| North Korean leader warns of return to tension; Trump thanks Putin Posted: 26 Apr 2019 09:12 AM PDT  Kim's remarks during talks with Putin on Thursday appeared aimed at pushing Washington to be more flexible on North Korean demands for an easing of international sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump, who ended a second summit with Kim in February without a deal for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, seemed unperturbed, saying a lot of progress was being made toward an agreement and welcoming Putin's support. Putin said after holding his first face-to-face talks with Kim in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok on Thursday that U.S. security guarantees would probably not be enough to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program.
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| The Latest: North won't seek re-election as NRA president Posted: 27 Apr 2019 05:03 PM PDT ![The Latest: North won't seek re-election as NRA president]( "The Latest: North won't seek re-election as NRA president") INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on Oliver North announcing he won't serve a second term as president of the National Rifle Association (all times local):
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| House Dem. Threatens Trump Officials with ‘Incarceration’ for Refusing to Honor Subpoenas Posted: 26 Apr 2019 08:28 AM PDT  Representative Gerry Connolly (D., Va.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, said Friday that the panel might resort to the threat of incarceration should Trump administration officials continue to ignore its numerous subpoena-backed requests for documents."We're going to resist, and if a subpoena is issued and you're told you must testify, we will back that up," Connolly told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "And we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it's backed up — whether that's a contempt citation, whether that's going to court and getting that citation enforced, whether it's fines, whether it's possible incarceration. We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government."The president and his advisers have said explicitly that they will not yield to Democrats' demands that officials testify before the Oversight Committee regarding the issuance of security clearances, the formation of the so-called zero-tolerance immigration-enforcement policy, and other matters.White House adviser Stephen Miller, former security-clearance official Carl Kline, and John Gore, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, have thus far all refused to come before the panel.Connolly emphasized in particular the Committee's desire to hear from Miller, whom he called Trump's "immigration whisperer," regarding what measures the administration plans to take to harden the southern border in the wake of Secretary of Homeland Security Kierstjen Nielsen's departure."We want to hear from him: What is your thinking, what is it you've been advising the president, and where is it you think you're going to be taking us as a country with these kinds of policies and personnel changes?" Connolly said of Miller.
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| 'Black sheep': The mastermind of Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombs Posted: 26 Apr 2019 05:55 PM PDT  "His father came and asked, 'Where can he go?'." The school would hear again of Mohamed Zahran. Sri Lankan officials have identified him as the suspected ringleader of a group that carried out a series of Easter Sunday suicide bombings in the country on April 21. Most of the attackers were well-educated and from wealthy families, with some having been abroad to study, according to Sri Lankan officials.
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| Migrants protest after hundreds escape from Mexican detention center Posted: 26 Apr 2019 02:44 PM PDT  Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Mexico) (AFP) - Central American migrants at a detention center in southern Mexico protested against their captivity on Friday, a day after an escape involving around 1,300 mostly Cuban inmates. Dozens of migrants shouted on Friday morning: "We want to go," and "we're hungry" at the facility in Tapachula, in the southern state of Chiapas. At dinner time on Thursday, some 1,300 migrants escaped after threatening to set fire to the detention center to protest against overcrowding, witnesses said.
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| Fighter Fight: Russia's Su-35 vs. America's F-15, F-16 or F-35 (Who Dies?) Posted: 26 Apr 2019 04:00 PM PDT  As history shows us, many times in war you do not always get to chose from the most optimal of solutions.Russia's Su-35 fighter certainly has western defense outlets buzzing--and for good reason.Moscow, despite heavy sanctions and an economy that has certainly seen better days, keeps pumping out new combat systems one after another--items like new tanks, submarines, nuclear weapons platforms and more.While many were indeed designed and planned for ahead of the imposition of sanctions, Russia is clearly making a big effort to modernize its armed forces, especially its air force, and moving past older Soviet platforms. The Su-35 is a good example of such efforts.So how would the Su-35 do against America's best planes? How would it fare against an American air force that is clearly the best in the world. How would, for example, the Su-35 do in a combat situation against Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter? How would Russia's new plane do against older aircraft like the F-15 or say F-16?Such scenarios matter--and not just in the context of a possible NATO/Russia or Middle East situation, but now that Russia is set to deliver the Su-35 to China, such comparisons matter even more. There are many places where all of these lethal aircraft will overlap, making such comparisons even more timely.Compiled below are three articles, written several years ago by TNI's former Defense Editor, Dave Majumdar, that looks at these questions in depth, combined in one posting for your reading pleasure. With that said, let the debate begin.This first appeared in September 2016.
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| AJ Freund cause of death released, parents bond set at $5M each for Joann Cunningham, Andrew Freund, Sr. Posted: 25 Apr 2019 09:30 PM PDT  Andrew "AJ" Freund died of multiple blunt force injuries to the head, the McHenry County Coroner said Thursday.
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| Twitter CEO phoned Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar to defend Trump’s tweet that sparked death threats Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:38 AM PDT  Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey phoned Ilhan Omar on Tuesday and stood by the company's decision to permit a tweet from President Donald Trump that later resulted in a flood of death threats targeting the congresswoman.The previously unreported call focused on an incendiary video that Trump shared on April 12, which depicts Ms Omar discussing the 9/11 attacks interspersed with footage of the Twin Towers burning.The clip did not include the full context of Ms Omar's remarks, which were taken from a public event on the broader issue of Islamophobia.Ms Omar pressed Mr Dorsey to explain why Twitter didn't remove Trump's tweet outright, according to a person familiar with the conversation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the call was private.Mr Dorsey said that the president's tweet didn't violate the company's rules, a second person from Twitter confirmed.He also pointed to the fact that the tweet and video already had been viewed and shared far beyond the site, one of the sources said.But the Twitter executive did tell Ms Omar that the tech giant needed to do a better job generally in removing hate and harassment from the site, according to the two people familiar with the call.On Thursday, a spokesman for Ms Omar declined to comment. Following the president's tweet, Ms Omar said on 14 April that she had witnessed an "increase in direct threats on my life – many directly referencing or replying to the president's video".Other Democratic leaders later condemned Mr Trump as well.In a statement, Twitter confirmed the call took place. "During their conversation, [Mr Dorsey] emphasised that death threats, incitement to violence, and hateful conduct are not allowed on Twitter," the company said."We've significantly invested in technology to proactively surface this type of content and will continue to focus on reducing the burden on the individual being targeted. Our team has also consistently been in touch with Rep Omar's office."The White House did not respond to a request for comment.Mr Trump is one of Twitter's most popular yet controversial users, whose political salvos are broadcast to nearly 60 million followers each day.Critics say his comments often violate site rules that prohibit hate speech, attacks on the basis of one's personal characteristics and incitements to violence.But Twitter ultimately has allowed the president to tweet without limit, arguing there's a public interest in allowing a head of state to communicate such views unfettered.But in recent weeks, Twitter has signalled it is rethinking that policy.Company leaders recently said they are planning to institute a new approach that would provide more context around tweets that its rules would have prohibited but were permitted to remain on the site anyway because of the speaker.Such a policy could result in public notations on Trump's own tweets.Mr Dorsey's outreach to Ms Omar came on the same day that the Twitter chief executive met with Trump at the White House, a meeting convened at the president's invitation.During the conversation, Trump spent a significant amount of time raising his concerns that Twitter deliberately targets and removes his followers, the Washington Post previously reported.Trump has made those claims in connection with his belief that social media sites are biased against conservatives.But Mr Dorsey said that Twitter's efforts to combat spam result in fluctuations in a user's follower count, noting even he had been affected.Asked about that meeting, Twitter noted in a statement that Dorsey and the president also discussed the 2020 election and efforts to stop the opioid epidemic. A source at the time described the meeting as cordial.The Washington Post
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| Explainer: What does it take to remove a U.S. president from office? Posted: 26 Apr 2019 03:06 AM PDT  Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice. Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.
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| O'Rourke might halt new oil and gas drilling on federal land Posted: 25 Apr 2019 07:00 PM PDT  RENO, Nev. (AP) — Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke said Thursday he's willing to consider a moratorium on new leases to drill for oil and gas on federal lands as a way to help combat climate change.
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| Trucker arrested in fiery Colorado pileup that killed four Posted: 26 Apr 2019 10:48 AM PDT  The crash turned a stretch of Interstate 70, a major east-west highway, into a raging inferno on Thursday that involved at least 28 vehicles and may have damaged the road surface and an overpass, authorities said. Lakewood, Colorado police said they arrested Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23, after he lost control of his tractor-trailer truck and started a chain-reaction during the late afternoon rush hour. "At that time of day we all know that I-70 can be very jammed," police spokesman Ty Countryman told reporters near the scene.
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| US imposes sanctions on Venezuelan foreign minister Posted: 26 Apr 2019 10:09 AM PDT  The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza as it tries to ramp up pressure to remove President Nicolas Maduro. "The United States will not stand by and watch as the illegitimate Maduro regime starves the Venezuelan people of their wealth, humanity and right to democracy," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement announcing that any US assets of Arreaza would be blocked. The sanctions are the latest slapped by the United States against senior figures in Venezuela as it seeks to install in power Juan Guaido, the opposition leader.
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| F-35s vs. J-20s: How America's 5th Generation Stealth Fighters Would Crush China Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:32 AM PDT  This can be explained in terms of a well-known Air Force strategic concept pioneered years ago by air theorist and pilot Col. John Boyd, referred to as the "OODA Loop," --- for observe, orient, decide and act. The concept is to complete this process quickly and make fast decisions while in an air-to-air dogfight -- in order to get inside the enemy's decision cycle, properly anticipate, and destroy an enemy before they can destroy you.The Air Force is accelerating development of a special, high-tech, on-board threat library for the F-35 designed to precisely identify enemy aircraft operating in different high-risk areas around the globe - such as a Chinese J-20 stealth fighter or Russian T-50 PAK FA 5th Gen fighter, service leaders said. (This first appeared in late 2017.)Described as the brains of the airplane, the "mission data files" are extensive on-board data systems compiling information on geography, air space and potential threats in areas where the F-35 might be expected to perform combat operations, Air Force officials explained."Mission data files are the key that unlocks the F-35," Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, Director of the F-35 Integration Office said.
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| No Pay, No Gain: Huawei Outspends Apple on R&D for a 5G Edge Posted: 26 Apr 2019 02:35 AM PDT  In money terms, its 2018 R&D budget trailed only those of Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., data compiled by Bloomberg show. Huawei's 2018 research budget grew 149 percent from 2014, outpacing increases by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Korea's Samsung over the same period.
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| 2020 Vision: Trump makes race about 'freedom' — and keeping prisoners from voting Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:32 PM PDT  Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Friday delivered speeches at the National Rifle Association's annual conference in Indianapolis, where they blasted Bernie Sanders' plan to give felons the right to vote.
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| House Republican tries to mediate Trump-Democrats clash Posted: 26 Apr 2019 03:30 PM PDT  Representative Jim Jordan, a leader of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus better known for stoking than soothing partisan frictions, on Friday urged the White House to let Carl Kline appear for a voluntary interview on April 30 or May 1, according to two sources who saw a letter from Jordan. Kline was formerly White House personnel security director. The House of Representatives Oversight Committee is probing allegations that the administration inappropriately granted security clearances to some Trump advisers.
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| Florida man arrested after disabled, bedridden woman in his care was discovered living among trash and feces Posted: 26 Apr 2019 07:54 AM PDT  65-year-old Lawrence Goodwin arrested for the abuse and neglect of a 67-year-old disabled, bedridden woman who was found living in a home filled with trash, feces and rotting trash.
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| South Carolina state House passes 'heartbeat' bill to ban abortions after six weeks Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:58 PM PDT  The South Carolina state House passed a bill which prohibits abortion when a heartbeat is detectable. Current law in South Carolina permits abortion up to 20 weeks. This bill, called the "South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act" reduces that to a mere six weeks, before many women know that they are pregnant, with exceptions for rape, incest, and if the pregnancy endangers the life or health of the woman.This bill is not the first of its kind, heartbeat abortion bills are becoming more popular in states like Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma, and now, South Carolina where the bill passed along party lines.Despite their increasing popularity, heartbeat bills are hard to enforce due to questions on the constitutionality of abortion restrictions beyond those outlined in Roe V. Wade. Anti-choice bills similar to this one have been introduced in the South Carolina state legislature previously, but died before making it to the floor.Despite this bill passing in one chamber of the state legislature, as the 2019 legislative session is ending, it is unlikely the state Senate will have the opportunity to take it up for a vote.Republican governor Henry McMaster has pledged to sign the heartbeat abortion bill into law if it crosses his desk."What is making its way through suits me fine- it's pro-life. This is a pro-life state and I will be glad to sign that bill," Mr McMaster said.South Carolina Democrat David Mack, who serves as a state representative, said. "This waste of time is sickening to me."Mack continues, "We go through this every year and the bottom line is, it's a woman's body and it's her right to choose."
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| UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley sees US Q2 GDP growth at 1.1%, Goldman view 2.2% Posted: 26 Apr 2019 10:12 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley sees US Q2 GDP growth at 1.1%, Goldman view 2.2%]( "UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley sees US Q2 GDP growth at 1.1%, Goldman view 2.2%") Morgan Stanley's economists said on Friday they expect that U.S. economic growth is running at a 1.1% annual pace in the second quarter due to a reversal of the surge in exports and inventories recorded in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs analysts marked down their estimate on U.S. gross domestic product in the current quarter, but the pace was still twice as fast as Morgan Stanley's projection. "Our preliminary expectations for growth in the second quarter sees large drags from net exports and inventories after their contributions in 1Q," Morgan Stanley economists wrote in a research note.
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| MetLife’s Departing CEO Urges Executives to Take Public Stances Posted: 26 Apr 2019 05:04 AM PDT  In his parting letter to shareholders, Chief Executive Officer Steven Kandarian urged fellow executives to push for policies that preserve free markets, create wealth and raise living standards. Kandarian cited stances MetLife took during his tenure, which he said helped both the insurer and the country overall.
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| PepsiCo offers to settle lawsuit with Indian farmers over their use of patented Lays potatoes Posted: 26 Apr 2019 03:26 PM PDT  PepsiCo offered to settle its lawsuit against four Indian farmers over their cultivation of patented potato varieties.
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| Correction: Confederate Monuments-North Carolina story Posted: 27 Apr 2019 04:28 PM PDT  HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (AP) — In a story April 25 about the toppling of a Confederate monument, The Associated Press reported erroneously that 11 other people besides Raul Arce Jimenez and Shawn Birchfield-Finn have been convicted in connection with the August melee in which the statue was toppled. At least seven other people besides those two men have been convicted in connection with various protests over the statue. The Associated Press also reported erroneously that one of the defendants is named Shawn Birchfield-Finn Jimenez. His name is Shawn Birchfield-Finn.
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| Sri Lanka attack leader 'died in hotel bombing', authorities say Posted: 26 Apr 2019 02:49 AM PDT  The suspected ringleader of the terrorist group accused of carrying out the Easter Sunday bombings died in the blast at the Shangri La hotel, the Sri Lankan authorities claimed on Friday. Mohamed Zahran, the leader of the local jihadi group National Thawheed Jamath, known for his incendiary speeches on social media, was one of the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on three hotels and three churches, the police said on an official Twitter account. The police also revealed that they had arrested the group's second-in-command and that the assailants' military training was provided by "Army Mohideen" and weapons training had taken place overseas and at some locations in Sri Lanka's Eastern province. Maithripala Sirisena, the president, said the group was driven by "religious fanaticism," suggesting its leader had killed himself to "set an example" and gain more followers. However, in a somewhat confusing statement, Chula Senaviratne, the national security chief, said there was "still ambiguity whether he is dead or not" while DNA tests are being carried out. "There is strong likelihood that the decapitated head of the suicide bomber at Shangri La was the same person we identified in the photographs..." he added. "However, we cannot be absolutely certain." The statements fit a pattern of claims and counterclaims by Sri Lankan officials that have muddied the waters in the chaotic aftermath of Sunday's heinous attack as security forces rush to detain suspects and the government investigates a failure to act on key intelligence that could have prevented the tragedy. Images and photos released by Isil appear to show the attackers pledging allegiance to the group Late on Thursday, Sri Lanka's health ministry drastically revised down its estimated death toll from the coordinated bombings from 359 to 253. Some officials offered the tragic explanation that some bodies had been so torn apart by the blasts that they had been counted as more than one person. The Indian Ocean island remains on high alert as the authorities hunt down suspects linked to the NTJ which is believed to have been inspired by the global Islamic State terrorist network which claimed responsibility for the attacks earlier this week. Security agencies are also trying to track down hauls of explosives, some of which may have been left over from Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war. President Sirisena told reporters in Colombo that some 140 people had been been identified as having links to the Islamic State group, although he reassured the public that the Sri Lankan government has "the capability to completely control ISIS activities." The government has, however, apologised for its failure to act on precise and repeated intelligence from India weeks and even hours before the massacre, warning about named suspects who were planning to attack local churches. Across Colombo, there was a visible increase of security on Friday after the authorities and foreign embassies, including the UK and the US, warned of the possibility of a second wave of attacks. Muslim communities were asked to stay at home to pray on Friday rather than attend communal prayers in mosques that could also be targeted by extremists. Amid fears of further attacks, authorities advised Muslims to pray at home on Friday, but many defied the warnings Credit: AFP Sri Lanka's Muslim minority has been shocked to the core by the atrocity and fears repercussions. Amid the nationwide manhunt, an association of Islamic theologians urged Muslim women not to "hinder the security forces in their efforts" by wearing veils. The Sri Lankan authorities have confirmed that seven suicide bombers carried out the attacks, including Adbul Lathief Jameel Mohammed who studied engineering for a year in the UK. They said all the bombers came from a middle-class, educated background. In new details that emerged on Friday, the police said that the attackers had worked out at a local gym and by playing soccer using their authentic national identity cards. They added that the vehicles used in the attack were purchased from a car dealership in Kadawatha, a suburb of Colombo, the capital. They said that the operator of a copper factory who was arrested in connection with the bombings had helped Mohideen make improvised explosive devices and purchase empty cartridges sold by the Sri Lankan military as scrap copper. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the prime minister, has said investigators are still working to determine the extent of the bombers' foreign links. Police presence is high on the streets of Colombo amid fears of further attacks Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, reported on Wednesday that two of the suspects had recently returned from fighting in Syria and Iraq. The prime minister admitted to Sky News that the authorities knew of the returnees from Syria but legally couldn't do anything about it. "We knew they went to Syria … But in our country, to go abroad and return or to take part in a foreign armed uprising is not an offence here," he said. "We have no laws which enable us to take into custody people who join foreign terrorist groups. We can take those who are, who belong to terrorist groups operating in Sri Lanka." Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, an analyst at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, told the Telegraph that the country's tourism industry would take a long time to recover from the attacks. "They've hit the very sector of the economy that had some momentum," he said. "While the arguments are about it being part of Isis and geopolitical terrorism, the consequences of the attack are very specific to Sri Lanka." ___
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| Snow in Chicago this close to May is unusual, but we're getting numb to abnormal weather Posted: 27 Apr 2019 01:46 PM PDT  Yes, it is snowing in Chicago and other parts of the Midwest. Yes, it is April 27 — a mere four days until May. Yes, people are heading to Twitter and social media to freak out. And finally, yes, we'll forget our shock as soon as the next extreme weather event happens. That's what a study from earlier in 2019 conducted by the UC Davis environmental science and policy researcher Frances Moore found after examining 2 billion tweets over a two-and-half year period. It found that we tweet about unusual weather because it stands out, but as it becomes more normal, we accept it as how it is and post about it less. In this way we slowly acclimate to extreme weather from climate change, the study asserts. So Saturday's late-April snowstorm in Chicago stands out now, but in the long-run it'll blend into the February heatwaves, torrential flooding, and other once-remarkable-but-now-not-so-notable weather we experience as the climate changes. SEE ALSO: This Twitter bot forecasts the weather with emoji In this particular situation, as more snow and cold temperatures strike later into spring, we're more likely to not notice the strangeness and bizarre patterns — and eventually accept May snowfall as a normal trend, even if it's not. Who says Chicago isn't a great place to live? Snow today! pic.twitter.com/OTetTgtdNz — michaelj (@mjc5169) April 27, 2019 Snow again here in Chicago... Chicago pic.twitter.com/Y0Uy3oFa0T — y2 (@y2_i) April 27, 2019 Enjoy the weather ��Let it snow again #Chicago April 27 ❄️#WeLoveChicago �� #Chicagoweather☃️There are parts of the city are expected to see 4 to 8 inches of snow. Yikes.☃️Chicago could receive latest snowfall in 30 yearshttps://t.co/JSKp02fyzv pic.twitter.com/Qt9Lwmo9TQ — ChiStock$��️ (@ChiStocks) April 27, 2019 Only in Chicago can @Skilling give you an allergy report and a snow total map in the same forecast pic.twitter.com/CuTmG1UStn — WGN TV News (@WGNNews) April 26, 2019 And while it seems outrageous for this much snow to accumulate in the middle of spring, it has happened in the past, and even later into the season. The probabilities of exceeding 6" of snow over the next 24 hours — through 1 a.m. Sunday CDT. Heavy snow can occur in the Upper Midwest into May. A couple memorable May events were May 1-3, 2013 and May 27-29, 1947. pic.twitter.com/pRADs7o0nb — NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) April 27, 2019 April showers? More like April snow. Get used to it. WATCH: Finally, a car umbrella to keep your vehicle cool in high temps
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| Will he? Won't he? N.Korea's Kim late for Vladivostok ceremony Posted: 25 Apr 2019 08:56 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kept an honour guard and officials waiting for two hours on Friday but eventually showed up for a wreath-laying ceremony in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok. Visiting the city a day after his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kim had been scheduled to take part in the ceremony at 10:00 am (0000 GMT) but at first was a no-show. As soldiers and a military band waited in the rain, word came that the event -- at a World War II memorial to Russia's Pacific Fleet -- had been cancelled and the red carpet was rolled up.
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| Huawei hopes for Britain-like solution in New Zealand 5G bid Posted: 26 Apr 2019 12:43 AM PDT  Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei's equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage. Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world's top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded. In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.
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| Amazon delivers record profits on gains in cloud, advertising Posted: 25 Apr 2019 10:16 PM PDT  Amazon on Thursday delivered record profits for the first quarter, fueled by gains in cloud computing and new business segments for the US technology colossus. Net profit in the quarter more than doubled from the same period last year to $3.6 billion, extending Amazon's trend of rising profitability. Seattle-based Amazon said revenue from online sales was up 10 percent billion while money taken in from subscription services and the Amazon Web Services cloud platform leapt some 40 percent.
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| Boeing 737 Max: Southwest preps for return, expects some traveler anxiety Posted: 26 Apr 2019 06:27 AM PDT  Airline executives concede some travelers will be concerned after the plane's grounding but say they don't think it will be a "massive issue.''
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| Trump defends ‘a great general’ who fought against the U.S.: Robert E. Lee Posted: 26 Apr 2019 08:33 AM PDT  President Trump on Friday defended his comment that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Va., between white nationalists and counterprotesters in 2017.
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| San Diego Area Synagogue Shooting Leaves One Dead, Shooter Said Jews Were Destroying Whites Posted: 27 Apr 2019 12:43 PM PDT  Denis PoroyA 19-year-old man armed with assault rifle walked into a suburban San Diego synagogue Saturday morning and opened fire killing at least one person and injuring three others, including one child, in a mass shooting that the mayor cast as a "hate crime." The San Diego Sheriff's Office said they have a San Diego man in custody and don't believe there are any other suspects.The man was identified by police as John T. Earnest of San Diego He was being questioned by investigators Saturday afternoon. The shooting took place around 11:30 a.m. PST, at the Chabad of Poway, a 33-year-old synagogue in a town of about 50,000 people located just northeast of San Diego.During a press conference, Sheriff William Gore said the suspect, was carrying an "AR-type assault weapon and opened fire" after he entered the synagogue, striking four people, including a woman who was killed, two men who are in stable condition and a child.Earnest was arrested without incident by San Diego police as he was fleeing the scene, Chief David Nisleit said.A San Diego police officer on route to the scene overheard on the California Highway Patrol scanner that a suspect who had allegedly called 911 to report that he was just involved in this shooting and his location, Nisleit said. As the officer was exiting the freeway, he clearly saw the suspect in his car, Nisleir said. "The suspect pulled over jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody," he said. "As the officer was placing this 19-year-old male into custody he clearly saw a rifle sitting on the front passenger's seat of the suspect vehicle." The local FBI and ATF offices in San Diego said agents are working with local officials on the investigation.Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, speaking on CNN, called the attack a "hate crime" based on "statements the shooter made when he entered" the building."I also understand from folks on the scene that this shooter was engaged by people in the congregation and those brave people certainly prevented this from being a much worse tragedy," he said.Gore said police have copies of the suspect's social media posts and an alleged hate-filled open letter he wrote right before the shooting, which would be reviewed "to determine the legitimacy of it and determine how exactly it plays into the investigation."The open letter is apparently a manifesto reviewed by The Daily Beast that was created before the attack and whose writer identifies himself as Earnest. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office declined to provide any additional details about the open letter.The manifesto was first shared on the toxic trolling board 8chan minutes before the suspect opened fire. It contains apparent misinformation and is clearly meant to be found and disseminated. (It uses the same question-and-answer format of the manifesto of the terrorist who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.) The writer identifies himself as a Christian of European descent. While he eschews political labels, the writer repeats a far-right accusation that Jews seek to destroy the white race through immigration of non-whites. It is the same purported motive given by the man who allegedly killed 11 Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue last October.Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, President Donald Trump expressed his "deepest sympathies" to the Poway congregation and "the people that were affected" in what "obviously... looks like a hate crime.""We are doing some very heavy research and we will see what comes up but it looks like a hate crime," Trump said before heading to Wisconsin for a rally in protest of the annual White House Correspondent's Dinner. "Hard to believe, hard to believe."CNN reported that one of the victims is Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein who was conducting service at the time and was reportedly shot in the hand. His condition is unknown at this time. A Palomar Medical Center spokesman confirmed to The New York Times that the rabbi is among those being treated.The Chabad center was founded in 1986 as a congregation "for Jews of all backgrounds who want to learn more about their Jewish roots," according to their website. The shooting comes on the last day of Passover. According to the event announcement on the synagogue's website, they were hosting a Passover Holiday Celebration that began at 11 a.m. and was set to end at 7 p.m. with a final Passover meal.The shooting falls exactly six months after Robert Bowers, 46, allegedly entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh just after 10 a.m, reportedly shouting "all Jews must die" before opening fire and killing 11 people.— With additional reporting by Justin MillerRead more at The Daily Beast.
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| Now Is Not the Time to Get Rid of the A-10 Warthog (And Replace It with the F-35) Posted: 26 Apr 2019 01:07 PM PDT  I admit it, as a former infantryman, I'm a partial to the A-10 Thunderbolt II. I don't mind that it's ugly. I don't mind that it entered service all the way back in the mid 1970s, making it older than me. I don't mind that it's slow, basically a flying 30 mm cannon sheathed in a 1,200-pound titanium "bathtub." In fact, these are exactly the things that endear the A-10 to grunts like me. It's our plane. It was made for us and us alone.The Warthog was, is, and will be for the foreseeable future the premier close-ground support plane. And all the things that I mentioned above — its simplicity and weight — are what make it so effective at its job. The titanium armor encasing the plane makes it impervious to high-explosive and armor-piercing projectiles up to 23 mm. It can even take a few hits from 57 mm rounds. Parts of the cockpit interior is covered with a nylon spall to protect the pilot from fragmentation. In other words, this is a plane meant to fly low and slow, mix it up in close quarters with ground targets that can return fire, and get its hands a little bit dirty. The A-10 is notorious for being able to take damage and keep flying. It's battle tested and soldier approved.(This article by Scott Beauchamp originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter. This article first appeared in 2016.)
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| Hundreds of migrants break out of Mexico detention centre as it struggles under US pressure Posted: 26 Apr 2019 04:57 AM PDT  At least 1,300 migrants escaped from a detention centre in Mexico on Thursday night, highlighting how far a surge in arrivals has stretched the country's resources. Roughly half of the migrants returned voluntarily to the Siglo XXI facility in the border city of Tapachula but around 600 people were still unaccounted for on Friday. The incident arose when several inmates rioted at the centre in southern Mexico. Some threatened to set fire to the facility in protest at overcrowding. The majority of migrants detained at Tapachula are Cuban but Mexican newspaper Reforma has reported Haitians and Central Americans were counted as among those who escaped. "There was a large-scale unauthorized exit of people housed in the migratory station," the National Institute of Migration said in a statement. Federal police with riot shields were sent to the compound but the institute said "there was no confrontation." The escape occurred on the same day as Mexican human rights officials toured the centre to check conditions there. It is the third time since October that migrants have rioted against conditions at the Tapachula centre. According to AFP, the facility was built to accommodate 900 people but residents say it sometimes holds up to 3,000. Mexico has returned 15,000 migrants in the past 30 days, officials have said, amid pressure from President Donald Trump to block the flow of migrants heading north. On Wednesday, the US president reiterated threats to send armed troops to the border if Mexico failed to deal with the so-called migrant caravan heading north. Since October thousands of Cubans and Central Americans have travelled to Mexico in the hope of reaching the US.
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| EU slams Russia citizenship move as new attack on Ukraine Posted: 25 Apr 2019 06:39 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union hit out Thursday at Russia's move to fast-track citizenship applications from people living in conflict areas in eastern Ukraine, slamming it as an attack on Ukraine's sovereignty that undermines an already-fragile peace agreement.
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| US STOCKS-Wall St hits a lull after weak Intel results, mixed GDP report Posted: 26 Apr 2019 10:32 AM PDT ![US STOCKS-Wall St hits a lull after weak Intel results, mixed GDP report]( "US STOCKS-Wall St hits a lull after weak Intel results, mixed GDP report") U.S. stocks came under pressure on Friday, hit by weak results from Intel and Exxon Mobil, with mixed first-quarter GDP data adding to a somber mood. Semiconductor stocks took a beating, with the Philadelphia chip index falling 1.52%, while the broader technology sector declined 0.67%.
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| How Does the GMC Sierra's CarbonPro Bed Compare vs. the Ford F-150's Aluminum Bed? Posted: 26 Apr 2019 11:41 AM PDT  Which material is best for a pickup bed?
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| This is how NASA would respond to an asteroid impacting Earth Posted: 27 Apr 2019 10:09 AM PDT  If an asteroid were ever to be come hurtling towards Earth, what would be the plan to stop it from impacting the planet? That's the question NASA and its partners, including the European Space Agency and the U.S.'s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are gathering at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in early May to investigate. SEE ALSO: Behold, the very bizarre Facebook auto-captions from NASA launch During the five day conference, NASA and its partners plan to engage in a "tabletop exercise" that simulates what would happen if scientists and authorities were to learn of a near-Earth Object (NEO) impact scenario. "A tabletop exercise of a simulated emergency commonly used in disaster management planning to help inform involved players of important aspects of a possible disaster and identify issues for accomplishing a successful response," says NASA. In the exercise (detailed by the ESA here), NASA and its partners have to respond to a "realistic — but fictional — scenario" involving a NEO named "2019 PDC," which has a 1 in 100 chance of impacting Earth in 2027. Each day of the #PlanetaryDefense Conference, a press release will be put out, updating participants on the hypothetical asteroid #2019PDC - now (hypothetically) hurtling towards Earth.��☄️More on this year's #ImpactScenario on the #rocketscience blog:https://t.co/kn9xsTABg2 pic.twitter.com/AAC5B9mzje — ESA Operations (@esaoperations) April 27, 2019 Armed with all of the hypothetical information about "2019 PDC," the exercise is intended to see how the various organizations and governments would handle the situation as it unfolds. "The first step in protecting our planet is knowing what's out there," said Rüdiger Jehn, the ESA's Head of Planetary Defence. "Only then, with enough warning, can we take the steps needed to prevent an asteroid strike altogether, or minimize the damage it does on the ground." In such a situation, the ESA says it would live tweet details "so you'll find out the 'news' as the experts do." And for the hypothetical 2019 PDC asteroid exercise at the conference, the agency will indeed live tweet the series of decided actions as if they are made. "These exercises have really helped us in the planetary defense community to understand what our colleagues on the disaster management side need to know," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer. "This exercise will help us develop more effective communications with each other and with our governments." Despite NASA having participated in six NEO impact exercises before, each scenario is different and the agency says it's learned that the focus is not always on the asteroid details, even though that's still crucial to creating a plan to either deflect it or reduce its impact. "What emergency managers want to know is when, where and how an asteroid would impact, and the type and extent of damage that could occur," said Leviticus Lewis of the Response Operations Division for FEMA. Well, you know what they say...it's better to be prepared. At the very least, NASA and friends won't be panicking as hard if an asteroid were ever to really hit Earth. WATCH: NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine warns India's anti-satellite test could be dangerous for the ISS
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| North Korea demands US pay for comatose student's medical bill: report Posted: 25 Apr 2019 06:56 PM PDT  North Korea demanded that the United States pay a $2 million medical bill for US student Otto Warmbier, who went into a coma after being tortured in the totalitarian country, a report said Thursday. The Washington Post quoted unidentified sources as saying that a US official was made to sign a pledge to pay an invoice for the medical costs before being allowed to fly Warmbier back home from Pyongyang in 2017. The envoy signed the pledge on instructions from President Donald Trump, according to the Post report.
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| Family of slain motorist celebrates after officer sentenced Posted: 25 Apr 2019 08:00 PM PDT  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Corey Jones's family sang the gospel song "Victory is Mine" as they walked out of a Florida courthouse, celebrating after a judge handed a 25-year sentence to a former police officer for killing the stranded black motorist in 2015.
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| Joe Biden comforts grieving Meghan McCain by telling her that death gets easier Posted: 26 Apr 2019 11:30 AM PDT  A day after announcing his 2020 presidential bid, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on ABC's "The View." He was asked by co-host Meghan McCain, whose father, Sen. John McCain, died in August, if death ever gets easier.
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| Someone Please Save This Outrageous Corvette Wagon Posted: 26 Apr 2019 06:56 AM PDT ![Someone Please Save This Outrageous Corvette Wagon]( "Someone Please Save This Outrageous Corvette Wagon") The world needs more six-headlight shooting-brake Corvette show cars.
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