| Trump says he abruptly canceled retaliatory strike on Iran after drone attack Posted: 21 Jun 2019 11:46 AM PDT  There are no indications that Trump's decision will be reversed, the official said.
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| Citing bias, US Supreme Court tosses murder conviction of black man Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:16 AM PDT  The US Supreme Court on Friday threw out the conviction of an African-American man who was tried six times for a quadruple murder, saying the exclusion of black jurors was unconstitutional. Curtis Flowers, 49, was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to death for the July 1996 murders of four people in a furniture store in Winona, Mississippi, where he had briefly worked until being fired. The nation's highest court did not examine the guilt or innocence of Flowers but whether the district attorney deliberately sought to keep black people off the jury in his most recent trial.
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| Mexico says National Guard deployment is complete Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:16 PM PDT  Mexico has completed its deployment of 6,000 National Guard agents to help control the flow of migrants headed toward the U.S. and filled 650 immigration agency posts to regulate border crossings, the government said Friday. The announcement by foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard comes as Mexico puts into effect a deal on irregular immigration reached with Washington to head off stiff tariffs that President Donald Trump threatened to slap on all imports from Mexico.
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| California governor proposes a $21 billion wildfire fund Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:31 PM PDT  California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed helping utilities create a fund of up to $21 billion to compensate future victims of wildfires sparked by the companies' equipment or employees, an aide said on Friday. The proposal by the Democratic governor follows the bankruptcy filing earlier this year of San Francisco-based utility PG&E Corp, which anticipates $30 billion in liabilities from wildfires that have been blamed on its equipment, including the state's deadliest blaze which killed more than 80 people last year. The state's other two large utilities, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, have seen their credit ratings downgraded over wildfire concerns.
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| 'No explanation': Flying objects over Kansas City leave locals suspecting aliens Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:31 AM PDT  Two flying objects in Kansas City, Missouri, left locals suspecting aliens and the National Weather Service with "no explanation."
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| Oh My God, the Marines Have a Laser Now Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:00 PM PDT  Wow Brace yourselves: Marine grunts now have their hands on a drone-killing laser cannon.Marines are currently evaluating a Compact Laser Weapons System (CLaWS) as "the first ground-based laser approved by the Department of Defense for use by warfighters on the ground," Marine Corps Systems Command announced on Wednesday.Unlike the Army's vehicle-mounted directed energy system, the CLaWS is "not intended to be a standalone system," according to MARCORSYSCOM, but the prototype will "serve as a component to an overall system" designed for counter-drone operations downrange."This was all in response to a need for counter unmanned aerial systems to take down drones," Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) program manager Don Kelley said in the MARCORSYSCOM release. "We're providing CLaWS to Marines as a rapid prototype for evaluation ... Depending on the results, CLaWS could become part of a larger capability set."
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| Surveillance drone may have tracked Japanese tanker: experts Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:32 AM PDT  A "flying object" which flew over a Japanese tanker before it was rocked by a blast in strategic Gulf waters last week could have been a reconnaissance drone, experts have told AFP. The owner of the Kokuka Courageous said the tanker's Japanese and Filipino crew saw a "flying object", just before a blast that caused a fire on board the vessel, sparking a crisis between Washington and Iran. "The crew members are saying that they were hit by a flying object.
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| Texas sends an additional 1,000 troops to the US-Mexico border Posted: 22 Jun 2019 06:20 AM PDT  Governor Greg Abbott says the surge of illegal immigration can't go unchecked.
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| Hannity and Manafort’s Gushing Text Messages Revealed: ‘We Are All on the Same Team’ Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:22 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photo GettyThroughout Special Counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution of Paul Manafort, he found a willing and enthusiastic ally and confidant: Fox News host and presidential pal Sean Hannity. On Friday, a D.C. federal judge released dozens of pages of private text messages between the former Trump campaign chairman and Hannity, who at one point offered "anything I can do to help."The messages show Hannity apparently reached out shortly after the FBI raided Manafort's Alexandria, Virginia apartment in August 2017. Hannity checked in on Manafort throughout the course of the special counsel's investigation and prosecution of him, asking if he was OK. Like many other higher-ups in Trump's orbit, Manafort maintained a friendly relationship with Hannity during the 2016 election and kept in touch after he left the Trump campaign in August 2016. The Special Counsel's Office charged Manafort with tax and bank fraud counts in Virginia and tried him in a separate case in Washington, D.C., for acting as an unregistered foreign agent, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Trump to Hannity: You're 'Not Really' a Patriot, You Just Want 'Great Ratings'Hannity spent large portions of his texts with Manafort discussing (and rehashing) episodes of his own television show. He complained about never-Trumpers, Hillary Clinton, and the special counsel's investigation. Hannity also repeatedly invited Manafort on TV, saying it would give him a chance to defend himself against Mueller's prosecutors. Hannity told Manafort to connect him with his lawyer to get information on important developments. Manafort repeatedly declined, citing a court gag order restricting him from publicly discussing his case. But the text messages were perhaps the most blatant behind-the-scenes look at how cozy the host was with Manafort, the subject of hours of news coverage on Fox and Hannity's show in particular.Hannity in one instance declared he was "NOT a fair weather friend," and told Manafort how unfairly he believed he was being treated. "We are all on the same team," he said. Manafort also had plenty of compliments for Hannity, saying he was on "fire," "great" on radio, and declared that "in a fair world, you would get a Pulitzer prize for your incredible reporting." He said he loved Hannity's interview with former Trump adviser Roger Stone, and in one instance, Manafort said he watched the show with his three-month-old grandson, who was apparently mesmerized."I swear to God. He was totally focused. Your audience is growing demographically," he said."You help me keep my hope and sanity," Manafort said on another occasion. And throughout the investigation and trial, Hannity repeatedly publicly called for the charges against Manafort to be dropped. Hannity even hinted at insider knowledge of attempts to retaliate against those involved in the Russia investigation. When Manafort said he hoped that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions would appoint a new special counsel to investigate the Russia inquiry, Hannity texted "He has to [do] it [or else] he is gone. Talked to a friend." While it's unclear who Hannity was talking about, he often speaks to Trump.After the text messages were revealed on Friday, Hannity appeared to shrug them off, writing on Twitter that his views on the Russia investigation and Manafort "were made clear every day to anyone who listens to my radio show or watches my TV show." Manafort is currently serving a 7.5-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of financial crimes by a Virginia jury and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice and defraud the United States in a separate D.C. case.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Former top U.S. diplomat deplores policy toward Iran 'untethered to any coherent strategy' Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:05 AM PDT  President Trump seriously miscalculated when he scrapped the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, embarking on a policy "untethered to any coherent strategy," according to a scathing assessment by William Burns, the former U.S. diplomat who negotiated the nuclear agreement. Burns said the move was certain to embolden hard-liners in Tehran and contribute to military tensions in a way that will backfire against the U.S. — which was already happening this week, as news broke that Iran had shot down an American military drone.
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| These Brunch Cocktails Are What Your Mom Really Wants For Mother's Day Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:11 PM PDT |
| Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher Is on Trial Over the Murder of an ISIS Fighter. Another Soldier Just Confessed to the Crime Posted: 20 Jun 2019 03:59 PM PDT  Gallagher faces counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder, among other charges. If convicted, he could spent the rest of his life in prison
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| Bear enters Montana home, cuddles up for a nap on closet shelf Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:23 PM PDT  Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks assisted the Sheriff's Office in tranquilizing the black bear, and it was relocated unharmed.
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| U.S. cannot unilaterally remove Turkey from F-35 program: Turkish defense official Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:15 AM PDT  The United States cannot unilaterally remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program as the partnership agreement does not allow it, Turkey's head of Defense Industries Directorate said on Friday. "No single country can say they don't want you and then remove you from the program," Ismail Demir told reporters. Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads for months over Turkey's planned purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense system.
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| Strait of Hormuz: key waterway under pressure Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:10 AM PDT  The Strait of Hormuz, located in the area where Iran shot down a US military drone, is a strategically important waterway for the world's oil transits, which lies at the heart of regional tensions. Iran warned on Friday it would "decisively defend its territory" against eventual US retaliation, while the airlines KLM, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas and Singapore Airlines said they were suspending flights over the strait. The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and is situated between Iran and Oman.
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| Russia's New Stealth Fighter Might Sink Your Warship. Here's How. Posted: 21 Jun 2019 11:00 PM PDT  Russia is designing an anti-ship missile for its Su-57 stealth fighter.But is hunting ships the best mission for such an advanced aircraft?Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko made the announcement while visiting the Detal Design Bureau, which is developing a new anti-ship missile, according to Russian news agency TASS."Today the enterprise is working on developing an active homing warhead for the promising anti-ship missile that is planned to be carried by the Su-57 fighter as well," Krivoruchko said."A working meeting was held on the premises of the Detal Design Bureau to discuss the issue of signing a contract with Tactical Missiles Corporation on acquiring the entire range of air-launched weapons for the Su-57 fighter jets," TASS said.The Su-57 is Russia's equivalent of the U.S. F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters. A Mach 2 aircraft capable of air superiority and ground-strike missions, it is Russia's first stealth plane, and probably the most sophisticated aircraft in the Russian arsenal. It also has a long and troubled history stretching back more than a decade, due to technical issues and even more because of financial considerations. Estimates have ranged from $40 million to $156 million per plane—a figure that earlier made the Russian Air Force cancel mass production and buy just a handful of aircraft. Russia now has about a dozen Su-57s, which have flown a few missions over Syria.
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| Poll finds Americans are worried about asteroids, don’t care about the Moon Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:23 AM PDT  As we creep closer to the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, NASA is doing its best to drum up support for a return mission that would see its astronauts once again roaming the lunar surface. With such an exciting mission on the horizon, you'd think that public interest in a Moon return would be pretty high. It isn't.In fact, a new poll by the Associated Press in partnership with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests that Americans are much more interested in things that could possibly kill them -- like asteroids or comets -- than another crewed visit to the Moon.The poll reveals that a full 68 percent of respondents see the monitoring of asteroids, comets, and "other events in space that could impact Earth" as being either "very important" or "extremely important." This stands in stark contrast to the mere 23 percent of people who believe heading back to the Moon is highly important.This public opinion data is interesting for a number of reasons, not least of which is that the current administration has made a return to the Moon a top priority. That sentiment, it would seem, is not shared by the vast majority of the general public.Being lukewarm over a return mission to the Moon is understandable, but what might be even more surprising is that many people have little or no interest in seeing a crewed mission to Mars become a top priority either:> Thirty-seven percent say sending astronauts to Mars should take precedence over going back to the moon, while 18% would rather have NASA send more astronauts to the moon. But 43% do not think either action should be a priority for the country.Well, like it or not, NASA is indeed headed back to the Moon either in 2024 (maybe) or a bit later, and a mission to Mars is almost certainly going to be a top priority for the space administration once all of the supporting technology has reached maturity. But don't worry, NASA is still watching for asteroids in the meantime.
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| Trump Again Downplays Iranian Attack After Navy Drone Shot Down Posted: 20 Jun 2019 03:09 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump downplayed Iran's attack on a U.S. Navy drone in the Persian Gulf that escalated regional tensions and fueled a surge in oil prices, suggesting a "loose and stupid" individual may have been responsible for the strike."I would imagine it was a general or somebody who made a mistake by shooting that drone down," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "I find it hard to believe it was intentional. It could have been somebody who was loose and stupid."In a story published earlier Thursday by Iranian state-run media, an Iranian military officer said the drone was shot down in order to send a "clear message."U.S. and Iranian officials continue to argue whether the high-altitude drone was over international or Iranian waters when it was shot down after weeks of rising tensions over a spate of attacks in the region. Trump said the drone was "clearly" in international waters, and went on to say that the U.S. "will not stand for it, that I can tell you."Read More: Iran Tensions Prompt Lawmakers to Revisit Trump's War PowersYet it was the second time in a week that Trump sought to minimize Iranian actions against U.S. interests, even as some of his advisers and closest congressional allies urged a forcible response. Earlier this week Trump called an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman a "minor issue." During his comments Thursday, he called the drone attack "a new fly in the ointment."While Trump has ratcheted up economic sanctions on Iran as part of his "maximum pressure" campaign against the Islamic Republic, he has also said he doesn't want a war with Tehran and he campaigned in 2016 on withdrawing the U.S. from intractable Middle East conflicts.Yet regional analysts and lawmakers from both parties warned that the likelihood of a bigger confrontation could be looming, whether intentional or not."The president may not intend to go to war here but we're worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters Thursday after a briefing at the White House.Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally and member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he would "encourage the president to deliver an unequivocal message that there is a cost to doing this. So if they're itching for a fight, they're going to get one."The U.S. said the Global Hawk drone was flying in international airspace about 34 kilometers (20 miles) away from Iranian territory when it was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz, an oil choke point."This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace," said Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.The episode stoked tensions throughout the Gulf, which supplies one-third of the world's oil."We will defend Iran's airspace and maritime boundaries with all our might," Ali Shamkhani, secretary for the Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying by state-run Iranian Students' News Agency. "It doesn't matter which country's aircraft cross our airspace."A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to "exercise maximum restraint and avoid any action that could inflame the situation." Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that a war "would be a catastrophe for the region."Trump was briefed on the drone incident Thursday in a meeting with National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. The region has been volatile since the U.S. tightened sanctions on Iranian oil sales in early May, sent military reinforcements to the region and redoubled efforts to prevent Iran and Europe from finding a way around trade penalties imposed after Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear accord.Frictions flared further last week after an attack on two oil tankers outside the entrance to the Gulf. Tehran denied involvement in the incidents.Adding to strains, Iran on Monday warned European nations that it would breach the multilateral nuclear accord, which had traded some sanctions relief for limits on Tehran's nuclear program, as soon as June 27 unless they find a way to circumvent U.S. penalties."We are seeing an escalation and the frequency of attacks is concerning even though they are still mostly minor,'' said Renad Mansour, a research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House. "People across the region are starting to make preparation for the possibility of a trigger coming from somewhere.''The tensions come with the Pentagon's leadership in flux. Shanahan is scheduled to hand over responsibility for the Defense Department to Army Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday night. It's not clear if Esper will be Trump's choice to permanently lead the Pentagon, which is approaching its seventh month without a confirmed secretary in charge.On Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, said Trump's Iran strategy is a "self-inflicted disaster" and blamed the stepped up hostilities on U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear accord.West Texas Intermediate oil surged as much as 6.1%, the most this year, and was trading $2.93 higher at $56.69 a barrel as of 1:01 p.m. EST.Attacks on regional oil infrastructure since mid-May have helped whipsaw oil prices. A measure of price volatility for the benchmark U.S. crude grade reached a five-month high on Monday, pulled between the threat of disrupted supply and mounting concern that trade wars will weaken demand.The drone downing also followed a missile strike by Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels overnight on Saudi Arabia. A news agency operated by Houthi rebels in Yemen said that they had hit a power station in Jazan, on the southwestern coast of Saudi Arabia, with a cruise missile. The official Saudi Press Agency later said a projectile fired from Yemen had fallen near a desalination plant, causing no damage or casualties.(Adds comments from lawmakers starting in seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Golnar Motevalli, Verity Ratcliffe, Anthony DiPaola, Alexei Anishchuk, Margaret Talev, Arsalan Shahla, David Wainer, David Marino and Daniel Flatley.To contact the reporters on this story: Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Zainab Fattah in Dubai at zfattah@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, ;Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Roy Moore announces new Senate campaign Posted: 20 Jun 2019 12:57 PM PDT  Roy Moore's announcement that he would once again run for the U.S. Senate in Alabama sent a shudder through the Republican Party and raised a question: Could the GOP have avoided this scenario by uniting early around a credible consensus candidate?
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| Colorado shooter says he targeted kids over gender taunts Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:09 PM PDT  A high school student charged in a classmate's death during a Colorado school shooting told police that he planned the attack for weeks and intended to target classmates who repeatedly mocked his gender identity. Written summaries of police interviews with the two suspected shooters portray 16-year-old Alec McKinney as the leader of the attack, enlisting 18-year-old Devon Erickson in the plan to kill the students who bullied McKinney, who identifies as male. Both teenagers told police that they broke into a gun safe at one of the teenager's homes before walking into the STEM School Highlands Ranch on the afternoon of May 7 with a guitar case and a backpack concealing four guns.
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| Car and Driver Contributor Davey G. Johnson Found in Northern California Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:49 AM PDT  C/D contributor David Gordon Johnson's body has been found after he went missing on a motorcycle trip through Calaveras County on June 5. We have updated this story with the latest information.
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| Huawei files lawsuit against U.S. Commerce Dept over seized equipment -filing Posted: 21 Jun 2019 02:21 PM PDT ![Huawei files lawsuit against U.S. Commerce Dept over seized equipment -filing]( "Huawei files lawsuit against U.S. Commerce Dept over seized equipment -filing") Huawei Technologies Co Inc filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday in a fight over whether telecommunications equipment that it sent from China to the United States, and then back to China, is covered by Export Administration Regulations, according to a court filing. The equipment was seized by the U.S. government while on its way back to China in September 2017, and no decision has been made about what to do with it, the filing said. "The equipment, to the best of HT USA's knowledge, remains in a bureaucratic limbo in an Alaskan warehouse," Huawei said in its lawsuit.
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| FDA approves drug for loss of sexual desire in women Posted: 21 Jun 2019 02:18 PM PDT  Analysts have said that a drug that safely and effectively treats loss of sexual desire in women could eventually reach annual sales of about $1 billion. Palatin's shares jumped 44% to $1.93, while Amag shares rose 11.5% after market. Vyleesi, chemically known as bremelanotide, activates pathways in the brain involved in sexual desire, helping premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).
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| Why India’s Hypersonic Missile Could Trigger A Nuclear War Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:00 AM PDT  India's test of a hypersonic missile signifies more than the advance of Indian weapons technology.It also is one step closer to triggering a nuclear war with Pakistan.Ironically, the first launch of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle, or HSTDV, was a failure. The HSTDV, which is shaped almost like a sailing ship, is supposed to be a testbed for developing future hypersonic weapons such as cruise missiles. It is launched atop an Agni 1, an Indian ballistic missile."The vehicle was test launched using the Agni 1 missile platform that was to take it up to a predetermined altitude where scramjet technology—the ability to fly at speeds in excess of Mach 6 while using atmospheric oxygen as oxidizer—had to be validated with separation of the platform and a short flight at high altitude," according to India's Economic Times."Sources said that while the missile on which the platform was mounted successfully took off from the range, the test could not be completed to demonstrate the vehicle at hypersonic speed as the Agni 1 did not reach the desired altitude for the test. Scientists are looking at the technical reasons behind this and are studying all available data."
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| Choose your future Greenland, Earthlings Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Like Beyonce, Greenland is constantly making news. And for good reason. The Arctic landmass holds an ice sheet that's two and a half times the size of sprawling Texas -- and it's melting at rates that are unprecedented in at least centuries, if not thousands of years. "I can tell you the retreat is eye-popping," said Twila Moon, an Arctic researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center who has traveled along the vastly diminished ice. For humanity, the particularly salient question now is how quickly these massive stores of ice will melt into the sea.Greenland's future, of course, depends on the most uncertain, chaotic, and emotionally volatile portion of the climate science equation: humans, specifically how much heat-trapping carbon we decide to pump into the atmosphere. "The biggest uncertainty in climate science is human behavior," NASA scientist Kate Marvel told Mashable after the Trump administration recently said they will no longer consider many climate projections beyond 20 years from now. But regardless of the federal government's self-imposed limitations, new research, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, lays out three clear, potential futures for Greenland: 1. Really bad: A future wherein carbon emissions continue rising as they are now, called the "business as usual" scenario (known as RCP 8.5).2. Pretty bad: A future wherein emissions moderately rise until around 2050, and then drop substantially -- but not completely -- by century's end (known as RCP 4.5).3. Not as bad: A future wherein humanity rapidly and immediately slashes carbon emissions today, bringing emissions to zero well before 2100 (known as RCP 2.5). * This last ambitious future, in line with the historic Paris climate agreement, is now nearly impossible to achieve. As you might suspect, the new research -- enhanced by NASA's recent aircraft observations of Greenland -- found that the melting land mass (in a rapidly melting Arctic realm) is expected to incur profound ice losses this century and beyond, should carbon emissions continue to saturate the skies (options 1 and 2). For reference, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are currently increasing at rates that are unprecedented in both the historic and geologic record. Yet, humanity has an immediate say in the matter."We can actually choose how it's going to look," said Andy Aschwanden, the study's lead author and researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute. "The next couple decades are quite important to the future.""It's going to be worse if we burn more fossil fuels," added NASA's Josh Willis, an oceanographer who leads the science agency's Oceans Melting Greenland mission. "This has been clear for decades," said Willis, who had no role in the research. "The more CO2 you put into the atmosphere, the more you change the climate." The choiceIf emissions continue as they are, by century's end Greenland alone will lose enough ice to boost sea levels by between 5.5 and 13 inches, the research found. But matters get substantially worse as the centuries progress, adding as much as 12.5 feet by 2300. Eventually, all the ice would disappear. "We found that the Greenland ice sheet could melt within 1,000 years if we keep adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere," said Aschwanden. That would raise sea levels by some 23 feet.> Drastically reducing emissions could limit ice loss to under a quarter of the ice sheet. That scenario would produce up to 6 feet of sea level rise by 3000. pic.twitter.com/c7PM4itnis> > -- NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) June 19, 2019Even if unprecedented steps are taken to curb Earth's warming this century (option 3), Greenland will still experience some melting (adding between 2 and 7 inches of sea level rise this century). That's because there's already substantial warming baked into the absorbent oceans, and the elevated carbon levels already saturating the skies will take hundreds to thousands of years to naturally get soaked into the seas."A lot of ice loss has already been baked into the system because of human actions in the past," said Moon. But that's still a future humanity can adapt to, more so than runaway glacial melting, anyway. "All the effects are worse if we do nothing," noted Willis. "And they're all better if we avoid burning so much fossil fuel."This study's projections were enhanced by new observational data from NASA's IceBridge missions, which involves swooping over the Greenland ice sheet to capture detailed measurements of the ice. The airborne NASA mission proved particularly valuable in measuring the conditions of Greenland's exit glaciers -- the rivers of ice that pour into the ocean -- said Aschwanden. With this new information, the research team could simulate how much ice was likely to drain into the sea as glaciers experience an accelerating rise in air temperatures. "This is really nice work," said Moon, noting that the new incorporation of ice loss around Greenland's edges produced a quality, advanced simulation.> From Tuesday's IceBridge flight, a close-up of a supraglacial lake above Eqip Sermia, with a thin skin of refrozen ice floating on top pic.twitter.com/YGW9kTxPSA> > -- NASA ICE (@NASA_ICE) May 15, 2019For all the grim observations from this study, it's crucial to note that things could actually be significantly worse. Yes, worse. That's because these projections may underestimate the powerful influence the warming oceans have on glaciers."The oceans have the potential to make this more extreme," said NASA's Willis. "There's still room for [the projections] to get worse."Arctic waters meet Greenland's colossal exit glaciers, some which are walls of submarine ice around 2,600 feet tall. And recent research, performed by NASA, found these glaciers are extremely sensitive to ocean temperatures. The ocean has the power to accelerate melt, or even stoke the glaciers to start growing again during cooler shifts in ocean circulation.SEE ALSO: The Green New Deal: Historians weigh in on the immense scale required to pull it offAs airborne scientists, on-the-ground ice-gathering researchers, and satellites scouring from space continue to probe the region, Greenland's future will grow increasingly clear. "The work is ongoing," said Willis.But the bigger picture is already evident. There are distinct futures ahead for Greenland. Which one will our descendants experience, even beyond this century?"Two-hundred or 300 years really aren't many human generations," noted Moon. "It will be here in a blink of an eye."* * *P.S. A succinct note to those contending, incredibly, that Greenland is not experiencing drastic melt: One big glacier (Jakobshavn) recently stopped shrinking, but that doesn't mean the entire landmass is miraculously on an epic rebound. "Just because Jakobshavn stopped growing does not mean there's no global warming and we're not changing the planet -- we are radically changing the planet," explained NASA oceanographer Josh Willis, who annually flies over Greenland. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| 11 Cool Things We Learned Driving the Tomcar TX 4X4 Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:24 AM PDT |
| The hawks who have Trump's ear on Iran Posted: 20 Jun 2019 06:31 PM PDT  Donald Trump has pushed a tough line on Iran, and some close advisors have pressed the US president to get even tougher. Tensions have skyrocketed following Iran's shooting down of an American surveillance drone Thursday. Trump's national security advisor is his chief saber-rattler, a champion of regime change in Cuba, Iraq, North Korea, Venezuela and now Iran.
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| Booker campaign gets 2020 jolt with pushback against Biden Posted: 20 Jun 2019 11:57 PM PDT  Cory Booker's supporters have spent months waiting for a moment when the charismatic senator could break through a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates. The New Jersey senator called on Biden to apologize Wednesday after the former vice president nostalgically referenced the "civility" he maintained during his time in the Senate with two segregationist Democrats in the 1970s despite their vast distance in ideology. After Biden pushed back, saying Booker should apologize to him because the senator "knows better," Booker called for the Democratic Party to choose a presidential nominee who can be "sensitive" to the "hurt and pain" caused by Biden noting that the two senators had called him "son" instead of "boy," a reference to the racist way many whites addressed black men at the time.
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| Pelosi slams Trump administration for delaying Harriet Tubman on $20 bill: 'An insult to the hopes of millions' Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:47 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called out the Trump administration's decision to delay putting former slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, calling it "an insult to the hopes of millions."
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| Man arrested month after woman jumps from window to escape brutal 6-hour rape Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:29 PM PDT  Police have arrested a man in Washington state who they say brutally raped a woman in Queens before she jumped from a window to escape.
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| Chevy Claims Its New Silverado 3500 Accelerates Quicker Than the Ram 3500—and Ram Fires Back Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:00 PM PDT  Chevy may be down 90 lb-ft of torque from the 1000 lb-ft Ram 3500, but they still claim they can outrun the Ram, trailering or not, so the truck wars go on.
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| Samsung reportedly seeking compensation because Apple isn’t selling enough iPhones Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:16 AM PDT  While Samsung keeps comparing its flagship phones to the latest iPhones that Apple makes in the hopes of convincing customers that Galaxy phones are a better option, Samsung is also a huge fan of the iPhone. That's because Samsung is a supplier of iPhone parts, and these Apple deals can be very lucrative. The best example concerns the iPhone's OLED screen, which is very expensive. Samsung Display happens to be the supplier of most iPhone OLED panels, as Samsung makes the best OLED screens for smartphones. But it turns out that Samsung isn't happy with iPhone sales, and wants Apple to pay a hefty penalty for all the iPhone screens that it failed to purchase as a result of the slower than expected iPhone sales.A report from ETNews says that Samsung Display seeks compensation amounting to hundreds of billions of won, which converts to hundreds of millions of dollars. Apple had reportedly agreed to acquire a certain quality of panels from Samsung Display but then failed to meet these numbers. Samsung Display and Apple have been negotiating the matter but have yet to agree on terms.Samsung invested in an A3 display facility that would cater only to Apple, a 6th-generation flexible OLED plant that can produce about 100 million OLED iPhone screens each year. But it's unclear what the minimum supply Apple agreed to buy might've been.Production at the A3 plant fell to under 50% of capacity as demand for iPhone sales remained sluggish, the report notes. Sales for the iPhone XS generation that followed 2017's iPhone X wasn't spectacular either, and Apple was often rumored to have cut OLED panel orders as a result. Samsung Display's operating profit dropped to 2.62 trillion won last year, about half of the 5.7 trillion the company reported in 2017, a figure that perfectly reflects the smartphone sales slump. Galaxy sales have been slower than expected as well, and these devices also pack OLED screens from Samsung Display.Meeting quotas isn't the only problem between the two parties, ETNews says. Apparently, Samsung Display has experienced some manufacturing issues with some of the OLED panels it supplied to Apple, and it may have been charged a "small penalty."ETNews also notes that failing to meet quotas might be a problem for Apple's deals with other panel suppliers, although screen makers rarely seek reimbursements. Instead, Apple may ink additional display deals with those manufacturers that cover other products.Interestingly, the report notes that Apple has offered such options to Samsung Display for OLED panels that would fit tablets and notebooks. So far, but none of the existing iPads or MacBooks feature OLED screens. Earlier rumors have said that Apple is considering OLED panels for other devices, MacBooks included.
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| India warships deployed to strategic Gulf waters: Navy Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:05 PM PDT  India has sent warships and stepped up aerial surveillance in strategic Gulf waters, the Press Trust of India reported on Thursday, with global tensions rising in the region.
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| Apple urges Trump not to impose tariffs on iPhones amid China trade war Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:27 AM PDT  Donald Trump's trade war with China will hurt Apple and help its global rivals, the iPhone maker has warned.In a letter to the Apple urged the government not to impose tariffs on iPhones, iPads, Macs, AirPods and AppleTV, as well as parts and accessories for those devices such as monitors and keyboards. Analysts have said tariffs could increase the cost of Apple's products, many of which are assembled in China and contain Chinese-made components.The tech firm warned that all of its major products would be hit with additional taxes at the US border as a result of Mr Trump's plan to impose 25 per cent tariffs on $300bn of Chinese goods."We urge the US government not to impose tariffs on these products," Apple wrote.The letter published on Wednesday underlines some unintended consequences of the US president's attacks on Chinese goods and firms such as Huawei. Those attacks have been widely seen as a way of reasserting US economic dominance but also risk hurting American businesses.The letter also marks a test of the relationship between the president and one of America's most valuable and important companies.Back in March, Mr Trump had praised Apple's boss Tim Cook, who he mistakenly called "Tim Apple", describing him as "a friend of mine" who has "brought a lot of money back into our country".In the letter, Apple pointed out that it was the "single largest US corporate taxpayer and pays billions more each year in local property, sales and employee taxes".US tariffs would "result in a reduction of Apple's US economic contribution" and also weigh on Apple's global competitiveness, the company warned."The Chinese producers we compete with in global markets do not have a significant presence in the US market, and so would not be impacted by US tariffs."Neither would our other major non-US competitors."A US tariff would, therefore, tilt the playing field in favour of our global competitors."Japanese financial newspaper the Nikkei reported this week that Apple has asked its major suppliers to look at the effects of shifting 15 to 30 per cent of production capacity from China to Southeast Asia.Sources told the newspaper that, even if a resolution is reached between China and the US, any production shifts would be permanent, as Apple considered that the risks of relying so heavily on Chinese manufacturing are too great. Neil Campling, head of technology research at investment firm Mirabaud Securities, said other factors beyond trade tensions and tariffs are at play in Apple's decision."What comes as a surprise in some ways is that it has taken this long," Mr Campling said. "The combination of a lower birth rate, higher labour costs and the risk of overly centralising its production in one country has been a factor in China for some time now, and these adverse factors continue regardless of trade wars and tariff rounds. "Diversification of production is key."Minimum wages in China have risen over the last decade and the Philippines and Vietnam would offer "considerable" savings relative to China, Mr Campling said.
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| Turkey: Erdogan's party dominance tested in repeat poll Posted: 21 Jun 2019 04:00 AM PDT  Millions of voters in Istanbul go back to the polls for a controversial mayoral election re-run Sunday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party tries to wrest back control of Turkey's largest city. The high-profile vote is taking place because Turkey's top election authority ruled in favor of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, AKP, and canceled the result of the March 31 vote for mayor of Istanbul, which had given a narrow victory to opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu. The controversial decision fueled concerns over democracy and the rule of law in Turkey, a NATO member that is still formally a candidate to join the European Union.
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| What to know about Iran's uranium enrichment program Posted: 21 Jun 2019 11:01 AM PDT  Iran has announced it was 10 days away from breaking their uranium stockpile limit. What does this mean for the Iran Deal?
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| US state of Georgia executes man for murder Posted: 20 Jun 2019 07:31 PM PDT  The US state of Georgia on Thursday executed a man convicted of murdering a plainclothes prison guard over 20 years ago. Marion Wilson Jr, 42, was put to death by lethal injection at 9:52 pm (0152 GMT Friday) by lethal injection at a prison in Jackson, in the center of the southern state. Wilson was convicted for a murder he committed in March 1996 as part of a task for the violent "Folk Nation" gang.
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| Pakistan foreign minister says trust must be rebuilt with Afghanistan Posted: 22 Jun 2019 08:52 AM PDT ![Pakistan foreign minister says trust must be rebuilt with Afghanistan]( "Pakistan foreign minister says trust must be rebuilt with Afghanistan") Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday called for trust to be rebuilt between Islamabad and Kabul as Pakistan began a new initiative to bolster a faltering peace process aiming to end Afghanistan's lengthy civil war. Pakistan on Saturday hosted a conference to bring together more than 50 Afghan leaders, including politicians and tribal elders, but there were no representatives of the Afghan Taliban militants, who have been fighting for years to expel foreign forces and defeat the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been strained in recent years amid long-standing allegations by Kabul and Washington that Pakistan has been sheltering the Taliban militants since U.S.-led forces removed them from power in 2001, something Islamabad denies.
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| The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is the brand's most powerful car Posted: 21 Jun 2019 07:12 AM PDT  This week, Ford announced that the 2020 Mustang Shelby will be equipped with the most powerful V8 engine "in the world," making it the company's highest performing street-legal car to date. This week, however, Ford revealed the model's engine specs: the supercharged V8 will be able to produce 760 horsepower and 625 lb.-ft of torque.
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| Despite the US ban, Huawei is still China’s most attractive employer Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:58 PM PDT  The Trump administration's inclusion of Huawei on a blacklist that bans US companies from doing business with the Chinese consumer electronics giant has generated at least one surprising side effect.Despite the fact that international vendor firms are starting to cut off the company, which stands to lose critical partners like Google and Facebook as a result of the ban, Chinese engineering students have for the second year in a row voted Huawei as the most attractive employer in the country -- the place where many of them are still highly interested in finding a job.Per CNN, Shenzhen-based Huawei beat out companies like Alibaba and Tencent on the survey of more than 50,000 Chinese students by research firm Universum that sought to identify China's most sought-after workplaces.It's a rare bright spot at the moment for a company that had ambitions perhaps as soon as this year of dethroning Samsung as the biggest smartphone maker in the world. US-led opposition pretty much ground that effort to a halt, with the company forecasting a revenue miss that equates to several billion dollars, a problem that's compounded by the potential future loss of official apps from Facebook and Google -- which are must-haves for Huawei's customers outside of China who comprise around half of its user base.Perhaps even more concerning for the company is the likelihood that it will be cut off soon from Google's Android mobile OS, precluding future Huawei handsets from getting Android and its security updates as well as denying those future handsets access to official apps from the Google Play Store.No wonder that Huawei has started promising full, 100% refunds to some customers if they buy a handset and the Google and Facebook apps that are on it now stop working because of the US ban. All of which makes it all the more interesting that there's a kind of rally-round-the-home-team feeling among Chinese students who, despite all of the above, still see the company as the place where they want to be.
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| These Might Be The Coolest Pair Of Corvettes On The Planet Posted: 20 Jun 2019 01:01 PM PDT  Lingenfelter – yes, that Lingenfelter – is sponsoring a giveaway of a beautifully done 1961 Corvette Convertible restomod and a new 2019 Corvette ZR1, plus $60,000 in cash! The Corvette is having a great year. Enthusiasm is at an all-time high thanks to the imminent debut of the C8, the eighth generation of the Corvette's historic run. Before that car arrives, though, we should celebrate what came before it, and Lingenfelter Performance Engineering is sponsoring two amazing door prizes for the party. The well-respected performance tuner is sponsoring the giveaway of two amazing 'Vettes that nicely bookend the car's past and present.The first is a 1961 Corvette Convertible restomod with over $200,000 of work put into it, and the other is a fresh-from-the-factory-floor 2019 Corvette ZR1. Plus, they're throwing in an extra $60,000 to help cover your taxes – if you win, that is. > CLICK HERE to enter to win a 1961 Corvette Convertible, 2019 Corvette ZR1, and $60,000 in cash! Use promo code VJ0619C to get 50% bonus tickets!Entering is easy. Just click here and purchase however many tickets you'd like. They start at $3.00 each, but if you spend $25 or more and use promo code VJ0619C, you'll get 50 percent more for free. So if you buy 20 tickets for $25, you'll receive 30 tickets total. There's plenty of time to enter, and a portion of the proceeds will go to charities sponsored by Dream Giveaway, a well-respected company that runs this and many other online giveaways. Back to the cars. Stunning is the only word the comes to mind when looking at this '61 Corvette Convertible bathed in Tuxedo Black paint with a red leather interior. While vintage-looking on the outside, this Corvette is entirely up-to-date beneath its skin, with a 430-horsepower LS3 V8 engine and modern suspension, transmission, brakes, wheels, and even air conditioning. Paired with the '61 Corvette Convertible is the current pinnacle of all things Corvette: a 2019 ZR1. 755 horsepower. 0-60 miles per hour in 2.85 seconds. The numbers speak for themselves. This 2019 model year example comes with a lot of optional equipment, including the Premium Equipment Group, Track Performance Package, competition sports seats, custom red calipers, and eight-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission. The adjustable carbon fiber rear wing and Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup 2 tires are serious hardware meant for serious speed, so plan to use this Corvette with caution. Click here to enter, and don't forget you'll receive 50 percent more tickets free if you use promo code VJ0619C. Good luck! Read More... Could This 1966 Corvette Be Any More Perfect? Vivid Orange C3 Corvette Stingray Is Highly Original
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| U.S. Air Force Revs Up Production of Precision Bomb Called "Worlds Largest Sniper" Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:54 AM PDT  Hasse explained that the BLU-129 brings additional elements of attack flexibility, because instead of traveling with both very large, heavier bombs, a pilot can simply drop four BLU-129s on a target to increase blast effect.The Air Force is revving up production of the air-dropped, precision-guided BLU-129 bomb increasingly in demand by warzone commanders - so accurate, lethal and precise, it is called "the world's largest sniper."The often-requested weapon, described as an adaptable carbon fiber bomb, is specially engineered to control "field effects" and create low collateral damage resulting from air attacks."The Air Force is currently producing BLU-129 bomb bodies to address operational demand," Capt. Hope Cronin, Air Force Spokeswoman, told Warrior Maven.The BLU-129 is increasingly in demand because, among other things, it is capable of quickly tailoring its explosive charge depending upon the threat, using what's called "variable yield effects." Variable-yield effects allow for attackers to adjust the explosive power while in-flight, in some cases enabling extremely effective, yet precise, more narrowly-configured attacks."There are limited numbers of this weapon, and we want to hold onto it for those missions which need to have only that capability," Col. Gary Haase, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), told Warrior Maven in an interview last Fall at an Air Force Association Symposium.
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| Dems' presidential field takes spotlight in South Carolina Posted: 21 Jun 2019 11:00 PM PDT  Almost the entire sprawling Democratic presidential field of more than 20 candidates took the same stage Friday in the South's first primary state, looking to make connections in a primary battleground that has helped propel the party's last two nominees. Former Vice President Joe Biden reintroduced himself to South Carolina voters at gatherings he's attended many times before. "I think I've been in every one of your counties over the years," Biden said at House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn's annual fish fry, a longstanding event that this year has blossomed into a centerpiece ahead of the 2020 election.
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| How We'd Spec It: The 2020 Hyundai Palisade with All the Extras Posted: 21 Jun 2019 07:44 AM PDT  Considering how much stuff is included, even the fully loaded version of Hyundai's new three-row SUV is a good value.
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| 'You'll soon find out' if US retaliates after Iran shoots down drone, Trump warns Posted: 21 Jun 2019 11:15 AM PDT  U.S.-Iranian tensions heightened Thursday when a U.S. Global Hawk spy drone was shot down by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
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