| Britain sends second warship to Gulf after Iran tanker standoff Posted: 12 Jul 2019 05:23 PM PDT  Britain said Friday it was sending a second warship to the Gulf and raising the alert level in the oil-rich region as tensions spike after Iranian gunboats threatened a UK supertanker. The decision was disclosed as US President Donald Trump stepped up his war of words with the Islamic republic, which breached part of a nuclear accord already rejected by Washington. "Iran better be careful," Trump told reporters outside the White House.
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| UPDATE 2-UK to facilitate release of Iranian tanker if it gets Syria guarantees-Hunt Posted: 13 Jul 2019 09:15 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-UK to facilitate release of Iranian tanker if it gets Syria guarantees-Hunt]( "UPDATE 2-UK to facilitate release of Iranian tanker if it gets Syria guarantees-Hunt") British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt told his Iranian counterpart on Saturday that Britain would facilitate the release of the detained Grace 1 oil tanker if Tehran gave guarantees it would not go to Syria. The tanker was seized last week by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria. Iran on Saturday reiterated its call for the ship's release.
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| Will Nationalism Poison Ukraine's New President? Posted: 12 Jul 2019 09:53 AM PDT  Ever since Volodymyr Zelensky's upset victory in April, Ukrainians have been wondering whether their newly elected president will take new approaches to resolve the conflict with Russia. His thumping victory over Petro Poroshenko, who tried to dismiss all of his opponents as puppets of Russian Vladimir Putin puppets, uncovered a strong, untapped desire to end the Russophobia that has been porminant with over the past five years. During that time, the Poroshenko and other senior government officials routinely referred to Ukrainians who wanted better relations with Russia as a "fifth column."During the campaign Zelensky outflanked Poroshenko by promising to do anything to achieve peace, including direct negotiations with Putin. Since winning the election, however, Zelensky has backtracked from this pledge and reassured the West that he has no intention of negotiating with Putin without Western intermediaries present. In sum, he continues to try to be everything to everyone by telling each person whatever it is they want to hear.
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| Tropical Storm Barry: What to know about Barry's path, landfall, winds, flooding and more Posted: 13 Jul 2019 01:38 PM PDT  Some 14 trillion gallons of rainwater are forecast to fall on Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas during Barry. Three million people may be impacted.
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| Federal court: Duggar sister privacy lawsuit can proceed Posted: 12 Jul 2019 11:00 AM PDT  A lawsuit filed by four reality show sisters can proceed against an Arkansas city that released confidential information about their alleged sexual abuse by a brother, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jill Duggar Dillard, Jessa Duggar Seewald, Jinger Duggar Vuolo and Joy Duggar had an expectation of privacy when officials from the city of Springdale and Washington County investigated allegations that their brother Josh sexually abused them between 2002 and 2003, when they were minors.
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| A Mississippi politician abides by the 'Billy Graham rule,' but his refusal to be alone with a woman other than his wife in a work setting could be illegal, according to an employment law expert Posted: 12 Jul 2019 08:20 AM PDT  An employment law expert told INSIDER that state Rep. Robert Foster's refusal to be alone with a woman could violate anti-discrimination laws.
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| Why Was an American Scientist Murdered in a Nazi Bunker? Posted: 12 Jul 2019 09:25 AM PDT  Courtesy of Suzanne Eaton FamilySuzanne Eaton was, by every standard, an accomplished woman. The 59-year-old molecular biologist from Oakland, California, held a black belt in Taekwondo and was a globetrotting speaker on the international science circuit. She was married to a British scientist with whom she had two children, and she was an avid runner, racking up several miles on her daily 30-minute run.Eaton, who worked as a research leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, was last seen playing piano at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, in Kolymbari, on July 2, where she was attending a conference. Her family and friends assumed that she had gone for a run and perhaps passed out in the stifling heat wave or fallen on rough terrain during her workout. Her passport, money, phone, cycling shoes, and laptop were all found in her hotel room, they say. All that was missing were her running shoes. Her relatives and friends raised nearly $50,000 to aid the search through an online campaign. Then, on July 9, her body was found by two local residents exploring a World War II-era Nazi bunker about seven miles from where Eaton had been staying. Her body, which was wrapped in burlap, showed signs of torture, including stab wounds, but her official cause of death, according to the coroner, was asphyxiation. The coroner said she likely suffered a "slow and painful death."There was no immediate sign of sexual violence, according to investigators, who said she was still dressed when she was found. A full autopsy is under way. Her body was in such an advanced state of decomposition after a week in the extreme heat that dental records had to be used for a positive identification. On Friday, Crete's police spokesperson Eleni Papathanasiou confirmed to The Daily Beast that they were questioning several suspects, including some with neo-Nazi ties, who may know something about what happened to Eaton. Papathanasiou also said they were looking into whether the location of her body inside a labyrinth of tunnels dug out by Nazis occupying Crete during World War II was connected to the murder. "It is of course part of the investigation," Papathanasiou told The Daily Beast. "It is a curious place to leave a body, especially when the victim was living and working in Germany."Police are also taking into consideration how a woman as fit as Eaton who held a black belt in Taekwondo could be overcome. "The perpetrator or perpetrators may have suffered defensive wounds, and we are looking at that as well."Crete has long been a magnet for neo-Nazi sympathizers who regularly treasure hunt in bunkers like the one where Eaton was found, searching for World War II relics. Several collectors have unofficial museums in small villages where their Nazi regalia is on display. Crete was also a recent base for several leaders of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party who had chosen the Greek island for its historical ties to Nazi occupation. In 2018, an anti-Fascist group was able to raid the Golden Dawn headquarters in the capital Heraklion, which sent the group underground. Konstantinos Beblidakis, the vice mayor of the local Platanias municipality, said the area where Eaton was found was accessible by various back roads but there were no surveillance cameras despite the fact that the area above the bunkers was a popular hiking area for tourists. He said that most people, except those who are well versed in the island's Nazi past, would not have known about the bunker, which was not open to the public or marked in any way. It is as yet unclear how the two local residents found her or just why they were inside the secret bunker. Eaton's university-age son, Max, praised his mother in a statement. "She managed to live a life with few regrets, balancing out her personal life with her career," he said. "I think the fact that I did not realize how well she had managed to do so was evident [by the fact] that other mothers around me had taken to caring for their children full time, yet mine was never outdone by any of them."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Police officer who lost his job after shooting an unarmed man is ‘rehired to collect lifetime pension’ Posted: 13 Jul 2019 06:11 AM PDT  A police officer who was charged with murder for shooting an unarmed man in a hotel hallway was reportedly rehired temporarily so he could collect a pension, local media reports.Philip Brailsford, who killed Daniel Shaver at La Quinta hotel in Arizona in 2016, reportedly came to the agreement last year with the Mesa city manager's office. This allowed him to apply for a disability pension on the basis of a medical retirement in a reversal of his firing by the department after the shooting.He will receive a lifetime pension of around $30,000 per year.The agreement was first reported by local news outlets in Arizona, which obtained the settlement agreement that the city reached with Mr Brailsford last August.Mr Shaver's shooting captured media attention across the US when it happened in 2016, and again after Mr Brailsford's trial when his body camera video was released.Police were called to the hotel in January 2016 following a complaint about a man with a rifle in one of the rooms. Mr Shaver, 26, had been showing a legal pellet gun that he used in his job in pest control, to a woman in the room with him.Body camera footage begins with the confrontation between Mr Brailsford, other officers, and Mr Shaver and the woman. Mr Shaver complies with a series of confusing commands from the responding officers, putting his hands up and lying down on the ground.They threaten to kill him multiple times for not complying with their orders."If you move, we're going to consider that a threat and we are going to deal with it and you may not survive it," one officer says. "Please do not shoot me," Mr Shaver says at one point, his hands in the air. But Mr Brailsford opened fire after Mr Shaver appeared to reach behind himself while crawling towards the officers. He was struck five times.Mr Brailsford, who was carrying an AR-15 rifle with the phrase "You're F****d" etched into the weapon, according to a police report, was charged with murder for the shooting and fired from his job soon after.He testified in court that he believed Mr Shaver was reaching for a gun and would have done the same thing again.He was acquitted in November 2017 after a six-week trial on both second-degree murder and reckless manslaughter charges.The settlement notes that Mr Brailsford has been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Michael Piccarreta, his lawyer, told ABC 15 his PTSD stemmed from the shooting incident and criminal prosecution. Mesa City manager Chris Brady told ABC 15 that Mr Brailsford's PTSD claim dates to before his trial. "So in fairness he was given the opportunity to make that appeal to the board," he said. The shooting prompted a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by Mr Shaver's family, which is still pending.Washington Post
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| US VP Pence visits overcrowded migrant camp, deplores 'crisis' Posted: 12 Jul 2019 11:54 PM PDT  The vice president visited the McAllen Border Station, where he was taken to a sweltering outdoor portal where 384 men were held in a caged area. The stench was horrendous, according to media reports from journalists traveling with Pence who were allowed into the area for 90 seconds. "To be honest with you, I was not surprised by what I saw," Pence said afterward.
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| Rattlesnake and Radioactive Uranium Found During Oklahoma Traffic Stop Posted: 11 Jul 2019 05:08 PM PDT  Two people were arrested in Oklahoma after police say they stopped a stolen car and found a rattlesnake, radioactive uranium, and an open bottle of Kentucky Deluxe.
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| The 51 Most Delish Baby Shower Appetizers Posted: 12 Jul 2019 03:00 PM PDT |
| 12 people were evacuated from a tiny island when storm surge from Tropical Storm Barry flooded the only road off the island Posted: 13 Jul 2019 07:52 AM PDT  The Coast Guard received a report of a dozen people in distress on the Isle de Jean Charles around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
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| Patriots' Kraft pledges $100K for families of bikers killed Posted: 13 Jul 2019 02:19 PM PDT ![Patriots' Kraft pledges $100K for families of bikers killed]( "Patriots' Kraft pledges $100K for families of bikers killed") New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined leather-clad bikers from across the country at a memorial Saturday for the seven motorcyclists killed in a collision with a truck last month and pledged to donate $100,000 to help the victims' families. Bikers from as far as Louisiana and Arizona rode in for the event outside Gillette Stadium to pay their respects to the motorcyclists, who were killed when a pickup truck hauling a flatbed trailer slammed into a group of riders in Randolph, New Hampshire. Kraft surprised the crowd, including the Jarheads, when he pledged to donate $100,000 to the GoFundMe page set up to assist the victims' families.
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| Magnitude 4.9 aftershock hits near California town rocked by big quakes Posted: 12 Jul 2019 01:46 PM PDT ![Magnitude 4.9 aftershock hits near California town rocked by big quakes]( "Magnitude 4.9 aftershock hits near California town rocked by big quakes") A magnitude 4.9 aftershock struck on Friday roughly 5 miles east of the remote California town of Ridgecrest, which was rocked by a pair of major earthquakes over the past week, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no reports of damage or injuries in Friday's temblor, which occurred at 6:11 a.m. Pacific time, one of thousands of aftershocks felt since a magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook Ridgecrest on July 4, followed by a 7.1 quake the following day. The two larger quakes, the most severe in Southern California in decades, were felt across the region as far away as Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
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| Warren, Biden Campaigns Appear to Find Loophole Around Paid Internships Posted: 12 Jul 2019 02:19 AM PDT  Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via GettyUnpaid interns are practically non-existent among Democratic presidential campaigns in 2019. But some top-tier candidates appear to be finding a creative way to tap unpaid talent: offering vague "fellowship" opportunities as volunteer positions. There's no singular definition for a "fellow" among 2020 candidates and most this cycle don't offer the option. But two leading contenders, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), give applicants who are selected a chance to participate in the campaign as volunteer fellows, without requiring compensation or academic credit. "Volunteers are asked to do something, workers are told," Renée Hagerty, an executive council member for the Campaign Workers Guild, said. "Everyone who's performing work on a campaign should be paid."For Biden's campaign, the "Team Joe Organizing Fellowship" consists of an eight-week program that includes weekly online trainings in grassroots and digital organizing, according to the listing, which closed this week. Unlike the internship program, which is paid $15 per hour, the fellowship program makes no mention of wages, academic credit, or time commitments. Warren's campaign features one joint application with three options: paid internship, volunteer fellowship, or volunteer fellowship for academic credit. Applicants are allowed to select more than one when applying. Warren's deputy communications director Chris Hayden told The Daily Beast their internship program "offers a limited number of paid, full-time campaign experiences on a competitive basis" and that "interns commit to working 30 hours a week, and have access to paid health insurance in addition to their weekly salary.""The campaign also offers a volunteer fellowship program, which provides similar training and work experiences with a smaller time commitment," Hayden added. "Many of our campaign fellows receive stipends from educational institutions or other third-parties, and everyone in our intern and fellowship programs has access to cost-free supporter housing while they're working in-state."Still, Guillermo Creamer, co-founder of the non-profit group Pay Our Interns, said there's a "gray area" that emerges from having both paid and unpaid options, creating a "fine line" between the roles. "It is interesting that some campaigns can still think about having both," Creamer said. "The question now is: is fellowship the scapegoat for not paying individuals?"Multiple activists who spoke to The Daily Beast declined to call out individual campaigns, saying they're generally pleased with the progress this cycle on the paid internship front, what some see as the first hurdle to overcome. But the separate volunteer fellowship option has led several activists to question the program's cost-benefit analysis. "What's actually the difference?" Creamer said when asked about paid internships versus unpaid fellowships. "Campaigns have to be the ones who identify that."Coming off the heels of a strong second quarter of fundraising, Biden and Warren each crystallized their spots in the top of the Democratic pack both in polls and in money raised. Biden brought in $21.5 million, while Warren reported $19.1 million. The large sums are even stronger reasons to pay fellows for work, rather than doling out fancy titles in exchange, some activists pointed out."At Biden for President, interns are employees who are paid by the hour (capped at 30 hours a week)," a campaign spokesperson wrote in an email. "Whereas fellows are part of an educational experience which we hope will equip them to be effective organizers in the future, and are not employees of the campaign.""Bosses have been coming up with reasons and excuses and caveats for not paying people since the dawn of time," Hagerty said, without commenting on any campaign specifically. "This is another version that fits into a middle-class narrative of prestige."Legally, there's no definition in the campaign finance world that would distinguish internships from fellowships, an official from the Campaign Legal Center said. "Campaigns are given pretty broad leeway for how they spend their money. They can provide any title they want," the official added. In a field of nearly two dozen contenders, other candidates offer several different fellowship models. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) offer paid fellowships, while Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) requires unpaid fellows to receive academic credit in order to participate in the program. The majority of other candidates offer paid internships. While some activists view the practice as a delicate balance between opening a door to those who seek the experience and a loophole for campaigns to use free labor, not everyone agrees the practice is problematic."There's utilitarian reasons for campaigns and there's utilitarian reasons for the workforce," Janice Fine, an assistant professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, said. For some, fellowships can be a vital way to gain experience with a specific candidate or area of expertise, without having to commit to a set number of hours or responsibilities, she added. "A lot of these jobs are just for the experience," Alan Seals, a labor economist and professor of economics at Auburn University, agreed. "The worst thing [campaigns] can do is say 'no they're all employees now and you've got to pay them minimum wage.' It would be an absolute disaster."But that argument is what some activists say is part of the problem, and that there needs to be a clear pay-for-work metric that mirrors the fair wage platforms campaigns are pushing on the trail."It smacks of hypocrisy," Hagerty said. "No candidate wants to be a hypocrite." Updated to include comment from the Biden campaign.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| UK envoy said Trump ditched Iran deal to spite Obama: report Posted: 13 Jul 2019 03:26 PM PDT  Britain's ambassador to Washington believed US President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal because it was associated with his predecessor Barack Obama, leaked documents showed Saturday. "The administration is set upon an act of diplomatic vandalism, seemingly for ideological and personality reasons -- it was Obama's deal," ambassador Kim Darroch wrote in a diplomatic cable in May 2018. The cable was included in a second batch of leaked reports published by the Mail on Sunday newspaper, the first of which caused Darroch to resign earlier this week.
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| Dead Drone: Are Iran and America Headed Towards a Bloody War? Posted: 12 Jul 2019 01:17 PM PDT  Deptula said the Pentagon must modernize its "geriatric air force with systems that have been designed to operate against high-threat capabilities like stealth fighters, bombers and [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] aircraft."Iran's destruction of a U.S. Navy Global Hawk surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz on June 20, 2019 shouldn't deter U.S. forces from monitoring the strategic waterway, officials said.Retired U.S. Air Force general David Deptula, dean of the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute, told Air Force magazine he would put an additional Global Hawk "in the exact same track." "We certainly don't want to be cowed," Deptula said.(This first appeared earlier in July 2019.)Northrop built four Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator drones, based on the Global Hawk platform, for the Navy starting in 2008. The Navy has stationed two of them in the United Arab Emirates for operational use as it prepares to deploy the full MQ-4C naval version of the Global Hawk starting in late 2019.
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| South Africa sends troops into 'warzone' township Posted: 12 Jul 2019 11:56 AM PDT  South African president Cyril Ramaphosa ordered troops into the suburbs of Cape Town to quell a crime wave that municipal officials say has turned the city into a "warzone." Hundreds of soldiers will be deployed into sprawling area of townships known as the Cape Flats to combat gang-related violence that saw 14 people killed in 24 hours last week. More than 900 people have been killed in gang-related violence in the Cape Flats in the past year. Last Friday, six women between the ages of 18 and 26 were murdered by unknown gunmen at a home in a shanty town in the area. The next day another five men, aged 18 to 39, were shot dead and one was injured in two separate shooting incidents in the township of Philippi. The victims included three members of the same family: Sonwabo Zwilibi's, 17, and his brother Aphiwe, 18, and their cousin Sikelela Zwilibi, 25. Six policemen have also been shot and injured in the past week. Bheki Cele, the Police Minister, said the military deployment would last three months and see troops backing up police officers. "We'll go door to door, we'll collect every illegal firearm, we'll collect all criminals that we want, we'll collect all outstanding criminals that have been on bail and that is happening from two o'clock this morning," he said. The opposition Democratic Alliance, which control Cape Town and the Western Cape province, welcomed the move. "We have truly reached a state of emergency, which threatens the stability and reputation of the city," said Jean-Pierre Smith, a DA mayoral committee member for safety and security. He said the people of the Western Cape needed the army "because they want safety." More than 20,000 people, or 57 per day, were murdered in South Africa last year. Under apartheid, South Africa's Group Areas legislation assigned all the different racial groups to separate residential and business districts, mostly in urban areas Many people of mixed race who used to live close to the heart of Cape Town were uprooted from their homes in the 1950s and moved to the Cape Flats, a treeless, sandy area of ancient former beaches, so that the inner city would be exclusive to white people. "This situation has its roots in the history of South Africa. People were removed from their homes and dumped far away to areas where there was nothing, no society no shops, nothing," said Jakkie Cilliers, head of African Futures & Innovation at South Africa's influential Institute for Security Studies. "This created a generation of alcoholics which had a particularly violent impact in the Western Cape."
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| Woman suing landlord for evicting her after ‘having African American guest over’ Posted: 13 Jul 2019 08:10 AM PDT  A white mother says she was evicted because she invited African American guests to a playdate.Victoria Sutton had her black co-worker visit with their five-year-old son, so that the youngster could play with her two daughters.After one of the playdates, a new lawsuit says, landlord Allen McCoy knocked on the door of her Georgia home and called her a "n***** lover."She also claims he threatened to call Child Protective Services over her having a "n***** on their property."The lawsuit - filed by lawyers from the ACLU \- says she was told she had two weeks to move out and that he had previously evicted a woman who wanted an African American to move in with her.As a result, she says she moved out of the home in December over concerns for her and her daughter's safety.When confronted by a news reporter, Mr McCoy denied the allegations, saying: "Some of the best friends I got is coloured."His wife Patricia instead claimed Sutton had been asked to move out because of damage to bathrooms, walls and doors.But legal papers filed by Ms Sutton say photographs show no such damage.Lawyers are asking for damages related to emotional distress and the "diversion of resources" in having to move.Sean J Young, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia, told CNN: "Discriminatory motives are rarely spoken aloud and even more rarely caught on tape. People who discriminate are almost always able to come up with a neutral-sounding pretext for their discrimination."He said a ruling in Ms Sutton's favour would be "a stark reminder of the injustice that continues to thrive in Georgia today".
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| Tropical Storm Barry is expected to hit parts of Louisiana with more than 3 feet of storm surge and 20 inches of rain — here's what that much water looks like Posted: 12 Jul 2019 11:33 AM PDT  New Orleans has already been drenched in nearly 9 inches of rain, prompting a flash-flood emergency declaration.
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| Armstrong's famous "one small step" quote -- explained Posted: 13 Jul 2019 03:55 AM PDT  What did Neil Armstrong really say when he took his first step on the moon? During a 30th anniversary gathering in 1999, the Apollo 11 commander acknowledged that he didn't hear himself say it either when he listened to the transmission from the July 20, 1969, moon landing. NASA has also stood by the moonwalker.
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| Northern California town of Paradise lost 90% of its population after Camp Fire, data shows Posted: 11 Jul 2019 08:14 PM PDT  The town of Paradise has lost over 90% of its population since the Camp Fire last year, according to data California released Thursday.
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| Hong Kong protesters, police clash as demonstrations target Chinese traders Posted: 13 Jul 2019 12:29 AM PDT  The demonstration in the Hong Kong territorial town of Sheung Shui, not far from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, began peacefully but devolved into skirmishes and shouting. Protesters threw umbrellas and hardhats at police, who retaliated by swinging batons and firing pepper spray. Later, Hong Kong police urged protesters to refrain from violence and leave the area.
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| California boy, 4, who died begged his great-grandmother not to be reunited with birth parents Posted: 13 Jul 2019 09:44 AM PDT  A 4-year-old California boy who mysteriously died under his birth parents'care had begged his great-grandmother not to be reunited with them, KTLAreports
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| Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta is out — here are all the casualties of the Trump administration so far Posted: 12 Jul 2019 07:34 AM PDT  From John Kelly and Rex Tillerson to Anthony Scaramucci and Reince Priebus, here's everyone who has left the Trump administration so far.
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| 20 Vintage 4x4s That Are Cooler Than Modern SUVs Posted: 13 Jul 2019 04:03 AM PDT |
| New Zealanders give up weapons after mosque killings Posted: 12 Jul 2019 10:13 PM PDT  Dozens of New Zealanders handed in their firearms Saturday as a gun buyback scheme went into operation aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks. The first of more than 250 collections to be held nationwide was in Christchurch, where 51 Muslim worshippers were gunned down while at prayer less than four months ago. The government, with support from opposition parties, immediately rushed through legislation to tighten New Zealand's gun laws.
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| Hypersonic War: The Weapons of the Future Have Arrived Posted: 12 Jul 2019 06:07 AM PDT  Aircraft capable of hypersonic flight will be able to penetrate layered anti-aircraft defenses. During its career as one of the Air Force's premier Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, the venerable SR-71, which could fly at speeds up to Mach 3, was fired upon unsuccessfully hundreds of times. A new technological competition has begun, one in which America's rivals, particularly Russia and China, may be ahead. This is the race to build and put in the field super-fast or hypersonic weapons and vehicles. The military defines a hypersonic weapon as one that travels at least Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound. In comparison, commercial aircraft fly at around Mach 1 while some military jets can push themselves to around Mach 3, but only for a short time.There are two basic types of hypersonic weapons: super-fast cruise missiles, and boost-glide vehicles that are mounted on ballistic missiles. Hypersonic cruise missiles, which would most commonly be launched from aircraft, maintain powered flight from launch to impact. Boost-glide vehicles are lofted by a ballistic missile launched from an aircraft, ship, submarine or ground unit to the edge of space from which point they use their speed and aerodynamic design to skip along the top of the atmosphere for up to 10,000 miles.(This first appeared in June 2019.)
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| Louisiana under state of emergency as Tropical Storm Barry nears landfall — here's what it looks like on the ground Posted: 12 Jul 2019 12:19 PM PDT  The storm is expected to strengthen into a hurricane over the weekend, threatening downpours that could flood local levees and rivers.
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| Chevron spills 800,000 gallons of oil, water in California Posted: 12 Jul 2019 05:55 PM PDT  Officials began to clean up a massive oil spill Friday that dumped nearly 800,000 gallons of oil and water into a California canyon, making it larger — if less devastating — than the state's last two major oil spills. The newly revealed spill has been flowing off and on since May and has again stopped, Chevron spokeswoman Veronica Flores-Paniagua said. Chevron reported that 794,000 gallons (about 3 million liters) of oil and water have leaked out of the ground where it uses steam injection to extract oil in the large Cymric Oil Field about 35 miles (56 kilometers) west of Bakersfield.
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| VIDEO: Burger King manager told 'go back to Mexico' by customer in Florida Posted: 12 Jul 2019 11:13 AM PDT  Video shows a manager of a Florida Burger King being told by a customer to "go back to Mexico."
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| 'You don't know what you did for me': Released from prison by Obama, now on the dean's list Posted: 12 Jul 2019 09:04 AM PDT  President Obama let her out of prison. Then she enrolled in college and made the dean's list. "I'm finally coming into my own," she wants to tell him.
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| Saudi Arabia and Russia among 37 states backing China's Xinjiang policy Posted: 12 Jul 2019 08:31 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia, Russia and 35 other states have written to the United Nations supporting China's policies in its western region of Xinjiang, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters on Friday, in contrast to strong Western criticism. China has been accused of detaining a million Muslims and persecuting ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang, and 22 ambassadors signed a letter to the U.N. Human Rights Council this week criticizing its policies.
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| Washington AG opens inquiry into NRA's financial affairs Posted: 12 Jul 2019 01:49 PM PDT  The attorney general for Washington D.C. has issued subpoenas to the National Rifle Association and its related charitable foundation as part of an investigation into allegations of financial misconduct inside the powerful gun lobbying organization. The subpoenas add to a host of difficulties for the NRA, which is facing internal turmoil and multiple external inquiries as it gears up for a 2020 election push in support of President Donald Trump. Attorney General Karl Racine said in a statement that his office is examining both the NRA and the NRA Foundation.
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| Prominent legal organizations call on Congress to establish an independent immigration court system Posted: 11 Jul 2019 10:57 PM PDT  "The system lacks the basic structural and procedural safeguards that we take for granted in other areas of our justice system."
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| Egypt opens two ancient pyramids, unveils new finds Posted: 13 Jul 2019 10:32 AM PDT  Egypt on Saturday opened two ancient pyramids south of the capital Cairo and unveiled a collection of newly found sarcophagi, some containing well-preserved mummies. Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani told reporters the Bent Pyramid of King Sneferu, the first pharaoh of Egypt's 4th dynasty, and a nearby pyramid would be reopened to visitors for the first time since 1965.
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| New Indictment in New York Alleges R. Kelly, Entourage ‘Used Stardom’ to Recruit Underage Girls for Sex Posted: 12 Jul 2019 10:44 AM PDT  Scott Olson/GettyDisgraced singer R. Kelly, who was arrested again Thursday night, this time while out walking his dog in Chicago, was hit this week with a new slate of federal charges in New York and Illinois alleging sex crimes, including racketeering and producing child pornography.In Manhattan, newly unsealed court documents filed in the Eastern District of New York allege the 52-year-old performer as well as members of his entourage pursued women and underage girls to recruit them to have sex with the R&B; star. "The musician-turned-predator allegedly used his stardom to coax some victims into nefarious sex acts while certain members of his enterprise calculatingly facilitated the aberrant conduct," said Angel Melendez, special agent-in-charge for Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Today's indictment charging racketeering is a clear indication of the extent of his criminal activity, which involves coercion and kidnapping."The five-count indictment unveiled Friday charges Kelly with racketeering "predicated on criminal conduct including sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping [and] forced labor," as well as violating the Mann Act, which is aimed at curbing sex trafficking. Meanwhile, a separate 13-count indictment was returned in the Northern District of Illinois on Thursday and charges Kelly with two counts of receiving child pornography, four counts of producing child pornography, and five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, among other charges. That indictment, which accuses Kelly of using blackmail to prevent accusers from taking their allegations to authorities, was made public Friday as well. Kelly already faces charges of sexual abuse at the state level.R. Kelly Charged After Alleged Video Evidence of Singer Assaulting Underage GirlKelly was arraigned on the racketeering charges in Chicago federal court on Friday. He did not enter a plea to either the charges filed in Illinois or in New York. Standing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan, Kelly agreed to being locked up until his next court appearance on Tuesday, also in Chicago, where the court will further discuss detention and moving him to New York.Five unnamed victims are detailed in the New York indictment, three of whom prosecutors said were minors at the time of the alleged crimes. The court documents allege the abuse began in 1999—shortly after Kelly became a Grammy-award winning artist—and was made possible through the cooperation of Kelly's entourage. According to the documents, a 16-year-old was targeted by a member of the entourage while at a fast-food restaurant. A woman dubbed Jane Doe No. 2 met Kelly while in her early twenties, and, after traveling to interview Kelly for business purposes, was locked inside a room at Kelly's recording studio, according to a letter requesting Kelly's detention."After a member of the Enterprise provided her with food and a drink, she became tired and dizzy," the letter alleges, regarding Jane Doe No. 2. "She woke up some time thereafter to the defendant with her in the bedroom in circumstances that made clear he had sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious."The indictment alleges the singer exposed Jane Doe No. 5 to an infectious venereal disease, which he failed to tell the victim about prior to having sex without a condom. He told that woman, who met Kelly when she was 19 years old, "that if she was really 15 or 16 years old, she could tell him, suggesting he would have preferred for Jane Doe 5 to be younger," the documents state.After Kelly would pick out the girls and women he was interested in, his associates helped arrange travel for them to come to his concerts, then positioned them in the audience so that the singer could see them while performing, the documents allege. It was up to Kelly's confidants to ensure the women and girls he was interested in attended after-concert events, the indictment states.R. Kelly Picked Up Victim at His Child-Porn Trial, New Documents Allege"KELLY relied upon members of the Enterprise to ensure that only those authorized to attend were allowed at the event and to manage the flow of women and girls who were directly interacting with KELLY," the indictment states. Kelly then tried to control the women, according to the court papers. Women and girls allegedly couldn't leave their rooms without permission from the singer, had to wear baggy clothing when not with him, and were not allowed to so much as glance at other men. They also had to refer to Kelly as "Daddy," the indictment states.Kelly "isolated the women and girls from their friends and family" and made them financially dependent on him, according to the documents. He applied a similar method with his entourage, requiring "absolute commitment from its members, not tolerating dissent and obtaining sensitive information about members and associates of the Enterprise in order to maintain control over them," the indictment says.Kelly's entourage allegedly had another important task: ensuring the girls and women never came into contact with each other. They were rewarded for their recruitment efforts and promotion of his music with financial and personal benefits, per the documents. The unsealed indictment comes hot on the heels of Kelly's arrest in Chicago Thursday night, which reportedly involved detectives from the New York Police Department. In the 13-count indictment filed in Chicago, where Kelly already faces state charges, the court alleges the singer tried to buy off the family of a girl whom he purportedly had sex with and urinated on in order to prevent them from complying with law enforcement. Over a 15-year period, Kelly allegedly went to great lengths to prevent a videotape of the incident from getting out—including paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep victims quiet. He also provided the girl depicted in the video with a car and sent her family on a trip abroad to avoid law enforcement, according to the indictment.The girl, who was 12 or 13 when she met Kelly, was at the center of his 2008 trial that ended with him being acquitted of child pornography charges. Both Kelly and the girl denied they were in the infamous video despite witness testimony claiming otherwise. Payments to the girl continued after the 2008 trial ended, according to the new indictment. Kelly attorney Steve Greenberg has claimed the unsealed cases are nothing new and are the "same as the conduct previously alleged." "He and his lawyers look forward to his day in court, to the truth coming out and to his vindication from what has been an unprecedented assault by others for their own personal gain," Greenberg said Friday in a statement.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan unloads on lawmakers at House hearing on migrant detention facilities Posted: 12 Jul 2019 01:30 PM PDT  Homan blasts Congress for the delay in additional funding for the humanitarian crisis, urges lawmakers to fix the situation; FBN's Hillary Vaughn reports from Capitol Hill.
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| Unprecedented fires burn the Arctic Posted: 13 Jul 2019 08:35 AM PDT  Smoke is rising over the forests of Alaska and Siberia.The World Meteorological Organization called the wildfires now burning around the Arctic "unprecedented." The United Nations agency noted that over 100 intense fires burned in the Arctic Circle alone over the past six weeks, releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than Sweden does in an entire year. A rare fire even ignited in Greenland, amid unusually hot and dry weather.Amplified wildfires are an expected, predictable consequence of a warming climate. This is all the more true in the Arctic, a sprawling region that is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the globe. The profound changes here can be easily observed over the Arctic ocean, too, where sea ice has broken records for melting throughout the 2019 summer.Over the course of 10 days in July, Alaskan wildfires burned an area of land the size of Rhode Island. This is way above normal -- though this doesn't match Alaska's extreme burning of 2015. > Alaska wildfires have now burned 1.28 million acres (519k ha), the 3rd highest total to date (since 1993) according to @BLM_AFS analysis. This includes 1218 square miles burned in July. That's one Rhode Island in 10 days. akwx wildfire @Climatologist49 @IARC_Alaska @TScottRupp pic.twitter.com/gVTIox3x2k> > -- Rick Thoman (@AlaskaWx) July 10, 2019> Record-breaking heat in Alaska has exacerbated clusters of wildfires burning throughout the state. https://t.co/8zqVC5JAjx NASA MODIS fire pic.twitter.com/64zL7gYETx> > -- NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) July 11, 2019The largely Arctic state, however, just had its warmest 12-month period on record.SEE ALSO: Climate change will ruin train tracks and make travel hellJust across the Bering Sea, in Siberia, NASA satellite images from July 13 show dense smoke swirling over eastern Russia, with red spots designating wildfires.Fires in Siberia on July 13, 2019.Image: nasa worldviewWhile a warming climate itself doesn't create weather events or fires, it amplifies these events and significantly boosts the odds of such events occurring. That's why leading climate scientists emphasize looking at the bigger picture -- and following trends.And the trends are clear. On Earth, 18 of the 19 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. Warmer climes mean an atmosphere that holds more water, which translates to a boost in pummeling deluges -- like the type that flooded Washington, D.C. earlier this week. The U.S. just experienced its wettest 12 months in 124 years of recorded history. Such warming also means momentous declines in Arctic sea ice, amplified, growing drought in arid swathes of the United States, and fires that are burning for weeks longer than they were in the 1980sThe future may have its many unknowns. But it's almost certain that the Arctic will be a smokier place as the region continues a relentless, accelerating warming trend. This July, Anchorage hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the hottest day ever recorded in the city's history. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| A car sank into the sand at an Alabama beach after its owner parked close to the shore ahead of Hurricane Barry Posted: 13 Jul 2019 09:09 AM PDT  The owner of the car made the mistake of parking it close to the beach as then-Tropical Storm Barry caused tides to rise suddenly on Friday.
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| Kentucky Fried Chicken in ruins after explosion levels out restaurant in North Carolina Posted: 12 Jul 2019 04:59 PM PDT  Authorities say no one was in the restaurant when it exploded.
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| Pakistani traders strike over IMF austerity measures Posted: 13 Jul 2019 05:04 AM PDT ![Pakistani traders strike over IMF austerity measures]( "Pakistani traders strike over IMF austerity measures") Markets and wholesale merchants across Pakistan closed on Saturday in a strike by businesses against measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund to crack down on tax evasion and bolster the country's depleted public finances. In Karachi, the country's main commercial city, around 80% of markets dealing in bulk goods were closed, said Atiq Mir, president of the All Karachi Traders Alliance, which represents hundreds of markets in the city. "Government policies have created mistrust in trade and industry," said Mir, who added that traders were already struggling with corrupt tax officials demanding bribes.
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| Clashes erupt as Hong Kong protest targets Chinese traders Posted: 13 Jul 2019 06:29 AM PDT  Several thousand people marched in Hong Kong on Saturday against traders from mainland China in what is fast becoming a summer of unrest in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Violent clashes broke out at the end of the march between police and a group of mostly young protesters who say they believe peaceful demonstrations have failed to bring about change. Many of the stores were shuttered because of the protest.
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| View 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4/Spyder Photos Posted: 12 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT |
| China to impose sanctions on US firms in Taiwan arms sale Posted: 12 Jul 2019 10:01 PM PDT  China on Friday said it would impose sanctions on US companies involved in a potential arms sale worth $2.2 billion to self-ruled Taiwan -- a move that has infuriated Beijing. "The US arms sale to Taiwan has severely violated the basic norms of international law and international relations," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in an online statement. "In order to safeguard national interests, China will impose sanctions on US enterprises participating in this sale of weapons to Taiwan," he said.
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| Michigan Man Allegedly Shot Two Men ‘Because They Were Gay’: Prosecutors Posted: 13 Jul 2019 12:02 PM PDT  Leon Neal/GettyA Michigan man was charged Friday for allegedly shooting two men he contacted through a dating app "before they were gay." Demetris Nelson, 26, was charged with several crimes, including first-degree murder, after allegedly trying to rob and fatally shoot Brian Anderson, 31, and critically wounding 26-year-old Malcolm Drake, Wayne County prosecutor's office said. Authorities say Nelson used the popular dating app, Grindr, to target and locate the two men. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison for the murder charge. "To some, this will be just another hateful and violent act in America. They will read about this case and continue to go about their day. To me, that is quite tragic," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.Two Men Sentenced for Serial Anti-Gay Hate Crimes Using GrindrProsecutors allege on July 6, Nelson used the app to "targeted Anderson and Drake because they were gay." The pair were driving along a highway less than a mile from Nelson's Detroit home, prosecutors during Nelson's arraignment Friday, when the 26-year-old got into the back of the vehicle. After announcing a robbery, Nelson shot Drake in the back of the head, then fatally shot Anderson."We are saddened and outraged by this despicable crime. This case is just the most recent example of how members of Detroit's LGBTQ community are too often targets of violence," Alanna Maguire, president of the Fair Michigan Foundation, a nonprofit civil rights group assisting in the investigation, said in a statement. Nelson set up a series of social networking profiles, including Grindr, with the intent on finding victims and is being investigated in a series of other similar incidents, prosecutors said in court Friday.According to WXYZ, the July 6 incident might be Nelson's latest series of incidents involving people he met on online dating apps. Nelson, who allegedly uses different profiles and aliases to avoid being caught, allegedly robbed another victim two hours before he fatally shooting the two Detroit men. On Friday evening, a judge ordered Nelson to be held without bail. He is expected in court on July 26. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Hero Dad Dies in Rip Current After Passing His Drowning Daughter, 8, to Mom at Florida Beach Posted: 12 Jul 2019 09:19 AM PDT  Dad Dies After Saving Daughter in Florida Rip Current
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