| AP FACT CHECK: Trump twists facts of a migrant girl's death Posted: 29 Mar 2019 09:34 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is misrepresenting the circumstances of a 7-year-old migrant girl's death as he seeks to steer any potential blame for it away from his administration.
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| Venezuela: Red Cross brokers Maduro-Guaidó deal to allow aid delivery Posted: 29 Mar 2019 02:04 PM PDT  * First shipment for 650,000 could reach Venezuela in two weeks * Red Cross says aid must be 'neutral, impartial and unhindered'Tthe Tienditas bridge, which links Venezuela and Colombia, was blocked off with containers earlier this month. Photograph: Juan Pablo Bayona/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Red Cross has brokered a deal with representatives of Venezuela's embattled leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his rival, Juan Guaidó, to allow humanitarian aid into the country, indicating a seldom-seen middle ground between the two men that contest the presidency.The first shipment of aid for about 650,000 vulnerable people could reach Venezuela in two weeks, Francesco Rocca, the president of the International Federation of the Red Cross, told a press conference on Friday."This is an operation similar to what's going in Syria, in terms of the amount of people that will be attended," Rocca said. "This obviously will not resolve the problems in Venezuela – and nobody should assume this is a complete solution."The shipment will include medical equipment, surgical kits and power generators – which are desperately needed as Venezuela grapples with devastating blackouts.The operation once again puts humanitarian aid at the centre of the battle for power in Venezuela, following Guaidó's failed attempt to unilaterally bring US-supported aid into the country last month.Venezuela has been mired in an economic, political and humanitarian crisis for five years. Shortages and hyperinflation - set to reach 10m% this year – have made medicines and even basic foodstuff hard to obtain for most people.The average Venezuelan has lost 10kg in weight, according to Caritas, a Catholic humanitarian organisation, while 3 million people have fled.Venezuela's embattled president Nicolás Maduro has long denied the existence of a humanitarian crisis, and on 23 February blocked an effort led by Guaidó to bring aid into the country.That day, violence erupted on Venezuela's borders with Brazil and Colombia. Opposition supporters clashed with security forces, while some of the trucks carrying the food and medical supplies were burned in circumstances that remain unclear. Most of the trucks were turned around and little aid entered Venezuela.Maduro portrayed the aid as a prelude to a foreign intervention, while his vice-president, Delcy RodrÃguez, described the packages as "cancerous".The new effort seems more likely to succeed in large part because of the involvement of the Red Cross, which had distanced itself from the previous attempt to shift the aid into Venezuela."Today's Red Cross development is clear evidence that independent shuttle diplomacy and separate negotiations with Maduro and the opposition can pay off in Venezuela," tweeted Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America.Rocca stressed that the delivery of aid must remain "independent, neutral, impartial and unhindered".Guaidó, speaking in a video posted to Twitter on Friday morning, was quick to seize the announcement as a win, claiming a "great victory in our struggle".Maduro has not yet made an announcement on the new aid delivery.
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| 15 Easter Pies To Celebrate Spring Posted: 29 Mar 2019 11:28 AM PDT |
| What's Next in Brexit? A Cliff-Edge and a Summit: Timeline Posted: 29 Mar 2019 10:20 AM PDT  May's team says she's going to keep fighting to get a deal done quickly enough to avoid a long extension that would require the U.K. to take part in European elections -- but it's far from clear the EU will agree. April 1: Lawmakers to vote on alternatives to May's Brexit deal. By now the U.K. has to decide if it's holding European Parliament elections.
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| Comedian is center stage as Ukraine holds presidential vote Posted: 31 Mar 2019 04:01 AM PDT  Political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, who is appealing to voters fed up with entrenched corruption, has consistently led opinion polls in a three-horse race against incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. At stake is the leadership of a country on the front line of the West's standoff with Russia after the 2014 Maidan street protests ejected Poroshenko's Kremlin-friendly predecessor and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. Out of a crowded field of 39 candidates, none of the likely winners wants to move Ukraine back into Russia's orbit.
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| The Stuff of Saturn's Rings Actually Coats Its Tiny Ravioli Moons Posted: 29 Mar 2019 10:35 AM PDT  A new analysis of the ringed planet's inner moons shines a light on their origins.
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| Who is running for president in 2020? An interactive guide Posted: 29 Mar 2019 10:12 AM PDT  The 2020 field has become crowded in recent weeks. Here's a look at who has announced their candidacy or opened an exploratory committee in the hunt for the presidency.
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| A year of Gaza border protests - key facts Posted: 30 Mar 2019 04:57 AM PDT  Thousands of Palestinian protesters gathered along the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of mass demonstrations for the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The first day, March 30, 2018, saw 20 Palestinians killed across the Gaza Strip. Since then dozens more have been killed during the at least weekly protests.
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| Justin Trudeau facing renewed calls to resign as secret tape escalates SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal Posted: 30 Mar 2019 09:13 AM PDT  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing renewed calls to resign after a secretly recorded telephone call between two senior figures in his administration was made public, escalating claims he tried to shield an allegedly corrupt firm from prosecution. The 17-minute call took place in December between Jody Wilson-Raybould, then the attorney general, and Michael Wernick, then Canada's most senior civil servant, about the engineering company SNC-Lavalin, which was accused of paying bribes to Libyan officials. Mr Wernick is heard in the audio telling Ms Wilson-Raybould that Mr Trudeau is interested in having the firm avoid criminal prosecution in favour of paying a fine, repeatedly saying that the prime minister is in a "pretty firm" frame of mind on the issue. "I think he is going to find a way to get it done one way or another. He's in that kind of mood. I wanted you to be aware of that," Mr Wernick is heard saying at one point. Ms Wilson-Raybould in turn pushes back, raising concerns that the conversation could amount to "political interference" and an attempt to breach her "prosecutorial independence". She declined to push for the prosecution to be dropped. Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former Canadian attorney general Credit: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP Ms Wilson-Raybould was eventually moved from the role in January, one month after the phone call, and given the more junior position of veterans affairs minister. She has since resigned and gone public with claims she was inappropriately leaned on. The audio was released by Ms Wilson-Raybould along with more than 40 pages of documents backing up her allegations. She said that she chose to secretly record the conversation because she was concerned something "inappropriate" would be said. She said she "took the extraordinary and otherwise inappropriate step of making an audio recording of the conversation" without telling Mr Wernick, adding that it was "something that I have never done before this phone call and have not done since". Mr Wernick stepped down from his role as Privy Council clerk earlier this month. The scandal has plunged Mr Trudeau's re-election hopes into doubt, seeing his Liberal Party fall behind the opposition Conservative Party ahead of the vote in October. Michael Wernick, the former Privy Council clerk Mr Trudeau's party has been ahead in the polls for most of his time in office since he won a crushing victory in 2015. But the liberal poster boy, often compared to Emmanuel Macron, now finds his party trailing the Conservatives by around six points, according to the website Calculated Politics. Andrew Scheer, the Conservative leader, said that Mr Trudeau had lost the moral authority to govern and must resign. "He looked Canadians in the eye and told them that no one had raised concerns with him. This is false and he owes Canadians an explanation," Mr Scheer said of the prime minister. Last month Mr Trudeau denied any wrongdoing and declined to apologise, saying any lobbying by him or his inner circle for the company was done to protect jobs. SNC-Lavalin is one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world and employs around 9,000 people in Canada.
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| Alex Jones blames conspiracy claims on 'psychosis' Posted: 29 Mar 2019 05:27 PM PDT ![Alex Jones blames conspiracy claims on 'psychosis']( "Alex Jones blames conspiracy claims on 'psychosis'") AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones blamed the various claims he's made over the years, including that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax, on "psychosis," according to a deposition the "Infowars" host has given as part of a Texas lawsuit.
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| The War Between Trump and Schiff is Just Starting Posted: 29 Mar 2019 09:53 AM PDT  A proponent of Trump-Russia collusion theories, Rep. Adam Schiff has been enveloped by fallout from the conclusions of Mueller's investigation.
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| Venezuelans Take to the Streets After Another Round of Blackouts Posted: 30 Mar 2019 10:32 AM PDT  "We will continue to hit the streets," Juan Guaido, head of the National Assembly recognized as interim president by some 50 nations, told protesters Saturday in San Antonio de Los Altos. Unlike other protests since January, Guaido did not call for huge rallies in the capital of Caracas but rather urged Venezuelans to protest at key locations or in their own neighborhoods. "My food is rotting and my appliances are going haywire,¨ said Yolanda Bellorin, a retired lawyer protesting among her neighbors in Caracas' Colinas de la California neighborhood.
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| Anti-stall system active before Ethiopian 737 MAX crash: sources Posted: 29 Mar 2019 11:13 AM PDT  Data pulled from the Ethiopian Airlines flight recorder suggests the so-called MCAS system, which pushes the nose of the jet downwards, had been activated before the jet ploughed into a field outside Addis Ababa on March 10, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an interim official report. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the data, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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| Ukraine police seize $60mn of heroin, say 'never seen so much' Posted: 31 Mar 2019 08:36 AM PDT  Ukraine police seized heroin worth about $60 million -- over half a tonne of the powder -- in raids in the country's centre and west, officials said Sunday, describing it as the biggest haul they had ever seen. "I have never seen so much heroin seized by the Ukrainian police," Knyazev said. In a separate investigation, officials found "almost 130 kg of heroin worth $10 million" at a house in a village in the western Transcarpathia region, Larysa Sargan, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General wrote on Facebook.
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| Forest fire continues to burn in Burlington County, New Jersey Posted: 31 Mar 2019 05:12 AM PDT  A forest fire in Burlington County has grown to more than 5,000 acres, forcing a road closure and voluntary evacuations.
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| Southwest flight cancellations to drag into May due to Boeing Max 8 grounding Posted: 29 Mar 2019 07:46 PM PDT  The airline says it is removing its Boeing 737 Max 8 from its flight schedule through May, up from April 20 previously.
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| UK's May under pressure to rule out long Brexit delay: report Posted: 30 Mar 2019 08:21 AM PDT  British Prime Minister Theresa May is under growing pressure from within her Conservative Party to lead Britain out of the European Union in the next few months, even if it means a no-deal Brexit, The Sun newspaper reported. A letter signed by 170 of the 314 Conservative lawmakers in parliament, including 10 cabinet ministers, was sent to May after her Brexit deal was rejected for a third time by the House of Commons on Friday, the newspaper reported. The vote left Britain's withdrawal from the EU in turmoil on the day that the country was originally due to leave the bloc.
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| Ukrainians vote for president amid voter bribery claims Posted: 31 Mar 2019 08:16 AM PDT  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Voters in Ukraine cast ballots in a presidential election Sunday after a campaign that saw a comedian with no political experience become the front-runner and two other top candidates, including the current president, face allegations of voter bribery.
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| Illinois State Police Trooper Gerald Ellis dies after being hit by wrong-way driver near Libertyville Posted: 30 Mar 2019 09:00 PM PDT  An Illinois State Police trooper died early Saturday following a crash involving a wrong-way driver near Libertyville in the north suburbs.
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| Trump threatens to shut border with Mexico next week Posted: 29 Mar 2019 09:57 AM PDT  The president returns to a familiar threat as Democrats continue to deny him funding for construction of a border wall.
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| Parents in College Scandal Face Judge and Tough Plea Deals Posted: 29 Mar 2019 01:52 PM PDT  Now they're on the road again, this time appearing in federal court in Boston on Friday as the clock ticks down on plea bargains for their alleged role in the biggest college admissions scam the U.S. has ever prosecuted. "The government's being very aggressive," said Patric Hooper, who is representing oncologist Greg Colburn and his wife, Amy. The first wave of parents, 15 of them, began to appear at noon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Page Kelley, who set bail and addressed other preliminary issues.
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| The Apple Watch alerted my father to a serious heart condition in the middle of the night Posted: 29 Mar 2019 10:10 AM PDT  After Apple's event this past Monday, I wrote up some high-level thoughts on the company's announcements, and I focused on why I have so much faith in the underlying good Apple is doing. Contributions to the arts, environment, and technology that will have a lasting positive impact on all our lives down the road. But there's another area where Apple's efforts to improve our wellbeing are already having a major impact, and I experienced firsthand just how important Apple's work in this crucial area truly is.I received a text message from my mother at about 3:30AM this morning saying that my father was at the hospital. Less than an hour earlier, his Apple Watch Series 4 alerted him that Atrial fibrillation had been detected. Apparently, he fell asleep with his Apple Watch on and woke up in the middle of the night with some chest discomfort. Figuring that the Apple Watch was already on his wrist, he checked his heart-rate, which ended up being elevated compared to his normal resting heart-rate. He then decided to do an ECG using the ECG app. And then another. And again another. Every time he put his finger on the digital crown and watched as the Apple Watch ran an electrocardiogram, it came back with the same message: Atrial fibrillation detected. He woke my mother up, and went right to the hospital.After arriving at the hospital, the personnel there performed an ECG and confirmed that he indeed was having Atrial fibrillation. Not only did the hospital's ECG reading show it, but my father -- because he is my father -- ran the ECG on his own Apple Watch to double-check, which also showed Atrial fibrillation as the hospital's test was being run.A couple of hours later, after seeing his cardiologist, he is now wearing an at-home heart monitor for two weeks, and is on some light medication. His doctor also mentioned he was the second patient this week to come in after the Apple Watch detected AFib, and the first patient was also not a false-positive. Thankfully, my father should be fine and hopefully will continue to pester me with technology questions for years to come.This is exactly the kind of outcome that Apple intends at this point in time -- the Apple Watch isn't something to diagnose you or replace your doctor. It's a tool that enables you to have more insight into your personal health, and it can help alert you to potential health problems. While my father was proactive in opening the ECG app on Apple Watch, the device also passively checks for irregular heart rhythm including low, high, and atrial fibrillation. It can not detect all instances of irregular heart rhythm in the background, but it's incredibly comforting to know that tens of millions (or more) of these devices are working in the background to alert people to these potentially life-threatening occurrences.When the Apple Watch was first announced, there might not have been a bigger proponent. You might even say I took the gold. And this story above is exactly why I had those initial feelings on this new device category that Apple has created. It's what I, and others, envisioned would eventually happen. We have moved from notifications, convenience, and style to an indispensable product where there is actual risk involved with not wearing it. I firmly believe it's that big of a deal. I couldn't imagine not using Apple Pay on my wrist. Not using it to track my workouts and compete with my friends. Not using it to effortlessly reply to messages and notifications. Not using it to track my activity and heart health. And my father wholeheartedly agrees.Thank you, Apple.
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| How We'd Spec It: The New BMW 3-Series in Its Proper Configuration, with an Inline-Six and Few Options Posted: 29 Mar 2019 02:37 PM PDT  Yeah, BMW's turbo fours are good these days, but we still want the M340i's sweet six.
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| UK's May should quit as prime minister soon: Telegraph Posted: 29 Mar 2019 04:07 PM PDT  British Prime Minister Theresa May should step down immediately after negotiating a temporary extension to Britain's European Union membership, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said in its Saturday edition. Lawmakers rejected May's Brexit plans for a third time on Friday, leaving Britain's withdrawal from the EU in turmoil on the very day it had been supposed to quit the bloc. "She must now see - or must be told - that while she can meet with the EU to negotiate an extension for Brexit, that is the natural end of the road.
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| Venezuela's rival factions rally as power struggle persists Posted: 30 Mar 2019 06:02 PM PDT  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido took his campaign for change to one of the country's most populous states on Saturday, while supporters of the man he is trying to oust, President Nicolas Maduro, held a rival demonstration in the capital after another nationwide blackout.
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| Who is paying for Monsanto's crimes? We are Posted: 30 Mar 2019 03:00 AM PDT  A US court ordered Monsanto to pay $80m in damages because it hid cancer risks. That's a small consolation for victims 'And while Bayer may dole out a few billion dollars in damages, who is really being made to pay?' Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images The chickens are coming home to roost, as they say in farm country. For the second time in less than eight months a US jury has found that decades of scientific evidence demonstrates a clear cancer connection to Monsanto's line of top-selling Roundup herbicides, which are used widely by consumers and farmers. Twice now jurors have additionally determined that the company's own internal records show Monsanto has intentionally manipulated the public record to hide the cancer risks. Both juries found punitive damages were warranted because the company's cover-up of cancer risks was so egregious. The juries saw evidence that Monsanto has ghost-written scientific papers, tried to silence scientists, scuttled independent government testing and cozied up to regulators for favorable safety reviews of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Even the US district judge Vince Chhabria, who oversaw the San Francisco trial that concluded Wednesday with an $80.2m damage award, had harsh words for Monsanto. Chhabria said there were "large swaths of evidence" showing that the company's herbicides could cause cancer. He also said there was "a great deal of evidence that Monsanto has not taken a responsible, objective approach to the safety of its product … and does not particularly care whether its product is in fact giving people cancer, focusing instead on manipulating public opinion and undermining anyone who raises genuine and legitimate concerns about the issue." Monsanto's new owner, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, asserts that the juries and judges are wrong; the evidence of a cancer risk is invalid; the evidence of bad corporate conduct is misunderstood and out of context; and that the company will ultimately prevail. Meanwhile, Monsanto critics are celebrating the wins and counting on more as a third trial got underway this week and 11,000 additional plaintiffs await their turn. As well, a growing number of communities and businesses are backing away from use of Monsanto's herbicides. And investors are punishing Bayer, pushing share prices to a seven-year low on Thursday. Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Tom Claps has warned shareholders to brace for a global settlement of between $2.5bn and $4.5bn. "We don't believe [Monsanto] will lose every single trial, but we do believe that they could lose a significant majority," he told the Guardian. Following the recent courtroom victories, some have cheered the notion that Monsanto is finally being made to pay for alleged wrongdoing. But by selling to Bayer last summer for $63bn just before the Roundup cancer lawsuits started going to trial, Monsanto executives were able to walk away from the legal mess with riches. The Monsanto chairman Hugh Grant's exit package allowed him to pocket $32m, for instance. Amid the uproar of the courtroom scuffles, a larger issue looms: Monsanto's push to make use of glyphosate herbicides so pervasive that traces are commonly found in our food and even our bodily fluids, is just one example of how several corporate giants are creating lasting human health and environmental woes around the world. Monsanto and its brethren have targeted farmers in particular as a critical market for their herbicides, fungicides and insecticides, and now many farmers around the world believe they cannot farm without them. Studies show that along with promoting illness and disease in people, these pesticides pushed by Bayer and Monsanto, DowDuPont and other corporate players, are endangering wildlife, soil health, water quality and the long-term sustainability of food production. Yet regulators have allowed these corporations to combine forces, making them ever more powerful and more able to direct public policies that favor their interests. The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren this week called for taking back some of that power. She announced on Wednesday a plan to break up big agribusinesses and work against the type of corporate capture of Washington we have seen in recent years. It's a solid step in the right direction. But it cannot undo the suffering of cancer victims, nor easily transform a deeply contaminated landscape to create a healthier future and unleash us from the chains of a pesticide-dependent agricultural system. And while Bayer may dole out a few billion dollars in damages, who is really being made to pay? We all are. Carey Gillam is a journalist and author, and a public interest researcher for US Right to Know, a not-for-profit food industry research group
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| The 2020 Jeep Gladiator in Photos Posted: 29 Mar 2019 09:00 PM PDT |
| 'The party of healthcare': How Donald Trump is reshaping his strategy post-Mueller Posted: 29 Mar 2019 11:09 AM PDT  Donald Trump used a Grand Rapids rally to debut a post-Mueller strategy that includes reviving battles on healthcare, immigration and other issues.
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| Police standoff on an Atlanta-area freeway halts traffic Posted: 29 Mar 2019 03:06 PM PDT  ATLANTA (AP) — A police standoff brought traffic to a standstill Friday on an Atlanta-area freeway as officers confronted a motorist who they believed was armed and matched the description of a robbery suspect.
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| Comic, Billionaire, Comeback Queen Vie in Ukraine Election Posted: 31 Mar 2019 05:45 AM PDT  Five years after a violent revolution demanding political re-alignment with Europe and an end to post-communist corruption, voters aren't happy. Anti-establishment fervor has made Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old TV comic with no political experience, the front-runner. Who leads Ukraine is of global significance since the country of 42 million people, locked between Russia and the European Union, became a geopolitical battleground.
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| There's a self-destructing asteroid zooming through the solar system Posted: 29 Mar 2019 10:27 AM PDT  Asteroid Gault is self-destructing. Images shot by the Hubble Space Telescope show the space rock — some 2.5 to 5.5 miles wide — has left telltale streaks of debris as it hurtles through our solar system. It's gradually breaking apart. Why? Sunlight heats up the surface of asteroids, and when enough heat radiates off the rocky body's surface, this can propel the asteroid and force it to spin. With enough motion, shifting rubble and landslides on the massive rock can tumble into space. Basically, the asteroid is shedding. Today, telescopes on Earth and in space (like the 29-year-old Hubble) can combine their observations to detect these rarely-seen events. "Active and unstable asteroids such as Gault are only now being detected by means of new survey telescopes that scan the entire sky, which means asteroids such as Gault that are misbehaving cannot escape detection any more," Olivier Hainaut, a European Southern Observatory astronomer, said in a statement. Each of the streaks in the above photo are from separate disintegration events, wherein chunks, soil, and dust from Gault plunged into the solar system. SEE ALSO: Opportunity rover's last picture is as grim as it is dark Astronomers suspect the first mass tumbled into space on Oct. 28, 2018, followed by another release of space rock on December 30th. Gault, one of some 800,000 known-asteroids in the solar system's asteroid belt, completes a spin every two hours. That's enough to destabilize it and make the asteroid prone to landslides. All it needs is just a little nudge. "Even a tiny disturbance, like a small impact from a pebble, might have triggered the recent outbursts," University of Hawaii astronomer Jan Kleyna said in a statement. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| Taipei's goes dark for Earth Hour Posted: 30 Mar 2019 09:29 AM PDT  Taiwan's tallest building joined cities around the world to mark Earth Hour by turning off its lights on Saturday in a call for global action on climate change. (March 30)
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| No-deal Brexit fears rise as parliament sinks May's deal Posted: 29 Mar 2019 03:00 PM PDT  The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May's divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit crisis to a deeper level of uncertainty. "The implications of the House's decision are grave." Within minutes of the vote - which took place as thousands of Brexit supporters protested outside parliament - European Council President Donald Tusk said EU leaders would meet on April 10 to discuss Britain's departure from the bloc. A succession of European leaders said there was a very real chance Britain would now leave without a deal, a scenario that businesses fear would cause chaos for the world's fifth-biggest economy.
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| No foolin! Nor'easter to bring rain, wind and maybe snow to East Coast next week Posted: 30 Mar 2019 08:49 AM PDT ![No foolin! Nor'easter to bring rain, wind and maybe snow to East Coast next week]( "No foolin! Nor'easter to bring rain, wind and maybe snow to East Coast next week") A powerful early April nor'easter storm is forecast to wallop the East Coast with rain, wind, pounding surf, and maybe even some unwelcome snow next week.
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| This $20 Alexa smart speaker is just as good as a $50 Echo Dot Posted: 30 Mar 2019 07:32 AM PDT  Okay seriously, don't buy an Amazon Echo Dot. We love the Echo Dot, don't get us wrong, but there's a comparable smart speaker out there that looks the same and gives you the same hands-free access to Alexa. The difference, however, is that it costs half as much. You'll pay $50 for an Echo Dot on Amazon or elsewhere, but the Eufy Genie Smart Speaker with Hands-Free Amazon Alexa can be had for just $19.99. Definitely check it out before you buy a Dot.Here's what you need to know from the product page: * eufy Genie is a voice-controlled smart speaker with Amazon's intelligent Alexa voice assistant. Just say the wake word "Alexa" and Genie plays music, controls your smart home devices, answers your questions, sets calendars, reports the weather and news and more.(2.4GHz Wi-Fi Network Support Only, No Bluetooth) If you have more than one Eufy Genie or Echo in your home, Spatial Perception Technology intelligently selects the Eufy Genie or Echo closest to you to answer your request. * Built with a 2W speaker that delivers dynamic audio and room-filling sound, so you can truly enjoy your favorite playlists from streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Pandora and iHeartRadio. Call or message almost anyone hands-free with your Eufy Genie and instantly connect to other Alexa-enabled devices in your home using just your voice. * Enables a true voice-controlled smart home experience. Use Genie to control all Alexa-compatible Eufy smart products, such as RoboVac 11c and Lumos LED Smart Bulbs, in addition to other brands that work with Alexa. * Easy setup with the free EufyHome app. Use the Amazon Alexa app to access 10000+ skills and services, such as Sirius XM, Domino's Pizza, Uber, ESPN, NPR News, and much more. Plus, Genie is always getting smarter. Future updates include: Alexa messaging and calling. (EufyHome requires a smartphone or tablet running iOS 8.0 (and above) or Android 4.3 (and above) to operate.) * What You Get: eufy Genie, AC power adapter (5ft/1.5m), AUX cable (5ft/1.5m), user manual, safety instruction card, our worry-free 12-month warranty and lifetime technical support.
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| Why Iran Is So Afraid of a Free Iraq Posted: 30 Mar 2019 02:42 PM PDT  The octogenarian Iraqi Grand Ayatollah remains an outsized political force that Iran must reckon with.
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| What we learned from Barr's summary of the Mueller report Posted: 29 Mar 2019 01:13 PM PDT  What's in the attorney general's summary of the Trump-Russia investigation? And will the report be made public? Full four-page letter of Barr's summaryFollow the latest US politics news William Barr sent his summary of the Muller report to Congress on Sunday Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images Barr is still reviewing Muller's report William Barr: Although my review is ongoing, I believe that it is in the public interest to describe the report and to summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation. Barr immediately makes clear that his letter will only be a summary of the top-line conclusions from Robert Mueller's 22-month investigation. At just four pages long, the letter makes no claim to outline the full substance of the special counsel's findings, nor does it detail the evidence Mueller has amassed or the legal reasoning behind his decision making. Instead, we have the bare bones. Mueller had handed the full report to the attorney general less than 48 hours earlier, and Barr makes clear he is still reviewing its contents. On the size of the investigation In the report, the Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses. Here, the sheer size of the Mueller investigation is laid bare for the first time. Although the cost of the Russia investigation has been public for some time, along with the 37 public indictments issued by Mueller, the scale of the evidence he has amassed has not been known. Barr is clearly alluding to how comprehensive the special counsel's investigation has been. While the length of Mueller's final report is not known, it is likely to be based on hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence. Democrats have made clear they want access to as much of the report and its underlying evidence as possible. No new indictments The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the Special Counsel obtain any sealed indictments yet to be made public. This is the first of Barr's major announcements: Mueller will issue no fresh charges as the investigation wraps up. This is clearly good news for members of Donald Trump's inner circle, including his son Donald Trump Jr, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and, indeed, for Trump himself. There had been speculation that a number of sealed indictments in the same district court handling the Mueller prosecution could relate to further indictments from the special counsel. This is now clearly not the case. However, other criminal investigations involving the president and members of his inner circle are ongoing, most notably in the southern district of New York. Barr makes no comment on the status of these proceedings. On collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: "[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities." This is undoubtedly a pivotal conclusion of the investigation. Following almost two years of investigation Barr says that Mueller has found no evidence to prove that any member of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. He quotes only a partial sentence from the report to substantiate this. Also of note here is Barr's supplying a short definition of how Mueller defined collusion. Quoting directly from Mueller's report in a short footnote, Barr says the special counsel counted collusion as an "agreement – tacit or express – between the Trump campaign and the Russian government on election interference". This means that for any member of the campaign to be accused of colluding with Russia they would have had to have done so knowingly. Barr says that Mueller found two ways in which Russians interfered during 2016: a coordinated internet disinformation campaign and direct computer hacking. He provides no further details on the crimes themselves but further information on at least some of these actions has already been made public by Mueller through criminal indictments. On obstruction of justice The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction. Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as "difficult issues" of law and fact concerning whether the President's actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction. The Special Counsel states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." Barr briskly moves on to the last major revelation from Mueller: the special counsel was unable to decide whether Donald Trump obstructed justice during the investigation. Barr once again hangs a partial sentence quoted from the report making clear that Mueller did not completely clear Trump of obstruction. But the scant details make it impossible to understand the legal reasoning behind Mueller's decision nor all the evidence taken into account to make it. Conclusion on obstruction of justice After reviewing the Special Counsel's final report on these issues; consulting with Department officials, including the Office of Legal Counsel; and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense. This revelation is likely to be the most controversial, at least until more of Mueller's report is released. It was Barr and his deputy Rod Rosenstein, both appointed to their positions by Trump himself, that decided the president should face no prosecution over obstruction of justice. Although Barr displays those he consulted with to make that decision and cites justice department guidelines governing the process, there is no escaping that the decision not to prosecute the president was made by one of his own cabinet members who has already privately described Mueller's investigation of obstruction of justice as "fatally misconceived". Barr explains his decision not to charge Trump with obstruction Generally speaking, to obtain and sustain an obstruction conviction, the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct with a a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding. In cataloguing the President's actions, many of which took place in public view, the report identifies no actions that, in our judgement, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent, each of which, under the Department's principles of federal prosecution guiding charging decisions, would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to establish an obstruction-of-justice offense. Barr provides a little elaboration on his decision not to charge Trump with obstruction. Critically, Barr makes the point that at least part of the reason Trump is not being charged is due to the lack of an underlying crime. That while there may be sound arguments for Trump obstructing justice, it was not itself a criminal act because there had been no crime in the first place. There is also a suggestion from Barr here that while many of these potentially obstructive actions took place in public – it seems likely he is partially referring to Trump's public comments on his decision to fire FBI director James Comey – there are others the public may not yet know about. Will the public see the Mueller report? As I have previously stated, however, I am mindful of the public interest in this matter. For that reason, my goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel's report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies. The attorney general concludes by making a commitment to making parts of Mueller's report available to the public. In a letter to lawmakers on 29 March, Barr said a redacted version of the report would be delivered to Congress by mid-April, possibly before. Senior Democrats have indicated they will issue a subpoena for the full report if they are not satisfied with what Barr provides.
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| Chicago prosecutor open to investigation into Smollett case Posted: 29 Mar 2019 09:09 PM PDT  CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is open to an outside investigation into her office's decision to drop all charges against Jussie Smollett, the prosecutor wrote in a newspaper editorial.
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| 30 Best-Ever Mother's Day Brunch Ideas Posted: 29 Mar 2019 11:18 AM PDT |
| Here's What's New on (and Leaving) HBO in April 2019 Posted: 30 Mar 2019 02:45 AM PDT  'Game of Thrones' airs its final season, but 'Mean Girls' and more are joining
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| Daimler asks EU antitrust regulators to probe Nokia patents Posted: 30 Mar 2019 03:06 AM PDT  German carmaker Daimler has complained to EU antitrust regulators about Nokia patents essential to car communications, a move underlining the tensions between tech companies and the car industry on the use of key technologies. Tech companies and mobile telecoms providers are playing an increasingly important role in the auto industry, with their technologies used in navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and self-driving cars. Daimler confirmed that it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Nokia.
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| UK lawmakers reject Brexit deal for third time Posted: 29 Mar 2019 02:51 PM PDT  British MPs on Friday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's EU divorce deal for a third time, opening the way for a long delay to Brexit -- or a chaotic "no deal" withdrawal in two weeks. The pound slipped as lawmakers defied May's plea to end the deadlock that has plunged Britain into a deep political crisis, defeating her withdrawal agreement by 344 votes to 286. The EU has set a deadline of April 12 for a decision, with two likely options: Britain leaves with no deal at all, or agrees a lengthy extension to allow time for a new approach.
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| GM removes made-in-Mexico Chevy Blazer from Comerica Park display after controversy Posted: 30 Mar 2019 08:33 PM PDT ![GM removes made-in-Mexico Chevy Blazer from Comerica Park display after controversy]( "GM removes made-in-Mexico Chevy Blazer from Comerica Park display after controversy") GM swapped out its Mexican-made SUV that was on display at America's favorite pastime where UAW workers congregate.
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| SpaceX is inching closer to launching its Starhopper for the first time Posted: 29 Mar 2019 04:18 PM PDT  After making big waves earlier this month with the successful launch, docking, and return flight of its Crew Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX has been relatively quiet for the rest of March. At least publicly, that is, because behind-the-scenes glimpses of the work being done to the first launch-capable prototype of the SpaceX Starship, nicknamed Starhopper, suggest that its big day is fast approaching.As Teslarati reports, SpaceX has been spotted working feverishly on the systems that will allow Starhopper to take to the skies. The spacecraft -- which is a small-scale version of the larger Starship that SpaceX says will take astronauts to other planets some day -- doesn't yet have an official maiden launch date, but everyone is expecting it to take to the skies soon.Like any early test flight, the launch of Starhopper will help SpaceX iron out any issues that might be present with the spacecraft's design and launch system hardware. Its "hop" tests won't send the vehicle all the way into space, but will be a big step towards an eventual full-scale test launch of the Starship hardware.https://twitter.com/austinbarnard45/status/1110591065688547328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1110591065688547328&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.teslarati.com%2Fspacex-starship-hopper-cautious-testing%2FLocals who have been checking in on the SpaceX launch facility, where Starhopper is being worked on by SpaceX crew, have spotted a flurry of activity as of late, including what appears to be an early preburner test:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R10tUrQLKwkStarhopper's path to its first test flight hasn't all been smooth sailing. The vehicle sustained some rather significant damage in January when strong winds actually caused the spacecraft to break free of its blocks and tumble onto its side. At that point, SpaceX boss Elon Musk suggested it would take "a few weeks" to repair the damage.That timeline is of course separate from the other preparations SpaceX engineers have to perform before Starhopper can be given the green light to hop. Nevertheless, the spacecraft's first trip skyward likely isn't far away.
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| Comedian leads presidential polling in Ukraine Posted: 30 Mar 2019 06:28 AM PDT  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A comedian who's never held political office tops the public opinion polls ahead of Ukraine's presidential election, but even he appears to be falling far short of enough support to win in the first round.
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