| AP Analysis: Trump uses Israel to fuel partisan fires Posted: 16 Aug 2019 06:54 AM PDT  President Donald Trump's encouragement and support of Israel's decision to ban two Democratic lawmakers may play well to his political base, but it could endanger the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship in the longer term. The move on Thursday to bar Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from Israel fueled a partisan fire over the Jewish state that has been raging in the United States, with Trump eagerly fanning the flames. On Friday, though, Israel's interior minister, Aryeh Deri, said he had received and granted a request by Tlaib to enter the Israeli-occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds, to visit her 90-year-old grandmother.
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| Iran tanker shifts position but still at anchor off Gibraltar Posted: 15 Aug 2019 09:45 PM PDT  An Iranian tanker caught in the standoff between Tehran and the West shifted position on Friday but its anchor was still down off Gibraltar and it was unclear if it was ready to set sail, a Reuters reporter said. Gibraltar authorities could not be reached for comment. The Grace 1 was seized by British Royal Marines at the western mouth of the Mediterranean on July 4 on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria, a close ally of Iran.
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| A man was found living in a bunker more than 3 years after he disappeared while out on bail on child sexual assault charges Posted: 15 Aug 2019 11:49 AM PDT  On August 9, 44-year-old Jeremiah Button was found living in a claustrophobic bunker in the woods of rural Wisconsin.
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| Fox News Anchor Pushes Back After Guest Rants About Immigrant ‘Invasion’ at Border Posted: 15 Aug 2019 09:39 AM PDT  Less than two weeks after the El Paso mass shooting in which the accused shooter targeted Mexicans after complaining of a "Hispanic invasion" of America, Fox News anchor Sandra Smith confronted a guest on Thursday for using similar rhetoric, telling him "people will take issue with you for calling it that."Appearing on Fox News' America's Newsroom, National Border Patrol Council vice president Art Del Cueto directly blamed critics of ICE and Border Patrol for recent attacks on ICE facilities."It's disgusting to see something like that," he said in reaction to video of last month's incident at a Washington facility. "And I think it's been triggered by way too many individuals that have had a platform to speak against the men and women that are trying to defend our nation's borders, the law enforcement communities. That is where it comes from."Del Cueto, however, took issue with studies showing how conservatives' anti-immigration rhetoric echoed that of the shooter, claiming he and Fox News were just "talking about actual facts.""And the facts that we spoke about are simple," the frequent Fox News guest declared. "When you have individuals in large quantities that enter another country by force or illegally, waving the flag of another country, that is an invasion. I stand by those words.""Hold on now," Smith quickly interjected. "Obviously, we have to push back on comments like that. People will take issue with you calling it that. It is obviously a sensitive issue right now."The Fox anchor went on to steer the conversation back towards the recent incidents at ICE buildings and what steps should be taken moving forward.Smith's pushback against Del Cueto comes just a day after Fox Nation host Todd Starnes not only doubled down on saying migrants are invading the United States but also likened immigrants to Nazis.In the immediate aftermath of the El Paso shooting, meanwhile, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade defended the network's repeated use of the term "invasion" to describe immigration, claiming it was not "anti-Hispanic" but was instead a "fact."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| As China faces fate on Hong Kong, America and other democracies face a choice Posted: 15 Aug 2019 03:29 PM PDT  Donald Trump tweets as Xi Jinping lines up his military tanks and Hong Kong protesters wave American flags and sing the U.S. national anthem: Our view
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| Utah Community Shows Support for Family After 14-Year-Old Dies at National Park Posted: 14 Aug 2019 05:33 PM PDT  A Utah community is showing their support after a tragic accident claimed the life of a teenager.
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| 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Pro Touring Boasts Show Quality Posted: 16 Aug 2019 06:06 AM PDT  It's custom-built with low mileage and ready to win some trophies. Volo Auto Museum is excited to announce this incredibly stunning 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Pro Touring for your consideration. With only 270 miles clocked since its custom pro-touring build and $95,000 invested, this is a great value. The car is currently up for sale at a price of $42,995, and you can make an offer right here. An extensive amount of work, heart, and soul was put into this car with precise attention to detail. Every single part of the Z28 was removed from the vehicle during the pro-touring build. Even at first glance, you know that this is a show car. But it doesn't just boast a mean face, this car handles great and is satisfyingly fast.The exterior has custom body features that will really help it stand out among the sea of muscle cars at any car show. It has a reverse scoop molded into the hood and fender vents, as well as a dovetail out back molted onto the quarters and trunk. Other minor touches include filled-in marker lights, a custom gas filler door, filled seams, and custom door handles. The Carbon Flash Black metallic paint (a Corvette color) is lustrous and goes well with the wide non-metallic black stripe on the center of the hood and trunk. This beauty sits on 18-inch Rev wheels wrapped in Michelin Super Sport performance tires, with wider rubber at the rear.The interior on this '81 Camaro Z28 has been completely restored from the carpet to the headliner. The instrument panel looks like carbon fiber with great-looking digital gauges. It also has a leather-wrapped steering wheel on a tilt column. Additional cabin features include new Vintage Air Heat electric controls, a new modern stereo with molded-in kick panel speakers and 6x9s in the back, and a digital screen for the fuel injection.This 1981 Camaro Z28 Pro Touring is powered by a desirable, all-aluminum, performance-built LS 5.3-liter V8 engine that puts out 420 horsepower. It also has a NOS system for another instant 150 horsepower! What's more, this Z28 is equipped with a High Ram polished aluminum Holley intake, Holley EFI electronic fuel injection, Accel coils, stainless headers, and custom polished aluminum air induction tubes. It has 65-pound injectors and a 43-pound fuel pump. A Griffin radiator with dual electric fans and a custom shroud keep this bad boy cool. Pop the hood at a car show and wait for all the oohs and ahhs you'll get. The engine bay is pristine and is sure to outshine its competition. Read More: * Freshly Restored 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS Pro Touring * Burn Rubber For Days In This 1965 Ford Mustang Pro Touring
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| Israel bans Omar and Tlaib after Trump says 'it would show great weakness' to let them in Posted: 15 Aug 2019 09:32 AM PDT  The Israeli government on Thursday announced that it will bar Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., from entering the country after President Trump urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban them from visiting.
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| Driver shot dead after ramming car into Israeli civilians in West Bank Posted: 16 Aug 2019 05:51 AM PDT ![Driver shot dead after ramming car into Israeli civilians in West Bank]( "Driver shot dead after ramming car into Israeli civilians in West Bank") Israeli police shot dead a Palestinian driver they said had carried out a car-ramming attack on Friday that injured two Israeli civilians in the occupied West Bank, one of them critically. Reuters journalists at the scene saw police rolling the body of the driver into a plastic sheet. Palestinian health authorities identified him as a Palestinian national.
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| Family seeks more answers to London teen's death in Malaysia Posted: 16 Aug 2019 05:59 AM PDT  The family of a 15-year-old London teen who was found dead nine days after she disappeared from a Malaysian forest resort said Friday they will bring her body home and hope to find answers to their many questions about her death. Police have ruled out foul play, saying the autopsy showed that Nóra Anne Quoirin died of intestinal bleeding due to starvation and stress. Police said there was no evidence that she was abducted or raped.
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| A couple in Australia and their pet dog were attacked by a giant carnivorous lizard Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:45 AM PDT  A 72-year-old man was seriously injured after attempting to break up a fight between his pet dog and a giant Goanna lizard.
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| 2 victims in Dayton hit by police bullets; shooter had drugs in system Posted: 15 Aug 2019 03:25 PM PDT  The Dayton shooter had cocaine, alcohol, and Xanax in his system, according to Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.
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| 7 Ways Bees Continue To Amaze Us Posted: 15 Aug 2019 11:24 AM PDT |
| Philadelphia mayor calls for gun control action after officers injured in standoff Posted: 15 Aug 2019 04:44 AM PDT  Jim Kenney urged state and federal government to stand up to NRA or 'then let us police ourselves'The long standoff was eventually resolved when the suspected gunman was taken into custody. Photograph: Mark Makela/Getty ImagesThe mayor of Philadelphia has joined a growing chorus of calls for America to take action on gun control after a dramatic shooting incident in which six police officers were wounded as they served a drug warrant.The officers were injured as part of a night of drama which saw a tense standoff eventually resolved when the suspected gunman was taken into custody. It is believed he had an automatic rifle and he exchanged multiple bursts of gunfire with police which saw civilians run for cover in a densely populated part of the city.That prompted Philadelphia's mayor, Jim Kenney, to call for greater restrictions on guns."Our officers need help. They need help with gun control. They need help with keeping these weapons out of these people's hands. This government, both on federal and state level, don't want to do anything about getting these guns off the streets and getting them out of the hands of criminals," he said.Kenney also attacked the gun rights lobby in the shape of the National Rifle Association, which has repeatedly worked to stymie almost every effort at gun control. "And if the state and federal government don't want to stand up to the NRA and some other folks, then let us police ourselves. But they pre-empt us on all kinds of gun control legislation," he said."Our officers deserve to be protected and they don't deserve to be shot at by a guy for hours with an unlimited supply of weapons and an unlimited supply of bullets. So it's disgusting and we have to do something about it," he added.The calls come after recent twin mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton that have sparked yet another round of America's national conversation about its epidemic of gun violence and what to do about the heavy weapons that are readily available to millions of people across the country.The shooting that caused Kenney's ire began around 4.30pm local time on Wednesday as officers went to a home in a north Philadelphia neighborhood of brick and stone rowhomes to serve a narcotics warrant in an operation "that went awry almost immediately", Philadelphia's police commissioner, Richard Ross, said.Many officers "had to escape through windows and doors to get [away] from a barrage of bullets", Ross said.The six officers who were struck by gunfire have been released from hospitals.Two other officers were trapped inside the house for about five hours after the shooting broke out but were freed by a Swat team well after darkness fell on the residential neighborhood. Three people who officers had taken into custody in the house before the shooting started were also safely evacuated, police said."It's nothing short of a miracle that we don't have multiple officers killed today," Ross said.Police implored the gunman to surrender, at one point patching in his lawyer on the phone with him to try to persuade him to give up, Ross said.Temple University locked down part of its campus, and several children and staff were trapped for some time in a nearby daycare center.Police tried to push crowds of onlookers and residents back from the scene. In police radio broadcasts, officers could be heard calling for backup as reports of officers getting shot poured in.
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| ‘The Notebook’ Author Nicholas Sparks Tells Jury His LGBT Comments Were ‘Weaponized’ Posted: 14 Aug 2019 06:49 PM PDT  Rosdiana Ciaravolo/GettyRALEIGH, North Carolina—In a North Carolina courtroom, facing a jury of people who never read his bestsellers, romance novelist Nicholas Sparks was confronted Wednesday with his own words: explosive emails to and about the former headmaster of the North Carolina Christian school he founded.Sparks, best known for writing The Notebook, was by turns confident and testy as he fended off questions from lawyers for Saul Benjamin, a Jewish-born Quaker forced out of Epiphany School of Global Studies, a private Christian school in New Bern, five years ago. A federal lawsuit by Benjamin accuses Sparks and the school's board of bullying students and staff whose beliefs were out of step with the school's "religiously-driven, bigoted preconceptions." Benjamin claims Sparks then smeared his name and character after his 2013 departure, suggesting to community members that Benjamin was mentally ill.Sparks shined in the limelight of the witness stand Wednesday. He nodded to jurors and smiled at them between questions. He offered a few one-liners that elicited laughter from the audience. More than once, he interrupted Benjamin's attorney to push back against the premise of a question."I have been asked to tell the whole truth, not just part of the truth," Sparks said, placing his hands over his heart when Benjamin's attorney tried to move on to another question.Sparks accused Benjamin of "weaponizing" certain words and references to LGBT issues. He described a situation in which Benjamin told the board they had to change their employee discrimination policy or face losing accreditation. Sparks testified that on this, like other instances involving gay student issues, he and the board were misled by Benjamin. Sparks tried to head off any attempts to question his tolerance for LGBT students and faculty by proclaiming his own beliefs."Personally, I'm for gay marriage, gay adoption," he said.Sparks said he resented "leaks" to the media that portrayed him as a bigot or homophobic. Emails obtained by The Daily Beast in June revealed that Sparks sought to ban a LGBT club and student protests at the school, and reprimanded Benjamin for "what some perceive as an agenda that strives to make homosexuality open and accepted."Author Nicholas Sparks Tried to Ban LGBT Club and Student Protests at His Christian School, Emails RevealAt its core, the lawsuit revolves around an employment dispute—promises made or promises broken in Benjamin's contract. Sparks and the school's lawyers argue that Benjamin was a poor fit and that his character and performance did not meet their expectations."He could have been fired for cause because he did an incredibly poor job in 12 weeks as headmaster," said Richard Pinto, an attorney representing Epiphany School.Benjamin's team claims that he was forced to resign after rocking the boat at the conservative school, including trying to recruit black students in the community. Other criticisms revolved around enabling LGBT students to explore their sexual identity questions at school and disciplining students who bullied them, the lawsuit claims."These events touched off a firestorm at the school," Pearson, Benjamin's attorney, said in his opening arguments.Both sides agree on this much:Sparks enthusiastically led the charge to hire Benjamin in 2013, luring the educator and his family from Morocco to run the rural eastern North Carolina school. Sparks moved Benjamin's family into a 2,700-square-foot home he owned, charging only $50 a month in rent. Sparks promised to help Benjamin "soothe or smooth waters" with the "John 3:16" crowd of parents and students at the school.The match quickly soured. Parents and students began to grumble.Sparks said school employees and board members reported to him that Benjamin routinely pointed out parents and students he deemed "bigots" or "racists," Sparks testified Wednesday.Sparks was unapologetic about questioning Benjamin's mental stability. The writer said the former headmaster called people names and labeled an entire local congregation "ignorant conformists," behavior Sparks described as "insane."At stake in this feud is more than $600,000—the balance of Benjamin's terminated contract. That bill, like many others at the school, would likely fall to Sparks and his foundation, which has been covering the school's deficits since its inception in 2006.Sparks has enjoyed tremendous commercial success with his 20 published novels, which have sold 105 million copies internationally. Many, including The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, were turned into Hollywood films. The Notebook is being adapted for a Broadway play.On the stand Wednesday, Sparks waffled when asked if the school was part of his celebrity brand."My brand is really the entertainment business. When you are well known, people want to know what you care about in the world. I thought it was OK for people to know I cared about education," Sparks said.Sparks' celebrity may be lost on the 10 jurors deciding the case against him. Only four prospective jurors admitted during selection Wednesday morning that they had read any of Sparks' books or seen the movies on which they were based.All four of them were dismissed from jury duty.Sparks will continue his testimony Thursday.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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| Trump Must Not Break His Promises to Gun-Rights Supporters Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Following the model of George H. W. Bush, Donald Trump is taking a major step toward becoming a one-term president. Bush thought he could become more popular by betraying his promises to defend the Second Amendment. Trump now feels the same; according to the New York Times, he has ordered his staff to work with Senate Republicans to pass a major gun-control package that would set the stage for gun confiscation. Bush's Good Talk and Hostile Action Let's remember how gun control worked out for George H. W. Bush. Like Trump, Bush had a long record of supporting some gun control; that record was part of the reason he lost the Texas Senate race in 1970 and the presidential primaries in 1980. Also as with Trump, the campaign that won Bush the presidency was strongly pro–Second Amendment: Shortly before running for president in 1988, Bush joined the NRA. His acceptance speech at the Republican Convention touted his devotion to gun rights. In a September 1988 public letter to the NRA, he promised to oppose gun bans and other forms of gun control.Bush won the general election in a landslide against the inept Democratic nominee, Michael Dukakis, who as governor of Massachusetts had declared that only the police and military should have guns. Bush's victory margin was so large that the pro–Second Amendment vote was not essential. Gun voters did, however, amplify Bush's win by carrying him to victory in states such as Pennsylvania, Montana, and Maryland.Bush's campaign promises apparently meant little to him. A few weeks into the Bush presidency, the administration was set back on its heels by the Senate's rejection of Secretary of Defense John Tower. Some conservative activists had raised concerns that Tower had a drinking problem, and that was the end of the nomination. So the White House cast about for what they thought would be a popular issue, and they chose gun control.In Stockton, Calif., a seriously mentally ill career criminal had murdered elementary-school children in a schoolyard. If California had had a functional criminal-justice system, the criminal would have been behind bars and receiving mental-health treatment.Bush denounced what he called "automated attack weapons" — that is, guns with a military appearance. Although the guns looked like machine guns, they functioned differently, with a much slower rate of fire — the same rate as common handguns. But Bush couldn't be bothered to know the difference between reality and appearance, and neither could many other politicians and the media. The same is true today.Using administrative authority, Bush banned the import of so-called "assault weapons" — almost all of which actually had well-established use in hunting and target shooting. In the courts, the Bush administration's lawyers insisted that individuals had no Second Amendment rights. Bush's Department of Housing and Urban Development urged local public-housing authorities to prohibit tenants from owning firearms in their homes. Bush promoted an early version of what would later become the 1994 Clinton-Biden crime bill, including a ban on many ordinary firearms. The leading Republican supporter was South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, the longtime segregationist and opponent of civil liberties.In 1991, Bush soared to 89 percent popularity after winning the First Gulf War against Iraq's Saddam Hussein. (At the time, few people realized that Bush's decision to let the tyrant stay in power would set the stage for more terrorism and another war.) Yet Bush had few accomplishments on the domestic side. He had already violated his "read my lips: no new taxes" pledge — and was perhaps surprised to find that the people who hated him before he broke his promise hated him just as much afterwards.In search of a domestic accomplishment, Bush again proposed a grand bargain: He would sign a crime bill with gun control if the bill would also eliminate the exclusionary rule for firearms seized as evidence. That rule, created by Supreme Court decisions starting in 1914, prevents the courtroom use of evidence that is obtained through illegal police conduct. The Bush proposal would have allowed government agents to break into someone's home with no warrant, no probable cause, and no exigent circumstances, ransack the home to look for a gun, and then use evidence of the seizure in court against the individual. Too bad for the Fourth Amendment.Perhaps Bush's opposition to judicial controls on law-enforcement misconduct was not surprising. Under his administration, federal law-enforcement agencies — including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms -- had become notorious for legally unjustifiable and excessive violence, often with deadly consequences for the victims. Then as now, most federal agents were decent people, but the Bush administration from the top down encouraged the recklessly violent ones.In September 1992, the National Rifle Association declined to endorse Bush for reelection. Instead, the association concentrated its resources on candidates in other races who had kept their promises. Bush lost handily to Arkansas governor Bill Clinton, in part because Bush's conservative base had realized that while Bush talked like a Texan, he governed like a northeastern aristocrat.The Clinton administration did everything it could to promote gun control, including winning enactment of a gun ban as part of its 1994 crime bill. (The one that most Democratic presidential candidates today accurately denounce as a disaster for civil rights.)Clinton's overreach on guns played a major role in flipping control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections, electing the most pro-gun Congress since the early 1920s. As this experience showed, it's better to be under frontal attack from an overt enemy than to be stabbed in the back by a purported ally. Trump's Good Talk and Planned Actions Trump's embrace of the Bush model is reported to include support of the Toomey-Manchin bill from 2013. The bill would forbid individuals to sell firearms to each other if the sales took place at a gun show or were advertised publicly; instead, the sellers would have to use gun stores as middlemen. As federally licensed retailers, gun stores must keep records on firearms transactions, and they contact the FBI or its state counterpart for a background check on buyers. All this has nothing to do with reducing mass shootings. From the Aurora theater to Newtown to Las Vegas, the guns used by mass shooters are overwhelmingly acquired by persons who passed background checks, or who could have passed any proposed system of checks. In a few cases, such as the shooting at Sutherland Springs, Texas, the criminal should have been stopped by the existing background-check system but wasn't, because the relevant conviction had not been reported to the FBI's National Instant Check System. Since 2008, Congress has enacted a variety of laws to address the problem of incomplete data.Like Bush and Clinton, Trump is determined to "do something" — even if that something is useless when it comes to preventing mass shootings. A RAND Corporation study evaluated different gun-control laws. According to RAND, which can hardly be accused of being "pro-gun," the social-science evidence does not provide even "limited" support for background checks, "assault weapon" bans, or other gun control having any effect on mass shootings.The Toomey-Manchin bill was promoted with the sweetener that it would toughen the existing ban on a federal gun registry and would improve the laws protecting the interstate transportation of firearms. In fact, close reading of the bill showed that it expressly authorized a vast amount of new gun registration and gutted the existing protections for interstate transport for persons who travel to the most restrictive states, such as New York, New Jersey, and Massaschusetts. It would have vastly increased data collection and retention on law-abiding gun owners.As the Obama administration's Department of Justice admitted in a 2013 memo, "universal background check" laws are unenforceable without gun registration. Retail gun sales are already registered via record-keeping by the retailer. When a dealer retires, all of his registration records must be delivered to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, where they are digitized. (ATF is currently not supposed to make its database searchable by the purchaser's name.) The purpose of the background-check laws being pushed in Congress and the states is to expand registration by requiring the use of gun stores as intermediaries for transfers between private individuals — even loaning your shotgun to your cousin for a week.Centralizing registration will be a future demand of the gun-prohibition lobby after Trump surrenders to the current demands. That is what has been enacted in California, where the government now has a comprehensive list of almost all gun owners and their particular firearms — thanks to records created for "universal background checks."Once there is registration, the next step is confiscation. Since 1967, all firearms in New York City have been centrally registered. Starting with mayor David Dinkins in the 1980s and continuing ever since, including under the regime of Michael Bloomberg, the registration lists have been used for confiscation, as more and more once-legal guns have been outlawed by the city council or the legislature.The New York City Administrative Code explains the process in section 10-303.1. When the city council decides that something is an "assault weapon" (a definition that has repeatedly expanded), the police are supposed to mail a notice to the licensed owner of the registered gun. The owner has two choices: 1. "peaceably surrender his or her assault weapon" to the police commissioner, who may destroy it or keep it for police-department use; 2. "lawfully remove such assault weapon from the city of New York."After the confiscation process for "assault weapons" was established, a slow-motion confiscation was introduced for more firearms. According to section 10-306, it is illegal in New York to acquire a rifle of shotgun with an ammunition capacity of more than five. Existing registered owners may keep theirs, but may not pass them on to heirs. The only dispositions allowed are surrender to the police, removal from the city, or sale to a licensed firearms dealer.Central registration lists have likewise been used for confiscation in Australia and the United Kingdom, both touted as models by American gun-control advocates. Laws to Reduce Mass Shootings Red-flag laws could stop mass shootings at least occasionally, which is why I testified in favor of such laws before the Senate Judiciary Committee last March. But unless the laws have very strong due-process protections (which the bills being pushed by the gun-control lobbies do not), these laws are easy to abuse. Trump himself demonstrated the problem by claiming that CNN host Christopher Cuomo should be prohibited from owning guns because Cuomo lost his temper and yelled at a lout who was harassing him and his family at a restaurant.Donald Trump did once propose something that would greatly reduce mass shootings. "I will get rid of gun-free zones," he promised over and over when addressing the NRA annual meeting in 2016. During the campaign he also promised, "I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools, and — you have to — and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. There's no more gun-free zones."Actually, he did nothing on the first day, and very little since then — not even on federal property, where many of the gun-free zones could be ended by executive-branch regulatory changes.The Army Corps of Engineers owns millions of acres of recreational land, and the corps' regulations ban Americans from possessing defensive arms while visiting or camping on that land. Just before the Ninth Circuit was slated to hear oral arguments in a constitutional challenge to that ban, the Trump administration told the court that the administration was considering changing the regulation. But the regulation was never changed. Instead, the Trump administration issued guidance to citizens to request written individual permission from a district commander to possess a defensive arm.The gap between Trump's promises and actions is unfortunate, because the vast majority of mass shootings take place in so-called gun-free zones. As studies of active-shooter incidents show beyond doubt, killing sprees almost always end when the people starting shooting back at the criminal. If law enforcement or security guards are already there, that's good. But the police cannot be everywhere at once, and the minutes that it takes for the police to arrive are the criminals' window of time for murder.Unlike Trump, President Obama actually did get rid of some gun-free zones. In 2009, Obama signed legislation to allow persons to carry arms on the lands (though not buildings) of national parks, national monuments, and national wildlife refuges when in compliance with the host state's laws for lawful carry. The carry reform was attached to a bill on credit-card reform that Obama favored. Additionally, Obama signed defense-appropriations bills that ended gun registration for military personnel in off-base housing and that allowed licensed handgun carry on-base by some personnel.Ever since 2015, Trump has always talked big about this support for gun rights. He has one major accomplishment: unsigning the U.N. gun-control treaty that Obama had signed in 2013. He also signed a bill in early 2017 that blocked proposed Obama gun-control regulations.Gun-rights activists might tolerate Trump's very high ratio of talk to action. But they won't tolerate him switching sides. Arrogance and Ignorance Donald Trump has flirted with the Bush model before, endorsing gun control in a February 2018 meeting with Senators Feinstein and Schumer. But Trump quickly pulled back. Now he seems more determined, apparently believing that the NRA, which is embroiled in internal conflicts and lawsuits over management issues, is too weak to stop him. Like many New Yorkers, Trump does not realize that the NRA itself is a consequence of American gun culture. If the NRA disappeared tomorrow, American gun owners would spontaneously self-organize in defense of their rights. The same is true for the pro-life movement, the environmental movement, and many others. Strike down their national organizations, and thousands of grassroots organizations will arise to take their place.The same is not true for the anti-gun movement. There has always been a hard core of anti-gun extremists, exemplified by the 20 percent of persons in opinion polls who want to ban all handguns. But the anti-gun grassroots never did spontaneously self-organize to any significant degree. Today, that doesn't matter, since anti-gunners are now organized by the best professional organizers that money can buy, thanks to Michael Bloomberg and other malefactors of great wealth. This creates the impression among some politicians that the anti-gun movement is larger than ever before, in terms of voting support. This is not true, but the anti-gunners are now much more visible.Trump imagines that he will win reelection because the other party's nominee will be so extreme. He should ask Jimmy Carter about that one. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's ideas were indeed far from the center of gravity of American politics. But the American people were tired of Carter's weakness, indecisiveness, and incompetence, and by a landslide they decided to give the opposing candidate a chance.Trump's personal flaws are different from Carter's, but more visible. In childish and unpresidential public behavior he far exceeds the previous record-holder, Bill Clinton.For over three decades I have been in close contact with grassroots gun-rights activists. In 2016 there were a few such activists who genuinely liked Trump; the vast majority viewed him with disgust, based on his character. Yet these same activists worked relentlessly to get gun owners to the polls and thereby carried Trump to narrow victories in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. If Trump follows through on his plans to betray them, they won't forgive and they won't forget.
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| EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:40 AM PDT ![EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions]( "EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions") SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Reuters) - While in the Indian Ocean heading toward the Strait of Malacca, the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Pacific Bravo went dark on June 5, shutting off the transponder that signals its position and direction to other ships, ship-tracking data showed. A U.S. government official had warned ports in Asia not to allow the ship to dock, saying it was carrying Iranian crude in violation of U.S. economic sanctions. A VLCC typically transports about 2 million barrels of oil, worth about $120 million at current prices.
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| Lawsuit challenges California's assault weapons ban Posted: 15 Aug 2019 07:38 PM PDT  A gun-rights group sued Thursday to block California from enforcing its assault weapons ban, contending it violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The lawsuit was the latest among gun advocacy and lobbying groups to challenge California's firearms laws, which are among the strictest in the country, and comes after a recent series of deadly mass shootings nationwide involving military-style rifles. The lawsuit was filed in the same San Diego federal court district where a judge in April tossed out a nearly two-decade-old California ban on sales and purchases of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 bullets.
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| Tears and shouting as Australia dilutes Pacific climate warning Posted: 16 Aug 2019 12:20 AM PDT  A Pacific summit has descended into tears, recriminations and shouting between pro-coal Australia and low-lying island nations facing an existential threat from climate change. The annual Pacific Island Forum wrapped up in Tuvalu late Thursday with Australia and the group's 17 other members sharply at odds, potentially undermining Canberra's efforts to curb China's growing influence in the region. "There were serious arguments and even shouting, crying, people, leaders were shedding tears," Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga told Australia's national broadcaster ABC after the summit broke up with a communique with "watered down" language on global warming.
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| Germany expects No Deal and will not renegotiate, says leaked briefing Posted: 16 Aug 2019 04:17 AM PDT  Germany expects a No Deal Brexit and is not prepared to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, according to leaked details of an internal briefing paper for Angela Merkel's government. The leaked paper is the first evidence that Germany may be preparing to let Britain walk away with No Deal rather than back down to Boris Johnson's demand to drop the Irish backstop. The paper was prepared by civil servants for the German finance minister, Olaf Scholz, ahead of face-to-face talks with the chancellor of the exchequer, Sajid Javid, in Berlin on Friday. In public, Mr Scholz has said Germany will do everything it can to secure a deal with the UK. But according to details leaked to the usually reliable Handelsblatt newspaper, the briefing paper calls for the European Union to stick to its previous line of refusing to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. It warns that there is now a "high probability" of a No Deal Brexit on October 31, but says the EU must not "lose its nerve". Preparations by Germany and the rest of the EU-27 to manage the impact of No Deal are "largely complete", and the European Commission is not planning any further emergency measures, it says. Mr Javid is the first senior minister from the Johnson government to hold face-to-face talks with his German counterpart Credit: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP The paper says it is "currently unforeseeable that Prime Minister Johnson will change his tough negotiating position" and predicts that he may use next weekend's G7 summit in Biarritz for a "big moment" to announce success or failure in negotiations. "Against this background, it is important from the EU perspective to stick to the previous line" of refusing to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, it says, adding that even if the EU were to agree to drop the Irish backstop, it is not clear that Mr Johnson would be able to win approval for a revised withdrawal agreement in parliament. The UK has made repeated attempts to split the EU side, and "the EU-27's unity in adhering to the negotiated exit agreement" has been "decisive", the paper says. Germany has already passed more than 50 laws and measures to deal with the impact of a No Deal Brexit, and the paper provides details of arrangements in the finance ministry's area of tax and banking. It cites a transitional agreement between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and BaFin, the German financial regulator on cross-border financial services, and says German customes authorities are prepared for the increased workload expected under No Deal.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Honda Civic hatchback Posted: 15 Aug 2019 08:09 AM PDT |
| GOP candidate drops out of congressional race after calling himself a 'white nationalist' Posted: 15 Aug 2019 10:20 AM PDT  "I said I was a proud white nationalist," he in a video announcing his exit from the congressional race while wearing a red Trump hat.
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| Trump administration reverses decision to use 'cyanide bombs' to kill wild animals Posted: 15 Aug 2019 03:53 PM PDT  The poison-filled traps are used by the federal government to kill coyotes, foxes and other animals for farmers and ranchersA grizzly bear and her cub walk near Pelican Creek in Yellowstone national park, Wyoming. Last year, Wildlife Services killed more than 1.5 million native wild animals across the country, including bears. Photograph: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty ImagesAfter sustained public outcry, the Trump administration has voided its decision to reauthorize controversial cyanide traps for killing wildlife.The traps, which are known as M-44s and dubbed "cyanide bombs" by critics, are spring-loaded devices that emit a spray of sodium cyanide to kill their targets. The traps are most frequently used by Wildlife Services, a little-known federal agency inside the United States Department of Agriculture, to kill coyotes, foxes and other animals at the behest of private agriculture operators.Last year, Wildlife Services killed more than 1.5 million native wild animals across the country, including bears, wolves, birds and more. Roughly 6,500 of these deaths were caused by M-44 traps."I am announcing a withdrawal of EPA's interim registration review decision on sodium cyanide, the compound used in M-44 devices to control wild predators," Andrew Wheeler, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, announced in a public statement. "This issue warrants further analysis and additional discussions by EPA with the registrants of this predacide."In an announcement last week, the EPA said that it had authorized government officials to continue using M-44s on an interim basis. The decision sparked fury among wildlife advocates and others, who decried the decision as a reckless threat to humans and the environment. M-44s, which are deployed on public and private land across the US, have led in the past to the inadvertent deaths of endangered species and domestic pets. They have even harmed humans, including a teenage boy who was poisoned by an M-44 in Pocatello, Idaho, in 2017.Brooks Fahy, the executive director of Predator Defense, a wildlife group that is a leading opponent of M-44 traps, said the EPA's announcement was a welcome reversal."Obviously somebody at EPA is paying attention to the public's concerns about cyanide bombs," Fahy said in a statement. "It would appear they're responding to public outrage over the interim decision from last week. Our phone has been ringing off the hook from concerned citizens regarding their greenlight to continue using these horrific devices. We'll have to see how this plays out."
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| Mississippi Man Charged with Setting Girlfriend on Fire, Kidnapping Child Posted: 14 Aug 2019 12:37 PM PDT  Family members and neighbors were shaken to learn a 42-year-old man allegedly set his girlfriend on fire before kidnapping a child and leading police on a chase.
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| Across the border from El Paso, tens of thousands trapped in fear hoping to win US asylum Posted: 15 Aug 2019 08:10 AM PDT  Their anguish pools like floodwater.A mother and her two young daughters arrived by bus from El Salvador after her husband, a gang member, was jailed for murdering a teenage girl. If you start a life with someone else, she says he warned her when she visited him in prison, I will have you killed. A Cuban wrestler who joined a sports mission to Venezuela during the era of Hugo Chavez, was threatened by the authorities after refusing to pay a bribe. He says he cannot return to either country. Another Cuban exile, who once lived in the US, wonders why Donald Trump noisily claims he is with the Cuban people, but does nothing to help.Tens of thousands of migrants are presently languishing in scruffy and unsafe towns on the US-Mexico border, gazing at what they believe is the promised land a few hundred yards away. In the latest effort by Mr Trump to try and deter asylum seekers, since January residents of Spanish-speaking countries – having made their applications to the US authorities – are forced to wait for them to be processed, not in the United States, but in Mexican cities, many of which are as dangerous as the places they have left. While the conditions faced by would-be migrants in US custody, especially by children, has triggered widespread political debate, those endured by applicants outside of the country under the new scheme has received very little attention."The administration calls this new policy the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPPs) but that's just Orwellian doublespeak," lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote earlier this year."Indeed, the policy has nothing to do with protecting people and everything to do with making it impossible for migrants to get the humanitarian protection that they are entitled to under domestic and international law."The first cities used to trial the new policy, which Mexico agreed to under intense pressure, were Mexicali and Tijuana, which border California. Nuevo Laredo in the northern state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, and San Luis Rio Colorado which borders Arizona, have been added to the list. Reuters said Tamaulipas was home to the Gulf and Zeta cartels, which are involved in people trafficking as well as drugs smuggling. Another border city used as petri dish for the Trump's administration's so-called 'Stay in Mexico' policy, is Ciudad Juarez, the sister city of El Paso, Texas, which found itself in the headlines earlier this month after a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart killed 22 people and injured many others. The city, founded when Mexico's territory spread much further northwards, has a population of 1.5m, with 700,000 in El Paso. The two cities, separated by the Rio Grande, combine to create the largest bilingual, binational conurbation in the hemisphere. Thousands of people legally pass back and forth each day, using one of four international crossings, for school, for work, to visit relatives and to go shopping. It is alleged the suspect in Walmart terror attack intentionally targeted El Paso because of its large Hispanic population. Eight Mexican citizens were among the dead."Xenophobic and racist discourse breeds hate crimes," Mexico's US ambassador Martha Bárcena, said after the shootings, amid allegations Mr Trump was fuelling violent bigotry with his often racist remarks about immigrants. "Hispanic communities contribute enormously to the American society. We have to work for a respectful and compassionate dialogue between our countries and communities.On a recent morning, The Independent accompanied a group of lawyers and volunteers from El Paso who work free-of-charge to help some of the migrants stuck in Juarez. The most extraordinary thing about the short walk across the Paso del Norte International Bridge was not any sudden culture shock – indeed, there was little of that – but how quick and seamless the journey was, if you had the "correct" passport or visa."The number of people waiting in Juarez is major – it's eclipsed the numbers in Tijuana," says Nicolas Palazzo, a staff lawyer with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Centre. "One of the problems is that there are only four immigration judges in El Paso to hear all these cases."Palazzo explains that MPP policy only applies to Spanish-speaking migrants. The largest number came from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba. He says a lot of Cuban doctors are in Ciudad Juarez, waiting for the call to assemble at the crossing at 4.30am and cross to El Paso for their hearings. "There has been an increase in Venezuelans," he says, referring to reports that as many as 4 million have fled since 2015. "But as the crisis has become worse, a lot of countries [such as Brazil, Columbia and Peru] have tightened the situation for Venezuelans."The Independent agreed to identify the people the lawyers were speaking to only by an initial and their country, in order to protect them or their family against possible reprisals back home. But close to the borrowed offices in a Mexican municipal building where the lawyers and volunteers worked, there were many migrants expressing anger and frustration, who were happy to provide their full name.Orlando Alvarez, 54, left Cuba in 1994 and had lived in the US and Paraguay. His green card had expired and he had been waiting four months for his hearing. "It's crazy here. Juarez is a very crazy city – there is a lot of crime here," he says. Another Cuban, Rolando Delgodal, left the country recently and has spent three months in Juarez. He said the situation in Cuba had become worse since the death of Fidel Castro and the passing of power to the next generation of Communist Party of Cuba leadership. "We have no free speech there," says Delgodal, who worked for the government's department of culture.John Breslin, an immigration lawyer who lives south of Chicago, was among the volunteers screening potential cases for Las Americas, before a decision was made on whether or not they have a viable claim for asylum."I am trying to find out if the facts of their case – the reasons why they left their home country – fit into a valid asylum claim."He was working with Octavia Marsh, a former professor of English literature, who grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico, 40 miles north west of El Paso."People have every kind of story you can imagine. Some have crossed through nine or 10 countries just to get here," she said. "I hope the US can regularise this process so that these people have a chance to save their lives – literally to save their lives."One of their cases was a Cuban, J, who had gone to Venezuela as part of a mission established between the two countries, and married a Venezuelan woman. After being forced to attend political events in support of the Venezuelan government, he quit the mission. Recently he had been threatened by the authorities after refusing to pay a bribe. Having made his way to Juarez, he says he had been robbed at an ATM and had crossed the Rio Grande in order to get detained, in what he hoped would speed his application.In an windowless office, harshly lit by fluorescent light, he is asked if he could return to Cuba if not Venezuela. "No," he says. "I would be persecuted for my political opinions and for having deserted."The department of homeland security did not immediately respond to questions as to how many people were being dealt with by the MPP process, and claims migrants were being intentionally forced to wait in dangerous conditions as an intentional deterrent. When the policy was introduced in January, them DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, claimed: "MPP will help restore a safe and orderly immigration process, decrease the number of those taking advantage of the immigration system, and the ability of smugglers and traffickers to prey on vulnerable populations."Another case, S, a young woman from El Salvador, is with her daughters, aged two and eight. She says she left her country in May after being threatened by her husband, who she said was a member of the MS-13 gang, and had been jailed for murdering a young woman. Her daughters are briefly taken outside the room by another volunteer, as S weeps, saying she had been told by her husband if she tried to start a new life without him, he would have her killed and the girls taken away. Did her mother and father want her to leave, she is asked? "My parents did not want me to go, but I told them I was going," she says, adding that the police in El Salvador had relationships with gang members. "I am afraid to return to El Salvador."Asked what she intended to do if her application for asylum was unsuccessful, she answers promptly. "I have not thought about it," she says. "I am hoping God is going to make it happen. I know he will make it happen."
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| Students caught in visa sting at fake university may sue U.S., court rules Posted: 15 Aug 2019 11:30 AM PDT ![Students caught in visa sting at fake university may sue U.S., court rules]( "Students caught in visa sting at fake university may sue U.S., court rules") A federal appeals court said foreign-born students may sue the U.S. government over claims it wrongfully canceled their visas, following a sting where it set up a fake university to entrap corrupt visa brokers. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia revived a proposed class action on behalf of more than 500 students who said they were deprived of due process when the government revoked their lawful immigration status after ensnaring them in the sting. Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Theodore McKee also faulted the government's "flip-flop" over whether the students, including many from China and India, who thought they had "enrolled" at the fictitious University of Northern New Jersey were innocent victims, or participants in the fraud.
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| Gun advocates criticize task force for leaving them out Posted: 15 Aug 2019 06:35 PM PDT  Gun rights advocates in Maryland expressed frustration at being left off of a county task force that is studying ways to reduce gun violence during a meeting Thursday night, as supporters of stronger gun-control measures thanked members for their work. The Anne Arundel County Gun Violence Prevention Task Force was created in the wake of the 2018 killing of five employees at a local newspaper. The panel set aside time at the end of its meeting Thursday night for up to eight people to address the task force.
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| Shiite cleric returns to Nigeria after India medical row Posted: 16 Aug 2019 08:38 AM PDT  Shiite leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, who was granted permission to travel to India for medical care after years in detention, returned to Nigeria on Friday following a row over his treatment, his supporters said. Zakzaky, founder of the pro-Iranian Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), and his wife Zeenah Ibrahim were "whisked away by security agents" to avoid waiting media after touching down at the airport in the capital Abuja, group member Abdurrahman Abubakar told AFP. The cleric had been in custody in Nigeria along with his wife since December 2015 after they were arrested during violence in which the army killed some 350 of his followers and buried many in mass graves.
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| Photos show the world's first solar road that's turned out to be a colossal failure because it's falling apart and doesn't generate enough energy Posted: 15 Aug 2019 03:14 PM PDT  In 2016, France was leading the world with its solar road. Now, it's being called a failure. Here's what the controversial road looks like.
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| Family of Dayton gunman apologizes for writing 'insensitive' obituary Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:53 PM PDT  An obituary for Connor Betts, the gunman in Dayton, Ohio, who killed nine, was removed from a funeral home's website at the request of the family.
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| Novices banned from Everest after deadliest climbing season in four years Posted: 14 Aug 2019 11:16 AM PDT  Amateur climbers will be banned from scaling Everest under tough new proposals unveiled by Nepal in the wake of a spate of deaths on the world's highest peak. Training and experience in high altitude climbing must be mandatory for all climbers on mountain and other high peaks, a government panel said on Wednesday, following the deadliest climbing season in four years. Eleven climbers were killed or went missing on the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) mountain in May – nine on the Nepali side and two on the Tibetan side. The Nepali panel - made up of government officials, climbing experts and agencies representing the climbing community - was set up after climbers and guides criticised officials after the deaths for allowing anyone who paid $11,000 to climb Everest. Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, and mountain climbing is a key source of employment and income for the cash strapped nation. Does congestion on Mount Everest come at a cost? But the numbers attempting the climb in May led to crowding in the so-called death zone, where there are very low oxygen levels. That put lives at risk as oxygen cylinders ran out while up to 100 people waited in the queue. Nepal issued 381 permits for Everest for this year's climbing season, which tends to culimate in May, when the daylight and weather is the most forgiving. "Climbers to Sagarmatha and other 8,000 metre mountains must undergo basic and high altitude climbing training," the panel said in a report submitted to the government, referring to the Nepali name of Mount Everest. The report said those hoping to climb Everest must climb at least one Nepali peak above 6,500 metres before getting a permit. Climbers must also submit a certificate of good health and physical fitness, and be accompanied by a trained Nepali guide, it said. Is it time to ban Western travellers - and their egos - from Mount Everest? Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, a senior Tourism Ministry official, said the recommendations would be implemented. "The government will now make the required changes in laws and regulations guiding mountain climbing," he told Reuters. Mira Acharya, a member of the panel said "climbers died due to altitude sickness, heart attack, exhaustion or weaknesses and not due to traffic jams". She said the compulsory provision of guides for each climber was to discourage solo attempts which put lives at risk. A reliable weather forecasting system should be in place and rope fixing should be done in time, giving enough space for the climbers to use a window of good weather to reach the summit, the report said.
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| Rep. Maxine Waters holds hearing on 'homelessness crisis' in Los Angeles Posted: 14 Aug 2019 02:22 PM PDT  Rep. Maxine Waters returned home to Los Angeles on Wednesday to draw attention to the plight of 60,000 homeless county residents.
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| Federal prosecutor blames shootout on 'rhetoric' of Philadelphia DA Posted: 15 Aug 2019 12:47 PM PDT  In the wake of a shootout that injured six police officers, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia denounced the city's chief prosecutor for fostering a toxic atmosphere regarding the police.
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| Planet 10 times Earth's mass may have smacked Jupiter long ago Posted: 15 Aug 2019 12:10 PM PDT  Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, may have been smacked head-on by an embryonic planet 10 times Earth's mass not long after being formed, a monumental crash with apparent lasting effects on the Jovian core, scientists said on Thursday. The violent collision, hypothesized by astronomers to explain data collected by NASA's Juno spacecraft, may have occurred just several million years after the birth of the sun roughly 4.5 billion years ago following the dispersal of the primordial disk of dust and gas that gave rise to solar system. "We believe that impacts, and in particular giant impacts, might have been rather common during the infancy of the solar system.
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| So...Why Is It Raining Plastic in the Rocky Mountains? Posted: 15 Aug 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Microplastics are just part of nature now.
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| Modi’s Kashmir Move Faces UN Test After Top Court Skips Pleas Posted: 16 Aug 2019 03:20 AM PDT ![Modi's Kashmir Move Faces UN Test After Top Court Skips Pleas]( "Modi's Kashmir Move Faces UN Test After Top Court Skips Pleas") (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to scrap autonomy for Kashmir after imposing an unprecedented lockdown across the region will be tested Friday at the United Nations Security Council after India's top court deferred a case calling on the government to lift restrictions that have been in place for the past 12 days.A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi adjourned a petition challenging the information blackout. Another plea questioning the government's move to scrap the constitutional provision, as it was taken without the consent of the state's legislature, was also postponed on grounds of being badly drafted. Both will be taken up at a later date, the court said without giving any details.The United Nations Security Council is expected to hold a closed-door meeting after China backed Pakistan's call to for the international body to discuss India's decision on the disputed Muslim-majority state. The last time the full Security Council met to discuss the Himalayan region was in 1965.The developments are the first concrete steps questioning Modi's decision to convert Jammu and Kashmir into two federally administered regions, separating Buddhist-majority Ladakh along its China border. The surprise move gives Modi's administration control of the local police and allows Indians outside Kashmir to buy land. On its part, New Delhi said it would usher in prosperity for the region where as many as 42,000 people including civilians, army, police and militants have died in violence in the last three decades.Restrictions on movement of people and communications will be gradually eased in the next few days, B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, the chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, said at a press conference Friday in Srinigar. Telephone lines will start functioning in phases starting Friday night, Subrahmanyam said.Ceasefire ViolationModi's Kashmir decision may have fulfilled a campaign promise made to his Hindu support base, which opposed special treatment for the region but has led to an escalation of tensions with rival and neighbor Pakistan. The state has been the main flashpoint between nuclear armed neighbors, who have fought three wars since the British left the subcontinent in 1947.Pakistan on Aug. 15 accused India of killing its soldiers in what it called "unprovoked ceasefire violations." India denied Pakistan's claim of killing of three soldiers. A spokesman of Indian Army said it's "fictitious."India has called the Kashmir decision an internal matter with no bearings on its international borders with Pakistan and China, however Beijing was quick to criticize the move. It issued a strongly-worded statement last week questioning the impact on the mainly Buddhist region of Ladakh -- an area of strategic importance nestled between Tibet and Pakistan.Still, with Beijing's main focus on its relationship with the U.S. and the trade war, it's not clear how much effort it will devote to pushing the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Security Council, said C. Uday Bhaskar, director at the Society for Policy Studies in New Delhi."There is a low probability that China is going invest all its diplomatic energy to support Pakistan to India's discomfiture," Bhaskar said on Friday.The Indian government will reopen Jammu and Kashmir secretariat and other government offices from Friday while easing other restrictions would depend on developments after the Friday prayers, the Press Trust of India reported.(Updates with comment from chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir in fifth paragraph)\--With assistance from N. C. Bipindra and Khalid Qayum.To contact the reporters on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.net;Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net;Upmanyu Trivedi in New Delhi at utrivedi2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni KrishnanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| S.Africa announces visa waivers to boost tourism Posted: 15 Aug 2019 02:05 AM PDT  South Africa on Thursday announced visa waivers for four countries in a bid to boost tourism amid an economic crisis and falling visitor numbers. Visitors from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand will no longer require a visa to visit for holiday, conferencing and business purposes, Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said. The unilateral decision comes as official tourism figures released in May reflected a dip in the overall number of visitors to South Africa from Europe and the Middle East in the first financial quarter of the year, normally one of the most popular times to visit.
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| View Photos of the 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Posted: 15 Aug 2019 02:20 PM PDT |
| Disney experts wanted: Happiest Place on Earth is looking for 2020 Moms Panel. (Dads, too) Posted: 15 Aug 2019 04:14 PM PDT  Disney know-it-alls are asked to apply to for the Moms Panel. Dads and the childless can also apply. If chosen, panelists get a free vacation.
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| Indonesian president seeks people's support for new capital Posted: 15 Aug 2019 11:48 PM PDT  Indonesia's president on Friday appealed for support to move the country's capital from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta, in an annual national address to mark the 74th anniversary of independence. President Joko Widodo told members of parliament and top officials on the eve of Independence Day that the capital city is not only a symbol of national identity, but also a representation of its progress. "I'm asking your blessing and support from all Indonesian people to move our national capital to the island of Borneo," Widodo said.
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| A Third of Americans Avoid Certain Places Because They Fear Mass Shootings Posted: 15 Aug 2019 11:17 AM PDT  Such as public events and malls
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| Trump Mocks ‘Serious Weight Problem’ of Supporter at His Rally Posted: 15 Aug 2019 05:45 PM PDT  President Trump ridiculed the physical appearance of a man in the crowd of his Keep America Great rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Thursday night, telling the guy and everyone watching at home that he had a "serious weight problem" and should get some exercise.Midway through a rally that had already featured him claiming that the stock market would crash if he weren't re-elected, Trump's typically off-the-rails speech was interrupted by demonstrators, and an apparent Trump supporter got up and grabbed a banner from their hands.Trump, appearing only to spot the general commotion, saw the apparent supporter in the melee and the president took some potshots at the man after it seems he wrongly identified him as a protester."That guy has got a serious weight problem," Trump yelled. "Go home, get some exercise!"After demanding security escort the man out of the arena, the president appeared briefly self-conscious before returning to his taunts: "Got a bigger problem than I do. Got a bigger problem than all of us. Now he goes home and his mom says 'What the hell have you just done?'"The Daily Mail identified the man who Trump mistakenly identified as a protester as Frank Dawson, and reported that he had no ill will toward Trump. "Everything's good!" Dawson told Fox News. "I love the guy! He's the best thing that ever happened to this country." Trump has reportedly called and spoken with Dawson.The interruption appeared to be led by a group of three young people holding two banners reading "Jews Against the Occupation," according to a report from The Washington Post.The organization behind the protest, IfNotNow, also told The Daily Beast that Trump's comments were directed at an individual who was shoving their members after they began chanting "Jews will not be used."Trump's public critique of the man's physical fitness comes after Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang made headlines Thursday for savagely ripping the president's own athletic ability."I challenge Donald Trump to any physical or mental feat under the sun," Yang said at an event in Iowa this week. "I mean, gosh, what could that guy beat me at, being a slob?" He continued: "Like, what could Donald Trump possibly be better than me at? An eating contest? Like something that involved trying to keep something on the ground and having really large body mass? Like, if there was a hot-air balloon that was rising and you needed to try and keep it on the ground, he would be better than me at that? Because he is so fat."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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| Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone Posted: 16 Aug 2019 07:09 AM PDT ![Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone]( "Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone") Vietnam has demanded that China remove an oil survey vessel and its escorts from the Southeast Asian country's exclusive economic zone, amid a month-long standoff in waters seen as a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges Beijing's maritime claims. Reuters first reported on Tuesday that the Haiyang Dizhi 8, conducted by the China Geological Survey, had returned to the area escorted by at least two Chinese coast guard vessels. "Vietnam has made contact with China to protest its repeated violations and demanded that China withdraw the vessel group from Vietnamese waters," Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.
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| Ex-lover of dead woman stuffed in suitcase is being hunted by FBI, Mo. officials say Posted: 14 Aug 2019 01:06 PM PDT  The suspect is charged with kidnapping the children of a woman found dead by a Missouri highway, federal prosecutors say.
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| Japan's new emperor speaks of 'deep remorse' in 1st speech marking WWII Posted: 14 Aug 2019 09:30 PM PDT  Japan's new emperor on Thursday spoke of "deep remorse" over the country's wartime past, in his first speech to mark the end of World War II since his enthronement in May. Emperor Naruhito's comments were being monitored in Tokyo and throughout Asia for any change in tone but he closely echoed the language employed by his father Akihito. "Looking back on the long peaceful years after the war, reflecting on our past, and bearing in mind the feeling of deep remorse, I earnestly hope that the devastation of war will never be repeated," the 59-year-old Naruhito said.
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