| 'Very, Very, Very Strange.' How Nancy Pelosi's Meeting With Trump Went Down Posted: 22 May 2019 11:32 AM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi was supposed to meet with President Trump about an infrastructure plan. Instead, the two traded barbs.
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| HUD Secretary Ben Carson stumped during congressional hearing Posted: 21 May 2019 12:22 PM PDT  The HUD secretary faced a tough hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.
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| Researchers say a tiny planet slammed into the Moon a long time ago Posted: 21 May 2019 12:11 PM PDT  Earth's Moon only ever shows us one face. It's locked into its current orientation, with a permanent nearside and farside, but it wasn't until the Apollo missions that scientists were able to see just how different the two sides really are. The nearside, with its sea of dark gray basins standing in contrast to the brilliant white powder that covers the rest of its face, varies dramatically from the farside, which is marked with countless smaller craters in a more uniform distribution.The debate over how the Moon's split personalities developed has raged for decades, but new research seems to indicate that one of the possible explanations does indeed hold water. The theory, that Earth's Moon was struck by a tiny dwarf planet long ago, is the subject of a new research paper published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.Using computer models to simulate what may have happened to the Moon's surface long ago, researchers suggest the most likely scenario seems to be the collision between the Moon and a very large body. The impact of a dwarf planet as large as 480 miles across would have struck what we see today as the Moon's nearside at a speed of 14,000 miles per hour.This theory stands in contrast to other proposed explanations, including the theory that Earth may have once had not one Moon, but two. The two-moon theory suggests that Earth's moon duo may have at one point collided and merged, leaving the Moon as we see it today looking oddly unsymmetrical.The dwarf planet collision scenario assumes that whatever the body that struck the Moon was, it was in its own path around the Sun and just happened to be in the right place at the right time to strike Earth's natural satellite. This, the researchers say, would also explain why the crust on the farside of the Moon is different than that of its nearside."We demonstrate that a large body slowly impacting the nearside of the Moon can reproduce the observed crustal thickness asymmetry and form both the farside highlands and the nearside lowlands," the paper explains. "Additionally, the model shows that the resulting impact ejecta would cover the primordial anorthositic crust to form a two‐layer crust on the farside, as observed."
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| Iran Has Amassed the Largest Ballistic Missile Force in the Middle East Posted: 22 May 2019 03:13 AM PDT  Deterring regional adversaries from threatening Iran is the primary reason Tehran has amassed the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle East.The missile program actually began under the Shah, but it was accelerated during the Iran-Iraq War in order to threaten Saddam Hussein with strikes deep in Iraqi territory. Since then, Iran has worked with countries like Libya, North Korea and China in order to develop a large and diverse arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles that form one part of its three-leg deterrent strategy. With Iran now using missiles in conflict, it's worth taking a closer look at the weapons in its arsenal.(This first appeared back in 2017.)Shahab-SeriesThe backbone of Iran's missile forces are the Shahab-series of liquid-fueled (mostly) short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM). There are three variants of the missile: The Shahab-1, Shahab-2 and Shahab-3. The Shahab-1 was the first missile Iran acquired and is based on the Soviet Scud-B missile. Iran reportedly purchased these initially from Libya and possibly Syria, but North Korea has been its main supplier. The Shab-1 has a reported range between 285–330 kilometers, and can carry a warhead of around one thousand kilograms. Iran is believed to have three hundred Shahab-1 rockets.
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| Don't Just Vacation in Any Old Airbnb When You Can Choose One on Wheels Posted: 21 May 2019 09:25 AM PDT |
| US stocks rally on Huawei reprieve as pound gyrates on Brexit news Posted: 21 May 2019 05:37 PM PDT  Global stocks rallied Tuesday as the United States took a step away from imposing crushing restrictions on Chinese telecom company Huawei, while the pound gyrated on fresh Brexit drama.
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| Ukraine's New Leader Sets Snap Parliamentary Election for July Posted: 21 May 2019 08:57 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Ukraine's new leader started a two-month countdown to snap parliamentary elections as the TV comedian-turned-politician tries to consolidate power after his rapid rise to power.
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| Stung by Trump, U.S. Republican defends his impeachment remarks Posted: 20 May 2019 06:28 PM PDT  Standing behind his earlier remarks, Amash issued a string of tweets that challenged some of the most common arguments of those who defend Trump over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. The new Amash tweets followed his earlier remarks on Twitter on Saturday, when he said that the Mueller report on Russia showed that Trump, a fellow Republican, had obstructed justice. "President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct," the Michigan conservative said then, drawing a broadside from Trump.
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| Rex Tillerson Secretly Meets With House Foreign Affairs Committee to Talk Trump Posted: 21 May 2019 12:34 PM PDT  Jonathan Ernst/ReutersFormer secretary of state Rex Tillerson spoke with the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs committee on Tuesday in a lengthy session that, an aide said, touched on his time working in the Trump administration, the frictions he had with the president's son-in-law, and efforts to tackle issues like Russian interference in the 2016 election.Tillerson's appearance, first reported by The Daily Beast, took place as virtually every other Trumpworld luminary has been stonewalling congressional oversight efforts. At the same time the former secretary of state was speaking before lawmakers, former White House counsel Don McGahn was ignoring a subpoena to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Tillerson's arrival at the Capitol was handled with extreme secrecy. No media advisories or press releases were sent out announcing his appearance. And he took a little-noticed route into the building in order to avoid being seen by members of the media. Tillerson reached out to the committee and expressed a willingness to meet, a committee aide said. In a more than six-hour meeting, he told members and staffers that the Trump administration actively avoided confronting Russia about allegations of interference in the election in an effort to develop a solid relationship with the Kremlin, a committee aide told The Daily Beast. Tillerson also told members and aides that he had tried to establish a formal and disciplined interagency process at the State Department whereby the president could receive informed briefings on sensitive foreign policy matters, the aide said. That effort never manifested, Tillerson told the committee, in part because of the president's management style, but also because of interference from other aides.Tillerson told the committee that the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at times impeded his ability to communicate effectively and introduce to President Trump policy proposals developed by State Department experts on major foreign affairs matters across the globe, not just in the Middle East. Kushner, a White House adviser, has publicly focused much of his international efforts on the Middle East and is set to unveil a Middle East peace plan in the coming weeks.Tillerson had a notoriously prickly relationship with the president, reportedly calling him a "moron" in private. But he was present during critical moments of the administration, including Trump's private 2017 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg, Germany. Since leaving his post, Tillerson has rarely made public appearances, save for speaking at a panel in Houston in December. During that appearance, he said there was "no question" Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. "So often, the president would say, 'Here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it,' and I would have to say to him, 'Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can't do it that way. It violates the law,'" Tillerson said.Tillerson's interview by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and ranking member Michael McCaul (R-TX) comes a month after special counsel Robert Mueller published his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Since then, top Democrats on the Hill have demanded that Attorney General Bill Barr and Mueller answer questions related to the report and its publication. Barr has declined to testify before the House, citing the insistence of the committee that staff lawyers be allowed to conduct some of the questioning. Mueller is reportedly in negotiations to testify, though the Department of Justice had previously not agreed on a date for him to do so. On Tuesday, CNN reported that Mueller's team had expressed reluctance about the possibility of a testimony taking place in public for fear that it would appear political. This story has been updated with additional reporting.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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| Mississippi judge who blocked 15-week abortion ban hears arguments on fetal heartbeat law Posted: 21 May 2019 01:49 PM PDT  Mississippi's fetal heartbeat law which bans abortions after approximately six weeks could be blocked or upheld by Judge Carlton Reeves.
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| AP Explains: How Yemen's rebels increasingly deploy drones Posted: 21 May 2019 06:36 AM PDT  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In Yemen, the high-pitched whine of drones has been a part of life for over 15 years, ever since the first U.S. drone strike here targeting al-Qaida in 2002. But now, Iran-backed Houthi rebels increasingly deploy drones in Yemen's brutal civil war.
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| Fears rise China could weaponise rare earths in US tech war Posted: 22 May 2019 03:53 AM PDT  The US has hit China where it hurts by going after its telecom champion Huawei, but Beijing's control of the global supply of rare earths used in smartphones and electric cars gives it a powerful weapon in their escalating tech war. A seemingly routine visit by President Xi Jinping to a Chinese rare earths company this week is being widely read as an obvious threat that Beijing is standing ready for action. Xi's inspection tour "is no accident, this didn't happen by chance," said Li Mingjiang, China programme coordinator at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore.
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| Farage's Brexit Party to Trounce May, Sporting Index Says Posted: 21 May 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives will win seven, while Labour will take 13 and the Liberal Democrats 12, Sporting Index predicted in an email in London on Tuesday. Sporting Index has had a consistently strong record in predicting some of the key twists and turns of the Brexit saga. Last month, about two hours before the latest vote on May's Brexit deal, the spread betting firm forecast she'd lose by 60 votes.
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| I'm the same age as Elizabeth Warren. We 70-somethings have no business being president. Posted: 21 May 2019 11:57 AM PDT  I have nothing against old people — I'm one of them. But maybe it's time to add a maximum age limit to our minimum age requirement for our presidents.
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| After Huawei, U.S. could blacklist Chinese surveillance tech firm - media Posted: 22 May 2019 08:45 AM PDT  The U.S. administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision, media reports show, deepening worries that trade friction between the world's top two economies could be further inflamed. The restrictions would limit Hikvision's ability to buy U.S. technology and American companies may have to obtain government approval to supply components to the Chinese firm, the New York Times reported https://nyti.ms/2MfgBS3 on Tuesday. The United States stuck Huawei Technologies on a trade blacklist last week, effectively banning U.S. firms from doing business with the world's largest telecom network gear maker, in a major escalation in the trade war.
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| Latest Sign of Beto O’Rourke’s Flameout: Opposition Research Requests Have ‘Died Off’ Posted: 21 May 2019 02:03 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyIn the days leading up to Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign, a top Republican opposition research firm was brimming with requests from political reporters angling for dirt. America Rising, a political action committee that shared details of its internal inquiries with The Daily Beast, said the asks came from a dozen or more reporters and ranged from broad questions to more tailored points of interest. But 10 weeks after O'Rourke's official launch, those requests are virtually nonexistent."The requests for oppo on him have completely died off," a staffer at the oppo group said.The lack of oppo requests suggests a larger problem looming over O'Rourke's campaign: a visible decline in public interest. Once elevated to the top of Democratic watch-lists, the former congressman is now registering in single digits in several national polls, nosediving from 12 percent in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in March to just 5 percent in the same survey in April. And while he's beginning to roll out new hires in key voting states, some say he's already fallen behind other candidates whose field operations have been interfacing with voters for months. Beto O'Rourke Blew ItAmerica Rising, which has cornered the market on opposition research on the nearly two dozen presidential contenders, has tracked what it considers a steady decline in the public's interest in O'Rourke. The Republican National Committee, known for slinging insults about Democrats into mainstream consciousness, has not received any requests from reporters for O'Rourke information in recent weeks, according to a senior official. Typically, a high level of curiosity in revealing a candidate's political past is one indicator of their perceived viability. And a noticeable downtick in interest could signal an enthusiasm gap between where O'Rourke started and where he's ended up in two months. O'Rourke, himself, seemed to acknowledge the flagging interest in a recent interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. "I recognize I can do a better job also of talking to a national audience," O'Rourke said. "I hope that I'm continuing to do better over time, but we've been extraordinarily fortunate with the campaign that we've run so far." His next big chance will be Tuesday night, when he'll appear in his first CNN town hall at 10 p.m. from Drake University in Des Moines. The network has previously hosted such events for several of his rivals, giving a boost to some lesser-known candidates early into their campaigns. On Monday, O'Rourke told reporters he would participate in a Fox News town hall, a general-election strategy favored by some 2020 hopefuls as an attempt to reach voters beyond the traditional Democratic base. But according to an analysis shared with The Daily Beast by Media Matters, a nonprofit that tracks right-wing coverage, even Fox News' daily mentions of O'Rourke online have visibly declined since he announced his bid, indicating that he may no longer be considered a serious threat as a Democratic contender. O'Rourke's campaign sees it differently: "From my perspective there's been no decline of oppo to respond to," a source within the campaign said. Press requests from print and television outlets, including bookers in charge of getting candidates on the air, have not declined since the launch, the campaign source added. While it's still early to plot ad buys—the Iowa caucuses are nine months away—a source who tracks ad information for multiple political campaigns says that O'Rourke's failure to get into that world early coincides with a frenzied campaign that's no longer top-of-mind for voters. "It fits with an overall theme of his campaign being a little disorganized," the source who analyzes political ads said. "He had such a moment in 2018 but it seems to have fizzled out."While no pollsters or ad makers have been hired, a source within O'Rourke's campaign first told The Daily Beast that they have been in initial discussions with various polling, data, and analytics firms, as well as outfits who do campaign ads. Bringing on a pollster had not previously been a top priority, the source said, adding that the campaign has been focused on talking to voters in 154 town halls and traveling to 116 cities.O'Rourke has made recent inroads on the political staffing front, bringing on Jen O'Malley Dillon, Jeff Berman, and Rob Flaherty, top talent from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's campaigns, among other recent national and state hires. But he has missed out on other high-level talent who wandered to other campaigns, multiple sources said.Meanwhile, other presidential campaigns have already hired staffers who previously worked with or expressed interest in O'Rourke. Shelby Cole, a top O'Rourke aide who helped him raise an eye-popping $80 million during his Senate campaign, joined California Sen. Kamala Harris' team as its digital fundraising director. Emmy Ruiz, who served as Clinton's state director in Nevada and Colorado in 2016, was thought to be seriously weighing joining O'Rourke before he announced, according to multiple Democratic sources unaffiliated with current campaigns. She later joined Harris as a senior adviser. One top Democratic operative admitted to eyeing O'Rourke for months, but changed candidate loyalty after reading his announcement article in Vanity Fair. "I was definitely interested in him back in January and February," the veteran operative said, who has since joined another presidential campaign in a top position. "The Vanity Fair story fed a fear I had, which was that he was a little too fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants," the veteran operative said. "I just felt that he hadn't totally thought this through. So that kind of soured me on him."—Asawin Suebsaeng contributed reporting for this article.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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| Will FAA's plan for 737 MAX fly outside US? Posted: 22 May 2019 02:29 AM PDT  Getting Boeing's top-selling 737 MAX back in the skies faces a critical test this week as the company and US regulators each seek to restore their reputations after two deadly crashes. The US Federal Aviation Administration convened a summit of global aviation regulators on Thursday to walk through the steps taken to address concerns with the MAX following criticism the agency dragged its feet on the decision to ground the jets. Most agencies around the world have said little or nothing about the situation since the 737 MAX was grounded following the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash, which together with a Lion Air crash in October, claimed 346 lives.
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| Tornado touched down in Lancaster County, officials confirm Posted: 20 May 2019 05:48 PM PDT  Officials have confirmed that a tornado touched down in Lancaster County as severe storms hit the region.
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| This Is the Secret to Making Your Driveway 10 Times More Beautiful Posted: 22 May 2019 08:24 AM PDT |
| Trump says he doesn't want war with Iran. Is John Bolton driving the US into a conflict anyway? Posted: 21 May 2019 11:52 AM PDT  The view that John Bolton is driving Trump into military confrontation with America's principal foe in the Middle East is spreading across the globe.
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| Daily duels over abortion outside Alabama clinics Posted: 20 May 2019 11:43 PM PDT  It's been a particularly tough week for Margaux Hartline, a volunteer who holds a large umbrella over women going into an Alabama abortion clinic so their faces are unidentifiable to religious activists. Last week, the southeastern US state passed the strictest anti-abortion law in the country, and Hartline says there's been a jump in "harassment" from anti-abortion activists who shout from across the street at women going into the clinic. "They're ramping everything up, and we're very worried that more people are going to show up," said Hartline, 25.
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| May Faces Pressure to Abandon Vote on Brexit Law and Resign Posted: 22 May 2019 01:20 AM PDT  Theresa May is facing pressure to abandon her Brexit deal and quit as British prime minister within days, according to people familiar with the matter. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the individuals said May's allies know there is little hope of her Withdrawal Agreement Bill passing a crucial vote in the House of Commons, even after she promised MPs the chance to call a second referendum on Brexit. A number of officials inside the party believe she will face intense pressure from her own ministers to quit and make way for a new leader to try to deliver Brexit.
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| Abducted Idaho girl found safe in Arizona, suspect jailed Posted: 21 May 2019 04:35 PM PDT  SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — A 17-year-old girl abducted from an Idaho fast-food restaurant where she worked was found safe in Arizona on Tuesday and the man accused of taking her was jailed on a $1 million bond, authorities said.
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| Showdown in Congress between Trump, Democrats intensifies Posted: 21 May 2019 12:25 AM PDT  The clash between US President Donald Trump and the Democratic majority in Congress intensified on Monday, with the White House telling the president's former lawyer to ignore a subpoena to testify about Trump's alleged obstruction of justice in the Russia probe.
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| Apple more upfront with iPhone users on battery health: UK watchdog Posted: 22 May 2019 05:42 AM PDT  The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it raised consumer law concerns with the tech company last year after finding people were not being warned clearly that their phone's performance could slow down following a 2017 software update designed to manage demands on the battery. The iPhone maker previously came under scrutiny after it said in 2017 that software to deal with ageing batteries in iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE models could slow down performance.
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| Elon Musk hires man behind 'absolute unit' sheep meme to run Tesla's social media Posted: 21 May 2019 10:38 AM PDT  * Adam Koszary's tweet of giant sheep went viral last year * Musk adopted image and description for his Twitter profileElon Musk is legally obliged to have his tweets checked by lawyers. 'My Twitter is pretty much complete nonsense at this point,' he observed last month. Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersElon Musk has reportedly hired the man responsible for a viral tweet about a giant sheep to be Tesla's social media manager.Adam Koszary, programme manager for the UK's Reading Museum and Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL), run by the University of Reading, will join Tesla in July, according to his Twitter account.The @TheMerl account went viral in April last year when it tweeted an old picture of a large ram with the caption: "Look at this absolute unit." The tweet has now been retweeted more than 31,000 times and has over 111,000 likes.> look at this absolute unit. pic.twitter.com/LzcQ4x0q38> > — The Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL) April 9, 2018Last month Musk changed his Twitter bio to "absolute unit" and his picture to the image of the sheep. @TheMerl returned the compliment by changing its bio photo to one of Musk.The tweet led to a series of messages from Musk ending with one reading: "My Twitter is pretty much complete nonsense at this point."> My Twitter is pretty much complete nonsense at this point> > — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2019Tesla was not immediately available for comment. It is not yet clear whether the sheep tweet was instrumental in Koszary's hiring.Musk has a troubled history with Twitter. The Tesla founder now has to have his tweets checked by lawyers after incorrectly claiming on social media that his company was close to a large investment from Saudi Arabia's largest investment fund.Tesla's share price has slid in recent weeks as investors worry the company is running out of cash.
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| American Airlines blames mechanics for 2,200 flight delays, cancellations, warns of summer travel trouble Posted: 21 May 2019 11:39 AM PDT ![American Airlines blames mechanics for 2,200 flight delays, cancellations, warns of summer travel trouble]( "American Airlines blames mechanics for 2,200 flight delays, cancellations, warns of summer travel trouble") American Airlines says a slowdown by mechanics led to nearly 2,200 flight cancellations, delays since February and has intensified.
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| Apple offered to buy Tesla back in 2013 for more than it’s worth today Posted: 21 May 2019 09:30 AM PDT  For years, analysts have maintained that Apple needs to move past the iPhone and look for additional revenue streams. Consequently, many analysts over the years have proposed that Apple would be well advised to make a blockbuster acquisition and snatch up a company like Netflix or Tesla.Interestingly enough, it turns out that Apple actually did make an effort to acquire Tesla six years ago at a valuation of $240 a share. Incidentally, Tesla's share price has been reeling lately and is currently hovering in the $200 range. Word of Apple's efforts to acquire Tesla was brought to light by analyst Craig Irwin of Roth Capital Partners who revealed the interesting tidbit on CNBC (via Electrek) earlier today."Around 2013, there was a serious bid from Apple at around $240 a share," Irwin said."This is something we did multiple checks on," Irwin added. "I have complete confidence that this is accurate. Apple bid for Tesla. I don't know if it got to a formal paperwork stage, but I know from multiple different sources that this was very credible."Notably, there have been rumblings over the years regarding Apple's interest in Tesla, but this is the first time we've seen a report that Apple was legitimately trying to make a serious play for the electric automaker.You might also recall reports from a few years back which revealed that Elon Musk, sometime in mid-2013 -- sat down for a meeting with Apple's mergers and acquisitions chief Adrian Perica and, rumor has it, Tim Cook himself.Apple, of course, has been busy working on its own car initiative -- known as Project Titan -- for the past few years, though it remains to be seen if anything concrete ever manifests from its efforts. Early reports hinted that Apple was set on designing and building its own car, though a plethora of technical challenges ultimately resulted in a few rounds of layoffs and employees being shifted over to other projects. Last we heard, Apple's Project Titan is still ongoing but is now focused on autonomous systems as opposed to designing a car from the ground up.Interestingly, and somewhat uncharacteristically, Tim Cook confirmed this during an interview a few years ago. "We're focusing on autonomous systems," Cook said in 2017. "It's a core technology that we view as very important."Lastly, with Morgan Stanley recently noting that Tesla shares may sink to $10/share in a worst-case scenario, it will be interesting to see if Apple might swoop in and pick up the company at a huge discount.
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| The Latest: St. Louis airport reopens after storm shutdown Posted: 21 May 2019 05:38 PM PDT  ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on severe weather in the central United States (all times local):
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| Iran Says It Will Hit Limit on Nuclear Stockpile in Weeks Posted: 22 May 2019 03:39 AM PDT  "If we were proceeding at the previous speed, it would have taken several months," said Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, in an interview with Tehran's Vatan Emrooz newspaper. The 2015 deal cut Iran's low-enriched uranium by some 97% and capped its stockpile at 300 kilograms (661 pounds). Iran has remained well below that inventory limit for more than a year and had just 203 kilograms on hand during the first quarter, according to monitoring data.
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| Mid-Engined Corvette Spied without Rear Wing Posted: 21 May 2019 09:48 AM PDT |
| Trump administration delays Harriet Tubman $20 bill until 2028 Posted: 22 May 2019 12:35 PM PDT  Donald Trump's administration has delayed production on a newly-redesigned $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman, citing counterfeit issues.The bill was scheduled to be unveiled next year during the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Tubman, who escaped slavery and later became a prominent abolitionist who rescued other enslaved people using the Underground Railroad, was announced in 2016 as the next face of the bill. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the delay on Wednesday during a hearing with the House Financial Services Committee."The primary reason we have looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues," he said in response to questioning from Democrat Ayanna Presley. "Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028."Mr Mnuchin noted the $10 and $50 bill would still come out with their new features as planned before the new $20 bill can go into effect. Ms Pressley shot back at Mr Mnuchin on Twitter over the delay in redesigning the bill, writing, "People other than white men built this country.""[Secretary Mnuchin] agrees, yet he refuses to update our currency," she continued.Tubman was selected as the next face of the bill after Americans across the country took part in a 10-month public input process. In announcing the decision to select her as the next face, former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said "The decision to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 was driven by thousands of responses we received from Americans young and old.""I have been particularly struck by the many comments and reactions from children for whom Harriet Tubman is not just a historical figure, but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy," he added. As for Mr Trump, the president decried the decision to put Tubman on the bill during the 2016 campaign trail as "pure political correctness," instead suggesting to place her on the $2 bill.
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| Eiffel Tower climber 'admitted to psychiatric unit' Posted: 21 May 2019 09:38 AM PDT  A man, believed to be Russian, who sparked a mass evacuation of the Eiffel Tower by scaling the iconic Paris landmark has been admitted to a psychiatric unit, legal sources said Tuesday. The man caused chaos Monday and the closure of the monument to tourists by spending six hours clinging to the outer metal framework of the Eiffel Tower. An investigation has been opened for unauthorised entry into a cultural monument, a judicial source said.
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| UPDATE 3-Chip designer ARM halts work with Huawei after U.S. ban Posted: 22 May 2019 04:29 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Chip designer ARM halts work with Huawei after U.S. ban]( "UPDATE 3-Chip designer ARM halts work with Huawei after U.S. ban") British chip designer ARM has halted relations with Huawei in order to comply with a U.S. blockade of the company, potentially crippling the Chinese company's ability to make new chips for its future smartphones. Huawei, in common with Apple Inc and chipmakers such as Qualcomm, uses ARM blueprints to design the processors that power its smartphones. It also licenses graphics technology from the Cambridge-based company.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she'd be 'hard pressed' to back Biden in primary Posted: 21 May 2019 05:35 PM PDT  Bernie Sanders appears to be the favorite to secure Ocasio-Cortez's prized endorsement in the Democratic presidential primaryCongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez told the Guardian: 'I'm not close to an endorsement announcement any time soon.' Photograph: Joshua Roberts/ReutersAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive US congresswoman and social media sensation, has said she would be "hard pressed" to endorse the frontrunner, Joe Biden, in the Democratic presidential primary.The statement is the latest sign of the left's apathy towards the former vice-president, who has surged ahead of the Senator Bernie Sanders and other rivals in recent polls.Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, appears to be the favourite to secure 29-year-old Ocasio-Cortez's prized endorsement but she said she was still some way off making a decision."I'm not close to an endorsement announcement any time soon," she told the Guardian on Tuesday. "I'm still trying to get a handle on my job. It seems like ages but I'm just five months in and we have quite some time. The debates are in the summer and our first primary election for the entire country isn't until next year." Asked if she would consider endorsing Biden, widely seen as a centrist, Ocasio-Cortez replied: "I'd be hard pressed to see that happen, to be honest, in a primary."Biden, comfortably leading every opinion poll, came under fire last week when Reuters reported he was pursuing a "middle ground" approach to the climate crisis. He later distanced himself from the implication.Ocasio-Cortez criticised politicians seeking "a middle-of-the-road approach to save our lives". Sanders, running second in most polls, tweeted that there was "no 'middle ground' when it comes to climate policy".If and when Ocasio-Cortez does endorse a candidate, Sanders probably remains the favourite to secure her support. She was an organiser for his 2016 primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. The pair appeared at a rally in Washington last week to support the Green New Deal climate plan.In a short interview on Tuesday the congresswoman, who has more than 4 million Twitter followers, also reiterated her demand for Donald Trump's impeachment. "I think that the grounds have been there for quite some time but the case is really getting to a larger point that we haven't seen before," she said.Democratic leaders are putting the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, under pressure to move ahead with the process. Ocasio-Cortez added: "I know that the conversation is really changing this week in the caucus and so we'll see where the speaker lands."
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| Bigger cuts expected: 23,000 more Ford layoffs needed, analysts say Posted: 22 May 2019 08:14 AM PDT  Ford CEO Jim Hackett plans for layoffs won't deliver savings the company has said it wants. An analyst says another 23,000 layoffs are needed.
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| Google unveils a fresh new look for Search on mobile devices Posted: 22 May 2019 05:03 PM PDT  Google unveiled a new look and feel today for the way it presents Google Search results on mobile, and the update has been regarded in a few corners now as somewhat News Feed-like.It's easy to see why that's the case, as the search giant's changes include putting emphasis on a website name and favicon above the search results. Whereas the source of results had previously not been so clearly emphasized, which makes the new design for showing results feel a little like scrolling through a feed of posts from publishers and the like."With this new design, a website's branding can be front and center, helping you better understand where the information is coming from and what pages have what you're looking for," explains Google Senior Interaction Designer for Search Jamie Leach in a company blog post today. "The name of the website and its icon appear at the top of the results card to help anchor each result, so you can more easily scan the page of results and decide what to explore next."The post notes that the refreshed look for what's arguably Google's most important product will start showing up to users over the coming days. As part of the changes, Leach continues, when you search for a product or service and Google feels like it's got a relevant, "useful" ad that would be worth including in the results, you'll now see an ad label in bold at the top of a search results card. The web address will also be included, so you can quickly determine where the information you're seeing is coming from.The other important thing to note about the Google Search refresh on mobile is that this also lays the foundation for Google to add more action buttons and information previews to search results cards, with Google wanting you to be able to now do everything from buying movie tickets to playing podcasts right there from within the results. "Our goal with Search always has been to help people quickly and easily find the information that they're looking for," Leach says. "Over the years, the amount and format of information available on the web has changed drastically -- from the proliferation of images and video to the availability of 3D objects you can now view in AR." Which is why the company thought a "visual refresh" of Search on mobile would do a better job of helping people find the information they need and quickly determine where it came from.
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| The Perfect Land Rover Discovery Is For Sale With Morris Leslie Posted: 22 May 2019 05:30 AM PDT  Land Rover's second-generation Discovery is largely ignored by those seeking a classic 4x4. The first-generation Land Rover Discovery broke new ground when it first hit tarmac in 1989. Some bemoaned that Land Rover's fresh addition to their showroom lacked the vagabond nobility and charisma of its plush brethren, yet they missed the point.
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| May’s Desperate Gamble on a New Brexit Referendum Falls Flat Posted: 22 May 2019 12:19 AM PDT  Theresa May made a desperate final gamble to get her Brexit deal through the British Parliament before she's thrown out of office -- but her efforts looked doomed. In a hastily arranged speech on Tuesday, the embattled prime minister promised to give members of Parliament a vote on whether to call another referendum to ratify Britain's divorce from the European Union. It's something many MPs -- including scores in the opposition Labour Party -- have been calling for, but she made it conditional on them backing her deal first.
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| New Feature on 2020 Chevrolet and GMC Models Won't Let Car Move Till Driver Fastens Seatbelt Posted: 21 May 2019 12:03 PM PDT  The new tech is called Buckle to Drive, and it rolls out on several Chevrolet and GMC models for 2020 as part of the Teen Driver package.
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| The Latest: Merkel, Macron and Putin discuss Iran situation Posted: 21 May 2019 12:44 PM PDT  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Latest on developments in the Persian Gulf region and elsewhere in the Mideast amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran (all times local):
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| British Steel collapses; thousands of jobs could go Posted: 22 May 2019 06:56 AM PDT  British Steel collapsed on Wednesday after the government said last-ditch talks with its owners failed to secure a full financial rescue. The High Court in London ordered British Steel Limited into compulsory liquidation, a statement said. "British Steel Limited was wound-up in the High Court" on Wednesday, meaning its assets would be sold to help pay debts.
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| Who can beat James Holzhauer on 'Jeopardy!'? Former opponent sounds off Posted: 21 May 2019 11:36 AM PDT  If you ask Claudia Walters, there's only one person who can derail James Holzhauer's journey to the top of the "Jeopardy!" leaderboard.
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