| Trump deepens war of words with leftist black leaders Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:30 PM PDT  Rejecting criticism that he is stoking America's smouldering racial divisions, Trump attacked African-American civil rights activist Al Sharpton. Over the weekend, Trump described Baltimore as a "rat and rodent infested mess" unfit for humans and blamed this on Elijah Cummings, the Democrat who represents much of the city in Congress.
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| Death penalty sought for woman accused of killing ex-senator Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:24 PM PDT  Prosecutors said Tuesday they plan to seek the death penalty against a woman charged in the killing of a former Arkansas lawmaker who investigators say was found dead from multiple stab wounds outside her home. An arrest affidavit for Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell released Tuesday said O'Donnell was caught on video May 28 removing security cameras from inside the home of former state Sen. Linda Collins the last day Collins was seen alive. O'Donnell has been charged with capital murder in the death of Collins, who went by Collins-Smith in the Legislature.
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| Restaurant Apologizes After Asking Officer To Leave Because He Had A Gun Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:05 AM PDT  A restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, has apologized after asking a police officer to leave the premises because he was carrying a gun.The officer was asked to leave Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse Saturday night because he was carrying a gun, KSAT reported. Texas law states that establishments can't deny service to an officer or special investigator who is carrying a weapon on the premises, as long as they are authorized to carry the weapon.The restaurant apologized to the San Antonio Police Department and the officer who was asked to leave, according to a statement."We sincerely apologize to the San Antonio Police Department and the officer in question for the incident that occurred at our restaurant last night," the statement read according to KSTA. "Unfortunately, a member of our team made the wrong call. We are working hard to address and correct this unfortunate lapse in judgement.""We will address the policy internally and make sure our team members are clear. We support, respect and appreciate everything our law enforcement does to keep each and every one of us safe, day in and day out."
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| More than 200 reindeer found dead of starvation in the Arctic, scientists say Posted: 30 Jul 2019 11:57 AM PDT  The cause of the reindeer deaths, according to the Norwegian Polar Institute, was starvation induced by altered conditions in the Arctic.
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| Missouri school shooter Drew Grant killed in car crash 21 years after attack Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:49 PM PDT  A Missouri man, who, along with an accomplice, shot and killed four studentsand a teacher at an Arkansas middle school 21 years ago, died in a car crashlast Saturday, KAIT reports
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| Hong Kong Train Disruptions Show Protests Becoming Daily Affair Posted: 30 Jul 2019 06:05 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Fresh train disruptions by Hong Kong protesters Tuesday show how unrest once confined to weekend marches through downtown streets is spreading across the Asian financial hub and affecting daily life.Train services were slowed on the centrally located Island Line and the Kwun Tong Line across Victoria Harbor after black-clad protesters blocked doors and requested emergency assistance during the morning rush. There was yelling and confusion as commuters found themselves stuck in large crowds on subway platforms for the second time in less than a week.Although rail operator MTR Corp. said trains were resuming their normal schedules as of 11:30 a.m., such problems are expected to spread as protesters try to keep their grievances in the headlines and force a response by the city's China-appointed government. The incident follows a weekend of rallies that saw a peaceful sit-in at Asia's busiest international airport and sometimes rowdy mass protests that prompted police to fire tear gas in residential areas.The movement has proved surprisingly resilient more than eight weeks after as many as 1 million people took to the streets to oppose Chief Executive Carrie Lam's now-suspended proposal to allow extraditions to mainland China. Authorities in Beijing have so far maintained their support for Lam, who has rejected demands that she resign, formally withdraw the bill and appoint an independent inquiry into the police's use of force.Lam's approval rating slipped another 2 percentage points over the past month to a record low 21%, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, formerly the HKU Public Opinion Programme. The share of people satisfied with the local government's performance remained at an all-time 18%, unchanged from the previous survey.Authorities were set to charge 44 out of 49 people arrested during Sunday's clashes with police with rioting, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday, citing an unidentified police source. The violence had erupted as officers fired volleys of tear gas at demonstrators in Sai Ying Pun, a residential and business area where the Chinese government's liaison office is located. The people were expected to be brought to court on Wednesday, the newspaper said.China warned Monday that political unrest in the former British colony had gone "far beyond" peaceful protest, underscoring concern of more direct intervention. The demonstrations ultimately stem from anxiety that China has been eroding the rights and freedoms promised to Hong Kong before the end of colonial rule in 1997.Read more about the protests' latest impact on Hong Kong stocksDuring Tuesday's protests, services at the Lam Tin, Yau Tong and Tiu Keng Leng stations were suspended. At Tin Hau station on the Island Line, dozens of passengers were queuing up for refunds as train services were suspended.MTR Corp. shares added 0.1% as of 2.47 p.m. in Hong Kong trading, erasing earlier losses."We understand some people want to express their view but we regret that their actions affected train services and other passengers," Alan Cheng, MTR's chief of operating, told reporters. He said platform safety devices had been activated 76 times during the morning, while train emergency buttons were triggered another 47.Protesters argue that they've been driven to guerrilla tactics because the former British colony's unelected government is ignoring historic protests and the police are withholding protest permits and increasing their use of force. Since last month, different groups in the largely leaderless movement have surrounded police headquarters, mobbed government buildings and ransacked the city's legislature."Every confrontation between the protesters and the police has exacerbated their mutual hostility," Hong Kong political commentator Joseph Cheng told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Tuesday. "It is difficult that there are no solutions in sight, no reconciliation process going on and it has become a test of wills."While such tactics risk alienating the general public and causing further damage to the economy, the movement has also received support from the business community. The American Chamber of Commerce's Hong Kong chapter on Monday urged an "internationally credible" independent inquiry into all aspects of the protest movement, saying action was needed to preserve the city's strength as a global financial center.Earlier: AmCham Urges Hong Kong Action to Quell Growing Business ConcernsThe city's otherwise model railway system has born the brunt of several recent incidents, including shocking mob attacks last week on protesters and other train passengers at a railway station in the northern suburb of Yuen Long. Protesters subsequently decided to disrupt train services to highlight the slow police response to the incident.The rail operator on Monday pledged a review of its safety procedures, a move the South China Morning Post newspaper said was prompted by strike threats and internal anger over criticism of a female train driver related to the Yuen Long incident. Last week, MTR chairman Rex Auyeung Pak-kuen endorsed calls for an inquiry into police action."Hong Kongers only want police to do their jobs fearlessly in an unbiased manner and not serve their bosses in Beijing," Max Chung, the organizer of the Yuen Long march, said Tuesday night after being released on bail. Chung had been arrested for inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly, the city's Now TV reported Sunday.(Updates with Max Chung comment in final paragraph.)\--With assistance from Sheryl Tian Tong Lee, Fion Li, Dominic Lau, Sofia Horta e Costa and Colin Keatinge.To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Simon Fuller in Hong Kong at sfuller37@bloomberg.net;Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Photos of the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera Cabriolet Posted: 29 Jul 2019 03:01 PM PDT ![Photos of the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera Cabriolet]( "Photos of the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera Cabriolet")
The cheapest version of the 992-gen 911 costs $98,750 and has 379 horsepower. From Car and Driver
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| Guatemalan villagers recognize viral photo of mother pleading at U.S. border Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:08 PM PDT ![Guatemalan villagers recognize viral photo of mother pleading at U.S. border]( "Guatemalan villagers recognize viral photo of mother pleading at U.S. border") Lolinda Amaya cried last week when she saw a viral photograph of a Guatemalan mother imploring Mexico's National Guard to let her enter the United States. It was her niece, Ledy Perez, who had borrowed money weeks earlier and fled her village under cover of night, seeking a better life for her only child. The widely shared photo https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/guatemalan-mother-begs-soldier-to-let-her-enter-us showed her crouched meters away from Mexico's border with the United States, clinging to her young son Anthony Diaz as she looked up at an armed member of the newly formed Mexican military police force.
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| Whither Evangelical Purity Culture? Thoughts on the Legacy of a Lost Pastor Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:17 PM PDT  If you don't live in Evangelical-world, you probably missed this news. An influential Evangelical author and pastor named Joshua Harris announced on Saturday that he was in the process of "deconstruction." His statement was clear. "By all the measurements I have for defining a Christian," he said, "I am not a Christian." He apologized to the LGBT community for not affirming gay marriage and for the ways that his writing and speaking "contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry."For Christians, it's a sad statement, but it's also full of real integrity. Rather than try to jam Christianity into his evolving worldview, he respects orthodoxy by opting out.Harris burst into prominence as a young Christian with every author's dream: a giant, influential first-book bestseller. It was called I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and it sold almost a million copies. If anything, however, the sales numbers understated its influence. It was part of the foundation of Evangelical "purity culture," and it revolutionized parenting and dating for countless Christian parents and families.I remember it well. I was a youth pastor for a few memorable months at the height of the courtship craze. The year was 1998, I was a youth volunteer at a small church in Georgetown, Ky., when our youth pastor left. Until we could find a new youth pastor, I was in charge. I preached the youth service every week, I led the youth Sunday school, and I led the youth prayer groups. I was also a commercial litigator in a big law firm, and suddenly I had two full-time jobs. It was one of the best times of my life.But we also had a problem. The youth ministry had gone all-in on purity culture. The previous youth pastor had even declared "no date '98," placing a moratorium on every kid in the youth group: not even a single date for the entire year. When it came to relationships, it would be "courtship" (tersely defined as parental-supervised visits and outings) or nothing.This wasn't wanton repression or cruelty. Many parents had entered adulthood wounded by past broken relationships. They regretted the mistakes of their youth and desperately wanted their kids to avoid similar heartbreak. Also — and this is crucial for understanding purity culture — they fervently believed in a specific earthly reward for their child's youthful obedience. Courtship represented the best method of ensuring a healthy, sexually vibrant marriage to a faithful spouse.This is what writer Katelyn Beaty called the "sexual prosperity gospel," an "if/then" transactional relationship with God that manufactures a series of promises from scripture and then creates a form of Christian entitlement and expectation. "I did what you asked, Lord, now may I see my reward?"Beaty's critique is well taken, and it's certainly true that purity culture built a series of (often wildly unrealistic) expectations about the marriage relationship that awaited kids who courted. But I think it did something even darker — in its effect (if not its intent), it reversed the gospel message, teaching Christian kids that they risked being defined by their sins, not by Christ.It worked like this — sexual sin stained young persons, even if Christ forgave them. They would walk into marriage diminished in some crucial ways. The white dress, fundamentally, was a lie. And the message wasn't confined to sexuality. Did you drink? Did you smoke a joint? Each one of those things altered a person's self-definition. They were no longer "pure." They could never be "pure" again.All too many times, I saw the despair. A young person would come to me and say, "I screwed up." They would really mean, "I'm ruined." Their storybook dreams were dead. A 17-year-old with (God willing) 70 years of life ahead of him would approach me carrying the awful burden of thinking that he had defined his life forever. He was no longer — and never would be — the person he wanted to be.Sometimes the despair would trigger wild rebellion. If they're "ruined," then why should they care about obedience? There are two states of being — virgin or not, teetotaler or not — and if you're not, then you might as well indulge yourself. Other times the despair would trigger constant, nagging guilt and regret. A girl would walk down the aisle to marry a man who loved God and loved her, and she'd feel a shadow on her soul.In point of fact, the gospel message rests first on bad news, then on indescribably good news. The bad news is simple: You were never "pure." It's not as if sex or drink or drugs represent the demarcation line between righteous and unrighteous. They are not and were never the "special" sins that created particularly acute separation from God. Yes, they could have profound earthly consequences, but they did not create unique spiritual separation.The indescribably good news is that from the moment of the confession of faith, believers are not defined by their sin. They're not defined even by their own meager virtues. They're defined by Christ. Moreover, they find that "for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." This does not by any stretch mean that past sin wasn't sin — one of my best friends is an eleven-years-sober addict who did dreadful things during his worst days — but it does mean that their past now gives them a unique ability to reach suffering people. Their terrible stories and past pain have been redeemed, transformed into instruments of grace and mercy.One of my first acts as youth pastor was to lift the ban on dating. Ending legalism is not the same thing as sanctioning sin, and I have no idea if there was more or less extramarital sex as a result of the dating ban or the purity rings. But it was incumbent upon me — in the limited time that I had in leadership — to tell the truth, and the truth was that legalism is its own kind of sin. To create burdens where Christ did not is an act of arrogance. It's deeply harmful. And, sadly, it's a way of life in all too many Christian churches.Harris has famously repented of his past legalism, and that makes his departure from the faith particularly poignant. He helped define young people by their sin, and then he left. He separated from his wife, and he rejected Christianity itself. He is like an inadvertent arsonist, who flees the burning house rather than helping fight the fire he helped ignite. I'm sad to see him go. I'm sadder still to see the pain he caused when he was present.
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| Deputy accused of killing wife during fight over sex Posted: 30 Jul 2019 02:18 PM PDT  New details say that the deputy, who's also a body builder and actor, was fighting with his wife as she accused him of having an affair.
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| Eritrean accused of pushing boy under train is father-of-three Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:29 AM PDT  An Eritrean man accused of killing an eight-year-old boy by pushing him under a train is a Swiss-based father-of-three who will be examined for a psychiatric disorder, authorities said Tuesday. German prosecutors laid murder and attempted murder charges against the 40-year-old, who had on Tuesday also pushed the boy's mother onto the tracks at Frankfurt's main station, and tried but failed to do the same to a 78-year-old woman. The man, who was arrested shortly after, did not previously know the victims and showed no signs of alcohol or drug use, said Frankfurt public prosecutors spokeswoman Nadja Niesen.
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| Puerto Ricans ask, 'What's next?' as they await new governor Posted: 30 Jul 2019 04:54 PM PDT  The fliers handed out at Puerto Rico's latest protest depict the U.S. territory's outgoing governor as a clown and puppeteer controlling those beneath him. "WHAT COMES AFTER RICKY?" the first page reads, referring to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. It's the question hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are now asking themselves after having achieved their main goal: ousting a governor for the first time in the U.S. territory's recent history.
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| 'A lot of yelling': President Donald Trump had a contentious meeting with airline CEOs, report says Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:57 AM PDT  President Donald Trump reportedly met with U.S. airline CEOs who were looking for support in their complaints against foreign airlines.
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| Russia declares state of emergency as wildfires rage across area size of Belgium Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:04 AM PDT  Russia on Monday declared a state of emergency in two regions of Siberia as wildfires rage across 12,000 square miles of countryside. Terrified residents in the Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions called on the state to act as flames engulfed an area the size of Belgium. There are few inhabited zones in the path of the inferno but smoke has blanketed major cities in Siberia and the Far East, making it hard to breathe and posing health risks for the population. Over 720,000 people have signed a petition on Change.Org calling for a state of emergency to be declared across the whole of Siberia in order to draw more forces and state funding to battle the wildfires that have erupted in the past month. Residents of the affected areas have been posting photos of burning forests and smog-covered cities and villages. Local authorities have however cited at 2015 decree by the Ministry of Natural Resources that allows them not to extinguish wildfires if they do not pose a direct threat to settlements. Fire-fighting can also be avoided if the cost of the operation is higher than the estimated damage. The governor of Krasnoyarsk, Alexander Uss, defended the government's reluctance to put out the fires by comparing them to winter blizzards. He said that it can be "pointless and sometimes even harmful" to try and extinguish flames in unpopulated areas. More than 11 million hectares have already been affected by wildfires this season, Greenpeace Russia said in a statement on Friday, adding that blazes continue to spread around hundreds of thousands of hectares every day. The environmental group warned that it was no longer a regional problem and more measures should be taken. It is not immediately clear if a state of emergency in some of the affected areas will help contain the wildfires. European scientists earlier raised concerns over unprecedented fires that started sooner than usual in the Arctic this summer season releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fires have been caused by record high temperatures combined with lightning and strong winds.
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| Sony’s making a silent, wearable air conditioner that will launch next year Posted: 29 Jul 2019 08:05 PM PDT  Global temperatures have been rising to new all-time highs this year, a fact that no one who's suffered through the heatwave that's blanketed the US in recent weeks probably needs to be reminded of. Which makes a new product Sony is working on particularly enticing: The consumer electronics giant, no joke, launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for what would be an actual wearable air conditioner that slips on the back of a shirt and promises to keep you cool.Sony is calling the device the Reon Pocket, and it's touting the ability for the app-controlled device to lower the temperature on your back from 97F to 73F. The app would be controlled via Bluetooth, and Sony is reportedly pricing this at a very affordable US equivalent to $117.There are, to be sure, a couple of pretty big downsides. One is battery life. The device, which Sony plans to launch first in Japan, would have a battery that lasts less than two hours. Even worse than that -- if you're hoping for relief from the current hot weather, the Reon Pocket won't help you out anytime soon, as it's not coming until 2020.The release date we're hearing right now is March 2020, which will certainly be great if you're planning to, you know, attend the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympics.All that said, this device definitely sounds promising, and we can envision so many people this could benefit. Imagine, for example, having a cooling device on your back that's working to make sure you still look polished on a hot day that helps you avoid sweating like crazy when you're in a suit and headed to a business meeting.As we mentioned above, Sony successfully crowdfunded the product through the company's First Flight program which tries to gin up demand for products to give them a better chance at viability.
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| Ukraine seizes Russian tanker over naval clash: prosecutor Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:52 PM PDT  A Ukrainian court has ordered the seizure of a Russian tanker stopped last week over its alleged involvement in a Ukrainian-Russian naval clash last year, the country's chief military prosecutor said Tuesday. A court, in the southern city of Odessa, ordered the seizure of the tanker Nika Spirit on Monday, according to documents posted by Anatoliy Matios on social media. The Russian owner of the seized tanker, the Altomar Shipping company, told Russian news agency Interfax that its management was "in contact with Ukrainian authorities" to solve a "range of issues related to the vessel".
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| India's parliament votes to outlaw Muslim instant divorce Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:32 AM PDT ![India's parliament votes to outlaw Muslim instant divorce]( "India's parliament votes to outlaw Muslim instant divorce") India's parliament approved a bill on Tuesday outlawing the centuries-old right of a Muslim man to instantly divorce his wife, drawing accusations of government interference in a community matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist administration has been pushing to criminalise "triple talaq", under which a man can divorce by uttering the word "talaq", meaning divorce in Arabic, three times in his wife's presence. India is one of the few countries where the practice has survived in law.
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| The One Thing That Will Decide the 2020 Election Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:12 AM PDT  Purple states can swing either way and often end up deciding our elections. So, it's worth asking what people in those states think about the issues dominating politics. Heritage Action for America, the sister organization of The Heritage Foundation, recently carried out a wide survey of Americans in five purple states, asking them about immigration, health care, political correctness, and much more. In this episode, our Editor-in-Chief Kate Trinko sits down with Nate Rogers from Heritage Action to unpack it all.Kate Trinko: Joining us today is Nate Rogers, who is a senior adviser for political affairs at Heritage Action for America. Nate, thanks for joining us.The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >>Nate Rogers: Thank you.Trinko: Heritage Action just did a series of polls in the United States, sometimes focusing on purple states, sometimes looking nationally, sometimes looking at people of a certain ideological persuasion. They talked about health care, socialism, capitalism, and much more.Nate, what were some of your biggest takeaways?Rogers: This was a really interesting exercise. We entered it not looking to reach any conclusions that we had going in, we wanted to be very open in the polling process.The purple state poll is actually the fourth poll of a series of four, so it was actually the last poll that we conducted.
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| The Latest: Relative identifies 3 of 5 killed in Wisconsin Posted: 29 Jul 2019 08:25 PM PDT  The father of two of five people found dead in two houses in northwestern Wisconsin has identified two sons and a grandson as among the dead. Authorities say a man shot and killed four people and wounded two others wounded at a home in Lake Hallie on Sunday night and a home in the town of Lafayette on Monday. Ritchie German Sr. of North Prairie, Wisconsin, tells the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul that adult sons Ritchie German Jr. and Douglas German were among the dead, along with Douglas' 8-year-old son, Calvin German.
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| Chicago shooting deaths: Outcry as anti-gun violence mothers shot dead while campaigning Posted: 30 Jul 2019 04:26 PM PDT  Two women who campaigned against Chicago's infamous gun violence, have themselves been shot and killed on a street corner where activists frequently stood to keep watch.The anti-gun violence group Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK), confirmed Chantell Grant and Andrea Stoudemire were killed after a blue SUV pulled up to the corner, and someone in the vehicle opened fired into the crowd."People are tired of being afraid. We're sick of being afraid. We live in these communities and then we somehow are penalised and punished for living here. If you're poor, you're poor," said MASK founder Tamar Manasseh."But when women are killed, it's not their fault. It's not because they made bad decisions. It's not they're in the wrong place at the wrong time."Police said the two women were killed on Friday night in South Side neighbourhood of Englewood, where members of the group often stood watch.Mr Grant, 26, was mother to three young children. Ms Stoudemire, 35, had two children. They were among a total of 48 people shot in the city over the weekend, eight of them fatally.Chicago has a reputation for some of the deadliest and most persistent gun violence in the country, though it is not evenly distributed.Most occurs in the South Side, which has had a large African American population and which has long suffered from poverty, partly the result of hosing laws that long discriminated against minority communities.MASK was founded in 2015 and works to "interrupt violence and crime, and teach children to grow up as friends rather than enemies".NNC News said there have been more than 1,190 shooting incidents in the city so far this year, and almost 1,530 shooting victims, according to police.Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi called the murders "senseless". He added: "We have no evidence to suggest the women were the intended targets."
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| How to Tell If a Trump Supporter Is Racist Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Every non-liberal leftist -- that is, nearly every Democrat running for president, New York Times and Washington Post columnist, CNN and MSNBC host, and your left-wing brother-in-law -- labels every Trump supporter and, of course, President Donald Trump, a "racist."And they don't stop there. Leftists don't only label the half of the country that supports the president "racist," they label all whites and America itself "racist." If your son or daughter attends or recently attended an American university, it is close to certain he or she was repeatedly told that America and all whites are racist. According to the Left, whites are divided between those who admit they are racist and those who don't admit it.Every conservative and many liberals know this is a big lie. The great question is: Do leftists believe it? It is impossible to know. But this we do know: If you repeat something often enough, and if your weltanschauung (worldview) and that which gives your life meaning are dependent upon believing something, you will eventually believe it.So here is a way to show it is a lie.Ask any white conservative, including one who supports Trump, the following three questions:1) Do you have more in common with, and are you personally more comfortable in the company of, a white leftist or a black conservative?2) Would you rather have nine white leftists or nine black conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court?3) Would you rather your child marry a black Christian conservative or a white non-Christian liberal?A white racist would prefer the whites in each case.I have asked these questions of thousands of Trump supporters at lectures and on my radio show. Not once has a white Trump-supporting conservative said he or she would be more comfortable in the presence of a white leftist than a black conservative, or would prefer an all-white liberal Supreme Court to an all-black conservative Supreme Court. Not once has a white Christian conservative said he or she would prefer their child marry a white non-Christian liberal to a black Christian conservative.If you're an honest leftist, this should present a powerful challenge to your belief that all white conservatives are racist.But it won't. Leftists have too much at stake to confront the truth about conservatives. Everything the Left has ever believed has depended upon lying about opponents. From the day Stalin labeled Trotsky -- who served as the head of the Red Army and who, along with Lenin, founded the Bolshevik Party -- a "fascist," leftists have lied about their opponents.Some liberals lie, and some conservatives lie, but the truth is both a liberal and conservative value. It has never been a left-wing value. Any leftist who would commit himself to the truth would cease being a leftist. He would either become an anti-Left liberal or an anti-Left conservative."America is racist." "Whites are racist." "Trump supporters are racist." These are all big lies.So, then, given how important it is to leftists to maintain the lie of conservative racism -- along with xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia, and Islamophobia -- how would they rebut conservatives' answers to these questions?Presumably, they would argue that every conservative who responds to these questions as I described is lying.But these questions are important -- no matter how much leftists ignore or dismiss them -- because they perform an important service for conservatives.I know this from Jewish history. There was so much Jew-hatred in the medieval Christian world that Jews sometimes wondered if there was any truth to the attacks on them. When a whole society denigrates a group, members of the denigrated group start wondering whether any of the attacks on them have any truth. But when the charge of blood libel -- that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood to bake matzos for Passover -- arose, it liberated Jews from taking any of the anti-Semites' attacks seriously. Every Jew knew the blood libel was a lie -- Jews never consumed animal blood, let alone human blood.Every conservative knows his responses to these three questions are heartfelt and true, so these questions can help conservatives come to see the Left's charge of conservative racism as medieval Jews came to see the anti-Semites' blood-libel charge: as a lie.© 2019 Creators.com
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| 11 Things We Can't Wait to Order from the New IKEA Catalog Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:27 AM PDT |
| Hong Kong protesters clash with police as 44 activists charged with rioting Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:11 PM PDT  Hundreds of people surrounded a police station in Hong Kong on Tuesday chanting "free the martyrs" after 44 activists were charged with rioting following weekend clashes between protesters and police defending China's representative office. It was the first time the rioting charge has been used during protests which erupted over an extradition bill that would have allowed people in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China for trial. Another man was charged with possession of an offensive weapon. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Sunday as they sought to defend China's main representative office from protesters who set up road blocks and hurled bricks and sticks. What started three months ago as rallies against the extradition bill, has evolved into a wider backlash against the city's government and its political masters in Beijing. The near daily protests have disrupted business, piled pressure on the city's government and stretched its police force, which some have accused of using excessive force. A police officer points a gun towards anti-extradition bill protesters who surrounded a police station where detained protesters are being held during clashes in Hong Kong Credit: Reuters Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Kwai Chung police station where some of the activists were to be freed on bail. Clashes broke out between the protesters and police. One officer brandished a gun to ward off the crowd. Rioting carries a maximum ten year jail term in Hong Kong. Activists say they have done nothing wrong and are only seeking justice. In the driving rain, many chanted "Liberate Hong Kong," and "Revolution of our time". Besides calling for the extradition bill to be scrapped, rather than its suspension so far, protesters have also demanded the resignation of city leader Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into the police's handling of the crisis and the unconditional release of all those arrested. Some of the activists are due to appear in court on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, protesters blocked train services during the morning rush hour. "We don't know how long we are going to stay here, we don't have a leader, as you can see this is a mass movement now," said Sharon, a 21-year-old masked protester who declined to give her full name. "It's not our intention to inconvenience people, but we have to make the authorities understand why we protest. We will continue with this as long as needed." Activists blocked train doors, playing havoc with services Credit: RITCHIE B TONGO/EPA By mid-morning, commuters were crammed into stations across the city, waiting to board trains that were delayed, with no service on some lines. Hong Kong, which returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997, is embroiled in its worst political crisis for decades as the increasingly violent protests pose one of the gravest populist challenges to Communist Party rulers in Beijing. China on Monday reiterated its support for Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam and its police and urged Hong Kong's people to oppose violence. Lam's popularity has dropped to a record low, according to a survey by the independent Public Opinion Research Institute released on Tuesday. The survey, conducted between July 17 and July 19, showed Lam scored a rating of 30.1, down from 33.4 at the beginning of the month. Her approval rate stands at 21%, while her disapproval rate is 70%. Over the last few years, many people in Hong Kong have become concerned about the whittling away of the city's freedoms, guaranteed under a "one country, two systems" formula established when it returned to China in 1997. China denies interfering and has said the protests are an "undisguised challenge" to the formula under which the city is ruled, and risked damaging its economy.
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| 'India Ashamed': Outrage grows over ruling party lawmaker accused of rape Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:52 AM PDT  Protesters stepped up demands on Tuesday for India's ruling party to sack a state lawmaker accused by a young woman of raping her, holding several demonstrations just days after the accuser was critically injured in a highway collision. Opposition groups say Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is protecting Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a legislator from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, whom the woman accused of the rape in 2017. "Why do we give people like Kuldeep Sengar the strength and protection of political power and abandon their victims to battle for their lives alone?" Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a leader of the main opposition Congress party, asked on Twitter.
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| Tip on Canada murder suspects turns up empty: police Posted: 29 Jul 2019 04:15 PM PDT  Canadian police on Monday said they have not found two murder suspects in an area of northern Manitoba they had searched for 24 hours after receiving a tip on the teenagers' possible location. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Sunday announced they had sent numerous officers to the indigenous community of York Landing to investigate a possible sighting of Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, who are suspects in three murders. The Royal Canadian Air Force also assisted, but "after a thorough & exhaustive search, #rcmpmb has not been able to substantiate the tip in York Landing," Manitoba RCMP said on Twitter.
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| Gang database made up mostly of young black, Latino men Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:21 AM PDT  Boston police are tracking nearly 5,000 people — almost all of them young black and Latino men — through a secretive gang database, newly released data from the department shows. Black people comprise about 25% of all Boston residents, Latinos about 20% and white people more than 50%. The racial disparity is "stark and troublesome," said Adriana Lafaille, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which, along with other civil rights groups, sued the department in state court in November to shed light into who is listed on the database and how the information is used.
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| Ex-aide pleads guilty in Senate hacking case Posted: 30 Jul 2019 02:52 PM PDT  Samantha Davis, 24, admitted to two misdemeanor crimes.
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| The 1 Thing the U.S. Marines Could Teach U.S. Navy SEALs Posted: 29 Jul 2019 04:25 AM PDT  Two services. Two incidents involving service members accused of serious misconduct. Two vastly different approaches to openness and transparency.When U.S. Special Operations Command announced on Wednesday that a SEAL platoon was being sent home early from Iraq because their commander has lost confidence in them, U.S. military officials did not mention that one of the SEALs had been accused of sexually assaulting a female service member. That was first revealed by New York Times reporter David Phillips about 24 hours later.San Diego-based attorney Jeremiah Sullivan confirmed to Task & Purpose that he represents a member of Foxtrot Platoon SEAL Team 7 who is being investigated for sexual assault but has not been charged.In contrast: The Marine Corps issued a detailed news release on Thursday about 16 Marines at Camp Pendleton, California, who were arrested on allegations of taking part in human smuggling. 1st Marine Division spokeswoman Maj. Kendra Motz also immediately knocked down a false rumor that the division had held a bogus awards ceremony so that NCIS could nab the Marines.Bravo Zulu to the Marines for providing timely and accurate information. They understand that hiding bad news does not make it go away and let the facts come out in drips and drabs undermine your credibility.
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| #LostTrumpHistory trends as the internet mocks Trump's 9/11 comments Posted: 30 Jul 2019 11:17 AM PDT  If you thought President Trump could speak about the brave work of 9/11 first responders without giving himself a little shout out, you'd be wrong.On Monday, Trump signed the act that will extend the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund before more than 200 people who were impacted by the attacks on 9/11. The bill, which was publicly supported by Jon Stewart as it traveled through the House and Senate, will ensure first responders are given financial support through 2090.As Trump was addressing the crowd, however, he said something that came across as a bit controversial. (Shocker.)"Many of those affected were firefighters, police officers, and other first responders," Trump said. "And I was down there also. But I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there, I spent a lot of time down there with you."> Trump: "I was down there [at Ground Zero] also. But I am not considering myself a first responder." https://t.co/Ax43BKl3yl pic.twitter.com/D7RAaZHb07> > -- CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2019SEE ALSO: Jon Stewart's face as Mitch McConnell walks by him is pricelessTrump's connection to 9/11 recovery efforts has received a great deal of speculation in the past.In an interview with German reporter Stephan Bachenheimer, Trump claimed that hundreds of his men pitched in to help recover Ground Zero in the days after the terrorist attacks, but according to Snopes, his involvement has yet to be proven. The New York Times also concluded that Trump's involvement in post-9/11 aid was "exaggerated," and noted that retired New York Fire Department deputy chief, Richard Alles, said he didn't see Trump at Ground Zero in wake of the tragedy.Since the details of Trump's involvement in 9/11 recovery are so uncertain, Twitter users decided to mock the president's not-so-humble brag by creating the hashtag LostTrumpHistory. They used it to joke about other historical events that Trump certainly did not attend, and also to show off their Photoshop skills.> "In June of 1775, I manned the air, I rammed the ramparts, I took over the airports, I did everything I had to do."LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/MLag0ucF64> > -- Deesnay (@Deesnay) July 30, 2019> Do you remember the time Donald Trump refused to give up his place on a bus to a white man when protesting against racial discrimination? LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/w3y6IyW3eK> > -- Tia Kiiskinen (@tiakiis) July 30, 2019> When you kick out that annoying member of your group and have to add Ringo you know you got problems!LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/nAZgBV9i1M> > -- Blackline_edits (@BlacklineEdits) July 30, 2019> Trump at Jesus' birth eating hamburger.LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/xDsjpi5xAd> > -- Jose Santos (@JIS3305) July 30, 2019> It wasn't Neil Armstrong in that Apollo 11 spacecraft, it was me. That Neil Armstrong story was fake news. When I walked on the moon--the first human ever to do so--I famously said, "What a crowd. What a turnout."LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/DWaFEnbK6o> > -- Carolyn B. Brodersen (@BroderWriter) July 30, 2019> Donald Trump was there at the end of the Cretaceous period when illegal aliens caused the dinosaurs to become extinct. But he's not calling himself a dinosaur. LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/JcyY06z34d> > -- Casibee (@onelesstook) July 30, 2019> LostTrumpHistory Who could forget his Academy Award winning performance? pic.twitter.com/ACnQociyu8> > -- Lavapa (@LaLafrompa) July 30, 2019> Who could forget that brilliant Trump save against the Rangers in 2012.LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/92mCncZUS6> > -- Lucille (@Delilah399) July 29, 2019> The first American to scale Mount Everest LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/4p1iK1rxLQ> > -- Private Joker, USMC (@Infantry0300) July 29, 2019> "I wont call myself an astronaut, but I was there when we landed on the moon"LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/q4LBTKB4vf> > -- Hambino, The Great (@Hambino15) July 29, 2019> Trump was a firstResponder for the Titanic LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/Bn2TkUor40> > -- Joe from Chicago (@SouthSideChiJoe) July 29, 2019> During the summer of 2019 while Congress was in recess. Trump singled handedly carved his own face onto Mt Rushmore LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/bh7VUYDodk> > -- Joe Condee (@joe_condee) July 29, 2019> LostTrumpHistory > Trump arrived moments before Moses and parted the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/P0Oo37v803> > -- Beth Lawler (@LawlerBeth) July 30, 2019> And we all remember the iconic image of @realDonaldTrump on his trek to save Hurricane Katrina victims. LostTrumpHistory pic.twitter.com/Ew9xu74IhI> > -- Katerpillar (@K8RPillar) July 30, 2019Stunning work, people. You've complied quite the fake history book here. WATCH: Stephen King condemns President Trump after racist tweets, comments about 'The Squad'
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| 79-year-old woman sentenced to jail for feeding stray cats Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:21 AM PDT  A 79-year-old woman in Ohio has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for feeding stray cats on her back porch.
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| Philippines is world's deadliest nation for land rights: campaign group Posted: 29 Jul 2019 05:01 PM PDT ![Philippines is world's deadliest nation for land rights: campaign group]( "Philippines is world's deadliest nation for land rights: campaign group") More than three people were murdered each week last year while protecting their land from encroaching industries, a human rights group said on Tuesday, with a four-fold increase in killings related to conflicts over water. At least 164 farmers and land rights activists were killed worldwide last year, with the Philippines accounting for the most casualties for the first time since Britain-based Global Witness began reporting such deaths in 2012. In 19 countries surveyed, mining was linked to 43 deaths, with fatal attacks also recorded at hydropower projects and in disputes involving agribusiness and logging companies.
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| 'Pink Lady Bandit,' accomplice arrested after string of bank robberies on East Coast Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:53 PM PDT  A woman who is taking her bank robbing scheme across the country, has now hit North Carolina twice.
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| Ex-Tehran mayor sentenced to death over wife's murder Posted: 29 Jul 2019 05:03 PM PDT  Former Tehran mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering his wife, the judiciary said Tuesday, after a high-profile case that received extensive media coverage. A prominent reformist, Najafi was found guilty of shooting dead his second wife Mitra Ostad at their home in the capital on May 28, said Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili. According to Iranian media reports, her body was found in a bathtub after Najafi, 67, turned himself in and confessed to killing her.
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| Pakistani army plane crashes into homes, killing 19 Posted: 30 Jul 2019 07:18 AM PDT  A Pakistani military plane crashed into a residential area before dawn on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people, most of them in their homes on the outskirts of the city of Rawalpindi, officials said. Fires, damaged houses and debris were visible in Mora Kalu village near Rawalpindi after daybreak. Victims' relatives were seen wailing and crying as rescuers loaded charred bodies into ambulances.
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| Twitter Suspends Conspiracy Account After Trump Retweet Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:06 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyTwitter has suspended a conspiracy-peddling account amplified by President Donald Trump, The Daily Beast has confirmed. Trump retweeted the account, which used the display name "LYNN THOMAS" and the handle @LYNNTHO06607841, on Tuesday afternoon. By early Tuesday evening, the account had been suspended. A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast that the account was suspended for violating the Twitter rule that bars users from using multiple accounts to artificially amplify or disrupt conversations. The Tweet that Trump retweeted include a bold graphic saying, "DEMOCRATS ARE THE TRUE ENEMIES OF AMERICA!" Its emoji-laden text read, "DEMOCRATS ARE THE ONLY ONES INTERFERING IN OUR ELECTIONS. WHY DO YOU THINK THEY SO STRONGLY OPPOSE VOTER ID?"TwitterBefore the suspension, the account enthusiastically pushed Qanon conspiracy memes and bizarre theories about prominent Democrats murdering children to harvest their pineal glands. One such meme targeted Bill and Hillary Clinton, claiming they "torture and sacrifice children" to get at "a drug that can only be found inside the human skull." That was posted last Thursday—five days before the current president graced the account with a retweet. Twitter has long wrestled with how to enforce its rules in the Trump era. Trump spent the weekend lambasting Rep. Elijah Cummings, who is African American, and his congressional district, which is 53 percent black. The tweets–including a missive saying "no human being would want to live there"–drew widespread condemnation as racist and horrible. But though Twitter recently announced it will affix warning labels to tweets from public figures that violate its rules, it didn't use that option on Trump's tweets about Cummings. The president has long shown a penchant for retweeting eye-popping material. In December 2017, he retweeted a picture of a blood-spattered CNN logo. Earlier that year, he retweeted a picture of a train killing a person labeled "CNN." He has also increasingly taken to retweeting dozens of accounts, as he did in March and again in May of this year. 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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| Princess Haya, Dubai ruler’s wife, urges UK court to grant a forced marriage protection order Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:29 PM PDT  Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the youngest wife of the multi-billionaire ruler of Dubai, has urged a British court to protect one of her children by granting a forced marriage protection order. The Jordanian princess, who fled to Britain in May with her two children "in fear for her life", is fighting an application from her husband, Sheikh Mohammed, for the "summary return" of the youngsters to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Jordanian princess is also seeking a non-molestation order, a process normally used to protect someone who claims they have been subjected to domestic violence. However, the details surrounding the order, including to whom it applies, cannot be reported. The children are living with their mother in her £85 million home in Kensington, west London. The princess has applied successfully for them to be wards of court, and any decisions about their future cannot be made without the approval of the presiding judge, Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Courts Division. Princess Haya, 45, attended the first day of the preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It is the first time she has been seen in public since she left her family home in the Gulf last month. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Princess Haya bint Al Hussein attend Derby Day at Ascot in 2016 Credit: David M Benett/Getty In what is likely to be one of the most expensive child welfare cases in British family court history that may reveal how women are treated in the Dubai royal household, Princess Haya sat next to her lawyer, Baroness Shackleton, and stared intently, listening to proceedings. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 70, the founder of the Godolphin horse racing stable and thought to be worth £9 billion, is not in court but is represented by Lady Helen Ward, a family and divorce lawyer. He and his estranged wife are both friends with the Queen, due to their shared love of horses. A court order is in place which means the names, ages and gender of their two children and details of the case cannot be reported. However, according to the Government's website, the "forced marriage protection order" the princess is seeking for one of her children is commonly used to prevent someone "threatened with a forced marriage" leaving the country. The former Olympic equestrian, who became the sheikh's sixth wife in 2004, was said to have flown on a private jet to Germany, before making her way to the UK. While the exact details of why she left are not known, some have said it stemmed from the earlier treatment of two of the sheikh's princess daughters who also tried to flee. Princess Latifa, 33, ran away from Dubai last year to try to seek asylum. Princess Haya bint al-Hussein greeting Queen Elizabeth II in 2016 at Royal Ascot Credit: Jason Dawson However, she was seized off the coast of India by commandos and returned to Dubai. She recorded a video before her capture in which she warned her life was a sham and claimed she had suffered abuse. In December last year, Princess Latifa was pictured alongside Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and friend of Princess Haya, in the Dubai family home in what was largely seen as a publicity stunt. In 2000, Princess Shamsa ran away from her father's estate near Chobham in Surrey. It is believed she was later abducted and returned to Dubai. It has been claimed Princess Haya, the half-sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan, fled Dubai because she learnt "the truth" about Princess Latifa. The sheikh, the vice-president and prime minister of the UAE as well as leader of Dubai, is said to have 23 children by his different wives. A poem recently appeared on his official Instagram page thought to have been written by him which accused an unnamed woman of "treachery and betrayal". The judge on Tuesday allowed the media to report how Princess Haya had applied for wardship of their children, as well as for a forced marriage protection order and a non-molestation order. Rejecting an application by Sheikh Mohammed's lawyers for those details to be subject to reporting restrictions, Sir Andrew ruled that "there is a public interest in the public understanding, in very broad terms, proceedings that are before the court." The hearing continues.
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| Cory Booker Qualifies To Join Third Round Of Democratic Debates Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:36 PM PDT  Presidential candidate Cory Booker has qualified to participate in the third round of Democratic debates, according to his campaign.Booker, a New Jersey senator, passed the threshold of 130,000 unique donors, his campaign said Monday, CNN reported. He had already met the polling requirements for the September debate.More than a quarter of the donors came after the first debate in June, his campaign said."We're building this campaign the right way, brick by brick from the grassroots up, and we're seeing the results of that strategy as we continue to build momentum," Addisu Demissie, Booker's campaign manager, told CNN.Booker joins six other Democrats who have qualified for the fall debate, which requires candidates to pass a donor and polling requirement. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris will be participating in the third debate. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rouke have also qualified for third debate spots.
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| Strengthening Tropical Storm Erick forecast to approach Hawaii by week's end Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:39 PM PDT  Tropical Storm Erick is gaining strength in the eastern Pacific Ocean and is forecast to approach Hawaii by the weekend, forecasters announced Monday.
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| Nicaragua grants citizenship to embattled ex-Salvadoran president Posted: 30 Jul 2019 11:55 AM PDT  Former Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes has been granted Nicaraguan citizenship, according to a decree published on Tuesday in the Nicaraguan government registry, likely hobbling El Salvador's efforts to bring him home to face charges of embezzlement and money laundering. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who began his term in June, vowed to bring Funes back to the country within his first 90 days in office. Funes, who governed El Salvador between 2009 and 2014, is accused of embezzlement and money laundering involving $351 million, Salvadoran prosecutors have said.
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| Joint Chiefs nominee denies assault allegations, enlists key support Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:18 AM PDT  Sen. Martha McSally — a retired Air Force pilot who revealed this year that she was raped by a superior officer — came out with a staunch defense of Air Force Gen. John Hyten.
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| Boris Johnson Issues Ultimatum to EU Over Brexit Talks as Pound Slumps Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:30 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not start talks with European Union leaders over Brexit unless they first agree to his demand to reopen the divorce deal they struck with his predecessor, Theresa May, his office warned Monday. So far, EU leaders have refused.The pound fell to its lowest in two years on growing fears the new premier will steer Britain into an economically damaging no-deal split. Johnson stepped up the government's preparations for leaving the EU without an agreement as his senior officials warned that the country will have no choice, if the bloc does not change its approach to further negotiations.With fewer than 100 days left until the U.K. is due to exit the 28-member bloc on the deadline of Oct. 31, Johnson is tearing up the way Britain's government operates to ready the country for the potential impact of a no-deal breakup. More money is being made available for contingency planning, and a mass public information campaign will launch in the weeks ahead to advise businesses and citizens how to prepare.Johnson has packed his cabinet with pro-Brexit ministers and officials who led the 2016 Vote Leave campaign with him, to ensure every part of the state is geared toward exit day on Halloween.The prime minister still says he wants a deal with the EU but has two key conditions: the bloc must re-open the Withdrawal Agreement it negotiated last year, and it must agree to scrap the so-called backstop guarantee for the Irish border -- the provision intended to ensure there's no need for checks on goods crossing the land border with Ireland.Johnson has said the backstop is "undemocratic" because it risks locking the U.K. into a trading relationship with the EU indefinitely.EU leaders have repeatedly said they're not prepared to revise the deal that May tried and failed to get approved by the U.K. Parliament and that any accord must contain the backstop.As a result, Johnson sees no point in meeting with them face-to-face, his spokeswoman Alison Donnelly said on Monday. "The prime minister will be happy to sit down with leaders when that position changes, but he's making it clear to everybody he speaks to that that needs to happen," she said.While the government would prefer to leave with a deal, Donnelly said, its "central scenario" is to do so without one unless the EU shifts its position. The pound fell more than 1%.Market JittersDuring a trip to Scotland, Johnson insisted he still believed a deal was achievable."We're very confident, with goodwill on both sides, two mature political entities -- the U.K. and EU -- can get this done," Johnson said in televised comments. "It's responsible for any government to prepare for a no deal if we absolutely have to. That's the message I've been getting across to our European friends. I'm very confident we'll get there."The key point for the EU to understand is that the backstop is "dead," along with May's withdrawal agreement, he said.Johnson's office said he is expected to continue speaking on the phone to EU leaders over the coming days. He's been telling them that he won't meet them only to be told that "they cannot possibly reopen the withdrawal agreement," Donnelly said. Officials in both the U.K. and Ireland said Johnson and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar are expected to speak soon.Standing FirmBut there's no sign of the EU shifting its position. According to an Irish government spokesman, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney spoke to his U.K. counterpart Dominic Raab on Friday, reiterating that the withdrawal agreement is closed. On Monday, a European Commission spokeswoman said that while an orderly withdrawal is in everyone's interest, the bloc is well-prepared for a no-deal Brexit.The EU has repeatedly said that the only way to make the contentious backstop provision redundant would be for the U.K. to change its red lines and opt to stay in the EU's single market and the customs union. Johnson has pledged not to do this.The British government has dramatically stepped up its planning for a no-deal Brexit and on Monday, his Brexit enforcer, Michael Gove, led the first daily meeting of top officials working to get the country ready to leave on time.Johnson also held talks in Scotland with Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who opposes a no-deal Brexit, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wants to keep Scotland in the EU.On Tuesday, Johnson will travel to a farm in Wales to hear the views of agricultural workers on their hopes for Brexit. Speaking before his trip, he said Brexit would allow the U.K. to scrap the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and export more food and farm produce around the world when new trade deals are signed."Once we leave the EU on Oct. 31, we will have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support farming – and we will make sure that farmers gets a better deal," Johnson said.(Adds Johnson visit to Wales in final paragraphs.)To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Mark WilliamsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Records: Police searched dating sites after student killed Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:44 PM PDT  Authorities investigating the killing of Utah college student Mackenzie Lueck have searched dating sites for her and a man charged in her death, court documents show. Police seeking evidence against tech worker Ayoola Ajayi searched the site Seeking Arrangement, which bills itself as a way for wealthy "sugar daddies" to meet women known as "sugar babies," according to the documents filed Friday. Police and prosecutors have not said how Ajayi and Lueck were connected or disclosed a motive for the killing.
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| Democratic debate - LIVE: Warren rails against Trump, as 2020 showdown begins with fiery debate about healthcare Posted: 30 Jul 2019 04:32 PM PDT  With 10 Democratic contenders set to take the stage in Detroit for the start of the second official round of debates, Donald Trump has insisted he is the "least racist person in the world" as he continues his explosive row with civil rights leaders.The comments came before he travelled to Virginia to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Virginia General Assembly, where he was met with protests and chants denouncing his attacks on prominent women of colour in Congress, and attacks on the city of Baltimore.The first night of the second round of debates will feature Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on the same stage for the first time, alongside Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, and others with much less name recognition who are hoping for their moment in the spotlight.Follow live updatesPlease allow a moment for the liveblog to load
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| Jeffrey Epstein served with fresh court documents alleging rape of 15-year-old girl Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:07 PM PDT  Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein found out he was facing further legal peril last week, the day before he was found unconscious in his cell with neck injuries. Epstein, 66, was presented with court documents relating to accusations made by Jennifer Araoz, who claimed he raped her when she was 15. Miss Araoz, now 32, made her accusations on July 10 – shortly after Epstein was arrested by police on charges filed by New York prosecutors. She claimed that, in the autumn of 2002, when she had been visiting his New York home for a year, he raped her after she gave him a massage. Last week, on July 22, Qin Zhang, deputy sheriff, handed Epstein the documents in his cell in the Manhattan Correctional Center, where he is awaiting trial. Jeffrey Epstein awaiting his bail decision on July 15. The judge ultimately denied bail. Miss Araoz's documents sought to depose Epstein, to learn the identity of the young woman who allegedly recruited her outside the Talent Unlimited High School and took part in his "grooming" of her "to be sexually assaulted by Epstein." Miss Araoz has described the woman as a brunette in her 20s. Daniel Kaiser, Miss Araoz's lawyer, said that Epstein or his lawyer will have to appear before a judge on August 27, to fight her wish to have him deposed and produce all evidence. Miss Araoz plans to sue both Epstein and the recruiter, Mr Kaiser said, but has to wait until August 14 under terms of the state Child Victims Act. The law, which Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, signed in February, lifted a statute of limitations that barred victims of childhood sexual abuse from suing their attackers more than three years after turning 18. The new law allows for criminal charges against sexual abusers of children to be filed until their victims turn 28 for felony cases. Jeffrey Epstein, 66, is facing up to 45 years in prison on charges of sex trafficking of minors It also allows for civil charges to be brought against their abusers - and institutions that enabled them - until they turn 55. Finally, it enacted a one-year, one-off period of grace, allowing all victims to seek civil action, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. That period begins on August 14. The day after the court papers were served, Epstein - who's being held without bail on conspiracy and child sex trafficking charges - was found nearly unconscious on the floor of his cell, law enforcement sources have said. Based on the appearance of the marks on his neck, investigators suspect he was choked by someone else, The New York Post reported, and they questioned his cellmate, a former policeman awaiting a death penalty trial in four drug-related killings.
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