| Man killed at Popeyes in fight linked to popular chicken sandwich Posted: 05 Nov 2019 01:40 PM PST  A 28-year-old man was stabbed to death when a fight broke out in the chicken sandwich line at a Popeye's in Maryland on Monday night following the nationwide return of the popular food item.Police said the fight erupted as one man accused another of cutting the line designated for the chicken sandwich, which the chain brought back on Sunday after selling out of the new item during an initial release earlier this year.
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| South Korea deports North Koreans who fled after killing 16 Posted: 07 Nov 2019 02:42 AM PST  In an extremely unusual case, South Korea deported two North Korean fishermen on Thursday after finding they had killed 16 other crew members on their boat and then fled to South Korean waters, Seoul officials said. The two North Koreans, both men in their 20s, were captured in their boat south of the countries' eastern sea border last Saturday, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry. South Korea has a policy of accepting North Koreans who want to resettle in the South to avoid political oppressions and economic poverty at home.
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| DOJ Admits in Michael Flynn Case That FBI ‘Mistakenly Identified’ Peter Strzok Notes Posted: 06 Nov 2019 11:07 AM PST  The attorneys prosecuting former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn were forced to admit in a Tuesday letter to Flynn's legal defense that the notes which formed the official document describing Flynn's January 2017 interview were not written by agent Peter Strzok, as they've maintained throughout the case."We were informed that the notes we had identified as Peter Strzok's, were actually the other agent's notes (see Surreply, Exhibit 1), and what we had identified as the other agent's notes were in fact Strzok's notes (see Surreply, Exibit 2)" the letter to Flynn's lawyer Sidney Powell reads.The FBI's admission calls into further question the credibility of the case and of former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who told the FBI that his partner Joe Pientka was "primarily responsible for taking notes and writing the FD-302." The case against Flynn, who entered a guilty plea for lying to the FBI in December 2017, centers around the 302 form, which per Bureau protocol, stands in place of a transcript, as the FBI does not record its interviews.In defending Flynn, Powell has argued that Strzok's supposed notes were too orderly and well constructed to have been taken in the actual interview. Now the letter, coupled with prosecution's release of notes last week, apparently reveal that Strzok, in fact, took the majority of the notes in the interviewStrzok led the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server, and was fired from Mueller's investigative team when text messages disparaging President Trump were discovered between him and FBI colleague Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair.The letter was prompted by Powell's bombshell allegation that the FBI deliberately manipulated the original 302 document to suggest that Flynn lied about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak."Those changes added an unequivocal statement that 'Flynn stated he did not' — in response to whether Mr. Flynn had asked Kislyak to vote in a certain manner or slow down the UN vote [on sanctions]," Powell wrote. "This is a deceptive manipulation because, as the notes of the agents show, Mr. Flynn was not even sure he had spoken to Russia/Kislyak on the issue. He had talked to dozens of countries.""That question and answer does not appear in the notes, yet it was made into a criminal offense," Powell argued in the motion. "The draft also shows that the agents moved a sentence to make it seem to be an answer to a question it was not."Earlier this week, Powell demanded in another court filing that the FBI search its internal "Sentinel Database" to uncover any drafts of the 302 which may show substantial changes, after the government argued that any edits to the document, which was filed over three weeks after the interview, were merely "grammatical and stylistic."Released text messages between Strzok and Paige show that on February 10, the same day that news broke from "senior intelligence officials" that Flynn had discussed sanctions with Kislyak, Strozk told Paige that he had updated the 302 form to reflect her edits."I made your edits, and sent them to Joe. I also emailed you an updated 302 . . . hopefully it doesn't need much more editing. I will polish it this weekend, and have it ready for Monday. I really appreciate your times and edits," Strzok said.On Tuesday night, Powell told Fox News that the letter all but confirms her argument."Their entire case depends upon what these two agents said. And now, we're realizing 18 months later they're looking at their file and realizing that 'oh, by the way, we got the names of the two agents crossed on the notes, the notes you thought were Mr. Strzok's, that we told you were Mr. Strzok's, are not, they're the other agent's, and vice versa,'" Powell said. "It's appalling. What else have they gotten wrong? We can't trust anything they say."
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| Baby Faith found in bullet-ridden SUV reunited with dad after Mexico family massacre Posted: 07 Nov 2019 06:02 AM PST  Christina Johnson, Faith's mother, saved her daughter's life by stashing her car seat at the bottom of the vehicle during the attack.
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| Revenue from Syria oil fields to go to SDF, not United States: Pentagon Posted: 07 Nov 2019 09:04 AM PST ![Revenue from Syria oil fields to go to SDF, not United States: Pentagon]( "Revenue from Syria oil fields to go to SDF, not United States: Pentagon") The Pentagon said on Thursday that revenue from oilfields in northeastern Syria will go to U.S.-backed forces rather than the United States itself. "The revenue from this is not going to the U.S., this is going to the SDF," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters. The SDF stands for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
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| Gay couple mistaken for pedophiles say their lives are ruined Posted: 07 Nov 2019 07:06 AM PST  A gay couple who were wrongly accused of being pedophiles by a vigilante "hunter group" say their lives have been ruined by the false claims.
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| Macron warns of 'profound shift' in Iran deal as new report finds Tehran is dominant power in Middle East Posted: 06 Nov 2019 01:10 PM PST  Iran's breach of the 2015 nuclear agreement by enriching uranium at an underground facility "marks a profound shift" which could signal the ultimate collapse of the deal, Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday. The French president, who has worked vigorously to save the nuclear deal since Donald Trump withdrew the US last year, said he was deeply alarmed Iran's decision to resume enrichment at Fordow, a nuclear facility carved into a mountain. "I think that for the first time, Iran has decided in an explicit and blunt manner to leave the JCPOA agreement, which marks a profound shift," Mr Macron said during a visit to China. His comments mark the gloomiest public assessment yet by a European leader about the chances of salvaging the agreement after the US withdrawal and as Iran continues to escalate its breaches of the deal. Meanwhile, a new report claims Iran has become the dominant power when it comes to fighting wars in the Middle East as a result of the "networks of influence" it has built throughout the region. Mr Macron spoke shortly after Iran began injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges at Fordow, a facility that Iran hid from the world until 2009 and which Western and Israeli officials have long feared could be used for developing a nuclear weapon. Iran tensions | Read more The 2015 nuclear agreement forbids any uranium enrichment at Fordow and Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president acknowledged the sensitivity of the site when he announced the move earlier this week. Mr Rouhani insisted that the move was reversible and said Iran would return to full compliance with the agreement if European countries found a way around US sanctions to deliver the economic benefits Iran was promised in 2015. The reopening of Fordow comes days after Iran announced it was deploying advanced new centrifuges that can enrich uranium faster. But neither move brings Iran significantly closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon. A weapon would require uranium enriched at 90 per cent, whereas Iran is currently enriching at around 5 per cent. Iran insists it has no intention of developing a nuclear weapon. The latest breaches have nonetheless alarmed European states and Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, repeated his warning this week it would take military action to stop Iran getting a bomb. "This is not only for our security and our future; it's for the future of the Middle East and the world," he said. Amid the growing tensions, it emerged that Iran briefly detained an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector last week and seized her travel documents, the first such encounter since the nuclear deal. Q&A; | The 2015 Iran nuclear deal Iran confirmed it had stopped the inspector from entering its Natanz nuclear site out of suspicion she was carrying "suspicious material". Iran is believed to have begun secretly constructing the Fordow facility in the early 2000s but it was only known to the world when Barack Obama exposed it in 2009 and accused Iran of covertly working on a weapons programme. The base is around 80 metres underground, making it difficult to destroy with an airstrike, and is protected by anti-aircraft batteries. Israel came close to bombing the site in 2011 but ultimately decided not to move ahead. The network of alliances Iran has built with terror groups such as Hizbollah in Lebanon, as well a pro-Iranian Shia militias in Iraq, mean the balance of power in the Middle East is now in Iran's favour, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank. At a glance | Key players in Tehran Iran's ability, moreover, to fight and win wars in the Middle East without resorting to conventional military forces has been allowed to develop because there has been no effective international response to Iran's activities in the region. According to the IISS's latest report, "Iran's Networks of Influence in the Middle East" which is published on Thursday, while the US and its allies still retain military superiority over Iran in terms of conventional forces, Tehran has proved to be more effective in waging war in what it calls the "Grey Zone" of conflict. This means Iran is able to avoid risking a traditional "state-on-state" confrontations, which it would be likely to lose. Instead, by building what the report calls "networks of influence" with proxies throughout the region, Tehran has succeeded in gaining a distinct advantage over rivals in the region, such as Saudi Arabia. "Iran is fighting and winning wars 'fought amongst the people', not wars between states," the report concludes.
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| N.Y. Tech Firm Sold U.S. Chinese Spy Gear, Prosecutors Say Posted: 07 Nov 2019 08:58 AM PST ![N.Y. Tech Firm Sold U.S. Chinese Spy Gear, Prosecutors Say]( "N.Y. Tech Firm Sold U.S. Chinese Spy Gear, Prosecutors Say") (Bloomberg) -- U.S. prosecutors charged Aventura Technologies Inc. and seven current and former employees with a 13-year scheme to illegally import and sell Chinese-made surveillance and security equipment to U.S. government agencies and private customers.The defendants, including founder Jack Cabasso, were charged with helping Aventura defraud its customers, including the U.S. government, by falsely claiming the products it sold were manufactured by the company when in fact they had been illegally made in and imported from China.The U.S. seized records, bank accounts and a 70-foot yacht the defendants had purchased with money they made in the scheme, prosecutors said.Six of those charged were arrested Thursday morning and are scheduled to be arraigned later Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn, where the case was unsealed, prosecutors said. The government alleges charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and money laundering.The company's lawyers couldn't immediately be contacted. A message left with the company wasn't immediately returned.Aventura, based in Commack, New York, provides video-surveillance equipment, according to its website. Prosecutors said the products Aventura imported from China and resold as its own included network security cameras and related equipment.The company markets itself as a "manufacturer of security equipment, including network-linked security cameras and walk-through metal detectors," according to the U.S. Its largest customers are arms of the U.S. government, including the Army, Navy and Air Force, but it also sells to private customers in the U.S. and abroad, some of which are contractors for government agencies, according to the 40-page complaint.U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue announced the charges at a news conference.(Updates with details of government's allegations.)To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Heather Smith at hsmith26@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| China jails nine for selling fentanyl into US Posted: 07 Nov 2019 07:06 AM PST  China on Thursday jailed nine people for selling fentanyl to Americans, the result of a landmark joint probe, and pledged further co-operation following President Donald Trump's fury at Beijing's perceived inaction against Chinese suppliers fuelling the deadly US opioid crisis. Despite Trump's criticism earlier this year that Beijing had reneged on its promise to crack down on the production of the drug, China said it was "willing to conduct sincere and concrete anti-drug cooperation" with the US to tackle fentanyl trafficking. The court in northern Hebei province described the case as the first successful joint US-Chinese probe related to fentanyl smuggling, and US officials also hailed the verdict.
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| Hawaii Man Dies After Falling 22 Feet Into Lava Tube While Trimming His Trees Posted: 07 Nov 2019 06:51 AM PST  An elderly Hawaii man died after falling into a 22 feet-deep lava tube in his yard, police said.
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| View Photos of 450-HP Chevy E-10 Pickup Concept Posted: 06 Nov 2019 11:35 AM PST |
| Hong Kong court convicts teen for carrying laser pointer Posted: 07 Nov 2019 05:39 AM PST  A Hong Kong court ruling Thursday that a laser pointer carried by a teenager was an offensive weapon marked a tougher stance by the judiciary after months of anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, with a lawmaker warning it could lead to more prosecutions of demonstrators. Local broadcaster RTHK said a court found a 16-year-old male student guilty of possessing the laser pointer and a modified umbrella — deemed to be offensive weapons. The items were found in his bag, along with a helmet and other protective gear used by protesters, when he was detained Sept. 21 near the site of a planned rally for democracy reforms.
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| ABC News Refuses to Give on-Air Coverage to Anchors’ Allegation that Execs Killed Epstein Reporting Posted: 06 Nov 2019 10:20 AM PST  ABC News will not further investigate one of their anchors' claims that company executives killed her reporting on Jeffrey Epstein and will not comment on the situation on-air.ABC News told journalist Yashar Ali that they would not provide further commentary or reporting on the situation on Wednesday. The refusal to engage further comes just one day after the network denied all allegations of wrongdoing in a statement issued in response to the release of a leaked video showing anchor Amy Robach lamenting the network's decision to "quash" her reporting on Epstein.The right-wing activist group Project Veritas on Tuesday released video of Robach describing how she was barred from airing an interview with Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts in 2016, long before the Miami Herald broke the news earlier this year of Epstein's alleged offenses.In response, ABC claimed that Robach hadn't provided sufficient reporting to corroborate Roberts' allegations, and Robach herself issued a statement saying that she was never told not to report the story. Those claims stand in contrast to her recorded rant, in which she said she had corroborating accounts from other victims as well as photo and video evidence to substantiate the claims.While being recorded, Robach said the executives were worried that airing the allegations against Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 for sexually abusing under age girls, would jeopardize the network's upcoming interview with Prince Harry and Kate Middleton. The network worried about potential fall out because Roberts claimed in her interview with Robach that she was forced to perform sexual acts on Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II.The decision by ABC stands in stark contrast to rival NBC's handling of journalist Ronan Farrow's allegations that the network suppressed his own reporting on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, purportedly due to fears it would reveal allegations of sexual misconduct against former Today Show host Matt Lauer.On October 16 MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes scolded his own network during the last segment of his show for its handling of Farrow's reporting on Weinstein."One thing…is indisputable," said Hayes at the time. "Farrow walked out of NBC News after working on the Weinstein story and within two months published an incredible article in the New Yorker, that not only won a Pulitzer but helped trigger a massive social and cultural reckoning that continues to this day."Update 4:45 p.m.: ABC is still trying to determine which employee leaked the video of Robach, according to Ali."We take violations of company policy very seriously, and we're pursuing all avenues to determine the source of the leak," an ABC spokesman said.
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| Erdogan says Turkey will let refugees into Europe if EU does not support it Posted: 07 Nov 2019 07:58 AM PST  Turkey will have to open the doors to Europe for Syrian refugees unless the European Union provides Ankara with enough support, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, adding that Turkey could not carry that burden alone. Turkey aims to establish a "safe zone" in northeast Syria, where it says up to 2 million Syrian refugees can settle once the region is cleared of the Kurdish YPG militia. Ankara has repeatedly urged the EU to help Turkey in hosting more than 3.5 million refugees.
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| House GOP Lawyer Tried to Out Whistleblower in Bill Taylor Interview Posted: 07 Nov 2019 05:56 AM PST  Alex Wong/GettyThe lead impeachment inquiry lawyer for House Republicans named the alleged Trump-Ukraine whistleblower during a deposition with a key State Department witness. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor told the lawyer that he did not know the person and had not had conversations with him. But the fact that he was asked at all underscores what appears to be a longstanding strategy by committee Republicans to insert his name into the public record. The name of the individual ultimately was included in the transcript of Taylor's deposition. In subsequent depositions, Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to use the witness interviews as back-door channels for outing the whistleblower. Their fears have grown even more pronounced in recent days as several lawmakers—most notably Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)—have threatened to subpoena and reveal the identity of the whistleblower. The president's son, Don Jr., appeared to take things even farther, tweeting out an article from Breitbart on Wednesday morning naming the alleged whistleblower.Thanks to Rand Paul, Russian Media Are Naming the Alleged WhistleblowerThe Daily Beast has previously reported that an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Derek Harvey, has provided conservative politicians with notes on the alleged whistleblower, including some misinformation along with the individual's name. The name of the alleged whistleblower, which The Daily Beast has not independently confirmed and will not publish here, has been circulated widely by right-wing media; much to the chagrin of his lawyers who have warned that their client's safety is being deliberately threatened as part of a witness intimidation scheme by the president's allies. Taylor appeared in front of House investigators last month to reveal what he knew about efforts by Trump administration officials and Rudy Giuliani to dangle military aid and a presidential meeting before Ukraine's leaders in order to strong-arm them into launching investigations into a gas company linked to former vice president Joe Biden's son and unsubstantiated claims Ukrainian officials interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Hillary Clinton.During Taylor's deposition, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) peppered the ambassador with questions about how exactly he knew that former National Security Adviser John Bolton was supportive of the idea of releasing U.S. military aid to Kyiv after it was held up in what Democrats believe was a pressure campaign to force Ukraine's hand."I was aware, Congressman, in the discussions that followed the meeting at the NSC where the hold was put on," Taylor said. "And was told a couple of times by people at State and people at the NSC that the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, the National Security Adviser, and the head of CIA all strongly supported the resumption of this assistance."Meadows pressed Taylor for more details of the names of individuals he spoke to at the National Security Council who provided information about Bolton's thinking on the Ukraine situation."I guess I'm a little concerned on who at NSC would've been telling you about Ambassador Bolton," Meadows said. "You felt like he was a kindred spirit on this. So who was telling you from the NSC that he was?"Eventually, Republican committee lawyer Steve Castor directly asked Taylor if he's heard of or had communicated with the official that conservative media has identified as the alleged whistleblower. Taylor denied knowing him. The transcript also provided a window into how Republicans could seek to discredit Taylor during his public testimony, which is currently scheduled for Nov. 13. Several members, including Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) as well as the minority counsel, repeatedly asked Taylor the source of his information and whether or not he heard it himself or secondhand— ignoring the substance of the information and the fact that the answers they sought were painstakingly documented in his opening statement. Taylor's account also corroborated past witnesses' testimonies, providing detail about when he and others he worked with in the State Department first understood there to be a connection between a visit to the White House by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the delivery of U.S. military aid to investigations pushed by Giuliani. He pointed to EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland and former top diplomat to Ukraine Kurt Volker as two of the main operators pushing Zelensky to commit publicly to investigating the Bidens. Exclusive: Trump Letter Promised Zelensky 'Unwavering' SupportSondland, Taylor said, linked aid to investigations in his conversations with Ukrainian officials. Volker told him that he "planned to be explicit with President Zelenskyy in a one-on-one meeting in Toronto on July 2 about what President Zelenskyy should do to get the White House meeting."Taylor raised concerns with officials at the State Department, including with Sondland, about the connection between Zelensky taking up Giuliani's pitch for investigations and U.S. military aid. Sondland pushed back in a text message."The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind," Sondland said in his message to Taylor. "The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text." Sondland this week submitted an addendum to his testimony in which he stated that he did, in fact, translate to the Ukrainians that there was a quid pro quo —that they had to commit to the investigations publicly before receiving crucial U.S. military aid.Asked by Meadows why Taylor wasn't "exuberant" upon hearing that the president said there was no quid pro quo, Taylor replied— after being interrupted by Meadows several times— it was because the president's actions, as described by Morrison and Sondland, himself, didn't match the denials. "Even after the statement that I heard both times from both recollections, recitations, descriptions of the phone call, after the quid pro quo, there is none, there is none, there is none, then it went on both conversations went on to say: But President Trump did insist that President Zelensky go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016, and President Zelensky should want to do this himself," Taylor said. He added, "What came from Sondland when he told me this story was President Trump said it was not a quid pro quo. Ambassador Sondland said that he had talked to President Zelensky and Yermak and told them that, although this was not a quid pro quo, if President Zelensky clear things up in public, we would be at a stalemateTaylor said that even Ukrainian officials thought in order to receive military aid from the United States they needed to announce investigations into the Bidens. He said he met several times with Chairman of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine, Oleksandr Danylyuk. He told House investigators that he told Danylyuk on Sept. 1 that "the delay of U.S. security assistance was an 'all or nothing' proposition" and that if the White House did not lift the hold "prior to the end of the fiscal year (September 30), the funds would expire and Ukraine would receive nothing." Danylyuk had previously communicated to Taylor that "President Zelenskyy did not want to be used as a pawn in a U.S. re-election campaign," Taylor said in his testimony.At one point, Taylor described how on one occasion NSC allies working to release Ukrainian aide were pulled away to address a particularly bizarre issue. "This was also about the time of the Greenland question, about purchasing Greenland, which took up a lot of energy in the NSC," Taylor recalled. "Okay," Schiff responded. "That's disturbing for a whole different reason." Sondland Told Yovanovich: Tweet Praise of Trump to Save Your JobRead 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 news – live: White House fails to block impeachment testimony by Pence aide, as president fumes over report he asked Barr to defend Ukraine call Posted: 07 Nov 2019 07:12 AM PST  The House impeachment inquiry is currently interviewing Mike Pence special adviser Jennifer Williams, a specialist on European and Russian affairs who listened in on Donald Trump's "quid pro quo" call with Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, after issuing a subpoena commanding her to appear, circumventing White House objections to her giving testimony.The president has meanwhile angrily denounced as "degenerate" a Washington Post report that he asked his attorney general, William Barr, to declare publicly that the Zelensky call of 25 July contained no illegality, only for Mr Barr to decline.
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| Standing tall: Scientists find oldest example of upright ape Posted: 06 Nov 2019 02:02 PM PST  An international team of researchers says the fossilized partial skeleton of a male ape that lived almost 12 million years ago in the humid forests of what is now southern Germany bears a striking resemblance to modern human bones. The findings "raise fundamental questions about our previous understanding of the evolution of the great apes and humans," said Madelaine Boehme of the University of Tuebingen, Germany, who led the research. Boehme, along with researchers from Bulgaria, Germany, Canada and the United States, examined more than 15,000 bones recovered from a trove of archaeological remains known as the Hammerschmiede, or Hammer Smithy, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of the Germany city of Munich.
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| ABC News denied its own anchor's claim that Buckingham Palace threatened the network over Epstein 'a million different ways' Posted: 06 Nov 2019 10:08 AM PST  Amy Robach says she was stopped from airing an interview with the woman who accused Epstein of forcing her to have sex with Prince Andrew.
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| The 10 most-viewed fake-news stories on Facebook in 2019 were just revealed in a new report (FB) Posted: 06 Nov 2019 08:06 AM PST  Fake news stories targeting American voters are still rife on Facebook, and a new investigation from Avaaz just revealed the 10 most-viewed in 2019.
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| Nigeria’s Buhari Weakens Deputy’s Powers Amid Succession Talk Posted: 07 Nov 2019 06:31 AM PST ![Nigeria's Buhari Weakens Deputy's Powers Amid Succession Talk]( "Nigeria's Buhari Weakens Deputy's Powers Amid Succession Talk") (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterThe relationship between Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is in the spotlight after the head of state embarked on a private overseas trip without handing over temporary authority to his deputy.While Buhari, 76, transferred power to Osinbajo, 62, during his first term when he traveled abroad for medical reasons, it's the second time he's opted not to since being re-elected in February. His chief-of-staff, Abba Kyari, this week had to fly to London so that Buhari could sign long-awaited oil legislation approved by parliament.Speculation that Buhari is marginalizing Osinbajo was partly fueled by the president's decision last month to appoint a new economic advisory council that reports directly to him, replacing a committee headed by the vice president. Nigerian newspapers reported that Buhari, who is on a 15-day private visit to the U.K., this week approved the dismissal of dozens of Osinbajo's aides.The treatment of Osinbajo since the election "has sent a strong signal to the ruling party and national power brokers that Buhari has no plans to anoint, or go out of his way to position, his VP as his preferred successor," said Matthew Page, an associate fellow at London-based Chatham House. "It also sends a signal that Buhari prefers to maintain tight control over government decision-making."Buhari's spokesman, Femi Adesina, declined to comment and Osinbajo's spokesman, Laolu Akande, didn't immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.Reversing DecisionsEven before the election, Buhari had begun undoing what could pass for Osinbajo's legacy by reversing key decisions the latter made when he was acting president. These include removing former Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, whose appointment was confirmed by Osinbajo while Buhari was abroad, and firing Mathew Seiyefa, the vice president's choice for head of the secret police to replace a Buhari appointee.Although the next presidential election isn't due until 2023, Buhari can't stand again and attention is already turning to the question of who'll be the ruling All Progressives Congress's candidate. A former law professor from southwest Nigeria, Osinbajo won praise for his decisive handling of economic matters, especially during the president's lengthy health-related absences during his first term.Under an informal arrangement, the APC is expected to select a candidate from the mainly Christian south to replace Buhari, who comes from the predominantly Muslim north.APC spokesman Lanre Issa-Onilu didn't immediately respond to phone calls requesting comment.Opinions differ over the legality of Buhari's decision not to transfer power to Osinbajo while he's in the U.K. for undisclosed private reasons. The president's supporters say he's under no obligation to hand over responsibilities if his absence is shorter than 21 days."This is some kind of clever attempt to explain away the provisions of the constitution," said Clement Nwankwo, director of the Abuja-based Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre. "What he (Buhari) has done is not in line with the provisions of the constitution."To contact the reporter on this story: William Clowes in Abuja at wclowes@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Dulue MbachuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Harassed but unbowed, Philippines VP to take on 'poisoned chalice' role Posted: 07 Nov 2019 12:37 AM PST  After three years in the cold,Vice President Leni Robredo is being welcomed back to President Rodrigo Duterte's cabinet as his "czar" in a war on drugs in which thousands of people have been killed.
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| Iranians plead guilty after arrest for spying on dissidents Posted: 06 Nov 2019 12:30 PM PST  Two men arrested last year for spying on Iranian dissidents in the United States have pleaded guilty to charges in a Washington court, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Iranian-US dual citizen Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar and Majid Ghorbani, an Iranian resident of California, tried to penetrate the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a group of Iranian dissidents in exile, in New York and Washington from 2017-2018, according to the department. Doostdar traveled to the United States form Iran on three occasions to recruit Ghorbani and give him instructions and thousands of dollars in payments, according to the charges.
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| Mitch McConnell claims Senate trial 'would not lead to a removal' of Trump if held today Posted: 05 Nov 2019 06:43 PM PST  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if the impeachment trial were held today, the Senate would acquit President Donald Trump.
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| The Reason Russia Wants Its Own Scary “Spookovik” Gunship Posted: 06 Nov 2019 11:00 AM PST  Could it be as spooky as America's AC-130?
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| Bill Gates says Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax would leave him ‘counting what he had left over’ Posted: 07 Nov 2019 04:54 AM PST  Bill Gates has criticised Elizabeth Warren's proposed wealth tax, claiming it left him doing "a little math about what I have left over".The Microsoft founder and billionaire spoke about the Democratic presidential candidate's plan at The New York Times DealBook conference on Wednesday.
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| Blade of glory: The mystery around a late president's sword Posted: 06 Nov 2019 10:09 AM PST ![Blade of glory: The mystery around a late president's sword]( "Blade of glory: The mystery around a late president's sword") An Ohio sheriff wearing white gloves displayed a sword wielded in the American Revolution and by a future U.S. president in the War of 1812, and pledged Wednesday an exhaustive investigation to determine whether it's the one that disappeared from Cincinnati four decades ago. It's believed the sword Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil held up was carried in battle by President William Henry Harrison and before him, Continental Army Col. John Cleves Symmes, Harrison's future father-in-law. Police in Connecticut seized the sword last month, just before it was to be auctioned.
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| This 1000-HP Dodge Challenger Was Stolen and Crashed, but Still Made it to SEMA Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:47 AM PST  Not even a police chase could stop this Challenger from making it to the show.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Nissan Altima AWD and 2020 Subaru Legacy Posted: 05 Nov 2019 10:58 AM PST |
| Orphan in adoption scandal says she's a teenager, adoptive parents' claims are false Posted: 05 Nov 2019 10:24 AM PST  The Ukrainian orphan at the center of an adoption scandal in Indiana has broken her silence this week in an interview with Dr. Phil.
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| Israel aiding Syria's Kurds, advocating for them with U.S.: official Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:48 AM PST  Israel is assisting Syrian Kurds battered by a month-old Turkish incursion, seeing them as a counterweight to Iranian influence and advocating for them in talks with the United States, the deputy Israeli foreign minister said on Wednesday. Ankara launched its assault targeting the Kurdish YPG militia after the abrupt withdrawal of 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria in early October, a move Kurds deemed a betrayal by Washington, their partner in fighting Islamic State. In a rare public dissent with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered humanitarian aid to the "gallant Kurdish people" on Oct. 10, saying they faced possible "ethnic cleansing" by Turkey and its Syrian allies.
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| Thailand drug suspects run to ground days after daring escape Posted: 06 Nov 2019 05:50 AM PST  An American drug suspect and his Thai wife who went on the run after they shot and stabbed their way out of a courtroom were apprehended Wednesday, authorities said, with the man shooting his wife and then himself as police closed in. The couple, along with an associate, had made their brazen and violent escape from a court holding room in the seedy southern city of Pattaya on Monday, wounding a police officer before fleeing in a pick-up truck. "The foreign suspect shot his wife, and then himself," Sattawat Hiranburana, assistant to the national police chief, told AFP, adding that the American had sustained "serious" injuries.
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| Virginia Republican rejects Trump, votes Democratic down the line: Mastio & Lawrence Posted: 06 Nov 2019 04:09 PM PST  Mastio renounces his own party in the Virginia election and feels sick. Lawrence sees hope in him and other suburbanites that the Trump era will end.
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| 12 Italian Relics That Were Converted Into Luxe Hotels Posted: 06 Nov 2019 02:37 PM PST |
| Court upholds ruling against Arkansas anti-begging law Posted: 06 Nov 2019 03:24 PM PST ![Court upholds ruling against Arkansas anti-begging law]( "Court upholds ruling against Arkansas anti-begging law") A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the preliminary injunction U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson issued against the 2017 law, which expands the definition of loitering to include anyone asking for charity or a gift in a harassing or threatening manner that's likely to cause others alarm or create a traffic hazard. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas sued the state over the ban on behalf of two panhandlers who said they were afraid they would be prosecuted for asking for money under the law.
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| After 8-foot python strangles woman in sheriff's 'snake home,' Indiana town wants new laws on snakes Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:49 AM PST  Indiana does not currently regulate pythons because they are not native to the state. Currently, the town limits the number of cats or dogs to two.
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| Ryanair quietly grounded Boeing 737 planes over 'pickle fork' cracking, becoming the latest airline to act on the problem Posted: 06 Nov 2019 06:51 AM PST  The budget airline grounded at least three 737NG planes, The Guardian reported. Multiple airlines have done the same in recent weeks.
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| Sea levels set to keep rising for centuries even if emissions targets met Posted: 06 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  Generations yet unborn will face rising oceans and coastal inundations into the 2300s even if governments meet climate commitments, researchers findA potential scenario of future sea level rise in South Beach, Miami, Florida, with a global temperature rise of 2C. Photograph: Nickolay Lamm/Courtesy Climate CentralSea level rise is set to challenge human civilization for centuries to come, even if internationally agreed climate goals are met and planet-warming emissions are then immediately eliminated, researchers have found.The lag time between rising global temperatures and the knock-on impact of coastal inundation means that the world will be dealing with ever-rising sea levels into the 2300s, regardless of prompt action to address the climate crisis, according to the new study.Even if governments meet their commitments from the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement, the first 15-year period of the deal will still result in enough emissions that would cause sea levels to increase by around 20cm by the year 2300.This scenario, modeled by researchers, assumes that all countries make their promised emissions reductions by 2030 and then abruptly eliminate all planet-warming gases from that point onwards. In reality, only a small number of countries are on track to meet the Paris target of limiting global heating to 2C above the pre-industrial era."Even with the Paris pledges there will be a large amount of sea level rise," said Peter Clark, an Oregon State University climate scientist and co-author of the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."Sea level rise is going to be an ongoing problem for centuries to come, we will have to keep on adapting over and over again. It's going to be a whole new expensive lifestyle, costing trillions of dollars."Sea level has a very long memory, so even if we start cooling temperatures the seas will continue to rise. It's a bit like trying to turn the Titanic around, rather than a speedboat."Researchers used a computer model that simulates sea level rise in response to various emissions levels, looking both at historical emissions since 1750 and also what the emissions scenario would be from 2015 to 2030 if countries met their Paris agreement obligations.About half of the 20cm sea level rise can be attributed to the world's top five greenhouse gas polluters – the US, China, India, Russia and the European Union – according to the researchers. The US was a key architect of the Paris deal but this week Donald Trump formally triggered its exit from the agreement."Our results show that what we do today will have a huge effect in 2300. Twenty centimetres is very significant; it is basically as much sea-level rise as we've observed over the entire 20th century," said Climate Analytics' Alexander Nauels, lead author of the study. "To cause that with only 15 years of emissions is quite staggering."The results reveal the daunting prospect of a near-endless advance of the seas, forcing countries to invest huge resources in defending key infrastructure or ceding certain areas to the tides. Many coastal cities around the world are already facing this challenge, with recent research finding that land currently home to 300 million people will flood at least once a year by 2050 unless carbon emissions are drastically slashed.As the world heats up, ocean water is expanding while land-based glaciers and the two great polar ice caps are melting away, causing the oceans to swell.According to the UN's climate science panel, the global sea level rise could reach as much as 1.1 metres by the end of the century if emissions aren't curbed. Clark pointed out the real situation could be even worse if the melting of the Antarctic turns out to be on the dire end of the spectrum of uncertainty."People are going to become less inclined to live by the coast and there are going to be sea level rise refugees," Clark said. "More severe cuts in emissions are certainly going to be required but the current Paris pledges aren't enough to prevent the seas from rising for a long, long time."
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| Local German conservatives cause uproar with call for talks with far right Posted: 06 Nov 2019 07:32 AM PST  A group of eastern German conservatives have caused outrage within Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and among Jewish groups by demanding the party hold talks with the far right in the eastern state of Thuringia. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has capitalized on anti-immigrant sentiment since the 2015 migrant crisis, came second, ahead of the CDU, in last month's Thuringia election that was won by the radical Left party.
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| Fifteen-year-old boy handed life sentence for murder of Dublin schoolgirl Posted: 05 Nov 2019 11:18 AM PST  A Court in Dublin has handed down a life sentence to one teenage boy and a 15-year term to another teenage boy for the murder of a 14-year-old girl in May 2018. The body of Ana Kriegel was found in a disused farmhouse in a village to the west of Dublin on May 17, 2018 following an extensive search. Her mother had reported her missing three days previously. She was naked apart from the socks on her feet and a ligature made from distinctive blue builder's tape which was found wrapped around her neck. There were various items of clothing strewn around the room. Test results revealed that Ana had been the victim of an aggravated sexual assault and a vicious assault. The police quickly arrested two boys, then aged 13. In the first case of its kind in the Republic of Ireland, the two boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons because they are both minors, were tried in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin. Boy A and Boy B as they were known, both denied murder. Patric and Geraldine Kriegel, the parents of schoolgirl Ana Kriegel, speak to the media outside Dublin's Central Criminal Court Credit: Niall Carson/PA Wire The trial, which started in April 2019, heard that the two boys gave varying accounts of their own and each other's movements the day of the murder. However, forensic experts presented DNA and other evidence connecting both boys to the murder scene. CCTV footage also showed both boys accompanying the young girl to the farmhouse. The court also heard that Ana, who was born in Russia on February 18, 2004 and adopted by Geraldine and Patric Kriegél two and a half years later, had been subjected to an ongoing campaign of intimidation and bullying at school. The jury of eight men and four woman delivered a unanimous guilty verdict on June 18 after six days of deliberations. Earlier today, Justice Paul McDermott sentenced Boy A, 15, to life in detention, but that his case is to be reviewed after 12 years. Boy A had been found guilty of sexual assault as well as the physical assault that caused Ana's death. Boy B, also 15, was sentenced to 15 years for the murder of Ana, although the judge ordered that his case be reviewed after eight years. Mr Justice McDermott said both sentences had to be proportionate to the severity of the crime. He noted that neither boy was suffering from a mental illness, although in mitigation he took into account their young age and potential for rehabilitation.
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| Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to EU, in impeachment hot seat Posted: 07 Nov 2019 06:14 AM PST  Like many others before him, Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, was appointed to a plum diplomatic post by a grateful president. The wealthy hotelier donated $1 million to President Donald Trump's inaugural committee and was rewarded with the coveted job in Brussels. Ambassadorships have long been doled out by American presidents -- both Democrats and Republicans -- to loyal supporters, and many political appointees have served with distinction.
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| Get Your History Book Out: The 5 Battles that Created India Posted: 06 Nov 2019 12:31 PM PST  A military history from elephants to cannons.
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| Gordon Ramsey Drives Dozens Of His Insane Cars On Track Posted: 06 Nov 2019 12:04 PM PST  This includes his rare McLaren Senna,Gordon Ramsey is one of the biggest celebrity chef's in existence and is a household name spoken in living rooms across the world. Sure, the British chef is known for his no-filter lashings toward contestants on Hell's Kitchen and for his five-star restaurants found in major cities, but he is also a well-known car guy with quite the collection.For a day full of fun with family and friends, Ramsey heads to the Brands Hatch racetrack with a dozen of his cars in tow. Apparently these are just his U.K.-based cars, meaning that he likely has an even larger collection of cars elsewhere. Among the worthy is a McLaren Senna, Porsche 918 Spyder, and a Ferrari La Ferrari Aperta. Ramsey seems to be blown away by the fact of seeing all his cars from the United Kingdom on track together for the first time.One of the cars Ramsey brought out was certainly born for this kind of adventure, but it is a rare McLaren with just 500 ever produced. We are talking about the McLaren Senna. Ramsey compares it to "driving the fastest roller coaster you've ever been on." Another one of his cars is a Ferrari F355 slathered in bright yellow, and we also seem him pilot a blue Porsche 918 Sypder. The Spyder is capable of sprinting from 0 to 60 seconds in the low two-second range. Another car is the LaFerrari Aperta supercar, and only 200 of these cars were ever made. In fact, it looks like the chef is the proud owner of two of these rare beauties. While there are certainly cons to being famous like being hassled everywhere you go, there certainly are plenty of perks. Imagine being able to snag your rare supercars such as your Ferrari or McLaren along with dozens of others and have a track day with everyone you love. Read More... * An 11-Car Garage Mansion In Laguna Beach Is Going To Auction * Feel Special In A 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale Aperta
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| Polish citizens to travel visa-free to US from next week Posted: 06 Nov 2019 10:39 AM PST ![Polish citizens to travel visa-free to US from next week]( "Polish citizens to travel visa-free to US from next week") Polish citizens will be able to travel to the U.S. without a visa from next week, officials said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that including Poland — a "trusted partner" — in the Visa Waiver Program was testament to the two countries' "special relationship" and close cooperation on security issues. Poland becomes the 39th nation to be covered by the program.
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