| The Latest: Biden uses humor to defuse physical controversy Posted: 05 Apr 2019 12:14 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on former Vice President Joe Biden (all times local):
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| 2020 Vision: Warren calls for end to filibuster in Senate Posted: 05 Apr 2019 11:45 AM PDT  Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Friday endorsed eliminating the legislative filibuster in the Senate if Democrats take the White House.
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| One of Europe's Largest Airlines Is Changing Gates for Erdogan Posted: 05 Apr 2019 09:00 PM PDT  The move -- a 45-hour sprint slated to end at midnight on Saturday -- is a massive undertaking, involving transporting more than 1,000 tons of equipment every hour from the 1950s-era Ataturk hub to the giant new airport, which occupies an area larger than Manhattan. The transfer by Europe's fifth-largest airline was delayed several times in recent months because of the complexity of starting a facility designed to eventually handle 200 million passengers a year -- roughly triple Ataturk's current traffic. Turkish Airlines plans to wind down services at its old base, with the last flight departing for Singapore at 2 a.m. local time on Saturday.
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| Woman who posed as black makes plea deal in fraud case Posted: 05 Apr 2019 10:52 AM PDT  SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former NAACP leader in Washington state who was exposed in 2015 as a white woman pretending to be black has reached an agreement to avoid trial on charges of welfare fraud.
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| Meghan McCain slams ex-Clinton aide Adam Parkhomenko for mocking Mitch McConnell's fall Posted: 05 Apr 2019 10:50 AM PDT  Meghan McCain slams ex-Clinton aide Adam Parkhomenko for mocking Mitch McConnell's fall, saying McConnell used to have polio.
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| Tucker Carlson: ‘How Did We Wind Up With a Country in Which Feminists Do Science?’ Posted: 04 Apr 2019 07:20 PM PDT  Chip Somodevilla/GettyDays after facing widespread ridicule and criticism for saying primetime cable news competitor Chris Hayes is "what every man would be" if feminists had absolute power, Fox News host Tucker Carlson wondered Thursday how America wound up being a country where "feminists do science."During Thursday night's broadcast of Tucker Carlson Tonight, the conservative primetime star shared a clip—full of scary music and eerie effects—of Democratic politicians warning about the dangers of climate change, mockingly noting that it's "so bad they're running out of adjectives."Carlson then highlighted a recent study that asks whether "toxic masculinity" is a driver behind climate change by arguing that "when men's gender identity was threatened, they tried to reassert their masculinity through environmentally damaging choices." The report added that once this "unconscious bias is revealed, it has the potential to help society shift our increasingly precarious relationship with the environment for the better."Or, the way Carlson sees it, "if we want to save the environment we have to suppress men."The Fox News host turned not to a scientist or climate-change expert to dissect the study's conclusions, but conservative author and frequent guest Mark Steyn, who quipped that his insecurities about his masculinity "are causing rising sea levels in the Maldives" and that he's "kind of on board" with the study's thesis."How did we wind up with a country in which feminists do science?" Carlson asked, apparently not the least bit fazed by the current ad boycott he is facing. "I mean, isn't that sort of bound to get a study like this, right?"Steyn replied that it's "almost impossible" to tell if the study is legitimate or an "ingenious parody." This caused him to go on a tangent about one of the study's experiments, which he claimed consisted of "pantywaist" Walmart gift cards causing men to buy "very macho masculine things that melt the polar ice caps." "This is the kind of social science that the higher-education institutions of America are spending a fortune investigating," Steyn sneered.After Carlson said he thought "climate science was all about ice core samples" and not Walmart gift cards, Steyn scornfully responded that "climate science is a state of mind" and that the "big bucks" are in surveys where you "decide what's heating up the planet is men." Eventually, Steyn concluded by ranting about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) "flatulent" cows, claiming they will team up with a "plague of locusts" to wipe out "toxic masculine men" and save the planet."I wish there was a Latin term for government by unhappy crazy people because that's where we are," Carlson concluded.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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| A Japanese spacecraft just shot at an asteroid... to try and make a crater Posted: 04 Apr 2019 10:58 PM PDT  Tell you what, it's certainly not everyday someone shoots at an asteroid.Japan's space agency, JAXA, tried to do just that with its Hayabusa-2 spacecraft, which was launched in 2014. It's been hanging out on asteroid called Ryugu since June 2018, where it's been studying the surface. SEE ALSO: Astronaut Anne McClain shares stunning moonset from the International Space StationA bit before midday Japan Standard Time (JST) on Friday, the spacecraft attempted to blast a new crater on Ryugu by firing something called a "small carry-on impactor" (SCI) toward the asteroid.> [SCI] April 5 at 11:56 JST. The SCI operation time has passed and we have confirmed there is no problem with the spacecraft during the evacuation operation.> > -- HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) April 5, 2019The SCI is a 2 kilogram (4.41 pound) copper lump which was fired toward the asteroid at a speed of 2 km per second (4,473 mph). Shaped like a cone and containing an explosive, the SCI is designed to create an artificial crater on the surface. The SCI was shot from an altitude of 500 metres (1,640 feet) from the asteroid's surface, and the time from release and explosion was about 40 minutes.In a press conference following the explosion, mission managers were worried about the potential debris from the operation, but said none of it made contact with the spacecraft.You can catch the feed of the operation in its entirety below.The purpose of the experiment is so researchers can analyse changes to the asteroid's surface after shooting at it, and capture materials that might be hidden underneath.You can see what it looks like when they shoot the SCI into Ryugu, thanks to a ground test simulating the experience. The fragments of gravel are meant to simulate the asteroid's surface, but you can imagine the lack of gravity in space would make for a lot more debris floating about.It'll be a few more weeks until the team goes hunting for the crater, with the search operation set to begin the week of Apr. 22.Researchers will take images of the surface where they think the bullet has hit, then look through the images by eye to see where they've made their mark. As for Hayabusa-2, it's expected to make its return to Earth sometime between November and December, with landing set for late-2020. WATCH: NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine warns India's anti-satellite test could be dangerous for the ISS
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| MeToo founder Tarana Burke condemns Joe Biden’s ‘inexcusable’ responses to unwanted touching allegations Posted: 06 Apr 2019 05:46 AM PDT  The founder of the MeToo movement has hit out at Joe Biden for jokingly referring to complaints made against him by women about unwanted physical contact. Tarana Burke, who founded the movement against sexual harassment and assault, said the former vice president's light-hearted response was "disrespectful and inexcusable".Ms Burke, who first started using the phrase "MeToo" to raise awareness about the prevalence of sexual misconduct in 2006, said the women were right to speak out against the veteran Democrat. But she Mr Biden appeared to be misconstruing the point they were attempting to make."So now he's making jokes? This is disrespectful and inexcusable," she wrote on Twitter. She added: "It's not that people become more 'sensitive' over time as Biden suggested. And it's not just about personal space or intention – it's about bodily autonomy, it's about power and leadership, and it's about living into who we say we are and who we want to be.""He has *not* been accused of sexual assault. No one is calling for him to be incarcerated or sent away. He has been called to task for deeply problematic behaviour that many folks, particularly men, engage in regularly – and that's a GOOD thing."Society could not only be angry when it is a "Weinstein situation", Ms Burke said, referring to disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein who has been accused by more than 80 women – including some of the most famous actors in Hollywood – of varying degrees of sexual misconduct going back decades.He is currently facing criminal charges on five counts of sexual abuse, including rape, relating to two accusers – charges he denies.Ms Burke said that "lesser talked about, often ignored violations and indignities" serve to intensify a "culture of silence around all sexual harassment and violence".Mr Biden did not directly address the accusations in his first public appearance since several women came forward with allegations of unwanted physical contact.> Yes, Biden has been instrumental in work to support women. No, that doesn't mean he's above reproach or can't course correct – but FIRST – he has to do some personal work and not just 'being mindful' but apologizing and using the tons of resources available to him.> > — Tarana (@TaranaBurke) > > April 5, 2019The 76-year-old, who is widely expected to enter the 2020 presidential race, was introduced by the president of the union, Lonnie Stephenson, as he took the stage in Washington at a gathering of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on Friday."I just want you to know – I had permission to hug Lonnie," Mr Biden quipped.The crowd, which was largely male, burst into laughter. The politician later made a similar joke after inviting a group of children onstage and putting his arm around a young boy."By the way, he gave me permission to touch him," he said, again sparking laughter.Mr Biden said: "Everybody knows I like kids more than people".The politician, who has been jointly elected twice as the running mate of former president Barack Obama, has not been accused of sexual assault or harassment but the women have said they felt he violated their personal space.Before his appearance Mr Biden, who is likely to be among Democratic favourites if he were to launch his third run for the White House, promised to change his behaviour in a video.He said: "Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I've heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful of personal space in the future. That's my responsibility and I will meet it."Speaking to reporters after Friday's event, Mr Biden was asked if he would apologise to the women directly.He said: "I'm sorry I didn't understand. I'm not sorry for any of my intentions."He added: "I literally think it is incumbent upon me and I think everybody else to make sure that if you embrace someone, if you touch someone, it's with their consent, regardless of your intention."At least four women have recently come forward to accuse Mr Biden of unwanted physical contact.Lucy Flores, a Democrat who served in the Nevada state assembly, former congressional aide Amy Lappos, Caitlyn Caruso and DJ Hill. All said he either touched them or hugged them in a way that made them uncomfortable.Donald Trump, who was accused of sexual harassment or assault by two-dozen women when he ran in 2016, has capitalised on the allegations to mock Mr Biden and tweeted a doctored video showing Mr Biden appearing to put his hands on his own shoulders.Pressed about whether he deemed Mr Biden a threat on Friday, the president replied: "No, I don't see Joe Biden as a threat. No. I don't see him as a threat. I think he's only a threat to himself."
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| Bernie Sanders says 'there should be a study' on slavery reparations Posted: 05 Apr 2019 09:28 AM PDT  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders slightly modified his position on reparations when he joined a slew of other Democratic presidential candidates on Friday, saying he now supports studying the possibility of payments.
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| To vote or not to vote? The question facing Arab Israelis Posted: 04 Apr 2019 07:57 PM PDT  In the days ahead of Israel's April 9 elections, activists in the country's north were not trying to convince some residents who to vote for -- but just to vote. Israel's Arab citizens, who account for some 17.5 percent of the population, have been engaged in a debate over whether to boycott the upcoming elections. There have long been boycott calls by Israeli Arabs, but the debate has taken on renewed relevance.
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| Parents decry girl's death in suspected road rage shooting Posted: 05 Apr 2019 04:19 PM PDT  PHOENIX (AP) — The announcement Friday of an arrest in the fatal Phoenix road rage shooting of a 10-year-old girl in her family's driveway was of little comfort to her grieving parents.
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| Duterte Stakes Rare Claim, Tells China to ‘Lay Off’ Thitu Island Posted: 04 Apr 2019 08:51 PM PDT  "I'm trying to tell China, Pag-Asa is ours," Duterte said, calling Thitu Island by its local name. The president's comments came hours after his Foreign Affairs Department said the presence of about 275 Chinese vessels near Thitu Island is "illegal" and violates Philippine sovereignty.
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| You only think AirPods sound good because you haven’t tried these premium true wireless earbuds Posted: 05 Apr 2019 01:28 PM PDT  Apple just released its second-generation AirPods wireless earbuds, but they don't include any improvements to the design or sound quality. Truth be told, they don't actually need any improvement where the sound quality is concerned. But the design is an issue since slippery plastic tips will never isolate sound. If you want premium cord-free earbuds that sound even better and have silicone tips so none of that fantastic sound leaks, definitely check out the Master & Dynamic MW07 True Wireless Earphones. Trust us, you'll never go back to AirPods once you've tried these puppies.Here are the highlights from the product page: * Master & Dynamic MW07 True wireless earphones are built on cutting-edge technology and feature beautifully handcrafted acetate and a richly appointed hand-polished stainless steel charging case to deliver a superior mobile sound tool. Technically sophisticated components such as custom 10mm Beryllium drivers, proprietary "fit wings, " improved antenna technology and optical sensors that detect in-ear placement to automatically play and pause the earphones demonstrate that when it comes to designing the ultimate True wireless listening experience, no detail is too small. * Premium materials: beautifully handcrafted and eye-catching acetate and durable finish, with a lightweight, slim Design * Exceptional acoustics: custom, high-performance 10mm Beryllium drivers deliver rich, expansive sound * Superior comfort & fit: proprietary silicone "fit wing" innovation available in two detachable sizes for a custom and extra secure in-ear fit
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| 30+ Healthy Ways To Eat Eggs—And Keep Your Breakfast From Ever Getting Boring Posted: 05 Apr 2019 02:06 PM PDT |
| Who is running for president in 2020? An interactive guide Posted: 05 Apr 2019 09:06 AM PDT  The 2020 field has become crowded in recent weeks. Here's a look at who has announced their candidacy or opened an exploratory committee in the hunt for the presidency.
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| Labour can do Brexit deal with PM May but needs new referendum: deputy leader Posted: 05 Apr 2019 12:47 AM PDT  Britain's opposition Labour Party can do a deal with Prime Minister Theresa May on customs arrangements but the party might not support any Brexit proposal unless it includes a new referendum, deputy leader Tom Watson said. Labour is meeting the government for a third day of talks on a possible solution to the impasse over Brexit, with May seeking a further delay while she seeks to find a deal that can get parliamentary support. "We're genuinely going in with an open mind, but if it comes out of that process without the idea of a confirmatory ballot, I think we would have a bit of difficulty with our parliamentary party," Watson said in an interview with BBC radio, adding that talks on customs arrangements could be easier.
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| For Trump, 'complete and total exoneration' ain't what it used to be Posted: 05 Apr 2019 12:07 PM PDT  Pressure grows for the full release of the special counsel's report.
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| Pro-Haftar militia forces reach outskirts of Tripoli Posted: 04 Apr 2019 06:59 PM PDT  Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar reached a security barrier within 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital Tripoli late Thursday, an AFP journalist saw, as world powers warned of consequences for military action. General Abdessalem al-Hassi, head of operations for Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) in the eastern region, said his forces had seized the roadblock without any fighting. Haftar's forces announced Wednesday they were gearing up for an offensive in the west of the country to purge it of "terrorists and mercenaries", having seized key areas of the country's south since the start of the year.
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| The Latest: False ID is 'like reliving the day,' family says Posted: 04 Apr 2019 07:30 PM PDT  CINCINNATI (AP) — The Latest on efforts to confirm the identity of a person who told police he is Timmothy Pitzen, an Illinois boy who has been missing since 2011 (all times local):
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| Boeing CEO accepts blame for two plane crashes, apologizes to families of victims: 'We own it' Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:04 AM PDT  The chairman of Boeing acknowledged for the first time that its new maneuvering system was responsible for two recent plane crashes that killed almost 350 people and apologized to the families and friends of the victims.
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| MS-13 gang member detained at border with 'fake family unit' sent texts telling others to do the same, CBP says Posted: 05 Apr 2019 03:44 AM PDT  In an exclusive interview, the Rio Grande Border Patrol chief tells Fox News that migrants recognize there are gaps in U.S. immigration policies.
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| Study suggests cats are capable of learning their own names Posted: 04 Apr 2019 08:07 PM PDT  Most cat owners would tell you that their furry little friends definitely know their own names. As someone with a cat, I suppose I'd be inclined to believe that the animal I have been calling by name for over a decade does truly know what I've labeled him, but science has never been totally on board with that notion.Unlike past research efforts conducted with dogs, there hasn't been a ton of scientific effort put into determining whether cats are capable of understanding how names work. Whether any cats can tell the difference between their names and the names of other animals in the same home, or even random words, was something scientists from the Sophia University in Tokyo wanted to find out.To either prove or disprove the ability of cats to recognize their own names the researchers, led by Atsuko Saito, observed 78 cats in various settings that included individual homes as well as a public cat cafe.The challenge in determining how to test each animal's name recognition abilities led the team to devise a somewhat obvious experiment. First, the researchers chose random words and/or other names and repeated them to each animal so that they became used to hearing them. It's call habituation, and the idea is that once an animal is habituated to a word and realizes that it has no impact on them personally, they essentially ignore it.Then, the team mixed in each cat's name with the repeated words, testing whether or not the cats would remain attentive when they heard their own name even in the presence of words that had no meaning to them. The responses of the cats were scored based on how they reacted, with things like ear and tail movement considered positive signs that the animal was recognizing their name.What the researchers discovered was that while some of the animals did indeed seem to respond to their name while ignoring other repeated words, it wasn't a universal response. Household cats seemed to respond the most, and were able to tell their own names apart from fellow pets and random words. The cats in the cafe, however, seemed far less interested in their name, potentially revealing that being overwhelmed with stimuli or failure to learn their own names early on in life led caused them to be less responsive.Even among the household cats, the responses weren't totally convincing, with some cats responding to random words and others ignoring their own names.There are still a lot of questions to be answered here, including how an owner's voice combined with a cat's name (or even a nickname) affects the responses from the animals, but the study definitely leaves the door wide open for anyone who firmly believes their cat knows its own name.
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| Penn State hazing sentence sends a message to frat boys, college students: Grow up Posted: 06 Apr 2019 05:06 AM PDT  Penn State's Beta Theta Pi fraternity didn't invent the ritual that killed Timothy Piazza. It's a rite of passage we've tolerated for far too long.
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| Election board rejects AKP bid to annul Istanbul district vote: official Posted: 05 Apr 2019 03:42 AM PDT  The Istanbul election board has rejected a bid by Turkey's ruling AK Party to annul the local election in the city's Buyukcekmece district, an AKP official told Reuters on Friday, after the opposition narrowly won the vote in the city. Rohat Hasbayram said his party would take its annulment request to Turkey's High Election Board in Ankara. Broadcaster Haberturk earlier said the AKP had applied to annul elections in the whole of Istanbul, but Hasbayram said this was not the case.
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| Labour Says May Not Offering Genuine Compromise: Brexit Update Posted: 05 Apr 2019 09:12 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Theresa May asked the European Union to delay Brexit, potentially setting up a battle with other leaders ahead of next week's summit. The prime minister wants the U.K. to be able to leave the bloc before European elections in May if she can get the divorce deal ratified in time. Her team is locked in compromise talks with the opposition Labour Party.
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| Social media gets thumbs-down in new US poll Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:41 AM PDT  Americans are fearful about the impact of social media firms such as Facebook and Twitter, with many saying they spread misinformation and divide the country, even though most people still use these networks, a new poll showed Friday. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found 57 percent of Americans believe social media sites do more to divide the country, and 55 percent said the networks are more likely to spread "lies and falsehoods" than genuine news and information. "Social media -- and Facebook, in particular -- have some serious issues in this poll," said Micah Roberts of the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies, which conducted the survey with the Democratic firm Hart Research Associates.
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| Biden calls Trump a 'tragedy in two acts' who is 'locked in the past' Posted: 05 Apr 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday called President Donald Trump a "tragedy in two acts" for the way he characterizes people.
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| New Zealand attack suspect Brenton Tarrant to undergo mental health tests Posted: 04 Apr 2019 10:45 PM PDT  A New Zealand judge on Friday ordered that the man accused of killing 50 people at two Christchurch mosques undergo two mental health assessments to determine if he's fit to stand trial. High Court judge Cameron Mander made the order during a hearing in which 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant appeared via video link from a small room at the maximum security Paremoremo prison in Auckland. Mr Mander said nothing should be read into his order for the mental health assessments, as it was a normal step in such a case. Lawyers said it could take two or three months to complete. The judge said Tarrant was charged with 50 counts of murder and 39 counts of attempted murder. Police initially filed a single, representative murder charge before filing the additional charges this week. Tarrant was wearing handcuffs and a gray-coloured sweater when he appeared on a large screen inside the Christchurch courtroom, which was packed with family members and victims of the shooting, some in wheelchairs and hospital gowns and still recovering from gunshot wounds. A man in a wheelchair is escorted from outside the High Court in Christchurch Credit: AP Tarrant had stubble and close-cropped hair. He showed no emotion during the hearing. At times he looked around the room or cocked his head, seemingly to better hear what was being said. The judge explained that from his end, Tarrant could see the judge and lawyers but not those in the public gallery. Tarrant spoke only once to confirm to the judge he was seated, although his voice didn't come through because the sound was muted. It wasn't clear if his link had been deliberately or inadvertently muted. The courtroom was filled with more than two dozen reporters and about 60 members of the public. A court registrar greeted people in Arabic and English as the hearing got underway. Some of those watching got emotional and wept. In the March 15 attacks, 42 people were killed at the Al Noor mosque, seven were killed at the Linwood mosque and one more person died later. The day after the attacks, Tarrant dismissed an appointed lawyer, saying he wanted to represent himself. But he has now hired two Auckland lawyers to represent him, Shane Tait and Jonathan Hudson. Brenton Tarrant, charged for murder in relation to the mosque attacks, is seen in the dock during his appearance in the Christchurch District Court last month Credit: Reuters Legal experts have said he may try to use the hearings as a platform to present his ideology and beliefs. "If he has lawyers, he will be speaking a lot less in court," said Graeme Edgeler, a Wellington-based barrister and legal commentator. "He can still give evidence...that's possible, but if he's represented by lawyers and it goes to trial he won't be asking questions of people." The next court hearing was scheduled for June 14, and the mental health findings would determine whether he is required to enter a plea then. Outside the courtroom, Yama Nabi, whose father died in the attacks, said he felt helpless watching. "We just have to sit in the court and listen," Nabi said. "What can we do? We can't do nothing. Just leave it to the justice of New Zealand and the prime minister." Tofazzal Alam, 25, said he was worshipping at the Linwood mosque when the gunman attacked. He felt it was important to attend the hearing because so many of his friends were killed. Alam said he felt upset seeing Tarrant. "It seems he don't care what has been done. He has no emotion. He looks all right," Alam said. "I feel sorry. Sorry for myself. Sorry for my friends who have been killed. And for him."
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| The Latest: Boeing to cut production rate of 737 Max jet Posted: 05 Apr 2019 01:42 PM PDT ![The Latest: Boeing to cut production rate of 737 Max jet]( "The Latest: Boeing to cut production rate of 737 Max jet") DALLAS (AP) — The Latest on Boeing's ongoing issues with the troubled 737 Max (all times local):
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| 2020 Jeep Gladiator Launch Edition Sells Out In One Day Posted: 05 Apr 2019 09:36 AM PDT  The special Gladiator is based on a fully optioned Rubicon, and its buyers will be qualified to enter a contest for a $100,000 prize.
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| Attorney: Former OU president Boren met with investigators Posted: 06 Apr 2019 11:40 AM PDT  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The attorney for former University of Oklahoma President David Boren says Boren met with investigators for the university who are looking into allegations that he sexually harassed male subordinates.
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| Trump tells immigrants seeking asylum: 'Our country is full' Posted: 05 Apr 2019 03:32 PM PDT  At an event promoting construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, the president says the United States
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| May and Corbyn Battle With Parties on New Brexit Referendum Posted: 05 Apr 2019 12:24 AM PDT  While the prime minister's own cabinet is split over whether she should remain open to the possibility of a public vote on a deal, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing pressure from within his parliamentary party to backtrack on his promise of another vote. Unable to convince her allies to back her own deal -- Parliament has rejected it on three separate occasions -- she's turned to Corbyn for help. May will write to European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday seeking a further delay to Brexit, a U.K. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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| Canada Supreme Court rejects Ecuador damages appeal against Chevron Posted: 04 Apr 2019 06:20 PM PDT  Canada's Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear an appeal from a group of Ecuadoran villagers seeking compensation from the Canadian subsidiary of US energy giant Chevron over oil pollution in the Amazon jungle. The indigenous villagers from central Ecuador want the company to pay for pollution of native lands between 1964 and 1992 by Texaco, a US oil subsidiary the firm bought in 2001. The decision, for which the court did not offer a reason, puts an end to the group's attempt to sue Chevron Canada Limited for $9.5 billion in compensation.
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| U.S. to designate elite Iranian force as terrorist organization Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:23 PM PDT  The decision, which critics warn could open U.S. military and intelligence officials to similar actions by unfriendly governments abroad, is expected to be announced by the U.S. State Department, perhaps as early as Monday, the officials said. The Pentagon declined comment and referred queries to the State Department. The State Department and White House also declined to comment.
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| Britain's courts are open to abuse by wealthy men, says woman sued for Facebook defamation Posted: 06 Apr 2019 10:00 AM PDT  When Nicola Coates was pushed against a sofa by her husband who put his hands on her throat and "tried to strangle" her she thought it would be one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. In fact, those fleeting moments in which she feared that she might die were just the beginning of a much bigger ordeal. Her description of the attack on Facebook, written in the heat of the moment as she struggled to come to terms with spending Christmas apart from her son, was later dissected word for word by a judge who admitted that he didn't understand social media. Using a Victorian law the comment was defined by the Oxford English Dictionary and it was ruled on that basis she had defamed her husband by implying that he was trying to kill her. Now, just days after that decision was overturned by the highest court in the land, she has spoken in detail about her experience for the first time. Miss Coates, who was named in court papers as Stocker but has now reverted to her maiden name, believes the British Courts are being "abused by rich men" and need to "catch up" with the realities of modern life. "I think there is a pattern of women being threatened with the courts and to be quite honest most people don't want to go through what I have been through," she said. "The whole judiciary needs to catch up and they need to realise that courts are being used to silence and control women, and that's not being recognised. In some cases it's an extension of the abusive relationship that is already there." Ronald Stocker and Deborah Bligh arriving for the Supreme Court hearing The family courts are particularly vulnerable to abuse and men with the "bigger cheque books" can hire multiple barristers and bring the case back to court again and again, she warned. Many people would have walked away as they saw the legal bills soaring to almost £200,000, but as she celebrated her victory Miss Coates said: "I never wanted to give up because I knew I told the truth." She fell in love with Ronald Stocker and they married in 1999 before she gave birth to their only son. But the cracks soon began to show and in 2003 an argument escalated into the incident which years later would be relived in court rooms as the topic of her Facebook post. The police arrived around two hours later as she was packing her bags and found reddening on her neck still. "Maybe it would have been better if I had left him then, but I didn't and you can't change that," said Miss Coates. They stayed together for another seven years but in the end she "chose to leave, which was possibly my biggest crime in the world". Nicola Coates has reverted to her maiden name after her divorce from Mr Stocker Credit: JULIAN SIMMONDS Looking back she can see things that she didn't then, and now feels that she was controlled by him. The couple divorced in 2012 and on 23 December that year his new lover Deborah Bligh wrote on Facebook that she was looking forward to waking up with "my man and his son" on Christmas Day. In the following exchange between the two women, which Miss Coates maintains she thought was a private conversation, she revealed that her ex-husband had "tried to strangle me". She though little more of the conversation, and tried to limit her contact with Mr Stocker. But their battles in the family courts continued and he threatened her with libel in April 2013. "It was horrific when I found out he was taking me to court," Miss Coates remembers. "I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and I had spent so much money fighting him through the family courts I definitely didn't have money to fight a libel claim. "I thought why would you put the mother of your child through this? Why would you put your child through this when he has already gone through enough?" Her ex-husband on the other hand, a millionaire businessman who dabbled in property development, had very deep pockets. In the middle of her chemotherapy she turned up at the offices of David Price QC, who agreed to represent her on a no-win no-fee basis. Speaking from her home in Longwick, Buckinghamshire, which she turned into a B&B; in the wake of her divorce in order to pay the bills, she said: "I was quite confident. What I had said was the truth, I had the police reports." After some delays so that she could concentrate on her cancer treatment, the couple faced each other in the High Court in 2016. But as the judge summed up the case he described Mr Stocker as a "shrewd and successful businessman" and her heart sank. "It was as if domestic abuse couldn't happen in middle England," Miss Coates remembered. And then he delivered the fatal blow - that the dictionary defines strangle as either "to kill by external compression of the throat" or painfully constricting the neck. The judge said that "he had succeeded" in painfully constricting her neck, and therefore by using the words "tried to" she must have meant her ex was trying to kill her. This was defamatory as Mr Stocker's "intention was to silence, not to kill", Mr Justice Mitting ruled. As she walked out of court deflated a young female solicitor told Miss Coates: "I can't believe what (the judge) said in there, it was so wrong." "And at that moment I knew that I would hate it if she was in a relationship where she had been assaulted and then a judge just thought that that was fine," she said. She said that she could not let this become a "definition of acceptable behaviour" or allow the judiciary to have "a complete disregard for women's safety". "I don't want another woman to be in a position where they can't stand up and say this is wrong," she said. She appealed the ruling and Lady Justice Sharp, the only female judge on the panel, began asking questions about the original incident. Miss Coates said. "She said that it must have been terrifying and a really frightening experience and I though at last, someone gets it." But whatever sympathy there may have been the appeal was denied. Finally last week the Supreme Court overturned the two previous rulings, with the judges noting that the reader of Facebook does not over-analyse things but their response is "fleeting and impressionistic". Mr Stocker told the Telegraph that he was "disappointed by the ruling", but added that the "trial judge found against my ex-wife regarding many of the allegations made about me and these findings were not appealed. We both need to move on from our unhappy marriage and put these proceedings behind us." For Miss Coates, who has become involved with the Centre for Women's Justice and met other women in similar situations, moving on will be educating others on the dangers of abusive relationships. "Many women in relationships believe that they have failed, because that is what they are being told, that they are not good enough," she said. "Hopefully out of my case and other high profile cases awareness will be raised. "Our children are educated in school on how to avoid being groomed into joining the Taliban or being groomed by sexual predators, but they are not educated about coercive control. "Bruises are something that you can see and understand, but mental abuse can be just as damaging and people need to be educated in that." She hopes to help but it is not without awareness that her life has been completely transformed by that Facebook comment. "David [Price] said to me when we won 'I bet you didn't think you would be a feminist idol at the end of this'," she laughed. "And I didn't, but I also didn't do it for me. I did it for a much bigger picture than me - to stand up for what is right."
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| These Easy Lunch Ideas Are Perfect For Mother's Day Posted: 05 Apr 2019 12:22 PM PDT |
| You'll Never Guess How Many Miles This Mercedes Has Covered Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:21 AM PDT  This pristine Mercedes-Benz 220 has clocked over 449,000 miles, most of that with its owner of 54 years. Some classic vehicles live their lives as garage queens, never seeing the light of day in fear of getting dusty. While impressive specimens in their preserved state, museum pieces are far more interesting when they have a story to them.
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| Report on Ethiopian crash ratchets up pressure on Boeing Posted: 05 Apr 2019 10:36 AM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — A preliminary report released Thursday on the Ethiopian Airlines crash last month found that pilots followed all recommended procedures issued by Boeing, ratcheting up pressure on the plane maker that critics say has put profits before safety.
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| A 2016 hangover: Some Bernie Sanders supporters still upset Posted: 06 Apr 2019 11:05 AM PDT  IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — It was hard to miss Cheri Pichone's excitement about Bernie Sanders' second presidential run. She showed up to a recent Iowa rally decked out in Sanders gear, complete with a figurine of the Vermont senator and progressive icon.
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| Cohen Offers to Turn Over Hard Drive Files in Leniency Bid Posted: 05 Apr 2019 06:42 AM PDT  Cohen's lawyers Lanny Davis, Michael Monico and Carly Chocron wrote to lawmakers Thursday that Cohen has recently been able to access a hard drive with 14 million files from his computers and telephones that they believe have significant value to investigators. On Friday, Davis sent a 133-page letter with further documents supporting his February testimony to Congress, as well as financial statements reviewed by Trump's accountants. The documents provided Friday detail Cohen's earlier testimony and provide guidance on how that could be used to make a case against Trump.
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| Exposition Park fatal crash: Police investigate crash that killed 14-old-girl, injured her 12-year-old sister Posted: 05 Apr 2019 02:49 PM PDT  Police are continuing to investigate the cause of a big rig crash that killed a 14-year-old girl walking to school near Exposition Park.
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| Google disbands artificial intelligence ethics board Posted: 04 Apr 2019 07:15 PM PDT  Google on Thursday confirmed that it has disbanded a recently assembled artificial intelligence ethics advisory panel in the face of controversy over its membership. The end of the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) came just days after a group of Google employees launched a public campaign against having the president of conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation among its members. Another member of the board had already resigned, and the inclusion of a drone company executive had rekindled concerns about potential military uses of artificial intelligence, according to Vox news website, which first reported on the council being disbanded.
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| Saudi Arabia arrests eight women's rights activists in fresh crackdown Posted: 05 Apr 2019 10:12 AM PDT  At least eight writers and activists, including two dual US citizens and a heavily pregnant woman, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia, despite recent pressure from western governments to release human rights advocates already in jail. The latest round of arrests targeting critics of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's 33-year-old de facto ruler, is the first since Washington Post columnist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October. Those detained were vocal supporters of women's rights in the country and had ties to activists already imprisoned. Most were taken from their homes in the capital Riyadh on Thursday. Among them were two dual Saudi-US citizens: Badr al-Ibrahim, a writer and doctor, and Salah al-Haider, the son of prominent Saudi women's rights activist Aziza al-Yousef, who is currently on trial herself but has been temporarily released from prison. Saudi Arabia was already under pressure from the US Congress over its treatment of dual citizen Walid al-Fataihi, imprisoned since 2017, whose family alleges he has been tortured. "They're really sticking their finger in the eye of the Americans," says Adam Coogle, Middle East Researcher at Human Rights watch. "It's clear the Saudis feel they have [the Trump] administration in their back pocket and they're not going to lose support." An activist who spoke under condition of anonymity for security reasons told The Telegraph there is particular concern over the health of feminist writer Khadija al-Harbi, who is in the late stages of pregnancy. Her husband was arrested along with her. The arrests come just days after a group of women's rights activists, detained since May, were in court. They say they have faced abuse during their incarceration, including waterboarding, electric shocks, and threats of rape and murder. The Saudi government denies their claims. News of the arrests came as a surprise, say rights groups. It had been expected that the women's rights activists currently on trial would be temporarily released this week. "This shows the total impunity that MBS is operating with," says Coogle. "It certainly shows that this whole narrative of him learning from his youthful mistakes, we need to put that to bed at this point."
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