| Buttigieg slams Trump for considering war crime pardons Posted: 26 May 2019 06:52 AM PDT  Veteran and 2020 candidate said Trump's willingness to pardon soldiers 'undermines the very foundations ... of this country' 'One of the things that protects our troops morally and physically is the knowledge that if anybody in uniform does commit a crime, they will be held accountable by military justice,' Pete Buttigieg said. Photograph: Jessica Hill/AP Donald Trump's willingness to consider pardons for US soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes "undermines the very foundations, legal and moral, of this country", Democratic candidate for president Pete Buttigieg said. Amid reports that such pardons could come over the Memorial Day weekend, the president told reporters at the White House on Friday he was "looking" at the issue. "I haven't done anything yet," he said. "I haven't made any decisions. There's two or three of them right now. It's a little bit controversial. It's very possible that I'll let the trials go on, and I'll make my decision after the trial." Trump is now in Japan. The Memorial Day holiday falls on Monday. Trump has already pardoned Michael Behenna, a soldier convicted in 2009 of killing a prisoner in Iraq. According to multiple reports, among cases now being considered is that of Edward Gallagher, a Navy Seal set for trial on charges of murdering a prisoner in Iraq and shooting unarmed civilians. Fox News hosts known to influence Trump have taken up Gallagher's cause. It has also been reported that a lawyer who works for the Trump Organization has worked on the case. Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, spoke to ABC's This Week in an interview broadcast on Sunday. He is a military veteran, having served in Afghanistan with the navy reserve. "Today," he said, "one of the things that protects our troops morally and physically is the knowledge that if anybody in uniform does commit a crime, they will be held accountable by military justice. "For a president, especially a president who never served, to say he's going to come in and overrule that system of military justice undermines the very foundations, legal and moral, of this country." Buttigieg found a cautious ally in Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa who served in the national guard, deploying to Kuwait, and is a member of the armed services committee. She told CNN's State of the Union she "would advise the president to be very careful", because "it is not OK to perpetrate war crimes". "We need our young men and women in uniform to understand that we operate under a code of ethics," she said. Trump, Ernst said, should "scrutinise of course each case individually, and if it's warranted, grant a pardon. If it is not, if someone has committed a war crime, then a sentence should be served." Buttigieg, who has surged in the polls, has not been shy of attacking Trump. On Thursday, at an event hosted by the Washington Post, he discussed Trump's own brush with military service. "I have a pretty dim view of his decision to use his privileged status to fake a disability in order to avoid serving in Vietnam," he said. Trump received five draft deferments, four academic and one medical: bone spurs in a foot. The veracity of that claim has been extensively questioned. Buttigieg continued: "I mean, if he were a conscientious objector, I'd admire that, but this is somebody who, I think it is fairly obvious to most of us, took advantage of the fact that he was a child of a multimillionaire in order to pretend to be disabled so that somebody could go to war in his place."I know that dredges up old wounds from a complicated time during a complicated war, but I am also old enough to remember when conservatives talked about character as something that mattered in the presidency, and so I think it deserves to be talked about." Buttigieg also discussed Vietnam in his ABC interview, in the context of remarks made by Trump about the treatment of soldiers accused of war crimes. At the White House on Friday, Trump told reporters: "Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get really treated very unfairly." Buttigieg said: "The idea that being sent to war makes you a murderer is exactly the kind of thing that those of us who have served have been trying to beat back for more than a generation. "One of the reasons Vietnam war veterans were treated so horribly when they came home, at least some of them, was an attitude that found it very hard to separate policies from the people sent to carry out those policies." He added: "When you serve, you are agreeing to serve the constitution and to uphold the law. And frankly [Trump's] idea that being sent to fight makes you automatically into some sort of war criminal is a slander against veterans that could only come from someone who never served."
|
| Powerful EF3 tornado kills 2, injures 29 in Oklahoma town recovering from flooding Posted: 26 May 2019 07:20 PM PDT  A deadly tornado ripped through an Oklahoma City suburb Saturday night, destroying a motel and causing massive damage.
|
| Kurdish MPs, prisoners end hunger strike in Turkey Posted: 26 May 2019 07:07 AM PDT  The decision removed a source of tension in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey after Ankara let Ocalan meet his lawyers this month for the first time since 2011, triggering speculation about possible fresh efforts to end conflict in the region. Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Leyla Guven began a hunger strike in November in a bid to end Ocalan's years of isolation by securing him regular access to his family and lawyers. "Comrades who have committed themselves to hunger strikes and death fasts, I expect you to end your protest," Ocalan said in a statement read out by one of his lawyers at a news conference in Istanbul on Sunday morning.
|
| EU Seeks to Break U.S. Stranglehold on WTO Posted: 27 May 2019 01:04 AM PDT ![EU Seeks to Break U.S. Stranglehold on WTO]( "EU Seeks to Break U.S. Stranglehold on WTO") Trade ministers from the 28-nation European Union are expected to start the process of negotiating an interim solution if the adjudicative body of the WTO becomes hamstrung, as is expected later this year, according to internal documents seen by Bloomberg. The U.S. is blocking new appointees to the seven-member WTO appellate body, which will lead to it being incapacitated in December because there won't be enough judges to issue rulings. The EU is seeking to implement an arbitration process that would continue the "essential principles and features'' of the appellate body, according to the memo.
|
| A Climber Who Died on Everest Warned on Instagram That Overcrowding Could 'Prove Fatal' Posted: 26 May 2019 11:28 PM PDT  At least nine climbers have died in relation to long holdups near the summit
|
| Renault in team-up talks with Fiat Chrysler: reports Posted: 26 May 2019 12:57 AM PDT  French carmaker Renault is in talks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with the long-term prize a world-leading alliance including Japan's Nissan and Mitsubishi, reports say. The Wall Street Journal said the talks were "wide-ranging" and could include Renault and Fiat Chrysler "joining large portions of their businesses". Contacted by AFP, neither Renault nor Fiat would comment.
|
| 102-year-old woman facing eviction gets offer of help from Schwarzenegger Posted: 25 May 2019 12:49 PM PDT  A 102-year-old woman is being evicted from her Ladera Heights home of nearly 30 years - but friends like former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and local officials are vowing to help her.
|
| US sanctions on Iran felt in Iraqi Shiite tourist districts Posted: 26 May 2019 02:53 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — For years, Karar Hussein has sold sweets in his shop near the entrance to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, accepting whatever currency was offered to him by his clients, many of them religious tourists from neighboring Iran. But lately, when Iranian pilgrims ask about prices, he tells them he can only sell if they pay in Iraqi currency. They often walk out, disappointed.
|
| 51 attorneys general call on Betsy DeVos to cancel up to 42,000 disabled veterans' student debts Posted: 25 May 2019 11:58 AM PDT  "As a nation, we have a moral obligation to assist those who have put their lives on the line to defend us," the attorneys general wrote.
|
| U.S. ambassador urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama Posted: 25 May 2019 07:30 PM PDT ![U.S. ambassador urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama]( "U.S. ambassador urges China to talk to the Dalai Lama") China should hold talks with Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad told Chinese officials during a trip to the Himalayan region where he criticized Beijing for interfering in religious freedom. Branstad visited Tibet last week, the first such trip by a U.S. ambassador since 2015, amid escalating trade and diplomatic tension between the two countries.
|
| Emmanuel Macron embarrassed by Marine Le Pen in elections but emerges as EU kingmaker Posted: 26 May 2019 05:07 PM PDT  Emmanuel Macron suffered defeat at home in the European elections but could console himself with securing a kingmaker role that could determine the next five years of EU politics. The ardently Europhile French president was narrowly beaten by Marine Le Pen's virulently anti-EU National Rally in the French vote but stands to benefit from a fragmentation in support for the older centrist parties in the European Parliament. Ever since the first European elections in 1979, the centre-right European People's Party and centre-left Socialists and Democrats have dominated EU politics. They operated, formally and informally, a grand coalition, sewing up the EU's top jobs and gaming the approval of Brussels' rules and regulations as they pass through the European Parliament, which has an influential say over draft legislation from the European Commission. For the first time in 40 years, it emerged on Sunday night, the EPP and S&D;, the two largest, would be unable to form a joint majority of at least 378 MEPs in the 751-seat parliament. That majority is needed to both pass EU law and appoint the leadership of the next European Commission. The traditional centrist parties bled support to a record number of Eurosceptic MEPs and a "green wave" that saw Greens do well in some EU countries. National parties form themselves in like-minded pan-EU political alliances to qualify for increased speaking time, influence and EU funding. European election: EU results Mr Macron had characterised the May 23-26 EU-wide vote as a fight for the future of Europe between pro-EU parties and the Eurosceptic populists. While his defeat to Mrs Le Pen was embarrassing, Mr Macron's new Renaissance party is set to form a political alliance with the European liberals, led by the federalist Guy Verhofstadt. Overnight the new pan-EU group was on course for an estimated 108 seats, making it the third largest alliance in the parliament and effectively in possession to keys of power in Brussels. Speaking in Brussels, Mr Verhofstadt made clear that the new group would only offer its support to the wounded establishment if the parties backed ambitious, integrationist policies. The Telegraph understands the liberals will demand commitments to a five-year plan that is likely to reflect Mr Macon's desire for closer political integration between EU countries and more power for Brussels. The results will also hand Mr Macron an even larger sway in the distribution of the top jobs in the EU institutions and, in particular, the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker's successor as European Commission president. The European elections are meant to pick Jean-Claude Juncker's successor as commission president. Under the Spitzenkandidat system, first introduced in 2014, political groups nominate a lead candidate, with the winning group taking the post. But EU governments, led by Mr Macron, are moving to reassert their right to pick the head of the EU's civil service. Although the EPP remains the largest group, it has lost the clear majority it enjoyed in 2014. That weakens Manfred Weber, the EPP Spitzenkandidat's, claim to the job, despite the fact he enjoys the public support of Angela Merkel. Mr Macron has signalled that he does not support the system or Mr Weber, who lacks governmental experience and does not speak French. European elections 2019 With the European Parliament intent on preserving the system, the scene is set for an inter-institutional turf war that could paralyse Brussels if MEPs refuse to back any new president who is not a Spitzenkandidat. Mr Weber, A German MEP from the Bavarian sister party to Angela Merkel, understood that his hopes of becoming commission president had taken a blow. But he insisted he was the man for the job because the EPP was the largest group, even if it had lost 43 MEPs. He called on the socialists, greens and liberals to band together behind his banner. Even if Mr Macron was to swing in behind Mr Weber, which appears unlikely, the president is certain to demand a share of the most influential posts in the European Commission and the other EU institutions in return. That does not bode well for the next British prime minister's hopes of renegotiating the Brexit deal. The EU has repeatedly ruled out renegotiating the withdrawal agreement, while Mr Macron, supported by the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, argued strongly against a long Brexit extension at last month's EU summit. The French president, who has led the hawkish contingent among EU-27 leaders on Brexit, has already said the extension to Halloween should be the last. The new commission will not take power before October 31 but Mr Macron's status and influence in the EU has been bolstered, rather than diminished, by these elections, despite his defeat. With the Brexit Party set to top the British vote and the prospects of a prime minister Boris Johnson in the ascendant into view, the number of Mr Macron's hawks, and the chances of a no deal Brexit, could swell.
|
| Rescuers search for survivors after Oklahoma tornado kills at least two Posted: 26 May 2019 01:01 PM PDT  The tornado that hit El Reno on Saturday night was the latest in a barrage of violent weather that is expected to continue after pounding the Central Plains states last week with deadly tornadoes, high winds, drenching thunderstorms and widespread flooding. In addition to the two fatalities, 29 people suffered minor to critical injuries in the El Reno twister and hundreds more were displaced, the city's mayor said. People have absolutely lost everything." Rescue workers searched the debris field that had been a mobile home park and an Americas Best Value Inn motor lodge where the tornado did its worst damage in the community about 25 miles (40 km) west of Oklahoma City.
|
| Brexit Tears Up British Politics as Farage Tops EU Election Poll Posted: 27 May 2019 01:37 AM PDT  Voters backed politicians with clear pro- and anti-European Union agendas, fueling demands for a second referendum on one side of the divisive national debate, and a hard, no-deal split from the EU on the other. With nearly all the vote counts complete, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, which wants the U.K. to leave the EU without an agreement, was in first place, with 32% of the vote across the country. In second place, with 20%, were the Liberal Democrats, who want to stay in the bloc.
|
| Hiker Amanda Eller found alive after being lost 2 weeks in Maui, Hawaii forest Posted: 26 May 2019 03:24 PM PDT  A 35-year-old physical therapist and yoga instructor who went missing in the Makawao Forest Reserve on Maui, Hawaii, two weeks ago has been found alive, according to her family and a Facebook page devoted to the search.
|
| Meet the Tweel: The Tire That Never Goes Flat Posted: 26 May 2019 06:00 AM PDT  John Deere is using Michelin's airless tire-and-wheel, the Tweel. Go ahead, run over some nails.
|
| DEFEATED: These are the 5 Worst U.S. Generals Who Ever Served Posted: 25 May 2019 04:00 PM PDT  The American Civil War was a factory for producing bad generals such as Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside.It would be nice if all American generals were great. How might Vietnam or Iraq have turned out if a George Washington, a Ulysses Grant or a George Patton had been in command?(This first appeared several years ago.) Alas, call it the laws of probability or just cosmic karma, but every nation produces bad generals as well as good ones—and America is no exception.What is a bad general? Defining that is like defining a bad meal. Some would say that failure on the battlefield warrants censure. Others would say that it is not victory, but success in fulfilling a mission that counts.But for whatever reason, some American commanders have lost the battle for history. Here are five of America's worst generals:Horatio Gates:Great generals have great talents, and usually egos and ambitions to match. Yet backstabbing your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war is taking ambition a little too far. A former British officer, Gates rose to fame as Continental Army commander during the momentous American defeat of a British army at Saratoga in 1777.Many historians credit Benedict Arnold and others with being the real victors of Saratoga. Gates thought otherwise, and fancied himself a better commander than George Washington. It's not the first time that someone thought he was smarter than his boss. But Gates could have doomed the American Revolution.
|
| Officials: Taliban attacks kill 10 Afghan troops, 4 police Posted: 27 May 2019 03:03 AM PDT  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bombing claimed by the Taliban killed 10 Afghan soldiers in the country's west while insurgent attacks on security checkpoints in northern Afghanistan killed four policemen, local officials said Monday.
|
| Huawei founder says he would oppose Chinese retaliation against Apple: Bloomberg Posted: 26 May 2019 04:52 PM PDT  Huawei Technologies' founder and Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei told Bloomberg https://bloom.bg/2HT7DUY that retaliation by Beijing against Apple Inc was unlikely and that he would oppose any such move from China against the iPhone maker. When asked about calls from some in China to retaliate against Apple, Ren said that he would "protest" against any such step if it were to be taken by Beijing.
|
| GOP senator contradicts Trump on North Korean missile tests: 'I find them very disturbing' Posted: 26 May 2019 09:12 AM PDT  "I find them very disturbing, and certainly wouldn't trust Kim Jong Un," Joni Ernst said in an interview with CNN on Sunday morning.
|
| European elections 2019 results: Brexit Party expected to win most UK seats Posted: 26 May 2019 11:35 AM PDT  Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is tipped to win the most UK seats in the European Parliament elections, with establishment parties forecast to lose their majority across the European Union. Official exit polls are revealing a tough night for establishment parties across the continent, while voter turnout is at 51 per cent according to the EU Parliament - its highest since 1994. In France, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party will take top spot, with 23.2 per cent of the vote against Macron's centrist grouping on 21.9 per cent according to polls. In Germany, Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and the centre-left Social Democratic Union could be on course for their worst result at European elections. The CDU are polling just 28 per cent of the vote, down from 38 per cent in 2014 - a result which would be a significant blow to Mrs Merkel. It looks to be an even worse night for the SPD who are polling at just 15.5 per cent, and who could leapfrogged into second place by the Green Party on 22 per cent. Votes are being counted across 28 EU countries with polls closing at 10pm, and official provisional results for the UK are expected shortly after. European election: EU results By the early hours of Monday, we should have results from the majority of UK regions, allowing us to see just how seismic a political shift has taken place. Pre-election polls indicated that the two large establishment blocs in the European Parliament, which comprise a host of allied parties from each country, would lose seats under a tide of both populist and liberal support. While the centre-Right European Peoples' Party (EPP) and centre-Left Socialists & Democrats (S&D;) are likely to remain the largest parliamentary groups, forecasts indicated they would collectively lose dozens of seats. UK polls show the Brexit Party winning the most seats In the UK, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is expected to gain the most seats, ahead of the two major parties. This would mark a repeat of his success with Ukip in the 2014 European election. Labour and the Conservatives were both polling at less than 20 per cent in the run-up to the vote, with some experts predicting that Theresa May's Tories could fall to their lowest vote share in a national election since they formed in 1834. The Lib Dems, Greens and Change UK - all backers of a second referendum - collectively had support of 30 per cent of the public in pre-election polls on election day, against no-dealers Ukip and the Brexit Party's collective 36 per cent. EU parliamentary elections tracker, four-poll rolling average Polling shows that revoking Article 50 and a no-deal Brexit - the two extremes of the Europe debate - are currently the most popular outcomes among the public, and parties were fighting to claim this political ground ahead of the vote. The lack of a Remain alliance - with the Lib Dems, Greens and Change UK all competing and splitting the pro-European vote - makes their job of converting votes into seats even harder. An analysis of regional polling data showed that the Greens, Lib Dems and Change UK would stand to win an additional 10 MEPs at the EU elections if they stood as a single anti-Brexit entity, giving them a total of 18 seats. In 2014, Nigel Farage's Ukip topped the polls, securing 27.5 per cent of the national vote and 24 MEPs. Most of these MEPs have now defected to other parties now, including the Brexit Party. EU Parliament elections 2014: UK results Europe-wide establishment parties expected to lose their majority At a continent level, the European Union's established centre-Left and centre-Right blocs were forecast to lose their combined majority in the elections. The pre-election polls indicated that the two large pan-European blocs, the EPP and the S&D;, will lose seats under a tide of both populist and liberal support. European Election seat forecast The loss of their combined majority is likely due to the rise of the liberal Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and eurosceptic Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). The latter of these blocs, the populist-Right ENF, is poised to morph into a new group called European Alliance of People and Nations after the election, under Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. Political groups of the European Parliament The ALDE and ENF made the largest gains in the election, leading experts to warn that the new Parliament could be more fractious with majorities harder to come by.
|
| Stan Lee’s former manager arrested for allegedly stealing $260,000 from late comic book legend Posted: 25 May 2019 02:25 PM PDT  Stan Lee's former business manager has been arrested on elder abuse charges involving the Marvel Comics legend.Keya Morgan was taken into custody in Arizona on an outstanding arrest warrant after being charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors earlier this month.Mr Morgan faces felony charges including theft, embezzlement, forgery or fraud against an elder adult, and false imprisonment of an elder adult. A misdemeanour count also alleges elder abuse. Police say Mr Morgan pocketed more than $262,000 (£206,000) from autograph signing sessions Lee did in May 2018.Authorities say Mr Morgan sought to capitalise on the Marvel Comic mastermind's wealth and exert influence over Lee even though he had no authority to act on his behalf.At one point Mr Morgan also took Lee from his Hollywood Hills home to a Beverly Hills condominium "where Morgan had more control over Lee", they said.Lee's daughter said in a request for a restraining order last year that Mr Morgan was manipulating the mentally declining Lee, preventing him from seeing family and friends, and trying to take control of his money and business affairs.Attorney Alex Kessel has said Mr Morgan has never abused or taken advantage of Lee.Mr Kessel said on Saturday he had been in contact with prosecutors to arrange for Mr Morgan to surrender on Tuesday."It is unfortunate that the DA and police did not honour our commitment to surrender next week and arrested him," Mr Kessel said.Lee died in November at the age of 95.Mr Morgan's bail has been set at $300,000 (£240,000). He will eventually be sent to Los Angeles to face the charges.
|
| VP Pence tells West Point grads they should expect to see combat Posted: 26 May 2019 10:58 AM PDT  Vice President Mike Pence told the most diverse graduating class in the history of the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday that the world is "a dangerous place" and they should expect to see combat.
|
| Renault, Fiat Chrysler in tie-up talks Posted: 26 May 2019 05:00 PM PDT  French and Italian-US auto giants Renault and Fiat Chrysler are set to announce talks on an alliance, with a view to a potential merger, informed sources said on Sunday. Renault and FCA are likely to unveil the move "within hours, perhaps tomorrow (Monday), before the (Paris) bourse opens," one of the sources told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding an eventual "merger" was on the agenda. A Renault board meeting is scheduled for 8:00 am (0600 GMT) on Monday.
|
| 10 deals you don’t want to miss on Sunday: $10 off Fire TV Stick, $199 Apple Watch, 20% off area rugs, more Posted: 26 May 2019 04:23 AM PDT ![10 deals you don't want to miss on Sunday: $10 off Fire TV Stick, $199 Apple Watch, 20% off area rugs, more]( "10 deals you don't want to miss on Sunday: $10 off Fire TV Stick, $199 Apple Watch, 20% off area rugs, more") Memorial Day 2019 is tomorrow, but plenty of people are barbecuing with friends and family today. Before you fire up the grill though, there are some truly terrific daily deals you need to check out. Highlights include the $40 Fire TV Stick for $29.99, the $50 Fire TV Stick 4K for $39.99, a rare discount on AirPods 2 (order now even though they're out of stock so you can lock in the discount -- we see new shipments every day), a different pair of wildly popular true wireless earbuds for just $25.49 if discounted AirPods are still too pricey, an excellent compact Vizio sound bar for just $78.99, a crazy Apple Watch Series 3 sale with prices starting at an all-time low of $199, big discounts on SanDisk microSD cards, a $380 robot vacuum for only $189.99, massive discounts up to $622 off TEMPUR-Cloud mattresses, a huge sale that slashes up to an extra 20% off dozens of different Safavieh area rugs, and more. Check out all of Sunday's top deals below.
|
| Baghdad offers to mediate with US as Iran's FM visits Iraq Posted: 25 May 2019 12:54 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's parliament speaker said Saturday that Baghdad is ready to mediate between the United States and Iran if it is asked to do so.
|
| UPDATE 2-Teva Pharm to pay Oklahoma $85 mln to settle opioid claims Posted: 26 May 2019 09:29 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Teva Pharm to pay Oklahoma $85 mln to settle opioid claims]( "UPDATE 2-Teva Pharm to pay Oklahoma $85 mln to settle opioid claims") BOSTON/JERUSALEM, May 26 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd said on Sunday it had agreed to pay an $85 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma days before the company was set to face trial over allegations that it and other drugmakers helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic. Teva, the world's largest generic drugmaker, said the settlement "does not establish any wrongdoing on the part of the company" and denied contributing to opioid abuse in Oklahoma. Claims against Teva focused on the branded opioid products Actiq and Fentora as well as generic painkillers it produced.
|
| When it comes to abortion, conservative women aren't a monolith Posted: 27 May 2019 10:17 AM PDT  Nearly one in four women in the USA will have an abortion by age 45 – obviously, not all of them share the same political views.
|
| Bannon’s Babies Among Outsiders Picking Up Seats in European Parliamentary Elections Posted: 26 May 2019 03:27 PM PDT  ShutterstockROME—When Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina that "happy families are all alike" but that "every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," he could have been talking about the European Union. As the final ballots are counted in the 2019 European Parliamentary elections—posited as the most important such elections in the history of the E.U.—it is clear that the member states are not on the same page. Each individual nation, it seems, sought to solve its own problems without much thought to how they will fit into one bloc or another. The far-right tsunami ballyhooed by American provocateur Steve Bannon, among others, failed to materialize as anticipated. Those parties did reasonably well in elections that often are viewed as a chance to protest the status quo rather than change policy, and Italy's Matteo Salvini clearly is on a roll. But the real surprise for many europundits was the surge in green parties, as younger voters across the Continent seized on the environment as the most important issue for their future.Inside Bannon's Plan to Hijack Europe for the Far-RightWhat all this means is that for the first time in more than 40 years, the European Parliament will not be dominated by traditional coalitions of conservative moderates and socialists, replaced instead by cacophonous groups representing what use to be the margins, be they greens or populists. The far-right nationalist populists, as expected, performed well in countries where they had been polling in the lead, and where internal political divides have been particularly poisonous. The multi-national far-right coalition, Europe of Nations and Freedom, which includes the parties of Italy's Matteo Salvini and France's Marine Le Pen, who eked out a slim margin ahead of Emmanuel Macron's ruling centrist party, are on track to win 58 parliamentary seats—a whopping increase of 21 seats more than the member parties won in the last elections in 2014, but hardly a dominant force in a parliament with 751 seats.The party of the most successful far-right leader in Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, won a whopping 52 percent of the vote in his nation of 10 million. He has managed to take over most of the press and his authoritarian, anti-immigrant, and allegedly anti-Semitic policies saw his party suspended by the mainstream center-right bloc in the European Parliament only a few weeks ago. He may now add his party's 13 delegates to the far-right grouping.The Brexit Party of the ever disruptive Nigel Farage in the U.K, appears to have won 28 of 64 British seats after a well funded and organized campaign for representation in a parliament it intends to leave. Most of its votes came at the expense of the shambolic Conservative Party, whose leader, Prime Minister Theresa May, announced her resignation last week. But, collectively, the divided parties that favor remaining in the E.U., led by the Liberal Democrats, also made a strong showing.In Britain and other unhappy countries, far-right winners will claim, predictably, that the European Parliament vote will give them claims on their national governments. Le Pen immediately called on Macron to resign, but that is hardly likely since his mandate runs until 2022 and so does his party's absolute majority in the French national assembly. In the event, Le Pen's party edged out Macron's by less than one point, which, considering Macron's low poll ratings and France's many problems over the last year, is not very impressive. Both parties may end up with 23 seats. Meanwhile the candidates presenting themselves as representatives of the anarchic yellow vest "movement," which has disrupted French roads and trashed Paris every Saturday for months, attracted less than one percent of the vote.Salvini is something else. His party won only six percent of the vote back in 2014, and jumped to more than 30 percent in these elections. He'll be emboldened and may, as many analysts suggest, pull the plug on his fragile coalition with the Five Star movement, which did far worse than it had hoped. The sign he held up in his selfie tweet on the news of the preliminary results said it all: "The first party in Italy. Thank you." But the bric a brac on the shelf behind him said more: a photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a MAGA hat.When Greece's center-right New Democracy edged ahead of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's ruling coalition, Tsipras took the defeat to heart and called snap elections.The environment-first green parties were also clear winners, especially in France, Germany and Ireland, with the coalition expected to win 71 seats, nearly 20 more than five years ago. They are on track to be the fourth largest group in the parliament, which means even if they won't have enough power to make any meaningful change to how Europe deals with the threat of climate change, they will be able to make considerable noise.By Monday morning, if the elections are looked at as a contest between pro-European Union and eurosceptic trends, it appears the union has won. But as the dust settles on this important election, which may be the last in which the U.K. participates, it is clear that the European Union is not growing old gracefully. It is anything but clear what will happen when this motley parliament sits for the first time. "Everyone thinks of changing the world," Tolstoy also wrote. "But no one thinks of changing himself."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.
|
| What Americans Should Do on Memorial Day Posted: 26 May 2019 12:38 PM PDT  This Memorial Day put aside the politics and the shopping sprees. This day is about remembering one thing and one thing only: those who gave their lives in the service of their fellow Americans.That's actually a lot to take in. So many wars. So many causes. So many lives. It's impossible to remember them all. But for those looking for a place to start, here's one you can remember, even if you've never heard of him.We've all heard of O'Hare, the nation's busiest airport, site of some one million take-offs and landings every year. About eighty-three million passengers pass through its gates each year. Yet if you were to ask them where the name came from, few would have the slightest clue.But Butch O'Hare was someone worth remembering—especially on Memorial Day. Let's go back to February 20, 1942. On that date, Japanese pilots were chasing down the USS aircraft carrier Lexington and Task Force 11.In World War II, a carrier task force had two means to defend against enemy attack planes: its anti-aircraft guns on deck and a CAP on top (a combat air patrol of fighters from its flight deck).That day in February, the Lexington's CAP circled the air above the task force, scanning for the Japanese or waiting for radar to spot incoming enemy aircraft and vector the fighters to intercept them before the attacking planes reached the task force.When the first wave of Japanese planes approached, the combined defenses of Task Force 11 annihilated it. Not one of the enemy medium bombers reached the Lexington.
|
| Air New Zealand orders eight Boeing long-haul jets Posted: 26 May 2019 03:16 PM PDT  Air New Zealand said Monday it had ordered eight Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft in what it described as a "multi-billion dollar investment". Air New Zealand said it had secured a "significant discount" on the $US2.7 billion list price of the eight new aircraft but would not be publicly releasing how much it was paying. Chief executive Christopher Luxon said the 787-10 was "perfect" for the airline's Pacific Rim focus.
|
| UPDATE 2-Fiat Chrysler in tie-up talks with Renault - sources Posted: 25 May 2019 12:13 PM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Fiat Chrysler in tie-up talks with Renault - sources]( "UPDATE 2-Fiat Chrysler in tie-up talks with Renault - sources") MILAN/PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler and Renault are in talks on a comprehensive global tie-up that could address some of the main weaknesses of both carmakers, two sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters on Saturday. The talks are at an advanced stage, the sources said. The Financial Times https://on.ft.com/2HRDghE earlier reported that FCA and Renault were discussing a deal to forge "extensive ties" to tackle structural challenges facing the global auto industry.
|
| People love Apple’s official saddle brown leather iPhone case, and it’s 40% off today on Amazon Posted: 27 May 2019 09:13 AM PDT ![People love Apple's official saddle brown leather iPhone case, and it's 40% off today on Amazon]( "People love Apple's official saddle brown leather iPhone case, and it's 40% off today on Amazon") Apple's official leather iPhone cases are two things: gorgeous, and expensive. There's usually no arguing with either, but today they can't really be called expensive. Amazon is running a great sale that slashes a whopping 40% off the price of the Apple Leather Case for iPhone XS and Apple Leather Case for iPhone XS Max, slashing either case to just $29.99. Oh, and the best part is this sale covers the most popular color in Apple's leather case lineup -- Saddle Brown!Here are the highlights from the product page: * These Apple-designed cases fit snugly over the curves of your iPhone without adding bulk. * They're made from specially tanned and finished European leather, so the outside feels soft to the touch and develops a natural patina over time. * The machined aluminum buttons match the finish of your leather case, while a microfiber lining inside helps protect your iPhone. * And you can keep it on all the time, even when you're charging wirelessly.
|
| Rouhani says Iran could hold referendum on nuclear programme as tensions with US rise Posted: 26 May 2019 09:04 AM PDT  Iran's president Hassan Rouhani has suggested that the Islamic Republic could hold a public referendum on its nuclear programme, in the wake of rising tensions in the Persian Gulf. "Article 59 of the Constitution (referendum) is a deadlock breaker ... and could be a problem-solver at any junction," the semi-official news agency ILNA quoted Rouhani as saying late on Saturday. The statement followed Mr Rouhani's public dressing-down by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his handling of the country's fast-unravelling nuclear deal. In recent weeks, Mr Rouhani responded to a new round of crippling US economic sanctions against Tehran by threatening to walk away from terms of the 2015 agreement, which the US withdrew from last year. This approach appears to have pushed the country uncomfortably close to military confrontation with the US. Since US President Donald Trump withdrew, his government has dialled up pressure on Iran by blocking global oil exports and stoking long-simmering tensions in the region. Citing an unnamed threat against American troops in the Middle East, the US sent warships and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf earlier this month, further escalating the potential for conflict. Tehran has described the US buildup of troops and material as psychological warfare and a political game. While many in Iran's leadership have insisted they do not want a war with the US, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's public chastising of the Islamic Republic's president reflects his more hawkish position. Ayatollah Khamenei has long maintained the view that Iranian negotiators surrendered too much in the deal. Last summer, he said they had "trespassed the red lines that had been set" and that the country owed the little it had thanks to his advice to Mr Rouhani. Without this guidance, the ayatollah said, "we would have given up more." Mr Rouhani's move to put a referendum on the table could help him settle this internal dispute without losing face and provide political cover for whichever path voters backed. The Iranian public has been broadly supportive of the nuclear deal and its attendant possibilities for economic growth. The country's middle classes in particular have been exhausted by years of sanctions and currency depreciation. But there is also an alternate view that sees a referendum as a device to offer Iranian leadership a pathway back to enrichment. Iran has held three referendums since its 1979 Islamic revolution, the first to approve the set-up of an Islamic Republic and the second to approve and amend the constitution. Mr Rouhani said he proposed a third, on the nuclear issue, to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei back in 2004 while negotiating the nuclear deal.
|
| Kremlin rebuffs call to release Ukrainian sailors Posted: 27 May 2019 04:01 AM PDT ![Kremlin rebuffs call to release Ukrainian sailors]( "Kremlin rebuffs call to release Ukrainian sailors") The Kremlin on Monday rebuffed a call by an international maritime tribunal for Russia to release 24 Ukrainian sailors, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the strait where Russian security forces captured them. The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on Saturday said Moscow should release the sailors immediately and that both nations should refrain from taking any action that might aggravate the dispute. The Russian navy captured the Ukrainian sailors and their three vessels in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, on Nov. 25, 2018, after opening fire on them.
|
| Mike Pence: West Point grads should expect to see combat Posted: 26 May 2019 08:35 AM PDT  WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence told the most diverse graduating class in the history of the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday that the world is "a dangerous place" and they should expect to see combat.
|
| Billionaire Huawei Founder Defiant in Face of Existential Threat Posted: 26 May 2019 03:00 PM PDT  In an interview with Bloomberg Television, the billionaire founder of China's largest technology company conceded that Trump administration export curbs will cut into a two-year lead Huawei had painstakingly built over rivals like Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj. The U.S. on May 17 blacklisted Huawei -- which it accuses of aiding Beijing in espionage -- and cut it off from the U.S. software and components it needs to make its products.
|
| Macron and Le Pen in battle for EU's soul Posted: 26 May 2019 01:32 AM PDT  The fight between President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen in Sunday's European election in France mirrors a larger battle across the continent between competing visions of bloc's future. Macron, France's youngest ever president, and Le Pen have a lot riding on the results of the polls which both have pitched as a re-run of their duel for the presidency two years ago. The last opinion surveys appeared to show the far-right National Rally (RN) with a slight edge over Macron's centrist alliance, including his Republic on the Move (LREM) party.
|
| Europe’s Populists Don’t Look So Healthy Close-Up Posted: 27 May 2019 04:06 AM PDT  To avoid having to argue terminology in every specific case, I've made up an inoffensive acronym for the populist, illiberal, nationalist and euroskeptic parties: PINE. Some of these political forces are members of one of three nationalist, populist and euroskeptical groups in the outgoing European Parliament – European Conservatives and Reformers, Europe of Nations and Freedom and Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy – and others aren't.
|
| Flying this summer? 8 things to know if you haven't been on a plane for a year Posted: 26 May 2019 05:52 PM PDT  Summer travelers can expect busier airports, higher bag fees and seat selection fees, more basic economy tickets and potentially longer TSA lines.
|
| Algeria to block Total from buying Anadarko’s Algerian assets - minister Posted: 26 May 2019 12:25 PM PDT ![Algeria to block Total from buying Anadarko's Algerian assets - minister]( "Algeria to block Total from buying Anadarko's Algerian assets - minister") Algeria will block Total from acquiring Anadarko's assets in Algeria, energy minister Mohamed Arkab told reporters on a sidelines of a conference on Sunday. Occidental Petroleum has agreed to sell Anadarko Petroleum Corporation's assets in Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa to Total for $8.8 billion if the U.S. oil company succeeds in completing its plan to take over Anadarko.
|
| FEDS concerned drug lord 'El Chapo' may escape from New York prison Posted: 26 May 2019 09:13 PM PDT  Guzman is currently behind bars at a federal correctional facility in New York convicted on 10 counts of drug trafficking and conspiracy to murder.
|
| iPhone 11 and Huawei Mate 30 will put 2019 Android flagship phones to shame Posted: 27 May 2019 08:50 AM PDT  Apple and Huawei are both set to launch new flagships in the second half of the year, including the iPhone 11 and Huawei Mate 30 that will launch in September, and October, respectively. Huawei might be dealing with a huge headache right now as its ability to do business has been seriously hit by the Trump ban, but it's likely that the Mate 30 launch will proceed as scheduled. When the iPhone 11 and Mate 30 do launch, they'll pack the fastest processors of the year, with Apple's A13 likely to be the more powerful of the two. We saw the same thing happen about a year ago. Huawei was first to announce a 7nm processor for mobile devices, the Kirin 980 that eventually powered the Mate 20. However, it was Apple a few days later that actually launched the world's first commercially available 7nm processor.This year, TSMC is making a brand new type of 7nm chip using EUV lithography. The company has already started mass production, Digitimes reported on Friday. Separately, MyDrives noted that the Kirin 985 will be the first chip built to use the 7nm EUV tech, adding that Apple's A13 will also get the same treatment. As was the case last year, Apple will probably be the first smartphone vendor to launch a product featuring a next-gen processor technology.MyDrivers also says that TSMC will not stop supplying parts to Huawei in spite of the US restrictions. International companies don't have to adhere to the import ban, although some of them did. One of them is ARM, a critical Huawei partner, because some of ARM's tech is developed in the United States. Reports said last week that ARM had instructed all employees not to assist Huawei on the Kirin development front. That said, the Kirin 985 processor that will power the Mate 30 this year, and next year's Huawei flagships for the first half of the year, is safe.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment