| Jared Kushner: Russia investigations 'more harmful' than 'a couple of Facebook ads' Posted: 23 Apr 2019 09:35 AM PDT  President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner believes the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election have had "a much harsher impact on our democracy" than the interference itself.
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| Armed border group shuts down camp at border in New Mexico Posted: 23 Apr 2019 06:44 PM PDT  SUNLAND PARK, N.M. (AP) — An armed group that has been patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border left its post in the New Mexico desert Tuesday amid pressure from law enforcement following videos that showed militia members stopping migrants who had illegally crossed into the country.
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| First picture of 'mastermind' behind Sri Lanka suicide bomb attacks as identity of UK student is revealed Posted: 24 Apr 2019 07:43 AM PDT  This is the first image of Inshaf Ahamed Ibrahim, the Sri Lankan suicide bomber and alleged mastermind of the atrocity which killed 359 people. Ibrahim, 33, blew himself up at the Shangri-La Hotel at just before 9am local time in a third-floor restaurant. The hotel was full of tourists including British victims Anita Nicholson, 42, and her two children Alex, 14, and 11-year-old daughter Annabel. Ibrahim's younger brother Ilham also killed himself when he detonated a suicide bomb at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, also in the capital Colombo, five minutes later. The father of the two dead terrorists is a senior and wealthy businessman in Sri Lanka who ran a large spice trading company. Inshaf Ibrahim was involved in the spice export company but also ran a copper factory where it is thought the bombs were manufactured. It also emerged one suicide bombers who perpetrated the Easter Sunday attacks was former UK student Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, The Telegraph has learned. A group of men claiming to be the the Sri Lanka bomb attackers appear in an Isil propaganda video Credit: Twitter Mohamed is understood to have studied in south east England at some point between 2006 and 2007 before later enrolling on a postgraduate course in Australia. He is then believed to have returned to Sri Lanka. He was one of nine terrorists who carried out a series of blasts targeting churches and hotels in the country, killing 359 people - including eight from Britain. More than 500 were injured. His identity came to light after Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene said earlier today that one of the bombers had studied in the UK. "We believe one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and then later on did his postgraduate in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka," said Mr Wijewardene, without naming the suspect. He said one of the bombers was a woman. He told a press conference in the capital, Colombo, that most of the suicide bombers were "well-educated and come from middle or upper-middle class," adding that they were "financially quite independent." Some held law degrees," he added. Mr Wijewardene's comments came as the police confirmed that the death toll for Sunday's massacre had risen to 359. The attacks were claimed on Tuesday by the Islamic State militant group, which did not give any evidence to support its claim. If true, it would make it one of the worst attacks linked to the group outside Iraq and Syria. The deputy defence minister said that 60 people "have been arrested on possible links to the attacks" and 32 of those are still in custody. All are Sri Lankan. Sri Lanka attacks - Locator map Among those assisting police, reported India's First Post, is Mohammed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader and pillar of the Sri Lankan business community, whose two sons Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim, 33, and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, 31 allegedly bombed the breakfast buffets at the Cinnamon Grand and Shangri La hotels. Indian intelligence sources told the website that a third son Ijas Ahmed Ibrahim, 30, was also reportedly asked about the attack. Police are understood to be investigating possible links to overseas jihadist networks and training camps that had been hidden on a remote compound near Wanathawilluwa, on the island's west coast. The compound, believed to be linked to the chief suspects in the Easter Sunday bombings, the National Thawheed Jamaath group, was raided by police in January. Read more | Sri Lanka attacks Officers found 100kg of military grade explosives and arrested four suspects, all of whom were released on bail. One Sri Lankan minister alleged on Monday that political pressure had been applied to free them. Outside the Ibrahim family home in Colombo, neighbours told The Telegraph that Imsath was the business brains and Ilham was more aloof and awkward. "Imsath was the best of the sons. He runs the business and he drives good cars and wears Western brands," said one neighbour. "Ilham was not so bright and not well educated." At a copper factory owned by Imsath in the Colombo suburb of Wellampitiya, workers said they had not seen him for a week. Sri Lankan staff and supervisors at Colossus Ltd had been arrested for questioning leaving only abandoned Bangladeshi migrant workers.
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| Turkish police hold ruling party member, five others after opposition chief attack Posted: 22 Apr 2019 09:52 AM PDT  Turkish police on Monday were holding six people, including a member of the ruling AKP party, after a mob attack on opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu that sparked widespread criticism. Kilicdaroglu, 70, of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was assaulted on Sunday in a crowd as he attended a funeral in Ankara for a soldier killed fighting Kurdish militants in the southeast. The attack came days after the opposition CHP won Ankara and Istanbul from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP in March 31 local elections, seen as a major setback for the ruling party after a decade-and-a-half in power.
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| Demoted and sidelined: Google walkout organizers say company retaliated Posted: 22 Apr 2019 03:25 PM PDT  Staff who organized mass protests say in internal letter their roles were changed after November 2018 demonstration Workers protest against Google on 1 November 2019 in Mountain View, California. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP They helped to organize an unprecedented global protest that saw tens of thousands of Google employees walk off the job in November 2018. Now two Google employees, Meredith Whittaker and Claire Stapleton, are alleging that Google is retaliating against them and other employee activists. "Google has a culture of retaliation, which too often works to silence women, people of color, and gender minorities," reads a letter from Whittaker, Stapleton and 10 other employees that was published internally on Monday and seen by the Guardian. "Retaliation isn't always obvious. It's often confusing and drawn out, consisting of icy conversations, gaslighting, project cancellations, transition rejections, or demotions. Behavior that tells someone the problem isn't that they stood up to the company, it's that they're not good enough and don't belong." Stapleton, a nearly 12-year veteran at Google, wrote that two months after the walkout, she was demoted, had a previously approved project cancelled, and was "told to go on medical leave, even though I'm not sick". "Only after I hired a lawyer and had her contact Google did management conduct an investigation and walked back my demotion, at least on paper," she wrote. "While my work has been restored, the environment remains hostile and I consider quitting nearly every day." Whittaker, who co-founded the AI Now Institute, wrote that after Google decided to scrap its AI ethics council, she was told that her "role would be changed dramatically". "I'm told that to remain at the company, I will have to abandon my work on AI ethics and the AI Now Institute," she wrote. Neither Whittaker nor Stapleton responded immediately to a request for comment. The letter was first reported by Wired. A Google spokeswoman said that the company has already investigated these cases and determined there was no retaliation. "We prohibit retaliation in the workplace, and investigate all allegations," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "Employees and teams are regularly and commonly given new assignments, or reorganized, to keep pace with evolving business needs. There has been no retaliation here." Google employees have been at the forefront of a wave of tech worker activism that has swept the industry over the past year. Employee-organized protests have taken aim both at the company's business decisions – such as its work for a Department of Defense drone project or plans to build a censored search engine for China – and its treatment of employees and contractors. The November walkout was sparked by a New York Times report that revealed that a former executive, Andy Rubin, had received a $90m severance package despite being forced out over an allegation that he had forced a female employee to perform oral sex. The report unleashed a flood of anger and frustration among Google employees who had faced harassment or discrimination. In Monday's letter, the organizers say that they "collected over 350 stories" during the walkout, and discovered a "sad pattern": "People who stand up and report discrimination, abuse, and unethical conduct are punished, sidelined, and pushed out. Perpetrators often go unimpeded, or are even rewarded." The organizers are planning to host a Retaliation Town Hall for workers on Friday. They have reserved conference rooms and plan to live stream the discussion internally. Have you experienced retaliation for workplace activism in the tech industry? Contact the author: julia.wong@theguardian.com or julia.carrie.wong@protonmail.com
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| Can Elon Musk's robotaxi plan help Tesla owners make $30,000 a year? Posted: 24 Apr 2019 07:13 AM PDT ![Can Elon Musk's robotaxi plan help Tesla owners make $30,000 a year?]( "Can Elon Musk's robotaxi plan help Tesla owners make $30,000 a year?") Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he is "very confident" Tesla would be able to offer robotaxis next year as a rival to ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft.
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| UPDATE 2-PG&E get approval to pay employees $350 mln to meet safety goals after wildfires Posted: 23 Apr 2019 04:18 PM PDT ![UPDATE 2-PG&E get approval to pay employees $350 mln to meet safety goals after wildfires]( "UPDATE 2-PG&E get approval to pay employees $350 mln to meet safety goals after wildfires") PG&E Corp can pay employees up to $350 million in bonuses this year to spur them to help meet the bankrupt California power provider's safety goals to prevent wildfires, a judge said on Tuesday. PG&E's management has said the company needs to implement the bonus plan to carry out tasks such as clearing trees and branches around power lines to avert contact that triggers wildfires. While the maximum cost of the plan is $350 million, PG&E has said it expects the likely cost will be around $235 million.
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| I've warned that impeachment talk is dangerous, but the time has come: Laurence Tribe Posted: 22 Apr 2019 04:59 PM PDT  The consequential decision to impeach should not be made lightly. But Mueller's damning report is an invitation that Congress shouldn't refuse.
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| Sketch of suspect in killings of 2 girls was made in 2017 Posted: 24 Apr 2019 08:37 AM PDT  DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — A newly released sketch of a man suspected of killing two Indiana teenagers was created only days after the girls' 2017 slayings, but authorities aren't saying why they held onto it for more than two years.
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| WWII shipwreck discovered off Australian coast Posted: 23 Apr 2019 06:00 AM PDT  The SS Iron Crown, an Australian freighter sunk by a Japanese submarine during World War II, has been discovered.
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| View Photos of the 2019 Lexus LS500h Hybrid Posted: 23 Apr 2019 11:05 AM PDT |
| Boeing puts cost of 737 MAX crisis at $1 bn Posted: 24 Apr 2019 07:24 AM PDT  Boeing said Wednesday that its 737 MAX crisis had cost $1 billion in the first quarter as it withdrew its 2019 profit forecast on continued uncertainty about when the grounded jets will fly again after two deadly crashes. The US aerospace giant also cited spending on the software fix and related training, according to an earnings presentation released Wednesday that listed the $1 billion in 737 program costs. The results are the first since the company entered crisis mode with the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet, which along with an October Lion Air crash claimed 346 lives.
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| 'Marsquake' detected for first time, Nasa says Posted: 23 Apr 2019 02:50 PM PDT  Nasa has detected a probable "Marsquake" for the first time. The suspected seismic event on the Red Planet was recorded using silicon sensors developed in the UK. A dome-shaped apparatus known as Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure [SEIS] landed on Mars last year equipped with the sensors, which were built with £4 million in funding from the UK Space Agency Nasa said the measuring of the quake, which occurred on April 6, marked the "birth of a new discipline - Martian seismology". Chris Skidmore, the science minister, said it was a "testament to the UK's world leading science and engineering space sector". Professor Tom Pike of Imperial College London, leading the UK contribution, said: "This is what we were all waiting for, the first quivering of the planet picked up by our sensors. Our first investigation of the interior of another planet is now underway." Mars is not nearly as geologically active as Earth and, like our moon, lacks tectonic plates. An image of the Martian surface from Nasa's Curiosity Rover Credit: EPA But thousands of "moonquakes" were detected on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1977 using equipment installed there by Nasa's Apollo missions. The French space agency Cnes, which operates SEIS, said there had been a "weak but distinct seismic signal" on Mars which could shed light on the ancient origins of Earth's neighbour. It added: "We've waited for our first Martian quake for months." The tremor was so faint that an earthquake of the same magnitude in southern California would be virtually lost among the dozens of tiny seismological events that occur there every day, Nasa said.
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| Christians, hotel workers, tourists among Easter attack dead Posted: 24 Apr 2019 04:57 AM PDT  COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — More than 350 people were killed in bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
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| Putin-Kim summit sends message to U.S. but sanctions relief elusive for North Korea Posted: 24 Apr 2019 03:08 AM PDT  "When Kim meets Putin, he is going to ask for economic assistance and unilateral sanctions relaxation. Moscow is unlikely to grant his wishes," said Artyom Lukin, a professor at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok. "Being a veto-holding U.N. Security Council member, Moscow can hardly afford to undermine its authority even for the sake of friendship with Kim," Lukin said.
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| Trump says sending 'armed soldiers' to US-Mexico border Posted: 24 Apr 2019 08:04 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Wednesday the US is sending armed soldiers to the southern border after Mexican soldiers recently "pulled guns" on US troops. Trump appeared to be referring to an April 13 incident in which Mexican troops reportedly questioned and pointed their weapons at two US troops conducting surveillance on the border.
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| JPMorgan's Bob Michele Says ‘Enjoy the Ride’ as Risk Assets Rally Posted: 23 Apr 2019 07:52 AM PDT  The chief investment officer at JPMorgan Asset Management said money managers are sitting on too much cash and should be boosting their allocations to high-yield assets after the Federal Reserve's dovish pivot. The firm is putting its weight behind emerging markets as investors from BlackRock Inc. to Fidelity International warn of a break in the rally.
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| America is at a gay rights crossroads, thanks to Pete Buttigieg and the Supreme Court Posted: 23 Apr 2019 04:00 AM PDT  A married gay man running for president, and that's not disqualifying? Six months ago, I'd have said, 'No way, no gay.' Mayor Pete changed my mind.
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| Official: 6 people died in Texas small plane crash Posted: 22 Apr 2019 12:29 PM PDT  All six people aboard a small plane died Monday when it crashed while preparing to land in central Texas, authorities said. (April 22)
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| Samsung’s Galaxy Fold might already have a new release date – and that’s awful news Posted: 24 Apr 2019 05:17 AM PDT  Samsung's Galaxy Fold launch is now nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. Who could have seen this coming... 7 months ago? The last thing a company wants to do when it's about to release a first-of-its-kind product is give consumers any doubt that it's a high-quality product. Well, Samsung went far beyond giving consumers a bit of doubt -- it showed us in the clearest possible light that the Galaxy Fold is a piece of junk. We have now lost count of how many Galaxy Fold review units broke shortly after being sent to bloggers to review, but suffice it to say the figure is painfully high. It was so high, in fact, that Samsung decided to cancel the phone's release this Friday so it can investigate the issues that have been causing the Galaxy Fold's display to break. That's right, we said "issues," as in plural. It's not just one problem that has been causing the screens to malfunction, it's several.The biggest problem appears to be the fact that the phone's foldable OLED screen has a thin plastic layer on top with exposed edges, so it looks like a screen protector you would find pre-applied on many Android phones. It's not a screen protector though, and if you pull it off the display will break. You read that correctly: this is a $2,000 phone with an exposed display layer that peels right off. But the displays on some review units broke even with that top layer intact, so Samsung clearly has some work to do before the Galaxy Fold can see the light of day again. As it turns out, however, the Galaxy Fold might already have a new release date... and that could be very bad news for anyone who plans to buy one.With the Galaxy Fold release date having been scheduled for this Friday, April 26th, Samsung has undoubtedly manufactured quite a few handsets at this point. Our guess is the figure is well into the hundreds of thousands. On top of that, many of those phones have likely already been shipped to Samsung's various partners in launch markets around the world. Now, we know that all those phones are junk, but we still don't know exactly why. Neither does Samsung, since the company is still in the process of collecting all the broken review units and investigating potential causes of the various different failures we saw.And yet despite the fact that Samsung doesn't yet know why its Galaxy Fold phones were breaking, the company may already have shared an updated release date with partners. If true, Samsung is putting the cart ahead of the horse and we have little to no confidence that the company is truly doing everything in its power to fix the phone's problems ahead of release.https://twitter.com/mighty_droid/status/1120820338965630976As you can see in the tweet embedded above, AT&T has been sending emails to customers who had pre-ordered the Galaxy Fold to let them know it will not ship on time. That is obviously a good thing. What's not so good, however, is the fact that there is already a revised ship date in that email: June 13th. How can AT&T tell customers when their orders will ship if Samsung doesn't even know what it has to do in order to fix all the Galaxy Fold units that have already been built?Either AT&T pulled a random date out of thin air and decided to share that fake ship date with its customers, or Samsung as already supplied an updated release date (which appears to be Friday, June 14th) with its partners. If the latter is the case, it will have done this without knowing for certain that it can fix the Galaxy Fold's problems and have the modified units shipped back to partners in time for the phone's new release.It's crazy to think that Samsung rushed out a product that it has been working on for many years at this point, but that's exactly what happened -- and now it looks like it might be happening again. The company already has a horrible track record with first-generation products, as we've said time and time again. This is doubly true when it doesn't have a similar product from Apple that it can copy. Just look at how terrible the company's smartphones were before Samsung decided to copy the iPhone pixel by pixel. In fact, rumor has it that Samsung rushed out the Galaxy Fold before it was ready in an effort to prove that it can innovate and release exciting new products without copying Apple. Oops.The Galaxy Fold is a brand new device in a brand new category. It's poised to be the first widely available smartphone in the world with a foldable display. If this AT&T email is legitimate and Samsung already has a new release date despite not yet knowing what it'll have to do to fix the phone's poor design and shoddy construction, the Galaxy Fold is also poised to still be a piece of junk when it hits store shelves in June.
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| Amazon customers can now return their items at Kohl's Posted: 23 Apr 2019 11:28 AM PDT  Kohl's announced Tuesday that Amazon customers will be able to return items atall of its stores beginning in July
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| Washington poised to become first state to allow eco-friendly 'human composting' Posted: 22 Apr 2019 06:56 PM PDT  Washington is expected to become the first state to legalize an environmentally-friendly burial alternative that turns bodies into soil within weeks.
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| Neo-Nazi linked to group who said Prince Harry was a race traitor for marrying Meghan pleads guilty Posted: 23 Apr 2019 12:41 PM PDT  Two teenage neo-Nazis, linked to a group that called Prince Harry a "race traitor" for marrying Mehgan Markle, are facing jail after admitting terror charges. Polish national, Michal Szewczuk, 19, admitted two counts of encouraging terrorism and five of possessing documents that could be useful to a terrorist, when he appeared at the Old Bailey. His co-defendant, Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski, 18, had previously pleaded guilty to encouraging terrorism. The charges relate to a neo-Nazi group called the Sonnenkrieg Division, which posted extreme racist material on the GAB social media platform. In one post, a picture of the Duke of Sussex was set against a swastika with a gun pointing at his head and the slogan: "See ya later, race traitor!" The group is an off shoot of the American Atomwaffen Division, which encourages terrorism and worships Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson. Szewczuk, who used an online pseudonym, posted comments that called for the "systematic slaughter" of women. He also pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the possession of bomb making documents and other extremist terrorist material. At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Jessica Hart described how Szewczuk and Dunn-Koczorowski had shared the Sonnenkrieg Gab account, with both posting from the same account at different times. Judge Rebecca Poulet QC warned both teenagers they could face custody when they return to court for sentencing on 17 June.
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| Democrats to press star witness of Mueller report to repeat performance in Congress Posted: 23 Apr 2019 04:57 PM PDT ![Democrats to press star witness of Mueller report to repeat performance in Congress]( "Democrats to press star witness of Mueller report to repeat performance in Congress") Since the April 18 release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and any ties to Republican Trump's campaign, Democrats have seen McGahn as someone who could be as important as Mueller himself, according to a source familiar with the matter. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the White House planned to oppose a subpoena by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee for McGahn to testify. Mueller's 448-page partially blacked out report portrayed McGahn as one of the few figures in Trump's orbit to challenge him when he tried to shut down the investigation that has clouded his more than two years in the White House.
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| North Korea's Kim in Russia for first talks with Putin Posted: 24 Apr 2019 07:24 AM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was looking forward to his first talks with President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in Russia on Wednesday seeking support in Pyongyang's nuclear deadlock with the United States. Kim's armoured train rolled in to the Tsarist-era station in Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivostok, where the summit will take place on Thursday. The talks, only confirmed at the last minute, will be Kim's first face-to-face meeting with another head of state since returning from his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump, which broke down in February without a deal on the North's nuclear arsenal.
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| Walgreens to hike minimum age for store tobacco sales Posted: 23 Apr 2019 11:20 AM PDT  Walgreens has decided to raise its minimum age for tobacco sales several weeks after a top federal official chastised the drugstore chain for violating laws restricting access to cigarettes and other tobacco products.
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| Robotic Tesla taxis will be roaming the streets very soon, Elon Musk says Posted: 23 Apr 2019 08:04 AM PDT  Tesla plans to have a fleet of robotic taxis roaming the streets without drivers next year, Elon Musk has said.The claim is just the latest in a series of exciting pronouncements from the chief executive, who has repeatedly missed his own targets. But he has bet a considerable part of his business on the technology underpinning it.As well as allowing for the robot taxis that will drive themselves around the streets, Mr Musk says that by next year there will be a million Tesla cars on the streets that have full autonomous technology and are able to drive themselves."Probably two years from now we'll make a car with no steering wheels or pedals," Musk predicted.Central to this promise is a new microchip for self-driving vehicles unveiled by Musk on Monday during a webcast presentation. Made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in Texas, the chip now in all vehicles is hoped to give Tesla an edge over rivals and show its massive investment in autonomous driving - described by Musk as "basically our entire expense structure" - will pay off.The webcast presentation came two days before Tesla is expected to announce a quarterly loss on fewer deliveries of its Model 3 sedan, which represents Tesla's attempt to become a volume car maker.After launching the event with detailed technical descriptions of Tesla's progress on hardware and software by top executives, Musk began hawking the Model 3 and its potential."The fundamental message consumers should be taking away today is it's financially insane to buy something other than a Tesla. It's like buying a horse," saying Tesla was the only company to have a full self-driving suite of hardware.Tesla's use of the term "full self-driving" garners criticism, as it sells such an option today that is not yet "Level 4," or fully autonomous by industry standards, in which the car can handle all aspects of driving in most circumstances with no human intervention. Musk has said that with the hardware complete, improvements in software will allow vehicles to fully drive themselves in future.The technology faces many regulatory hurdles both in Washington and from local governments.Global carmakers, large technology companies and startups are developing self-driving - including Alphabet Inc's Waymo and Uber Technologies Inc - but experts say it will be years before the systems are ready for prime time."A year from now we'll have over a million cars with full self-driving, software, everything," Musk predicted.Tesla has been working on a self-driving chip since 2016 and Musk had previously forecast that cars would be fully self-driving by 2018, a target Tesla has missed.Investors appeared unmoved by the chip announcement but shares rose slightly in after-hour trading following the announcement of the robotaxis.Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said Tesla's robotaxi ambition was "impressive," but added that investors will be concerned by "the practicality and financial implications of this endeavor especially with Waymo miles ahead of the autonomous competition."More pressing for analysts, he said, were concerns about demand for the Model 3 and whether Tesla may seek new financing.Musk took a swipe at competitors relying on Lidar, light-based sensors that are a key element in most other self-driving systems."Lidar is a fools' errand. And anyone relying on Lidar is doomed," said Musk, who has been vocal about the technology's limitations. Tesla vehicles rely on cameras and radars as their vision system for self-driving.Competitors will eventually "dump" Lidar, he said: "It's expensive and unnecessary and once you solved vision it's worthless."More than $1 billion in corporate and private investment has been plowed into some 50 Lidar startups over the past three years, including a record $420 million in 2018, according to a Reuters analysis of publicly available investment data in March.Musk called Tesla's new chip the industry's best because it was dedicated for autonomous driving, while others, like Nvidia Corp, developed chips for multiple uses.Tesla's chip was capable of seven times as many frames as Nvidia's Xavier system, said Pete Bannon, Tesla's head of Autopilot hardware. Nvidia said the comparison was inaccurate.U.S. magazine Consumer Reports cautioned against Tesla's "bold claims about self-driving capabilities that overpromise and underdeliver.""Claims about (Tesla's) driving automation systems and safety are not backed up by the data, and it seems today's presentations had more to do with investors than consumers' safety," wrote the publication.Additional reporting by Reuters
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| Kamala Harris Vows to Impose New Gun Limits by Executive Action Posted: 22 Apr 2019 07:15 PM PDT  The California Democrat's proposals to bypass Congress with actions that include expanding requirements for background checks and revoking licenses for gun manufactures and dealers found to have broken the law would almost certainly face legal challenges. "Upon being elected, I will give the United States Congress 100 days to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws, and if they fail to do it, then I will take executive action," Harris said Monday night at a town hall event hosted by CNN in New Hampshire, site of the first primary in the 2020 nomination contest.
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| Last Chance to Earn 100k Marriott Points With Bonvoy Amex Cards Posted: 23 Apr 2019 06:47 AM PDT  The final day to take advantage of 100,000-point offers on the newly christened Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card is coming up fast, with new card owners only having until Apr. 24 to earn 100k points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. If you can meet the minimum-spending requirement, now is the time to apply for one of the cards -- especially since we don't know how much lower the welcome bonuses will be after April 24. As a reminder, the introduction of the Bonvoy card branding (which led to new offers like this one) is a result of Marriott combining and retiring its old Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest branding. That combination included merging points and status levels, unifying all the co-branded cards under the Marriott Bonvoy umbrella.Based on a valuation from The Points Guy, 100,000 Marriott points are worth $800 (or 0.8 cents for each point). To get an idea of how far 100,000 points can take you, you could use them for more than 15 nights at a Category 1 hotel, one night at a top-tier Category 8 property like the St. Regis Maldives or transfer your points to one of more than 40 airline partners, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points you transfer. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant AmexThe Bonvoy Brilliant is the top-of-the-line personal credit card in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio, with a $450 annual fee. It comes with plenty of perks, including: * Up to $300 in Marriott Bonvoy statement credit for each year you're a cardmember year. That credit can be put toward eligible Marriott Bonvoy purchases, including room rates. * You also get a free night award, for properties that cost up to 50,000 points (It's awarded each year after your account anniversary). * Also included is complimentary Marriott Gold elite status, which is the status level that gets you benefits including a 25% points bonus, priority late checkout and upgrades to enhanced rooms. * And you can earn 6x points on Marriott stays; 3x at US restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines (2x points on everything else).The Bonvoy Brilliant Amex is a great option for Marriott loyalists and even infrequent Marriott guests (and you can read a review summarizing the other highlights about the card here). Marriott Bonvoy Business AmexThe Bonvoy Business Amex, which includes a $125 annual fee, is great for anyone needing a business credit card and who could use some Marriott points. It also offers the following perks: * One free night award, for properties that cost up to 35,000 points, which is awarded each year after your account anniversary. * Complimentary Marriott Silver elite status. And you can earn Gold status after spending $35,000 in a calendar year. * You can also earn 6x points on Marriott stays; 4x at US restaurants, US gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from US service providers and US purchases for shipping (2x points on everything else).Check out this earlier review of the Bonvoy Business Amex for more info. Bottom LineApr. 24 is the date to keep in mind if you're looking for more Marriott points and have been eying the Bonvoy Brilliant or Bonvoy Business cards. Don't forget, the cards' benefits include a windfall of points via the welcome bonuses, plus free night awards and lots more that make them a solid deal for almost anyone who wants to sign up.
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| British father whose entire family were wiped out in Sri Lanka attack tells of his 'catastrophic' loss Posted: 22 Apr 2019 09:06 PM PDT  A British father whose entire family were killed in the suspected terror attack in Sri Lanka has paid tribute to his "talented and thoughtful" children and his "brilliant, loving" wife. Ben Nicholson said his wife Anita, 42, son Alex, 14, and daughter Annabel, 11, had been killed as they sat at a table for breakfast in the Shangri-la Hotel in Colombo on Easter Sunday. "Mercifully, all three of them died instantly and with no pain or suffering," Mr Nicholson said. They were on the second floor of the luxury hotel when two suicide bombers walked in and blew themselves up as part of eight co-ordinated attacks which killed 310 people. Billy Harrop, 56, a retired firefighter, and his wife Sally, originally from Manchester, were also killed, while a British teenage brother and sister were also killed in the attack. Ben Nicholson with his son Alex and daughter Annabel Daniel Linsey, 19 and his younger sister Amelie, 15,were having breakfast with their father Matthew at the luxury Shangri-La Hotel. Mr Linsey, 63, an American city fund manager, returned to the family home in central London, on Monday to be with his British wife Angelina, 51, and his other two sons – aged 12 and 21 – who were not on the holiday. In a statement released by the Foreign Office, Mr Nicholson said: "I am deeply distressed at the loss of my wife and children. Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife and a brilliant, loving and inspirational mother to our two wonderful children. The holiday we had just enjoyed was a testament to Anita's enjoyment of travel and providing a rich and colourful life for our family, and especially our children. Read more | Sri Lanka attacks "Alex and Annabel were the most amazing, intelligent, talented and thoughtful children and Anita and I were immensely proud of them both and looking forward to seeing them develop into adulthood. They shared with their mother the priceless ability to light up any room they entered and bring joy to the lives of all they came into contact with." Waisale Serevi, a retired professional rugby player and member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame, told The Telegraph that he and Mr Nicholson would coach aspiring young players in Singapore together. Mr Serevi said Alex had dreamed of being a professional player and he had coached him at a rugby camp only weeks ago. Mr Nicholson said he was "deeply distressed" by the loss of his family Mr Serevi said: "Ben is a really nice guy. Alex wanted to be a professional rugby player and he said thank you for the drill, I will use it, and he said I want to play like you, and I said to Alex, nothing is impossible in life, you can do it. "And he was smiling and I hugged him and wished him well and I said all the best to you. Little did I know it was the last time we would meet." Hospital staff have described the harrowing moments after the bomb blast in which Mr Nicholson wandered the streets and hospitals desperately trying to find his loved ones in the aftermath of the blasts. "I saw him covered in blood like this, walking up and down just there," Pushpa Zoysa, who is in charge of the emergency triage at the National Hospital in Colombo, told Mail Online. "He just kept asking about his family members." Anita Nicholson was killed along with her two children Credit: Facebook The Nicholson family were based in Singapore and in the country for a family holiday at the time of the attack. Mr Nicholson is a partner at Kennedys Legal Solutions while his wife was a former legal adviser to the UK Treasury. According to her LinkedIn profile, she was currently managing counsel at the mining and metals company Anglo American. Mr Nicholson also thanked the medical teams at General Hospital, Colombo "for treating Anita, Alex and Annabel with great dignity and me with kindness and sympathy" as well as "the Sri Lankan people I have encountered in Colombo following this catastrophe". "Anita, Alex and Annabel leave behind a large extended family and many close and cherished friends who are now grieving this tragic loss," he said. "We shall all miss them dearly. We are all grateful for the many expressions of support and good wishes."
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| Sri Lanka bomb attacks were revenge for New Zealand mosque killings - minister Posted: 23 Apr 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Junior minister for defense reveals findings of initial investigation, adding that two domestic Islamist groups were believed to be responsible.
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| Trump to sanction allies over Iran oil, causing new friction Posted: 22 Apr 2019 02:43 PM PDT  The United States said Monday it would start imposing sanctions on friends such as India that buy Iranian oil, in its latest aggressive step to counter Tehran that could jeopardize US relationships. One targeted country, Turkey, vowed to defy the US demands that sent global crude prices spiraling higher, although President Donald Trump tweeted that his close ally Saudi Arabia would "more than make up" for cuts in Iranian oil. In seeking to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero, the Trump administration is targeting the country's top revenue maker in its latest no-holds-barred move to crush the economy and scale back the clerical regime's influence.
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| Mars lander picks up what's likely 1st detected marsquake Posted: 23 Apr 2019 02:06 PM PDT  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's InSight lander has picked up a gentle rumble at Mars, believed to be the first marsquake ever detected.
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| Check Out This Picture: You Are Looking at the Greatest Aircraft Carrier Ever Posted: 23 Apr 2019 10:00 PM PDT  Shortly before USS Enterprise went to the breakers, a new ship bearing the name was laid down; CVN-65, the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier. The latter USS Enterprise served for fifty years, before decommissioning in 2012. Another USS Enterprise, CVN-80, is scheduled for completion by 2025.In May 1938, the U.S. Navy commissioned the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the seventh ship to bear the name in American service. The second of three sisters, Enterprise made a central—perhaps the central—contribution to the war effort in 1942. The U.S. Navy began 1942 with six fleet carriers (excluding the small Ranger, which served in the Atlantic). Over the course of the year, Japanese aircraft and submarines would sink four of those carriers and put a fifth (USS Saratoga) out of action for long periods of time. Enterprise fought with distinction in most of the major battles of 1942, and survived to contribute for the rest of the war.(This first appeared several years ago.)In short, USS Enterprise (CV-6) was the finest ship ever to serve in the U.S. Navy.Construction
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| AOC Netflix documentary: Congresswoman gives tearful statement in trailer for new film Posted: 23 Apr 2019 05:52 AM PDT  Netflix has unveiled the trailer of its upcoming documentary Knock Down the House, which follows Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three other Democrat women in last year's midterm election races.The New York representative said the film, released on 1 May, shows their "journey of trying to run for office without big money".The documentary follows Ms Ocasio-Cortez and fellow candidates Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin as they seek to defeat Democratic incumbents in the party's election primaries.Netflix says the film, directed by Rachel Lears, "joins these courageous women on the campaign trail as they mobilise their bases, engage voters, and fuel a movement during a historic time in American politics".The trailer opens with Ms Ocasio-Cortez, whose victory over 10-term congressman Joe Crowley was one of the big shocks of the election, saying: "If I was a rational person I would have dropped out of this race a long time ago. He's gonna tell me I'm small, that I'm young, that I'm inexperienced."The Bronx-born Democrat is also seen discussing her background and how she "never really saw myself going into politics".Discussing what motivated her to run, she explains: "Americans aren't asking for a lot. They're asking for politicians to help them get by."In another clip, the visibly emotional congresswoman says: "I just don't want to let hem down."Netflix paid a record $10m (£7.7m) to secure the rights to Knock Down the House, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.It will be released online and screened in selected cinemas.
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| United Airlines employee accused of racial discrimination Posted: 23 Apr 2019 01:36 PM PDT  A United Airlines employee is accused of calling a Houston actress a 'monkey' and other racial slurs.
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| View Photos of the 211-MPH Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante Posted: 23 Apr 2019 04:01 PM PDT |
| Former Texas tennis coach expected to plead guilty in court in college admissions scandal Posted: 24 Apr 2019 04:00 AM PDT  Michael Center, a former tennis coach at the University of Texas, is expected to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in the college admissions scandal.
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| Teva stops testing its migraine drug as cluster headache treatment Posted: 23 Apr 2019 07:34 AM PDT  The drug, known generically as fremanezumab, competes with rival treatments from Eli Lilly & Co and Amgen Inc. Lilly in November received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "breakthrough" status for its migraine drug Emgality in treating episodic cluster headaches. In a late-stage trial, three out of four patients treated with Lilly's drug saw at least a 50 percent reduction in weekly cluster headaches. Teva's decision could be positive for Lilly's drug in differentiating it from its rivals, BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei said.
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| US stocks lifted to records amid earnings deluge, oil gains again Posted: 23 Apr 2019 05:34 PM PDT  Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records on Tuesday following a plethora of mostly good quarterly earnings that reinforced confidence in the economic outlook.
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| Japan drops 'maximum pressure' on North Korea from diplomatic book Posted: 23 Apr 2019 12:18 AM PDT  Japan on Tuesday dropped the push to apply "maximum pressure" on North Korea from its official foreign policy, an apparent softening of Tokyo's position as major powers engage with Pyongyang. "There have been major developments in the situation surrounding North Korea in light of events such as the US-North Korea summits in June last year and February," Suga told reporters.
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| Johnson & Johnson Heirs List Hudson Valley Estate with Helipad for $13 Million Posted: 22 Apr 2019 02:12 PM PDT  The property is a subdivision of the family's 600-acre estate called Lightning Tree Farm
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