| Trump disbands White House business councils as CEOs flee Posted: 16 Aug 2017 10:35 AM PDT  As CEOs of major corporations began fleeing President Trump's two business advisory councils yesterday to protest his remarks about the neo-Nazi violence in Virginia, Trump disbanded both groups.
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| Live: Barcelona van crash likely terror attack, Spanish police say Posted: 17 Aug 2017 09:19 AM PDT  A van slammed into pedestrians in Barcelona on Thursday afternoon, reportedly killing two people in what Spanish police say was likely a terror attack. The suspects fled the scene, entering a nearby restaurant. Yahoo News is providing live coverage of the incident and aftermath.
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| Kentucky Governor Echoes Trump: 'All Sides' To Blame For Charlottesville Violence Posted: 16 Aug 2017 10:55 AM PDT  Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R), like President Donald Trump, has said that both white supremacists and counterprotesters are to blame for the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.
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| Remains Found In April Have Been Identified As Those Of Teen Missing Since 2007 Posted: 17 Aug 2017 05:33 AM PDT  Kara Kopetsky hadn't been seen since leaving her Missouri high school in May 2007.
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| More arrests made in toppling of Confederate statue Posted: 16 Aug 2017 11:33 AM PDT  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — More protesters were arrested Wednesday for participating in a demonstration that toppled a Confederate statue in North Carolina, and more monuments were vandalized as well.
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| American Airlines Accused Of Destroying Woman's Wedding Dress Posted: 17 Aug 2017 12:10 AM PDT  The court papers claimed Yewande Oteh of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, decided to sue the airline after it failed to prevent or investigate the incident.
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| 10-year-old India rape victim gives birth to baby girl Posted: 17 Aug 2017 03:36 AM PDT  A 10-year-old rape victim whose plea for an abortion was rejected by India's Supreme Court has given birth to a baby girl, a doctor said Thursday. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was raped several times allegedly by an uncle who has since been arrested. Both the girl and her baby are doing fine," doctor Dasari Harish told AFP by phone from the northern Indian city of Chandigarh.
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| U.S., Japan step up defense cooperation to counter North Korea Posted: 17 Aug 2017 12:20 PM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Japan will step up their defense cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday. "For this threat of North Korea, at this meeting we agreed to increase the pressure and to strengthen the alliance capability," Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said after talks with senior U.S. officials in Washington. U.S. fears about North Korea's missile and nuclear bomb programs have grown in recent weeks.
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| Everything we know about the Barcelona terror attack Posted: 17 Aug 2017 12:13 PM PDT  At least 13 people were killed on Thursday when a driver deliberately slammed a van into crowds on Barcelona's most popular street in what police confirmed was a terror attack. The attack, the latest in a wave of vehicle rammings across Europe in recent years, caused panic on the streets of Spain's largest city and drew condemnation from world leaders. "We can confirm there are 13 dead and more than 50 injured," regional interior minister Joaquim Forn said in a tweet. Catalan police said they had arrested one suspect, and denied earlier reports that the perpetrator was holed up in a bar near the scene. Here is everything we know. What happened? Footage appears to show damaged vehicle in cordoned-off Barcelona street 00:31 A white van, reportedly rented, rammed into pedestrians outside a kosher restaurant on a busy street in Barcelona. Police released a photograph of a man called Maghrebi Driss Oukabir, who is suspected of renting the van which was used to crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas. A handout photo made available by Spanish National Police shows Maghrebi Driss Oukabir, alleged to have rented the van which was used to crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas Credit: Spanish National Police/ HANDOUT A police officer cordons off a street in Barcelona Credit: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez Lawyer and University of Glasgow rector Aamer Anwar was walking La Ramblas when he heard screaming. He said a shopkeeper told him five or six people were badly injured and described the scene as "chaos". Mr Anwar said: "I had been to the Cathedral and walking down Las Ramblas for something to eat. Part of it was in the shade so I decided to keep walking down and literally within 10 seconds there was a crashing noise. Armed police respond to terror attack in Barcelona 00:27 "I turned around and people were screaming - I could see a woman screaming with her kids - people started running and jumping into shops. I ran for about 50 or 100 metres and stopped to see what was happening. The police were very quickly on the scene and getting people to move back. "I could see chaos right at the top area and I spoke to a shopkeeper who had run down and was screaming. He was Bengali so I spoke to him in Urdu and he said a van had driven into a crowd and he thought there were five to six people very seriously injured." Mapped: Barcelona van attack World leaders condemn perpetrators and offer support to Spain U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!" U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered assistance to authorities in Spain and said U.S. diplomats in Spain were helping Americans there. He vowed the United States would never relent in tracking down terror suspects and holding them to account. "Terrorists around the world should know that the United States and our allies are resolved to find you and bring you to justice," Tillerson said in a statement. British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.K. "stands with Spain against terror" while France's president and the mayors of Paris and Nice are among the French dignitaries offering support for Barcelona after a deadly van attack. Police cordon off scene in Barcelona where van ploughed through a street 00:45 The dead and injured At least thirteen people have died, according to officials, and more than 50 other injured. Witnesses spoke of a scene of carnage, with bodies strewn along the boulevard as others fleeing for their lives. "When it happened I ran out and saw the damage," local shop worker Xavi Perez told AFP. "There were bodies on the floor with people crowding round them. People were crying. There were lots of foreigners." Barcelona terror attack, in pictures
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| Former CIA chief: Trump's Charlottesville comments 'a national disgrace' Posted: 16 Aug 2017 04:50 PM PDT  Former CIA director John Brennan blasted Trump over statements he made at a press conference concerning the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
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| KKK Members Convicted In Plot To Kill Black Inmate While Working As Prison Guards Posted: 16 Aug 2017 10:20 AM PDT  Two former Florida prison guards who were members of the Ku Klux Klan have been convicted of plotting to murder a black inmate after his release.
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| Man charged with spraying manure on US Border Protection car Posted: 16 Aug 2017 03:11 PM PDT  MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A man who says his livelihood in agriculture has been nearly ruined by people who entered the country illegally to work on local farms is facing charges he sprayed liquid manure on a marked U.S. Customs and Border Protection car after confronting an agent about immigration enforcement.
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| Has Natalee Holloway's Body Been Found? Remains Reportedly Discovered in Search for Missing Teen Posted: 16 Aug 2017 02:17 PM PDT  The Alabama teen vanished during a school trip in 2005.
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| Twitter Points Out Other Times When 'Both Sides' Were Clearly Incomparable Posted: 16 Aug 2017 01:33 PM PDT  On Tuesday, many Americans were left reeling after recent remarks made by President Donald Trump in the aftermath of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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| Uproar in Australian Parliament after firebrand anti-immigrant MP Pauline Hanson wears burka to question time Posted: 17 Aug 2017 12:10 AM PDT  Pauline Hanson, the Australian anti-migrant firebrand MP, has been condemned for an "appalling" stunt in which she wore a burka in Parliament as part of her push to ban it, prompting a rare standing ovation from MPs in support of a speech denouncing her. The controversial MP, who leads the One Nation party, was widely condemned after she attended the Senate chamber in a black Islamic body covering, prompting gasps of shock from fellow MPs. As she removed the covering, she said: "This is not what should belong in this Parliament." Senator Pauline Hanson wears a burqa in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra Credit: REUTERS She then asked George Brandis, the attorney-general: "In light of the national security of this nation will you work to ban the burka in Australia?" Mr Brandis responded: "No." During an emotional session, Mr Brandis received a standing ovation from the opposition – and applause from his fellow Coalition MPs - after he delivered a stinging rebuke of Ms Hanson. Pauline Hanson pulls off a burqa in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra Credit: REUTERS Referring to calls by police and security agencies to co-operate with the Muslim community, Mr Brandis said: "To ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious garments is an appalling thing to do." "I am not going to pretend to ignore the stunt that you have tried to pull today by arriving in the chamber dressed in a burka when we all know that you are not an adherent of the Islamic faith," he said. "I would caution and counsel you with respect to be very, very careful of the offence you may do to the religious sensibilities of other Australians." Senators from both sides join in applauding Attorney-General George Brandis (unseen) for criticising One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson Credit: AAP In an uncharacteristic display of support, Richard Di Natale, the Greens leader, rose to thank Mr Brandis for "showing leadership … that is so often lacking in this Parliament". Sam Dastyari, a Labor MP, said in a tweet that Ms Hanson was a "disgrace" and the Senate had become a "circus". "George Brandis was just brilliant in the chamber," he wrote. "Just brilliant. Strongest I have ever heard him." Ms Hanson rose to notoriety during her first term in Parliament in the 1990s after she claimed that the country risked being swamped by Asian migrants. But she has since turned her attention to attacking the nation's Muslims. Well deserved, and something you will not see again. Greens and Labor give George Brandis a standing ovation Pics by @mearesy#auspolpic.twitter.com/FwRQUURmRR— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) August 17, 2017 Following her appearance in a burka, she released a statement saying "this was a debate that was happening across the world and Australia could not hide from a difficult conversation out of fear of causing offence". She later said she had considered wearing the burka into the chamber for months, saying it was "really horrible" and "uncomfortable". "I just felt cut off from the rest of the world," she said. The Coalition and opposition have rejected calls for a ban on the burka. Burka bans: The countries where Muslim women can't wear veils
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| Scary video shows a bear charging a dog in Alaska Posted: 15 Aug 2017 04:55 PM PDT  A mama black bear was caught on camera charging a Siberian husky at a campground in Alaska. The recently released clip, from a campground in Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, shows a bear and her three cubs approaching a trailer from the woods on July 5. When the bear spots the dog it delivers a bluff charge, and the bear and husky get into a brief fight off camera. A woman can then be heard yelling at the bear, which returns to its cubs and runs away. Tom Henderson, who uploaded the video earlier this month, said in an email that his wife is the person heard yelling in the clip. Fortunately, the dog was unharmed in the scuffle, despite its screams. Henderson also said that bear sightings are not uncommon in the camp, though they have not had a problem like this before. Unfortunate interactions between humans and wildlife are unfortunately common in the area. In June a man was mauled after brown bear with a sow got defensive. Mashable has reached out to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for additional information.
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| Trump stands by remarks on Charlottesville: 'George Washington was a slave owner' Posted: 15 Aug 2017 02:18 PM PDT  Trump had a heated debate with reporters over the violence that took place in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend and said there was "blame on both sides."
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| Grace Mugabe 'banned from leaving South Africa' as pressure mounts over assault allegations Posted: 17 Aug 2017 07:59 AM PDT  South African police have issued a "red alert" to border posts to prevent Grace Mugabe, the first lady of Zimbabwe, from leaving the country amid claims that she offered cash to her alleged victim to drop accusations of assault. Gerrie Nel, the lawyer who is providing pro-bono representation for Gabriella Engels, said on Thursday that his client would launch a private prosecution against Mrs Mugabe if South African police did not bring a case. "From our point of view, we would expect at least a trial, or action within three months," Mr Nel, who previously led the prosecution of convicted murderer and blade runner Oscar Pristorius, at a press conference in Pretoria. Gabriella Engels, who claims to have been assaulted by Grace Mugabe, arrives for a news conference in Pretoria Credit: SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS He said a private prosecution could result in the "exact same sentences" as in a trial brought by the state. "Any sentence is possible. Also jail time." He added that the family had rejected an offer, allegedly made via a third party, to drop the case in exchange for cash. Miss Engels, a twenty year old model and nightclub hostess, has accused the Zimbabwean first lady of assaulting her with an extension cord at a Johannesburg hotel where Mrs Mugabe's sons rent flats. Advocate Gerrie Nel is representing Gabriella Engels Credit: SIPHIWE SIBEKO/Reuters The alleged assault on Sunday night spiraled into a diplomatic and political scandal earlier this week after police accused Mrs Mugabe of failing to honour an agreement to hand herself in for questioning. Instead she appears to have taken refuge in a rented mansion in a Johannesburg suburb and police have said she is seeking diplomatic immunity. The case took a further twist on Thursday when Mrs Engels family announced they had accepted pro-bono legal assistance from AfriForum, a controversial Afrikaner-rights group. At a press conference announcing their intentions to bring suit, Gabriella Engels sat silently, a fresh bandage covering the wound she says was caused by Mugabe's assault with an extension cord. Gerrie Nel told a press conference that Miss Engels will launch a private prosecution if police do not take action Credit: PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP She refused to speak and stared forlornly at the table as her legal team answered questions for her. Earlier Fikile Mbalula, South Africa's Minister of Police said all borders have been notified to prevent Grace Mugabe from leaving the country before the matter is resolved. "The SAPS (South Africa Police Service) have already put tabs in the borders in relation to her (Mugabe) leaving the country so there is no question about that. The red alert has been put," Mr Mbalula told reporters. However, a police spokesman later said no arrest warrant had been prepared and that they they will wait for a decision about Mrs Mugabe's application for diplomatic immunity for taking a decision on further action. Robert Mugabe, the 93 year dol president of Zimbabwe flew into Pretoria on Thursday evening Credit: KOPANO TLAPE / HANDOUT/GCIS Mrs Engels's legal team dismissed the retroactive request because, they said, Mrs Mugabe was in the country shopping and for medical reasons, but conceded that it might well be granted. The negotiations over diplomatic immunity are "most probably done at the highest levels of government," said Willie Spies, an attorney affiliated with AfriForum, indicating that Jacob Zuma, the South African president, and Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, were handling the affair. The moment diplomatic immunity is granted, Spies said, "she'll probably leave the country." Mr Mugabe, 93, arrived in South Africa on Thursday to attend a regional leaders' summit in Pretoria. Neither Mrs Mugabe nor the Zimbabwean government have commented on the case.
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| Man arrested on hindering charge in Missouri officer killing Posted: 16 Aug 2017 11:43 AM PDT  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man charged with hindering prosecution in the killing of a western Missouri police officer told an informant that he dropped the suspected gunman off at a nearby marina after the shooting, according to court records.
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| Woman Arrested for Running Raffle Ticket Scam Using Image, Name of Boy Who Died of Cancer Posted: 16 Aug 2017 01:02 PM PDT  Tracey Jacqueline Weir is accused of selling phony raffle tickets to support children's cancer research in the name of 4-year-old Nolan Scully.
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| None Of The 10 Best Cities To Live In The World Are In The U.S. Posted: 16 Aug 2017 01:49 PM PDT  Donald Trump's policies are partly the reason that none of the 10 most liveable cities in the world are in the U.S., according to a new report from The Economist Intelligence Unit.
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| Two Kids Got Locked In A Grocery Store And Did Exactly What You'd Expect Posted: 16 Aug 2017 03:10 PM PDT  It's right out of a TV show.
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| Peace with North Korea a 'possibility': top US general Posted: 17 Aug 2017 03:54 AM PDT  Peace with North Korea is a "possibility", America's most senior uniformed officer said Thursday, but warned the US has "credible, viable military options" for dealing with the errant regime. General Joe Dunford, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, also told reporters during his visit to Beijing that the US has no plans to "dial back" military exercises with South Korea, which have angered both China and North Korea. Dunford made the remarks on the last day of a trip to China that included a visit on Wednesday to a northern military zone near China's border with North Korea.
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| 59 Crazy Creative Things To Make With Cauliflower Posted: 16 Aug 2017 09:46 AM PDT |
| Who was Robert E. Lee, the Confederate hero at heart of Charlottesville unrest, and which other statues could be removed? Posted: 17 Aug 2017 06:25 AM PDT  Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee was vilified in the North during the Civil War only to be transformed in the decades afterward into a heroic icon of "The Lost Cause," admired by many on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. Today, many view him as a symbol of racism and America's slaveholding history. His transformation - at the centre of the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia - reflects the changing moods in the United States around race, mythology and national reconciliation. Donald Trump waded into the debate on Tuesday, apparently defending the white nationalists protesting at the removal of the statue. "This week, it is Robert E. Lee and this week, Stonewall Jackson. Is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" Lee monuments and the many schools named for him now face renewed scrutiny in a demographically changing nation. But who was Robert E. Lee beyond the myth? Why are there memorials in his honour in the first place? And what other statues could be removed? Was he a good soldier? A son of American Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Robert E. Lee graduated second in his class at West Point and distinguished himself in various battles during the US-Mexico War. As tensions heated around southern secession, Lee's former mentor, Gen. Winfield Scott, offered him a post to lead the Union's forces against the South. Lee declined, citing his reservations about fighting against his home state of Virginia and resigned from the US Army. Lee accepted a role commanding the Virginia state forces of the Confederacy and became one of its generals, even though he had little experience leading troops. He would experience what political science Marshall L. DeRosa called a "mixed record" of military endeavours throughout the war. White supremacists gather under a statue of Robert E. Lee during a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia Credit: Reuters Lee eventually commanded troops in the field, winning battles largely because of an incompetent Union Gen. George McClellan, according to historians. "Victories were won through Lee's aggressiveness and daring in the face of McClellan's timidity rather than by any comprehensive generalship on Lee's part, for he was unable to exercise control over his subordinate commanders, and in the individual battles were tactical defeats," according to "The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View." He won other important battles against other Union's generals, but often was stalled. He was famously defeated at Gettysburg by Union Maj. Gen. George Meade. Lee's massed infantry assault across a wide plain was a gross miscalculation in the era of artillery and rifle fire, "The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare" said. A few weeks after becoming the general in chief of the armies of the Confederate states, Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865. What is his history as a slave owner? A career army officer, Lee didn't have much wealth, but he inherited a few slaves from his mother. Still, Lee married into one of the wealthiest slave-holding families in Virginia - the Custis family of Arlington and descendants of Martha Washington. When Lee's father-in-law died, he took leave from the US Army to run the struggling estate and met resistance from slaves expecting to be freed. Donald Trump on Charlottesville: 'there is blame on both sides' 01:58 Documents show Lee was cruel to his slaves and encouraged his overseers to severely beat slaves captured after trying to escape. Historian Elizabeth Brown Pryor said in a 2008 American Heritage article that Lee was angry about the slaves' demands for freedom and "resorted to increasingly harsh measures to maintain control," breaking up most slave families. One slave at Arlington, Pryor noted, called Lee, "the worst man I ever see." In an 1856 letter to his wife, Lee wrote that slavery is "a moral & political evil." Lee also wrote in the same letter that God would be the one responsible for emancipation and that blacks were better off in the US than Africa. Why is he a Lost Cause icon? After the Civil War, Lee resisted efforts to build Confederate monuments in his honour and instead wanted the nation to move on from the Civil War. After his death, Southerners adopted "The Lost Cause" revisionist narrative about the Civil War and placed Lee as its central figure. The Lost Cause argued the South knew it was fighting a losing war and decided to fight it anyway on principle. It also tried to argue that the war was not about slavery but high constitutional ideals. As The Lost Cause narrative grew in popularity, proponents pushed to memorialise Lee, ignoring his deficiencies as a general and his role as a slave owner, according to Gary Gallagher, a University of Virginia professor specialising in the history of the Civil War. Lee monuments went up in the 1920s just as the Ku Klux Klan was experiencing a resurgence and new Jim Crow segregation laws were adopted. The Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville was erected in 1924. A year later, the US Congress voted to use federal funds to restore the Lee mansion in the Arlington National Cemetery. A protester stands in front of a statue of Robert E. Lee Credit: AP The US Mint issued a coin in his honour, and Lee has been on five postage stamps. Most Union figures, besides President Abraham Lincoln, weren't granted as many honours. Shawn Alexander, associate professor of African and African-American studies at the University of Kansas, said that despite the attempt to use Lee as a reconciliation figure, many African-Americans spoke out in the black press that Lee had betrayed the US and was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. "He was no hero in their eyes," Alexander said. By the early 20th century, Northern state politicians - fearing deadly violence over black civil rights in the South - caved to pressure from Southern leaders to cast Lee in a more conciliatory light, said Gerald Horne, a professor of history and African-American studies at the University of Houston. "The South showed it would shed blood," Horne said. How is he viewed now? A generation after the civil rights movement, black and Latino residents began pressuring elected officials to dismantle Confederate memorials honoring Lee and others in places like New Orleans, Houston and South Carolina. The removals partly were based on violent acts committed by white supremacists using Confederate imagery and historians questioning the legitimacy of The Lost Cause. A Lee statue was removed in New Orleans in 2015 - the last remaining of the city's four monuments to Confederate-era figures. Workers prepare to take down the statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which stands over 100 feet tall, in Lee Circle in New Orleans Credit: AP The Houston Independent School District voted in 2016 to rename Robert E. Lee High School, a school with a large Latino population, as Margaret Long Wisdom High School. Earlier this year, the Charlottesville City Council voted to remove its Lee statue from a city park, sparking a lawsuit from opponents of the move. The debate also drew opposition from white supremacists and neo-Nazis who revered Lee and the Confederacy. The opposition resulted in rallies to defend Lee statues this weekend that resulted in at least three deaths. Which other statues could be removed? North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he would ask the Legislature to reverse a 2015 law signed by his Republican predecessor, Pat McCrory, that prevents the removal or relocation of monuments. He also planned to ask state officials to determine the cost of moving Confederate statues and to give him options of where they could go. "Our Civil War history is important, but it belongs in textbooks and museums?- not a place of allegiance on our Capitol grounds," Cooper said in a statement. "These monuments should come down." - Governor Roy Cooper pic.twitter.com/6n0tW5vqBS— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) August 16, 2017 In Maryland, GOP Gov. Larry Hogan said on Tuesday he would push to remove the statue of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the infamous Dred Scott ruling in 1857 affirming slavery, from state land. "While we cannot hide from our history, nor should we, the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history," said Hogan, who before had resisted calls to move the statue. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings announced plans to ask his city council to appoint a task force to study the fate of the city's Confederate statues. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, called on state officials to remove a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate cavalry general and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, from the Tennessee Capitol. Similar plans were being made in Baltimore and San Antonio, as well as Lexington, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; and elsewhere.
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| Maryland judge denies DC sniper Malvo's bid for new sentence Posted: 16 Aug 2017 01:58 PM PDT  Lee Boyd Malvo, who as a teenager participated in the sniper attacks that killed 10 people and terrorized the Washington region, will not get a new sentence in Maryland, a judge said in a ruling released Wednesday.
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| Fire breaks out on Shell Deer Park refinery crude unit: sources Posted: 17 Aug 2017 07:17 AM PDT ![Fire breaks out on Shell Deer Park refinery crude unit: sources]( "Fire breaks out on Shell Deer Park refinery crude unit: sources") HOUSTON (Reuters) - A fire broke out on a crude unit at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's 325,700 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery on Thursday, said sources familiar with plant operations. Shell spokesman Ray Fisher confirmed a fire at the refinery, and said workers at the complex were sheltering in place. Fisher said the company would release a statement about the fire. No injuries were reported due to the fire on Thursday morning, the sources said. ...
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| Dear Ivanka: It's Time To Decide Which Side Of History You're Going To Stand On Posted: 16 Aug 2017 09:46 AM PDT  I know you've probably got a lot on your plate right now but we really need to talk about your father and what a shit show this week has been.
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| When White Nationalists Get DNA Tests That Reveal African Ancestry Posted: 17 Aug 2017 01:30 AM PDT ![When White Nationalists Get DNA Tests That Reveal African Ancestry]( "When White Nationalists Get DNA Tests That Reveal African Ancestry") The white-nationalist forum Stormfront hosts discussions on a wide range of topics, from politics to guns to The Lord of the Rings. And of particular and enduring interest: genetic ancestry tests. For white nationalists, DNA tests are a way to prove their racial purity. Of course, their results don't always come back that way. And how white nationalists try to explain away non-European ancestry is rather illuminating of their beliefs.
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| Investigators likely slain by Congolese militia: UN probe Posted: 16 Aug 2017 10:25 PM PDT  Two UN investigators killed in March likely died at the hands of Congolese militia members, a UN inquiry found, adding that further investigation will be required to "fully ascertain the identity" of those involved. Michael Sharp, an American, and Zaida Catalan, a Swedish-Chilean dual national, were found murdered in March in the Democratic Republic of Congo while on a UN mission investigating violence and mass graves in the country's restive Kasai province. "A group of Congolese, likely militia members from the Kasai Central province, was responsible," read the board's executive summary, obtained Wednesday by AFP.
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| The Nevada Highway Patrol retires its last Ford Crown Vic Posted: 16 Aug 2017 05:00 AM PDT  Starting in 1978, Ford began cranking out cars on its full-size rear-wheel-drive platform, and it didn't stop doing so until 2011. Over the course of that run, the most prolifically produced machine was undoubtedly the Ford Crown Victoria. It was the go-to vehicle for taxi fleets and police departments, but it's since been replaced.
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| A Ferrari-Powered Toyota 86 Is a Wacky Street Car Posted: 15 Aug 2017 01:14 PM PDT  We're not sure how drift star Ryan Tuerck got this car registered, but we're glad he did.
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| These Are the Warning Signs That Would Indicate War in Korea Is About to Start Posted: 16 Aug 2017 02:25 PM PDT  Hint: none of them have happened yet.
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| Neo-Nazi website asks readers to target funeral of Heather Heyer who died in Charlottesville violence Posted: 15 Aug 2017 04:01 PM PDT  One of America's most prominent neo-Nazi websites has apparently ordered its readers to harass the funeral of Heather Heyer, the civil rights worker who was killed during the disorder in the Virginian town of Charlottesville. The Daily Stormer helped organise the ultra-right wing rally where a car was driven into counter-demonstrators, killing the 32-year-old paralegal and hurting 19 other people. James Fields, 20, from Ohio, has been charged with murder.
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| Texas police chiefs start adapting to sanctuary cities law Posted: 17 Aug 2017 11:16 AM PDT  HOUSTON (AP) — Even as a new Texas law targeting so-called sanctuary cities remains in legal limbo, police chiefs and sheriffs are making changes to comply, rewriting training manuals and withdrawing policies that prevented officers from asking people whether they are in the United States illegally.
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| 18 Excellent Gifts For Bicycle Enthusiasts Posted: 15 Aug 2017 03:05 PM PDT |
| Spain must raze all vegetation on Mallorca to combat 'olive tree ebola' says EU report Posted: 16 Aug 2017 11:02 AM PDT  The Spanish island of Mallorca could be virtually razed of vegetation under an EU plan to halt the march of a deadly bacteria known as "ebola of the olive", farmers in the region have warned. The bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, which has infected thousands of olive trees in southern Italy, is now raging across the Balearic Islands with carrier species multiplying, according to a recent assessment by the European Union. In July, it was detected for the first time on the Spanish mainland in almond trees in Alicante, raising fears it could wreak havoc in the world's largest producer of olive oil. The EU and the Balearics government are now discussing a containment plan which could force eradication of all vegetation within a 100 metre radius of infected plants, Spain's El Confidential newspaper reported. With infections confirmed at 156 separate points across Mallorca, agricultural groups say the measure would mean the almost complete destruction of the island's plant life. Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil Credit: PAUL GROVER "If we comply with what Europe is asking us, it would be starting to fell at one end of the island and finishing at the other. I don't know if eradicating all the plant life is the solution, but I am sure that, in Mallorca, this is impossible to apply," Gonzalo Rodríguez, head of the Camp Mallorquí cooperative of 1,000 producers, told the paper. The Balearics authorities had won a reprieve from the eradication measure after the bacteria was detected on the islands late last year, arguing that it would be a "disaster" for the local environment. The bacteria, which can infect some 300 species, was first discovered in a cherry tree in a Mallorca garden centre in October. After tests elsewhere on the Balearic Islands came back positive, the local government declared the entire archipelago an outbreak zone, banned the export of live plants and began destroying infected specimens. But a June assessment by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) came back with alarming news: the response had been too limited, and even with the total application of EU measures, eradication will now be "very difficult" to achieve. The number of carrier plants was also growing, it said, now taking around a dozen species including grape vines, almond and plum trees and lavender. In Alicante, local authorities and agricultural groups have backed eradication as the only option. But resistance among some farmers is growing: last week protesters blocked machinery brought in to fell trees around an infected plant, El Confidencial reported.
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| Florida Stripper Kills Partner, Stabs Him In Eyes And Shoves Wood In Throat Posted: 16 Aug 2017 10:02 AM PDT  A Key West, Florida, man died Tuesday after an alleged attack in his home by his stripper partner.
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| Venezuela officials raid home of fired dissident attorney general Posted: 16 Aug 2017 03:58 PM PDT  Venezuelan intelligence officers on Wednesday raided the home of the former attorney general, who was fired this month after she broke ranks with President Nicolas Maduro, while her replacement urged the arrest of her lawmaker husband. Four motorbikes and seven patrol cars belonging to the SEBIN intelligence service were seen outside the Caracas home of the ex-attorney general, Luisa Ortega, AFP journalists observed. "At this moment SEBIN is searching my home as revenge by this government for my fight against totalitarianism," Ortega wrote on Twitter.
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| NYC Subway Workers Say Dead Bodies Are Being Stored In Their Bathrooms Posted: 15 Aug 2017 03:12 PM PDT  Employees in the New York City subway believe they can improve their working environment with one teensy-weensy, itsy-bitsy change in protocol: Stop storing dead bodies in their break rooms and bathrooms.
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| How many nukes are in the world and what could they destroy? Posted: 17 Aug 2017 03:53 AM PDT  Tensions over nuclear weapons have been raised further after Donald Trump said North Korea will be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen" after US intelligence concluded the rogue state has produced a miniaturised nuclear warhead. This latest move comes amid increasing concern over North Korea's military capabilities, with the new US administration upping its rhetoric in response. While the Pyongyang regime increases the frequency with which it is conducting missile tests, Donald Trump's defence secretary Jim 'Mad Dog' Mattis has previously warned North Korea of an "effective and overwhelming" response if Pyongyang used nuclear weapons. Elsewhere, rhetoric hints at a return of the expansion of nuclear arsenals across the world. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of defence chiefs that strengthening nuclear capability should be a key objective for 2017. Donald Trump then took to Twitter to respond, vowing to do the same. The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016 Such rhetoric has led to concerns about the world's nuclear capacity and the unpredictability of those in charge of the warheads. It seems the world is a long way from "coming to its senses" - with millions of kilotons already in military service around the world. Between them, the world's nuclear-armed states have around 15,000 warheads - the majority of which belong to the US and Russia. It is estimated that just under 10,000 of these are in military service, with the rest awaiting dismantlement, according to the Arms Control Association. Putin says Russia should strengthen its nuclear arsenal 00:51 Which countries have nuclear weapons? There are five nuclear-weapon states in the world: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. These are officially recognised as possessing such weapons by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This treaty acknowledges and legitimises their arsenals, but they are not supposed to build or maintain them forever. Indeed, they have committed to eliminate them. There are also four other countries that have nuclear weapons: Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea. These countries didn't sign the Treaty, and together possess an estimated 340 nuclear weapons. But it's Russia and the US that have by far the most in the world - dominating all other countries by collectively sharing 88 per cent of the world's arsenal of stockpiled nukes. This figure increases to 93 per cent when we consider retired nukes. How the world's 15,000 nukes are divided How deadly could these nuclear weapons be? The world's current collection of 14,900 nuclear weapons possesses enough power to kill millions of people and flatten dozens of cities. According to Telegraph research, it is estimated that the US and Russian arsenals combined have power equating to 6,600 megatons. This is a tenth of the total solar energy received by Earth every minute. According to the NukeMap website, the dropping of the B-83, the largest bomb in the current US arsenal, would kill 1.4m people in the first 24 hours. A further 3.7m people would be injured, as the thermal radiation radius reached 13.km. Likewise, the "Tsar Bomba" is the largest USSR bomb tested. If this bomb was dropped on New York, it is estimated that it could kill 7.6m people and injure 4.2m more. The nuclear fallout could reach an approximate area of 7,880km on a 15mph wind, impacting millions more people. Both America and Russia's arsenals are regulated by several treaties that place limits on the numbers and kinds of warheads and delivery systems they have. If either country were to expand their nuclear capacity even further, as Trump and Putin have hinted at, it could shatter these agreements and plunge the world into a new Cold War. North Korean missile ranges Our figures on nuclear weapons, based on statistics from the Arms Control Association, are mainly estimates because of the secretive nature with which most governments treat information about their arsenals.
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| White supremacist cries on camera as he describes 'terror' over arrest warrant Posted: 17 Aug 2017 05:03 AM PDT  A white supremacist who helped organise the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has appeared on camera crying as he describes his fear of arrest. Chris Cantwell, a racist who previously claimed he and others would "f***ing kill" anti-fascist demonstrators for interfering with their right to express their views, sobs uncontrollably in the clip. The blogger was featured in a Vice News documentary filmed before, during and after the rally in Virginia turned violent.
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| US: 'Zero' chance of Colorado River water shortage in 2018 Posted: 15 Aug 2017 05:35 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Heavy winter snows in the Rocky Mountains have rescued the thirsty Western U.S. for another year.
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