| Alaskan teenager convinced by online fraudster to murder mentally ill girl for $9 million Posted: 19 Jun 2019 10:33 AM PDT  An Alaskan teenager has been charged with conspiring to murder her friend after a man she met online offered her $9 million (£7m) to commit the crime. Denali Brehmer, 18, struck up a friendship with a man she believed to be "Tyler", a wealthy businessman from Kansas. The man was in fact 21-year-old Darin Schilmiller of Indiana. The pair spoke online about a plan to rape and murder someone in Alaska, sending Schilmiller videos and photos of the act in exchange for the money. Brehmer then recruited a group of friends, and they chose their victim – Cynthia Hoffman, 19, described as one of Brehmer's best friends, who her father said had a learning disability and the mental age of a 12 year-old. Police said the teenagers agreed to help carry out the murder and in exchange, "all of them would receive a significant sum of money for their part in the planning and/or execution of the murder." Tim Hoffman, father of Cynthia Hoffman, in court on June 18 On June 2 Hoffman was lured to a hiking trail, Thunderbird Falls, northeast of Anchorage, where she was bound with duct tape and shot once in the back of the head by Brehmer's accomplice Kayden McIntosh, a homeless 16-year-old boy. Hoffman's body was then pushed into a river. "I put out search parties," said Hoffman's father Tim. He sent Brehmer a text message asking where his daughter was, and Brehmer replied that she would be home soon. "I drove my motorcycle through woods and bike paths. I floored it all over town doing speed limits I should not have been doing looking for my kid," he said. "When she didn't come home the first day, I knew something was wrong. When she didn't come home the second day, I knew something was wrong. And then all I could think about was the knock on the door." Hoffman's body was discovered near the waterfall two days later. Authorities say Brehmer communicated with Schilmiller throughout the murder, sending him "Snapchat photographs and videos of Hoffman tied up and of the body afterward." Both Brehmer and McIntosh have been arrested and charged in relation to the murder. Kayden McIntosh, 16, in court in Alaska on June 18 "I know what I did was wrong. I know I could have probably done something different," said Brehmer, during her arraignment. Schilmiller has also been arrested along with three others accused of assisting in the planning or execution of the killing. All six have pleaded not guilty. Schilmiller and Brehmer were also indicted on Tuesday on federal child pornography and child exploitation charges. Police said that a search on Brehmer's phone during their investigation into Hoffman's death revealed that the teen - at Schilmiller's direction - had produced videos depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a minor and sent them to Schilmiller. Court documents say Schilmiller admitted to attempting to blackmail Brehmer after the murder into sexually assaulting young girls. Both face up to life in prison on the child pornography charges. They also face up to 99 years in prison for each of the murder charges, the conspiracy to commit murder charge, and the solicitation to commit murder charge. "All I know is my daughter didn't deserve all this," said Mr Hoffman. "She should have the friends that she wanted. "I have one thing in my mind right now. And that's to send all six of them to Hell. "And I ain't gonna rest until it's done. And then after it's done I'll show my emotions." Bryan Schroder, US attorney for Alaska, advised parents to keep an eye on how their children were using the internet. "For all of the good the internet can do, it can be a dark place and parents would be wise to monitor the activity of their children online."
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| U.S. Navy says mine fragments suggest Iran behind Gulf tanker attack Posted: 19 Jun 2019 04:24 AM PDT  The United States sought on Wednesday to bolster its case for isolating Iran over its nuclear and regional activities by displaying limpet mine fragments it said came from an oil tanker damaged in an attack last week and saying the ordnance looked Iranian in origin. Separately, a senior U.S. official said U.S. intelligence had confirmed that Iranian vessels had approached the damaged tanker, the Kokuka Courageous, as well as a second one, the Front Altair, prior to explosions that damaged their hulls last week. Iran has denied involvement in explosive strikes on those two tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week and on four tankers off the United Arab Emirates on May 12, both near the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies.
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| Great white shark lured to fisherman's boat in Jaws-like incident off Jersey Shore Posted: 19 Jun 2019 11:26 AM PDT  A man in New Jersey spotted a great white shark while out fishing on Monday - and caught the whole thing on camera.In what he called the "best day ever on the water," boat captain Jeff Crilly lured the shark towards his boat, Big Nutz Required II, with a bag of food.The incident happened as Mr Crilly was sailing in the Manasquan inlet off the coast of New Jersey, known as the Jersey Shore, with his brother Scott.In a video later posted to Facebook, the shark leaps up to the boat, giving the two-man crew a shock."We saw like v-waves, little ripples, in the back of the slick. We're like – there's something in there," Jeff later told Pix 11. "The shark would be from tail, here at the end of the boat – it's head would be inside the boat… easily.Despite the seemingly immediate danger, the brothers laughed and yelled "this thing is huge!" as the shark approaches them. The cheers veer into nerves, with a chorus of "Holy s***!" as the animal appears to get closer.Mr Crilly says he thinks the shark was about 16 to 18 feet long."This is the coolest f****** thing I've ever seen!" the narrator of the video, presumed to be Mr Crilly, says as the shark leaps towards his boat. "Once in a lifetime."Later, he told the Asbury Park Press "We've fished for sharks a lot and never seen anything like that.""We were amazed by how big it was," he added.Last month, a great white shark was spotted in the nearby Long Island Sound. Those who spotted it said it was their first sighting of the animal "ever."
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| Biden clashes with 2020 rivals over his work with segregationist senators Posted: 19 Jun 2019 07:37 PM PDT  Former vice-president defies calls for apology after highlighting his relationships with lawmakers known for racist viewsJoe Biden speaks in Davenport, Iowa, on 11 June. Photograph: Jordan Gale/ReutersThe Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden responded with defiance after a day of sharp criticism from fellow Democrats, after he named two southern segregationist senators as people he had managed to work with during his career. In comments at a Wall Street fundraising event on Monday, Biden said that, despite major disagreements, he had worked with the senators with "some civility". When reporters asked Biden late on Wednesday if he would apologize for his comments, the former vice-president responded, dismissively: "Apologize for what?""Cory [Booker] should apologize," Biden told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the senator from New Jersey, who was among those attacking Biden for his comments. "He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career. Period."Biden's initial comments about "civility", designed to illustrate his claim that one of his greatest strengths was to "bring people together", had sparked immediate condemnation from Democrats, including Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Booker, who are among his rivals for the party's presidential nomination. "Biden's relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone," Booker said in a statement. He called for the former vice-president to issue "an immediate apology".Instead, Biden asked Booker, who is black, to apologize, and touted his record on civil rights.In a run for president in 1988, Biden claimed in political speeches that he had marched in the civil rights movement, though in fact the New York Times reported earlier this month that he had not.The condemnation of Biden's comments about his record of "civility" in politics, and Biden's fierce pushback, came as House Democrats held a historic congressional hearing on whether the federal government should pay reparations for slavery, and for the more than a century of state-sponsored discrimination against black Americans since emancipation.The debate over reparations puts a spotlight on the reluctance of many white Americans to take responsibility for their country's racist history, and on the tensions within the Democratic party over how to address racial inequality without alienating white voters.Biden, 76, is currently a frontrunner in the primary race. But he is also facing renewed scrutiny for his record on racism and civil rights, including his role as the architect of the punitive criminal justice policies of the early 1990s, which disproportionately harmed black and brown Americans.The 76-year-old Biden, who was first elected to the US Senate in 1972, led a fight early in his career against bussing students across school districts to desegregate American schools, a policy designed to ensure that black children would get the benefit of integrated school system, and one that many white parents fiercely opposed. During this fight, Biden sought and obtained the support of James Eastland, a racist Southern Democrat who opposed desegregation, CNN reported earlier this year."I do not buy the concept, popular in the 60s, which said: 'We have suppressed the black man for 300 years and the white man is now far ahead,'" Biden told a local newspaper in his home state of Delaware in 1975. "In order to even the score, we must now give the black man a head start, or even hold the white man back. I don't buy that."In his initial comments at the Wall Street fundraiser at New York's Carlyle Hotel on Monday, Biden had cited that same late senator, James Eastland of Mississippi, as well as Herman E Talmadge of Georgia, as two senators with whom he disagreed, but still worked with and "got things done"."I was in a caucus with James O Eastland," Biden told guests of the event, briefly imitating the senator's southern drawl, according to the press pool report. "He never called me 'boy', he always called me 'son'," he said.He went on to describe Talmadge as "one of the meanest guys" he ever knew but said, "At least there was some civility. We got things done."Both senators are remembered for their racist views.Eastland, who died in 1986, was an avowed white supremacist known as the "voice of the white south" who came to symbolize white resistance to racial integration during the civil rights era and spoke of black people as "an inferior race".Talmadge, who served as a senator for Georgia from 1957 to 1981, was known as a staunch segregationist who ordered state schools to be closed rather than desegregated."You don't joke about calling black men 'boys'. Men like James O Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity," Booker said in his statement.New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio, another 2020 Democratic candidate, noted on Twitter that Eastland had sought to outlaw mixed race families and believed that "whites were entitled to 'the pursuit of dead n*ggers'"."It's past time for apologies or evolution from @JoeBiden," De Blasio wrote. "He repeatedly demonstrates that he is out of step with the values of the modern Democratic Party."> It's 2019 & @JoeBiden is longing for the good old days of "civility" typified by James Eastland. Eastland thought my multiracial family should be illegal & that whites were entitled to "the pursuit of dead n*ggers." (1/2) pic.twitter.com/yoOOkpaTX2> > — Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) June 19, 2019Saikat Chakrabarti, chief of staff for Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, wrote on Twitter: ".@JoeBiden, what DID you get done with segregationists? I know about how you worked with them to block school bussing to integrate schools. What other horrible stuff did you manage to build consensus on?"But some sought to temper their remarks. Booker said that while Biden shouldn't use the southern segregationists as examples of people who brought unity to the country, the former vice-president is someone he "respects".Biden's efforts to promote his willingness to seek agreement with Republicans has become a flashpoint for his campaign and leaves him vulnerable to accusations of appeasement for more extreme elements of the party.Among those issues is criticism that his handling of the Clarence Thomas supreme court confirmation hearings in 1991 was tantamount to giving Republicans the opportunity to ignore sexual harassment allegations levelled by Thomas' former assistant, Anita Hill.During the 2007 presidential campaign, Biden made headlines for calling Barack Obama, then one of his rivals in the Democratic primary, "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy".Biden later apologized and said the remark had been taken out of context. He later served as Obama's vice-president.
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| Interested in TSA PreCheck? It might soon be cheaper and easier to sign up Posted: 20 Jun 2019 08:35 AM PDT ![Interested in TSA PreCheck? It might soon be cheaper and easier to sign up]( "Interested in TSA PreCheck? It might soon be cheaper and easier to sign up") TSA, trying to boost enrollment in the expedited security program, is studying options including a shorter, cheaper membership and mobile enrollment.
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| Hellcat-Powered Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 6x6 Pickup Exists Because It Can Posted: 19 Jun 2019 11:45 AM PDT  When the going gets absurd, the absurd get a Jeep Wrangler Hellcat 6x6 at auction.
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| 9/11 responder who appeared with Jon Stewart on Capitol Hill is now in hospice care Posted: 19 Jun 2019 10:23 AM PDT  Lou Alvarez, a 53-year-old former NYPD detective who testified alongside Jon Stewart at last week's House Judiciary Committee hearing on reauthorizing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, says his cancer has worsened.
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| Egypt: UN office tries to politicize Morsi's courtroom death Posted: 19 Jun 2019 08:00 AM PDT  Egypt said Wednesday that the U.N. human rights office was trying to politicize the death of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, who collapsed inside a Cairo courtroom during his trial this week. Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president who hailed from the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, was buried under heavy security early on Tuesday, a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called Tuesday for a "prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation" into Morsi's death on Monday.
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| The Stealth Sniper: The F-22 Raptor Has a New Job Posted: 19 Jun 2019 10:45 AM PDT  The flying branch only bought 187 operational Raptors — out of an original goal of 381. The F-22 also won't fly into the 2060s without upgrades. Three years ago, four F-22 Raptors taking part in the second-wave of the U.S.-led coalition's opening airstrikes on Islamic State in Syria dropped their bombs. It was the first time the stealthy fifth-generation fighters had ever engaged in combat. The coalition's war planners also used the F-22s to leverage their low-observable profiles — and far-reaching sensors — while escorting non-stealthy fighters in case Syrian fighters or air-defense systems engaged.Fortunately, the Syrian military held its fire.Fast forward to today, and F-22 Raptors are still flying over Iraq and Syria and have shifted almost fully into that latter role, according to Air Force Magazine. "When we first got here, we were 95 percent precision strike. And now we're probably 95 percent air superiority," Lt. Col. "Shell" — a callsign — of the 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron told the magazine.This first appeared in October 2017.
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| Former Interpol chief pleads guilty in Chinese bribery case amid crackdown by authorities Posted: 20 Jun 2019 01:13 AM PDT  Meng Hongwei, the former president of Interpol, confessed to accepting more than $2 million (£1.6 million) in bribes and expressed regret for his crime, a Chinese court said Thursday. The No. 1 Intermediate Court in the northeastern port city of Tianjin said Mr Meng read a statement containing the confession at a hearing. That move assures a conviction, although it isn't immediately clear when a verdict and sentence would be handed down. Admitting guilt and expressing regret can result in slightly lighter punishment, although China has been quick to hand out life sentences as it cracks down on corruption and political disloyalty under a campaign run directly by the president and head of the ruling Communist Party, Xi Jinping. Elected president of the international police organization in 2016, Mr Meng disappeared into custody after traveling to China from France at the end of September. Interpol was not informed of Mr Meng's detention and was forced to ask China about his whereabouts. Interpol vice president Alexander Prokopchuk and and Meng Hongwei pictured in 2017 Credit: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images The Tianjin court said Mr Meng had abused his positions, including as a vice minister of public security and maritime police chief, to curry favor for others in return for bribes. Shown on television wearing a plain brown windbreaker and flanked by two bailiffs, Mr Meng appeared older and grayer than during his time as one of the nation's top law enforcement officers. He has already been fired from his positions and kicked out of the Communist Party. While serving at Interpol, Mr Meng retained his title as a vice minister of public security. There are suspicions he had fallen out of political favor with Mr Xi, who has come down hard on corruption and perceived disloyalty in what observers say is calculated to strengthen party control while bringing down potential challengers to his authority. Mr Meng's wife, Grace, has remained in France, where Mr Meng was stationed for Lyon-based Interpol, and has accused Chinese authorities of creating a "fake case" against him for political reasons.
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| Top Iranian official: 'There will not be a military confrontation' with U.S. Posted: 19 Jun 2019 05:04 AM PDT  The Trump administration appeared to escalate tensions with Tehran two days earlier by announcing the deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East.
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| 'Credible evidence' linking Saudi crown prince to Khashoggi murder: UN expert Posted: 19 Jun 2019 11:18 AM PDT  There is "credible evidence" linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, a UN expert said Wednesday, calling for sanctions on the prince's foreign assets. The conclusion was outlined in a report by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard. Callamard, an independent human rights expert who does not speak for the United Nations but reports her findings to it, called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to initiate an international criminal investigation into the case.
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| As U.S. Boosts Pressure, Iran Tests Trump's Appetite for a Fight Posted: 18 Jun 2019 02:02 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's campaign vow to get the U.S. out of costly foreign entanglements is colliding with the messy reality of America's commitments in the Middle East, where tensions are rising between Washington and Tehran after attacks on two tankers last week.The dilemma emerged again as the administration ordered another 1,000 troops to the region on Monday in response to what Trump officials say was Iran's role in the latest strikes. The Tehran government has rejected those accusations.So far the international response to the U.S. charges has been muted. With the rhetoric on both the American and Iranian sides rising, the relatively small deployment announced Monday appears calibrated to show the U.S. will push back on what it sees as Iran's bad behavior without changing the balance of American power in the region."Trump is very determined to avoid getting dragged into a military conflict if he can avoid it," said Gary Samore, a former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction in the Obama administration.The president seemed to reinforce that impression in a Time magazine interview published late Monday. "So far, it's been very minor," he said of the attacks. Asked if he was considering a military confrontation, he told Time, "I wouldn't say that. I can't say that at all."A Navy explosives expert who briefed reporters on the attacks at the Pentagon on Monday said the mines attached to a Japanese tanker were above the water line, which may indicate the attackers meant to damage the ship but not destroy it. A Pentagon spokesman later said the expert wasn't part of the U.S.'s official investigation into the attacks.Analysts say that the broader Trump approach to foreign policy -- exerting maximum pressure on adversaries to force concessions -- raises the risk of an unintended conflict and has yet to pay off. From Tehran to Caracas to Pyongyang, U.S. efforts to force hostile regimes to back down have met stubborn resistance, despite threats or demands from officials including National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.Read More: Pentagon Shares New Photos, Timeline of Gulf Oil Tanker AttacksBefore Bolton joined the Trump administration last year, he publicly advocated war with Iran to eliminate its nuclear program. And it was Pompeo who last year announced a lengthy list of demands Iran had to meet to enter talks with the U.S., only to have the president say he just wished officials in Tehran would call him to work things out."If it was up to others like Bolton and Pompeo, they would advocate more aggressive action but I don't see any sign Trump is spoiling for a fight," Samore said.The mixed messages and a general distrust of American motives have fueled doubts about U.S. intentions toward Iran, even among allies. The situation has been exacerbated, analysts say, by Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord and his administration's general skepticism of alliances and multilateral institutions."Unfortunately, our great comparative advantage as a nation — building and working with alliances — has eroded, particularly with respect to Iran," Brett McGurk, Trump's former envoy to the global coalition to combat the Islamic State, wrote in a tweet June 14. "Key western allies warned of this very circumstance and sequence of events when the US began its maximum pressure campaign a year ago."Trump may be even less willing to consider military force this week given he will symbolically kick off his re-election campaign on Tuesday in Florida. Though he campaigned in 2016 on promises to get out of overseas conflicts, Trump has struggled to draw down troops in Syria and Afghanistan, and now is in the position of sending more forces to the Middle East as he tries to convince voters he deserves another four years in office.Sensing inconsistencies in Trump's strategy, leaders in Tehran may even be trying to call the president's bluff.Limited OptionsIranian officials have indicated the country may stop abiding by some elements of the 2015 nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in days, a move experts argue is a carefully calibrated bid to exert new pressure for sanctions relief on European nations that have urged Iran to remain in the deal.Short of war, options for additional U.S. pressure include stepping up military escorts for tankers in the Gulf region or striking boats or facilities belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. has said was involved in the latest attacks.Air Force General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs, said Tuesday in Washington that the U.S. has communicated a message to Iran of "hands off -- don't come after our forces" in public statements as well as through Iraqi and Swiss intermediaries.If Iran "comes after U.S. citizens, U.S. assets or the U.S. military we reserve the right to respond with military action -- and they need to know that," Silva, the No. 2 U.S. military official, said at a breakfast with defense reporters.Selva, who's retiring next month, said tanker escorts like those the U.S. organized in the 1980s, would be "ill-advised" unless the "international community" fully participates.'Lot of Hysteria'"There's a lot of hysteria that holding Iran accountable has to be justified as a prelude to war," said Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We're already in the midst of a low-intensity conflict that has managed to regulate itself."Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump supporter, told reporters on Tuesday that "nobody's talking about an Iraq War, but we are talking about a military response on the the table that would cripple their ability" to disrupt oil flow and about "destroying their ability to refine oil."Yet others among Trump's allies, such as Republican Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, caution that the U.S. and Iran must not edge closer to conflict.McCaul said that American forces in the region are in a "defensive posture" to protect transit through the Straits of Hormuz and he warned that military action against Iran would be "very, very complicated.""I don't think anyone has the appetite for war, although we do have military plans, obviously, contingency plans, in the event that is to happen," McCaul said on Bloomberg Television. "I would caution that Iran is about the size of Iraq and Afghanistan combined and it would be very, very complicated."(Updates with Senator Graham in second paragraph after 'Lot of Hystery' subheadline.)\--With assistance from Margaret Talev, Daniel Flatley and Tony Capaccio.To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Sen. Rand Paul: It's a mistake to keep ramping things up in the Middle East Posted: 18 Jun 2019 01:58 PM PDT  Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. Rand Paul on U.S. sending additional troops to Middle East amid tensions with Iran.
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| Add These Expert-Approved Multivitamins to Your Diet ASAP Posted: 19 Jun 2019 01:15 PM PDT |
| High school graduates fall ill during trip to Dominican Republic Posted: 19 Jun 2019 08:06 AM PDT  A group of high school graduates are the latest to fall ill in the Dominican Republic.
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| Naval Expert: Why Russia Never Built Lots of Aircraft Carriers Posted: 18 Jun 2019 02:20 PM PDT  The aviation capability of the Russian navy is dangling by a thread. Kuznetsov is old and in poor condition, and no carrier is even close to be laid down. Historically a land power, the Soviet Union grappled with the idea of a large naval aviation arm for most of its history, eventually settling on a series of hybrid aircraft carriers. Big plans for additional ships died with the Soviet collapse, but Russia inherited one large aircraft carrier at the end of the Cold War—that remains in service today. Although many of the problems that wracked the naval aviation projects of the Soviet Union remain today, the Russian navy nevertheless sports one of the more active aircraft carriers in the world.Recommended: Air War: Stealth F-22 Raptor vs. F-14 Tomcat (That Iran Still Flies)Recommended: A New Report Reveals Why There Won't Be Any 'New' F-22 RaptorsRecommended: How an 'Old' F-15 Might Kill Russia's New Stealth FighterHistory of Russian Naval Aviation
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| Mars has a brand new crater, and it sure is pretty Posted: 18 Jun 2019 08:07 PM PDT  Mars, like any other rocky world, has its fair share of craters. These scars of ancient impacts give the dusty surface of the planet some serious personality, and sometimes it's easy to forget that new craters can happen right before our eyes. That's exactly what seems to have occurred, and a new image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals a brand new impact site that might only be a few months old.The image, which was captured by the HiRISE camera built into the orbiter, shows a bold dark patch of material surrounding a circular crater on the Martian surface. Researchers believe it might have been created as recently as February 2019.The University of Arizona posted the photo, along with the following caption:> An impressionist painting? No, it's a new impact crater that has appeared on the surface of Mars, formed at most between September 2016 and February 2019. What makes this stand out is the darker material exposed beneath the reddish dust.The photo itself was captured in April and is only just now getting the attention it deserves. However, because the orbiter can't be looking at the entire planet at all times, it's unclear when exactly the crater formed, and researchers can only narrow it down to sometime between September 2016 and February 2019.This is yet another great reminder of the fantastic work NASA's Mars orbiter has been doing for years now. The spacecraft originally launched way back in 2005 and arrived at Mars in March of the following year. When it did, its primary mission was only scheduled to last for two years, but it has since put in over 13 years of faithful service for scientists. As long as it keeps producing images like this one, we hope it keeps going for a long time to come.
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| PG&E settles California fire claims with local governments for $1 billion Posted: 18 Jun 2019 04:08 PM PDT  PG&E Corp will pay $1 billion as part of its bankruptcy reorganization to more than a dozen local governments in California struck by wildfires in recent years, the company and lawyers for the governments said on Tuesday. Payments to the local governments will settle claims from lawsuits put on hold by PG&E's bankruptcy and are separate from the thousands of individual claims stemming from wildfires that the company expects will be filed against it during the bankruptcy period. PG&E will not be able to make settlement payments until it receives court approval for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan.
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| New Zealand opens gun buyback after mosque killings Posted: 19 Jun 2019 07:19 PM PDT  New Zealand opened a gun buyback scheme Thursday aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons similar to those used in the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed in the hours after the March 15 killings that New Zealand's gun laws would be tightened and her government has expedited the change in just three months. "The buyback and amnesty has one objective -- to remove the most dangerous weapons from circulation following the loss of life at Al Noor and Linwood mosques," Police Minister Stuart Nash said.
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| 'The biggest joke in politics': Trump campaign chief disses 2020 polling Posted: 19 Jun 2019 08:03 AM PDT  "The country is too complex now just to call a couple hundred people and ask them what they think," Brad Parscale said.
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| Echoing Beijing, Duterte’s Government Now Calls Boat Collision an ‘Accident’ Posted: 19 Jun 2019 12:26 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The Philippine government has fallen in with Beijing's explanation that a Chinese vessel didn't intentionally hit a Filipino boat in the South China Sea on June 9.Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday described the incident as "just an accident," adding the Chinese vessel may have left after hitting and sinking a Philippine boat with 22 fishermen out of fear of being "besieged" by other boats near Reed Bank."Maybe the other side didn't mean to brush against our boat," Lorenzana said at a televised briefing in Manila on Wednesday.The Philippines' Navy chief earlier said the Chinese vessel "rammed" the Filipino boat which was anchored when it was hit, while the spokesman of the military unit in charge of the disputed waters said the incident was "far from accidental." Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin also protested the incident, which he said he'd call a "hit and run."Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is not favoring China after the incident, said Lorenzana, who has also called for an apology and compensation from the Chinese vessel's captain for damaging the Philippine boat.China's Foreign Ministry earlier described the incident as an "accidental collision," while Beijing's embassy in Manila said the Chinese vessel's crew was "afraid" of other Philippine boats in the area, prompting the captain to leave the Filipino fishermen.The sunken Philippine boat's crew wants Duterte to ask China to hold the Chinese vessel's captain criminally liable for abandoning them at sea, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said at a separate briefing after meeting the fishermen."There is no justification to the act of the Chinese vessel to abandon the Filipino fishermen. Under international maritime laws, that is illegal. Under human laws, that is immoral," Pinol said.To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Ruth PollardFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Airbus Vows to Fight Boeing for a Massive Jet Order That Could Mark the 737 Max's Turnaround Posted: 20 Jun 2019 05:36 AM PDT  British Airways' owner said it would purchase 200 737 Max aircraft, which are still grounded
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| The Latest: Alex Jones sanctioned in Sandy Hook lawsuit Posted: 18 Jun 2019 02:21 PM PDT  A Connecticut judge has imposed sanctions on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for an outburst on his web show against a lawyer for relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook School shooting. Judge Barbara Bellis on Tuesday ordered the Infowars host to pay some of the relatives' legal fees and prohibited him from filing motions to dismiss their defamation lawsuit against him. The families of several of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 shooting are suing Jones, Infowars and others for promoting a theory that the massacre was a hoax.
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| It's Time for America to Break with Beijing Posted: 19 Jun 2019 05:51 AM PDT  SOME MISTAKES are repeated over the course of generations. For more than four decades, American presidents sought a closer relationship with China, working to "engage" that country so as to "enmesh" it into the international system. Richard Nixon, in his landmark Foreign Affairs article in 1967, provided the rationale for engagement, arguing the Chinese state could not be isolated. "Taking the long view," he famously wrote then, "we simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations, there to nurture its fantasies, cherish its hates and threaten its neighbors."Since the early 1970s, American policymakers believed they could avoid such nurturing, cherishing and threatening by making the success of the Communist Party of China a goal of U.S. foreign policy. With interests defined this way, American presidents helped China's communists at crucial moments.The first of those moments came in 1972, during the latter stages of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Years of internal fighting and chaos—essentially civil war—had weakened China's ruling organization, but Nixon's visit that year signaled support for Mao's tottering regime. "We're damned," said Shanghai banker Wu Yaonan at the time, as recounted by democracy activist Chin Jin. "The United States is coming to the rescue of the Communist Party."
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| Top Democrat Pelosi: U.S. has no appetite to go to war with Iran Posted: 20 Jun 2019 08:01 AM PDT  U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday the United States has no appetite to go to war with Iran, after Tehran shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone in the Gulf region. "I think it's a dangerous situation," Pelosi said.
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| A Visual Timeline of Hong Kong's Anti-Extradition Bill Protests Posted: 19 Jun 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Hong Kong recently saw massive protests over a controversial bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China. Here's a timeline of key events.
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| Photos of the 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC63 S Coupe Posted: 18 Jun 2019 11:00 AM PDT |
| The Latest: Witness says he saw Navy SEAL stab prisoner Posted: 19 Jun 2019 08:31 PM PDT  A Navy SEAL has testified that he saw a comrade stab a wounded and captive Islamic State fighter in Iraq in 2017. Then-Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Craig Miller, who has since been promoted to chief, testified Wednesday that Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher plunged his knife twice into the neck of the teenage prisoner after providing medical care. Miller denied that accusation during Gallagher's court-martial.
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| Trump says Iran has made 'big mistake' after spy drone shot down in Gulf Posted: 20 Jun 2019 08:47 AM PDT  Donald Trump has warned Tehran that it has made a "very big" error, after Iran shot down a US spy drone near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. "Iran made a very big mistake!" the president tweeted. Mr Trump's comments came after the US said that the shooting down of one of its drones, an RQ-4 Global Hawk, amounts to an "unprovoked attack" by Iran, as tensions continue to rise in the Gulf. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards claimed to have taken down the "spy" plane above Iranian territory on Thursday morning. But the US said the drone was in international airspace. Gulf of Oman, US responds "Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false," said Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military's Central Command. "This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace." The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) can fly at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, gathering near real-time, high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather, maker Northrop Grumman says on its website. The US military has, in recent days, confirmed an attempt by Iran to shoot down a US drone last week as well as the successful shooting down of one on June 6 by Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen. A senior Iranian security official said on Wednesday Iran would "strongly respond" to any violation of its airspace. "Our airspace is our red line and Iran has always responded and will continue to respond strongly to any country that violates our airspace," the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security council as saying. An oil tanker is seen after it was attacked at the Gulf of Oman Credit: Reuters Tension between Iran and the United States has spiked since last year when Mr Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers and reimposed sanctions on it. Concern about a military confrontation has increased since attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week and on four tankers off the United Arab Emirates on May 12, both near the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies. The United States and its regional ally, Saudi Arabia, blamed Iran for the incidents. Iran has denied responsibility. The US military has sent forces, including aircraft carriers, B-52 bombers and troops to the Middle East. However, Trump said he does not seek war with Iran. Iran said last week that it was responsible for the security of the Strait of Hormuz, calling on American forces to leave the Gulf. In protest at Mr Trump's "maximum pressure", in May Iran said it would start enriching uranium at a higher level unless other European signatories to the nuclear deal protected its economy from the U.S. sanctions within 60 days.
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| Xiaomi Eyes $725 Million Expansion to Stave Off Huawei in China Posted: 18 Jun 2019 11:55 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Xiaomi Corp. aims to spend an additional 5 billion yuan ($725 million) expanding its Chinese retail network over the next three years, anticipating a re-doubled effort by Huawei Technologies Co. to grow its domestic market share.The smartphone maker will spend the money on expanding distribution channels and on reward programs for its partners and sales employees, a person familiar with the matter said, citing an internal meeting convened by billionaire co-founder Lei Jun Tuesday. That spending comes on top of an existing budget for building up its retail operations. Chinese media outlet Caixin reported on the investment earlier.Huawei is said to be preparing for a drop in international smartphone shipments of 40% to 60% as the Trump administration bars its access to American components and software. That means Google will cut off popular apps like YouTube and stop providing updates for the Android system that powers all of Huawei's devices abroad. It wants to grab as much as half of the smartphone market in China in 2019 to offset that decline overseas, people familiar with the matter have said, citing internal discussions about year-end goals. It hopes to get there also by investing in marketing and expanding distribution channels.Xiaomi aims to become the country's top vendor but its priority is to at least become No. 3, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing internal goals. The company currently ranks fourth. It sees the roll-out of next-generation 5G mobile networks in coming years as a golden opportunity to boost sales on its home turf, the person added.Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi now commands about 12% of the Chinese smartphone market versus Huawei's 34%, Canalys estimates. Its shipments slid 13% in the first quarter while its rivals' soared 41%, the research outfit estimated.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The List: Top 3 .308 Semi-Automatic Rifles on the Planet Today Posted: 18 Jun 2019 08:00 PM PDT  Are you on the market for a .308 semi-automatic rifle? If so, you'll be glad to hear that there are several high quality choices for you available on the marketplace, which each offer excellent performance, accuracy, durability, and reliability.There are three models that stand out in particular: the Century Arms C308, Ruger SR-762, and the Springfield M1A.Each of these choices certainly have their pros and cons, but they also each offer unique advantages that we will dive into in-depth with this article. We'll also talk about the best benefits of owning a .308 semi-automatic rifle to begin with.THE BENEFITS OF OWNING A .308 SEMI-AUTOMATICA solid case can be made that the .308 semi-automatic rifle is the most versatile centerfire rifle that you can own today.
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| In rare rebuke, Senate votes to block Trump administration's weapons deal with Saudi Arabia Posted: 20 Jun 2019 09:24 AM PDT  The unusual rebuke by GOP-run Senate highlights a growing rift between Congress and the White House over the Trump administration's pro-Saudi policies.
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| EU to extend economic sanctions on Russia until 2020 Posted: 20 Jun 2019 05:39 AM PDT ![EU to extend economic sanctions on Russia until 2020]( "EU to extend economic sanctions on Russia until 2020") European Union leaders will decide on Thursday to prolong until the end of January 2020 economic sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine and call on Moscow to help bring to justice those guilty of shooting down a passenger plane there in 2014. The EU slapped sanctions on Russia after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and went on to support rebels fighting Kiev troops in the east of the country. The downing there in July 2014 of a Malaysian passenger plane marked another turning point for the EU's response to the crisis.
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| 12 Designs We Need From Wayfair’s Super Affordable New Collection Posted: 19 Jun 2019 07:13 AM PDT |
| Terrifying images show enormous spider eating a possum in Australia Posted: 19 Jun 2019 02:35 PM PDT  A recently published set of photos on Facebook shows a terrifyingly largespider eating a possum at a cabin in Australia
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| Attorney Michael Avenatti faces November trial in New York Posted: 18 Jun 2019 02:35 PM PDT  California attorney Michael Avenatti learned Tuesday that he faces a November trial date on charges he tried to extort millions of dollars from Nike. The Nov. 12 trial date was set by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe at a pretrial hearing in Manhattan. Avenatti participated by telephone.
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| Trump kicks off new campaign with airing of old grievances Posted: 18 Jun 2019 07:02 PM PDT  President Trump stuck to his old themes and complaints in his campaign "kickoff" speech in Orlando on Tuesday night. He railed against "fake news," "socialism," investigations into his administration, the Democrats running to replace him, former President Barack Obama and the Clinton family in the speech, which lasted well over an hour.
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| New York votes to give drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants Posted: 18 Jun 2019 10:33 AM PDT  NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says it's the fair, smart and safe thing to do.
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| NASA says there’s ‘no doubt’ SpaceX Crew Dragon explosion has pushed back crewed flights Posted: 18 Jun 2019 11:48 AM PDT  NASA desperately needs a way to get its astronauts into space without paying for pricey seats aboard Russian rockets, but the agency's two best hopes -- SpaceX and Boeing -- are stumbling a bit at the finish line. Boeing's Starliner has been plagued by delays nearly from the start, and SpaceX is now dealing with its own list of problems.In remarks to reporters at the Paris Airshow, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine admitted that the recent destruction of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule during static testing is a major setback for NASA's crewed flight schedule. The race to be the first to deliver a suitable solution for NASA's needs now appears to be anyone's game."There is no doubt the schedule will change," Bridenstine reportedly said during his brief talk. "It won't be what was originally planned."Back in late April, something went seriously wrong during a static test of Crew Dragon's thrusters. The thrusters being tested were those that would spring into action if a launch had to be aborted after it had already lifted off. They're designed to push the crew capsule away from the rest of the launch vehicle, keeping the crew safe.Unfortunately, a glitch that so far has been described only as "an anomaly" occurred and the entire Crew Dragon capsule was destroyed in a fiery explosion. Details regarding exactly what went wrong have been scant, but both NASA and SpaceX are still conducting their investigations into the matter.Up until that point, SpaceX was clearly beating competitor Boeing in the race to finish a crew-capable NASA spacecraft. However, an explosion can be a pretty big setback, and now it's unclear when SpaceX will be able to resume its testing and get back on track. In the meantime, NASA will just have to wait.
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| The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Makes an Insane 760 Horsepower Posted: 19 Jun 2019 05:55 AM PDT  When Ford claimed this would be the most powerful Mustang ever, it wasn't kidding.
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| Pompeo ups pressure on Russia over four MH17 accused Posted: 19 Jun 2019 07:35 PM PDT  Moscow must ensure that those charged with murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 face justice, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, after international investigators accused three Russians and a Ukrainian over the disaster. The trial of the four men with military and intelligence links will start in the Netherlands in March next year, although they are likely to be tried in absentia as neither Russia nor Ukraine extradites their nationals. The Dutch-led inquiry team on Wednesday said international arrest warrants had been issued for Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, all of whom are suspected of roles in the separatist Donetsk People's Republic.
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| To Deter Iran, Give War a Chance Posted: 19 Jun 2019 05:50 AM PDT  In April, Iran's theocratic rulers vowed to disrupt shipping in the vitally important Persian Gulf. Last week, they made good on that promise, attacking two oil tankers owned by U.S. treaty allies Japan and Norway. And now the regime is vowing to stockpile enriched uranium in its latest act of nuclear blackmail.Tehran is counting on its long record of getting away with attacks on the free world. But sooner or later we must draw a line and give war a chance against the government that has always seen itself as being at war with us.The coordinated attacks on the oil tankers are only the latest in a long line of Iranian military actions, both directly and through proxies it controls. In early May, Tehran attacked four commercial ships. A few days later, its surrogates launched a rocket at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, mounted an attack in Afghanistan that wounded four U.S. soldiers. The Iranians also fired on a U.S. drone.
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| Polo club frequented by Prince William and Harry in row with neighbours over plans to double capacity Posted: 20 Jun 2019 06:10 AM PDT  A polo club frequented by the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex is embroiled in a row with neighbours over plans to double its capacity to 10,000 people. Residents believe the proposal, which was approved yesterday, will bring huge crowds that will cause extra noise and blight the area, and have complained to the council. The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club in Winkfield submitted the plans to the Bracknell Forest Council licensing panel. One resident, who objected to the proposal, said: "Increasing the capacity of the premises is likely to have a negative impact on the prevention of public nuisance licensing objective. "Because a larger audience requires greater sound volume to penetrate both the greater area and the greater hubbub of chatter by the people attending. "We can hear the noise from their entertainments and are disturbed by it at night even though we live over half a mile away." Another said there would be a "significant increase" in traffic as well as the "major increase" in noise. In particular they said it would be a problem when loud music bands play on long summer nights after the polo. Prince Charles became a patron of the 220 acre polo club - just a stones throw from Windsor Castle - after it opened in 1985. This then led to both his sons playing there regularly. Just last July the Duke of Sussex shared a passionate kiss with his new wife, the Duchess of Sussex, after a game. He scored twice as his team won 5-4. The venue currently has an alcohol licence and can play music until 2am. John Newcombe, a licensing consultant representing the club, said at the licensing meeting: "We are not here to annoy our neighbours. "We are here to be an asset to the community."
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| Apple explores moving 15-30% of production capacity from China: Nikkei Posted: 19 Jun 2019 02:13 AM PDT  Apple's request was a result of the extended Sino-U.S. trade dispute, but a trade resolution will not lead to a change in the company's decision, Nikkei said, citing multiple sources. The iPhone maker has decided the risks of depending heavily on manufacturing in China are too great and even rising, it said. Earlier this month, credit rating agency Fitch said it views Apple, Dell Technologies Inc and HP Inc as potential blacklist candidates if China blacklists U.S. companies in retaliation for restrictions on Huawei.
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| Investigators crack cold case murder of South Dakota woman Posted: 18 Jun 2019 12:55 PM PDT  The murder of a pharmacist who was raped and strangled in her home in a South Dakota city more than half a century ago has been solved with the use of DNA technology and genealogy databases, police said. Investigators believe Eugene Carroll Field killed 60-year-old Gwen Miller in 1968 when he was a 25-year-old living in Rapid City, Detective Wayne Keefe said at a news conference Monday. It is "a little surreal" to finally identify the killer after 51 years and up to 5,000 hours of work, Keefe said.
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