| Chicago will sue actor Jussie Smollett after he refuses to pay for police overtime Posted: 05 Apr 2019 04:57 AM PDT  The lawsuit was being prepared after Smollett, 36, refused a demand by the city for $130,000, said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the city's Department of Law. "Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019, McCaffrey said. "The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook Country." Smollett, who is black and gay, touched off a social media fire storm by telling police on Jan. 29 that two apparent supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump struck him, put a noose around his neck and poured bleach over him.
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| Trump blasts report that Mueller aides think Barr sugarcoated his summary Posted: 04 Apr 2019 09:21 AM PDT  President Trump lashed out at the New York Times over a report that some members of special counsel Robert Mueller's team say their findings were more damning than how Attorney General William Barr described them.
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| Tucker Carlson: ‘How Did We Wind Up With a Country in Which Feminists Do Science?’ Posted: 04 Apr 2019 07:20 PM PDT  Chip Somodevilla/GettyDays after facing widespread ridicule and criticism for saying primetime cable news competitor Chris Hayes is "what every man would be" if feminists had absolute power, Fox News host Tucker Carlson wondered Thursday how America wound up being a country where "feminists do science."During Thursday night's broadcast of Tucker Carlson Tonight, the conservative primetime star shared a clip—full of scary music and eerie effects—of Democratic politicians warning about the dangers of climate change, mockingly noting that it's "so bad they're running out of adjectives."Carlson then highlighted a recent study that asks whether "toxic masculinity" is a driver behind climate change by arguing that "when men's gender identity was threatened, they tried to reassert their masculinity through environmentally damaging choices." The report added that once this "unconscious bias is revealed, it has the potential to help society shift our increasingly precarious relationship with the environment for the better."Or, the way Carlson sees it, "if we want to save the environment we have to suppress men."The Fox News host turned not to a scientist or climate-change expert to dissect the study's conclusions, but conservative author and frequent guest Mark Steyn, who quipped that his insecurities about his masculinity "are causing rising sea levels in the Maldives" and that he's "kind of on board" with the study's thesis."How did we wind up with a country in which feminists do science?" Carlson asked, apparently not the least bit fazed by the current ad boycott he is facing. "I mean, isn't that sort of bound to get a study like this, right?"Steyn replied that it's "almost impossible" to tell if the study is legitimate or an "ingenious parody." This caused him to go on a tangent about one of the study's experiments, which he claimed consisted of "pantywaist" Walmart gift cards causing men to buy "very macho masculine things that melt the polar ice caps." "This is the kind of social science that the higher-education institutions of America are spending a fortune investigating," Steyn sneered.After Carlson said he thought "climate science was all about ice core samples" and not Walmart gift cards, Steyn scornfully responded that "climate science is a state of mind" and that the "big bucks" are in surveys where you "decide what's heating up the planet is men." Eventually, Steyn concluded by ranting about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) "flatulent" cows, claiming they will team up with a "plague of locusts" to wipe out "toxic masculine men" and save the planet."I wish there was a Latin term for government by unhappy crazy people because that's where we are," Carlson concluded.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Fox News reporter wears a protective vest at the border and spawns hilarious memes Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:52 AM PDT  Fox News contributor Lawrence Jones was at the center of a Twitter roasting on Thursday after he shared a photo of himself wearing a teeny protective vest while preparing for a live shot at the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas.> Coming up on @FoxNews live from the border. pic.twitter.com/aRlNQxrO1x> > -- Lawrence Jones III (@LawrenceBJones3) April 4, 2019SEE ALSO: There are now three Mexicos, according to Fox NewsIndeed, that is a comically undersized vest. It's also very reminiscent of Jared Kushner's 2017 flak jacket photo opp. A few other journalists shared their own photos reporting from the border without the need for protections from a shootout, questioning if Jones' choice was necessary or for optics. > I covered the border in ElPaso Sector for 2yrs. This is what 5ft tall me wore on the border interviewing immigrants recently apprehended by BorderPatrol, on int'l bridges talking to asylum seekers denied entry to the U.S., and in the desert. No vest ever. pic.twitter.com/eaUEY3ovpi> > -- Claudia Tristan (@tristan_claudia) April 4, 2019> Wow. @MarieDennise & I went on assignment miles deep into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico without bulletproof vests. We saw how U.S. customer officers being reassigned is creating nightmare traffic jams for northbound shipments of auto parts & produce. I can help y'all get the same tour. pic.twitter.com/1Gnkat0HmW> > -- Sergio Chapa (@SergioChapa) April 5, 2019> Dude. Why are you wearing a bulletproof vest. YOU ARE NOT IN A WAR ZONE. Here I am reporting from the border recently WITHOUT a bulletproof vest, but WITH a coat of fabulous hairspray! pic.twitter.com/ftmBzjTBVT> > -- Lisa Guerrero (@4lisaguerrero) April 4, 2019After all, it's not hard to imagine this being part of the fear-mongering that both Fox News and President Trump (who are now inextricably linked) have participated in regarding immigration and the border. And, as the Washington Post noted, Webb County, where Jones was reporting, "is safer than 80 percent of comparable counties nationwide, the institute said, using FBI crime statistics."But, the best reactions were the ones that straight-up mocked the body armor, a mix of GIFs and Photoshops that made light of the absurd visual. > Does "live from the border" mean Party City? > > Fox is really out here doing the most on a budget to make the border look more dangerous than it is > > h/t @jacobsoboroff pic.twitter.com/uvzIPE5jPG> > -- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 5, 2019> pic.twitter.com/4GI86B1Pqs> > -- rob delaney (@robdelaney) April 4, 2019> pic.twitter.com/dbhVK2S0Uj> > -- Dusty Giebel (@DustinGiebel) April 4, 2019> Hey @LawrenceBJones3 you want to borrow this one? pic.twitter.com/uqV9W300Fs> > -- Jose Andres (@chefjoseandres) April 4, 2019> pic.twitter.com/gFu01RDrr0> > -- Dylan (@dyllyp) April 4, 2019> pic.twitter.com/mpCrYqBBIH> > -- Dafne Peña (@DafneHDSM) April 4, 2019> pic.twitter.com/aTgCmVhxTU> > -- ryan bell (@llebnayr) April 4, 2019To Jones' credit, he would later take to Twitter and explain that the vest was required by Customs and Border Protection officers, saying they would be liable if anything happened on his ride-along. He even apparently acknowledged why people reacted the way they did to the vest. He even tweeted his own joke about it on Friday morning.> I'm tempted to make my vest my trademark like Deray's blue vest. We will see.> > -- Lawrence Jones III (@LawrenceBJones3) April 5, 2019But those reactions are a direct result of Fox News' treatment of the border stories all along; even if there's a reasonable explanation for things, it's hard to take it seriously in the full context of the network's coverage.UPDATE: April 5, 2019, 10:45 a.m. EDT An earlier version of the story referred to the piece of equipment as a bulletpoof vest. The wording has been changed. WATCH: Twitter turned Fox News' coverage of the Manafort and Cohen trials into a hilarious meme
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| Is This 2001 Acura Integra Type R A Barn Find Or A Time Capsule? Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:34 AM PDT  This Canadian-spec 2001 Acura Integra Type R is one of just 250 copies equipped with OEM red Type R seats and has 82,000 miles on the odometer. The 2001 Acura Integra Type R is one of the most sought-after JDM cars in the enthusiast and collector car market. This particular Canadian-spec 2001 Acura Integra Type R currently for sale on eBay was recently uncovered in a barn near Montreal where it was sealed behind a barn by its original owner.
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| McConnell is trying to leave a lifetime conservative legacy through judicial appointments: Today's talker Posted: 03 Apr 2019 01:55 PM PDT  Senate majority leader, who blocked Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination, accuses Democrats of obstructionism.
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| Ethiopian Airlines: Pilots followed Boeing emergency procedures but could not stop plane going down, report says Posted: 04 Apr 2019 04:09 AM PDT  Pilots of an airliner that crashed last month in Ethiopia initially followed Boeing's emergency steps for dealing with a sudden downturn of the nose of their plane but could not regain control, according to a published report. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max turned off a flight-control system but still couldn't get the plane to climb. They turned the system back on and tried other actions before the plane crashed, the paper said, citing people familiar with preliminary findings of the crash investigation. The findings were confirmed by Ethiopia Airlines on Thursday. In a statement, Boeing urged against speculating before the preliminary report and flight data from the plane are released. The Journal says the pilots' actions are still being evaluated by investigators but could raise questions about assertions made by Boeing and US regulators in the aftermath of another Max crash in October that pilots could regain control simply by following steps to turn off a specific anti-stall system. Flight ET302's final moments in the air Investigators are examining the crashes that killed all 346 aboard the 737 Max 8 jets operated by Indonesia's Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, including the role of a flight-control system called MCAS, which under some circumstances could automatically turn the plane's nose down to prevent an aerodynamic stall. The Journal reported that data downloaded from the plane's black boxes indicates that the Ethiopian Airlines pilots followed recommendations to flip two switches that disconnected the system, but the plane kept sinking. They turned a manual wheel that adjusts the plane's tail, and used electric switches in an effort to climb, but that reactivated MCAS, which continued to push the plane's nose lower. Ethiopian investigators are expected to release their preliminary findings in the next few days. Boeing is the focus of investigations by the Justice Department, the Transportation Department's inspector general, and congressional committees. Investigations are also looking at the role of the Federal Aviation Administration, which certified the Max in 2017 and declined to ground it after the first deadly crash in October. Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.
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| Philippines' Duterte tells China to 'lay off' island in disputed waters Posted: 04 Apr 2019 09:51 AM PDT  Duterte's remarks, which he said was not a warning but rather a word of advice to a friend, follow a statement made by the foreign affairs ministry calling the presence of more than 200 Chinese fishing boats near Thitu island illegal. Duterte has repeatedly said he would not go to war with China because it would be suicide. The Philippines military has described the boats as a "suspected maritime militia".
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| Mueller report: Barr defends Trump-Russia summary letter following backlash by investigators Posted: 05 Apr 2019 01:45 AM PDT  Attorney general William Barr is defending his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation, saying the confidential document contains sensitive grand jury material that prevented it from being immediately released to the public. The statement on Thursday came as Mr Barr confronts concerns that his four-page letter summarising Mr Mueller's conclusions unduly sanitised the full report in President Donald Trump's favour, including on the key question of whether the president obstructed justice.House Democrats on Wednesday approved subpoenas for Mr Mueller's entire report and any exhibits and other underlying evidence that the Justice Department might withhold. The disparity in length between Mr Barr's letter and Mr Mueller's full report, which totals nearly 400 pages, raises the likelihood of additional significant information that was put forward by the special counsel's office but not immediately shared by the attorney general. In Thursday's statement, Mr Barr defended the decision to release a brief summary letter two days after receiving the report on 22 March.He has previously said he did not believe it would be in the public's interest to release the full document in piecemeal or gradual fashion, and that he did not intend for his letter summarising Mr Mueller's "principal conclusions" to be an "exhaustive recounting" of the special counsel's investigation. Mr Barr is now expected to release the entire report, with redactions, by mid-April. "Given the extraordinary public interest in the matter, the attorney general decided to release the report's bottom-line findings and his conclusions immediately — without attempting to summarise the report — with the understanding that the report itself would be released after the redaction process," the Justice Department statement said. The statement also said that every page of Mr Mueller's report was marked that it may contain grand jury material "and therefore could not immediately be released." A Justice Department official, speaking on Thursday on condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential process, said summaries of the findings that Mr Mueller's team included as part of its report also contained grand jury information, making it hard for a swift release. Mr Barr has said that while Mr Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign, the special counsel left open a decision on whether the president had tried to obstruct the Russia investigation.The Mueller team laid out evidence on both sides of the question in a way that neither established a crime nor exonerated Mr Trump, according to Mr Barr's letter. Mr Barr has said he and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein determined that Mr Mueller's evidence was insufficient to support an obstruction allegation. Mr Barr said he was continuing to work with Mr Mueller's office on redactions to the report so that it could be released to Congress and the public.Associated Press
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| AP Explains: What's next in Venezuela's political stand-off? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 03:05 PM PDT  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A previously little-known Venezuelan congressman, Juan Guaidó, leaped to the front stage of Venezuela's political conflict early this year by declaring himself interim president in a bid to force the removal of President Nicolas Maduro.
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| Bezos ex-wife to surrender 75% of couple's Amazon shares Posted: 04 Apr 2019 11:09 AM PDT  MacKenzie Bezos, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced Thursday they had finalized their divorce, and that she would surrender 75 percent of the couple's shares in the tech giant. MacKenzie Bezos also said she would give all of her stake in The Washington Post and the space exploration firm Blue Origin to her ex-husband -- the world's richest man -- as well as voting control of her remaining Amazon shares. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon said MacKenzie Bezos now controls four percent of the company's outstanding common stock.
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| Why the IRS Should Pay People Even More in Their Tax Refunds Posted: 04 Apr 2019 03:10 AM PDT  The IRS does not pay interest to people who overpay their taxes. Here's why that should change.
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| How Joe Biden could make me start forgiving him for Anita Hill (first, stop touching) Posted: 04 Apr 2019 07:33 AM PDT  Maybe this outcry will teach Biden and a whole generation of entitled old white guys that uninvited touching is paternalistic and patronizing.
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| The 25 Best-Selling Cars, Trucks, and SUVs of 2019 (So Far) Posted: 04 Apr 2019 09:30 AM PDT |
| DNA test dashes the hopes of Timmothy Pitzen's family after boy claimed to be their son Posted: 04 Apr 2019 02:38 PM PDT  The family of a boy who vanished at the age of six in 2011 had their hopes dashed last night when it emerged a teenager, who claimed to be the missing child, was not telling the truth. The youth claimed to be Timmothy Pitzen, whose disappearance from Aurora, Illinois, became a high-profile case. But the FBI said DNA tests showed he was not. An FBI spokesman said: "DNA results have been returned indicating the person in question is not Timmothy Pitzen. A local investigation continues into this person's true identity." He added: "To be clear, law enforcement has not, and will not, forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family. Unfortunately, that day will not be today." According to a police report, the teenage boy said he had been held captive by two "bodybuilder-type" men for years and escaped from a hotel where they were staying, running across a bridge as he fled. The boy, wearing a red hooded top and green jacket, was found standing next to a road junction in Sharonville, a suburb of Cincinnati, 300 miles from Aurora, Illinois. Witnesses said he had bruises on his face and seemed "very scared and agitated". Police were called and he identified himself as Timmothy Pitzen. A missing poster for Timmothy Pitzen Credit: AFP There have been several reported sightings of Timmothy, who would now be 14, over the years. Police and his family had treated this latest development with caution. Before the results of the DNA test, Alana Anderson, his grandmother, said: "I'm praying it's him and he's OK. There have been so many tips and sightings and whatnot, and you try not to panic or be overly excited. "Every day you hope, and every day you worry. "We never forgot, never stopped thinking about him every day, stayed in touch with the police. It just went cold, and I just prayed that when he was old enough that he would remember us and contact us." Timmothy vanished in May 2011 after his mother picked him up at school and took him on a three-day road trip, which included going to a zoo and a water park. Amy Fry-Pitzen, 43, then took her own life at a hotel, leaving a note saying that her son was safe but would never be found. The mother wrote: "Tim is somewhere safe with people who love him and will care for him. You will never find him." Relatives said she had battled depression and was having problems with her fourth marriage when she took her own life. No trace of the boy, including the Spider-Man backpack he had with him when last seen, was ever found. Timmothy with his mother The boy claiming to be Timmothy told police the two men holding him had driven a white Ford SUV with Wisconsin licence plates and a dent on the back bumper, and were staying at a budget Red Roof Inn hotel when he escaped. The police report said: "Timmothy described the two kidnappers as two male, whites, bodybuilder type build. "One had black curly hair, Mountain Dew shirt and jeans and has a spider web tattoo on his neck. The other was short in stature and had a snake tattoo on his arms." Police said the boy was taken to hospital but did not give any details of his condition. The FBI and local police forces searched hotels, including Red Roof Inns, for the men. The long search for Timmothy has included police releasing computer-generated images of what he would look like at ages nine and 13. Among the unconfirmed sightings was one in 2014 when a woman in Rockton, Illinois contacted police after seeing a boy who looked like Timmothy at her garage sale. Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.
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| Hundreds gather for funeral of Samantha Josephson, student killed after getting into wrong car Posted: 04 Apr 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Family and friends gathered to mourn the death of the New Jersey woman killed after getting into a car she thought was her Uber.
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| UPDATE 7-Ethiopian crash report highlights sensors, software, leaves questions Posted: 04 Apr 2019 01:36 AM PDT ![UPDATE 7-Ethiopian crash report highlights sensors, software, leaves questions]( "UPDATE 7-Ethiopian crash report highlights sensors, software, leaves questions") ADDIS ABABA/SEATTLE, April 4 (Reuters) - Faulty sensor readings and multiple automatic commands to push down the nose of a Boeing plane contributed to last month's fatal crash in Ethiopia, leaving the crew struggling to regain control, according to a preliminary accident report. The first substantial account of the last minutes of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on March 10 described how the captain three times called out: "Pull up" and was acknowledged by the first officer, but to no avail. Boeing's top-selling aircraft, the 787 MAX, has been grounded worldwide since the March 10 disaster, which killed 157 people and came just five months after a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189 in a plane of the same model.
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| Trump news: Congress votes to subpoena full Mueller report from attorney-general, as senior Republicans turn on president's 'catastrophic' border closure plan Posted: 03 Apr 2019 01:39 PM PDT  The House Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas Wednesday for special counsel Robert Mueller's full Russia report as Democrats pressure the Justice Department to release the document without redactions.The committee voted 24-17 to give Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler permission to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report, its exhibits and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for the investigation. Mr Nadler has not yet said if he'll send the subpoenas, which would be the first step in a potentially long fight with the Justice Department over the materials.The Judiciary panel also voted Wednesday to authorise subpoenas related to five of Donald Trump's former top advisers, stepping up a separate, wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his personal and political dealings.The vote further escalates the Democrats' battle with the Justice Department over how much of the report they will be able to see, a fight that could eventually head to court if the two sides can't settle their differences through negotiation. Democrats have said they will not accept redactions and want to see the evidence unfiltered by Mr Barr.In the letter last week, Mr Barr said he is scrubbing the report to avoid disclosing any grand jury information or classified material, in addition to portions of the report that pertain to ongoing investigations or that "would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties."Democrats say they want access to all of that information, even if some of it can't be disclosed to the public. Nadler said he will give Mr Barr time to change his mind on redactions, but if they cannot reach an agreement they will issue the subpoenas "in very short order." He also said he is prepared to go to court to get the grand jury information.Mr Trump is meanwhile being urged not to follow through on his threat to close the US border with Mexico as senior Republicans warn of the cost of prioritising security over trade and scramble for alternatives to tackling the illegal immigration "crisis"."Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, a quote the president has since attacked The New York Times for publishing on Twitter.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load.
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| LGBT progress seen in Lightfoot's win, rise of 'Mayor Pete' Posted: 03 Apr 2019 08:19 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — "Mayor Pete," as he's known to his growing fan base, is running a surprisingly strong and well-funded campaign for president. Lori Lightfoot has just won a landslide victory to become Chicago's mayor.
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| Amazon's Bezos, wife reach biggest divorce deal in history Posted: 04 Apr 2019 09:40 PM PDT Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, finalized the biggest divorce settlement in history on Thursday, leaving him with 75 percent of their stock in the tech giant and giving her nearly $36 billion in shares. MacKenzie Bezos said she would give all of her stake in The Washington Post and the space exploration firm Blue Origin to her husband -- the world's richest man -- as well as voting control of her remaining Amazon stock. Jeff Bezos, 55, and MacKenzie, 48, a novelist, married in 1993 and have four children.
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| A New Strongman Marches on the Libyan Capital Posted: 04 Apr 2019 01:42 PM PDT  Abdullah Doma/GettyROME–The orders in Libya are clear: "Don't shoot civilians if they are waving a white flag." But what's not clear is whether Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar's rogue Libyan National Army will listen as it advances toward Tripoli, guns blazing. The militia army, which is known to have some ISIS fighters in its ranks, has taken the town of Gharyan, about 50 miles from Tripoli, and is moving west toward the Libyan capital."We hear your call, Tripoli," Haftar told his militiamen, according to propaganda tapes of a speech released on social media and reported by the Libya Observer. "It is now the time for the great victory. March forward."In a long video meant to rally the troops, Haftar is heard saying, "Today, you heroes, enter Tripoli conquerors with peace, using peace with those who raise no arms against you, and using war against those who do." The escalation comes after weeks of military buildup by Haftar, who controls much of eastern Libya from his base in Benghazi with the support of Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. (In the recent past, France has supported him; in the distant past, he allegedly had ties to the CIA while living in Virginia).Haftar's rule in parts of Libya is in direct defiance of a U.N.-backed government led by the country's Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, which is supported by the United States, the European Union, Turkey and Qatar. The country has been in a civil war since the NATO-led defeat of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and has become a hotbed for people-smuggling of migrants into Europe by various militia groups. There are known ISIS strongholds in the area, although many were rooted out in 2018. As The Daily Beast reported, several pockets remain and continue to fight for control of the country's considerable oil assets.Italy has considerable infrastructure investments in Libya thanks to former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was Gaddafi's best friend in Europe. Italy is an official supporter of the U.N.-backed al-Sarraj, but the current leadership in Rome has tried to forge a truce between Haftar and the Tripoli government. Italy held a Libyan peace summit last November in Palermo that Haftar pulled out of at the last minute and Italy's leaders have made deals on migration with Haftar's militias who control the smuggling rings. Leaders from 20 countries participated, but no solution was agreed on. Haftar's Libyan National Army posted on Facebook that attempts at diplomacy are over. Their intent is to move "to the western region to cleanse it of the remaining terrorist groups." Al-Sarraj has responded with his own show of force, readying his own military to prepare airstrikes should Haftar's troops get too close. He put his own troops in his stronghold of Misrata on alert, making sure they are ready to fight Haftar's army and "stop the cursed advance," according to a statement on Libyan news sources. "We have issued instructions and declared a general alert to all military and security forces from military and army belonging to us to be prepared," al-Sarraj said, according to local news reports.The latest saber-rattling comes as U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is in Tripoli to set the groundwork for what was supposed to be a peacebuilding conference on April 14, meant to pave the way for new elections in the troubled nation. Guterres tweeted, "I am deeply concerned by the military movement taking place in Libya and the risk of confrontation. There is no military solution. Only intra-Libyan dialogue can solve Libyan problems. I call for calm and restraint as I prepare to meet the Libyan leaders in the country."The European Union, which has poured money into the U.N.-backed government to bolster the coast guard and pay off the smugglers to stem the flow of migrants to southern Europe, has done little to ensure democracy in the troubled nation. No one has wanted to get directly involved. On Thursday the EU called for calm as tensions brewed, clearly concerned that whatever happens next is as much its fault as its problem. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
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| Suspect released in crash that killed 15-year-old girl in Conroe Posted: 04 Apr 2019 08:20 PM PDT  According to DPS, the teen was walking down Browder Traylor when she was reportedly struck.
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| First Parent to Plead Guilty in College Admissions Scandal Posted: 03 Apr 2019 02:34 PM PDT  A dozen others appeared in federal court in Boston on Wednesday, where the 100-seat courtroom was standing room only. Among the parents were actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and attorney Gordon Caplan, the former co-chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Moments earlier, Peter Jan Sartorio, a 53-year-old packaged-food entrepreneur from Menlo Park, California, filed notice of his intended guilty plea.
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| American Airlines CEO talks about Boeing 737 Max 8, possible cancellations Posted: 04 Apr 2019 08:21 PM PDT  Doug Parker predicts more flight cancellations since the Boeing jet was grounded. He was in Phoenix to receive an award.
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| New Zealand PM Ardern pays a stranger's grocery bill Posted: 04 Apr 2019 01:34 AM PDT  The unnamed woman wrote on Facebook that "just when you think Jacinda Ardern couldn't get any more lovely, low key and authentic ... she goes and pays for your groceries at the supermarket, because you've got your shopping, have two kids with you and are about to put it all back as you forgot your wallet," local news website Stuff Ltd reported. Ardern confirmed making the payment when asked about it by local media. When asked why she paid the other person's bill, Ardern replied, "because she was a mum", without offering further explanation.
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| The 2020 Toyota Supra Gets Better MPG Than a Lot of Other Sports Cars Posted: 04 Apr 2019 10:43 AM PDT |
| Tom Steyer keeps the faith on impeachment, whatever the Mueller report says Posted: 04 Apr 2019 11:18 AM PDT  At first, Steyer's town hall seemed indistinguishable from the 50 others he's staged across the country since launching Need to Impeach in 2017. And yet this time something was different.
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| Body of Israeli soldier missing since 1982 Lebanon War found by Russian and Syrian armies Posted: 04 Apr 2019 10:19 AM PDT  The body of an Israeli soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon War was found by the Russian and Syrian armies, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said yesterday. But Syrian state news agency SANA said Damascus had no details on the discovery of the corpse. Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel had been listed as missing along with two other Israeli soldiers after a deadly battle with Syrian forces in a Lebanese village, and the return of his remains will bring to a close a highly sensitive case for Israelis. Russia said it handed over the remains to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who is visiting Putin five days before he is to seek a fifth term in office in a difficult election. Mr Netanyahu, 69, is running in the April 9 vote despite facing potential corruption charges and experts say he hopes the Moscow visit will increase his chances of success on election day. Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Putin five days before he is to seek a fifth term in office in a difficult election Credit: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images "Our military together with Syrian partners found the place of his burial," Mr Putin said of Baumel. "We are very happy that he will be able to receive the right military honours in his homeland." Mr Netanyahu said Mr Baumel would be laid to rest at a ceremony in Israel later Thursday. "Zachary's friends and family will take part," he said, adding that his family had been "very touched". "His father is no longer alive, unfortunately," he added. "His mother is around 100 years old. Zachary also has a sister." Neither Russia nor Israel have given details on how or where the remains were found. Mr Putin said only that Syria - with which Israel has technically been at war - participated in the operation.
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| Dalai Lama lauds New Zealand PM for handling mosque attacks Posted: 04 Apr 2019 04:17 AM PDT  NEW DELHI (AP) — The Dalai Lama on Thursday praised New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her compassionate handling of a recent attack on two mosques by a gunman that left 50 Muslim worshippers dead in Christchurch.
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| UN council to meet on Libya as Haftar's forces advance Posted: 04 Apr 2019 02:00 PM PDT  The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the situation in Libya after the leader of eastern forces in the war-scarred north African country ordered his troops to advance on Tripoli. Britain requested the urgent meeting on Thursday, diplomats said, following the order from Khalifa Haftar, a key player opposed to the government in the capital. The spike in tensions came as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was making his first visit as UN chief to Libya ahead of a planned conference later this month aimed at charting a course toward elections.
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| Oregon college students scammed Apple out of $900,000 using fake iPhones Posted: 04 Apr 2019 10:54 AM PDT  Apple is one of the most valuable companies on the planet, but it didn't reach the pinnacle of consumer tech by allowing itself to be scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. A pair of college students in Oregon learned that the hard way after they managed to bleed the tech giant for nearly a million dollars before being nabbed by authorities.According to reports, Quan Jiang and Yangyangg Zhou, both foreign students on U.S. visas, were receiving shipments of counterfeit iPhone knockoffs from China. Once they received the fake smartphones -- which were apparently close enough to the real thing for Apple not to immediately notice -- the duo returned them to Apple, requesting replacements.Somehow, this scam worked, at least for a while.Authorities claim the two scammers sent in over 2,000 fake iPhones to Apple claiming that they were defective. The company denied some of the claims but fulfilled others, sending the two students over 1,400 genuine iPhones to replace the "defective" fake units. The total cost to Apple is estimated at around $900,000.The fake iPhones, which were apparently only around $30 each, flew under Apple's radar for some time, but the company and customs officials finally caught on to the scam. When authorities raided the home of Zhou they discovered over 300 of the knockoff smartphones, and both are now facing a laundry list of criminal charges.The two men will face charges including trafficking knockoff goods, fraudulent customs declarations, and wire fraud. However, Zhou's attorney claims that his client had no knowledge of the scam at all, and that Jiang was the mastermind of the scam. With 300 fake iPhones in his home, it's hard to see how anyone could claim such a thing but we'll have to see how the case pans out before knowing the truth.
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| UPDATE 2-Supporters of Saudi women activists detained, including two U.S. citizens -sources Posted: 05 Apr 2019 02:47 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Supporters of Saudi women activists detained, including two U.S. citizens -sources]( "UPDATE 2-Supporters of Saudi women activists detained, including two U.S. citizens -sources") Saudi Arabia has arrested eight people, including two dual U.S.-Saudi citizens, in an apparent crackdown on supporters of women activists whose trial has drawn Western condemnation, rights groups said on Friday. The U.S. nationals are journalist Salah al-Haidar, whose mother Aziza al-Yousef is among those on trial, and Bader al-Ibrahim, a doctor and author of a book about Shi'ite Muslim politics, the associate and London-based Saudi rights group ALQST said. The Saudi government communications office and the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh did not respond to requests for comment.
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| Royal Caribbean cancels 3 sail dates for Oasis of the Seas after cruise ship-crane accident Posted: 04 Apr 2019 05:24 AM PDT ![Royal Caribbean cancels 3 sail dates for Oasis of the Seas after cruise ship-crane accident]( "Royal Caribbean cancels 3 sail dates for Oasis of the Seas after cruise ship-crane accident") Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas' sail dates for April 7, 14, and 21 have been canceled, the cruise ship giant told customers via Twitter.
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| Indiana school turns leftover food into meals for needy children Posted: 04 Apr 2019 09:00 AM PDT  An Indiana elementary school is helping needy students in a big way by workingwith a local food-rescue nonprofit organization to turn leftover cafeteriafood into take-home meals
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| Sens. Grassley, Graham warned Attorney General Barr of potential political influence, misconduct in Russia probe Posted: 04 Apr 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Fox News understands the Republican senators wanted Barr to have the information before he reviewed the Mueller findings after congressional investigators allege special counsel prosecutors used selective quotes in court filings to create the most 'nefarious' interpretation; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
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| Every Angle of the 2020 Lexus RC F Track Edition Posted: 03 Apr 2019 09:00 PM PDT |
| The Latest: Trump says he's not inclined to provide tax info Posted: 03 Apr 2019 08:33 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's tax returns (all times local):
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| U.K. Parliament Acts to Block a Potentially Chaotic No-Deal Brexit Posted: 04 Apr 2019 01:25 AM PDT  Britain took a decisive step away from a damaging no-deal Brexit as members of Parliament and political leaders backed efforts to prevent a disorderly departure from the European Union. The House of Commons vote shortly before midnight Wednesday to block a no-deal divorce destroyed the dream of some of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party members for a clean break with the bloc as soon as next week. The vote makes a no-deal split from the EU "very unlikely," Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Radio on Thursday.
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| Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Take $39,000 Babymoon Posted: 05 Apr 2019 03:25 AM PDT  CHRIS JACKSONAnyone who has ever employed a contractor will sympathize with the plight Prince Harry and Meghan Markle found themselves in as they waited desperately for their new home at Frogmore Cottage to be finished ahead of the birth of their baby. But overruns (caused in part by the couple changing their minds) kept pushing back their move-in date.Not everyone, however, would have been in a position to ameliorate the tension by whisking their wife off for three days to a luxury hotel costing $13,000 per night while the last bits of snagging were taken care of.However, that's what Harry did this week, according to a report in The Sun, booking a $39,000 babymoon at the five-star Heckfield Place hotel in Hampshire.The Sun says they spent their three nights at the hotel, largely tucked away in their suite, which boasts its own dining room and two private terraces, enjoying cozy fireside meals.A friend told The Sun: "Meghan is only a couple of weeks away from giving birth, so Harry really wanted to treat her."It is, of course, entirely possible they did not pay full price for the stay at the hotel, which is owned by U.S. billionaire Gerald Chan. (Kensington Palace declined to comment.)Harry and Meghan are now believed to have moved into Frogmore Cottage, increasing speculation that they may be planning to have their baby in Windsor rather than London.The house was previously divided up into apartments for royal staff and has been the subject of a multimillion-dollar conversion, paid for by British taxpayers, although Harry and Meghan will pay for their furnishings themselves. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| Ohio ex-convict charged after claiming to be long-lost Illinois boy Posted: 05 Apr 2019 10:33 AM PDT  Brian Michael Rini of Medina, Ohio, was charged with lying to federal agents after he appeared looking confused in Newport, Kentucky, outside Cincinnati on Wednesday and claimed he was 14-year-old Pitzen, federal officials said. Rini's claim was debunked on Thursday after DNA test results conducted at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital confirmed he was not the long lost boy from Aurora, Illinois. "Law enforcement confronted him with the DNA results, and at that point the person immediately stated that he was not Timmothy Pitzen, and of course law enforcement knew by virtue of the DNA analysis that he was in fact Brian Rini," said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman during a briefing with reporters.
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| Southwest blasted for poor Max 8 customer service: 'They're kind of just saying, 'Too bad'' Posted: 04 Apr 2019 12:16 PM PDT  The airline is facing unprecedented criticism for its handling of passenger rebooking after the Max 8 grounding caused 2,800+ flight cancellations.
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| Security clearance prize: Today's Toon Posted: 04 Apr 2019 04:10 PM PDT  Want to keep up with USA TODAY's editorial cartoons? Bookmark this page. We'll update it frequently.
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| Candidates edge toward discussing slavery reparations Posted: 04 Apr 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Reparations have become a litmus test for Democratic candidates looking to secure diverse, progressive voters. But the support for reparations among Americans is complicated.
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| The 2019 Audi e-tron Has an EPA-Rated Electric Range of 204 Miles Posted: 04 Apr 2019 10:00 AM PDT  Audi's first fully electric car is finally here, and U.S. deliveries will start in May.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Meet the Trump supporter trying to take her down through campaign finance complaints Posted: 03 Apr 2019 03:48 PM PDT  The man trying to bring down Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her staff for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws during the 2018 midterm elections, is a devout partisan and proud Donald Trump supporter, known for his distaste for the very campaign finance regulations he is using to try and stir up controversy.Dan Backer, a Virginia attorney, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Wednesday, alleging that Ms Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff Seikat Chakrabarti engaged in a "scheme" to undercut normal "market value" for campaign services for her and several other progressive candidates.It is a complaint that Mr Backer says shows Ms Ocasio-Cortez's "hypocrisy" as an advocate for campaign finance reform, even if he does not personally agree with the underlying law. And, it is Mr Backer's own duality on these issues that campaign finance experts say illustrates how easy it is for partisan complaints to be filed with the FEC and make news with little in-depth scrutiny."I think much of what they set out to do SHOULD be legal, and the provisions restricting people from engaging in robust political activity in this way are likely unconstitutional, but it's still the law," Mr Backer told The Independent in an email.He continued: "And it's self-aggrandising 'reformers' like [Ms Ocasio-Cortez] who seek to make the laws even more burdensome. I would be thrilled if the adjudication here resulted in overturning some of these restrictions, but until then it's still the law and a self-professed reformer ought to follow the laws."A request sent to Ms Ocasio-Cortez's office seeking comment on Mr Backer's allegations received no reply. She has previously claimed the campaign finance allegations against her originated from a "conspiracy machine".In the newest complaint, Mr Backer charges that Ms Ocasio-Cortez and Mr Chakrabarti controlled three overlapping entities — the Justice Democrats PAC, the Brand New Congress PAC and Brand New Congress LLC — with a goal to "subsidise cheap assistance for Ocasio-Cortez and other candidates at rates far below market value".The complaint details a string of allegations, with multiple different ways that Mr Backer says Ms Ocasio-Cortez may have violated campaign finance laws."Dan Backer is a longtime actor in this space who has scored some notable victories. He has won, but he also has a reputation for taking a kind of kitchen sink approach," said Daniel Weiner, the senior counsel for the Brennan Centre for Justice."He sues the FEC constantly and loses much more often than he wins, though he has won," Mr Weiner continued. "He's also, frankly, he's a very, very committed partisan. Not unlike many people in this bar. He's also a committed — one might even say ferocious — opponent of campaign finance regulation generally."Mr Backer's complaint was filed on Wednesday on behalf of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a conservative activist group that has challenged Ms Ocasio-Cortez for campaign finance violations on at least one other occasion.The foundation is run by Mr Backer and by Shaun McCutcheon, a Republican donor and delegate for Mr Trump who once challenged — and won with Mr Backer's help — the FEC over limits on aggregate campaign donations to federal candidates during a two year period.In addition to his complaints against Ms Ocasio-Cortez, Mr Backer has been active in Republican politics organising against former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.Mr Backer helped to establish the Stop Hillary PAC, for instance, which was highly critical of her handling of the 2012 attacks on US government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, where a US ambassador was killed. The PAC was later renamed following Mr Trump's election as the Committee to Defend the President.Mr Backer was also involved in a complaint accusing the Clinton campaign in 2016 of campaign violations related to payments to Fusion GPS – the company that helped produce the dossier compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele.With Mr Backer's signature behind it, the Committee to Defend the President and a separate pro-Trump PAC called Great America PAC have already begun spending big to support the president's re-election bid. By mid-February, for instance, those two groups had already spent $441,038 and $821,280, respectively, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics.
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