| Rep. Clyburn slams Trump's praise for Robert E. Lee: 'The president is now glorifying a loser' Posted: 28 Apr 2019 12:10 PM PDT  "Robert E. Lee was a slave owner and a brutal slave master. Robert E. Lee was a loser."
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| Tenn. police investigating whether suspect knew 7 victims Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:42 PM PDT  WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (AP) — Police on Sunday raised the death toll at two homes in rural Tennessee to seven and said they are investigating whether a suspect captured after an hourslong manhunt knew the victims.
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| United Airlines is covering up cameras on seat backs amid privacy backlash Posted: 29 Apr 2019 07:29 AM PDT  United Airlines is covering up all the cameras on the back of customers' seats amid backlash about privacy.
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| Going gets tougher for US-bound migrants amid Mexico curbs Posted: 27 Apr 2019 10:27 PM PDT  Traveling through Mexico has become even more difficult for Central American migrants like Oscar Vialta and his family, frustrated by tighter immigration rules and a local population reluctant to give them shelter or support as they move toward the United States to try to improve their lives. Vialta, 42, his wife and two children left Honduras at the beginning of April, joining a migrant caravan heading for the US border.
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| Brexit Bulletin: Looming Defeats Posted: 28 Apr 2019 11:29 PM PDT  Talks between Theresa May and the opposition Labour Party on breaking the Brexit impasse continue this week, with Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis saying Sunday that there's still time for Parliament to settle on a deal before the U.K. participates in EU elections on May 23. For its part, Labour insists it's not "dragging its heels" in the talks and that the government has refused to budge on any of its red lines, the party's business spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey said on Sky News on Sunday. Long-Bailey also hinted that Labour would be prepared to back a Brexit deal even if it comes without a commitment to a new public vote.
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| The Latest: Seattle college says student was killed by crane Posted: 28 Apr 2019 04:49 PM PDT  SEATTLE (AP) — The Latest on a crane collapse in Seattle (all times local):
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| Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein Recounts ‘Indescribable’ Moments of Terror at Poway Synagogue Posted: 28 Apr 2019 05:38 PM PDT  Lyle Moran/For The Daily BeastPOWAY, California—One day after a gunman entered his synagogue and murdered one of his congregants on the final day of Passover, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recounted the moments of terror as he returned to the Chabad of Poway to memorialize Lori Kaye, the 60-year-old woman who saved his life when she leapt between him and the shooter.Goldstein said he saw Kaye, whom he'd known for nearly 25 years and who had helped secure the loan for the synagogue decades ago, just a day before the attack. Saturday's service was a memorial service for Kaye's mother, who had recently passed away. Kaye had invited her only daughter, who drove in from Los Angeles where she's a student at UCLA. On Saturday, he said, he walked into the synagogue's banquet hall to wash his hands. "I walk two, three footsteps when I hear a loud bang, I thought Lori may have fell, or the table tipped over in the lobby right here," he said. "I turn around and I see a sight that is indescribable. Here is a young man standing with a rifle, pointing right at me. I look at him. He has sunglasses on. I couldn't see his eyes. I couldn't see his soul."He froze for a few moments, then raised his hands in surrender—which is when he took the bullet that would eventually cause him to lose part of the index finger on his right hand. "I turned around and went to get the children that were playing in the banquet hall," he said. "My granddaughter, four and a half years old, sees her grandpa with a bleeding hand, and she sees me screaming and shouting 'get out, get out.' She doesn't deserve to see her grandfather like this." "Miraculously," the shooter's gun jammed, he said—which gave a man Goldstein identified as off-duty border patrol agent Jonathan Morales a chance to jump up and pursue the shooter, who turned and fled. Police have said he was working as a security guard, but it was not completely clear on Sunday."[The shooter] was standing right there in the lobby," he said. "He was aiming at me in the banquet hall. He could have easily gone left and gone into the sanctuary where the seats were full for the memorial service and he could have used all the clips he had. It could have been such a bloodbath. I don't even want to think about how that would be." Once the shooter left the synagogue, Goldstein said, he went back to check on Kaye. He found her on the floor unconscious next to her husband, a doctor who tried in vain to resuscitate her before fainting from the trauma. "He faints, and he's lying on the floor next to his wife, and then their daughter Hannah comes out screaming 'Daddy and Mommy let's go,'" he said. "It's the most heart-wrenching sight I could have seen. I was frozen in time." Kaye died of her injuries hours later. "I grabbed a prayer shawl," he added. "My congregation was standing out here, and and I said. 'I got to do something.' I got up on a chair right here, and I looked at our congregation, and I said we are a Jewish nation that will stand tall. We will not let anyone take us down. Terrorism will not take us down."Goldstein urged all members of the Jewish faith to go to their local synagogues this coming Friday night and Saturday in a show of strength. "We need to fill up those rooms," he said. "We need to show them that terrorism and evil will never prevail. Let's fill up the synagogues. Let's stand tall. Let's dance together."He said for those Jews who haven't been to synagogue for a long time, now was the time to visit. "This is a personal request from myself as a rabbi asking you to come synagogue this weekend to show solidarity," Goldstein said. "God will inspire you and bless you."Goldstein later added that President Trump called him to express his condolences in the aftermath of the attack, and that in a 10- to 15-minute conversation, Trump "shared with me condolences on behalf of the United States of America," and "spoke about his love of peace and Judaism and Israel.""He was just so comforting," Goldstein added. "I'm really grateful for our president for taking the time and making the effort to share with us his comfort and consolation." Nineteen-year-old nursing student John T. Earnest was arrested minutes after the shooting, and charged Sunday with Kaye's murder, as well as three other counts of attempted murder. Police say he's the only suspect in the case. He will be arraigned on Wednesday.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| U.S. envoy signed North Korea document to pay for Warmbier's care: Bolton Posted: 28 Apr 2019 09:08 AM PDT  The United States signed a document agreeing to pay North Korea for the care of American Otto Warmbier but never paid the $2 million Pyongyang demanded, White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday. Bolton, who said he was not part of the administration at the time, confirmed newspaper reports that North Korea demanded the money before Warmbier was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Asked whether U.S. envoy Joseph Yun signed the document when he went to retrieve Warmbier, Bolton told "Fox News Sunday" in an interview: "That is what I am told, yes." He said no payment was made.
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| Trump flips on Fox News analyst after he calls president's actions 'criminal' Posted: 28 Apr 2019 07:39 AM PDT  Dershowitz said on Fox News Saturday that he didn't agree with Napolitano on whether Trump obstructed justice by interfering with the special counsel's investigation.
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| Police visited AJ Freund’s house 17 times before his brutal death. Why was the boy in his parents’ care? Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:50 AM PDT  Last December, police reports indicated dog feces and urine were scattered throughout 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund's home.
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| UPDATE 3-Environmental activists board Equinor rig set to drill in Arctic Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:35 PM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Environmental activists board Equinor rig set to drill in Arctic]( "UPDATE 3-Environmental activists board Equinor rig set to drill in Arctic") Greenpeace activists on Monday climbed aboard a Seadrill drilling rig commissioned by Equinor in protest against oil and gas drilling in the Norwegian Arctic, the group told Reuters. The rig is due to drill a well in the Equinor-operated production license 859 in the eastern part of the Barents Sea, some 435 kilometers (270 miles) northeast of the coast of continental Norway. "The rig owners are following this up," he added, refering to the Greenpeace protest.
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| Texas man accused in fatal Colorado crash appears in court Posted: 27 Apr 2019 03:53 PM PDT  GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — A speeding semitrailer whose driver appeared to one witness to be "wide eyed" and "terrified" passed a truck ramp before plowing into other vehicles on a crowded highway near Denver, killing four people and injuring at least six others, according to court documents released Saturday.
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| Here are the best times to go to the bathroom during 'Avengers: Endgame' Posted: 29 Apr 2019 08:25 AM PDT  When nature calls...
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| US stocks tread water ahead of more earnings, Fed Posted: 29 Apr 2019 10:23 AM PDT  Wall Street was flat but holding near record levels just after the open on Monday as investors awaited a fresh set of corporate earnings during week loaded with economic data. Markets were also absorbing an upbeat report on consumer spending for March, which showed a big jump at the end of the first quarter. The data come as the Federal Reserve is due to begin its latest-two day policy meeting on Tuesday but is overwhelmingly expected to leave interest rates untouched.
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| Here's What Happens After Russia or China Sink a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Posted: 28 Apr 2019 12:42 AM PDT  An attack that sank a carrier with significant casualties, on the other hand, might well result in demands for vengeance, the specific circumstances of the attack notwithstanding. This could put U.S. policymakers in the awkward position of needing to escalate, without being able to use some of the most lethal military options in their toolkit.Since the 1950s, the supercarrier has been the most visible representation of U.S. military power and maritime hegemony. Although supercarriers have participated in nearly every military conflict since the commissioning of USS Forrestal in 1955, no carrier has come under determined attack from a capable opponent. In part, this is because supercarriers are very difficult to attack, but the symbolic grandeur of the massive ships also plays a role; no one wants to know what the United States might do if one of its carriers came under attack.(This first appeared several months ago.)What would happen if a foe attacked a United States Navy (USN) aircraft carrier during a conflict? How would the United States react, and how would it respond?Circumstances:
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| Funeral set today for 'hero' synagogue shooting victim who 'took the bullet for all of us' Posted: 29 Apr 2019 10:32 AM PDT  A funeral will be held Monday for Lori Gilbert-Kaye, the victim of a shooting at a southern California synagogue on Saturday.
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| Extreme Right Vox Party Set to Enter Spain’s Parliament, But Socialists Will Govern Posted: 28 Apr 2019 11:42 AM PDT  Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/GettyBARCELONA—It was 10 a.m. and Antonia Huguet, 75, trundled home from a dilapidated school in the middle of Barcelona's Gothic neighborhood after voting in Spain's general election. With her dyed blond hair done up in a bun, Huguet looked like a character out of a Pedro Almodóvar movie—which seems rather appropriate since Spanish democracy these days could easily be mistaken for something on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Like many of the characters in Almodóvar's films, Huguet lived through Franco's dictatorship and can't abide the idea of fascism returning in her lifetime. After Spanish democracy began in the late 1970s there were two political parties (the right wing Partido Popular and the Socialist Workers Party on the left). Now there are five political parties including the newly emergent extreme right-wing Vox party. Mention Vox and Huguet begins to mutter under her breath in anger. Even 44 years after Francisco Franco's death in 1975, "There are a lot of fascists in Spain, even though they would never admit it in public," she says. "I am worried." In other parts of Spain however, the idea of Vox—a party that denies the Holocaust, wants to limit women's rights and Spain's decentralized system of governance, and puts a brake on immigration—elicits a more giddy response. In the trendy area of Pla del Remei in Valencia there were very few Vox pamphlets left, a party representative told the daily El País. "If you watch for five minutes, you see it. People who esthetically look like PP [Partido Popular] voters, such as well-dressed ladies, are mostly picking up Vox papers today."Spain went to the polls on Sunday and there was only one consensus: the two-party political system that once provided stability was effectively comatose. The PP had the worst results since it was founded and its leadership will likely be challenged. The modest rise of Vox has effectively left a polarized and potentially dangerous new political landscape in its wake. Practical issues—like whether the left-wing political coalition actually will rule—are still up in the air although by 11:15 p.m. local time on Sunday, a government spokeswoman said that PSOE won the election, allowing the group to govern in coalition with the leftist Podemos party and with Catalan separatists. Meanwhile Vox was expected to gain as many as 23 seats in parliament. The PP, meanwhile, was well on its way to having the lowest political representation in parliament since 1989. The result will likely lead to a major debates within the party as to where its future lies.Voters came to the polls in droves. Voter turnout had increased by nearly 9 percent over the elections in 2016. In Catalonia, where the Socialists need to do well in order to remain in power, turnout increased to nearly 18 percent. A strong turnout, especially in Catalonia, has meant that the question of Catalonia's independence remains up for grabs. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will likely negotiate with the independentista party Esquerra Republicana, though he could come into office even if the independentista parties abstain during the confirmation process. The Sánchez government itself came to power nine months ago when the government of Mariano Rajoy's Partido Popular was reduced to a shadow of itself after a resounding multi-party no-confidence vote in parliament, the consequence of a series of corruption scandals and a botched response to Catalonia's 2017 independence bid. No one, however, could be blamed for mistaking the position of Spanish prime minister for a kind of revolving door. The current prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called the elections in February after his minority Socialist government lost support from Catalonia's independentistas. The prospect of an independent Catalonia slivered the PP into various factions, each of which attempted to outdo the others in punishing the Catalan independentistas. Vox, considered as something akin to a political joke until then, was the most aggressive. When leaders of the Catalan independence bid went on trial in Madrid for sedition, Vox took the astute step of joining in the proceedings against them, which is allowed under Spanish law. Then in December of last year Vox scored an unexpectedly strong result in regional elections in Andalusia where they polled 11 percent of the total vote and won 12 seats on a Trumpesque anti-immigration platform (wall included). It was enough for a coalition of right wing parties to oust the PSOE, which had held power in the region for generations. Whereas during Europe's 2011 economic crisis the Socialists were threatened by an emerging left-wing Podemos party, now the conservative PP is threatened by Vox and its gun-toting leader, Santiago Abascal. "In the conversations that I had with Mariano Rajoy when he was prime minister, one of the things that struck me most was that he was already talking to me about the far right in Spain, about Vox. I've never said this before," Sánchez said recently. "When Rajoy was prime minister, Vox was already on the radar of the right, in their opinion polls."If Vox threatens the PP, Abascal's party is a welcome enemy for Sánchez and the PSOE, despite the loss in Andalusia. "The socialist party has constantly mentioned Vox to mobilize their electorate," says Olivas Osuna . "They know that if Vox grows it will undermine the chances of the PP to get a majority." Sunday's result means that no single party will be able to garner a majority and several possible coalitions could take place allowing either the left of the right the opportunity to govern. An intense round of deal-making is in the works. If Vox garners more than 10 percent of the electorate, it will likely want to have members of its party represented in government—a risky proposition not only for the PP, but also for other parties necessary for the right to return to power. At the same time, Sánchez and the PSOE may be forced to deal with Catalan independentista parties in order to form its own coalition—the very same parties that plunged his government into crisis after rejecting the prime minister's budget in February. Sánchez himself has said that the independentista parties "cannot be trusted.""They know that independence is not possible," Sánchez said. "Independence leaders are inside their own labyrinth. When they get out, we will be waiting to find a space for dialogue."For the Catalan separatists who until recently have been playing a game of "Quien es mas independentista" among themselves, negotiations with PSOE-led coalition may come sooner rather than later. The independentista parties, having been savaged by the suspension of regional government, the defunding of Catalan institutions and the sedition trial of several of their political leaders, desperately need friends in Madrid. Given the choice between PSOE and a right-wing coalition that includes avowed Franco admirers, Catalan's separatists may just support the former. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| U.S. Agreed to Pay North Korea for Warmbier But Didn’t, Bolton Says Posted: 28 Apr 2019 07:36 AM PDT ![U.S. Agreed to Pay North Korea for Warmbier But Didn't, Bolton Says]( "U.S. Agreed to Pay North Korea for Warmbier But Didn't, Bolton Says") "That's what I am told," Bolton told correspondent Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" when asked whether the U.S. had signed the agreement, which would have occurred before Bolton joined the Trump administration in 2018. "No money was paid.
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| Oliver North steps down as NRA president amid dispute over 'damaging' information Posted: 27 Apr 2019 02:49 PM PDT  In a letter read to the organization's annual meeting in Indianapolis by an NRA board member, North, a conservative commentator best known for his central role in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, said he had hoped to run for re-election when his term ends on Monday. NRA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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| More than 56 tons of ground beef recalled in E. coli outbreak, now spanning 10 states Posted: 28 Apr 2019 05:07 AM PDT ![More than 56 tons of ground beef recalled in E. coli outbreak, now spanning 10 states]( "More than 56 tons of ground beef recalled in E. coli outbreak, now spanning 10 states") A Georgia meat producer is recalling 113,424 pounds of ground beef, over concerns of an E. coli outbreak that officials have expanded ten states.
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| UPDATE 1-Gunmen kidnap Canadian, Scottish oil workers from Nigerian oil rig Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:11 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Gunmen kidnap Canadian, Scottish oil workers from Nigerian oil rig]( "UPDATE 1-Gunmen kidnap Canadian, Scottish oil workers from Nigerian oil rig") Gunman kidnapped three oil workers from Canada, Scotland and Nigeria at a rig in Nigeria's Delta region on Saturday, officials said - the second abduction in the area in less than a week. The attackers raided the rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources in Ogbele, Rivers State at around 8 a.m. (0700 GMT), the spokesman for the area's military operations, Major Ibrahim Abubakar, said. The Niger Delta produces the bulk of Nigeria's crude.
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| FAA considered grounding some Boeing 737 Max planes last year: source Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:21 AM PDT  US regulators considered grounding some Boeing 737 MAX planes last year after learning belatedly of a problem with a system that is now the main suspect in two deadly crashes, a source close to the matter said. Investigators in the Lion Air crash in October and the Ethiopia Airlines disaster in March have zeroed in on the planes' anti-stall system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. Last year, before the Lion crash, inspectors with the Federal Aviation Administration discovered that the manufacturer had de-activated a signal designed to advise the cockpit crew of a malfunctioning of the MCAS system, the source said.
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| 15-month-old dies after being bitten by family friend's Rottweiler Posted: 29 Apr 2019 04:01 AM PDT  A Las Vegas family is mourning the loss of a 15-month-old girl after she was bitten by a Rottweiler on Saturday.
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| Time to impeach? Headache for Democrats over how to take on Trump Posted: 28 Apr 2019 10:00 PM PDT  Many Democrats believe the Mueller report gives ample justification to start impeachment proceedings – but others maintain it might help Trump Lawmakers return to Washington on Monday with the question of impeachment more prominent – and more plausible – than at any point in Trump's presidency. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images When special counsel Robert Mueller's exhaustive report on Russian meddling in the US presidential election was released to the public earlier this month, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was in Ireland. Her caucus was spread across the globe on congressional trips abroad or in their home districts, preparing for Easter or Passover. After a two-week recess that provided ample time to read the 448-page report – a devastating portrait of a presidential campaign eager to accept help from a foreign adversary and president intent on using the power of his office to protect himself, his family and his allies – Democrats return to Washington divided as the fate of Donald Trump's presidency shifts to Congress. Pelosi has urged caution on impeachment, encouraging the Democratic committee chairs to use Mueller's report as a "road map" to continue investigating the president and see where the facts lead. Party leaders have largely agreed to the plan, even as several prominent liberals, lawmakers of color and a handful of 2020 candidates have called on Democrats to go further. "Impeachment is the people's last instrument of constitutional self-defense against a president who is trampling the rule of law and acting like a king," said congressman Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and a constitutional law professor. The decision to bring articles of impeachment against a president is "inescapably a question of both law and politics", Raskin said, noting that the founders had considered whether the process should be handled by the supreme court but ultimately decided it was best suited for Congress. "We have to ask first whether there are high crimes and misdemeanors against the character of our government," he said. "And then, secondly, if it's in the best interest of the American people." After a nearly two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the last presidential election, Mueller said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Trump's 2016 campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia. Trump has declared "total exoneration" by the Mueller report, though investigators explicitly stated that they did not reach that conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice. The redacted version of the investigation's findings describes nearly a dozen episodes in which Trump attempted to impede or undermine the investigation and appeared to offer a guide for Congress to investigate whether the president violated the law. Many Democrats, even those who have not stated so publicly, believe Trump's conduct meets the bar for impeachment. But there are sharply divergent opinions on whether it is the best course of action 18 months before a presidential election. "Impeachment is one of the most divisive paths that we could go down in our country," Pelosi said, speaking in New York last week. "If the path of fact-finding takes us there, we have no choice. But we're not there yet." Embed Several Democrats are there already, however. At a CNN town hall last week, Elizabeth Warren, the first 2020 contender to endorse impeachment, said Congress had a constitutional duty to hold the president to account. In the wake of the abuses and misconduct outlined in the Mueller report, Warren said all members of Congress ought to take a position on the record. "If there are people in the House or the Senate who want to say that's what a president can do when the president is being investigated for his own wrongdoings, or when a foreign government attacks our country," she said, "then they should have to take that vote and live with it for the rest of their lives." Still, Bernie Sanders, who shares Warren's leftwing politics and is a rival in the 20-person race for the Democratic nomination, worries impeachment might strengthen Trump's electoral prospects. Bernie Sanders has cautioned against impeachment. Photograph: Keith Srakocic/AP "If all Congress is talking about is impeaching Trump and Trump, Trump, Trump, and Mueller, Mueller, Mueller, and we're not talking about healthcare, we're not talking about raising the minimum wage to a living wage, we're not talking about combating climate change, we're not talking about sexism and racism and homophobia … what I worry about is that works to Trump's advantage," he said, speaking after Warren at the CNN town hall. In the aftermath of the Mueller report, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced her support for an impeachment resolution introduced by fellow freshman congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who campaigned for Congress on removing Trump from office. "Many know I take no pleasure in discussions of impeachment. I didn't campaign on it, & rarely discuss it unprompted," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "We all prefer working on our priorities: pushing Medicare for All, tackling student loans, & a Green New Deal. But the report squarely puts this on our doorstep." Ninety percent of the calls and mail I'm receiving in my office support impeachment of Trump and so do I Maxine Waters The freshman joined a handful of prominent members Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus in calling for Trump's impeachment. Among them is the California congresswoman Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the financial services committee and a high-profile leader of the resistance movement to Trump. "Ninety percent of the calls and mail I'm receiving in my office support impeachment of Trump and so do I," Waters wrote. Pressing for immediate action, she added: "The impeachment resolution must start with, and be taken up by, the judiciary committee." But California congressman Brad Sherman, one of three members of Congress who have filed articles of impeachment against Trump, insisted his constituents were more concerned by local issues than impeachment. He said that just "5%" of the questions he received over the recess pertained to impeachment. Sherman believes now, as he did in July 2017 when he first introduced articles of impeachment against Trump, that the president has obstructed justice. But he endorses Pelosi's methodical, investigations-first approach. "You cannot remove a president without a two-thirds vote in the Senate. You can't get a two-thirds vote in the Senate without changing the public opinion and you can't change public opinion without getting all the facts in front of the American people," he said. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released last week found that only 37% of Americans agreed that Congress should begin impeachment proceedings against the president, while 56% opposed the idea. Overall, support for impeachment declined slightly from a month ago, even as Trump's approval rating has fallen in the wake of the Mueller report. Young Americans support impeachment at a higher rate than their older counterparts, while 69% of African Americans support the idea – the highest of any group in the survey. "Legally, I'd like to draw the line," Sherman said. "But I think if the president were impeached and not removed, and then scored a political victory off of that effort [by winning re-election], we might be sending the exact wrong message." Embed Democrats are keenly aware of the history of impeachment: that public opinion can melt the partisan divide even in deeply polarized times, as it did during the Watergate scandal involving president Richard Nixon. They also know that attempting to remove a president without the support of both parties can cause self-inflicted wounds, as it did in the late 1990s when Republicans pursued impeachment against Bill Clinton. William Galston, a former Clinton White House adviser and a governance expert at the Brookings Institution, said Democrats would repeat the mistakes made by Republicans when they impeached Clinton if they pursue impeachment against Trump. Bill Clinton in 1999, just before his impeachment trial. He was acquitted. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Reuters "If you want to defend the constitution, make sure Donald Trump doesn't get re-elected," he said. "If you want to condemn his behavior, make sure a majority of the American people vote to remove him from power. Everything else is a sideshow." Progressive groups like Indivisible are rallying their sprawling grassroots organization around impeachment. And Tom Steyer, the Democratic activist and billionaire whose Need to Impeach campaign has collected 8 million signatures, is urging members of Congress to act. "There is a dramatic risk to doing nothing because if the system fails, people don't believe in the system and they don't vote," Steyer said. "And it raises the question: are we going to uphold the values of the system or not?" Steyer is calling for "televised public hearings as quickly as possible". He said it was unfair to expect that Americans read a 448-page legal document to understand its findings. But watching the central actors testify before Congress would show its findings in a more accessible format. Steyer believes testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn, who was a chief witness to many of the most damning episodes of potential obstruction outlined in the Mueller report, could help to sway public opinion as it did when John Dean, the former White House counsel for Nixon, testified in 1973 during the Watergate investigations. When Republican lawmakers started to abandon Nixon, he resigned before being impeached. But House Democrats are facing blanket resistance from the White House after Trump ordered past and present federal employees, including McGahn, to defy requests from congressional investigators. "We're fighting all subpoenas," he told reporters at the White House last week. The approach sharply undermines the ability of Congress to conduct oversight of a president who sees few limits to his executive power – and may add pressure on Democrats to trigger the ultimate legislative fail-safe. Raskin said: "We have an obligation both to keep faith with the framers of the constitution and we also have a central duty to the people who are alive today and to future generations to set a standard for presidential behavior. "In speaking with colleagues, I believe that the heavy weight of our constitutional responsibility has begun to settle on the shoulders of members of Congress."
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| Indian police uncovered a plot, but Sri Lanka didn't act Posted: 27 Apr 2019 11:09 AM PDT  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — While monitoring the usual channels, Indian police stumbled upon something extraordinary: a detailed plot for what would become the bloodiest attack linked to the Islamic State group in South Asia.
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| Iran's Zarif plans North Korea visit: Iranian state TV Posted: 27 Apr 2019 09:32 PM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is planning to visit North Korea, Iran's state television reported on Sunday, without giving the date of the visit. "The date of this trip will be set and announced soon," the television quoted Zarif as saying. It gave no further details. North Korea's top diplomat, Ri Yong Ho, whose country faces international and U.S. sanctions, visited Iran in August as the United States reintroduced sanctions against the Islamic Republic. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; editing by Richard Pullin)
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| New York Archdiocese releases list of 120 priests accused of child sexual abuse Posted: 28 Apr 2019 01:41 PM PDT  The list released by the New York Archdiocese includes 120 men, none of them in active ministry now.
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| FOREX-Dollar rally stalls underlining slowdown fears Posted: 29 Apr 2019 02:17 AM PDT ![FOREX-Dollar rally stalls underlining slowdown fears]( "FOREX-Dollar rally stalls underlining slowdown fears") A rally in the dollar faltered on Monday with strong U.S. data doing little to lift the currency or convince investors that a slowdown in activity is over. The greenback traded in a narrow range as Japan kicked off a week of holidays, typically a period of thin liquidity that can prompt spikes in volatility. A Federal Reserve policy meeting, Brexit negotiations and a raft of global data including on U.S. core inflation and payrolls could each be the trigger for big currency swings this week.
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| Guaido makes new appeal to Venezuela army ahead of Mayday protests Posted: 27 Apr 2019 04:00 PM PDT  Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido used his latest mass rally on Saturday to reiterate an appeal to the army to end its support for Nicolas Maduro's regime, and announced massive Mayday protests to oust the embattled president. Despite support from more than 50 states who recognize him as interim president, US-backed Guaido has been unable to affect Maduro's grip on the military, which continues to keep him in power, along with allies China and Russia.
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| The Genesis Of The Mighty Jeep Cherokee Posted: 29 Apr 2019 08:49 AM PDT  This 1980 Cherokee Chief sports the extra wide track and a 5.9-liter V8. The Jeep Cherokee is an American institution. Offered by GAA Classic Car Auctions we have a 1980 Cherokee Chief with 5.9 liters of bruteish V8 goodness.
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| Chicago Prosecutor Kim Foxx Subpoenaed over Handling of Smollett Case Posted: 29 Apr 2019 08:40 AM PDT  Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx has been subpoenaed to appear in court by a retired appellate judge who is seeking a special prosecutor to investigate the "irregularities" associated with Foxx's handling of the Jussie Smollett case.The retired judge, Sheila O'Brien, filed a series of subpoenas Friday demanding that Foxx, Foxx's top deputy Joseph Magats, and Smollett himself appear in court bearing the original documents produced in connection with the hoax Smollett allegedly staged, the Chicago Sun Times reported.Foxx dropped all charges against Smollett in late March, weeks after the police produced substantial evidence to suggest he'd staged a hate crime against himself to advance his career. In her petition requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor, O'Brien said Foxx's handling of the case was "plagued with irregularities.""Foxx's conflict in this matter is beyond dispute," O'Brien wrote, adding that Foxx should have sought appointment of a special prosecutor rather than informally recusing herself. "Instead, Foxx misled the public into believing that Smollett's case was handled like any other prosecution and without influence," she said.After announcing to the public that she had recused herself from the case based on some unspecified conflict of interest, Foxx intervened in the investigation on behalf of one of Smollett's relatives. The relative reached out to Foxx through Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, to ask that the case be transferred to the FBI to prevent leaks to the media. Foxx attempted to comply with that request but was rebuffed by Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson, according to text messages obtained by the Sun Times.Foxx also continued to manage the case by cautioning Magats against aggressively prosecuting Smollett."Sooo……I'm recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases…16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A," Foxx wrote to Magats in a text message sent in early March and obtained by the Chicago Tribune."Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16. On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it's indicative of something we should be looking at generally. Just because we can charge something doesn't mean we should," she added, referring to the case of disgraced pop singer R. Kelly.Cook County judge Marc Martin chastised Foxx in court last week for choosing to prosecute a suburban woman for filing a false police report after declining to prosecute Smollett for the same crime."Well, Ms. Clark is not a movie star, she doesn't have a high-price lawyer, although, her lawyer's very good. And this smells, big time. I didn't create this mess, your office created this mess. And your explanation is unsatisfactory to this court. She's being treated differently," Martin said to Foxx during the court proceeding, according to a transcript obtained by a local Fox affiliate.
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| The Problem with Russia's New Armata Tank Posted: 28 Apr 2019 11:00 AM PDT  Along with the Armata production problems, the Su-57 5th generation stealth fighter has also been shelved for the time being due to budgetary constraints.When Russia first unveiled the T-14 Armata tank to the public in 2015, western militaries took note of next-generation juggernaut's futuristic and flexible design, which was built to replace several armored ground units. But unfortunately for the Russian armed forces, a sluggish economy hit by sanctions and massive corruption doesn't appear to be able to produce the revolutionary tank in significant numbers.(This article by Brad Howard originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter. This article first appeared in 2018.)\- Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov told Russia's Itar-TASS news service earlier this week that at the price of $4 million per unit, the Armata was 'rather expensive', and that the upgraded T-72BM tank was sufficient to deter NATO. By comparison, the M1A2 Abrams runs around $6 million per tank.
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| Why Trump will win in 2020 and it won't even be close Posted: 28 Apr 2019 04:27 AM PDT  The 2020 election isn't going to be close.The first-quarter gross domestic product growth rate of 3.2 per cent sets up the first reality that will be noted in November 2020 because it telegraphs where the economy will be then: not in recession.Recessions are charted when GDP growth is negative for two consecutive quarters or more. That can and has occurred in sudden fashion – financial panics don't send "save the date" cards.But the economy over which president Donald Trump is presiding is strong and getting stronger.Innovation is accelerating, not declining. A recession before election day looks less and less likely by the day.Small wonder then that Trump dominates the GOP with an approval rating above 80 per cent.His administration's deregulatory push is accelerating. More and more rule-of-law judges, disinclined to accept bureaucrats' excuses for over-regulation, are being confirmed to the bench. Readiness levels in the US military have been renewed. America's relationship with its strongest ally, Israel, is at its closest in decades. Meanwhile, the Democrats are facing a Hobbesian choice of Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris, or former vice president Joe Biden.Sanders and Harris are too far to the left, Sanders by a lot. Biden is far past his best years. The nice folk lower down are looking for other rewards. The nomination going to someone such as Pete Buttigieg, mayor of Indiana's South Bend, is possible, I suppose, but what happens when the dog chasing the car catches it?What was an entertaining and amusing aside suddenly becomes a commitment and, with that, well, comes a barrage of attacks. Where Trump deflects incoming with ease, the Democrats scatter, some limping away, some blown out of the picture.This will come as news to Resistance liberals, who are certain Trump will lose, because they dislike him so much. They still haven't figured out that 40 percent of the country love him and at least another 10 percent are very much committed to considering the alternative in comparison to Trump, not reflexively voting against him.That decile is doing very well in this economy. Unemployment remains incredibly low. The markets are soaring. That's not a given for the fall of 2020, but better to be soaring than falling 18 months out.On immigration, border security has always been a legitimate concern (and Immigration and Customs Enforcement a legitimate agency).People don't talk much about it as they decline to state anything that will see them labelled racist, but the reality of open borders is understood to be an unqualified disaster by most of the country, and most of the country understands the Democrats to be arguing for a de facto open-border system, if not a de jure one.The Green New Deal sounds like a bad science-fair project where the smart kids got the colours to combine via an elaborate device and make all the "lava" flow black down the volcanoes' sides and the village is destroyed.Medicare-for-all is a professor Harold Hill production, headed for Iowa as was the Music Man.There's not a lot of serious thinking or talking among the Democrats about the People's Republic of China and the "nine-dash line" in the South China Sea (which many may think is some sort of shorthand for their marks on the debate stage), or Huawei, which is just too complicated to try to debate in five-minute exchanges.Senator Elizabeth Warren's turn as Madame Defarge may even wake up some of the wealthy-woke to their peril. It's a circus coming to a cable-news network near you soon.Last week's message from a booming economy should have rocked the Democratic field. Alas, the party seems collectively intent on poring over the Mueller report yet again in the hope that, somehow, someway, there's something there.But the probe is over. No collusion. No obstruction.Democrats have to campaign on something else besides a great economy, rising values of savings, low unemployment across every demographic, clarity about allies and enemies abroad, and a rebuilding military.It's a tough needle to thread, condemning everything about Trump except all that he has accomplished that President Barack Obama couldn't or wouldn't.Not just tough – it's practically impossible.This article was first published in The Washington Post
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| Children killed during Sri Lanka gunbattle between troops and Islamist militants Posted: 28 Apr 2019 07:49 PM PDT  On Friday evening, as the troops approached the house - a one-storey building on a narrow lane opposite an open drain - three explosions went off and they opened fire on the suspects holed up inside, according to the military. The wife and a daughter of the suspected mastermind of the suicide attacks, Mohamed Hashim Mohamed Zahran, were wounded in the ensuing gunbattle, police and his sister said on Saturday. Security forces have detained 100 people, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt.
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| 'Shark Tank': Body-board entrepreneur wins sweet redemption after 'worst pitch ever' Posted: 29 Apr 2019 08:02 AM PDT !['Shark Tank': Body-board entrepreneur wins sweet redemption after 'worst pitch ever']( "'Shark Tank': Body-board entrepreneur wins sweet redemption after 'worst pitch ever'") Jason Woods, an entrepreneur from California, was a 'want-a-preneur' with an ill-formed pitch in Season 5. But he got a second chance in Season 10.
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| VIDEO: Killer Whales play with food, teach calf how to hunt Posted: 28 Apr 2019 12:33 PM PDT  A rare sight was caught on camera- killer whales playing with their food.
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| Oil majors, Ocado weigh on FTSE 100; TUI shines Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:47 AM PDT ![Oil majors, Ocado weigh on FTSE 100; TUI shines]( "Oil majors, Ocado weigh on FTSE 100; TUI shines") The FTSE 100 was largely flat on Monday, as oil majors dipped following United States' demand to OPEC for higher production, while online supermarket Ocado slipped after disclosing the cause of the fire at its Andover site earlier this year. Meanwhile, travel groups TUI and Thomas Cook rose over 2 percent after the latter said British holidaymakers are favoring destinations outside the European Union.
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| Singapore activist fined for Facebook post on courts Posted: 28 Apr 2019 11:14 PM PDT  A Singaporean activist was Monday fined for questioning the independence of the judiciary on Facebook, the latest case to highlight what critics say is the country's heavy-handed approach towards dissent. While it is wealthy and modern in many ways, tightly-controlled Singapore is regularly criticised by rights groups for restricting freedom of expression with tough laws. In the latest case, activist Jolovan Wham was found guilty in October of contempt of court for posting on Facebook that Singapore's judiciary lacked integrity and independence in cases involving the government or politicians.
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| One Of A Kind Corvette Hatchback Needs Saving Posted: 28 Apr 2019 02:15 PM PDT  Corvettes are arguably the definitive American sports car, and their popularity over the decades has spurred the model from one generation to the next. This unique Corvette hatchback is one of just one. Found on Ebay, this rather distressed looking Chevrolet Corvette might be written off by many, but it is, in fact, something rather special.
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| Beats' first truly wireless earbuds to launch May 10 Posted: 29 Apr 2019 03:16 AM PDT  Over the weekend, Apple's Beats headphones division announced that pre-ordering for their fitness-oriented AirPods competitor will open May 3, with the earbuds hitting shelves on May 10. While the Powerbeats Pro are powered by the same Apple H1 chip used in the second-gen AirPods and likewise support "Hey Siri," they offer nearly double the listening time at nine hours on a single charge instead of just five. The earbuds come in four colors and will put owners back $249.99, $50 more than the latest AirPods.
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| Russia vs. Israel: How a War in the Middle East Could Happen Posted: 28 Apr 2019 04:00 AM PDT  As the IDF official said, "We have proven over more than 70 years as a sovereign state that you don't push us around."Could Israeli air strikes in Syria trigger war between Israel and Russia?(This first appeared several weeks ago.)Israel remains determined to continue pounding Iranian forces in Syria in a bid to keep Tehran's forces away from Israel's northern border. At the same time, Russia has thousands of troops in Syria that could be caught in the crossfire—or even become belligerents if Moscow tires of its Syrian ally being pummeled.And if Israel and Russia come to blows, would Israel's big brother—the United States—feel compelled to intervene?Not that Jerusalem or Moscow are eager for such a fight. "Neither of us desire a military confrontation," a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official told me during a recent interview in Jerusalem. "It would be detrimental to both sides."Yet Israel's policy boils down to this: it will do whatever it sees as necessary to eject Iranian forces from Syria. And if Russia doesn't like it, then that's just the price of ensuring that Syria doesn't become another Iranian rocket base on Israel's border.Relations between Jerusalem and Moscow are far warmer than during the Cold War. The result is a strange embrace reminiscent of the U.S.-Soviet detente of the 1970s. On the surface, a certain friendliness and desire for cooperation. Yet beneath the smiles is wariness, suspicion and a clash of fundamental interests.
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| 'Oh, Do I Look Forward to Running Against Them.' President Trump Talks Democrats in 2020 at Wisconsin Campaign Rally Posted: 28 Apr 2019 07:24 AM PDT  'They should change that to the Radical Left Democrat Party,' he told supporters
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| Sri Lanka on alert for attacks as archbishop slams poor church security Posted: 29 Apr 2019 05:03 AM PDT  The militants were targeting five locations for attacks on Sunday just passed or on Monday, security sources said. "The relevant information further notes that persons dressed in military uniforms and using a van could be involved in the attacks." There were no attacks on Sunday and security across Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka has been ramped up, with scores of suspected Islamists arrested since the April 21 attacks on hotels and churches that killed more than 250 people, including 40 foreign nationals. The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, said that security had not been sufficiently stepped up around churches.
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| New leak reveals Apple’s final iPhone 11 Max design, and it’s much better than we thought Posted: 29 Apr 2019 05:17 AM PDT  We still have almost five months left to wait before Apple unveils the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Max, and iPhone 11R, or whatever the company ends up calling its iPhone XR successor. That's quite a long time -- nearly half a smartphone generation -- but so many details surrounding the new iPhones have already leaked. Much of what we know can be attributed to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who remains the top Apple insider in the world. Kuo is plugged into Apple's supply chain and shares all sorts of early details with his clients. He also shares them with a few Apple blogs, so we all know what to expect long before Apple releases new iPhones each year.According to Kuo, the iPhone 11 series will feature a huge camera upgrade for both the iPhone 11 and 11 Max, while the iPhone 11R will be bumped up from a single-lens rear camera to a dual-lens cam. He also says Apple's new iPhones will have new frosted glass backs and a few more subtle design changes. Of course, Kuo isn't the only one who leaks information about unreleased Apple products, and a new leak supposedly shows us the final designs of Apple's upcoming iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max.Last week, a leaker who goes by @OnLeaks on Twitter shared what he claimed to be Apple's finalized design for the unreleased iPhone 11. He is known for stealing design files off of servers at Foxconn, which is the company whose factories build smartphones for a number of clients including Apple. @OnLeaks uses these stolen files to have renders drawn up that show upcoming smartphone designs before they launch. There are always a few little design details here and there that are wrong since he doesn't have actual images of the phones to work with, but the renders are just about always accurate depictions of the phone in question, for the most part.When it comes to the iPhone 11, his renders show a phone that matches the descriptions we've heard from Kuo and other sources. If you haven't already seen them, you can check them out in our earlier coverage. The iPhone 11 is shaping up to look just like the iPhone X and iPhone XS from the front, but the back is now home to a massive square camera bump with three camera lenses instead of two. @OnLeaks has now had new renders created though, and this time they include the iPhone 11 Max as well as a terrific refinement that makes the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max look much better than we thought.Look at the iPhone 11 render in the image featured at the top of this page. Check out the camera bump in particular. Eesh. Now, check out these new renders, which were created on behalf of @OnLeaks and posted by some website called Cashkaro:Notice any difference aside from the color? That's right, the camera bump is much thinner than earlier leaks had suggested.Rumor has it that this year's iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max will be slightly thicker than their predecessors. That's fine with us, especially if Apple manages to fit bigger batteries inside its new phones. But it looks like a secondary benefit is a slimmer camera bump that is said to be just 1.2mm tall. If accurate, this would be a welcome change from the thicker camera bump on the iPhone X and iPhone XS series phones, and on the earlier iPhone 11 renders we saw. According to @OnLeaks, the iPhone 11's dimensions are 143.9 x 71.4 x 7.8mm (9mm including rear camera bump), while the iPhone 11 Max dimensions are 157.6 x 77.5 x 8.1mm (9.3mm, including rear camera bump). This year's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are both 7.7mm thick.Additionally, as we noted in our coverage last week, the back of the new iPhone 11 series is now said to be a single piece of glass, including the camera bump. That would be a fantastic design feature and would once again illustrate the fact that the fit and finish on Apple products is always a cut above the competition.A few more renders of the iPhone 11 Max follow below, and you can see the rest on Cashkaro.
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