New York City and Governor @andrewcuomo complete the long anticipated, and partially built, Second Avenue Subway," President Donald Trump said in a tweet.Cuomo's office on Saturday said that while the governor is involved in discussions with the president and the Department of Transportation about several infrastructure projects in the city, including the Gateway Tunnel project, the subway and updates at LaGuardia Airport, there have been no concrete steps taken to move forward."The president's tweet suggests good news but we have no specific funding or approval and that is all that is relevant," Communications Director Dani Lever said in a statement. "If an agreement actually materializes, we will provide an update."The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to extend the subway line for 8.5 miles north, from East 96th Street to 125th Street in east Harlem, and add three underground stations. The line, debated for decades, began service in January 2017. To contact the reporters on this story: Jim Silver in New York at jsilver@bloomberg.net;Daniel Flatley in Washington at dflatley1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at stong41@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| China to fight back against U.S. tariff move - People's Daily Posted: 24 Aug 2019 09:17 PM PDT ![China to fight back against U.S. tariff move - People's Daily]( "China to fight back against U.S. tariff move - People's Daily") China will fight back against the latest U.S. step to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily said on Sunday amid an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies. "China is confident that it will follow its own path and do its own things well, and will never waver in its stand on countering any provocations by the U.S. side," the newspaper said in a commentary. U.S. politicians, seeking to hamper China's economic development, still want to use the tactics of exerting maximum pressure on China that has achieved few results, the paper said.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes aim at the Electoral College Posted: 23 Aug 2019 06:40 PM PDT  Extreme Democrats now running the Democratic Party; reaction from Charlie Hurt, Washington Times opinion editor, Allie Beth Stuckey, 'Relatable' podcast host, and Washington Examiner senior campaign reporter Kerry Picket.
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| Want to visit all 61 national parks in America? Here are 7 tips to help Posted: 25 Aug 2019 04:00 AM PDT ![Want to visit all 61 national parks in America? Here are 7 tips to help]( "Want to visit all 61 national parks in America? Here are 7 tips to help") This couple visited all 61 national parks this year — primarily via van — finishing their journey earlier this month.
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| South Korea begins annual war games to defend against Japan Posted: 24 Aug 2019 07:16 PM PDT  South Korea Sunday began two days of war games to practise defending disputed islands off its east coast against an unlikely attack from Japan, further stoking tensions between the Asian neighbours. The annual drills come just days after Seoul terminated a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo, with the countries at loggerheads over Japan's use of forced labour during World War II. The two-day exercise will involve warships and aircraft, the South Korean navy said in a text message without providing more detail.
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| Innocent man jailed for 82 days and loses jobs for bringing three jars of honey back to US Posted: 25 Aug 2019 02:00 PM PDT  Leon Haughton likes honey in his tea.Which is why during his Christmas visit to relatives in Jamaica, he made his regular stop and bought three bottles from a favourite roadside stand before heading home to Maryland.
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| British Airways Bank Holiday chaos as thousands of holidaymakers spend hours on the phone trying to salvage plans Posted: 25 Aug 2019 10:00 AM PDT  Thousands of British Airways passengers faced Bank Holiday chaos as they spent hours on the phone trying to rebook cancelled flights in the wake of the pilot strike. The pilots are on 9, 10 and 27 September, but the airline also told customers with tickets booked on other days that their flights were cancelled. However, it later admitted that these emails were sent in error, after many passengers had already rebooked flights at their own expense. As so many passengers were affected, the phone lines were jammed all day, with customers spending up to four hours on the phone during the hottest Bank Holiday August weekend on record. Some said they had tried to call the airline up to 200 times - and received no reply. The BBC's North America editor, Jon Sopel, was caught up in the chaos. He tweeted: "Dear British Airways. "This morning you wrote saying our flight was cancelled from Washington, and that we needed to rebook. We rebooked. Now you've written to say our flight is not cancelled after all. So what the ..... are we meant to do now? Thanks". BA said it received nearly 40,000 calls in the first 24 hours and had put on 70 extra members of staff to deal with the chaos. Ellie Kormis, from Surrey, spent almost £2,000 rebooking the flights for her family holiday to Greece - only to be told her original flights hadn't been cancelled. She told the BBC: "You're left in a situation where you can't speak to anyone - and you fear you'll either lose your holiday or be left out of pocket." The chaos happened on Sunday, on the centenary of the business, and frustrated customers who visited the Twitter page of the company were greeted with a screen full of animated balloons. Travel expert Simon Calder said: "British Airways: on the airline's 100th birthday, thousands of prospective passengers are stressed, upset and out-of-pocket as a result of BA's botched communication about the impending pilots' strike." Adam French, consumer rights expert at Which?, said the issue had caused "a lot of confusion and anxiety". "It is vital that the airline ensures that any customer who was initially informed that their flight was cancelled and has booked an alternative flight is not left out of pocket," he said. A British Airways spokesperson told The Telegraph that all those who had rebooked flights after the email error are eligible for a refund. She added that customers should keep all records and receipts handy for the refund process. BA has told passengers that they can request a full refund, rebook the flight for another time in the next 355 days, or use the value of the fare to fly to a different destination. Rival airline Virgin Atlantic attempted to get some business out of the chaos, and wrote on social media: "Has British Airways cancelled your flight on the 9, 10 or 27th September due to their pilot strike? We'd love to help keep your travel plans on track." The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said on Friday the strikes were a "last resort" born out of "enormous frustration" with airline management. Balpa said more strike dates could yet be announced, adding that they were "a last resort and with enormous frustration at the way the business is now being run". Pilots have rejected a pay increase worth 11.5 per cent over three years, which the airline put forward in July.
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| 200,000 Rohingya rally to mark 'Genocide Day' in Bangladesh camps Posted: 25 Aug 2019 08:30 AM PDT  Some 200,000 Rohingya rallied in a Bangladesh camp Sunday to mark two years since they fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar forces, just days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees. During the brutal August 2017 offensive, around 740,000 of the Muslim minority escaped Myanmar's Rakhine state -- joining those who had fled earlier persecution. A total of nearly one million refugees now live in three dozen squalid camps in Bangladesh's southeastern border district of Cox's Bazar.
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| CNN’s Brian Stelter: ‘We Can't Tiptoe’ Around Trump’s Mental Instability ‘Anymore’ Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:33 AM PDT  CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter called on media outlets to focus more coverage on what he feels is President Trump's obvious mental instability, saying Sunday morning that it is an issue we can no longer "tiptoe around.""He's getting worse," Stelter said at the top of his weekend show focussing on the media CNN's Reliable Sources. "We can see it. It's happening in public but it's still a very hard, very sensitive story to cover. I'm talking of course about President Trump, about his behavior, about his instability."Noting that several prominent conservative figures—notably, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's husband—are pleading with the press and Republicans to take the president's erratic behavior more seriously, the CNN host then ticked off a list of the president's comments and actions that have raised eyebrows."Look, all of these stories are covered in the moment, individually, by reporters," Stelter said. "News outlets use words like erratic, volatile, unstable but rarely are Trump's words and actions covered as a whole and rarely do news outlets take it to that next level. Okay, what he just said seems crazy—what does that reveal about him? We rarely see it go to that next step."Pointing out that Trump will always have a chorus of supporters backing him up and defending him, the CNN media analyst added that Trump's "Fox fans pretend the worst episodes didn't happen at all or blame the media for bad coverage."While Stelter went on to credit CNN and MSNBC for doing a decent job of showing the "ugly reality" with their on-screen graphics, he also stated that there is not "really a vocabulary" or a "format" for covering concerns about a president's mental well-being. "It's really a series of questions that no one is able to answer," he declared. "Why does he make it all about himself even after visiting a hospital after a massacre? Why does he lie so often? Is there a method to the madness or is something wrong? Is he suffering from some sort of illness? It's questions, questions and then just more questions."Prior to bringing on two psychiatrists to debate the ethics of media outlets openly discussing the president's mental fitness, Stelter ended his monologue by noting "we can't tiptoe around it anymore.""We've got to talk about this," he concluded. "So let's talk about it. Let's do it."This isn't the first time that Stelter has taken to the air to speculate about the president's mental health. In Aug. 2017, the CNN personality wondered aloud why more journalists weren't asking the "uncomfortable questions" about whether Trump was fit for office or "suffering from some kind of illness." And in Jan. 2018, called on reporters to do "more reporting" on Trump's possible mental instability. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| WRAPUP 5-Hezbollah leader says Israeli army to face quick retaliation to drone "attack" in Beirut Posted: 25 Aug 2019 11:02 AM PDT ![WRAPUP 5-Hezbollah leader says Israeli army to face quick retaliation to drone "attack" in Beirut]( "WRAPUP 5-Hezbollah leader says Israeli army to face quick retaliation to drone \"attack\" in Beirut") Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday warned the Israeli army stationed along the border with Lebanon that his movement was preparing an imminent response to two Israeli drones which crashed overnight in a suburb of Beirut. Nasrallah, whose Iran-backed movement fought a one-month war with Israel in 2006, issued the toughest warnings to his enemy in years.
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| Biden evokes '68, asks: What if Obama had been assassinated? Posted: 23 Aug 2019 05:50 PM PDT  Joe Biden pondered a most serious, and awkward, question at a campaign stop Friday: What if Barack Obama had been assassinated during his presidential campaign in 2008? Toward the end of an event in Hanover, Biden evoked two of his political heroes, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Both were assassinated in 1968, Kennedy while running for president.
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| You should change this one setting on your iPhone if you want to save data (AAPL) Posted: 24 Aug 2019 05:50 AM PDT  Your iPhone probably burns through data each month. Changing this one setting can help you keep it under control.
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| 'I thought she was going to die': Parents separated from children after Mississippi ICE raids Posted: 24 Aug 2019 06:43 AM PDT  More than two weeks after massive ICE raids in Mississippi, multiple parents of young children remain in detention.
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| UPDATE 1-Seven killed in collision between helicopter, small plane in Mallorca Posted: 25 Aug 2019 08:22 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Seven killed in collision between helicopter, small plane in Mallorca]( "UPDATE 1-Seven killed in collision between helicopter, small plane in Mallorca") Seven people, including two minors, were killed on Sunday in a collision between a helicopter and a light plane on the Spanish island of Mallorca, the regional government said. Five people were on board the helicopter, two of them minors, and they were all likely Germans, the Balearic Islands government said on Twitter. Emergency services were notified of the crash at 1:35 p.m. time in the municipality of Inca.
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| Parents charged with hate crime after allegedly assaulting boy found in daughter's closet Posted: 24 Aug 2019 04:57 PM PDT  The mother and step-father of a 15-year-old San Bruno girl are in jail after allegedly assaulting and kidnapping the teenage boy they found in their daughter's bedroom. Police are saying it was a hate crime.
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| S.Africa rare earths mine hopes for boost from US-China feud Posted: 24 Aug 2019 08:09 PM PDT  It's old, doesn't look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western South Africa. "Steenkampskraal will become a very important source of rare earths for the global industry," Trevor Blench, chairman of Steenkampskraal Holdings Limited, said during a recent tour. China produces the largest share of so-called "tech minerals", with a domestic output of 120,000 tonnes in 2018.
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| This Chase credit card offer with 125,000 bonus points is so good, I actually signed up Posted: 23 Aug 2019 05:51 PM PDT  BGR has partnered with The Points Guy for our coverage of credit card products. BGR and The Points Guy may receive a commission from card issuers.I'm a frequent guest at InterContinental Hotels Group properties for a number of reasons, most of which revolve around how well the hotel chain takes care of repeat guests. You can sign up for IHG's free membership program, for example, to access discounted room rates, and the chain's portfolio is also big enough -- it includes Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and InterContinental hotels -- that I can usually find somewhere to stay wherever I go that's part of the brand. There are other benefits of being a repeat IHG guest we could go into, but for the purposes of this post, we're going to take a look at a co-branded IHG credit card from Chase that's offering a pretty impressive bonus at the moment just for signing up. In fact, that card -- the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card \-- is offering its highest-ever sign-up incentive: 125,000 IHG bonus points once you've spent $3,000 in the first three months after opening the card. Not only that, but you'll also get an incredible 25x points per dollar spent at IHG Hotels and Resorts for the first 12 months after signing up. All told, you'll actually end up earning a whopping 40x points for every dollar you spend at an IHG hotel for the next year. And as if that wasn't enough, you can also score 4x points on all other purchases for your first 12 months with the card. After that, you'll rack up 2x points for every dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants (and 1x point on all other purchases).Let's take a closer look at why this specialty card is definitely worth your consideration.(Before you get too excited about the benefits and want to sign up, we should mention right off the bat that the IHG Premier Card does now appear to be subject to Chase's so-called 5/24 rule. Basically, it stipulates that if you've opened at least five personal credit cards in the last 24 months (no matter what issuer they're from) Chase isn't likely to approve you for this card.) HighlightsThe annual fee will set you back $89, and unfortunately, you can't waive it during the first year like you can with other cards. However, the card does grant cardholders IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status, with The Points Guy valuing this status at $880 for those that earn it through stays. If you're a regular IHG guest, this perk alone could make the $89 annual fee worth it.Free hotel room nights are another nice perk associated with this card. Cardholders automatically get a fourth consecutive night free \-- and after your first cardholder year and for each card anniversary after that, you'll score a free night certificate good at any IHG property that charges a maximum 40,000 points for an award night stay. I can definitely see taking advantage of the fourth-night free perk by specifically extending vacation stays around it, but that's just me. One final perk category we want to mention is the category bonuses. As noted, you'll earn 25x IHG points per dollar spent on IHG purchases in your first year -- but since this card also grants you Platinum Elite status, you'll earn a 50% bonus on hotel stays. IHG Rewards members get a base earning rate of 10x points per dollar spent, which means that after the 50% elite bonus you'll earn 15x points per dollar spent directly from IHG Rewards. Adding that to the 25x earning rate on the card and you'll get at least 40x points per dollar spent for the first 12 months. All in all, an impressive rewards structure that makes this card seriously attractive to IHG regulars. The final wordWith all of the stellar rewards and bonuses we mentioned above, from the 125,000-point sign-up bonus to the fourth award night free and much more, the card certainly makes a solid case for itself. Not so much as a general spending card, but our verdict is that the IHG Premier more than pays for the $89 annual fee for frequent guests of the chain.
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| NASA Dangles $7 Billion Carrot for Next Moon Landing Posted: 25 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT ![NASA Dangles $7 Billion Carrot for Next Moon Landing]( "NASA Dangles $7 Billion Carrot for Next Moon Landing") (Bloomberg) -- The agency that sent humans to the moon 50 years ago is offering $7 billion to take the first steps for a U.S. return to the lunar surface within five years.NASA is seeking U.S. companies that can deliver cargo, experiments and supplies to a spacecraft named Gateway in lunar orbit as part of the planned Artemis landing mission. It's the largest of several proposals unveiled since May as the agency accelerates work to return to space, with the eventual goal of reaching Mars.The agency is still lobbying Congress and President Donald Trump to sign off on Artemis, which may require as much as $30 billion to complete the task by 2024, NASA administrator James Bridenstine said on CNN in June. He later declined, in testifying to a Senate committee, to pin down an estimate. In May, Trump upped NASA's budget for next year."We've put an end to decades of budget cuts and decline," Vice President Mike Pence said Aug. 20 at a Virginia meeting of the National Space Council. "We've renewed America's commitment to human space exploration, vowing to go further into space, farther and faster than ever before."The U.S. 2024 landing target would be ahead of the goal set by China, which wants to have its astronauts at a research station at the south pole in the 2030s. India in July launched its second lunar mission, with a south pole landing scheduled for early September.NASA's lunar plan is a two-stage approach: landing on the moon by 2024 and establishing a sustained base on and in orbit by 2028. From the moon, the U.S. plans to send men and women to Mars."Fifty years ago we had Apollo," Bridenstein said at the Space Council meeting. "It just so happens that in Greek mythology, Apollo had a twin sister, her name was Artemis, she was the goddess of the moon."This month, NASA sought proposals from companies for a system to carry supplies and other items on a commercial rocket to the small Gateway station for six months of docked operations. The craft would be used for storage and trash."This solicitation builds on the capabilities NASA pioneered in low-Earth orbit with commercial cargo resupply to the International Space Station and is the next step in commercialization of deep space," Bridenstine said in a statement.A month ago, NASA sought bids for a $2.6 billion contract to build the next generation of lunar landers, including vehicles that can handle heavier payloads and touch down at the moon's south pole, according to a July 30 announcement.The agency in May awarded its first contracts for the moon mission -- $375 million to Maxar Technologies Inc. of Westminster, Colorado, to develop power and propulsion systems, components needed to land astronauts on the moon by 2024. The contract was more than Maxar's market value at the time.The agency has approved more than $150 million for specific unmanned landing tasks. Astrobotic Technology Inc. of Pittsburgh won a $79.5 million contract to fly payloads to Lacus Mortis, a large crater on the moon's near side, and Intuitive Machines of Houston was awarded $77 million to carry payloads to Oceanus Procellarum, a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the moon. Both are to land by July 2021.The U.S., which in July marked a half-century since Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, spent an estimated $28 billion to fulfill President John F. Kennedy's lunar landing pledge. Adjusted for inflation, the cost by today's measure is $288 billion, according to the Planetary Society, which was founded by astrophysics including Carl Sagan.The proposal issued this month by NASA could be for as long as 15 years with a value capped at $7 billion. More than one company could qualify. NASA is also asking that proposal include ideas about spacecraft design, cargo mass capability, pressurized volume, power availability for payloads and, transit time to Gateway.To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Geimann in Washington at sgeimann@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Matthew G. Miller, Linus ChuaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| On this day, the British set fire to Washington, D.C Posted: 24 Aug 2019 03:43 AM PDT  The United States capital of Washington, D.C., burned on this day in 1814, but it may have been an act of nature that forced the British from the besieged city.
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| The Latest: Hezbollah leader: Israeli drones will be downed Posted: 25 Aug 2019 09:49 AM PDT  The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah says his group will confront and shoot down any Israeli drones that fly over Lebanon from now on. Hassan Nasrallah's speech Sunday came hours after one alleged Israeli drone crashed in the capital, Beirut, while another exploded, authorities there said.
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| Wanted: 60,000 drivers. What the shortages at US trucking companies means to you Posted: 24 Aug 2019 09:12 AM PDT  Bad press, high demand and a lack of skilled labor has led to a yearlong truck driver shortage, and it doesn't show signs of stopping.
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