| Man jailed for saying AOC ‘should be shot’ tells police he’s ‘very proud’ he did it Posted: 10 Aug 2019 03:44 AM PDT  An Ohio man charged after writing on Facebook that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "should be shot" told police he was "very proud" that he did it.Timothy James Ireland, 41, was indicted in Toledo for making interstate threats against AOC in addition to separate counts of being a felon and fugitive in possession of a firearm, the US attorney's office in Ohio announced on Friday.Officials say a concerned citizen reached out to U.S. Capitol Police on July 23 to warn of the threatening Facebook post, which they later confirmed was written by Ireland."She should be shot. Can't fire me, my employer would load the gun for me," Ireland wrote, according to police.The statement was apparently posted to Facebook along with a news story about the Democrat congresswoman, leading Capitol Police to call Ireland on August 2 after finding his phone number in public records.The man took full responsibility for the statement while speaking with police, adding he was "very proud" of his work, according to a criminal complaint.Ireland also admitted to having firearms that he "always carries concealed," police say.An FBI criminal history check revealed Ireland had two outstanding warrants, one for violating probation in a felony case in Florida and the other related to a failure to appear for a possession of marijuana charge in Cook County, Georgia.Ireland was also convicted in 1996 on four felony counts of dealing in stolen property in Sarasota County, according to the criminal complaint.The man was present when police raided his Toledo home five days after the phone call, the complaint read. He was detained for the active warrants and admitted to having ammunition inside his house.Investigators say they found three rounds of .32-caliber ammunition, and four rounds belonging to a .45-caliber weapon, stashed in kitchen drawers."There is absolutely no place in the marketplace of ideas for threats of violence against any person, especially those who are elected to represent the American people," US Attorney Justin Herdman said in a release."Disagreement on political issues cannot lead to acts of violence, and if it does, we will seek federal prison time."A spokesman for the Department of Justice said Ireland waived his hearing and will remain in custody at least until a bond hearing next week.Last month a police officer in the US state of Louisiana also took to Facebook to say AOC should be shot, suggesting that she "needs a round – and I don't mean the kind she used to serve".Charlie Rispoli, a 14-year veteran of the police department in Gretna, went on to call her "this vile idiot". He was sacked.His comments came after Donald Trump lashed out at 'The Squad', a group of four congresswoman including AOC, in a roundly condemned racist attack where he told them to "go back" to their countries \- despite them having lived in the US for decades.The Washington Post
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| The Latest: Congress party says people dying in Kashmir Posted: 10 Aug 2019 11:47 AM PDT  India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation in Kashmir, saying there are reports of violence and people dying. Pakistan says that with the support of China, it will take up India's unilateral actions in the disputed region of Kashmir with the U.N. Security Council and may approach the U.N. Human Rights Commission over what it says is the "genocide" of the Kashmiri people. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the comment Saturday after meeting in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart and other top leaders.
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| South Korean cosmetics firm boss quits over YouTube praising Japan Posted: 11 Aug 2019 02:33 AM PDT  The head of a major South Korean cosmetics firm resigned Sunday after facing heavy backlash for forcing his staff to watch a YouTube video praising Japan during a raging trade war between the two nations. The clip, played at a monthly meeting of some 700 employees of Kolmar Korea last week, slams President Moon Jae-in's response to Japan's trade regulations and praises Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for "not punching Moon in the face". The video also refers to Venezuela's crippling economy, where "women are going into prostitution for mere seven dollars", and adds that South Korea is not far from meeting a similar fate.
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| Republicans can find common ground on guns, Kellyanne Conway says Posted: 11 Aug 2019 08:15 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is "actively talking to Republicans and Democrats" on background checks, Conway said.
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| Trump Administration Re-Authorizes Using 'Cyanide Bombs' to Kill Coyotes and Dogs. Here's What to Know Posted: 09 Aug 2019 12:53 PM PDT  Environmentalist groups have raised concerns about the traps' effectiveness and safety
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| Devastating photos show the damage of Typhoon Lekima, which killed at least 18 people and forced 1 million to evacuate in China Posted: 10 Aug 2019 11:09 AM PDT  A million people were evacuated from their homes and thousands of flights were cancelled across major airports in China.
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| ANALYSIS-Many Sri Lankans want a strongman leader, and that favours Gotabaya Rajapaksa Posted: 10 Aug 2019 10:01 PM PDT ![ANALYSIS-Many Sri Lankans want a strongman leader, and that favours Gotabaya Rajapaksa]( "ANALYSIS-Many Sri Lankans want a strongman leader, and that favours Gotabaya Rajapaksa") Sri Lankans, angered by the government's inability to prevent the Easter Sunday terror attacks that killed more than 250 people, want a strongman back in power who can guarantee their safety and bring back economic growth. Many are rooting for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who despite fighting allegations of war crimes, is expected to be announced as the presidential candidate of the opposition nationalist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, as early as Sunday. The Rajapaksa brothers, Gotabaya and Mahinda, were credited with bringing peace to Sri Lanka in 2009 by defeating the Tamil Tigers in a brutal end to the 26-year-long civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and minority Tamil groups.
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| Iowa State Fair: Democrat candidate Andrew Yang breaks down in tears over gun violence Posted: 11 Aug 2019 07:33 AM PDT  A week after two mass shootings left more than 30 dead the issue of gun violence was unavoidable for Democratic presidential candidates at the Iowa State Fair.As children zoomed down slides and munched on deep-fried Oreos, caucus goers still working out which Democratic candidates to support flocked to ask candidates how they might address the epidemic of shootings.Of the 14 candidates who attended a last-minute forum in downtown Des Moines on Saturday, it was Andrew Yang, a businessman and long-shot candidate, who stole the show.At the Everytown for Gun Safety forum, when asked by a woman named Stephanie, who lost her 4-year-old son to a stray bullet, how he would address the unintentional shootings of children in America. Mr Yang asked to give her a hug and broke down in tears."I have a six- and three-year-old boy, and I was imagining," Mr Yang began, before becoming too choked up to continue. "I was imagining it was one of them that got shot and the other saw," he eventually managed, before again choking up. "I'm so sorry."It's a feeling that runs raw with Iowa caucus goers, and has a renewed sense of urgency after the killings at a Walmart in Texas and a bar in Ohio last week.Heaven Chamberlain, a 23-year-old shift leader at a trampoline park in Des Moines who came to the Iowa State Fair to see as many candidates as she could, said she is among the generation of Americans who grew up with school lock downs for shootings.Now, Ms Chamberlain is worried about her two little sisters, who she thinks could be facing the prospect of gun violence at school any day."My sisters are afraid to go to school, because they're afraid that they won't come back," Ms Chamberlain said of her 10- and 11-year-old sisters. "Sorry, I always tear up when I think about them."For many who came to see the Democrats, the fixes for mass shootings seem like common sense. They would like a ban on the semi-automatic versions of military rifles sold freely in many states and are used in many of the mass shootings that have shocked the county. They would like universal background checks. They want action."That's the one thing I'm looking for in a candidate," Makayla Warrick, a 19-year-old college student who wants to become a teacher, said. Ms Warrick was waiting to ask a question of Jon Delaney, and said she's a Republican, but doesn't necessarily support Donald Trump. "Now it's coming to the point where I'm scared to go into some classrooms."Candidates, for their part, provided many answers. While congressman Beto O'Rourke stayed in his home town of El Paso to help his community, others forged ahead.Senator Cory Booker stopped during the annual Iowa Wing Ding – a Democratic fundraising dinner - on Friday night and dedicated his entire speech there to the issue.Kamala Harris promised to give Congress just 100 days to act, before she would take executive action on the issue. Joe Biden told a town hall he would push for background checks, and common-sense reforms.And many, like Elizabeth Warren, said that the shootings in recent years – in Parkland, Florida, Las Vegas, and these recent two, among others – had shifted the momentum in favour of gun control."We are going to make change. We are going to pass gun safety laws in this country," Ms Warren said.Darla Connell, a 73-year-old who drove two hours to see Mr Biden and Montana governor Steve Bullock on Thursday, said the shootings in Texas and Ohio showed just how fragile things are."That can happen anywhere," Ms Connell said. "And it could just as easily have happened to either the soapbox for Steve Bullock or Joe Biden. There's a big group of people here. And, god forbid it doesn't happen here at all. But it could."
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| Officer on leave after apparent Klan document seen at home Posted: 09 Aug 2019 12:53 PM PDT  A white police officer in western Michigan was placed on paid administrative leave after a house hunter who was viewing the officer's home said he saw a framed Ku Klux Klan application and multiple Confederate flags. The Muskegon Police Department opened an internal investigation after Robert Mathis, who is black, posted a picture of the document on Facebook after touring Officer Charles Anderson's Holton-area home, which was for sale. "I was just so disgusted," Mathis told MLive.com.
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| Family sues nursing home over video of aides taunting woman, 91, with dementia; aides charged and fired Posted: 10 Aug 2019 07:37 PM PDT  Two nursing home aides in north suburban Glenview have been fired and charged after a Snapchat video showed them taunting a 91-year-old woman with dementia. Her family is now taking legal action.
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| Disgraced US financier Epstein committed suicide in prison: media Posted: 10 Aug 2019 06:52 AM PDT  The wealthy US financier Jeffrey Epstein, indicted on charges he trafficked underage girls for sex, has committed suicide in prison, US news media reported Saturday. Epstein, who had hobnobbed with politicians and celebrities over the years and was already a convicted sex offender, hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center and his body was found around 7:30 Saturday morning, The New York Times and other media said, quoting officials. Epstein, 66, had been found unconscious in his cell in late July with marks on his neck after an apparent suicide attempt.
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| Some labor unions split with Biden on 'Medicare for All' Posted: 11 Aug 2019 03:56 AM PDT ![Some labor unions split with Biden on 'Medicare for All']( "Some labor unions split with Biden on 'Medicare for All'") Labor leaders dispute candidates' claims that single-payer will leave their members worse off.
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| Hong Kong Police Deny Rumors of Plans for Mass Arrests: SCMP Posted: 09 Aug 2019 06:19 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong police dismissed online rumors about plans to arrest protesters en masse this weekend, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday.The rumors started Thursday after speculation that a hard-line officer was being brought out of retirement to help the city cope with protests that have shaken the financial center for weeks, the newspaper said. Online rumors circulated that the police would no longer break up crowds, but arrest them immediately and charge them with rioting, an offense that could carry a maximum prison term of 10 years.Jim Ng Lok-chun, the senior police superintendent in charge of operations on Hong Kong island, said the rumors aren't true and that the "accusation is wrong," according to the paper.To contact the reporter on this story: Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at ychen447@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, James PooleFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| As Pakistan-India tensions flare, a child mistakes a bomb for a toy Posted: 11 Aug 2019 01:42 AM PDT ![As Pakistan-India tensions flare, a child mistakes a bomb for a toy]( "As Pakistan-India tensions flare, a child mistakes a bomb for a toy") Deep in the mountains of the Neelum Valley, where a river separates Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, is the small village of Jabri, usually far enough away to avoid being hit by exchanges of fire between the countries' armies. "He found a bomb that looked like a toy and he brought it here," said Ali's uncle, Abdul Qayyum, pointing to their home. Pakistan's military said the device was a cluster bomb, a weapon that releases many smaller bomblets that can kill or wound people over a wider area.
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| Crowd erupts as Straight Pride Parade leader says 'we're a totally peaceful, racist group' Posted: 09 Aug 2019 11:01 AM PDT  A city council meeting in Modesto, California went into uproar when the leader of a straight pride event accidentally described his organisation as a "racist group". Don Grundmann urged the city council to grant a permit for the event while defending the so-called "National Straight Pride Coalition", which is leading efforts to host a parade at the Graceada Park in Modesto this month. He and other supporters of the parade were met with a more sizeable crowd of opponents, who said the event was discriminatory and that fliers promoting it used language often espoused by white supremacists."We haven't done anything [wrong]," Mr Grundmann, who has launched multiple failed campaigns for local office, said before adding: "We're a peaceful, racist group." The crowd immediately erupted, applauding and laughing at the apparent admission. Councillors also responded to the gaffe. Councilwoman Kristi Ah dropped her pen, rested her head in her hand and leaned back into her chair, visibly laughing. Mr Grundmann attempted to walk back the statement but was drowned out by demonstrators. LGBT\+ activists and others spoke out at the meeting, including the openly gay son of one of the event's organisers, who said his mother taught him as a child to believe that "Western civilisation that was built by European males that came here to establish the greatest nation on earth".The event's fliers said it was being held to celebrate everything from "babies — born and unborn" to "western civilisation". Mr Grundmann told Ms Ah she was "pulling the race card" at one point and said his group was simply trying to "celebrate life". He also referred to opponents of the parade as "racist clowns" while pointing towards members of the audience who rebuked his statements at the meeting. The city council will decide within the coming days whether or not to provide Mr Grundmann's group with permits to hold its parade later this month.
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| Authorities: Suspect said he used AK-47 in El Paso shooting Posted: 09 Aug 2019 02:05 PM PDT ![Authorities: Suspect said he used AK-47 in El Paso shooting]( "Authorities: Suspect said he used AK-47 in El Paso shooting") Authorities say the man accused of killing 22 people and injuring about two dozen others in a Texas Walmart shooting told detectives he used an AK-47 assault rifle in the attack. In an arrest warrant affidavit, a detective writes that 21-year-old Patrick Crusius described how he entered the store last weekend in the border city of El Paso with the weapon and multiple magazines. "The defendant stated once inside the store he opened fire using his AK-47 shooting multiple innocent victims," the detective writes.
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| TX Man And His 1993 Ford Mustang GT Reunited After 17 Years Posted: 10 Aug 2019 06:23 PM PDT  Ford and Hennessey Performance teamed up for the restoration.We've all probably had that one car we sold off that we wish we never would have sold, but Wesley Ryan had no choice other than to sell his 1993 Ford Mustang GT for financial reasons after his was diagnosed with cancer. That was 17 years ago. Late last year, his son and daughter had reacquired the car after find it for sale on Craigslist – it was actually his original car and the title was still in his name! Apparently the years were not kind to the car, and it was in need of some repairs, but with this kind of a story, Ford Motor Company and Hennessey Performance teamed up to give this Mustang the ultimate homecoming. Ford donated parts such as a new engine and transmission, while Hennessey put in the hard work of restoring the car, which according to mySA.com would have cost around $200,000 for the 500 to 600 man-hours of labor.The fully restored Mustang was finally reunited with its new owner this past week at Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan with Ford executive Henry Ford III and Hennessey Performance founder and CEO, John Hennessey, on hand for the unveiling. It was definitely an emotional reunion for Ryan, whose wife and children were by his side when the black cover was removed and the restored Fox body was finally revealed. After nine months of work, the 26-year-old Mustang looked like new!Ryan's family made the initial surprise, and Ford and Hennessey came through on the car's incredible restoration. The whole story definitely shows how emotional cars can make us and how close knit the automotive community really is.We're not crying, you're crying! Source: Hennessey via mySA.com Read More... * 2015 Ford Mustang GT Hennessey Is A Supercharged Powerhouse * Mystery Surrounds Stolen 1991 Ford Mustang GT Barn Find
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| US military says service member dead in Iraq mission Posted: 10 Aug 2019 12:55 PM PDT  The US military said Saturday that an American service member died during an operation alongside Iraqi security personnel in Nineveh province. "One US service member died today during an Iraqi Security Force mission in... Iraq, while advising and accompanying the ISF during a planned operation," US Central Command said in a statement. Iraq's government in late 2017 declared victory against IS, which seized vast swathes of the country including the key northern city of Mosul in a lightning 2014 offensive.
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| Pastor accused of sexually assaulting sex abuse victim when she was 15 years old Posted: 10 Aug 2019 01:45 PM PDT  The woman, who is now 30 years old, said she was visiting the pastor for counseling after experiencing a previous sexual assault.
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| CNN's Jake Tapper: Trump Spreads Conspiracies to Amplify the ‘Worst of Us’ Posted: 11 Aug 2019 08:34 AM PDT  CNN anchor Jake Tapper blasted President Trump for amplifying conspiracy theories following accused serial sex-abuser Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide, noting that the president repeatedly uses his outsized voice to elevate the worst aspects of public discourse. After Epstein was found dead in his New York cell on Saturday, conspiracies quickly began to spread on social media about how the disgraced financier had supposedly been murdered in jail by the Clintons, with the hashtag ClintonBodyCount trending on Twitter. It didn't take long for Trump to jump on the conspiracy train, retweeting a post that directly blamed Epstein's death on the Clinton family.Tapper led off his Sunday broadcast of CNN's State of the Union by noting that instead of delivering a message of healing to a country still reeling from two mass shootings, Trump had helped spread a "deranged conspiracy theory" to his 63 million Twitter followers."I'm not going to show you the tweets," Tapper explained."President Trump could use his megaphone for anything," the CNN anchor added. "But the president often uses it to amplify that which is the worst of us: personal attacks, bigotry, and insane conspiracy theories."Tapper went on to point out that this is far from the first time that the president has spread baseless conspiracy theories, bringing up Trump's embrace of birtherism and his accusation that Ted Cruz's father was involved in John F. Kennedy's assassination. The CNN host then noted that Trump's conspiracy-mongering has also lined up with deadly racist violence."President Trump has also given voice to the lie that the migrant and refugee crisis at the southern border is a plot by Jewish billionaire George Soros to fund a quote, invasion," he said. "That's a conspiracy theory that was the motive for the mass slaughter in Pittsburgh and El Paso.""This is no longer irresponsible and indecent," Tapper concluded. "It is dangerous."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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| Mexico detains migrant children in cramped holding center despite court ruling Posted: 09 Aug 2019 01:40 PM PDT ![Mexico detains migrant children in cramped holding center despite court ruling]( "Mexico detains migrant children in cramped holding center despite court ruling") Overcrowding, prison-like conditions, bed bugs and illness are among the complaints of migrants in a Mexico City detention center that holds dozens of minors two months after a court ruled it was unconstitutional. Under the threat of economic sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexico has stepped up migrant detentions this year to stem a surge in asylum-seekers from Central America. Known as Las Agujas, the Mexico City holding center enclosed by spike-topped walls in the eastern district of Iztapalapa held about 108 minors as of this week, some of whom are unaccompanied, said Jesus Quintana, who monitors the station for the Mexican human rights ombudsman's office (CNDH).
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| 89-year-old Florida woman battles and kills 6-foot snake after it eats visiting birds Posted: 09 Aug 2019 10:23 AM PDT  An 89-year old Tallahassee woman killed a six-foot snake in her backyard yard after it ate most of her birds in three weeks.
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| Kamala Harris: Immigration raids will distort 2020 census Posted: 11 Aug 2019 06:02 AM PDT  'I'm telling you that, given the policies of this administration, that is going to be a flawed census,' Harris said.
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| Brazilian judge orders release of ex-billionaire Batista Posted: 10 Aug 2019 09:09 PM PDT  A Brazilian judge ordered the release of ex-billionaire Eike Batista late Saturday after he was detained for violating the terms of his house arrest, local media reported. On Thursday the 62 year-old Batista, who had been under house arrest pending an appeal of a 30-year jail sentence, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on suspicion of insider trading and money laundering, the news portal G1 said. An emblem of Brazil's boom years, Batista amassed a fortune with investments in mining and oil that in 2012 put him in seventh place on Forbes's list of the world's wealthiest.
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| The Noisiest Cars That Car and Driver Has Ever Tested Posted: 10 Aug 2019 06:04 AM PDT |
| Trump’s Aides Knew He’d Jump on Epstein Conspiracy Train Posted: 10 Aug 2019 06:13 PM PDT  Saul Loeb/AFP/GettyThe president of the United States—who led the racist birther movement, repeatedly floated the baseless suggestion that Ted Cruz's dad helped kill JFK, and once retweeted the "White Genocide" Twitter account while running in 2016—on Saturday evening elevated a conspiracy theory claiming accused serial sex-abuser Jeffrey Epstein was murdered behind bars by the Clinton family—and his aides say they were expecting it. The White House, unsurprisingly, did not provide comment for this story. Still, this comes as no shock to those working in Trumpworld. One White House official said that as soon as Clinton conspiracy theories began bubbling up online about Epstein's passing, this official and other senior aides to Donald Trump immediately assumed that the president, an avid, longtime conspiracy theorist, would very soon tweet or say something about it. The aides, this official noted, began casually discussing and joking about what to do if Trump started going hard at the Clinton body-count conspiracy-theory-mongering. The general consensus among the president's advisers is there is nothing they can do except wait for him to move on to something else, and hope he doesn't make this a big thing.With Jeffrey Epstein Dead, Trump Stirs Crazy Clinton Conspiracy PotSo far, the president seems intent on making it, at least, a thing.This weekend, news broke that Epstein, a 66-year-old financier and pedophile who had ties to the sitting Republican president, former Democratic president Bill Clinton, and other political and wealthy elites, had died inside a Manhattan correctional facility in what the Bureau of Prisons said was an "apparent suicide."On Saturday afternoon, another White House official told The Daily Beast that President Trump, who is currently in Bedminster, New Jersey, was made aware of the Epstein situation. His attorney general William Barr released a statement announcing an investigation into the circumstances of Epstein's death. A few hours later, the president took it upon himself to retweet to his tens of millions of followers a post pointing the finger at Bill and Hillary Clinton, two of Trump's premier political enemies."Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH ? Yeah right!...JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he's dead," read the tweet by Terrence K. Williams. "I see TrumpBodyCount trending but we know who did this! RT if you're not Surprised."The message ended with, "EpsteinSuicide ClintonBodyCount ClintonCrimeFamily."Still, the president had his defenders and those in his orbit who went farther than he did. Lynne Patton, a Trump family friend and an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, posted to Instagram a caption suggesting Epstein was "Hillary'd!!"Other allies of the president were more diplomatic. "The Clinton body count stuff is up there with Kennedy assassination conspiracy when it comes to political reading. It's too juicy to ignore," said former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), a current Trump surrogate, who added that he was being "tongue [in] cheek," but that "I think the question is legit of how the hell does a high-profile perp on 24/7 watch knock himself off?"As for the president's signal-boost to the Clinton-related theory, Kingston said, "I think Trump is just stirring the plot. The left loves conspiracies as much as the right."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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| Tesla electric car catches fire after hitting tow truck in Moscow Posted: 11 Aug 2019 04:42 AM PDT  A Tesla Model 3 electric car caught fire after crashing into a parked tow truck on a Moscow motorway late on Saturday, with the Tesla driver saying he had failed to see the vehicle with which he collided. Asked in a video published on REN TV website if he was using an Autopilot self-driving system, driver Alexei Tretyakov said he was in a drive assistance mode in which he was still holding the steering wheel. Tesla Inc has stood by safety claims for its Model 3 in the face of regulatory scrutiny, while documents showed the top U.S. automotive safety watchdog issued at least five subpoenas since last year seeking information about crashes involving the company's vehicles.
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| White people, what are we going to do to stop white nationalism?: Readers sound off Posted: 10 Aug 2019 04:00 AM PDT  From white supremacy to gun violence and possible reform to Toni Morrison's death and legacy, readers sound off on recent headlines.
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| Documents reveal the FBI kept using the Steele dossier for FISA renewals despite evidence of 'extreme bias' Posted: 10 Aug 2019 06:01 AM PDT  Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett says these documents mean that the FBI knew Christopher Steele was a 'phony' from the beginning.
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| Man who alleged police locked him in closet awarded $50M Posted: 10 Aug 2019 12:50 PM PDT ![Man who alleged police locked him in closet awarded $50M]( "Man who alleged police locked him in closet awarded $50M") A jury in Cleveland on Friday awarded $50 million to a man who claimed police beat him while he was handcuffed and locked him in a storage closet for four days with no toilet and nothing to eat or drink but a carton of milk. A different Cuyahoga County jury awarded Black $22 million in June 2016 during a three-day trial where no attorneys representing East Cleveland attended. The city subsequently appealed, and the lawsuit was sent back to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for another trial.
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| Warren Proposes Renewing Assault Weapon Ban, Hiking Gun Taxes Posted: 10 Aug 2019 06:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Less than a week after two deadly mass shootings renewed the gun control debate in the U.S., Elizabeth Warren set out an agenda for executive action and legislation to tighten firearms regulation and reinstitute a federal assault weapons ban.The Democratic presidential candidate said that if she's elected she would ask Congress, among other measures, to create a federal licensing system for gun ownership, expand background checks and raise the tax on firearms to 30% for firearms and 50% for ammunition."Our nation can no longer be held hostage by a small group of well-financed extremists who have already made it perfectly clear that they will never put the safety of the American people first," Warren wrote in a Medium post Saturday. She vowed to "hold both gun dealers and manufacturers accountable for the violence promoted by their products."Warren joins several other Democratic candidates in promising bold executive action to limit gun ownership, even though the president has very limited power to control the sales and use of firearms. The most sweeping actions, such as increasing taxes on guns and ammunition or prohibiting assault rifles like those used in last weekend's mass shooting, would require cooperation from Congress. That's unlikely to happen while Republicans, who've opposed stricter gun control, have a majority in the Senate.To end the stalemate in Congress, Warren said she'd break the National Rifle Association's "stranglehold on Congress" through legislation that she said would sharply curtail the power of lobbyists. She also advocates the Senate end the filibuster, which allows a minority to block legislation.Warren would limit the number of guns that can be purchased to one per month, and require bulk sales of weapons to be reported. She would enact a federal ban in the production, sale, and importation of military-style assault weapons, large-capacity magazines for all firearms, and accessories that make guns more deadly, like silencers and trigger cranks.She proposed using more federal government resources to restrict gun trafficking across states and the southern border, and would pass a new federal gun licensing system and require permanent universal background checks.Warren said her administration would spend $100 million annually for gun safety research and raise the minimum age for gun purchases to 18 to keep more guns out of the hands of teenagers. She said her goal would be to cut the number of firearms deaths in the U.S. -- almost 40,000 a year -- by 80%, matching the decline in the number of people killed in vehicle crashes over the past half century.Warren rolled out her new plan ahead of a Gun Safety Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, organized by Everytown for Gun Safety. Several Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, are scheduled to attend.Michael Bloomberg, owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, founded and helps fund Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for universal background checks and other gun violence prevention measures.To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Iowa at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Virginia Van NattaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'Unreal scene': Police say shooting melee on Houston highway likely drug-related Posted: 09 Aug 2019 11:05 AM PDT  Two people were killed in a shooting on Interstate 10 in Texas on Thursday evening, Houston Police said.
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| Muted celebrations for Sudan's first post-Bashir Eid Posted: 11 Aug 2019 03:12 AM PDT  As Muslims in Khartoum marked their first Eid al-Adha feast without Omar al-Bashir as a ruler in three decades, the mood was upbeat Sunday but the menu stayed frugal. Months of bloody anti-regime protests created a historic opportunity for civilian rule in Sudan but also saw prices soar, putting a damper on celebrations. In Khartoum markets, the price of a sheep -- a must in the Feast of the Sacrifice which is considered the holiest day in the Muslim calendar -- has doubled since last year.
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| Typhoon leaves 28 dead in China, 20 still missing Posted: 11 Aug 2019 12:25 AM PDT  A powerful typhoon left at least 28 people dead in southeastern China, including more than 20 who perished after a landslide backed up a river that then inundated homes, state media reported Sunday. Another 20 people remained unaccounted for in Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. After the landslide, the river rose to a level of 10 meters (30 feet) within 10 minutes, trapping 120 people in Yongjia county, Xinhua said.
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| Conspiracy Theories Erupt After Jeffrey Epstein’s Death Posted: 10 Aug 2019 08:34 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily BeastThis story has been updated.Moments after billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was announced dead in what law enforcement sources described as an apparent suicide in his New York City jail cell, conspiracy theories about his death erupted. By Saturday evening, President Donald Trump was retweeting the theories.Epstein, 66, was being held on child sex-trafficking charges for his role in allegedly procuring underage girls for wealthy men. He had been on suicide watch in the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan after a previous suicide attempt last month, raising questions about how he could have managed to kill himself while imprisoned. While some pointed to a history of negligence in New York City jails (though MCC is a federal facility), others were quick to claim various Epstein associates had done him in. On Saturday evening, Trump retweeted some of the conspiratorial claims, without evidence."Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH ?" read a tweet Trump retweeted. "Yeah right! How does that happen JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he's dead I see TrumpBodyCount trending but we know who did this! RT if you're not Surprised EpsteinSuicide ClintonBodyCount ClintonCrimeFamily"Epstein was not on suicide watch at the time of his death, jail authorities announced earlier Saturday.Trump also retweeted a post accusing Former President Bill Clinton of misconduct. "BREAKING: Documents were unsealed yesterday revealing that top Democrats, including Bill Clinton, took private trips to Jeffrey Epstein's 'pedophilia island.'"It's not surprising that Epstein's death would be such rich fodder for conspiracy theories; he had documented connections with the wealthy and powerful on both sides of the political aisle. Court filings by his accusers allege a plot in which Epstein and his associates recruited underage girls and forced them to have sex with Epstein's associates. Reports of the alleged crime ring fed into other, more speculative theories, including those with a strong partisan bias that only implicate Epstein associates from one side of the political spectrum.Questions over Epstein's suicide watch fanned those flames on Saturday. Epstein had reportedly recently left suicide watch when he died on Saturday, raising questions about why he was not being monitored."Hillary'd!!" Lynne Patton, a Trump-appointed head of public housing in New York and New Jersey posted on Instagram shortly after Epstein was reported dead. "P.S. Let me know when I'm supposed to feel badly about this…"Patton concluded the post with a hashtag alluding to a right-wing conspiracy theory that falsely claims the Clinton family orchestrated the death of a former deputy White House Counsel. (Patton is a former Trump family event planner, who's falsely implied that she attended Yale.)Jeffrey Epstein Dead in Manhattan Correctional CenterFOX Business host Lou Dobbs tweeted a similar version of the theory claiming that Epstein "Epstein should have been at least on Arkanside Watch," a mashup of "suicide" and Bill Clinton's home state of Arkansas.Patton and Dobbs were far from the only social media user to implicate the Clintons in Epstein's death. On Saturday morning, "Another Clinton," "ClintonBodyCount," and "ClintonCrimeFamily" trended on Twitter, alongside "'Suicide'" (in quotation marks) and "Prince Andrew."Prince Andrew was named in court documents unsealed Friday from an alleged Epstein victim who claimed he trafficked her to wealthy men including Prince Andrew, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Wall Street billionaire Glenn Dubin, and foreign heads of state. (The men deny these allegations.)Former President Bill Clinton was not named, although he has been linked to Epstein. Clinton took trips on Epstein's plane in 2002 and 2003, and Epstein visited the Clinton White House, The Daily Beast previously reported.The conspiratorial posts were not limited to the right. Epstein is also a former Trump associate, and was filmed discussing women with Trump at a party. The woman who accused Epstein of trafficking her at age 16 said she had been working at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort when Epstein recruited her.Claire McCaskill, a former Democratic senator from Missouri appeared to imply foul play with a Saturday morning tweet."Something stinks to high heaven," McCaskill wrote. "How does someone on suicide watch hang himself with no intervention? Impossible. Unless....."(Followers replied that Trump was involved in the death.)Joe Scarborough, an MSNBC host and former Republican congressman (now a registered independent) appeared to blame Russian interference for the death."A guy who had information that would have destroyed rich and powerful men's lives ends up dead in his jail cell. How predictably...Russian," Scarborough tweeted. "He reportedly tried to kill himself two weeks ago. And is allowed to finish the job now? Bullshit."Epstein's death is under investigation, law enforcement officials told The Daily Beast on Saturday. Epstein's death is under investigation, law enforcement officials told The Daily Beast on Saturday. As that investigation proceeds, Twitter personality Seth Abramson wrote that: "1) Black is pals with Kushner; Kushner is pals with MBS.2) Kushner gave MBS valuable classified intel in October 2017.3) Black made suspicious, possibly Saudi-linked loans to Kushner.4) Black worked with Epstein, who may have been an MBS money manager." (Abramson also riffed on a different theory: "Understand that the reason Russian bots are all over the Internet making wild claims about a Clinton connection to the Epstein suicide is because key people in the United States and abroad know the Trump connection to Epstein is the one that matters, and is the real story here.")Followers of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory suggested that Epstein faked his death. Believers in the theory circulated a picture of a corpse and questioned whether it looked like Epstein.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| CORRECTED-Germany must up defence spending, relying on U.S. "offensive" - U.S. envoy Posted: 09 Aug 2019 10:09 AM PDT ![CORRECTED-Germany must up defence spending, relying on U.S. "offensive" - U.S. envoy]( "CORRECTED-Germany must up defence spending, relying on U.S. \"offensive\" - U.S. envoy") Germany's reluctance to spend more on defence and its continued reliance on U.S. troops for protection is offensive, Richard Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany said on Friday. Grenell's comments signal U.S. President Donald Trump's impatience with Germany's failure to raise defence spending to 2% of economic output as mandated by the NATO military alliance. "It is offensive to assume that the U.S. taxpayers continue to pay for more than 50,000 Americans in Germany but the Germans get to spend their (budget) surplus on domestic programmes," Grenell told the dpa news agency.
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| A Meteor Slammed Into Jupiter So Hard We Saw It From Earth Posted: 09 Aug 2019 10:48 AM PDT  And an amateur astronomer caught it on camera.
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| 2020 Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S Is the Most Powerful Compact Sedan in Production Posted: 09 Aug 2019 05:00 PM PDT  Because AMG knows we need a 416-hp compact car with a Drift mode.
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| Tanzanian police say 62 killed when siphoned tanker explodes Posted: 10 Aug 2019 07:30 AM PDT  A damaged tanker truck exploded in eastern Tanzania as people were trying to siphon fuel out of it Saturday, killing at least 62 in one of the worst incidents of its kind in the East African country. Tanzanian state broadcaster TBC, citing police figures, said at least 70 more people were injured during the explosion in the town of Morogoro, located about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from the economic hub of Dar es Salaam. Regional commissioner Steven Kebwe told the local Azam TV that many suffered serious burns.
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| Mexico Considers Banning Cash for Gasoline Purchases, Highway Tolls Posted: 09 Aug 2019 02:17 PM PDT ![Mexico Considers Banning Cash for Gasoline Purchases, Highway Tolls]( "Mexico Considers Banning Cash for Gasoline Purchases, Highway Tolls") (Bloomberg) -- Mexico is considering a ban on the use of cash for purchasing gasoline and to pay for tolls as a way to fight tax evasion and money laundering, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.The plan, which has been discussed between the banking industry and the government, hasn't been fully approved. A final decision may not be taken until after the central bank rolls out its digital payments platform known as CoDi next month which is part of a broader government program to push more Mexicans into the banking system and cut down on cash, said the people who asked not to be named, since the plan isn't public.Mexico is awash in cash from the informal economy of street merchants and the illicit drug trade. Cash is used for between 80% to 90% of transactions in Mexico, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said in March, when he was still deputy minister. At a time of a slowing economy, the plan could also help widen Mexico's tax base.Mexico's Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The country's banking association declined to comment.In addition, the move will help identify gas stations that are buying stolen fuel by tracking their sales electronically, both people said. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made a crackdown on fuel theft from state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos a cornerstone of his drive to root out widespread corruption.For banks, the plan to push for more cashless transactions -- albeit without fees -- could be a boon for expanding their client base and open opportunities to provide more Mexicans with cards, loans and mortgages. The CoDi system -- which relies on QR codes with mobile phones -- and a ban on gasoline and tolls, could increase digital payments tenfold, one of the people said.Only around two-fifths of Mexicans have bank accounts, World Bank data shows, and Mexico has the lowest tax take as a share of its economy among members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.AMLO, as the leftist president is known, surprised Mexico's bankers by embracing a cashless strategy which his predecessors had previously shunned. The ambitious project gels with his anti-graft campaign as well as a wish to to achieve greater financial inclusion in remote parts of the country of 125 million. To be sure, challenges abound to weaning Mexicans off cash, including poor connectivity for both mobile networks and internet service outside of major urban areas.With the need to give consumers time to prepare for a cash ban on goods like gasoline and highway tolls, the enforcement of such a policy may take some time. Other areas that could be pushed into digital payments include public transportation, school tuition, electricity bills and passport fees, the people said.India instated an even broader cash ban in 2016 - one that prohibited high-denomination currency notes. While it didn't weed out illicit cash use altogether, it did widen the country's tax base and increase digital payments.(Updates with response from bank association in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Michael O'Boyle in Mexico City at moboyle7@bloomberg.net;Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Richard RichtmyerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Vegas man accused of plotting to bomb synagogues, LGBTQ bar Posted: 10 Aug 2019 12:32 PM PDT  Court documents say Conor Climo, 23, of Las Vegas told an FBI informant in recent weeks that he was scouting places to attack.
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