| Trump news – live: President pleads with people to attend his July the Fourth celebration amid fears of small crowds and tank damage Posted: 04 Jul 2019 04:25 AM PDT  Donald Trump's "Salute to America" is set to take place in Washington, DC, on Thursday as the country celebrates Independence Day, with the grand military spectacle threatened by fears of a low turnout and concerns that the heavy tanks on display could damage the Lincoln Memorial.A new Morning Consult poll has meanwhile revealed the president to be losing support in key states he won in 2016, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Ohio and Florida, as his Republican opponent Justin Amash announces his resignation from the GOP in opposition to Mr Trump's "dehumanising rhetoric".Undeterred, the president has been on angry form on Twitter, hitting out at migrants over reports of squalid conditions in US border detention centres and warning Iran against making threats by issuing one of his own: "They can come back to bite you."Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
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| Vladimir Putin finally admits fire-hit Russian submarine was nuclear powered Posted: 04 Jul 2019 04:42 AM PDT  Vladimir Putin has admitted that the fire that killed 14 sailors on Monday happened on a nuclear submarine, although the defence ministry said the reactor was not damaged. Ministry head Sergei Shoigu met with Mr Putin on Thursday upon his return from the Arctic naval town of Severomorsk, where the stricken submersible was taken. During their conversation, Mr Putin asked him about the nuclear power unit on board, according to a Kremlin readout. Moscow had not previously confirmed the presence of a reactor and still has not said what kind of submarine was involved, arguing that these are state secrets. Mr Shoigu told Mr Putin that "the nuclear power unit has been sealed off and all personnel have been removed". He also said the cause of the disaster was a "fire in the battery compartment which then spread". The blaze happened on Monday but was only announced the next day by Russian authorities, who have refused to give many details about the incident. Russia rescue personnel return from a dive in a mini submarine to the Kursk on the sea bed Credit: RU-RTR Russian Television via AP It is believed that the fire occurred on an AS-31 deep-water research submarine in the Barents Sea. Nicknamed "Losharik" after a Soviet cartoon horse, it is operated by a navy division responsible for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering and can reportedly dive to depths of 10,000 feet. The submarine is reportedly able to cut underwater cables that carry much of the world's internet traffic. All 14 of the sailors who died were officers, leading to speculation that it was on a top-secret mission. The defence ministry said they were performing "bathymetric measurements" of the ocean floor. One sailor put a civilian in a compartment and shut the hatch to return to fighting the blaze, it said. Arctic neighbour Norway said it had been informed of a gas explosion on the submarine, but the Russian defence ministry denied this. Norwegian authorities said they had not detected abnormal levels of radiation in the Barents Sea.
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| U.S. Vice President Pence abruptly cancels trip to New Hampshire Posted: 02 Jul 2019 03:13 PM PDT  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence abruptly canceled a planned trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday after being called back to the White House for an unspecified reason, White House officials said. "The vice president was called back to the White House but there's no cause for alarm and we'll reschedule the trip soon," Short said. Short said Pence's plane never actually left Washington.
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| Woman who 'died' for 27 minutes writes chilling note after she's resuscitated Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:10 AM PDT  An Arizona woman who "died" for a total of 27 minutes asked for a notepadafter she was resuscitated to share an urgent message about the afterlife, herfamily claims
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| Erdogan says people live happily in Xinjiang: Chinese state media Posted: 02 Jul 2019 09:37 PM PDT  Chinese state media have said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told President Xi Jinping that ethnic minorities live happily in Xinjiang, in what would be a stark reversal of Ankara's past criticism of Beijing's crackdown in the region. Erdogan met Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, four months after the Turkish foreign ministry called the treatment of mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking Uighurs "a great embarrassment for humanity". China has come under growing criticism over its security clampdown in the northwest region, where more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are believed to be held in a network of internment camps.
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| Poll: Kamala Harris surges in Iowa as Bernie Sanders suffers after debate Posted: 03 Jul 2019 03:29 AM PDT  A new Suffolk University/USA TODAY Poll in Iowa, which holds the opening caucuses, shows Kamala Harris surging as Bernie Sanders struggles after the debate.
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| 'Why kill a 2-year-old?' Texas authorities urging public to look out for 'dangerous' individuals Posted: 03 Jul 2019 02:20 PM PDT  "A 2-year-old was brutally murdered for no apparent reason," Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said about the shooting.
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| The 2021 Ford Mach E Will Combine Electric Power with Mustang-Esque Styling Posted: 03 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT  2021 Ford Mach E
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| Trump administration to print census forms without citizenship question Posted: 02 Jul 2019 02:31 PM PDT  The Trump administration announced Tuesday that the 2020 census questionnaire will be printed without a citizenship question.
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| Video Alert: Watch an Iranian F-14A Launch a Fakour-90 Air-To-Air Missile Posted: 03 Jul 2019 02:48 AM PDT  The following interesting video is the first known footage that shows an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) F-14A Tomcat firing a Fakour-90 air-to-air missile.The missile is a copy of the Hughes AIM-54 Phoenix missile that was sold together with the F-14 to Iran in the late 1970s.The missile was developed by the Iranian Army, Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, and IRIAF. In Oct. 2011, it was announced that the missile had reached the stage of mass production.The U.S. Navy retired the iconic Tomcat on Sep. 22, 2006 and today the F-14 remains in in service with IRIAF.In Jan. 2007, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced that sales of spare F-14 parts would be suspended over concerns of the parts ending up in Iran and in Jul. 2007 the remaining U.S. F-14s were shredded to ensure that any parts could not be acquired.However in Oct. 2010 IRIAF commander stated that his country was overhauling its F-14s and mentioned that Iran-made radar system had been installed on the fighter.
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| A Funky Pool Float Is the Perfect Summer Accessory Posted: 04 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Man who claimed to have protected students during school shooting revealed to be a hoax Posted: 02 Jul 2019 11:08 AM PDT  A man who gained media attention after claiming he saved students from a mass shooting while working as a substitute teacher never worked at the school, officials say.David Briscoe had spoken to numerous news organisations in the wake of the May 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas, which left 10 people dead and thirteen others wounded.He recounted stories of barricading children from an English class into their room, telling them to find cover and muffle their screams to avoid detection.However, an investigation by the Texas Tribune has revealed his supposed heroics are likely a fiction.Local police told the news website the shooting had been confined to art classrooms and there were no English classes being held in the vicinity. Meanwhile, school district officials said they had no record of his employment and are confident no one of the name David Briscoe was on campus at the time of the attack."We are extremely disappointed that an individual that has never been a part of our school community would represent themselves as a survivor of the mass violence tragedy that our community endured," said Leigh Wall, the superintendent of Santa Fe Independent School District said."This situation illustrates how easily misinformation can be created and circulated, especially when the amount of detailed information available is limited due to the still ongoing investigation."In the wake of the shooting, Mr Briscoe appears to have contacted several media outlets to claim he was involved in the tragedy.The Wall Street Journal, CNN and Time went on to use his account of events in their coverage. All have since removed his comments from their stories and published corrections."It was simultaneous," Mr Briscoe had told CNN. "I barricaded the door with desks and tables and shut the lights."Honestly, it felt like hours before we got out of the school, but one of my students said it was 30 to 45 minutes."His story went into grisly detail, including claims he heard the sound of what he supposed was a child getting shot, followed by "groaning".He went on to contact the Tribune in April this year, asking reporter Alexandra Samuels if she would consider a follow-up story relating to a string of recent suicides by mass shooting survivors.In a subsequent phone call, Mr Briscoe reportedly told Ms Samuels he had given up teaching and moved out of Texas as a result of the trauma he suffered.He claimed he had given a speech on his experience at a high school in Orlando, Florida, an event the principal of the school said never took place.Later asked if he could help fact-check some of his claims, Mr Biscoe claimed one of his employees had been impersonating him during the interview and on social media, denying he had given an interview. The Twitter account he used to first contact the Tribune has since been deactivated.Dimitrios Pagourtzis, at the time a 17-year-old Santa Fe High School student, has been charged with 10 counts of murder in connection to the shootings. He is currently awaiting trial.
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| Australian student released in North Korea says 'I'm OK' Posted: 04 Jul 2019 07:31 AM PDT  An Australian student released after a week in detention in North Korea arrived in Tokyo on Thursday after telling reporters he was in "very good" condition, without saying what happened to him. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced to Parliament that Alek Sigley, 29, had been released following intervention from Swedish diplomats and had been taken to the Australian Embassy in Beijing. Later Thursday, Sigley flew to Tokyo's Haneda airport to reunite with his Japanese wife.
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| UPDATE 1-Dam bursts in India after rains, killing 11 Posted: 03 Jul 2019 05:17 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Dam bursts in India after rains, killing 11]( "UPDATE 1-Dam bursts in India after rains, killing 11") Heavy monsoon rains caused the breach of a small dam in western India, washing away dozens of homes and killing at least 11 people with 13 missing, a government official said on Wednesday. Seasonal rains have crippled India's financial centre of Mumbai this week, disrupting rail and air traffic in the city of 18 million, while wall collapses have killed more than 30 people. Tuesday's breach of the Tiware dam in the coastal district of Ratnagiri, nearly 275 km (170 miles) south of Mumbai, washed away dozens of homes, an official of the Maharashtra state government said.
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| Biden raises $21.5 million since late April, trails Buttigieg in fundraising Posted: 03 Jul 2019 04:38 PM PDT  Biden's haul trails that of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg who raised more than $24.8 million in the second quarter.
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| Migrant children's drawings depict 'horrific' conditions in cages Posted: 03 Jul 2019 02:16 PM PDT  Pediatricians shared pictures drawn by migrant children after being released from US custodyA drawing by children recently released depicting their time spent in US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody. Photograph: Handout ./ReutersDisturbing drawings by children recently held in migrant detention centers showing sad figures in cages have been released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which last week warned of longterm trauma faced by immigrant children separated from parents or guardians under the Trump administration's border policies.The pictures were drawn last week by unaccompanied 10 and 11-year-old migrant children after being released from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody. They were obtained by NBC News which said they were provided to the AAP by a social worker in Texas."The fact that the drawings are so realistic and horrific gives us a view into what these children have experienced," Dr Colleen Kraft, former president of the AAP, told CNN. "When a child draws this, it's telling us that child felt like he or she was in jail."In its policy statement released last week, the academy warned that the welfare of immigrant children seeking safe haven in the United States, whether arriving unaccompanied or in family units, is of "great concern to pediatricians and other advocates for children".The academy warned that Department of Homeland Security facilities used to accommodate unaccompanied children "do not meet the basic standards for the care of children in residential settings".> According to @AmerAcadPeds ...this is a drawing by a migrant child after being released from @CBP custody. It was provided by a social worker in Texas. pic.twitter.com/KNm6bpBOYM> > — Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) July 3, 2019The warnings come as multiple reports found that immigrant children are being held in poor conditions after being separated from their guardians. A report in ProPublica released on Monday also revealed the existence of a secret Facebook group, in which CBP officers seemed to mock the plight of migrant children.In one example, group members joked about a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in May while in custody at a border patrol station in Weslaco, Texas.Following a visit to a migrant detention center in Texas this week, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the conditions she and other lawmakers found as "horrifying".On Tuesday, the department of homeland security's office of inspector general released a report detailing severe overcrowding and escalating tensions between detainees and border patrol agents at five facilities in the Rio Grande Valley.The report said children were denied showers, clean clothing and hot meals. Several adults hadn't had a shower for as long as a month.The latest warnings about the long-term psychological damage facing migrant children separated from family members come as a government spokesman said Wednesday that the administration is evaluating vacant properties near five US cities as potential permanent sites to hold unaccompanied migrant children.Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Mark Weber said Wednesday that property is being assessed in and around Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas.Public contracts for the facilities state properties must be able to accommodate up to 500 children. Buildings must have up to 100,800 square feet (9,400 sq meters) of space and the properties must include about 2 acres (0.8 hectares) for outdoor recreation.Plans for the Atlanta facility calls for 125 bedrooms, with each of them housing up to four children. The HHS spokesman said the search for permanent facilities is being pursued to reduce the possible need for temporary shelters in the future.The Associated Press contributed to the report
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| Americans Are Less Proud to Be Americans This Year Posted: 04 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- As the nation celebrates Independence Day, pride in America has become a casualty of today's polarized political environment.The share of those who say they're either extremely or very proud of being an American reached the lowest point since Gallup first conducted the survey in 2001. For a second straight year, less than half of Americans consider themselves "extremely proud," down from a peak of 70% in 2004 and driven by low patriotism among Democrats and political independents.The gap by political affiliation is at the widest point ever. National pride among Democrats has plunged since President Donald Trump took office, with just 22% now indicating extreme pride, the lowest on record and half what it was months before the last election. Some 76% of Republicans indicate they are extremely proud of being an American.By comparison, "when Barack Obama was in office, Republicans' extreme pride never fell below 68%," according to the report.Several subgroups -- women, liberals and younger adults -- all express lower levels of extreme U.S. pride. The opposite is more readily found among men, conservatives and older Americans.One thing that the majority of Americans do agree on, regardless of political affiliation -- both the American political and the health and welfare system fail to instill pride. Only about a third of respondents say the political system makes them proud to be an American, compared with more than two-thirds who say it doesn't.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Wei LuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Know This: A U.S.-Iran War Would Not Be Fought Only in Iran Posted: 02 Jul 2019 10:11 AM PDT  Residents in northern Cyprus were surprised on July 1 when a S-200 missile slammed into the side of a mountain in the wake of an Israeli airstrike in northern Syria. Israel has targeted Iranian bases and weapons transfers to Hezbollah more than a thousand times in the last seven years. Iran has threatened to respond, but Tehran now faces larger concerns as it wrestles with Washington and seeks to raise tensions in both the Gulf, Iraq and Yemen among its allies and proxies.An arc of simmering conflict runs from the waters off Cyprus to the Gulf of Oman where the U.S. Global Hawk was downed in June, to Abha in Saudi Arabia which has been targeted by Iranian-backed Houthi drones. It is a frontline that stretches three thousand miles and marks out the potential flashpoints between the United States and its allies against Iran and its allies and proxies. Viewing the region through this complex map of interlinked conflicts is the best way to see the current U.S.-Iran tensions in the context in which they have grown. It also reveals the possible ways Iran and its proxies might strike at the United States and its allies. In some cases these conflicts have already broken out.
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| The 2020 BMW X6 Is Bigger, Quicker, and Still Ridiculous Posted: 02 Jul 2019 03:01 PM PDT  BMW's third-generation X6 has aggressive styling and a new M50i performance model.
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| A Teen From a 'Good Family' Allegedly Bragged About Raping a 16-Year-Old. Now a Judge Is Under Fire for His Leniency Posted: 03 Jul 2019 11:41 AM PDT  The judge denied a request to try the boy as an adult. An appeals court reversed his decision
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| Mexico buses home dozens of asylum seekers returned by US Posted: 02 Jul 2019 03:00 PM PDT  In a statement, the Foreign Relations Department described it as the beginning of a "temporary program of voluntary return" for migrants in northern Mexico who wish to go home. It said 69 people — 40 Hondurans, 22 Guatemalans and seven Salvadorans — were involved, and 66 of those were returnees under the U.S. program. Officials said the bus left Ciudad Juarez at 9 a.m. and that all aboard wanted to be repatriated to their native countries in Central America's Northern Triangle, the source of a surge of migration in recent months, many of them families with children.
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| UPDATE 1-Mexico says migrant apprehensions at U.S. border down 30% in June from May Posted: 02 Jul 2019 05:46 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Mexico says migrant apprehensions at U.S. border down 30% in June from May]( "UPDATE 1-Mexico says migrant apprehensions at U.S. border down 30% in June from May") Migrant apprehensions at the U.S. southern border fell 30% in June from the previous month, Mexico said on Tuesday, after introducing controls as part of a deal with the United States to curb the flow of migration or face possible trade tariffs. Citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mexico's foreign ministry said 100,037 migrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in June, down from 144,278 migrants in May, including people who appeared at ports of entry and were deemed inadmissible. "Mexico's effort to control the flow of migrants appears to have broken a growing trend," the ministry said in a statement.
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| UFOs: Where your state ranks for unexplained sightings Posted: 02 Jul 2019 02:42 PM PDT  The five states with the most UFO sightings per capita are in the north, a new report says. The least frequent sightings of UFOs come from the south.
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| Putin signs bill to suspend Russia's participation in nuclear treaty Posted: 03 Jul 2019 12:30 PM PDT  Vladimir Putin has signed a bill suspending Russia's participation in a pivotal nuclear arms pact with the United States.The Russian president's decree formalises his country's departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, from which the US announced its withdrawal earlier this year.Donald Trump's administration gave notice in February of its intention to pull out on 2 August, citing Moscow's development of a missile that was in breach of the pact.Russia has denied any violations and accused the US of breaking the accord.In a tit-for-tat response, the Kremlin followed Washington in announcing in February it would also suspend its INF treaty obligations The pact, signed by US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned the production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 310 to 3,410 miles.The intermediate-range weapons were seen as particularly destabilising as they take a short time to reach their targets compared to the intercontinental ballistic missiles.That would leave practically no time for decision-makers to gauge how to respond, raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning.Mr Gorbachev has said it was "mistake" for Mr Trump to withdraw from the treaty, telling Russia's Interfax news agency last year: "Under no circumstances should we tear up old disarmament agreements ... Do they really not understand in Washington what this could lead to?,"
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| Man pours water on Baidu CEO at AI conference Posted: 02 Jul 2019 11:06 PM PDT  A man burst on to a stage and poured water over the head of Baidu CEO Robin Li as the founder of China's dominant search engine spoke at a company-sponsored event on Artificial Intelligence on Wednesday. Highly visible public acts of defiance are relatively rare in China's big cities where security measures can be tight and celebrities like Li generally travel with a pack of security. Baidu has faced enormous criticism in China in recent years after a medical advertising scandal and discontent with changes to its search result listings that favour its own content.
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| Polls show Biden a favorite for general election as Harris surges Posted: 03 Jul 2019 02:01 PM PDT  Following the first Democratic debate, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris show a strong standing in new ABC News polls ahead of holiday weekend appearances in Iowa.
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| Trump's Political Plan for the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Posted: 02 Jul 2019 10:19 AM PDT  A few days after President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, unveiled the U.S. economic peace plan in Bahrain, Trump addressed the topic during a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Japan. The president said that there would never be an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement if one is not negotiated during his presidency. He also opined that there is a "very good chance" his proposal for solving the decades-long conflict could succeed.The conference in Bahrain was almost uniformly ridiculed by Middle East experts. But with the passage of time the meeting may prove to have served a useful purpose. This is because the preparations for the conference provided two important lessons. And, at least one unrelated but important development in the aftermath of the meeting improves the odds, even if only slightly so, that if launched soon, Trump's political plan may at least get a hearing.The first lesson of Bahrain is that money alone cannot resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict no matter how lucrative the package offered. This point was made clear before, during, and after the conference—even by those most supportive of the effort, such as Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa. Again and again, Arab participants referred to two-state frameworks, notably the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative as prerequisites to the successful application of economic incentives. That reference was important in case Trump's close circle still harbored hopes that the Palestinians could be bribed to accept a deal that ignores their national aspirations; this illusion has been finally put to rest in Bahrain.
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| View Photos of our Long-Term 2019 Hyundai Veloster N Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:08 AM PDT |
| Is the Betsy Ross flag a symbol for hate groups? Depends on who you ask Posted: 03 Jul 2019 04:13 AM PDT  The Betsy Ross flag has emerged as a flash point after Nike decided not to release shoes featuring the flag. Here's the history behind it.
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| Eight arrested over cyberattacks against Hong Kong police Posted: 03 Jul 2019 04:01 AM PDT  Hong Kong police said Wednesday they have arrested eight people for stealing and disclosing personal information of officers online, as the city grapples with the aftermath of unprecedented anti-government protests that saw its parliament ransacked. The semi-autonomous city has been plunged into crisis by massive demonstrations since last month against its Beijing-backed government, sparked by a law that would have allowed extraditions to the mainland. The anger spilled over on Monday as groups of mostly young, hardline protesters stormed Hong Kong's Legislative Council, spraying graffiti on the walls of its main chamber and defacing the city's seal before police regained control of the building.
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| 2020 Democrats Caught Between Corn and Ethanol Foes in Iowa Posted: 03 Jul 2019 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Environmentalists are taking their case that corn-based ethanol is bad for the planet to the state that makes more of it than any other: Iowa.They are bird-dogging presidential candidates such as Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker at rallies and town halls, trying to dissuade them from making politically convenient pro-ethanol pledges to get votes in corn country. Their message: biofuels are driving environmental harms, from disappearing wetlands to algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.As Democratic 2020 candidates flock to Iowa this July 4 -- Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and Joe Biden will be there -- biofuel foes are challenging conventional wisdom that ethanol support is untouchable in Iowa.So far, their efforts aren't working.At least nine presidential candidates made pilgrimages to ethanol factories in Iowa so far this year -- including President Donald Trump, who visited the Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy facility in Council Bluffs on June 11.Former Democratic congressman Beto O'Rourke toured the Big River Renewables LLC ethanol plant in West Burlington two days after announcing his bid. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio praised biofuels as good for the planet at a POET Biorefining plant in Gowrie in May. On Tuesday, Representative Tim Ryan stopped by the Golden Grain Energy LLC ethanol facility in Mason City.Showing love for ethanol is part of the political script in Iowa. "You've got to get a picture in a corn field, if you can find one, and you have to have the picture with an ethanol plant and then you've got to have the picture with the corn dog," said Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University in Ames.For years, biofuel advocates have promoted the idea that backing ethanol is a litmus test for winning Iowa, site of the nation's first presidential caucuses. That persists despite the 2016 Republican caucus victory of Ted Cruz, who criticized the U.S. biofuel mandate. Many former critics have reversed course after campaigning in Iowa, from John McCain and Marco Rubio to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.Iowa produced 2.5 billion bushels of corn last year -- with 62% of that going to make ethanol. And the state leads the nation in producing biodiesel, a renewable fuel typically made from soybeans. A biofuel trade group estimates the industry pumps some $5 billion into Iowa's economy, or about 3% of the state's GDP.Biofuel foes view Iowa as the front lines of their fight. Campaign promises made there have a direct link to pro-biofuel policies in Washington, said Glenn Hurowitz, chief executive officer of Mighty Earth, a not-for-profit group that stationed activists in the state."Corn ethanol and soy biodiesel are even dirtier than dirty oil -- and the path to building support for reform goes through Iowa," Hurowitz said.Biofuel critics saw an opening this year. The Democratic field is crowded with coastal lawmakers who don't have entrenched positions supporting renewable fuel. And many of the Democratic contenders are competing to outline bold plans for combating climate change -- some with visions of phasing out all liquid transportation fuels, whether made of corn or crude.The National Wildlife Federation has armed presidential candidates with talking points crafted to help them prove they support rural America and corn farmers without endorsing ethanol at the same time. Activists also conducted door-to-door petition drives, panel workshops and volunteer training to emphasize the issue."A lot of the candidates come in here assuming they have to talk about how great ethanol is because they think that's what Iowans want to hear," said Anya Fetcher, an activist who led Mighty Earth's campaign in Iowa City. "It's our chance to shape the narrative and let them know early on that it is important to talk about real climate solutions."Mighty EarthFetcher used that strategy with 2020 hopeful Tulsi Gabbard after a "meet and greet" event in an Iowa City brewery in February.Fetcher wound around tables and through a throng of voters to reach Gabbard, and told the Hawaii Democrat that, contrary to popular belief, Iowans prefer to fight climate change with wind power, solar energy and land conservation rather than corn-based ethanol."I am in complete alignment with what you are talking about," Gabbard responded, her voice rising over the din in the crowded bar as she stressed it's important to ensure farmers aren't hurt.Mighty Earth had other, early successes, recording Warren saying she wants "better biofuels" and using video of Booker saying he supports ethanol to spur a follow-up conversation with his staff.The chairman of Washington-based Mighty Earth is former California Representative Henry Waxman. The group's Iowa biofuel initiative was partially underwritten by Jerry Jung, a former chief executive of heavy equipment dealer Michigan CAT who blames the U.S. biofuel mandate for declines in the Monarch butterfly population.Opponents, including oil companies and wildlife advocates, say the 14-year-old Renewable Fuel Standard that requires biofuel in gasoline and diesel drives farmers to plow prairie grasses and shrubs to grow corn and soybeans. And they argue that greenhouse gas emissions associated with corn-based ethanol are higher than anticipated when land conversions are factored in.Federal and state agencies generally treat ethanol as a climate-friendly alternative to petroleum-based gasoline. California, for instance, approves ethanol under its aggressive low-carbon fuel standard requirements. And a U.S. Department of Agriculture study published in April credits corn-based ethanol with producing at least 39% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline over its entire life cycle, from the initial production of raw materials to its processing and eventual combustion in vehicles.Crowded FieldBiofuel advocates dispute claims of rampant land changes they say are based on flawed research. In the middle of an agricultural crisis, "farmers are trying to hold on to the land they have," said Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Biofuels Business Council. "They're not clearing more land. They're trying to survive."Embracing ethanol has enduring political appeal as a way for candidates to show empathy for rural America -- a powerful tool for urban Democrats trying to court Midwest voters. And some Democrats, such as Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, see the issue giving them an opening against Trump, who promised to "protect" ethanol on the campaign trail but has been more equivocal in the White House.The Trump administration gave the industry a major win by lifting restrictions restricting higher-ethanol E15 gasoline sales but also has been criticized for exempting dozens of oil refineries from biofuel quotas.Polling shows that supporting ethanol still helps in Iowa. In a March survey conducted for Focus on Rural America, 84% of likely Iowa caucus goers said they would be more inclined to back a candidate "who supports expanding production of renewable biofuels like ethanol and growing related jobs in rural communities."But ethanol isn't a priority issue for most voters -- it's consistently outranked by other concerns such as health care, immigration and education. Biofuel didn't even place in a list of nearly two dozen issues raised by likely Iowa voters as their most pressing concerns in an April Monmouth University poll.Still, biofuel boosters are making appeals to Democratic candidates -- and countering Mighty Earth's campaign with one of their own. They are inviting candidates to tour manufacturing facilities and circulating briefing memos refuting Mighty Earth's arguments. One of the biggest U.S. ethanol producers, Green Plains Inc., plans to "engage with candidates on pro-ethanol policy," Chief Executive Todd Becker told analysts on an earnings call.And ethanol producers have established a new group -- called Biofuels Vision 2020 -- to help candidates appreciate "the benefits of renewable fuels for the environment, energy security and Iowa's rural economies.""It's everything Democrats want to talk about in terms of engaging rural America. It's climate, it's jobs, it's environment and it's rural income," said Monte Shaw, head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. "If they're willing to learn and have a science discussion, then we're going to be fine. The facts are on our side."\--With assistance from Mario Parker and Tyler Pager.To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth WassermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Most top military chiefs skipping Trump's July Fourth fest Posted: 03 Jul 2019 09:09 AM PDT  Besides inviting the senior officials, "the White House provided 5,000 tickets to the Department of Defense" for service members, the Pentagon said in an announcement.
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| Look Closely: Is This Picture the Future of the U.S. Navy? Posted: 04 Jul 2019 01:36 AM PDT  Boeing is also looking to convince the Navy that the CMV-22 could fulfill all sorts of secondary roles that S-3 Vikings or helicopters used to fulfill, such as anti-submarine patrols, search-and-rescue of downed airmen, special ops insertion, and electronic warfare.Only time will tell whether the pricy CMV-22B brings about the revolution in logistics the Navy is hoping for.For over fifty years, the Navy has operated C-2A Greyhound cargo haulers with twin turboprop engines to ferry personnel, supplies, mail and spare parts to its massive aircraft carriers at sea—a mission known as Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD). The Greyhound, which is derived from the Navy's E-2 Hawkeye radar planes, can haul up to five tons of cargo or 26 passengers while still managing to land and takeoff from the three-hundred-meter-long carrier flight deck—and then fold its wings to fit in the hangar deck below.(This first appeared last year.)In the late 2000s, however, the Navy began looking to replace the aging Greyhound. Candidates to take up the COD mission included modernized C-2s and the Navy's recently retired S-3 Viking anti-submarine jets. In the end, though, the Navy gave in to urging from the Marines and decided to pursue the most expensive option—the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
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| Delta crew detains passenger; plane returns to Puerto Rico Posted: 03 Jul 2019 07:21 AM PDT ![Delta crew detains passenger; plane returns to Puerto Rico]( "Delta crew detains passenger; plane returns to Puerto Rico") A Delta Air Lines crew detained a passenger who tried to enter the cockpit in an incident that forced a New York-bound plane to return to Puerto Rico on Wednesday, authorities said. Puerto Rico police said that 30-year-old Carlos Ramírez Rodríguez became aggressive and tried to enter the cockpit. Delta said the Boeing 737-900ER aircraft with more than 160 passengers and six crew members continued to New York and was expected to arrive two hours late.
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| UPDATE 1-Mexico buses home migrants who gave up on U.S. asylum claims Posted: 02 Jul 2019 07:41 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Mexico buses home migrants who gave up on U.S. asylum claims]( "UPDATE 1-Mexico buses home migrants who gave up on U.S. asylum claims") Dozens of Central American migrants forced to wait in Mexico, some for half a year, for their asylum claims to be processed in the United States opted on Tuesday to return to their home countries with the Mexican government's help, officials said. Sixty-six people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador had been sent back to Mexico's Ciudad Juarez opposite El Paso, Texas, after requesting asylum in the United States, the foreign ministry said, under a contentious U.S policy known as Migration Protection Protocols (MPP). Also known as Remain in Mexico, the policy is aimed at dissuading people from pursuing U.S. asylum claims.
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| Texas migrant detention facilities 'dangerously overcrowded' – US government report Posted: 02 Jul 2019 01:21 PM PDT  Report from government's own auditors includes images of children and adults penned into roomsA picture of an overcrowded area holding families at a border patrol facility in Weslaco, released as part of a report by the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General. Photograph: Handout/ReutersNew images of children and adults in "dangerously" overcrowded US border patrol facilities in Texas have been released as part of a report from government auditors.The congressional House oversight committee announced on Tuesday it will hold a hearing next week on the treatment of migrants held in detention facilities at the southern border after a series of reports of poor treatment.Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings has said the Trump administration has displayed "open contempt" of "basic human decency" in its treatment of migrants.The report released on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General warns that facilities in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas face "dangerous overcrowding" and require "immediate attention".One image shows a man squashed in a crowd pressing a cardboard sign to a cell window with the word "help" written on it. He is one of 88 men in a cell meant for 41."During the week of June 10, 2019, we traveled to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and again observed serious overcrowding and prolonged detention in border patrol facilities requiring immediate attention," the report says. A previous report issued in May had also warned about "dangerous overcrowding" at facilities in the El Paso facilities.In one photo from the new report, women and children can be seen sleeping on the floor with only Mylar blankets for cover. Several people are wearing surgical masks.Some of a group of 88 adult males press against the window of a cell built to hold 41 people at Fort Brown border patrol station in Brownsville, Texas. Photograph: HANDOUT/ReutersIn one facility, the auditors found "some single adults were held in standing room only conditions for a week and at another, some single adults were held more than a month in overcrowded cells". The auditors say the report seeks to draw attention to "urgent issues that require immediate attention and action".DHS has blamed the surge of families crossing the border for straining its capacity. But reports of filthy conditions in some facilities have sparked outrage.The report comes a day after several members of Congress toured a migrant detention center in Texas. The Democratic New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the conditions they witnessed as "horrifying".She posted on Twitter that the "officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets" and said one woman "described their treatment at the hands of officers as 'psychological warfare' – waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc. Tell me what about that is due to a 'lack of funding?'" The Democratic Texas congressman Joaquín Castro says he released video and photos of migrant women being held at a border facility in his state so the public could better understand "awful" conditions under Donald Trump's policies.An overcrowded area holding families at a Border Patrol centralized processing center in McAllen, Texas, and released as part of a report by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General. Photograph: HANDOUT/Reuters"There's a reason these conditions are kept secret because these conditions are awful," Castro, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told the Associated Press.Women held at the facility were "crammed into a prison-like cell with one toilet, but no running water to drink from or wash their hands", Castro tweeted after the visit. Some had been separated from their children and held for more than 50 days, he said.Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic colleagues were en route to a facility in Clint, in west Texas, yesterday when ProPublica revealed the existence of a secret Facebook group, branded as a forum for Customs and Border Protection officers, with 9,500 members, some of whom ProPublica linked to public Facebook pages for verified officers.Castro said because lawmakers have oversight authority, they should not be denied access or the ability to share their findings on the conditions they had seen.Castro said he holds out hope that Congress will impose standards of care and seek broader immigration reforms, though lawmakers have been unable to do so.Men are crowded in a room at a border patrol station in McAllen, Texas Photograph: HANDOUT/ReutersTrump signed an emergency $4.6bn border funding package into law this week after lawmakers split over putting restrictions on how the money can be spent. Some House Democrats wanted more standards on the facilities, but they ran up against resistance from centrist colleagues and those in the Senate. Republicans complained that Democrats delayed the funding.The Congressional Hispanic Caucus led a tour of migrant facilities this week and lawmakers decried the conditions inside the Texas centers.Castro, whose twin brother Julián is a Democratic presidential candidate, said as Congress needs to "fix a broken system".Congress is in recess this week. But Congressman Gerald Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, said "the really heartbreaking testimony" by members who visited the detention facilities "is going to have an impact" on legislation when lawmakers return. "Children really help galvanize attention," he said.Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| Manslaughter charges for woman who lost baby after being shot in stomach dismissed by prosecutors following outcry Posted: 03 Jul 2019 11:56 PM PDT  A woman indicted for manslaughter after losing her unborn baby when she was shot has had the charge dropped.Marshae Jones, of Birmingham, Alabama, lost the foetus after being blasted in the stomach following a fight in December.The 28-year-old was arrested last week after a grand jury decided she had caused the death by initiating the brawl while knowing she was five months pregnant.But, following a global outcry, a Jefferson County district attorney announced the charges were being discontinued on Wednesday.Lynneice Washington said: "After reviewing the facts of this case and the applicable state law, I have determined that it is not in the best interest of justice to pursue prosecution of Ms Jones. There are no winners, only losers, in this sad ordeal."No further explanation was offered for the sudden change or any rationale given for how grand jurors returned the indictment in the first place.Ms Jones' lawyers said she was pleased with the decision and urged her supporters to now direct their energy to "ensuring that what happened to Marshae won't ever happen again".They had previously called the charge "flawed and twisted", saying it "defies the most basic logic and analysis".The case came shortly after Alabama passed America's most hard-line anti-abortion legislation.The new laws, passed earlier this year, make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a crime punishable by life in prison for the provider. It makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.Officials denied Jones' indictment had anything to do with the legislation but her case sparked outrage across the US and wider world among pro-choice campaigners and advocates for women's rights.Many pointed out the charge was another clear example of the state attempting to punish women for so-called crimes related to their pregnancies.Legal scholars said the arrest raised questions about what other scenarios – such as driving a car or swimming in a pool – could constitute putting a foetus in danger.Jeffery Robinson, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, welcomed the charges being dropped, saying the decision "represents precisely what we want to see in these critical moments: a prosecutor who is not afraid to use prosecutorial discretion and power to refuse to prosecute when the law and justice demands that charges should be dropped."Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said she was pleased to see the case dismissed but noted it would be a mistake to see it as an outlier.She said: "We hope there are no more cases like this in the future, but our experience in 40 years of cases suggests that we will see many more such misuses of the law in the name of foetal personhood in the future."Ms Jones' attacker, 23-year-old Ebony Jemison, had manslaughter charges against her dismissed earlier this year. She herself had said she felt the indictment of her rival was unjust.
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| Japan whale restaurants cheer hunt resumption Posted: 02 Jul 2019 11:11 PM PDT  "Two sashimis, three steaks," cries the waitress at one of Tokyo's most famous whale restaurants during a frantic lunchtime service where Japan's resumption of commercial whaling has cooked up new hope. Mitsuo Tani has spent 46 of his 64 years preparing and cooking whale meat and hosts a mixed clientele at his restaurant: salarymen in white shirts gulping down a quick lunch before heading back to the office, single women, retired couples. Japan's resumption of commercial whaling has prompted fury from other countries and campaigners, with activists saying that one of the three species targeted is threatened with extinction and sub-populations of the other two are depleted.
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| Secret Service agent who served president dies in tragic accident Posted: 02 Jul 2019 10:14 AM PDT  Special Agent Stephanie Hancock died Saturday after her body was recovered around 9:30 pm, approximately six hours after she was last seen when her kayak capsized in a Maryland river. The veteran U.S. Secret Service agent, who had last served on a Presidential Protective Detail, was with her boyfriend at the time of the accident and, according to officials, he attempted to rescue her to no avail.
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| Kamala Harris Vaults Into Second Place as Joe Biden Slips After First Debate Posted: 02 Jul 2019 12:21 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The first debate shuffled the Democratic presidential race, vaulting Kamala Harris into second place and highlighting vulnerabilities for front-runner Joe Biden.Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren continues to rise and 2016 runner-up Bernie Sanders is slipping as voters search for alternatives in the historically large field of candidates.That's the conclusion from four polls taken since last week's debate that also show those four candidates clearly make up the top tier at this stage of the Democratic nomination race. None of the other 20 candidates breaks into double-digit support, including Pete Buttigieg, who's gotten plenty of media attention and managed to raise an eye-popping $24.8 million in the second quarter.The shifts are a snapshot in time seven months before the contest officially begins in Iowa, with 11 more debates before the party convention next July. The new surveys of Democratic voters indicated that support for various candidates remains very fluid, and history shows early polls frequently don't match final results.A Quinnipiac national poll released Tuesday found Biden slipping to 22%, just two points ahead of Harris at 20%. Warren was next with 14%, ahead of Sanders with 13%.Notably, the former vice president's lead among black voters was down to just four points, at 31% to Harris's 27% with this key constituency that has picked the winner in all five contested Democratic presidential primaries since 1992.A CNN national poll found Biden slipping 10 points in one month — to 22%. Behind him was California Senator Harris with 17% (a 9-point boost) and Massachusetts Senator Warren with 15% (an 8-point gain), and Vermont Senator Sanders with 14% (a 4-point drop). Next came Buttigieg with 4% and Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker with 3% each.Iowa SurveyThe same results were reflected in Iowa, where caucuses formally kick off the nomination contest next February and where Biden, Harris and Sanders are campaigning this week. A Suffolk/USA Today poll of Iowa Democrats found Biden leading with 24%, behind a rising Harris at 16%, and Warren at 13%; Sanders came fourth with 9%.The surveys signal trouble for Sanders. CNN's poll showed him with the highest unfavorable ratings of any Democrat among the general public and party voters. And his single-digit showing in the Iowa survey is a troubling sign for someone who's well-known among the state's caucus-goers and finished a mere 0.25 point behind Hillary Clinton there in 2016.A HuffPost/YouGov national survey found that Democratic voter opinions of Warren and Harris improved the most since the debate, while perceptions of Biden worsened more than they improved, and Sanders barely changed with a 2-point net improvement.The bright spot for Biden is that he continues to outperform the field on "electability" perceptions. The CNN survey found that 43% of Democrats say he "has the best chance to beat Donald Trump" next fall, followed by 13% for Sanders and 12% each for Harris and Warren.The surveys also established a middle tier of candidates polling behind the front-runners and ahead of the bulk of the two dozen who are running.Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is struggling despite his impressive fundraising. And O'Rourke, a former U.S. representative who began the race with high expectations after a strong showing in last year's Texas Senate race, is languishing after a sub-par debate performance.Buttigieg was polling at 0% with black voters in the new Quinnipiac poll.The good news for them is that polls this early tend to be off the mark. A CNN poll at this stage of the 2016 Republican primary found Jeb Bush leading with 19%, ahead of Trump with 12%; Senator Ted Cruz, who finished as the runner-up, was just 10th with 3%.To contact the reporter on this story: Sahil Kapur in Washington at skapur39@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Wendy BenjaminsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| AP analysis: Trump smiles with North Korea, threatens Iran Posted: 02 Jul 2019 10:34 AM PDT  With North Korea, President Donald Trump puts on the charm. Nuclear weapons are at the heart of the difficult U.S. relations with both Pyongyang and Tehran. Kim Jong Un has seemed as willing to meet with Trump as the U.S. president has been to talk and shake hands for the cameras with him.
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