| Iran says Trump playing 'very dangerous game,' risking 'devastating war' Posted: 15 May 2019 01:34 AM PDT  Iran's ambassador to the U.K. called the Trump administration's military deployment because of unspecified Iranian threats a "serious miscalculation."
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| Rosenstein Brands Comey a ‘Partisan Pundit’ Posted: 14 May 2019 09:32 AM PDT  Former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein escalated his war of words with former FBI director James Comey Monday, calling Comey a "partisan pundit" in remarks to the Greater Baltimore Committee."I do not blame the former director for being angry. I would be too if I were in his shoes," Rosenstein said, referencing the unceremonious manner in which Comey was fired. "But now the former director seems to be acting as a partisan pundit, selling books and earning speaking fees while speculating about the strength of my character and the fate of my immortal soul. I kid you not."Comey, whose memoir has pulled in over $2 million since his firing two years ago, said last week on CNN that Rosenstein is someone "of accomplishment but not real sterling character, strong character." He had previously, in a New York Times op-ed, written that Attorney General William Barr and others working in the Trump administration do not possess the "inner strength" to oppose Trump, who "eats your soul in small bites."Rosenstein wrote in a memo at the time of Comey's firing that the move was "reasonable under the circumstances," but the former deputy attorney general stressed that Trump did not coach him on the reasons he cited justifying the firing."On the contrary, I admired him personally," Rosenstein said of Comey, before arguing that the former FBI director had crossed "bright lines that should never be crossed."Rosenstein officially left the Justice Department last week, after having delayed his departure until Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report was released."The clearest mistake was the director's decision to hold a press conference about an open case, reveal his recommendation and discuss details about the investigation, without the consent of the prosecutors and the attorney general," Rosenstein said, referring to Comey's July 5, 2016 news conference announcing that the FBI had recommended no criminal charges arising from the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. "Then, he chose to send a letter to the Congress on the eve of the election stating that one of the candidates was under criminal investigation, expecting it to be released immediately to the public," he continued, referencing Comey's October 28, 2016 announcement to Congress that the investigation had been reopened."Those actions were not within the range of reasonable decisions," Rosenstein said, but added, "I would be the last one to condemn anyone for a judgment call. These jobs are difficult. They involve choices that invite criticism.""My soul and character are pretty much the same today as they were two years ago," he concluded. "I think I made the right calls on the things that mattered."
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| Veteran Palestinian negotiator banned from travelling to US Posted: 13 May 2019 12:45 PM PDT  Dr Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran negotiator for the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), said on Monday that her US travel visa had been denied for the first time. The action comes just a month after Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian activist and co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement more commonly known as BDS, faced a similar denial. No reason was given, Dr Ashrawi, 73, said in a series of tweets, but she believes that the denial is punitive and in response to her advocacy for the Palestinian cause. She had recently sparred over Twitter with Jason Greenblatt, a Trump envoy and key architect of the president's Middle East peace plan. "No reason given. Choose any of the following: I'm over 70 & a grandmother; I've been an activist for Palestine since the late 1960's; I've always been an ardent supporter of non-violent resistance," Dr Ashrawi tweeted. Dr Ashrawi, whose grandchildren live in the US, told Reuters that she has been going back and forth from the US to the Middle East for most of her adult life, for speaking tours and negotiations."I've met (& even negotiated with) every Sec of State since Shultz, & every President since George HW Bush (present administration excluded)," she tweeted. "Visa records are confidential under US law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases," a US State Department official told Haaretz. However they also stated that US law "does not authorise the refusal of visas based solely on political statements or views if those statements or views would be lawful in the United States."
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| Man pleads guilty in mall attack against boy, faces 19 years Posted: 14 May 2019 09:08 AM PDT  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who reportedly told investigators that he went to the Mall of America "looking for someone to kill" pleaded guilty Tuesday to throwing a 5-year-old boy from a third-floor balcony and faces 19 years in prison.
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| What we know about 'sabotage' of oil tankers Posted: 14 May 2019 04:09 AM PDT  Four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were damaged in as yet unexplained "sabotage attacks" at a time of Gulf tensions triggered by a bitter US-Iran standoff. A United Arab Emirates government official said the Saudi oil tankers Al-Marzoqah and Amjad were attacked off the emirate of Fujairah along with the Norwegian tanker Andrea Victory and a UAE ship, the A. Michel. The Andrea Victory's managers, Thome Group, said the tanker had a hole in the hull area "after being struck by an unknown object on the waterline".
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| A unique Porsche Type 64 going under the hammer in August Posted: 14 May 2019 01:32 AM PDT  The prestigious Sotheby's auction house is selling an exceptional Porsche Type 64 -- the forebearer of all the German brand's legendary sports cars -- in an auction in Monterey, California, August 15-17, 2019, held during Monterey Car Week, which culminates with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Created in 1938, this model is considered by many to be the first car produced by what would become the Porsche company, or, in any case, the first model to bear the automaker's name. Post-World War Two, it went on to inspire all the automaker's legendary sports car series, from the 356 to the 911.
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| Clarence Thomas Just Showed How Supreme Court Would Overturn Roe v. Wade Posted: 14 May 2019 02:22 AM PDT  Jason Reed/ReutersIn 1992, the Supreme Court looked poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case protecting abortion rights. They didn't, however, and the main reason was respect for precedent—specifically, the legal doctrine known as stare decisis, or "let the decision stand." Would it do the same today, with over 250 laws meant to test the case pending in states across the country?An otherwise obscure case decided this week, Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, suggests that a majority of the court would not. Hyatt was, in large part, about stare decisis. A 1979 Supreme Court case, Nevada v. Hall, held that citizens can sue a state in another state's court. In 1998, Gilbert Hyatt did just that as part of a tax dispute, with tens of millions of dollars at stake. This week, the court overruled its 1979 decision by a vote of 5-4 and tossed out Hyatt's claim. The split was on ideological lines, with the court's five conservatives in the majority and four liberals in the minority.Of the 18 pages in the majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, 17 are about the legal question in the case, which revolves around states' rights, sovereign immunity, and the Constitution. It's no surprise that Justice Thomas, in particular, wrote this opinion, as states' rights have been a focus of his for three decades.What was surprising is that stare decisis warranted only 318 words in Justice Thomas' opinion, almost like an afterthought, and that Justice Thomas summarily waved away this important judicial doctrine. If this is how the court's conservatives treat sovereign immunity, how will they treat abortion rights?That's what Justice Stephen Breyer asked in his dissent. Unlike the majority opinion, Justice Breyer's dissent devoted over a quarter of its space to stare decisis. And he concluded, "today's decision can only cause one to wonder which cases the Court will overrule next."It's not hard to guess which cases Justice Breyer was wondering about. Because the same logic applied in Hyatt would overturn not only Roe v. Wade but also the court's precedent on same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges.How? Let's look at Justice Thomas' reasoning.First, Justice Thomas notes that stare decisis is "'not an inexorable command" and is "at its weakest when we interpret the Constitution because our interpretation can be altered only by constitutional amendment." Now, some would say that stare decisis is at its strongest when fundamental constitutional rights are at issue. But for Justice Thomas, in cases like Roe and Obergefell, stare decisis is at its "weakest."Thomas then goes on to apply a version of the usual stare decisis test, taking into account "the quality of the decision's reasoning; its consistency with related decisions; legal developments since the decision; and reliance on the decision."The first prong is the most important. Here, Thomas finds that the 1979 precedent "failed to account for the historical understanding of state sovereign immunity." But that's not the same as the decision's being of poor quality—it's an imposition of Justice Thomas' specific, historically oriented "originalism" philosophy. There are, after all, many ways to evaluate the quality of a decision's reading: its principled analysis of the rights in question, its integration of constitutional norms with contemporary reality, and so on.Here, however Justice Thomas glosses over that jurisprudential debate and simply concludes that a Supreme Court precedent was badly argued—according to his standards.This is the central question in cases like Roe and Obergefell. No one denies that abortion was banned for much of our country's history, and that same-sex marriage would have been anathema to the Founders of the republic. The debate is over whether history gets a vote or a veto. Heartbeat Abortion Bills Were Once a Fringe Idea. Could They Overturn Roe v. Wade?If this same standard is applied to Roe and Obergefell, they would go down in flames.The fourth prong is also critical. People depend on the law being stable. Hyatt, for example, filed his suit exactly as the law provided. Now, the rug is pulled out from under him, and all Justice Thomas says is that "we acknowledge that some plaintiffs, such as Hyatt, have relied on Hall by suing sovereign States. Because of our decision to overrule Hall, Hyatt unfortunately will suffer the loss of two decades of litigation expenses and a final judgment against the Board for its egregious conduct."Unfortunately!Now multiply Hyatt's misfortune a millionfold. As Justice Breyer wrote, overturning Supreme Court precedents except in the rarest of cases "is to cause the public to become increasingly uncertain about which cases the Court will overrule and which cases are here to stay."Arguably, many more people rely on Roe and Obergefell than on Hall, and so the reliance prong would be more important in challenges to those cases.But that cuts both ways. For every woman seeking an abortion, there is someone who believes that abortion is murder. In at least a dozen states, a majority of democratically elected legislators are trying to ban or severely limit the practice. Just last week, Georgia became the fourth state this year (joining Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio) to ban abortions after only six weeks of pregnancy, in a direct frontal challenge to Roe. And, a future conservative justice might point out, women seeking abortions could simply travel to other states if need be (if, of course, they can afford it).Because Justice Thomas so readily dismisses the reliance claim in Hyatt, it's easy to see him doing the same in Roe. Likewise in Obergefell. For 12 years, we lived in a country in which same-sex marriage was legal in some states and illegal in others; is a return to such a world truly untenable? Anyway, unless marriages like mine were retroactively invalidated, who is really relying on same-sex marriage being legal? Prospective couples could, like victims of rape or incest, simply relocate to a state more favorable to their interests.In short, Justice Thomas' theory of stare decisis is like a roadmap for how to overrule decisions one disagrees with. First, frame the disagreement as one over "quality" rather than principle. Second, trivialize the ways in which people rely on the law as it stands.And third, with the stroke of a pen, wipe out constitutional rights that people like me mistakenly think we possess.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Boeing 737 makes emergency landing in Tennessee following a 'potential mechanical issue' Posted: 14 May 2019 06:36 PM PDT  Delta Air Lines flight 1417 landed safely at the airport after a crew reported a nose gear issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
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| New study suggests the Moon may be shrinking Posted: 13 May 2019 04:37 PM PDT  Earth isn't the only place that "quakes." Rocky planets and moons regularly experience similar movements, and faults can form between massive chunks of crust on other worlds the same as they can here on Earth. The Moon is one place we know that experiences those kinds of shifts, and new research suggests that it might actually be making the Moon smaller over time.The study, which was published in Nature Geoscience, explains how the cliffs observed on the Moon's surface hint at a cooling spell that occurred after the Moon formed. As it cooled, it "shriveled like a raisin," and large cliffs formed on the surface when the Moon's crust was compressed. These regions, known as thrust faults, may still be growing today, and the overall size of the Moon may be shrinking as a result.The researchers combined observations from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter with new analysis of seismic readings gathered during the Apollo moon missions. This revisiting of the data revealed the approximate source of dozens of lunar quakes detected by the instruments."We found that a number of the quakes recorded in the Apollo data happened very close to the faults seen in the LRO imagery," Nicholas Schmerr of the University of Maryland, co-author of the study, said in a statement. "It's quite likely that the faults are still active today. You don't often get to see active tectonics anywhere but Earth, so it's very exciting to think these faults may still be producing moonquakes."As on Earth, pressure along fault lines builds up to a point where the force of friction can no longer prevent the large rocky plates from moving. When that movement occurs, a quake is felt, and in the case of the Moon the continued movement of the plates may indicate that it's not done shrinking.The researchers suggest that this is just another of many reasons why mankind should prioritize a revisit of the Moon. Learning more about how the Moon works and the mechanics at play on the surface could teach us a great deal about other planets as well, and help prepare organizations like NASA for trips deeper into space.
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| Trump urges judge not to fast-track his lawsuit over House subpoena Posted: 13 May 2019 01:48 PM PDT ![Trump urges judge not to fast-track his lawsuit over House subpoena]( "Trump urges judge not to fast-track his lawsuit over House subpoena") U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington proposed holding a trial on Tuesday, May 14, but Trump's lawyers said that plan would deny the president a "full and fair" hearing. Trump's lawyers said the hearing should only deal with his request for a preliminary ruling. Mehta will decide whether Mazars LLP, Trump's long-time accounting firm, must comply with a subpoena issued by the House Oversight Committee seeking financial records for Trump and his company.
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| Trade war threat adds to Boeing woes Posted: 13 May 2019 11:58 AM PDT  Already in crisis mode over the grounding of its top-selling 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing now finds itself at risk of becoming collateral damage in the US-China trade dispute. The editor of Communist party-owned Global Times newspaper said Monday that Boeing's order book could take a hit as Beijing parries Washington in the escalating trade fight. "China may stop purchasing US agricultural products and energy, reduce Boeing orders and restrict US service trade with China," Global Times editor Hu Xijin wrote on his verified Twitter account.
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| Trump administration planning Iran military response that echoes Iraq invasion Posted: 14 May 2019 01:28 AM PDT  At a meeting of President Donald Trump's top national security aides last Thursday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack US forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons, administration officials said.The revisions were ordered by hard-liners led by John Bolton, Mr Trump's national security adviser. It does not call for a land invasion of Iran, which would require vastly more troops, officials said.The development reflects the influence of Mr Bolton, one of the administration's most virulent Iran hawks, whose push for confrontation with Tehran was ignored more than a decade ago by President George W. Bush.It is highly uncertain whether Mr Trump, who has sought to disentangle the United States from Afghanistan and Syria, ultimately would send so many US forces back to the Middle East.It is also unclear whether the president has been briefed on the number of troops or other details in the plans. On Monday, asked if he was seeking regime change in Iran, Mr Trump said: "We'll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake."[[gallery-0]] There are sharp divisions in the administration over how to respond to Iran at a time when tensions are rising about Iran's nuclear policy and its intentions in the Middle East.Some senior US officials said the plans, even at a very preliminary stage, show how dangerous the threat from Iran has become. Others, who are urging a diplomatic resolution to the current tensions, said it amounts to a scare tactic to warn Iran against new aggressions.European allies who met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said that they worry that tensions between Washington and Tehran could boil over, possibly inadvertently.More than a half-dozen US national security officials who have been briefed on details of the updated plans agreed to discuss them with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. Spokesmen for M
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| Pennyslvania sues maker of OxyContin, 'jet fuel' of America's opioid crisis Posted: 14 May 2019 04:39 PM PDT  Lawsuit is the first against Purdue Pharma to allege in detail a prolific and calculated scheme of pushing drugs on prescribers The Pennsylvania attorney general, Josh Shapiro, arrives at a news conference in Philadelphia, 14 May 2019. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP Dr Jeffrey Bado received his first sales visit from a Purdue Pharma representative in September 2005. In the next five years, his prescriptions of OxyContin – the "jet fuel" of America's opioid crisis, according to Pennsylvania's attorney general – increased by 600%, as Purdue reps visited two to three times a week. Now, a lawsuit in the state seeks to hold the company accountable. The lawsuit, filed 2 May by the state attorney general, Josh Shapiro, and announced on Tuesday, accuses Purdue Pharma, the Connecticut-based maker of OxyContin, of deceptive marketing and criminal negligence in pushing doctors to prescribe the opioid. "We've lost lives, we've lost money and we've squandered opportunity," said Shapiro in a press conference Tuesday. Meanwhile, opioids have been a "goldmine" for Purdue, which has made more than $35bn in revenue since OxyContin was released in 1996, he said. "While Purdue and its executives were profiting and lining their own pockets, they were leaving a path of loss, heartache and bills for someone else in Pennsylvania to pay," he added. Pennsylvania's suit follows a wave of legal action against the pharmaceutical giant, and in some cases, certain members of the multibillionaire Sackler family, who own the company. More than three dozen states have sued Purdue for underplaying the risks of addiction, and a consolidation of 1,500-plus lawsuits filed by US cities and counties is currently playing out in a federal courthouse in Cleveland. Pennsylvania's lawsuit, however, is the first to allege in detail a prolific and calculated scheme of pushing drugs on prescribers – a ruthlessly profitable "marketing blitzkrieg" targeting doctors such as Bado, who was convicted of fraud and drug distribution felonies in 2016. According to the complaint, Pennsylvania, one of the hardest-hit states in the opioid crisis, received half a million sales visits by Purdue reps since 2007 – the highest of any state except California. The complaint outlines a multi-pronged promotion strategy from Purdue involving unrelenting sales calls; branded and unbranded promotion; paying select "key opinion leaders" to make seemingly unbiased endorsements of Purdue products; and targeting its marketing efforts to vulnerable patient groups, such as the elderly and veterans. The complaint also alleges that Purdue knew of OxyContin's high addiction risk but continued to misrepresent or minimize it. Shapiro singled out Purdue's propagation of the term "pseudoaddiction", a condition it says the company invented to encourage more opioid prescriptions despite evidence of full-blown addiction. "The conduct is absolutely outrageous and unlawful," said Shapiro. Purdue said in a statement that it "vigorously denies the allegations filed today in Pennsylvania" and called the allegations "misleading attacks" that are "part of a continuing effort to try these cases in the court of public opinion rather than the justice system. "Such allegations demand clear evidence linking the conduct alleged to the harm described, but we believe the state fails to show such causation and offers little evidence to support its sweeping legal claims," it said. Shapiro said his office's efforts were on behalf of those lost to addiction – 12 Pennsylvanians every day in 2018, according to the CDC – and the loved ones left behind. Asked in a subsequent press call if he intended to add the Sacklers in name to the suit, Shapiro declined to outline future plans. But he added: "We are not done here. This lawsuit is just the first step."
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| How zoos and aquariums can help save 1 million species from extinction Posted: 13 May 2019 05:14 PM PDT  It's time for everyone who cares about preserving animal life to rally behind zoos and aquariums that act as modern arks of hope for many species.
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| Photos of the 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Posted: 15 May 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Sacramento homeless campers putting homeowners at risk by digging into levees Posted: 14 May 2019 07:35 AM PDT  Raw video: Homeless campers in Sacramento, California are putting homeowners at risk. General manager of the American River Flood Control District explains that digging into levees causes flooding issues when water levels rise during the winter.
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| Bayer nears 7-year low after $2 billion award in Roundup trial Posted: 14 May 2019 09:03 AM PDT  The stock closed at its lowest level in almost seven years, even though the punitive damages award is likely to be reduced due to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages to 9:1. The jury set the total punitive damages at $2 billion and added $55 million in compensatory pay, concluding that Roundup - based on herbicide glyphosate - had been defectively designed, and that the company failed to warn of the herbicide's alleged cancer risk. It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company in litigation over the chemical, which Bayer acquired as part of its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto last year.
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| Angry taxi drivers block airport as Cannes festival opens Posted: 14 May 2019 10:41 AM PDT  French taxi drivers blocked Nice airport Tuesday over a dispute with online ride-hailing services, snarling traffic for hours as film-makers and movie moguls tried to reach the nearby Cannes film festival. Traffic in and out of the airport's two terminals was disrupted and a woman taxi driver was knocked down, with the driver's union threatening to stage another blockade on Friday. A police source told AFP tensions between the rival drivers traditionally escalate ahead of the world's biggest film festival, which runs from May 14 to 26.
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| British General Contradicts U.S. Claim of Increased Threat From Iran-Backed Militias Posted: 14 May 2019 09:01 PM PDT  The Pentagon responded with an unusual rebuke of an allied senior officer
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| Suit seeks to hold Vatican at fault for abuse by US priests Posted: 14 May 2019 05:01 PM PDT  ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three brothers who were sexually abused by a priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Vatican, claiming the Holy See bears responsibility because the case was mishandled by former Archbishop John Nienstedt and the Vatican's former ambassador to the United States.
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| Deported Honduran migrant gives up on American dream Posted: 13 May 2019 06:45 PM PDT  Honduran Ruth Elizabeth Gomez gave up on her American dream after US immigration authorities locked her in a cold cell and then deported her back home. After reaching Mexico by foot, the 25-year-old had paid a "coyote" to smuggle her across the US border by boat, only to be arrested after arriving in Texas. After leaving her five and eight-year-old children with her mother, Gomez and her brother Jose Tulio joined the first Central American caravan that set off from San Pedro Sula in Honduras on October 13.
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| Ocasio-Cortez: No 'middle ground' on fighting climate change Posted: 13 May 2019 08:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied support for the Green New Deal on Monday night, with the New York congresswoman saying there should be "no middle ground" when it comes to climate change and the Vermont senator calling for a political revolution.
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| Iran's So-Called 'Stealth' Fighter Is a Paper Tiger Posted: 15 May 2019 03:19 AM PDT  One should also bear in mind that back in 2003, Iran unveiled an earlier, more convincing fake subsonic stealth fighter called the Shafaq—revealed in 2014 to be a mock-up made of wood.There can be such a thing as posturing too hard.(This first appeared last year.)Iran's aviation industry has accomplishments to boast about despite operating under heavy sanctions for nearly forty years. It has managed to keep once state-of-the-art U.S.-built F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat fighters in operational condition for decades, including nine years of high-intensity aerial warfare with Iraq, despite being cut off from spare parts from the United States. It has refurbished the rusting hulks of old F-5 Freedom Fighters into twin-vertical stabilizer Saeqeh fighters, reverse-engineered their J85 turbojet engines, and created a variety of viable capable drones.
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| JetBlue operations delayed as 'global' computer outage briefly cripples airline, again Posted: 14 May 2019 05:59 AM PDT ![JetBlue operations delayed as 'global' computer outage briefly cripples airline, again]( "JetBlue operations delayed as 'global' computer outage briefly cripples airline, again") JetBlue reported Tuesday morning that operations had been slowed by what it called a "global Sabre outage impacting multiple airlines."
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| US Supreme Court decides to let consumers sue Apple over App Store rules Posted: 13 May 2019 11:55 AM PDT  The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled against Apple in a case that could have broad implications for the e-commerce industry and which also means the door is now open for consumers to sue the iPhone maker over its App Store rules and practices.In a 5-4 ruling, with Donald Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh siding with the court's four liberal justices, the decision essentially clears the way for a class action lawsuit against Apple to proceed. That suit will focus on Apple's rules that developers must sell their apps through its app marketplace, in addition to paying a 30 percent commission to Apple.For a bit of background here, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January 2017 that Apple sells its apps directly to consumers and that they can move forward with an antitrust suit on these grounds. That's even though Apple -- which the Trump administration sided with -- tried to claim it doesn't actually sell apps directly to consumers. That what it does, instead, is offer the equivalent of digital shelf space and that developers are the ones selling apps to consumers, subject to rules and terms set by Apple.Indeed, another Trump appointee -- Justice Neil Gorsuch -- wrote in the dissenting opinion about this ruling that app developers have more legitimate standing to contend with Apple, not consumers."If, as plaintiffs contend, Apple's 30% commission is a monopolistic overcharge, then the app developers have a claim against Apple to recover whatever portion of the commission they did not pass on to consumers," he wrote.This is an antitrust case, in the sense that the plaintiffs want the chance to prove in court that Apple's App Store is effectively a monopoly. That the company is "monopolizing" the sale of apps and games in its store and that the store's rules are artificially inflating prices for those apps.During oral arguments in this case in the fall, Justice Elena Kagan said it seemed clear that consumers have a direct relationship with Apple here -- and thus, as such, should be able to sue the company."It just seems to me that when you're looking at the relationship between the consumer and Apple, that there is only one step," Kagan said, seemingly referring to the simple tap being all that's required to buy apps.
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| Ford to build more Lincolns for Chinese market locally -CFO Posted: 15 May 2019 07:14 AM PDT ![Ford to build more Lincolns for Chinese market locally -CFO]( "Ford to build more Lincolns for Chinese market locally -CFO") Ford Motor Co plans to start production of new luxury Lincoln models in China for that market as they are launched, starting with the new Corsair later this year, to benefit from lower costs and avoid the risk of tariffs, a top executive said on Monday. "It's a huge, huge opportunity for Lincoln because we see China as Ground Zero for Lincoln given the size of the market and how well the brand has been received," Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York. Ford has lower levels of localized production than rivals General Motors Co or Volkswagen AG, who make more vehicles in China for Chinese consumers, benefiting from lower labor and material costs, and avoiding tariffs in the burgeoning trade war between the United States and China.
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| Tucker: Homelessness getting worse in California Posted: 14 May 2019 06:09 PM PDT  'Tucker Carlson Tonight' investigates the nation's homeless crisis and the decay of American cities.
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| The 10 Best Buys in Motorcycles for 2019 Posted: 15 May 2019 08:00 AM PDT |
| Sri Lanka anti-Muslim riots kill one despite curfew Posted: 13 May 2019 12:39 PM PDT  Mobs slashed to death a Sri Lankan Muslim man despite a nationwide curfew imposed Monday night after anti-Muslim riots spread to three districts north of the capital in a violent backlash against Easter suicide bombings. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the curfew was declared to prevent unidentified groups destabilising the country by orchestrating communal violence. "At several places in the North-Western Province these groups created trouble, damaged property," Wickremesinghe said in a televised address to the nation.
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| Trump Jr. Strikes a Deal to Sit for Private Interview with Senate Intel Committee Posted: 14 May 2019 02:26 PM PDT  After weeks of contentious negotiation, Donald Trump Jr. agreed on Tuesday to comply with the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr's (R., N.C.) subpoena-backed demand that he sit for a private interview with members of the panel, the New York Times first reported.Trump Jr. has reportedly agreed to speak to lawmakers about a limited range of topics for between two and four hours sometime in mid June.Burr told fellow Republican senators last week that he was forced to issue a subpoena demanding Trump Jr.'s appearance after he skipped two previously scheduled appointments to sit for an interview, the Times reported on Sunday.Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, President Trump called the Senate Intelligence Committee's move to subpoena his son "unfair.""It's really a tough situation because my son spent over 20 hours testifying about something that Mueller said was 100 percent okay. And now they want him to testify again. . . . I have no idea why, but it seems very unfair to me," Trump said, referring to the closed-door testimony his son provided about the infamous Trump Tower meeting.In the wake of Robert Mueller's report, Democrats and a subset of Republicans have argued that the meeting, in which Trump Jr. and other campaign officials met with a Kremlin-linked attorney, warrants further investigation.Like the president, Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) has argued that compelling further testimony from Trump Jr. is an unnecessary act of political theater."You just show up and plead the Fifth, and it's over with," Graham told reporters on Monday. "You'd have to be an idiot as a lawyer to put your client back into this circus, a complete idiot."Other prominent Republicans, such as Kentucky senator Rand Paul, have chastised Burr from breaking ranks by continuing to pursue his investigation into Trump campaign activities after the conclusion of Mueller's probe.> Apparently the Republican chair of the Senate Intel Committee didn't get the memo from the Majority Leader that this case was closed… https://t.co/jvV5PIX266> > -- Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 8, 2019In his report, Mueller explained that he and his team considered charging Trump Jr. and others with campaign-finance violations for agreeing to meet with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya to obtain damaging information on Hillary Clinton.Lawmakers reportedly plan to press Trump Jr. on his previous claim that only Jared Kushner and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort were aware of Veselnitskaya's offer, based on new evidence included in the Mueller report that suggests he informed the campaign's entire senior staff.
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| Lost US passport in Austria? Go to McDonald's for help Posted: 15 May 2019 09:28 AM PDT  McDonald's. Under a new partnership, outlets of the US fast food chain throughout Austria will help American citizens from Wednesday to get in touch with their embassy, it said on Facebook. "Staff (at any McDonald's in Austria) will assist them in making contact with the US Embassy for consular services," the embassy wrote.
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| 5 budget-friendly summer vacation destinations Posted: 15 May 2019 05:33 AM PDT ![5 budget-friendly summer vacation destinations]( "5 budget-friendly summer vacation destinations") These affordable summer vacation spots around the world offer everything you'd want from a fancy trip.
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| 1988 Chevrolet Corvette C4 Callaway Twin-Turbo Four-Speed Is a High-Performance Love Letter from the '80s Posted: 15 May 2019 07:30 AM PDT  Revisit the high-livin' forced-induction era by bidding on this Callaway Vette, offered at no reserve on Bring a Trailer.
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| Missing Texas girl’s mom heckled at court Posted: 13 May 2019 12:13 PM PDT  The mother of a missing 4-year-old Texas girl was heckled outside a courtroom by a group of people who questioned if she had done enough to protect her daughter before her disappearance. (May 13)
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| UPDATE 5-WhatsApp security breach may have targeted human rights groups Posted: 14 May 2019 02:24 AM PDT ![UPDATE 5-WhatsApp security breach may have targeted human rights groups]( "UPDATE 5-WhatsApp security breach may have targeted human rights groups") WhatsApp said on Tuesday that a security breach on its messaging app had signs of coming from a government using surveillance technology developed by a private company, and it may have targeted human rights groups. WhatsApp, a unit of Facebook, said it had notified the U.S. Department of Justice to help with an investigation, and it encouraged all WhatsApp users to update to the latest version of the app, where the breach had been fixed.
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| The official OnePlus 7 Pro launch video just leaked hours ahead of today’s event Posted: 14 May 2019 05:17 AM PDT  The day many OnePlus fans must have been waiting for is finally here. The OnePlus 7 series will soon be unveiled, and we'll know everything there is to know about the three handsets the Chinese smartphone maker is about to announce. Well, we've known pretty much everything about these devices for a few weeks now, thanks to a combination of leaks and official announcements from OnePlus. While you wait, we've got a few more leaks to go through before the event starts, including a full launch video of the OnePlus 7 Pro that's expected to be shown during Tuesday's press conference. It doesn't get any better than this, OnePlus fans. Here's the OnePlus 7 Pro in all its splendor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=5oK0rYZG4fE Posted on Reddit initially, the clip confirms all the leaks we've seen so far, giving us an even better look at the next OnePlus flagship. We get to see the new all-screen display and its curved edges, the pop-up selfie camera, and the triple-lens camera on the back. This is the best OnePlus 7 version you'll find in stores this year, according to previous leaks. And a 5G version of the Pro will also hit certain markets, including the UK where it'll work on EE's network. But wait, there's more! T-Mobile's presentation video has also leaked, revealing the phone's most important specs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzsDgp_mbD0 But we're not done with the last-minute OnePlus 7 leaks yet, as trusted insider Ishan Agarwal is back with pricing details for the OnePlus 7 series, this time for the UK. While he doesn't seem to have the price for the 5G version, the leaker did share the purported prices of the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro models, as well as the prices for the brand new Bullets Wireless 2 headphones: https://twitter.com/ishanagarwal24/status/1128219206791548928 Yes, the OnePlus 7 Pro will be more expensive than the regular model, but that's not really a secret. The good news is that the OnePlus 7 will cost just as much as the OnePlus 6T did when it launched back in November if this leak is accurate. The OnePlus 6T had an entry price of £499 in the UK or $549 in the US. OnePlus will soon confirm these leaks and more — the company's press conference is set to kick off at 11:00 AM ET.
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| Middle East Oil War Cometh: Pipelines and Tankers Under Attack (Is Iran To Blame?) Posted: 14 May 2019 07:01 AM PDT  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia claims that drones attacked an oil pipeline on Tuesday, causing a severe fire that disrupted oil operations.The attack is just one of many recent assaults on oil industry in the region, coming not long after four oil tankers were sabotaged while anchored in the Mideast.Yemeni rebels are claiming responsibility for a drone attack, and Saudi officials report that two oil infrastructure sites near the capital of Riyadh were targeted at the time of the pipeline attack.In regards to the Saudi, Norwegian and Emirati oil tankers that were attacked, US military assessment indicated that Iranian-affiliated agents used explosives to blow holes in the ships.According to the New York Post, the US Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the region, has repeatedly declined to comment.Several B-52 bombers and the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike fleet were recently deployed to the region, and the US has considered sending up to 120,000 troops to the region in case Iran attempts to make a serious move against US allies and military bases.This first appeared in WarIsBoring here. Image: Reuters.
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| President Trump dismisses trade tensions as 'a little squabble with China' Posted: 14 May 2019 12:13 PM PDT  The ramped-up trade tensions between the U.S. and China have roiled markets in recent days, but President Trump dismissed concerns and predicted victory on Tuesday when he spoke to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before embarking on a trip to Louisiana. Trump began by declaring "we're having probably the greatest economy that we've had anywhere, any time in the history of our country."
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| The Best SUVs and Crossovers 2019-2020 Posted: 13 May 2019 12:17 PM PDT |
| Sweden reopens rape probe against Assange Posted: 13 May 2019 12:35 PM PDT  Swedish prosecutors said Monday they were reopening a 2010 rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, hoping to bring him to justice before the statute of limitations expires in August 2020. The 47-year-old has claimed the Swedish allegations were a pretext to transfer him to the United States, where he fears prosecution over the release by WikiLeaks of millions of classified documents. "I have today decided to reopen the investigation... There is still probable cause to suspect that Mr Assange committed rape," the deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, told reporters.
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| Ex-Congressman Weiner leaves halfway house Posted: 14 May 2019 01:03 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Former Rep. Anthony Weiner left a New York City halfway house on Tuesday after completing his prison sentence for illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl.
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| Wall Street shudders as U.S.-China trade war intensifies Posted: 13 May 2019 01:31 PM PDT  All three major U.S. indexes lost ground in a widespread sell-off, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting its biggest one-day percentage loss this year. The S&P 500 and the Dow both had their largest percentage drop since Jan 3. China said it would impose higher tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods despite President Donald Trump's warnings not to retaliate against additional tariffs on Chinese imports announced by the White House on Friday.
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| Russia Might Take the Biggest Submarine Ever and Add 200 Cruise Missiles Posted: 15 May 2019 01:54 AM PDT  Thus, while the idea of Russia reviving its cold war leviathans sounds compellingly scary, there's evidence it makes little practical or financial sense given more cost-efficient and survivable means to achieve the same ends. It could also be the project is being trumpeted for the propagandistic symbolism behind deploying super-submarines that are larger and carry more missiles than their American counterparts.On April 20, 2019, Russia's TASS Agency reported that Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev announced Russia's intention to take two of its decommissioned Typhoon-class ballistic submarines and pack them full of hundreds of cruise missiles.(This first appeared last month.)"The dimensions of these submarines allow arming each of them with at least 200 cruise missiles [each]," he said.The Typhoon ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), famously featured in the film Hunt for Red October, are by far the biggest and most expensive submarines ever built. Cruise-missile-armed Typhoons would give Russia direct analogs of the United States' four Ohio-class cruise missile submarines (SSGNs), which had their launch tubes for nuclear-armed ballistic missiles replaced with vertical launch systems for 154 conventionally-armed Tomahawk cruise missiles.Burtsev made the missile-envy issue explicit:
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| Elizabeth Warren rejects town hall on 'hate-for-profit racket' Fox News Posted: 14 May 2019 12:48 PM PDT  The Massachusetts senator explained her reasons for refusing an invitation that others seeking the Democratic presidential nomination have accepted.
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