| Trump lashes out at Fox News over impeachment poll numbers: 'Whoever their Pollster is, they suck' Posted: 10 Oct 2019 08:23 AM PDT  President Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to vent his frustration over a new Fox News poll that found a majority of Americans want to see him impeached and removed from office.
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| PHOTOS: California wildfires threaten homes in Los Angeles Posted: 11 Oct 2019 06:28 AM PDT  The Saddleridge fire flares up near a firefighter in Sylmar, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Photo: Michael Owen Baker/AP) A wildfire fueled by Santa Ana winds has closed two freeways, is threatening homes and has forced evacuations around Los Angeles. Fire officials say the Saddleridge fire had consumed more than 4,600 acres by Friday morning. It broke out after 9 p.m.
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| 'Trey is a joke among us': Gowdy is a divisive addition to Trump's legal team Posted: 10 Oct 2019 11:08 AM PDT  The president's decision to bulk up his legal team with former Rep. Trey Gowdy amid a widening impeachment inquiry is drawing criticism from one of his high-profile supporters.
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| Kamala Harris to Donald Trump Jr: 'You wouldn’t know a joke if one raised you' Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:43 PM PDT  The 2020 democratic hopeful was responding to the President's son calling her "The most disingenuous person in politics, after Hillary" for laughing at her own jokes
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| Photos of the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Lightning Lap Posted: 11 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT |
| Greta Thunberg's fans are upset she didn't win the Nobel Prize, but a peace expert says she should have never been a contender Posted: 11 Oct 2019 06:44 AM PDT  Greta Thunberg was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize after leading strikes that push leaders to address climate change. Here's why she didn't win.
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| Egypt discovers archaeological industrial zone in Luxor's 'Valley of the Monkeys' Posted: 10 Oct 2019 11:39 AM PDT  Egypt on Thursday unveiled two archaeological discoveries in Luxor including an industrial zone at the southern city's West Valley, also known as the Valley of the Monkeys. Egyptian archaeologists have discovered 30 workshops in the industrial area, the Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement. The area is "composed of houses for storage and the cleaning of the funerary furniture with many potteries dated to Dynasty 18," the excavation team's leader, Zahi Hawass, said in the statement.
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| German suspect admits anti-Semitic attack, far-right motive Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT  The German suspect in a deadly attack targeting a synagogue has admitted to the shooting rampage, confessing it was motivated by anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism, federal prosecutors said Friday amid government warnings of an "elevated" risk of further attacks. Stephan Balliet, 27, made a "very comprehensive" confession during an interrogation lasting several hours, said a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe. Germany's Interior Minister Horst Seehofer warned meanwhile in a ZDF television interview that there was now an "elevated" threat of another anti-Semitic or terrorist attack saying around half of 24,000 suspected far-right extremists had an "affinity" with firearms and could engage in violence.
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| Trump Gloats About Shep Smith’s Fox News Exit Posted: 11 Oct 2019 02:55 PM PDT  The question from a reporter to President Donald Trump on Friday night was, "Did you or your administration pressure Fox News to get rid of Shepard Smith?" Trump did not answer directly, but rather took the opportunity to gloat over his least-favorite Fox News anchor's departure, saying, "No, I don't know, is he leaving? Oh, that's a shame." "Did I hear Shepard Smith is leaving?" the president asked, soundly almost gleeful. "Is he leaving because of bad ratings? He had terrible ratings, is he leaving because of his ratings? If he's leaving, I assume he's leaving because he had bad ratings." Smith, who has been the rare critical voice against the president on Fox, announced on Friday that he had requested to get out of his contract on leave the network, effective immediately. "Even in our currently polarized nation, it's my hope that the facts will win the day," Smith said in his final broadcast. "That the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will thrive."The move comes just two days after Attorney General Bill Barr met privately with Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, prompting some speculation that the Trump administration had something to do with Smith's exit. "Well, I wish him well," Trump concluded. "I wish Shepard Smith well." Trump Gets Instant Fact-Check From Fox News' Shepard Smith After Oval Office SpeechRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Ford announces plans to display 6 Ford Ranger concepts at SEMA 2019 Posted: 11 Oct 2019 06:32 AM PDT  To show off all the customization possibilities available for the Ford Ranger, Ford is bringing 6 unique concept models of the pick-up to this year's SEMA show, taking place next month. What better place to display the breadth of customization possibilities available for the Ford Ranger than at one of the biggest automotive specialty products trade shows in the US? Ford is using SEMA 2019 as an opportunity to exhibit six concepts of the pickup with six distinct looks and purposes.
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| Lindsey Graham dishes on Trump in hoax calls with Russian pranksters Posted: 10 Oct 2019 03:37 PM PDT  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has in the last year become something of a congressional point man for President Trump's negotiations with Turkey, leading discussions on everything from Ankara's purchase of a Russian missile system over the summer to its more recent incursion into northern Syria.
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| Could Chelsea Clinton run for a New York House seat? Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:58 PM PDT  "If you care about what's happening in the world, you have to care about running for and holding elected office," Chelsea Clinton said last year.
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| New fresco with gladiators discovered in Pompeii Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:36 AM PDT  Archeologists excavating what may have been an ancient Roman drinking den in the ruined city of Pompeii said Friday they have unearthed a well-preserved wall painting of gladiators in action, complete with realistically gory wounds. The 3ft by 4.5ft fresco is located in the Regio V site, in the northern section of Pompeii's archaeological park, in an area not currently accessible to visitors. "Very probably the fresco decorated a place used by gladiators, perhaps a watering hole .
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| Turkey may have targeted US forces with artillery in Syria, coalition source claims Posted: 11 Oct 2019 03:43 PM PDT  Turkey may have deliberately targeted US forces with artillery in northern Syria in order to push them out, coalition sources have told the Daily Telegraph. US officials confirmed an explosion occurred near where a small contingent of its special forces were based on a hill near the town of Kobane. They said the cause of the explosion had not been confirmed but local reports suggested it was either an artillery or air strike. No US personnel were injured. It was the first time a coalition base had come under fire since Turkey's offensive began. US warplanes flew over the base immediately after the incident. Turkey's defence ministry denied targeting the US position, saying its forces were responding to Kurdish fire that originated nearby. Civilians flee amid Turkish bombardment on Syria's northeastern town of Ras al-Ain in the Hasakeh province along the Turkish border Credit: AFP A spokesman said: "There was no firing on the US observation post. The firing was ceased as a result of the issue being relayed to us by the US." But a coalition source said there was nothing else around in the area that the Turks could have been targeting, apart form the US forces. "It's likely they are trying to push us out. Kobane is the heart and soul of the Kurds," a source said. "If Turkey can get us to leave it's all over." A US official in Washington said an explosion had occurrednear the US military outpost, but no personnel were hurt. The official said the source of the explosion was unclear, but it coincided with Turkey's offensive against the Kurds. US troops were in the outpost at the time of the explosion but there had been no further activity since. Before the explosion Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said Turkey had been informed of US positions in Syria. Speaking at the Pentagon he said: "The Turkish military is fully aware, down to explicit grid coordinate detail, of the locations of US forces. "Everyone is fully aware that we are the United States military. We retain the right of self-defence." A picture taken from Turkish territory shows smoke rising from targets inside Syria during bombardment by Turkish forces at Ras al-Ayn town Credit: REX It came after the US defence secretary pleaded with Turkey to stop its offensive on Kurdish-held northern Syria before it was "irreparable", as the civilian death toll rose and 100,000 were forced to flee their homes. In the strongest condemnation of the assault since Donald Trump gave Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan his blessing on Sunday, Mark Esper said Ankara faced "serious consequences" if it did not rein in its forces in Syria. "As part of the call, Secretary Esper strongly encouraged Turkey to discontinue actions in northeastern Syria in order to increase the possibility that the United States, Turkey and our partners could find a common way to de-escalate the situation before it becomes irreparable," read a statement released in his name. Mr Trump's green light for so-called Operation Peace Spring has turned amber in the face of international pressure. The president called the invasion a "bad idea" on Thursday and even offered to mediate between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces. "We have one of three choices," he tweeted on Thursday night. "Send in thousands of troops and win Militarily, hit Turkey very hard Financially and with Sanctions, or mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds!" "I hope we can mediate," he told reporters later when asked about the options. Facing increasing pressure to stop Turkish and allied Syrian rebel forces going deeper in Syria, the US set out red lines for their offensive. "That would include ethnic cleansing. It would include in particular indiscriminate artillery, air and other fire directed at civilian population," a senior US official said, spelling out what Turkish actions would trigger US sanctions. "That is what we're looking at right now. We have not seen significant examples of that so far." People run to take cover after mortars fired from Syria, in Akcakale, Turkey Credit: AP Mr Trump warned Turkey to act with moderation and safeguard civilians. But the barrages of the invasion so far showed little sign of holding back. Residents along the border fled with their belongings loaded into cars, pickup trucks and motorcycle rickshaws, while others escaped on foot. The UN refugee agency said tens of thousands were on the move, and aid agencies warned that nearly a half-million people near the border were at risk. France, which has come out strongly against the assault, said the European Union would discuss imposing sanctions on Turkey at a summit on Monday. The Netherlands suspended arms exports to Turkey yesterday, following Norway and Finland and Sweden, which plans to push for an EU-wide suspension. US senators, meanwhile, have been drawing up plans for their own possible sanctions. Without elaborating, Mr Trump also said the US was "going to possibly do something very, very tough with respect to sanctions and other financial things" against Turkey.
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| More hazing complaints hit Ohio University, leading to the suspension of the marching band, 3 sororities, a professional fraternity, and all social fraternities Posted: 11 Oct 2019 02:21 PM PDT  After suspending all its social fraternities for hazing allegations, Ohio University received complaints against sororities and the marching band.
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| U.S. Reaches Partial Trade Deal with China: Report Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:35 AM PDT  After two productive days of talks in Washington, sources told Bloomberg Friday that the U.S. and China agreed to a partial trade deal, laying the foundation for a broad deal that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping could sign later this year."China would agree to some agricultural concessions and the U.S. would provide some tariff relief," Bloomberg reports. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin did not confirm an agreement during a press conference, saying the U.S. has had "a productive two days" of negotiations with the Chinese.Friday morning, Trump seemingly tweeted in anticipation of the deal.> One of the great things about the China Deal is the fact that, for various reasons, we do not have to go through the very long and politically complex Congressional Approval Process. When the deal is fully negotiated, I sign it myself on behalf of our Country. Fast and Clean!> > -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2019Trump confirmed the deal elaborated on the details Friday afternoon during a meeting He in the Oval Office. The president said a "phase one" agreement was in place and would take several weeks to write, but would likely be signed by both sides in November.The provisions include China purchasing $40 billion to $50 billion worth of American agricultural products, along with agreeing to guidelines on how it manages its currency, and policies with intellectual property, including forced technology transfer.On Wall Street, stocks rose on Friday as investors anticipated a positive conclusion to negotiations. The S&P 500 was up roughly 1.8 percent before midday, putting the benchmark stock market index on track to snap losses over the previous three weeks, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.9 percent.
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| U.S. B-2 Bomber Recently Tested a New Nuclear Bomb Posted: 10 Oct 2019 01:32 AM PDT  Thank god it was not live, but the point is clear: the nuclear age is not over.
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| ‘I’m standing here in the middle of climate change’: How USDA fails farmers. Posted: 10 Oct 2019 06:57 PM PDT !['I'm standing here in the middle of climate change': How USDA fails farmers.]( "'I'm standing here in the middle of climate change': How USDA fails farmers.") Rick Oswald is standing on the doorstep of the white farmhouse he grew up in, but almost nothing is as it should be. "This house is 80 years old," Oswald says, stepping inside the darkened living room, which now smells faintly of mold. American farmers are reeling after extreme rains followed by a "bomb cyclone"—an explosive storm that brought high winds and severe blizzard conditions—ravaged the heartland, turning once productive fields into lakes, killing livestock and destroying grain stores.
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| Former California police officer convicted of sexually assaulting five women while on duty Posted: 10 Oct 2019 06:07 PM PDT ![Former California police officer convicted of sexually assaulting five women while on duty]( "Former California police officer convicted of sexually assaulting five women while on duty") A California jury on Wednesday found former police officer Noah White Winchester guilty of sexually assaulting five women while on duty.
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| California outages ease after wind, fire danger move south Posted: 11 Oct 2019 09:13 PM PDT  The lights were back on Friday for most of the nearly 2 million Northern California residents who lost electricity when the state's largest utility switched it off this week in an effort to prevent wildfires. The threat of widespread outages loomed in Southern California after the winds moved to the Los Angeles area, where a wildfire fueled by strong Santa Ana winds prompted officials to order the evacuation of 100,000 people from their homes in the foothills of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. restored power in Northern California after workers inspected power lines to make sure it was safe.
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| See Photos of the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:15 AM PDT |
| Rubio, Cruz ask Trump to keep Citgo in Venezuela opposition's hands Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:18 PM PDT  U.S. lawmakers including Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz wrote a letter to President Donald Trump this week requesting that he take executive action to prevent holders of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's bonds from seizing U.S. refiner Citgo. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido earlier this year assumed control of Citgo - a PDVSA subsidiary whose three refineries process 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude - after Washington recognized him as the OPEC nation's leader, arguing socialist President Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election was a fraud.
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| Hong Kong Protesters Are Debating a Halt to Vandalism Posted: 10 Oct 2019 11:48 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong protesters are debating whether to lower the temperature as the battered financial center girds for another weekend of tear gas and petrol bombs.Worried that violence and destructive tactics risk alienating more moderate supporters, some activists have urged others to scale back vandalism that has shut shops, banks and train stations across the city. Their concerns include giving Chief Executive Carrie Lam a reason to delay local elections next month or discouraging U.S. lawmakers from passing a bill to support the protest movement.One post widely circulated on LIHKG -- a Reddit-like forum popular with Hong Kong's youth -- warned that further violence risked creating internal splits within the broader pro-democracy movement, which has vigorously discussed the merits of peaceful versus more radical and disruptive actions."The general public, including foreigners, will think the violence is escalating to the point of being indiscriminate," the user wrote in a post that garnered more than 3,000 "upvotes," putting it among the most popular posts that day.On Friday, hundreds once again marched throughout the city's central business district, disrupting traffic as they held up banners and placards. Many were wearing masks in defiance of Lam's invocation of a rarely used emergency law last week to ban protesters from wearing face-coverings at rallies.The peaceful gathering comes after tens of thousands of people flooded Hong Kong's streets a week ago following the mask ban and the first shooting of a protester during police scuffles days earlier. The result was the most destructive weekend since the movement began over four months ago in opposition to now-withdrawn legislation that would've allowed extradition to mainland China.Hong Kong Police Vow to Investigate Protester Sex Assault ClaimAngered over corporate moves to support the government, protesters targeted shops, train stations and state-owned Chinese bank branches for vandalism -- acts they call "renovations." The rail operator MTR Corp., who demonstrators accuse of colluding with police and stifling their movements, was forced to shut almost its entire network on Friday and Saturday and continues to close early for repairs.'Quite Critical'So far, the movement has enjoyed resilient support in the former British colony as it expanded to include calls for greater democracy. But recent episodes, including protesters ambushing police, throwing Molotov cocktails at officers, beating a taxi driver and punching a JPMorgan Chase & Co. employee from mainland China have tested the public's tolerance."At the moment, the balance still tips in favor of the protesters because of the various misdeeds and brutality on the part of the police, but the balance may turn," said Joseph Cheng, a retired political science professor and pro-democracy activist. "The coming week will be quite critical."Since protests erupted on China's National Day on Oct. 1, police have arrested some 500 people, including 77 for violating the mask ban, and fired almost 2,000 rounds of tear gas. Dozens of people have have been injured, including two teenage protesters who were shot during fights with police.In online forums, some protesters circulated a public apology for attacks on branches of Shanghai Commercial Bank Ltd., which some had mistook for a state-owned Chinese financial institution. The Hong Kong Association of Banks said that 10% of the city's ATMs were damaged last weekend.However, the view that vandalism should be reduced isn't shared by all. On Thursday, a group of protesters who earlier disrupted transport links to the airport published a plan on LIHKG to pressure commercial establishments Sunday, including a color-coded guide to which establishments should be boycotted or vandalized based on their level of support for the authorities.'I Would Tolerate All the Vandalism'One frequent protester with the surname Yip told Bloomberg News that he was angered how some businesses "stand with the government instead of the citizens." "I would tolerate all the vandalism, even though it created troubles for me," Yip said.Some worry the violence could sap international support, especially as the U.S. Congress considers legislation that would require annual reviews of Hong Kong's special trading status. The Chinese government has denounced the bill, which threatens some $38 billion of U.S. trade with Hong Kong, as an inappropriate interference in the country's domestic affairs."Without question, international perception is very important, and when it comes to opinions on the use of force, public figures in Washington and Wall Street certainly prefer to see peaceful singing in shopping malls and origami," activist Joshua Wong wrote on Facebook.Lam has refused to rule out further emergency measures, or even requesting Chinese military intervention to halt the unrest. "If the situation becomes so bad, then no option should be ruled out, if we want Hong Kong to at least have another chance," she told reporters Tuesday.Some don't want violence to be used as a pretext to delay district council elections Nov. 24, when many activists including Wong are hoping to win seats. Cheng, the retired professor, predicted that there may be fewer violent clashes this weekend as protesters engage in more peaceful events."There will still be some radicals engaging in clashes, but the number of people involved and the scale and scope of the clashes may well decline a bit," Cheng said. "There will be more gatherings in the shopping malls, singing, human chains, large groups of students marching quietly in the streets with masks, and then going home. I hope so."(Updates with details of protest in fifth paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Aaron Mc Nicholas in Hong Kong at amcnicholas2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten KateFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Putin's test missile failed and exploded in deadly nuclear accident Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:54 AM PDT  An Aug. 8 nuclear accident near Nyonoksa, Russia, was caused by a nuclear reaction that occurred while Russians were attempting to recover a nuclear-powered cruise missile submerged in the White Sea after a failed test last year.
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| US-China partial trade deal: the main points Posted: 11 Oct 2019 05:24 PM PDT  US President Donald Trump on Friday announced a partial trade deal with China after talks in Washington with Vice Premier Liu He. "We have a fundamental understanding on the key issues... but there is more work to do," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters. Mnuchin said Liu needed "to go back to do some work with his team, but we have made a lot of progress over the last two days," signaling that approval from the highest level in Beijing would be sought.
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| The Navy SEALs Could Take on Iran's Special Forces in a War Posted: 10 Oct 2019 10:00 PM PDT  But at a price.
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| Swath of Atlantic still at risk for tropical development into next week Posted: 10 Oct 2019 11:19 AM PDT  While the window for tropical systems to brew will soon be closing for some zones in the Atlantic, the risk of tropical development is shifting southward into next week."Two areas we have been monitoring for tropical or subtropical development just off the East Coast of the United States to east of Bermuda are running out of time," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski explained. This image, taken on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, shows much of the tropical Atlantic Basin. There was a non-tropical swirl of clouds well east of Bermuda and a weak, broad area of showers and thunderstorms over the western Caribbean Sea. (NOAA/GOES-East) One such area is a storm located southeast of the New England coast, which has strengthened some Thursday night. Should it continue to gather tropical characteristics into Saturday, it could briefly become a subtropical storm.More long-term, meteorologists are also watching areas in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa over the next week for possible tropical trouble.Tropical disturbances, or tropical waves, continue to move westward off the coast of Africa every three days or so.These waves make up the Cabo Verde season, which is named for the disturbances that originate near the Cabo Verde Islands just off the west coast of Africa.Even though we are past the peak of the Cabo Verde season and the hurricane season in general, these disturbances and other areas can still evolve into tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes over time."A somewhat stronger tropical wave is forecast to move off the Africa coast this weekend and move westward," Kottlowski said. "There is a low chance this becomes an organized system next week," he added.There remains a broad area of weak counterclockwise winds over the western Caribbean and Central America. This feature is called a gyre.Occasionally, as tropical waves move into this gyre, they have a greater chance at becoming a tropical depression or storm, since there is extra moisture in place and there already is a weak circulation to begin with."As a result, the area from the western Caribbean to Central America, including adjacent eastern Pacific waters, could give birth to a tropical system or two through next week," Kottlowski said."However, the chance of tropical storm formation is probably significantly higher on the Pacific side as opposed to the Caribbean side," Kottlowski added. Hurricane season continues until the end of November, and Kottlowski feels there will be another named system or two over the Atlantic Ocean before the season comes to a close. Download the free AccuWeather app to see the exact forecast for your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Southwest Airlines flight diverted after intoxicated passenger assaults other travelers, police say Posted: 10 Oct 2019 06:40 AM PDT  The Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas was headed to Los Angeles International Airport when it had to make an unplanned stop in Tucson, Arizona.
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| Pope accepts resignation of NYC bishop accused of abuse Posted: 10 Oct 2019 06:33 AM PDT  Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a New York City bishop who was accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy in the 1980s, the Vatican said Thursday. Auxiliary Bishop John Jenik denied the allegation when it was first brought to the New York City archdiocese last year. Cardinal Timothy Dolan said the archdiocese's lay review board had found the allegation to be "credible and substantiated," and he turned the case over to the Holy See for further investigation, since only the pope can decide a bishop's fate.
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| The obscure law that explains why Google backs climate deniers Posted: 10 Oct 2019 11:00 PM PDT  Company wants to curry favour with conservatives to protect its 'section 230' legal immunity * Revealed: Google made large contributions to climate change deniersEric Schmidt being interviewing on Bloomberg in 2014. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty ImagesWhen Eric Schmidt was asked on a radio show in 2014 why Google was supporting an ultra-conservative climate-denying pressure group in Washington, the then chairman of the internet giant offered an unequivocal response: it was wrong and Google was not going to do it again."The consensus within the company was that that was some sort of mistake and so we're trying to not do that in the future," Schmidt told NPR. People who opposed or questioned climate science were making the world "a much worse place", he added, and Google "should not be aligned with such people".But five years later, Google still funds more than a dozen organisations that deny the climate crisis and oppose political action to try to solve it. Among them is the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the group that launched the notorious Cooler Heads Coalition two decades ago, a group of conservative and libertarian pressure groups dedicated to dispelling the "myths" of global heating.The Guardian has collaborated with leading scientists and NGOs to expose, with exclusive data, investigations and analysis, the fossil fuel companies that are perpetuating the climate crisis – some of which have accelerated their extraction of coal, oil and gas even as the devastating impact on the planet and humanity was becoming clear. The investigation has involved more than 20 Guardian journalists working across the world for the past six months.The project focuses on what the companies have extracted from the ground, and the subsequent emissions they are responsible for, since 1965. The analysis, undertaken by Richard Heede at the Climate Accountability Institute, calculates how much carbon is emitted throughout the supply chain, from extraction to use by consumers. Heede said: "The fact that consumers combust the fuels to carbon dioxide, water, heat and pollutants does not absolve the fossil fuel companies from responsibility for knowingly perpetuating the carbon era and accelerating the climate crisis toward the existential threat it has now become."One aim of the project is to move the focus of debate from individual responsibilities to power structures – so our reporters also examined the financial and lobbying structures that let fossil fuel firms keep growing, and discovered which elected politicians were voting for change. Another aim of the project is to press governments and corporations to close the gap between ambitious long-term promises and lacklustre short-term action. The UN says the coming decade is crucial if the world is to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of global heating. Reining in our dependence on fossil fuels and dramatically accelerating the transition to renewable energy has never been more urgent.For Google, providing financial backing to groups such as CEI and the Cato Institute – staunch free marketeers – has nothing to do with climate science, and everything to do with its effort to curry favour with conservatives on its most pressing issue in Washington: protecting an obscure section of the US law that is worth billions of dollars to the company.The law – known as section 230 of the Communications Decency Act – was established in the 1990s, at a time when the internet was in its infancy, and helped to give rise to internet giants, from Google to Facebook, by offering legal immunity to the companies for third party comments, in effect treating them as distributors of content and not publishers.Section 230, in effect, allowed Google and Facebook to be shielded from the kinds of libel laws that can ensnare other companies, such as newspapers.The law has important advocates across the political spectrum, from Democrats who hail it as a triumph of free speech, to Republicans who say it has promoted free enterprise and innovation.But now some lawmakers, including Republicans, think it might be time to revise section 230. The senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, has said Google's alleged bias in favour of Democrats means it is not a neutral platform and should not be protected from liability.Google's decision to give to groups such as CEI reflects an attempt to win friends in Republican and conservative circles, and support those lawmakers on the right who are champions of section 230."I think the future of conservatism is up for grabs in the Trump era," said one person who is familiar with the company's thinking on political giving. "We are in a moment where Google has been injected in a lot of culture wars … and there is a lot of hostility in conservative circles."There is little doubt that Google has a loyal friend in CEI. In a recent letter to members of Congress, CEI and other conservative groups called for the protection of section 230, saying it had created "new venues for conservative speech", and that lawmakers who wanted to upend it were "well-meaning but mistaken".CEI has also defended Google in other realms. In a recent op-ed published in the Atlantic, a CEI senior fellow named Mario Loyola argued that the launch of a recent antitrust investigation into Google by 48 state attorneys general, led by the Texas attorney general Ken Paxton – a strong supporter of Ted Cruz – would not do anything to help the public.A CEI spokesperson, who declined to comment on questions about Google, told the Guardian: "CEI is a nonprofit organisation that advocates free-market solutions to public policy issues. CEI's research programmes and positions are developed independently by policy experts and reflect a longstanding, steadfast dedication to principles of economic liberty and limited government."When Google was asked about its support for CEI and groups like it, a company spokesperson said: "We sponsor organisations from across the political spectrum that advocate for strong technology policies. We've been extremely clear that Google's sponsorship doesn't mean that we endorse that organisation's entire agenda – we may disagree strongly on some issues."Google employees have privately spoken out about the company's support for some conservative groups. In a discussion with employees in March 2018 – a recording of which was heard by the Guardian – Adam Kovacevich, who at the time served as head of public policy at Google (he has since left the company), defended the company's alignment with some conservatives.He said he had been directed to forge the relationships after the 2016 election of Donald Trump. It reflected a view that the company was seen as too close to Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democrats.The discussion took place after a controversy over Google's sponsorship of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual meeting of conservatives, where Google hosted a party.To the consternation of many employees, its logo appeared on banners next to the NRA's. In his opening remarks on the call, Kovacevich said it was important to build relationships not only with people in power "but also the people who influence them"."It can be hard sometimes to reconcile our business interests with our stated values, and finding that balance is something our team has to navigate really on a daily basis, and it has gotten more and more complicated," Kovacevich can be heard saying in the recording.While Google staff seemed to accept Google needed to forge ties across the political spectrum, the majority of the employees on the call expressed concern that the company was too far out of step with its values. The Wall Street Journal and Wired have previously reported on the meeting.This year, Google did not sponsor CPAC. But big technology companies were frequently named – and lambasted – by conservative participants in their speeches. In one case, the rightwing provocateur James O'Keefe encouraged tech employees to secretly record colleagues in their offices in order to expose their alleged biases."We will equip you with a camera," O'Keefe said. "If they're lying, cheating, scamming, we're going to find them, make them famous internet celebrities, expose them for all the world to see."
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| GM, UAW clash over how to reach deal to end lengthy strike Posted: 10 Oct 2019 11:37 AM PDT  WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union clashed late Thursday over how to end a 25-day strike that has cost the company over $1 billion, according to letters seen by Reuters. GM urged the UAW to agree to around-the-clock negotiations to try reach a deal, while the union insisted on dealing with five specific issues first before it responded to a broader proposal from the company. The UAW began strike action on Sept. 16, with the union's 48,000 members seeking higher pay, greater job security, a bigger share of the automaker's profit and protection of healthcare benefits.
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| Tom Cotton Lashes Out At Intelligence Community IG for Refusing to Elaborate on Whistleblower’s ‘Arguable Political Bias’ Posted: 10 Oct 2019 06:37 AM PDT  Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) sent a letter to Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson on Wednesday demanding answers after reports emerged Tuesday that the whistleblower had a 'professional relationship' with a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.In Atkinson's testimony to the Senate on Sept. 26, the ICIG refused to elaborate on his written report, which stated that there was an "indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the [whistleblower] in favor of a rival political candidate." But reports have surfaced that Atkinson elaborated on his original statement during his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee."Your disappointing testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on September 26 was evasive to the point of being insolent and obstructive," Cotton's letter reads. "… This information is, of course, unclassified and we were meeting in a closed setting. Yet you moralized about how you were duty bound not to share even a hint of this political bias with us."In his original Aug. 26 letter detailing the whistleblower's accusations, Atkinson said that the individual's political bias "did not change my determination that the complaint relating to the urgent concern 'appears credible,' particularly given the other information the ICIG obtained during its preliminary review."Cotton ends his letter with a number of demands, including asking Atkinson to confirm the reports that the whistleblower had some level of professional relationship with a Democratic presidential campaign, and to clarify which candidate and the nature of the relationship. The letter also demands that Atkinson explain why he did not bring up the facts during the September hearing."This information is urgently relevant for the American people and their elected representatives to evaluate the complainant's credibility and to determine whether the House's so-called impeachment has been, in reality, a well-coordinated partisan attack from the beginning," Cotton concludes.
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| NRA troubles: A hunter targets the world’s most powerful gun lobby Posted: 11 Oct 2019 02:44 AM PDT  NRA corruption allegations have weakened the group. Plenty of gun rights advocates are ready to step in.
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| WWII Lesson for Trump: Turkey Was in Bed With the Nazis Posted: 10 Oct 2019 01:42 PM PDT  The Nazis melted gold dental fillings from concentration camp victims and found the best price for it was in neutral Turkey.At the same time, Turkey kept selling Germany the chromium ore it needed to build weapons and continue the war. But in harkening back to World War II in an effort to justify giving Turkey a green light to crush the Kurds, President Donald Trump ignored such damning truths. He instead said of the Kurds, "They didn't help us with Normandy."Never mind that present day Kurds have suffered thousands of casualties as our most effective allies against ISIS.Trump's Crazy Syria Move Will Wipe Out America's Allies and Set Up a Big ISIS ComebackNever mind that the Kurds of 1944 were scattered across a half dozen countries in the Middle East and were in no position to help even themselves.And never mind that Turkey started out World War II pledged to support the Allies only to suddenly switch when it looked like the Nazis would win."Turkey began World War II bound to Britain and France by the military alliance of October 1939, moved to non-belligerency in June 1940 after the fall of France, and adopted a policy of 'active neutrality' in the spring of 1941 after German occupation of the Balkans and the conclusion of a German-Turkish Treaty of Friendship in June 1941," notes a 1998 report on Holocaust restitution by the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. The report cites a November 1943 assessment by German Munitions Minister Albert Speer "that much of Germany's manufacture of armaments would come to a halt within 10 months if Turkey's chromite exports to Germany were ended."In the meantime, the Germans sold ingots of absolute evil in Turkey."Two German banks with branches in Turkey, the Deutsche Bank and the Dresdner Bank, took advantage of the high prices on the Turkish free gold market to sell looted gold provided by the Reichsbank in return for foreign currency, particularly Swiss francs," the report says. "Some of the gold provided by the Reichsbank came from the infamous 'Melmer account' in which the SS deposited the gold jewelry, coins, bars, and dental fillings robbed from its victims at the killing centers and concentration camps." The Reichsbank was the central financial institution of Germany. Deutsche Bank would go on to become the lone financial institution in the 1990's willing to risk making huge loans to Donald Trump. Even as he condemns the Kurds for failing to do what they could not possibly have done at Normandy without a nation-state of their own, Trump says nothing about Deutsche Bank's Nazi past or about Turkey's continued sales of chromium ore to Germany until April 1944. Turkey finally returned to our side in August 1944—two months after Normandy—when it appeared that the Nazis were going to lose after all.U.S. forces that fought their way from Normandy into Germany recovered ledgers showing that Deutsche Bank had sold at least 998 kilograms of what the congressional report terms "gold looted from individual victims of Nazi persecution."The report adds, "Other German gold acquired by Turkey during and after the War included coins and ingots from the account of German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop at the Reichsbank, which had been stocked with gold looted from occupied Europe."At war's end, Turkey had done exactly nothing to assist the Allies besides no longer selling chromium to the Nazis. Turkey nonetheless argued that since it had been at war with Germany, it should not be expected to turn over whatever Nazi wealth it retained."Turkey, an 11th hour ally, returned no looted gold… and turned over no money," the report notes.Turkey also kept the money it made selling the Nazis chromium ore that kept the war going. The report says Turkey only stopped after President Franklin Roosevelt threatened Turkey with "economic war."Our current president made a similar threat this week, when he tweeted, "As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey."The major difference is that this threat seems to be having no effect.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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| Iran tanker hit by suspected missile strikes off Saudi coast Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:42 AM PDT  Suspected missile strikes hit an Iranian oil tanker off the Saudi coast on Friday, its owner said, the first Iranian vessel targeted since a spate of attacks in the Gulf Washington blamed on Tehran. The National Iranian Tanker Company said the hull of the Sabiti was hit by two separate explosions off the Saudi port of Jeddah, saying they were "probably caused by missile strikes". In those attacks, two of Saudi Arabia's biggest oil installations were hit, wiping out five percent of global production.
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| How Big Of A Threat To NATO Is Russia's New PAK-DA Stealth Bomber? Posted: 11 Oct 2019 05:11 AM PDT  Will it even get built?
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| GE's pension freeze raises a question: Should you take a lump-sum buyout or keep benefits? Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:07 AM PDT  Buyout offers present a quandary to employees who must decide whether to take a one-time payout or stick with the guarantee of a pension.
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| Correction: Bar Shooting story Posted: 11 Oct 2019 09:27 AM PDT  In a story Oct. 7 about a deadly shooting at a bar in Kansas City, Kansas, The Associated Press, based on police reports, misspelled the first name of one of the victims. KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — One of two suspects in the fatal shooting of four people in a Kansas bar caused a disturbance two hours earlier that brought officers to the scene, but they couldn't find him in the area, the interim police chief said Monday. Michael York said Kansas City, Kansas, police were still searching for one suspect, Hugo Villanueva-Morales, 29, in connection with the shootings at the Tequila KC bar early Sunday that also wounded another five people.
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| Ocasio-Cortez tells world's mayors drastic action needed on climate crisis Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:15 AM PDT  In a passionate address to leaders of 94 cities in Copenhagen, the congresswoman called 'runaway' pursuit of profit unsustainableUS congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that tackling the climate crisis will involve making dramatic economic changes in a passionate closing speech at the C40 World Mayors summit in Copenhagen on Friday.In her first overseas appearance as an elected politician, the 29-year-old was invited to speak after the C40, which represents the mayors of 94 cities worldwide, and which this week pledged support for a global version of her flagship Green New Deal policy."It is unsustainable to continue to believe [in] our system of runaway, unaccountable, lawbreaking pursuit of profit," she told the conference.Instead, she said, the world needed to adopt "a cooperative, collaborative" system, "whose economy … benefits the middle and lower classes and marginalised people"."Our current logic created this mess and operating in the same way will not get us out."This uncompromising message won her a powerful round of applause. But it was when she came to the impact climate change had had on her own life, and on her family in Puerto Rico, that she became emotional. "I speak to you as a human being, a woman whose dreams of motherhood now taste bittersweet because of what I know about our children's future," she said, her voice breaking as if she was struggling to hold back tears. "That our actions are responsible for bringing their most dire possibilities into focus." From the moment she began speaking, the main hall at the summit became completely still, and when she finished, the ovation she received far exceeded that received by the veteran climate campaigner and former vice-president Al Gore, Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen; or the UN secretary general, António Guterres. "She got a rockstar welcome in that audience," Nicholas Reece, a city councillor from Melbourne, Australia, said. "There's just something about her which is really mobilising and electrifying people around the world, particularly young people." After her speech, Ocasio-Cortez joined the weekly Fridays for Future rally outside Copenhagen city hall, where she called on the gathered activists to "make sure the politicians sweat a little bit".A substantial crowd, combining local activists with mayors and youth delegates from the summit, had turned out to meet her. "We have to face the oil and coal industry, the CO2-emitting industry, Wall Street, Bolsonaro, Donald Trump," she said to cheers from the crowd. "We can't and won't win by staying home."Emily Baliozian, a youth delegate who had come to the summit from Paris, watched Ocasio-Cortez's speech despite the pounding rain. "It was so empowering. It was clearly directed to us. I know it, she's going to be president one day, because we're going to be the voters of tomorrow," she said. "It's super cool that she came all this way," said Selma White, 14, a regular at Copenhagen's Fridays for Future protests. "It's really inspiring." Ocasio-Cortez arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday morning and immediately began posting images of the city to her 4 million followers on Instagram. She was invited to attend a royal dinner hosted by Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and his wife, Princess Mary, at the city's Christiansborg Palace on Thursday evening. But she stayed away from the summit itself until the moment she delivered her speech.
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| UK PM Johnson will ask MPs to back any Brexit deal secured from EU: The Times Posted: 11 Oct 2019 05:52 PM PDT  The European Union agreed on Friday to enter intense talks with Britain to try to break the deadlock over Brexit, lifting financial markets with a sign that a deal could be done before the Oct. 31 deadline.
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| View Photos of 2021 Toyota Mirai Posted: 10 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT |
| California adopts broadest U.S. rules for seizing guns Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:46 PM PDT  California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a law that will make the state the first to allow employers, co-workers and teachers to seek gun violence restraining orders against other people.
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| A week inside the Fox News bubble: From daytime sanity to prime-time Hannity Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:09 PM PDT  One of the most startling things about Fox News is just how quickly it managed to embed itself in American culture.Despite being younger than, say, Logan Paul, it has an outsized level of clout which has only increased with the election of Donald Trump.
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| Deadly protests set stage for Iran, US tug-of-war over Iraq Posted: 11 Oct 2019 09:06 PM PDT  Iraq's deadliest wave of protests since the 2003 ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein has made the country vulnerable to a battle for influence between its two main competing allies, the United States and Iran, analysts say. The anti-government protests that erupted on October 1 echoed the demands that young Iraqis have made over recent years. "Without this context, Iran would not have intervened," Iraqi political analyst Munqith Dagher said.
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| Last Year, A Non-Human Adversary Grounded An Entire F-22 Jet Squadron Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:00 AM PDT  The Air Force can't afford losses to its F-22s
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| Number of black students at Cambridge University rises by 50 per cent as 'Stormzy effect' is cited Posted: 10 Oct 2019 04:01 PM PDT  The number of black students at Cambridge has risen by 50 per cent in a year, with a university chief citing the "Stormzy effect". This year 91 black students have been admitted to Cambridge, up from 61 last year. There are currently over 200 black undergraduates studying at the university, which is the highest in the institution's 800 year history. Over a quarter (26.8 per cent) of all undergraduates at Cambridge are now from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Professor Graham Virgo, Cambridge's senior pro-vice-Chancellor for education, said that the rise was partly down to a new scholarship for black students which was launched by the grime artist Stormzy last year. "A number of factors are thought to be behind the increase in black students applying and being admitted," he Prof Virgo said. "One is likely to be the "Stormzy effect". In August 2018, the award-winning British grime artist announced he would fund tuition fees and living costs for two students each year for the duration of their study at Cambridge. "Since then the University has seen an increase in the number of black students engage in its outreach activities and enquire about its courses." In 2018, Stormzy, the rapper, launched a scholarship to Cambridge University which pays for tuition fees and living costs for two young black students. Earlier this year he announced that he will cover the costs of another two students from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds. Cambridge University's Afro-Caribbean Society Prof Virgo said that the record number of black students at Cambridge is "a credit to their hard work and ability", adding that the university has not lowered its entry standards. He explained that the university as well as individual colleges and student societies have run a number of successful information campaigns that have encouraged more black students to apply, including a series of short films presented by a You Tube influencer and Cambridge graduate, Courtney Daniella which aimed to "challenge the misconceptions" surrounding a Cambridge degree. Earlier this year, Prof Virgo said that black students were failing to apply to Cambridge due to a lack of Afro-Caribbean hairdressers in the city. He told an event at King's College, Cambridge that the "unexpected" finding arose during research into what deters black students from considering the institution. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, urged other universities to look at "new and innovative" ways to encourage underrepresented groups to apply. "I think we should always be looking at every single way to encourage people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to be going to some of our top universities, going to all of our universities," he said.
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| Felony charge for girl, 13, who pointed finger-guns at other students, officials say Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:10 PM PDT  There were previous encounters involving the student that resulted in classmates being "fearful" of her, according to police.
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