| NATO chief 'extremely concerned' after attacks on Saudi Posted: 16 Sep 2019 11:03 AM PDT  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday he was "extremely concerned" about escalating tensions following strikes on Saudi oil facilities at the weekend, accusing Iran of destabilising the region. Speaking to AFP in Baghdad, Stoltenberg's comments were his first on the strikes on two major Saudi oil facilities, which were claimed by Yemen's Huthi rebels but which both Washington and Riyadh have blamed on Tehran. Stoltenberg, who said the alliance "strongly condemned" the attacks because of the destabilising effect on oil supplies, also had a message for Iraq's neighbour, Iran.
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| B-2 Spirit: The Stealth Bomber Trump Could Send to Strike Iran Posted: 15 Sep 2019 08:00 PM PDT  Or North Korea, Russia, China--anyone.
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| Oil prices leap as attack on Saudi facility disrupts output Posted: 15 Sep 2019 09:44 PM PDT  Oil prices surged Monday after an attack on Saudi Arabia's largest oil processing plant halted output of more than 5.7 million barrels of crude a day. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on the Saudi Aramco facility that paralyzed production of more than half of Saudi Arabia's global daily exports and more than 5% of the world's daily crude oil production. "To take Saudi oil production down 50%, that's shocking," said Jonathan Aronson, a research analyst at Cornerstone Macro.
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| Obama’s team lines up to defend Andrew McCabe in court Posted: 16 Sep 2019 10:24 AM PDT ![Obama's team lines up to defend Andrew McCabe in court]( "Obama's team lines up to defend Andrew McCabe in court") Obama-era national security leaders would testify on behalf of McCabe should he face trial over allegations that he misled officials about leaks to the media.
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| Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan sparks ransacking of Hindu temple, school Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:37 AM PDT ![Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan sparks ransacking of Hindu temple, school]( "Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan sparks ransacking of Hindu temple, school") KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A crowd in Pakistan ransacked a school and Hindu temple after a Hindu principal was accused of blasphemy, police said on Monday, the latest case to raise concern about the fate of religious minorities in the predominantly Muslim country. The enraged crowd ransacked the school and damaged a nearby temple, a district police chief said. "It seems the principal had not done anything intentionally," the district police chief, Furrukh Ali, told Reuters.
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| California Bans State-Sponsored Travel to Iowa over Refusal to Provide Medicaid Coverage for Gender-Reassignment Surgeries Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:25 PM PDT  California added an eleventh state to its travel blacklist on Friday, banning state-sponsored travel to Iowa over that state's refusal to cover gender-transition surgeries under its Medicaid program.California attorney general Xavier Becerra announced the decision to add Iowa to the travel-ban list, which takes effect October 4 and means public employees and college students will not be able to travel to Iowa on the taxpayer's dime.In May, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds signed a law blocking Medicaid from paying for gender-reassignment surgeries despite the state Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year in favor of charging taxpayers for the procedures. Gender identity is a protected characteristic under Iowa's Civil Rights Act."The Iowa Legislature has reversed course on what was settled law under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, repealing protections for those seeking gender-affirming healthcare," Becerra said in a statement. "California has taken an unambiguous stand against discrimination and government actions that would enable it."California's travel blacklist stems from a 2016 law allowing the Golden State to ban state travel to other U.S. states that roll back protections for LGBT citizens. Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Kentucky are also on the list.
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| Strengthening Hurricane Humberto to close in on Bermuda Posted: 15 Sep 2019 06:43 AM PDT  Strengthening Hurricane Humberto is expected to track close enough to Bermuda to unleash heavy rain, strong winds and pounding seas during the middle of this week.As of 5 p.m. EDT Monday, Humberto was moving east-northeast at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. The storm is expected to continue to strengthen early this week as it stirs rough surf along the East coast of the United States. A tropical storm watch has also been issued for Bermuda. An upper-level disturbance moving off the East coast will steer Humberto to the east on Monday, and the storm will continue on that course through much of this week, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun.AccuWeather meteorologists expect an eventual turn to the northeast late in the week.This path will take Humberto dangerously close to Bermuda around the middle and later part of the week."Interests in Bermuda should prepare for a close encounter with a hurricane that could evolve into a Category 3 before approaching nearby waters," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said."Even if Humberto only delivers a glancing blow to the islands, an uptick in showers, thunderstorms and winds are likely from Wednesday into Thursday," he added. Swells will build and rip currents will become stronger and more frequent than usual from Tuesday into Wednesday as Humberto tracks toward Bermuda.There will be an increased danger for beach, fishing and cruise activities in the area during this time. Small craft and swimmers should heed all advisories as they are given.On Humberto's closest approach to Bermuda around midweek, the storm is expected to be a Category 2 hurricane but could approach Category 3 strength.Bermuda's building codes require dwellings to withstand sustained wind speeds of 110 mph (177 km/h), which is the equivalent of a high-end Category 2 hurricane. A majority of properties are made of stone and mortar. As a result, structural damage is likely to be minimal with Humberto, even if its center passes very close to or over Bermuda.However, Humberto's strong winds can toss around loose items like toys and cause them to become potentially deadly projectiles around midweek. Power outages will also be possible."How severe conditions become and the potential for coastal flooding and battering waves will depend on the exact track and strength of Humberto," Sosnowski said.A scenario that brings Humberto directly over or just to the northwest of Bermuda would bring the most adverse conditions to the area. This would put at least a portion of the islands in the strongest parts of the storm, its eye wall and northeastern quadrant.While Humberto is expected to pick up speed on its closest approach to Bermuda, too much rain may fall too quickly and result in urban flooding.Waterspouts and isolated tornadoes may also be possible.Conditions are forecast to dramatically improve across the islands later Thursday into Friday as Humberto tracks farther to the north and northeast.AccuWeather meteorologists will be monitoring any potential impacts from Humberto in Atlantic Canada during the upcoming weekend. However, at this point, the risk of the storm directly impacting the area is low. As Humberto cruises the western Atlantic, swell propagating outward from the hurricane will produce rough surf and strong rip currents along the coast of the United States.
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| Democratic challenger criticizes Susan Collins after new Brett Kavanaugh allegations Posted: 16 Sep 2019 04:51 PM PDT  Sara Gideon, a Democratic challenger of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has repeatedly criticized Collins for voting last year to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanuagh.
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| Watch: California homeowner scares off masked burglars Posted: 15 Sep 2019 04:34 PM PDT  A California woman scared off burglars who fled after they busted down her front door.
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| Your History Book Lies: Imperial Japan Was Crushed at Pearl Harbor Posted: 14 Sep 2019 08:42 PM PDT  A major strategic blunder.
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| 34 Fall Cocktails That Are Even Better Than A Pumpkin Spice Latte Posted: 16 Sep 2019 09:54 AM PDT |
| Tears at Bangkok memorial for murdered activist Posted: 16 Sep 2019 02:41 AM PDT  The wife of a murdered activist whose charred remains were found dumped in a Thai reservoir led an emotional memorial Monday, saying their five young children had been left bereft by his death. Thailand is among the most deadly places in Asia for environmental and rights defenders -- the United Nations has counted over 80 cases of enforced disappearances in the country since 1980. The park chief at the time, Chaiwat Limlikitaksor, was one of the last people to see him alive, after Billy was detained for apparently collecting honey illegally.
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| Iran seizes vessel in Gulf for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel: ISNA Posted: 16 Sep 2019 05:13 AM PDT ![Iran seizes vessel in Gulf for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel: ISNA]( "Iran seizes vessel in Gulf for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel: ISNA") Iran's Revolutionary Guards have seized a vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 250,000 litres of diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates, Iran's semi-official Students News agency ISNA reported on Monday. "It was detained near Iran's Greater Tunb island in the Persian Gulf...the crew have been handed over to legal authorities in the southern Hormozgan province," ISNA said, without elaborating on the nationalities of the crewmen.
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| Spain won't extradite Venezuela's ex-spymaster to US Posted: 16 Sep 2019 10:31 AM PDT  Spain's National Court on Monday rejected the extradition to the United States of a former Venezuelan military spy chief accused of drug smuggling and other charges. The court released retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, who denies the charges and says that they were politically motivated. María Dolores Argüelles, a lawyer for Carvajal, said she had no immediate details of the ruling beyond that a release order had been issued for the retired general.
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| New Zealand’s Ardern Under Scrutiny After Botched Sexual Assault Allegation Posted: 15 Sep 2019 10:34 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's leadership is under scrutiny after her Labour Party botched its handling of an alleged sexual assault on a 19-year-old party volunteer.Ardern has been forced to apologize to the woman and take control of an investigation into the allegations, including that she was attacked and groped by a Labour Party staffer in early 2018. The party decided earlier this year that no disciplinary action was necessary, prompting the woman to tell her story to the media. Since then, Labour Party President Nigel Haworth and the man at the center of the allegations, who worked in parliament and hasn't been identified, have both resigned."There are no excuses for the handling of the complaints by the Labour Party, and I will offer none," Ardern said at a post-cabinet press conference in Wellington on Monday, a week after the sexual assault allegation was detailed by website The Spinoff. "We have a duty of care, and we failed in it."A year out from a general election, the scandal has the potential to undermine support for Labour and Ardern, whose popularity has much to do with her image as a caring leader and champion of the disadvantaged, including women in the workplace. Questions are being asked not only about the culture of the Labour Party, which mishandled a separate sexual assault allegation last year, but also whether Ardern knew about the allegations sooner than she says she did.The Labour Party looked into multiple complaints against the man from several people, including harassment and bullying, but Ardern says she was not aware of the sexual assault claim until The Spinoff article.While Haworth said the woman's complaint about the man didn't include the allegation of sexual assault, she insists it did. A lawyer is currently conducting an appeal process, and Ardern said today that an independent third party would review Labour's handling of the allegations. Ardern has also agreed to meet with the complainants."While the party has continued to maintain that they weren't in receipt of the complaints that have since been published in the media, that is secondary to the fact that the complaints made to the party were of significant concern and needed to be heard in a timely way," she said. "That didn't happen."To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Brockett in Wellington at mbrockett1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Brockett at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net, Edward JohnsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Rep. Ilhan Omar defends her controversial World Trade Center remarks: '9/11 was an attack on all Americans' Posted: 15 Sep 2019 10:25 AM PDT  Rep. Ilhan Omar responded to criticism from a 9/11 victim's son, who, during a memorial reading of victims' names at Ground Zero last week, called out the freshman congresswoman for past remarks she made about the terrorist attacks.
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| Greta Thunberg Is the Climate Heroine We Need Posted: 16 Sep 2019 02:23 AM PDT  Lionel Bonaventure/GettyThis story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 220 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. ROME–When Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg was 11 years old, her body had started to shut down due to severe self-starvation tied to debilitating depression. She spoke to almost no one but her immediate family. She was afraid of crowds. She was lost in her own world, and the world very nearly lost her.But thanks to the formal diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome coupled with high-functioning autism and obsessive compulsive disorder, the now-16-year-old Swede has become quite literally the poster child for the generation that will have to deal with the destruction of our planet. Once she started receiving multifaceted treatment, Thunberg was able to channel her anxiety into something we should all be concerned about: the health of the planet and the science behind apocalyptic warnings of its demise. In October 2018, Thunberg started having anxiety-ridden 3 a.m. nightmares, but unlike before, they were not about her. The recurring nightmares were about the impact of global warming on the planet, according to the book, Scenes From the Heart, she wrote with her parents and sister Beata, who also suffers from many of the same emotional conditions. This time, instead of holing up in her bedroom as she did before treatment, she decided that her anxiety about the climate needed to become everyone else's, too. One of the aspects of her complicated diagnosis is obsession. Her family says she just wouldn't let the idea go that the planet was burning up and there was ample science to prove it. She did not understand why no one was doing anything. She could not comprehend why adults and policy makers were ignoring the issue. She started skipping school on Fridays to protest, all alone, on the steps of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm where she grew up. Slowly–and in some ways inexplicably—the protests, which were dubbed Fridays for Future, caught on and soon she was joined by tens, then scores, then hundreds of Swedish children demanding that adults start paying attention to science when it comes to climate change. Soon, the girl who once would not leave her bedroom was traveling across Europe to draw her peers out of the classrooms and onto the streets for the sake of the environment. Since she began not even a year ago, the protests have been held in 100 cities by teen activists. Her intensity has become her secret weapon and her now-famous speeches at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, in front of the British Parliament and at the United Nations' COP24 Climate Talks, landed her a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. "You have ignored us in the past, and you will ignore us again," she told the World Economic Forum in Davos. "You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.""Those who will be affected the hardest are already suffering the consequences," she scolded the British Parliament. "But their voices are not heard. Is my microphone on? Can you hear me?"When she was invited to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York to be held later this month, she was faced with a dilemma. Would she look like a hypocrite hopping on a jet, leaving the very carbon footprint she had won such acclaim railing against? Instead, she took a state-of-the art carbon-zero yacht called the Malizia II, and made the journey by sea. The Malizia II is owned by German property developer Gerhard Senft. It was built as a high-tech racing craft that was designed to collect data for scientists studying rates of ocean acidification from carbon emissions. Senft offered use of the boat and crew when he heard Thunberg wanted to sail across the Atlantic to address the climate summit. In the 14 days at sea, some of them in inclement weather, the crew didn't turn on the motor once. The Malizia II crew was led by Pierre Casiraghi, who happens to be the grandson of Monaco's Prince Rainier III and actress Grace Kelly. The yacht is kitted out with solar panels and hydro generators, meaning it is completely emission-free. But its spare design doesn't have a functioning toilet, shower or other amenities.Not everyone wants to hear Thunberg's message and there is a growing chorus of people who say she and her obsessive condition are being exploited for political purposes. Thunberg has been the object of cruel attacks from climate change deniers who have used her medical conditions against her. Arron Banks, a prominent British businessman who bankrolled the drive for Brexit, tweeted, "Freak yachting accidents do happen in August." He later said the tweet was a joke, but he has not removed it from his feed. Far-right groups across Europe have chided her and her message, referring to the "apocalyptic dread in her eyes" and saying many other things far too cruel to repeat. There is an argument to be made that climate deniers tend to be men and climate activists, with the exception of Al Gore, tend to be women, sparking debate whether there is a misogynistic element to the debate. A 2016 study in the Journal of Consumer Research,"Is Eco-Friendly Unmanly? The Green-Feminine Stereotype and Its Effect on Sustainable Consumption," backs up the theory. "Men may shun eco-friendly behavior because of what it conveys about their masculinity," the authors write. "It's not that men don't care about the environment. But they also tend to want to feel macho, and they worry that eco-friendly behaviors might brand them as feminine."Thunberg's most vocal critics, it has to be said, are all men, but many of them actually go beyond misogyny and come very close to shaming her for her Asperger's.Steve Milloy, a former Trump staffer and full-time Thunberg obsessive, regularly tweets about the "climate puppet." He claims that the "the world laughs at this Greta charade," often posting pictures of the teenager in awkward poses. Her response has always been swift to her 1.4 million Twitter followers and 3.1 million followers on Instagram. "I am indeed 'deeply disturbed' about the fact that these hate and conspiracy campaigns are allowed to go on and on and on just because we children communicate and act on the science," she tweeted in August. "Where are the adults?"Thunberg chronicled her journey to America by sea on her social media, but after each post is a usual barrage of hate, insults and cruelty of the kind you might expect on a playground. She reads them all, often commenting, but most often questioning why people just don't want to see the truth. When she neared Manhattan in late August after two weeks on the high seas, she was escorted into the harbor by a fleet of 17 boats representing the U.N.'s sustainability development goals and hordes of teens who stood in the rain at 3 a.m. to cheer her to shore. Many will attend the Fridays for Future protest in New York City on September 20. Others just wanted to get a glimpse of their unlikely heroine. But one person she won't see when she is in the U.S. is President Donald Trump. She has not been invited to meet him, but if she is, she told her supporters that she would decline because she has "nothing to say" to those who don't believe the science. "I usually ignore them," she said when asked recently what she would tell a climate change denier like Trump. "I have nothing to say to them and they have nothing to say to me."She added that, indeed, if she did meet the president or someone "like him" she would keep going back to the science. "Many people think climate change is an opinion," she said. "But it's not an opinion, it's a fact."On September 23, Thunberg will address the U.N. Climate Change Summit, quoting from her recent book No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. She has held weekly Fridays for Future protests since her arrival in late August, inspiring hundreds of American teens to protest for policy changes. She has also inspired many of her peers to ignore the naysayers. "When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go," she tweeted a few hours after she docked in New York. "And then you know you're winning! I have Aspergers and that means I'm sometimes a bit different from the norm. And - given the right circumstances- being different is a superpower." Indeed, in the case of this young Swedish climate-busting hero, it most certainly is. 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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| Joe Biden reportedly praised pharmaceutical companies at a private party despite publicly railing against high drug prices Posted: 15 Sep 2019 02:01 PM PDT  Biden told donors in private that there were "great drug companies out there — except a couple of opioid outfits," according to Bloomberg.
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| Middle East Mystery Theater: Who Attacked Saudi Arabia's Oil Supply? Posted: 16 Sep 2019 10:10 AM PDT  The United States doesn't know how to respond to the attack on its ally's oil plant—or who to hold responsible for it.
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| Astronomers Observe the Most Massive Neutron Star Ever Posted: 16 Sep 2019 07:59 AM PDT  It's 15 miles across with a mass of more than twice the sun.
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| Subterranean blaze: Indonesia struggles to douse underground fires Posted: 16 Sep 2019 08:31 AM PDT  Thousands of Indonesian firefighters are locked in an around-the-clock game of Whack-a-Mole as they battle to extinguish an invisible enemy -- underground fires that aggravate global warming. Vast blazes are ripping across the archipelago's rainforests, unleashing a toxic haze over Southeast Asia that has triggered health fears and sent diplomatic tensions with Indonesia's neighbours soaring. "It's so much harder to fight fires on peatlands," a dirty and exhausted Hendri Kusnardi told AFP outside smog-hit Pekanbaru city in Sumatra.
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| Dutch court to hear case against Israel's Gantz Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:47 PM PDT  A Dutch court will consider on Tuesday a request to hear a civil suit seeking damages from former Israeli armed forces chief Benny Gantz, who is standing against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a parliamentary election. The hearing on admissibility will be held in a Dutch district court as voting gets under way in Israel. The case has been brought by a Dutch national of Palestinian descent using Dutch universal jurisdiction laws.
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| 'A serial killer off the streets': Florida man charged in woman's death linked to slayings of three others Posted: 16 Sep 2019 03:00 PM PDT  A man arrested in the 2016 death of a woman in Palm Beach has also been genetically linked to the slayings of three women in Daytona Beach.
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| IS leader calls on fighters to free detained comrades Posted: 16 Sep 2019 10:23 AM PDT  The leader of the Islamic State group released a new alleged audio recording Monday calling on members of the extremist group to do all they can to free IS detainees and women held in jails and camps. The purported audio by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in which he also said that his group is carrying out attacks in different countries, was his first public statement since April, when the shadowy leader appeared in a video for the first time in five years. With a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, al-Baghdadi is the world's most wanted man, responsible for steering his chillingly violent organization into mass slaughter of opponents and directing and inspiring terror attacks across continents and in the heart of Europe.
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| Conservative group known for hardball tactics leads charge in Kavanaugh defense Posted: 16 Sep 2019 02:08 PM PDT  A conservative group that has aided the confirmation of President Trump's judicial nominees is now leading the GOP's charge against the most recent allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
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| More than half of teens say they're 'afraid' and 'angry' about climate change — and 1 in 4 of them are doing something about it Posted: 16 Sep 2019 09:33 AM PDT  Teenagers in the US are afraid of climate change but are also increasingly participating in activist activity, according to a new poll.
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| Elon Musk claims 'pedo guy' tweet did not suggest British diver was paedophile Posted: 16 Sep 2019 03:18 PM PDT  Elon Musk has claimed a tweet in which he labelled a British diver "pedo guy" was not meant to suggest he was a paedophile.The Tesla founder insisted the remark was a "common insult," according to a US court filing lodged in response to a defamation lawsuit.
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| Back in 2015, Iran Practiced Sinking a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Posted: 16 Sep 2019 07:35 AM PDT  Could this become a reality?
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| The U.S. Army's Next Generation of Super Weapons Are Coming Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:28 AM PDT  And Iran, North Korea, Russia and China should be very afraid.
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| Best Bar Tools for Your Home Bar Posted: 16 Sep 2019 10:24 AM PDT |
| Dad of Parkland shooting victim says taking guns away isn't the answer Posted: 16 Sep 2019 03:53 AM PDT  The father of a Parkland shooting victim reacts to 2020 Democrat Beto O'Rourke's push for a mandatory gun buyback.
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| Black transgender woman found 'burned beyond recognition' in Florida, officials say Posted: 15 Sep 2019 09:53 AM PDT  Bee Love Slater was found badly burned in a car in Florida earlier this month. Advocates believe she is the 18th transgender person killed this year.
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| Qatar announces new residency scheme for investors Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:50 PM PDT  Qatar announced Monday it will grant residency to foreign investors for the first time, state media reported, the latest in a series of measures designed to diversify the economy. Foreigners investing an unspecified level of "non-Qatari capital" in the economy will be eligible for renewable five-year residency permits, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported. Real estate developers active in Qatar's property market will also be eligible for the scheme, under the new law.
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| Elizabeth Warren decries Trump as 'corruption in the flesh' Posted: 16 Sep 2019 05:22 PM PDT  Facing thousands of cheering supporters in the nation's largest city, Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren on Monday decried President Donald Trump as "corruption in the flesh" and outlined her plans to root out corruption in the White House, Congress and courts. "Corruption has put our planet at risk. Corruption has broken our economy.
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| Afghan, U.S. forces kill Taliban governors, fighters Posted: 15 Sep 2019 03:54 AM PDT ![Afghan, U.S. forces kill Taliban governors, fighters]( "Afghan, U.S. forces kill Taliban governors, fighters") Afghan forces backed by U.S. forces killed two senior Taliban leaders and at least 38 fighters of the hardline insurgent group in joint air strikes conducted in northern and western regions of Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday. The operations, launched on Saturday night, were aimed at foiling attacks planned by the Taliban on Afghan forces, said a senior security official in capital Kabul, adding that clashes have escalated following the collapse of diplomatic talks between the U.S. and the Taliban. The defence ministry in a statement said that the Taliban's designate governor for northern Samangan province, Mawlavi Nooruddin, was killed along with four fighters in an air strike in Dara-e-Soof Payeen district.
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| See This A-10 Warthog? It Could Wipe Out Iran's Swarm Boats in a War Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:40 AM PDT  At least that is the plan.
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| Gay Softball League Leads to Major Supreme Court Job-Bias Case Posted: 16 Sep 2019 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Gerald Bostock says he's convinced his participation in a gay softball league was why he was fired from his job running the child-advocate program at the juvenile court in Clayton County, Georgia.The Atlanta-area county's decision sent "a homophobic message that we do not approve of your sexual orientation," Bostock said.But Bostock might never get to test his allegations in court. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to use his case to consider whether federal law gives gay people any protection against employment discrimination. The court will hear arguments on Oct. 8, the second day of its new nine-month term.The case will tackle a central irony in the fight over gay rights. Even though the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015, gay people can still be fired from their jobs in much of the country. Lower courts are split on whether federal law permits anti-gay discrimination, and fewer than half of the states bar it through their own civil rights statutes."Most people in this country already think that federal law protects gay and lesbian employees from being fired because of their sexual orientation," said Sasha Samberg-Champion, a Washington lawyer who filed a brief backing Bostock for a group of employment-discrimination scholars. For the Supreme Court to say otherwise "would be very surprising and upsetting to many people," he said.The court will hear Bostock's appeal on the same day it considers a similar case involving a now-deceased gay skydiving instructor in New York, as well as a separate fight over a transgender woman fired from her job at a Michigan funeral-home chain.Defining 'Sex'Together, the cases will define the reach of the main federal job-bias law, known as Title VII. That measure outlaws discrimination because of sex, as well as race, religion and a handful of other factors. It doesn't explicitly mention sexual orientation or gender identity.President Donald Trump's administration is among those arguing that Title VII, by its terms, doesn't cover sexual orientation or gender identity."The ordinary meaning of 'sex' is biologically male or female," Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued. "It does not include sexual orientation."The administration and its allies say Congress had no intention of covering sexual orientation or gender identity when it enacted Title VII as part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They say lawmakers have repeatedly tried -- and failed -- to broaden the law's coverage."If 'because of sex' included 'sexual orientation,' why have there been efforts over the past several decades to amend the statute to include 'sexual orientation'?" said John Eastman, a professor at Chapman University School of Law. He filed a brief backing the county on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage and the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence.Bostock and his supporters contend that sexual-orientation bias is a form of sex discrimination because it necessarily depends on the gender of the person being targeted. They say the Supreme Court has always interpreted the law broadly, as when it barred employers from sex stereotyping in a 1991 ruling."What the court has said in the past is that discrimination 'because of sex' is a very broad concept that applies even to situations that the Congress that enacted Title VII probably never imagined," Samberg-Champion said.Business SupportBostock has the support of more than 200 businesses, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and General Motors Co. They say a ruling in Bostock's favor would help companies recruit talent and generate innovative ideas.Bostock was 49 when he was fired in 2013 from his job running Clayton County's Court Appointed Special Advocates program, which recruits and trains volunteers to serve as the voice for children who have been victims of abuse or neglect.His dismissal occurred after a county audit of the funds he managed. The juvenile court's chief judge, Steven Teske, was quoted at the time by a local television station as saying Bostock improperly used the money at bars and restaurants in midtown Atlanta, about 20 miles north of the Clayton County courthouse in Jonesboro."I don't see how you can justify going to Atlanta to recruit volunteers for Clayton County," Teske told WSB-TV.Teske didn't respond to a request for an interview, and the county's attorney, Jack Hancock, declined to discuss the specifics of the lawsuit."It is our position that Mr. Bostock's sexual orientation had nothing to do with his termination," Hancock said in an e-mail. "Nor does the juvenile court or the county discriminate against employees based upon their sexual orientation."But Bostock said in an interview at his house that he was engaging in the same type of recruiting he had been doing for years. He said his spending wasn't questioned until he got involved with the Hotlanta Softball League and started recruiting volunteers from the people he got to know."I wanted to open that door," said Bostock, who now lives on the other side of Atlanta in a house festooned with University of Georgia paraphernalia. "There are a lot of resources within the gay community that had really kind of been untapped."He said he had been open about his sexual orientation at work even before he joined the league.'A Job You Love'Bostock said his active recruiting had helped make the county the first in the Atlanta area to have a volunteer for every child who needed one. He said he was passionate about making a difference for needy children and was devastated by his firing."You have a job you love, you're good at it, and then all of a sudden you find yourself fired," he said. He now works as a mental health counselor at a local hospital.Bostock, now 55, said he hadn't intended to become a civil rights activist."I didn't ask for any of this," he said. "But this is an issue of national importance. And through my experience, I've learned that somebody needs to stand up for this cause and now that person's me."To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Mugabe gets low-key farewell in Zimbabwe home village Posted: 16 Sep 2019 09:29 AM PDT  The remains of former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, who died on September 6, arrived in his home village on Monday for a subdued farewell at a dusty sports field after a weekend state funeral with African leaders in the capital.
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| Trump's rally in New Mexico is a bid for an upset next year Posted: 16 Sep 2019 03:02 AM PDT  Donald Trump lost New Mexico by 8 percentage points in 2016. Last week, a congressional candidate went viral by taunting the president by name in an ad. Is New Mexico, a state that hasn't voted for a Republican for president since George W. Bush in 2004, in play?
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| UPDATE 1-China signals veto in standoff with U.S. over Afghanistan U.N. mission -diplomats Posted: 16 Sep 2019 02:59 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-China signals veto in standoff with U.S. over Afghanistan U.N. mission -diplomats]( "UPDATE 1-China signals veto in standoff with U.S. over Afghanistan U.N. mission -diplomats") China and the United States are deadlocked over a U.N. Security Council resolution to extend the world body's political mission in Afghanistan, with Beijing signaling it will cast a veto because there is no reference to its global Belt and Road infrastructure project, diplomats said on Monday. A planned vote on Monday by the 15-member Security Council to renew the mission, known as UNAMA, was delayed to Tuesday to allow for further negotiations.
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| Investigation into alleged surveillance abuse and targeting of the Trump campaign is in its final stages Posted: 16 Sep 2019 07:51 AM PDT  Inspector general Michael E. Horowitz outlined a multi-step review process with FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General William Barr; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
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| The Iran-Iraq War Was a Special Kind of Hell (A Million Dead?) Posted: 15 Sep 2019 09:00 PM PDT  Neither country came anywhere near achieving even the most modest of its war aims. The borders were unchanged; both armies ended the war in essentially the same position they were in at the outbreak of hostilities. Together, the opponents had squandered some $350 billion on a senseless war of attrition engineered by two venal and intransigent autocrats.
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| Why Your Carbon Footprint Is Meaningless Posted: 16 Sep 2019 02:24 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photo GettyThis story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 220 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. Almost every good deed you've been asked to do to fight global warming is counterproductive. Individual behavior change isn't action—it's distraction. But worse than that: every carbon offset bought by a well-meaning liberal is another get-out-of-jail free card for the fossil fuel industry and the other major contributors to global climate destruction. It shifts the blame from the actual causes of climate change to fake ones, and shifts attention away from meaningful actions to meaningless, psychological ones. And by making real solutions harder to achieve, the mistaken focus on individual behavior change makes global warming worse.First, if you run the numbers, it's obvious that even if every do-gooder in the world changed their light bulbs to fluorescents, stopped going on vacation, and bought carbon offsets for every art project they built at Burning Man, none of this would make a dent in global carbon dioxide emissions. There just aren't enough bleeding hearts to go around.Moreover, individual behaviors are not the major causes of global warming. The major drivers are collective enterprises like power grids, industry, and transportation systems. Cutting back on flying while allowing cars and trucks to operate as usual is like drinking diet soda with a bacon double cheeseburger. Their benefit is negligible, and totally negated by the much, much larger problems that are going unchecked.Fighting global warming takes systemic change, collective action, and cooperation (witting or not) among much larger populations, not just those motivated (and privileged) enough to make changes by themselves. It takes legislation to shift the most carbon-intensive industries—energy production, transportation, and food production—who will not change on their own. And it takes real solutions for China and India, who are rapidly approaching United States levels of resource consumption, and who have no intention of missing out on the benefits that Europe and the U.S. have enjoyed (itself an offensive, colonialist notion).Let's look at some of the numbers.Twenty-five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity generation. If you turn off the light when you leave the room, will that make a difference? Not at all. In the immediate term, excess electricity is dumped back into the grid. Nor, in the long term, will it even matter if everyone switched off their lights. Demand may go down a tiny bit, but only a tiny bit.What would help? If power grids shifted from fossil fuels (coal, fracked gas, oil) to renewables like wind and solar. That's how to move the needle on global warming: collective solutions to collective problems. But that takes collective action, government action, and serious plans for workers displaced by the changes.To take a second example, transportation is responsible for another 14 percent of emissions. Does that mean you shouldn't take your next vacation, as some well-intentioned writers have seriously suggested? Of course not. First, commercial aircraft account for only 7 percent of transportation-related emissions. Passenger cars account for 42 percent, and all trucks 41 percent. The solutions in this area, obviously, are to increase fuel efficiency standards, charge a tax on high-emitting vehicles, stop regulating SUVs like cars when they're really trucks, subsidize electric and hybrid vehicles, and use tax policies to incentivize local products to decrease the amount of trucking. And what about the rest of the world? Is it reasonable to expect newly rich residents of China, India, and elsewhere to abstain from the air travel that Americans have enjoyed for decades? No, it's colonialist. But without China and India, what is the point of this individual self-deprivation?I could go on and on, but the point is the same every time. Individual actions are meaningless when collective actions aren't taken.Why do we do them, then?Control and consolation. For those who understand the science, global warming is a terrifying reality. My daughter's world will be so much worse than mine: half a billion climate refugees, ethno-nationalist backlashes to that unprecedented migration, global food disruptions, massive expenditures to mitigate the effects of flooding, crop shifts, extreme weather events. I have to do something, right? Changing my individual behavior feels empowering, maybe even virtuous. The world may be going to hell, but I'm doing my part. Indeed, the self-deprivation is part of the point. By making painful sacrifices, I feel like I'm making a difference.Unfortunately, not only is this view false; it's also profoundly counterproductive.First, this kind of self-martyrdom detracts from the kind of change that's actually needed. The environment doesn't need martyrs; it needs pragmatic, committed activists. Every bit of energy I waste on ineffective, virtuous action is energy that should be spent on defeating Republicans, who, at least for now, are wholly in the thrall of the fossil fuel industry. With a Democratic Congress and a Democratic president, the United States could be making progress on global warming in 2021.And incidentally, that would be true of any Democrat. The Green New Deal is an appealing slogan and a provocative program, but specific policies are a distant second, when it comes to global warming, to placing scientifically based realists in positions of power. The sole focus of anyone alarmed by global warming should be electing Democrats, of any ideological stripe, to federal and state government.Second, the focus on individual behavior makes fighting global warming more controversial, while letting the actual entities causing of climate change off the hook. As Elizabeth Warren recently pointed out in an exchange on CNN, individual sacrifices—she mentioned straws, light bulbs, and cheeseburgers—"are exactly what the fossil fuel industry hopes we're talking about."No one likes paper straws. If fighting global warming is about making annoying personal sacrifices, those who most need to be persuaded of climate change's reality will instead turn away from it. Meanwhile, Warren continued, 70 percent of U.S. global warming emissions come from three industries: fossil fuels, electric power, and construction. Shift the power grid to renewables, and you can use as many straws as you want. (Side-note: plastic straws pollute the oceans, not the atmosphere. It's not even the same issue.)Now, collective change is hard. It requires progressives to do things like compromise, persuade, and engage with the 28 percent of Americans who describe themselves as "cautious" or "disengaged" about climate change, rather than isolate themselves into cozy bubbles where everyone uses canvas bags. It requires latte-sipping liberals like me to empathize with people who really like eating meat and driving cars and work to adapt climate solutions to their life choices, instead of being contemptuous of them. Most of all, it requires pragmatism over utopianism, to which many progressives are almost congenitally allergic.But the planet does not have time for our preferences.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Teen died from birthday meal even after he told restaurant of allergy, coroner rules Posted: 16 Sep 2019 09:20 AM PDT  Owen Carey collapsed about an hour after he ate the grilled chicken in April 2017. A corner ruled that he died from a "severe anaphylactic reaction."
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| US strike on Iran would be disastrous for the region — and likely for the US Posted: 16 Sep 2019 07:33 AM PDT  The US is accusing Iran of attacks on a key Saudi oil facility. Experts warn a US strike on Iran would be counterproductive — even dangerous.
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