| Hillary Clinton: Assange must 'answer for what he has done' in wake of arrest Posted: 12 Apr 2019 08:54 AM PDT  Clinton says at New York event: 'I think it is clear from the indictment that came out it's not about punishing journalism'Hillary Clinton said the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose website published hacked emails from her 2016 presidential campaign, must "answer for what he has done" in the wake of his dramatic arrest on Thursday.Her comments came hours after Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and taken into custody by London's Metropolitan police and charged by the US with conspiring to hack into a secret Pentagon computer network.Assange is accused of working with Chelsea Manning, then a US army intelligence analyst, to break into the defense department network in March 2010 to obtain classified documents.The US confirmed it would seek the extradition of Assange from the UK, prompting immediate concerns over journalistic protections under the first amendment."I think it is clear from the indictment that came out it's not about punishing journalism," Clinton said at an event in New York.Clinton said the issue was not one of press freedom, but "about assisting the hacking of a military computer to steal information from the United States government".After 2,487 days in the embassy, the 47-year-old was arrested after Ecuador revoked his political asylum and invited police officers inside their Knightsbridge premises, where he has stayed since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations which Assange has always denied.Later on Thursday, he was found guilty of failing to surrender to the court and faces up to 12 months in a British prison."Look, I'll wait and see what happens with the charges and how it proceeds, but he skipped bail in the UK," Clinton said. "The bottom line is he has to answer for what he has done, at least as it's been charged."Clinton also took a swipe at Donald Trump, stating of her former rival: "I do think it's a little ironic that [Assange] may be the only foreigner that this administration would welcome to the United States."Clinton has long pointed to Russian interference in the 2016 election as a major factor in her defeat to Trump, citing in particular the impact of hacked emails published on WikiLeaks at pivotal moments in the campaign.The website first leaked the contents of internal emails stolen from Democratic National Committee servers just ahead of the party's convention in July. WikiLeaks then published thousands of hacked emails in October from Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, which were released just hours after the release of an Access Hollywood tape in which Trump had bragged about groping and kissing women without their consent.Despite hailing WikiLeaks as a "treasure trove" during the 2016 campaign, Trump feigned ignorance about the website and its activities in the wake of Assange's arrest."I know nothing about WikiLeaks," the president told reporters at the White House. "It's not my thing."After WikiLeaks disseminated the hacked DNC emails in 2016, then candidate Trump infamously declared: "WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks."Vice-President Mike Pence defended Trump in an interview with CNN on Friday, stating his prior comments were "in no way an endorsement of an organization that we now understand was involved in disseminating classified information by the United States of America"."The justice department is now seeking extradition and we're going to bring Julian Assange to justice," Pence said, while adding Assange's work with Manning was "one of the greatest compromises of classified information in American history".Manning, a former US soldier, was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks and sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage and theft. She was released in 2017 after a seven-year stint in prison, but sent back to jail in March of this year after refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.While the narrow charge against Assange of violating computer hacking laws was not widely in dispute, academics and advocacy groups were alarmed by the justice department's accusatory tone toward journalistic activities that include protecting the anonymity of sources and sharing government information and records in the public interest.Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, said his arrest "sets a dangerous precedent for all media organizations in Europe and around the world"."It's called conspiracy," added WikiLeaks's editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson."It's conspiracy to commit journalism."
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| Court won't immediately stop wait-in-Mexico asylum policy Posted: 12 Apr 2019 05:40 PM PDT  SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal appeals court put a judge's order on hold Friday shortly before it would have stopped the Trump administration from forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases move through U.S. courts.
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| EU 'ready to respond' to US in Airbus/Boeing row Posted: 12 Apr 2019 10:18 AM PDT  French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned on Friday that Europe was ready to hit back at any US tariffs against Airbus as he pleaded for an "amicable solution" to the long-running dispute. "If we were to be hit again by unjustified and unjustifiable US sanctions, Europe would be ready to respond in a united and strong way," the minister said after his meeting with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin. "All this would be bad for growth and bad for American and European prosperity," he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
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| UPDATE 1-'Smart guy' Florida test taker pleads guilty in U.S. college admissions scandal Posted: 12 Apr 2019 12:33 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-'Smart guy' Florida test taker pleads guilty in U.S. college admissions scandal]( "UPDATE 1-'Smart guy' Florida test taker pleads guilty in U.S. college admissions scandal") A former counselor at a Florida private school pleaded guilty on Friday to secretly taking college placement tests for the children of wealthy parents as part of the largest admissions fraud scheme uncovered in U.S. history. Mark Riddell, 36, was charged from a role in the scheme that prosecutors said allowed wealthy parents including the actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin to use cheating and bribes to help their children secure spots at universities like Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California. Riddell pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, prosecutors said on Twitter.
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| BABY ON BOARD: Flight attendant introduces infant passenger to other travelers Posted: 11 Apr 2019 02:00 PM PDT  An infant got restless aboard a plane so a flight attendant offered to introduce the girl to other passengers
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| Amazon employees listen to customers through Echo products, report finds Posted: 11 Apr 2019 12:46 PM PDT  Employees listen to Echo recordings, transcribe and annotate them and feed them back to the software so that Alexa can better grasp human speech.
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| Protesters Keep Pressure on Sudan's Army After Bashir Ousted Posted: 12 Apr 2019 11:18 AM PDT  Demonstrators maintained an overnight sit-in outside army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, ignoring a 10 p.m.-4 a.m. curfew imposed when the military seized power. Defense Minister Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf was sworn in late Thursday as head of a military council, which plans to lead Africa's third-largest country for two years and has declared a three-month state of emergency.
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| Boeing CEO says 737 MAX software update working as designed Posted: 11 Apr 2019 03:24 PM PDT  Boeing Co's chief executive said on Thursday that a software update designed to prevent disasters like two recent fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX is working, with about two-thirds of the fast-selling jetliner's customers having seen the fix in simulator sessions. In his first public speech since an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that killed all 157 aboard on March 10, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said additional tests are expected in the coming weeks as the planemaker works to regain the confidence of its customers and the flying public. Boeing, fighting its biggest crisis in years, has been developing an upgrade to software that is under scrutiny in the Ethiopian Airlines accident and a Lion Air 737 MAX crash that killed all 189 on board on Oct. 29.
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| Fresh Ways to Use Asparagus You Haven’t Tried Before Posted: 11 Apr 2019 02:38 PM PDT |
| New York Post uses 9/11 front page to attack Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar Posted: 12 Apr 2019 02:38 AM PDT  The New York Post has featured a photo of the World Trade Centre exploding into flames alongside a quote by Ilhan Omar on its front page in response to comments the Muslim congresswoman made on Islamophobia.The front-page headline on Thursday's edition of the newspaper read: "Here's your something... 2,977 people dead by terrorism."It comes after Ms Omar made some brief remarks about Islamophobia at an event in March that came in the aftermath of the shooting that left 50 Muslim worshippers dead in New Zealand.But after video of the event was published this week, conservative figureheads fixated on the way she had phrased a reference to 9/11, as "some people did something".The New York Post front page has been condemned by liberal commentators online. Many felt the newspaper, which has a history of incendiary front pages, had overstepped the bounds of acceptability.> Wow. Today's @nypost cover has a strong message for @IlhanMN. pic.twitter.com/L2MApyCC90> > — Nate Madden (@NateOnTheHill) > > April 11, 2019Others said the cover amounted to incitement of violence against Ms Omar, who has faced a growing number of threats."Disgusting," wrote Josh Marshall, the editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo."Ugly and so fundamentally dishonest," tweeted writer Jill Filipovic. "This is not in any way a fair representation of what she said."The hate for a black Muslim congresswoman is simply astounding.""It's absolutely vile bigotry, which could very possibly incite violence against Muslims," Ryan Cooper wrote in The Week.Ms Omar made the remark last month at a banquet hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties organisation that is a frequent target of far-right criticism.Her speech came a week after the mass shooting in Christchurch, which officials have called an act of terrorism.Hundreds of people protested Ms Omar outside the banquet, chanting things like "Burn the Quran", "Ilhan Omar go to hell" and "Shame on you, terrorists."She used her speech to talk about Islamophobia, and said she believed Donald Trump has played a role in fuelling "hate against Muslims.""For far too long, we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen, and, frankly, I'm tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it," she said."CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognised that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties."So you can't just say that today someone is looking at me strange and that I am trying to make myself look pleasant."You have to say that this person is looking at me strange, I am not comfortable with it, and I am going to talk to them and ask them why. Because that is the right you have."(CAIR was actually founded in 1994, as The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler noted.)But conservatives have stuck on the description of 9/11 as "some people did something."Congressman Dan Crenshaw, of Texas, a former Navy SEAL, helped amplify the controversy.He retweeted a snippet of Ms Omar's remarks on Tuesday and wrote: "First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as 'some people who did something.' Unbelievable."The next day, Brian Kilmeade, a host of Fox & Friends, questioned Ms Omar's loyalty, saying "You have to wonder if she is an American first." Those comments echoed those made recently by another Fox host, Jeanine Pirro.Other conservative figureheads, like Donald Trump Jr, joined in."This woman is a disgrace," Trump Jr tweeted on Thursday.Many Democrats have come to Ms Omar's defence. "It's horrible what they're doing," congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Thursday. "Frankly, this is getting to a level that is beyond politics or partisanship."Ms Ocasio-Cortez said that it was also irresponsible to use an image of 9/11 in that way."To circulate all around New York City an image that is incredibly upsetting and triggering for New Yorkers that were actually there and were actually in the radius and that woke up one morning or were in their schools and didn't know if they were going to see their parents at the end of the day, to elicit such an image for such a transparently and politically motivated attack on Ilhan," she said, trailing off."We are getting to the level where this is an incitement of violence against progressive women of colour."On Twitter, she noted that Ms Omar was a co-sponsor – one of 213 – of a bill to reauthorise the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund."She's done more for 9/11 families than the GOP, Ms Ocasio-Cortez wrote.Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan, called the New York Post's cover a "pure racist act."The New York Post, which did not respond to a request for comment sent to a spokeswoman, has largely avoided this kind of critical attention in recent years, aware, perhaps, of Mr Trump's unpopularity in the city. But the newspaper has a long track-record of controversial front pages and headlines.Another cover that drew a comparable level of criticism was one it published in the days after the Boston marathon bombing.The cover showed two men – a teenager and a man just a few years older than him – at the Boston Marathon, with the headline "BAG MEN," seeming to suggest the two were potentially suspects in the case."Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon," the headline also said.But the two men, Salaheddin Barhoum and Yassine Zaimi, in a lawsuit they later filed against The New York Post, said they were never suspects in the case, nor had they ever been sought by law enforcement in connection with it."Today's front page of the Post is a black mark in the annals of newspaper history, and it shows that the Murdoch paper deserves no benefit of the doubt," Ryan Chittum wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review. "Any pretence of professionalism – as thin as it might have been – is gone."The New York Post later settled the defamation lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.Washington Post
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| Comey on Barr’s ‘Spying’ Claim: ‘I Have No Idea What He’s Talking About’ Posted: 12 Apr 2019 08:17 AM PDT  Former FBI director James Comey took issue Thursday with Attorney General William Barr's recent claim that U.S. intelligence agencies "spied" on the Trump campaign.Comey, addressing a cybersecurity conference in California, drew a distinction between "spying" and the authorized surveillance that was conducted on the Trump campaign."I have no idea what he's talking about so it's hard for me to comment," Comey said. "When I hear that kind of language used, it's concerning, because the FBI and the Department of Justice conduct court-ordered electronic surveillance. I have never thought of that as spying."Comey was responding to Barr's Wednesday testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, in which the attorney general surprised Democratic lawmakers by stating that the surveillance conducted on the Trump campaign in order to identify possible links to Russia qualified as "spying.""I think spying did occur," Barr told the panel. "But the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I am not suggesting that it wasn't adequately predicated. . . . I am not suggesting those rules were violated, but I think it is important to look at that. And I am not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly.""I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal — it's a big deal," he added.Congressional Democrats have chastised Barr for insinuating that the surveillance conducted on the Trump campaign, which relied in part on a FISA warrant supported by the unsubstantiated Steele dossier, was in some way politically motivated, as many of their Republican colleagues have long alleged. They contend that the counterintelligence investigation, which also relied on confidential informants, was an appropriate response to the threat of Russian election-meddling.Comey on Thursday acknowledged that, as a two-time attorney general with decades of government experience, Barr is entitled to the benefit of the doubt, but expressed surprise that he would accuse U.S. intelligence agencies of "spying" on a presidential campaign."If the attorney general has come to the belief that that should be called spying, wow," Comey said. "That's going to require a whole lot of conversations inside the Department of Justice. But I don't know what he meant."Barr told lawmakers Wednesday that he has formed a team to investigate whether the counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign was tainted by bias. The team will likely examine the degree to which FBI and Department of Justice officials misled the FISA court about the origins of the Steele dossier, which was commissioned by a firm contracted by the Clinton campaign, in order to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page. Page had left the Trump campaign by the time the surveillance began, but the warrant likely entitled authorities to surveil his prior communications with fellow Trump campaign officials.
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| Leaker Chelsea Manning stuck in jail after Assange arrest Posted: 12 Apr 2019 10:53 AM PDT  Nine years ago, a 23-year-old US army specialist, deeply troubled by the US war in Iraq and by her own gender identity, rocked the US government by leaking disturbing classified military records to WikiLeaks. Chelsea Manning spent years in prison for her crime before her sentence was commuted -- but on Friday was again sitting in jail for what her supporters say is an ongoing punitive political vendetta. Last month, she refused to testify in a secret grand jury investigation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested in London on Thursday on a US indictment linked to their cooperation in 2010 on the leak of secret US records of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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| Russia finds Facebook failed to provide information on data: agencies Posted: 12 Apr 2019 07:21 AM PDT  A court in Russia fined Facebook on Friday for failing to tell authorities where it stores Russian user data, Russian news agencies reported, a ruling that highlights wrangling between tech giants and Moscow as it ramps up Internet controls. The court fined Facebook 3,000 roubles ($47) for not providing information in line with legislation that came into force in 2015 requiring social media companies to store user data on servers located in Russia. The only tools Moscow currently has to enforce its data rules are fines that often amount to small sums or blocking the offending online service, an option fraught with technical difficulties.
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| Southwest flight attendant walks plane aisle with baby to give tired mother a break Posted: 12 Apr 2019 12:43 PM PDT  A Southwest Airlines flight attendant is being lauded online over her kind deed for a weary traveler.
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| Sudan coup leader steps down as army seeks dialogue with protesters Posted: 12 Apr 2019 10:06 AM PDT  The Sudanese defence minister who declared himself head of a provisional military government after ousting President Omar al Bashir in a coup stepped down, after just a day in power. Awad Abnouf and his deputy, Kamal Absel Maarouf, resigned in a statement issued on Friday evening. Earlier in the day protesters had chanted that they would stay on the streets until Mr Abnouf left. Lt Gen Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan will take over as head of the military transitional council. Sudan's new military rulers said they were ready for dialogue with demonstrators after hundreds of thousands of people defied a curfew to occupy central Khartoum for a sixth night. But the generals warned they would not tolerate "chaos" and ruled out extraditing Bashir, the dictator they deposed in a coup on Thursday, to face charges of war crimes. "We are not against the demands of the people, we are for the demands of the people, and we have to achieve them," Zein Abedeen, the general tasked with leading talks with the protesters, said in a press conference. Sudan uprising, in pictures "We have to adhere to civilised methods and today we will start a dialogue with the political groups, who are invited to hear from us what we have in mind and what they have in mind." The Sudanese Professionals Association, which has led months of huge anti-government protests, said the "coup makers are not eligible" to oversee change and demanded an immediate hand-over to a "traditional civilian government." Bashir, who ruled Sudan for 30 years, was deposed on Thursday by his own military after clashes between security services and troops sympathetic to the protests. Women reportedly make up as much as half of the crowd outside army headquarters Credit: AFP Leaders of the protest movement immediately rejected the announcement that a military transitional council would assume control of the country and impose a three-month state of emergency. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators spent a sixth night on the streets outside Army headquarters in Khartoum on Thursday and on Friday, in deliberate defiance of a 10pm curfew imposed by the military when they announced their coup. Protesters said there were no attempts by authorities to enforce the curfew. Several soldiers joined the protest, reinforcing claims by demonstrators that the junior and middle ranks of the army are reluctant to follow the orders of a top brass widely considered to be closely allied to Bashir. In the morning, protests continued, with festive demonstrators shouting "down with military rule" and parading an enormous Sudanese flag. Protesters distrust Awad Abnouf, the chief of Sudan's new ruling council who is sanctioned by the US for alleged war crimes Credit: REX Alsadig Almahdi, the last civilian prime minister before Bashir seized power in 1989 and a great-grandson of the Mahdi who led the uprising against British rule in the 1880s, oversaw Friday prayers at the protest site. Protesters said they were particularly distrustful of Mr Abnouf, who announced the coup on Thursday and until Friday headed the new military transitional council. Mr Abnouf, a former intelligence chief who is sanctioned by the US over his alleged role in atrocities committed in Darfur in the 2000s, was made vice-president by Bashir in February.
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| How a U.S. Navy Battleship Blasted Its Way Into History (At Point Blank Range) Posted: 11 Apr 2019 05:00 PM PDT  The rest of the Japanese force retired shortly afterward. Washington suffered no damage.The London Naval Treaty of 1936 was intended to preserve the battleship size limitation at thirty-five thousand tons and to restrict the size of battleship guns to fourteen inches. With memory of the Anglo-German and the Anglo-American-Japanese naval races fresh in their minds, the architects of the treaty wanted to limit the most obvious source of escalation. The United States designed its first generation of London Treaty battleships to carry twelve fourteen-inch guns in three quadruple turrets, a formidable armament equal to that of the "Big Five," the last five American battleships built before the treaty.(This first appeared several years ago.)However, the London Naval Treaty had an escape clause. If any one of the original three signatories failed to ratify, the gun limitation rose to sixteen inches. Japan did not sign the treaty (its representatives would have been assassinated if it had), so the fourteen-inch limitation did not apply. The Royal Navy, in a fit of irrational exuberance, had already begun construction of the fourteen-inch weapons for its King George V class, and could not alter their structure. The design of North Carolina and Washington, however, allowed for the substitution of triple sixteen-inch turrets for the quadruple fourteen-inch mounts. Accordingly, the Americans quickly adapted to the heavier guns.
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| So, we've seen the first-ever photo of a black hole. What happens now? Posted: 13 Apr 2019 08:10 AM PDT  Is the adventure over? No, far from it: "The researchers who captured the first-ever images of a black hole don't plan to rest on their laurels."
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| Democrats condemn Trump plan to send migrants to sanctuary cities as 'cruelty' Posted: 12 Apr 2019 05:27 PM PDT  President also criticized over reports he urged CBP chief to close Mexico border, offering a pardon if he broke the lawMigrants from Central America are seen inside an enclosure, where they are being held by Customs and Border Protection El Paso, Texas, on 29 March. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/ReutersDemocrats have accused Donald Trump's administration of "cruelty" and using people as political pawns in the wake of reports that presidential aides considered a plan to release migrants in sanctuary cities.At least twice in the past six months, the White House weighed a plan to pressure US immigration authorities to release people detained at the border in these cities, which limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, according to the Washington Post.Trump confirmed that his White House was considering such a plan on Friday afternoon, contradicting his own Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which told reporters it had rejected the plan.Trump tweeted: "Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only.... The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!"In an earlier statement, DHS said: "This was a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion."Democrats said the proposal was another example of the Trump administration's extreme measures to curb legal and illegal immigration.They also highlighted that viewing such a move as punishment was unusual, since it would affect cities that already welcome more immigrants than the rest of the country, such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City."It takes a truly warped mind to think that releasing families who sought asylum at the border in Sanctuary Cities would be a 'punishment'," said New York City's comptroller, Scott Stringer, on Twitter. "These families are just seeking a better life, and Sanctuary Cities exist because we *want them here*."Trump also faced criticism over fresh reports that he had urged his soon-to-be acting homeland security secretary to close the southern border, and said that he would pardon the official if he were to run afoul of the law.Two people familiar with the private conversation told the Associated Press the conversation with Kevin McAleenan, then the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, came during the president's trip last week to Calexico, California.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss what was said.It was not clear whether the president was joking or why McAleenan would find himself in personal legal jeopardy. But the comments came just a day after Trump told reporters that he was delaying his threat to close the border because Mexico appeared to be stepping up its efforts."At no time has the president indicated, asked, directed or pressured the acting secretary to do anything illegal," a DHS spokesman said.The government has said the US-Mexico border is at a "breaking point" because of the crowds of Central American families seeking asylum there, though its policies have so far focused on deterrence, instead of responding to the factors driving people to flee Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador."The cruelty of this administration never seems to end," said Julián Castro, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president ahead of the 2020 election.Speaking at a CNN town hall event on Thursday night, Castro compared the sanctuary cities proposal to family separation, which failed to deter people from coming to the border."Now they are talking about bussing families to particular cities to target political opponents," Castro said. "These folks want us to choose cruelty as a weapon against people and against political opponents."Another Democratic presidential hopeful, Amy Klobuchar, said Trump was "literally using human beings as pawns in a political game"."Instead of passing comprehensive immigration reform he does this: White House proposed releasing immigrant detainees in sanctuary cities, targeting political foes," Klobuchar said on Twitter.In January 2017, the Trump administration instructed the US attorney general to withhold funding for sanctuary cities, but the decision was quickly challenged in court. In November 2018, a federal judge ruled the crackdown was unconstitutional.
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| Warren on Amazon's $0 tax bill: Yes, it's legal, and that's the problem Posted: 11 Apr 2019 02:21 PM PDT  The Massachusetts senator has a plan to make the online retailer pay federal income taxes.
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| Amazon, Walmart trade barbs on taxes, wages Posted: 11 Apr 2019 05:29 PM PDT  Amazon was the provocateur of the latest dustup, which comes as the two companies battle increasingly hard for retail market share. In his annual shareholder letter, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos baited his rivals -- who were not named -- to match a minimum wage hike to $15 an hour. "Today I challenge our top retail competitors (you know who you are!) to match our employee benefits and our $15 minimum wage.
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| Chicago Sues Jussie Smollett for Cost of Police Overtime Posted: 12 Apr 2019 04:46 AM PDT  Outgoing mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration filed suit Thursday against Empire actor Jussie Smollett to recoup the cost of the police overtime dedicated to solving the hoax hate crime that Smollett allegedly staged against himself."The Law Department has filed a civil complaint against Mr. Smollett in the Circuit Court of Cook County that pursues the full measure of damages allowed under the false statements ordinance," Department of Law spokesperson Bill McCaffrey said in a statement. "This follows his refusal to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019."The Cook County state attorney's office last month dropped all charges against Smollett without requiring that he admit to staging a bigoted, politically-motivated attack on himself. Smollett's attorneys have since refused to pay the $1130,106 that police demanded and warned the city not sue for the money, writing in a letter sent last week that their client "will not be intimidated into paying the demanded sum."The lawsuit, which was obtained by the Chicago Tribune, lays out the evidence police recovered during their investigation, including the testimony provided by the two men Smollett allegedly hired to stage the attack, video evidence of those men buying the items used in the attack, and the checks Smollett made out to them for $3,500 for their services.Cook County state attorney Kim Foxx's decision to drop the 16-count indictment against Smollett despite that evidence has drawn harsh criticism from Emanuel, who called it a "whitewash of justice." Police superintendent Eddie Johnson also lambasted the 37-year-old actor for damaging Chicago's reputation and attacked Foxx for failing to punish the behavior.Smollett's lawyers maintain his innocence and, in the letter sent to the city last week, criticized Johnson and Emanuel for their reaction to the charges being dropped, writing that the pair owed their client an apology "for dragging an innocent man's character through the mud."
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| After years of giving refuge, Ecuador suspends Assange's citizenship Posted: 11 Apr 2019 06:38 PM PDT  A bearded and frail-looking Assange was arrested by British police on Thursday after Ecuador terminated his asylum at its London embassy, where he had lived since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault investigation. Assange's Ecuadorean citizenship was suspended on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told reporters. To some, Australian-born Assange is a hero for exposing what supporters cast as abuse of power and for championing free speech.
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| Volkswagen Atlas Basecamp Off-Road Concept Shows VW's Adventurous Side Posted: 12 Apr 2019 06:00 AM PDT  Customizations include a lift kit, all-terrain tires, and a compact camper trailer.
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| Syria says Israeli airstrike on military position wounds 6 Posted: 13 Apr 2019 01:23 AM PDT ![Syria says Israeli airstrike on military position wounds 6]( "Syria says Israeli airstrike on military position wounds 6") DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a military position in central Syria early Saturday wounded six soldiers and destroyed several buildings, Syria's state news agency SANA reported.
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| The Best (and Most Beautiful) Watering Cans to Keep Your Plants Alive and Thriving Posted: 11 Apr 2019 01:33 PM PDT |
| Woman wanted in Pa. taunted police on Facebook. Then she was arrested Posted: 12 Apr 2019 04:17 AM PDT ![Woman wanted in Pa. taunted police on Facebook. Then she was arrested]( "Woman wanted in Pa. taunted police on Facebook. Then she was arrested") A woman wanted on assault charges in Pennsylvania taunted police in a post on Facebook. That taunt led to her arrest, say police in Greene County.
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| SpaceX carries out first commercial launch Posted: 12 Apr 2019 09:46 AM PDT  SpaceX carried out its first commercial launch on Thursday with its Falcon Heavy rocket easing a Saudi telecoms satellite into orbit. The bright white rocket rose with a roar and spewed thick gray smoke on the ground as it made its way up into clear blue skies over Cape Canaveral, Florida, trailing a long plume of orange fire. About 34 minutes after liftoff, the shiny silver satellite was successfully deployed.
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| Trump must release his tax returns or be barred from state’s 2020 election ballot, Illinois senate votes Posted: 12 Apr 2019 04:01 AM PDT  Donald Trump will have to release five years of tax returns if he wants appear on the Illinois 2020 presidential ballot, the state's senate has ruled. The bill, which still requires approval by the Prairie State's House of Representatives, comes amid a growing row in Washington over Mr Trump's unprecedented refusal to make publicly available his income tax returns. The US Treasury ignored a congressional deadline to release the documents earlier this week. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin claimed the request by the House ways and means committee was "politically motivated". Mr Trump himself has claimed that he cannot release his tax returns because they are under audit, although technically there is nothing preventing him from doing so. In Illinois, the bill would need to be signed into law by Democratic governor Jay Robert Pritzjer, if it passes through the House which is also controlled by Mr Trump's political rivals. Mr Pritzjer is yet to take a public stance on the issue. Tony Munoz, the state senator who sponsored the bill said: "If you want to run for vice president or president of the United States, hey, what's wrong with providing your tax returns for the past five years?" The veteran Democrat added: "If you've got nothing to hide, you shouldn't worry about anything. That's how I see it."But the move drew complaints from Republicans in the senate. "This is, quite frankly, with all due respect to the sponsor, an embarrassing waste of the senate's time," said Dale Righter. "This is being pushed by a far-leftist organisation from the city of Chicago that wants to be able to get up and chirp about the president of the United States."Ilinois is not the only state where legislation to codify standard practices surrounding tax disclosures for presidential candidates is being advanced. The Washington state senate last month approved legislation that would legally require all presidential candidates to release the last five years of their personal tax returns in order to have their names featured on both primary and general voting ballots.New Jersey has also advanced a similar bill to the state's general assembly that would force candidates to disclose their recent tax returns.
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| La. church fires: Documents claim suspect bought gas can before crimes Posted: 12 Apr 2019 01:03 PM PDT  Authorities used surveillance video, debit card purchases and cell phone data to tie Holden Matthews to three church fires, according to court records.
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| Cain's Fed chances in peril as fourth Republican opposes Trump pick Posted: 11 Apr 2019 07:02 PM PDT ![Cain's Fed chances in peril as fourth Republican opposes Trump pick]( "Cain's Fed chances in peril as fourth Republican opposes Trump pick") "If I had to vote today, I would vote no," Senator Kevin Cramer said in a statement. If all of the Senate's Democrats and the two independents aligned with them were to vote against Cain, he would fall short of the majority support he needs. ABC News, citing sources familiar with the matter, said late on Thursday that Cain was expected to withdraw his name from consideration in the coming days.
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| Infiniti celebrates 30 years with special edition trim for Q50 Posted: 12 Apr 2019 07:04 AM PDT  Infiniti will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with the launch of a new trim for the Q50 sedan. The 2019 Q50 Signature Edition will debut next week at the New York International Auto Show. On Thursday Infiniti announced that it plans to celebrate its 30 years this year at the New York Auto Show with the launch of the 2019 Q50 Signature sedan.
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| Bernie Sanders is now a millionaire Posted: 12 Apr 2019 09:21 AM PDT  Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, who promotes policies to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires, said he make his federal tax returns public by April 15.
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| Tripoli forces take prisoners as EU demands Libya's Haftar to stop offensive Posted: 11 Apr 2019 01:06 PM PDT  The fighting between Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) and troops under the internationally-backed Tripoli government has killed at least 56 people and forced 8,000 to flee their homes in the city in the last week, the United Nations said. A Reuters reporter heard occasional heavy gunfire and explosions as the LNA faced off with forces of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj's government around a disused former international airport and the Ain Zara district. After sweeping up from the south, the LNA became bogged down in Tripoli's southern suburbs 11 km (7 miles) from the city center.
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| Google takes on 'Africa's challenges' with first AI centre in Ghana Posted: 12 Apr 2019 08:21 PM PDT  An artificial intelligence research laboratory opened by Google in Ghana, the first of its kind in Africa, will take on challenges across the continent, researchers say. The US technology giant said the lab in the capital Accra would address economic, political and environmental issues. "Africa has many challenges where the use of AI could be beneficial, sometimes even more than in other places," Google's head of AI Accra, Moustapha Cisse, told AFP at the centre's official opening this week.
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| Kim Jong-un solidifies grip on power with new title and leadership shuffle Posted: 12 Apr 2019 06:19 AM PDT  In one of the biggest leadership shake-ups in years, North Korea named a new nominal head of state and a new premier, and gave leader Kim Jong Un a new title, state media reported on Friday, moves analysts said solidify Kim's grip on power. In an expected move, Kim Jong Un was re-elected as chairman of the State Affairs Commission at a session of North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature that took place on Thursday, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. For the first time, however, state media referred to Kim as "supreme representative of all the Korean people." That title was approved by special decree in February, according to the Associated Press, but has not been used publicly until Friday. It's unclear whether the changes will be codified in the constitution, but analysts said the shake-up shows Kim has fully come into his own, eight years after he inherited rule from his father, Kim Jong Il. "The transition and power consolidation of the Kim Jong Un regime is complete," said Michael Madden, a nonresident North Korea leadership expert with the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank. "This is probably the largest party-government shake-up in many years," he said. The Supreme People's Assembly met on Thursday and agreed on a major reshuffle Credit: HOGP/KCNA via KNS The move came as Moon Jae-in, South Korea's leader, met with Donald Trump, the US president, in Washington in an attempt to kickstart talks over Pyongyang's nuclear programme since the collapse of the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi in February. The meeting ended with little fanfare. Mr Moon had been pushing for the US to agree to smaller steps towards denuclearisation to keep diplomacy with the North alive. Mr Trump said he was open to a third summit with Kim but stressed that he was looking for "a big deal," clarifying that this meant North Korea getting rid of its nuclear weapons. He confirmed he was unwilling to budge on the strict sanctions that are shrinking the North Korean economy. "We want sanctions to remain in place," said Mr Trump. There was no direct reference to the US during Thursday's plenary session in Pyongyang, but ahead of the meeting, Kim threatened that North Korea would "deal a telling blow to the hostile forces who go with bloodshot eyes, miscalculating that sanctions can bring the DPRK (North Korea) to its knees." The failure to secure any sanctions relief at the Hanoi summit was an embarrassing loss of face for the North Korean leader. Presidents Trump and Moon with FIrst Ladies Melania Trump and Kim Jung-sook Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP Since early 2018 Kim has embarked on a push for economic development, hoping to strengthen his economy through international engagement, including historic summits with the leaders of the United States, China and South Korea. The diplomatic route has reduced tensions but so far produced limited results, leading experts to speculate about whether Kim may resume a more provocative strategy. However, in a message congratulating Kim on his re-election as chairman, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China highly values its friendship with North Korea and is willing to push forward the bilateral relations, China's official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. Kim's focus at the first parliamentary session since March elections was a reshuffle of his top aides, the shoring up of his domestic power, and a renewed commitment to make the economy the centrepiece of his strategy. Choe Ryong Hae was named President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, replacing Kim Yong Nam. The person holding that position is constitutionally considered North Korea's head of state and usually represents the country at diplomatic events, though experts say real power remains concentrated in Kim Jong Un's hands. Kim Yong Nam, who was born in 1928, has been one of the longest serving senior officials, having held the position since it was created for him in 1998, Madden said. President Moon and President Trump held an extensive meeting in Washington but little was agreed Credit: Yonhap/EPA-EFE/REX His replacement, Mr Choe, was subjected to political "re-education" in the past, but in recent years appeared to be gaining more influence since he was promoted in October 2017 to the party's powerful Central Military Commission, South Korean intelligence officials previously said. Mr Choe was one of the three officials sanctioned by the United States in December over allegations of rights abuses. Several officials who have played leading roles in negotiations with the United States, including Choe Son Hui and Kim Yong Chol, were also promoted. North Korea also replaced the premier of its cabinet, an official at the centre of efforts to jumpstart the economy. Pak Pong Ju had served his current post as premier since 2013. According to analysts at NK News, a website that monitors North Korea, Mr Pak helped oversee a process of "radical reform" in the economy that enabled it to survive sanctions. Among those reforms were loosing control of state-run enterprises, allowing them to operate more freely in the market and to seek private investment, according to a 2017 profile of Mr Pak in NK News. Some of those reforms earned the ire of Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, who led North Korea at the time. But the younger Kim has more openly embraced many of those market changes, and North Korea has sought to ease sanctions and attract more private investment. Mr Pak will now serve as a vice chairman of the ruling party, meaning that those economic reforms are still being embraced, said Hong Min, senior researcher of Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "It means Pak Pong Ju-nomics, or Pak Pong Ju-style economic reform is continuing," he said. There is little known about Mr Pak's replacement, Kim Jae Ryong, who has been serving as a party leader in Jagang Province, a mountainous area home to some munitions factories. The province is known within North Korea, however, for having a spirit of overcoming hardship, which may fit with Kim Jong Un's message of persevering under sanctions, Hong said.
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| All the Game of Thrones History You Need to Know Ahead of Season 8 Posted: 12 Apr 2019 07:28 AM PDT  From the creation of the White Walkers to the Dance of Dragons to Robert's Rebellion, here are the events that will affect season 8.
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| I-Team: Durham blast a rarity when it comes to natural-gas pipeline incidents Posted: 11 Apr 2019 07:08 PM PDT  The pipeline explosion in Durham that killed a 61-year-old man was the first such deadly incident in North Carolina in more than 20 years.
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| GM to reveal next-generation Corvette in July Posted: 12 Apr 2019 12:20 PM PDT  FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — It's just the thing to make the hearts of Corvette fans race: A new rendition of the classic sports car is coming.
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| Ohio bans abortion before many women realise they are pregnant Posted: 12 Apr 2019 04:17 AM PDT  A controversial bill which bans abortions before many women even know they are pregnant has been signed into law in Ohio.The piece of legislation, which is one of the strictest abortion restrictions in the US, does not even allow women to end their pregnancy when they have been raped or in instances of incest. Republican politicians also added a last minute addition that imposes a $20,000 (£15,300) fine on doctors who violate the law when the bill passed the state House earlier in the week.Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the "heartbeat bill" into law on Thursday – making it illegal for women to receive an abortion once a heartbeat has been detected in the foetus.This can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy – a point at which many women do not yet know they are pregnant. Mr DeWine broke with John Kasich, his predecessor who is a fellow Republican who vetoed "heartbeat" bills in 2016 and 2018, citing them as unconstitutional.State Representative Michele Lepore-Hagan, a Democrat, cried as she talked about the harm the legislation could do during Wednesday's House debate."I'm concerned that our kids are going to leave, that we're going to lose a large amount of young people who don't want to live in an oppressive atmosphere," she said.Kellie Copeland, director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said lawmakers and the governor have nosedived the state into "a dystopian nightmare where people are forced to continue pregnancies regardless of the harm that may come to them or their family."The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said it was planning a constitutional challenge to the law on behalf of Pre-Term Cleveland and three other Ohio abortion clinics before the legislation was signed.But the bill's supporters are eager for a legal challenge and have long aspired to provoke a challenge with the potential to overturn Roe v Wade – the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide in 1973.The Supreme Court has previously ruled that states cannot ban abortion before a foetus is viable – about 23 to 25 weeks."We literally crafted this legislation to be the arrow in the heart of Roe v Wade," Janet Folger Porter, who was behind the first version of the Ohio legislation, said in 2016. "It is made to come before the United States Supreme Court."Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said: "The heartbeat bill is the next incremental step in our strategy to overturn Roe v Wade."The first version of the legislation was written by Ms Folger Porter – a far-right religious and anti-abortion activist – back in 2011 and introduced five times."Victory!" Faith2Action, the Ohio-based anti-abortion group that originated the heartbeat concept in 2010, said.Seema Nanda, the chief executive of the Democratic National Committee hit out at the legislation – branding it "the latest example of how the Trump administration's extremist, anti-women policies have emboldened legislators across the country to attack women's access to health care."Ohio is the seventh state to pass legislation that bans abortion after a heartbeat is detected and legislation is pending in 11 other states. None of the signed bills have successfully become law so far. But Alarm bells have been raised that Roe v Wade could be overturned or radically undermined with new conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Abortion opponents in other states have been emboldened to attempt to provoke new legal battles that could spark Supreme Court justices to revisit the key case. But critics argue the Republicans are unnecessarily launching legal battles that will prove to be expensive and futile – with taxpayers potentially footing the bill.Earlier this week, Texas proposed a law that would criminalise abortions and make it possible for women to receive the death penalty for having an abortion.However, the bill appeared to have failed by Wednesday night – with the Republican state representative who allowed a hearing on the legislation announcing his opposition to it.Last week, legislation was introduced in Alabama that would make carrying out an abortion at any stage of the pregnancy punishable by 10 to 99 years in jail – even in cases of rape and incest.The bill, which has more than 60 co-sponsors in the 105-member Alabama house of representatives, equates legalised abortion to some of history's gravest atrocities – likening having your pregnancy terminated to the Nazi campaign of extermination that led to the mass murders of Jews and others during the Holocaust.
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| In-Depth Photos of the 2020 BMW M850i xDrive Convertible Posted: 12 Apr 2019 11:41 AM PDT |
| Head of Sudan's military council steps down, a day after Bashir toppled Posted: 12 Apr 2019 03:24 PM PDT  Hours after the military council sought to calm public anger by promising a new civilian government, Defence Minister Awad Ibn Auf said in a televised speech he was quitting as head of the council. Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman will be the new head of the council, Ibn Auf said. "In order to ensure the cohesion of the security system, and the armed forces in particular, from cracks and strife, and relying on God, let us begin this path of change," Ibn Auf said.
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| Scientist superstar Katie Bouman designed algorithm for black hole image Posted: 11 Apr 2019 08:53 PM PDT  Anonymous to the public just days ago, a US computer scientist named Katie Bouman has become an overnight sensation due to her role in developing a computer algorithm that allowed researchers to take the world's first image of a black hole. "I'm so excited that we finally get to share what we have been working on for the past year!" the 29 year-old Bouman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, gushed on her Facebook account Wednesday after the image was published. The term "black hole" refers to a point in space where matter is so compressed that it creates a gravity field from which even light cannot escape.
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| Sanders promises to win back Midwest states Trump captured Posted: 12 Apr 2019 08:29 PM PDT  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders returned to the friendly terrain of Wisconsin on Friday, promising to build a coalition that will defeat President Donald Trump as he kicked off a swing through pivotal states that are part of the Democratic "blue wall" strategy for 2020.
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| Trump Justice Department Took New Look at Assange as Part of War on Leaks Posted: 11 Apr 2019 05:04 PM PDT  Nicholas Kamm/GettyThe decision to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange played out against the backdrop of President Donald Trump's aggressive campaign to ferret out insiders leaking to the media.First Amendment advocates are enraged by the indictment and say it shows media protections are in jeopardy. A former top national security official told The Daily Beast the charges shouldn't have triggered those concerns but did say the decision to go after Assange followed an administration push to re-examine "what qualifies as media."The indictment covers alleged crimes that occurred nearly a decade ago and that the Obama administration, after much debate, did not prosecute.But Mary McCord, a career law-enforcement official who helmed the Justice Department's National Security Division for the first four months of the Trump administration, said "there was renewed interest under the new administration to revisit issues of what qualifies as the media and to look back at the Assange case.""That's not to say there was ever a lack of interest in Assange over the years, even under the previous administration," McCord said. "There were evidentiary and policy issues that were at play previously, and probably continue to be at play—and reasonable minds can certainly differ about how decisions are made, both legal decisions in terms of statute, and policy decisions."McCord added that since the DOJ hasn't charged Assange with publishing classified material—he was indicted for allegedly helping Chelsea Manning break a password to steal material from government computers—his case isn't a window into the Trump administration's view of press freedoms. "This, to me, is no different than saying you don't get a pass when you're the media if you commit a bank robbery, you don't get a pass when you're in the media if you hack into computers or conspire to hack into computers," she said. Some press freedom advocates, however, said the indictment is troubling; Reporters Without Borders, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the ACLU all raised concerns about the move. Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, based on his alleged efforts in 2010 to help Manning obtain the classified material that he would later publish. Following the first massive Wikileaks dump, Obama administration officials in various agencies worked to rectify the damage. Several foreign service officers who spoke to The Daily Beast said they were forced to comb through the documents to identify which documents could pose potential threats to informants."There was a general sense of worry. We worried that the leak would put lives in danger," one former Obama administration official said. "We viewed it as a fire that had to be put out. We had to go through all the documents to identify any potential damage they could cause."Since that time, the U.S. has continued to gather intelligence on Assange and his relationship to the Russian government. While some agencies have pushed for the U.S. to go after Assange with vigor, others have cautioned that there was not enough evidence or that it was more important to gather counterintelligence information on Assange's connection to Russia, according to former intelligence officials.That debate faded under Trump.In the first few months of his administration, a spate of high-profile classified leaks enraged the president. He tweeted that the FBI needed to find the leakers and criticized then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for failing to find them.Sessions tried to play ball. On Aug. 4, 2017, he held a press conference at Justice Department headquarters to tout newly energized efforts to hunt down government officials who share classified material with reporters, including the formation of a new team focused on that issue. A few months later, he told Congress that the number of open leak probes at DOJ had risen by 800 percent. DOJ has brought charges in a number of cases. Reality Winner, an NSA intelligence specialist who shared information about Russian election interference with The Intercept, is serving a five-year prison sentence. A senior Treasury Department official was charged with leaking confidential material to BuzzFeed. And in February, the DOJ charged an IRS employee with leaking information about ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen (who will soon begin a three-year prison sentence for unrelated crimes) to Michael Avenatti (who faces dozens of criminal counts for other, also unrelated alleged crimes). A former staffer for the Senate intelligence committee, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with a reporter.Obama administration officials who worked on the Assange case told The Daily Beast they focused on whether WikiLeaks could be defined as a traditional media organization. The fear, one former intelligence official said, was that the public would see any prosecution as an attack on the press. Officials said the national security and intelligence communities had extensive, collaborative conversations about building a case against Assange for years. Many of those conversations, they said, touched on strategy and how to build the best case out of the Eastern District of Virginia.During the first few years after the 2010 leak, U.S. law enforcement agencies probed the connection between Assange, Wikileaks and Russia. But, according to one, they initially struggled to find evidence of any links between him and the Kremlin. "When I was in government I never saw any proof Assange was actively coordinating with Moscow," said Michael Carpenter, who served in various national security roles in the Obama administration. "I think the understanding in the course of the Mueller investigation to understand how Russia intervened and partnered with Wikileaks… that understanding has shifted. I think that gets at this notion that this is not some journalistic organization unwittingly manipulated by the Russians. It coordinated to steal U.S. classified information and then to put it out in the public arena."Assange hasn't been charged with acting as a foreign agent of a spy. But American officials have publicly called him one. A few months after Trump's inauguration, Mike Pompeo—then the CIA director—said Wikileaks engaged in spying. "It is time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia," he said. Within Washington's tight-knit national security community, former senior officials took different views of the Assange prosecution. Some said it was evidence of President Trump's eagerness to target reporters and fight leakers. Others, however, cautioned against that, saying the Assange case isn't political. The Assange case file, sources said, was held within a close circle of investigators and prosecutors, who would have maintained some degree of independence in building the case against him. The timing of the filing of Assange's sealed indictment also points to apolitical considerations; it was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia on March 6, 2018—just two days before the statute of limitations for the charge would have expired. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Forget the dream wedding. Gen Z-ers are planning to own homes before they're 30, survey finds Posted: 12 Apr 2019 02:19 AM PDT ![Forget the dream wedding. Gen Z-ers are planning to own homes before they're 30, survey finds]( "Forget the dream wedding. Gen Z-ers are planning to own homes before they're 30, survey finds") More than half of adults ages 18 to 23 say they're saving to buy a home, and 59% want to within five years, a new survey by Bank of America found.
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| Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the most promising Star Wars game in an age - here is everything we know so far Posted: 12 Apr 2019 06:54 AM PDT  Amid the hype over the first glimpse at Star Wars: Episode IX, gaming fans of that famed galaxy far, far away also have the most promising Star Wars title for years in the form of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Developed by Titanfall and Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order will be the first single-player focussed adventure based on the series for years. More recent Star Wars blockbuster games from publisher EA, such as Battlefront, have preferred multiplayer hijinks as the Empire and Rebellion skirmish in sprawling match-ups. After the cancellation of both Star Wars 1313 and the action-adventure headed up by the now defunct Visceral Games, you would be forgiven for worrying that more focussed adventures in the Star Wars universe were off the menu. No longer. Respawn boss Vince Zampella revealed at E3 2018 that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order would be a single-player adventure set shortly after the events of Revenge of the Sith. We haven't seen much of the game yet, besides some leaked artwork and a teaser tweet setting up the game's big reveal at the Star Wars Celebration on 13 April. Ahead of that hour-long showcase, here is everything we know about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order so far. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order artwork was leaked from Amazon ahead of Saturday's reveal What is the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order story? We'll need to wait for the full reveal for specific details, but we do know that you will be playing as a young padawan (Jedi apprentice) on the run following Emperor Palpatine's 'Order 66'. The diktat comes at the end of Revenge of the Sith, ordering all Jedis to be wiped out. Only a few are left, scattered to the winds. Presumably this will mean we find our padawan laying low and dodging the search of the Empire. In the first teaser for the game, EA tweeted the tagline: "Don't stand out". This could have some interesting ramifications for gameplay, adding an element of stealth and diversion to the lightsaber action. Although don't worry, we know for sure that laser-sword duelling will play a major part. Hopefully Respawn can translate the fabulously punchy gunplay found in Titanfall and Apex to fizzy, melee-based combat. Don't stand out. StarWarsJediFallenOrderpic.twitter.com/dQ8bg4bqyf— EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) April 9, 2019 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order developer In many ways, what we know so far of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order feels like a notable departure for Respawn. This is a studio founded by the former heads of Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward. It has thus far made its name on Titanfall and Apex Legends, two multiplayer focussed sci-fi first-person-shooters. A single-player, third-person adventure doesn't immediately sound in the team's wheelhouse. However, the campaign for Titanfall 2 was one of the most inventive FPS single-player games in ages. Illustrious game designer Chris Avellone, who worked on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 with Obsidian, also confirmed he was involved with the game. As did God of War 3 director Stig Asmussen. With Respawn's science-fiction grounding and a talented team at its disposal, there's no reason it can't make that transition. What is also interesting from a technical perspective is that Fallen Order is being made with Epic's Unreal Engine 4. The majority of EA's game are made using the publisher's proprietary Frostbite engine, which has come under criticism for being notoriously difficult to work with. Respawn seem to have swerved that obligation again, following the studio's decision to build Apex Legends in Valve's Source engine. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order release date and platforms EA and Respawn has confirmed that Fallen Order will release in 'Fall 2019' for PS4, Xbox One and PC. We expect a firm release date at the Star Wars Celebration reveal on 13 April. What do you want to see from Respawn's Star Wars adventure? To join the conversation log in to your Telegraph account or register for free, here.
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