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Saturday, August 31, 2019

China rejected HK plan to withdraw bill: sources

China rejected HK plan to withdraw bill: sources

China recently rejected a formal submission from Hong Kong for a "full withdrawal" of an unpopular extradition bill.

That's according to three government sources who spoke exclusively with Reuters.

The bill is a key issue that's sparked months of protests in the city.

China's rejection represents concrete evidence of Beijing's control over the Hong Kong government's response to the protests.

It also calls into question China's promise that Hong Kong would have a high degree of autonomy.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE CARRIE LAM, SAYING:

"I reiterate here, there is no such plan. The bill is dead."

Dead - but not 'withdrawn.'

Lam has stopped short of using that term, only saying work on the bill has stopped.

The protests didn't stop. They've lasted twelve straight weeks.

In press conferences, Lam has not been clear on whether she has the autonomy to withdraw the bill herself.

But one source told Reuters, Lam herself has said that her hands are tied and that Beijing wouldn't allow her to withdraw the bill.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS' SENIOR CORRESPONDENT JAMES POMFRET (OFF-CAMERA), SAYING:

"Do you have the autonomy or not to withdraw the extradition bill? You have not answered the question, you have evaded the question."

Protesters' concerns have grown over the last few months, outlined in a list of five demands, including calls for fully democratic elections.

Protesters are also demanding a probe into excessive use of police force during the protests.

One source said that the demands were outlined in Lam's proposal to Beijing, and that even President Xi Jinping was aware of it.

Beijing rejected all five demands.

In recent weeks there have been signs of Beijing taking a harder line, with officials likening the protests to 'terrorism', paramilitary police conducting drills near the border and pressuring Hong Kong companies to suspend staff that supported the protests.

Lam's office did not comment directly on whether it has made a request to withdraw the bill.

China's central government also did not respond to requests for comment.




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'Your numbers are fake': Puerto Rico newspaper slams Trump for touting hurricane aid claim

'Your numbers are fake': Puerto Rico newspaper slams Trump for touting hurricane aid claim"Mr. President: Your Numbers Are Fake," reads El Nuevo Dia's headline, referring to Trump's claim that the U.S. has allocated $92 billion for P.R.




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Convicted RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan stabbed in California prison: reports

Convicted RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan stabbed in California prison: reportsSirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian refugee found guilty of shooting U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy to death in 1968, was wounded in a stabbing at a California prison on Friday, according to media reports. Celebrity website TMZ, citing unnamed sources, was first to report that Sirhan, 75, had been stabbed. Replying to a request for confirmation that Sirhan was wounded, Jeffrey Callison, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said an inmate had been stabbed at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.




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Boston's Straight Pride Parade draws hundreds of marchers and even more counter protesters

Boston's Straight Pride Parade draws hundreds of marchers and even more counter protestersAfter months of debate, a Straight Pride Parade took place place Saturday in Boston. They were outnumbered by counter protesters.




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One dead, nine wounded in French knife attack

One dead, nine wounded in French knife attackA 19-year-old man was killed and another nine wounded, three seriously, on Saturday in a knife attack near the French city of Lyon, a regional official and emergency services said. Two men, one armed with a knife and the other with a skewer, carried out the attack in Villeurbanne, a Lyon suburb, in southeastern France, the official said, without giving further details on the motive for the stabbing.




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Hurricane Dorian track update: Storm strengthens to Cat 4 storm, may turn before FL landfall

Hurricane Dorian track update: Storm strengthens to Cat 4 storm, may turn before FL landfallHurricane Dorian has gained fearsome new muscle as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm. Latest models show Dorian turning before landfall in Florida meaning possible impact near the NC coast later this week.




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Look Closely for Coco Gauff’s Homage to New York Tennis


By BY BEN ROTHENBERG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2HCyUvH

Hurricane Dorian is churning towards Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina – Here is where and when it's due to strike

Hurricane Dorian is churning towards Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina – Here is where and when it's due to strikeHurricane Dorian's path is nearing Florida, where it is no longer projected to make landfall, but still cause 'devastating hurricane-force winds.'




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Kashmiris say Indian officers tortured them and shoved mud in their mouths so they couldn't scream. The army denies it ever happened.

Kashmiris say Indian officers tortured them and shoved mud in their mouths so they couldn't scream. The army denies it ever happened.A new BBC report details gruesome allegations from civilians living in Kashmiri villages known to be hubs of anti-India militant groups.




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Illinois governor pardons Army vet deported to Mexico

Illinois governor pardons Army vet deported to MexicoThe governor of lllinois said Friday he's erased the drug conviction of an Army veteran who was deported to Mexico in 2018, a step that the man's supporters hope will help him return to the U.S. "I recognize this pardon is not a perfect solution, but it is the most just action to take to allow a U.S. veteran the opportunity to be treated fairly by the country he served," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. Miguel Perez Jr., 41, who was born in Mexico, doesn't have U.S. citizenship but had a green card as a permanent U.S. resident.




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Hurricane Dorian path update shows storm track could turn, potentially impact Carolinas

Hurricane Dorian path update shows storm track could turn, potentially impact CarolinasHurricane Dorian has gained fearsome new muscle as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm. Latest models show Dorian turning before landfall in Florida meaning possible impact near the NC coast later this week.




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What If Obama Endorses Warren?

What If Obama Endorses Warren?Barack Obama thinks about his brand and his legacy a lot, and he dreads what Joe Biden might do to it. This month alone, Biden mistook New Hampshire for Vermont even though the sole reason he was in that part of the country was the first-in-the-nation primary, which is famously not held in Vermont. He said RFK was assassinated in the 1970s. He said he couldn’t remember the name of the British prime minister in the midst of bragging about his foreign-policy chops. And he speculated about what it might have been like if Obama had been assassinated.This last, ghastly gaffe might be too much for Obama to take. Obama believes his brand is cool, technocratic, tightly controlled, a bit wonkish and professorial, inspirational, buttoned-down, Ivy League, definitely forward-looking. Biden is warm, free-wheeling, intellectually ungifted, frank and unguarded to the point of outright sloppiness, so old he served in the Senate alongside segregationist Democrats, and so out of touch he actually touts his friendship with these guys. Obama thought back in 2008 Biden was so old that he would never again run for president, his team strongly discouraged Biden from entering the race in the fall of 2015, and Biden’s jaw-dropping string of verbal blunders indicates a strong possibility of incipient cognitive decline.As Barack Obama surveys the Democratic contenders for 2020, he must be thinking: 1) None of these people has half my political skills but 2) Elizabeth Warren is my kind of gal. Warren is also cool, wonky, and professorial, also a Harvard product. Though she is 70, she looks younger and hasn’t displayed any signs of cognitive decline. Like Obama, she would be labeled a “historic” president. If she reached the Oval Office, he wouldn’t have to cringe every time she opened her mouth. He wouldn’t have to worry that her back-slapping tendencies would allow her to get rolled by Mitch McConnell. He trusts her so much that he let her guide one of his signature achievements, setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.One poll released in late August gave Warren a one-point lead over Biden. Two other polls released in the second half of August show her within three points of Biden. True, most others give him a double-digit lead, and some have her in third place, albeit narrowly, behind Bernie Sanders. Yet she’s close enough that Obama must be wondering if his endorsement could vault her into the lead position.What then? Like everyone else on earth, Obama notices that Biden looks like a much stronger candidate than Warren in a matchup against Trump. Warren might well be Hillary 2.0: She’s off-putting. She’s smug. She’s . . . a she. Polls show Democrats are extremely worried that the American people won’t accept  a woman president. The more she uses words like “My Daddy” and ostentatiously drinks beer, the less relatable she is. It’s hard to imagine the American people are thinking, “Yes, this is the voice I want to listen to every day for the next four years.”So there would be risk involved in backing Warren. But from Obama’s perspective, there’s also risk involved in Biden’s becoming president and embarrassing him every day. Maybe even, in his dotage, Biden might let what’s left of the Obama legacy slip away. If Obama thinks like most Democrats, he probably believes that nonsensical hullabaloo about email servers, not Hillary Clinton’s deficiencies as a candidate or sexism, was what cost her the presidency.Obama proved to be a failure at almost everything except getting Obama elected to office, but he is not a man notable for a modest view of his own skills. He must be thinking his star power could restore black turnout to levels approaching where it was when he was on the ballot. He must be thinking that with a push from him, and a little help from his turnout wizards, Elizabeth Warren could avoid Hillary Clinton’s errors and enter the White House.If Obama were to endorse Warren, the 2020 Democratic primaries would be upended, and Obama would be praised for lighting a path to a genuinely progressive presidency. And if Biden won the nomination anyway, no biggie: Obama could simply campaign for him in the general election and settle for a less-than-ideal Democratic presidency. I’m guessing Obama comes out strong for Warren.




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Statue resembling Trump erected in Melania's home country Slovenia

Statue resembling Trump erected in Melania's home country SloveniaA large wooden sculpture that strongly resembles Donald Trump was erected this week in Slovenia, home country of Trump's wife Melania, though its designer insists it is meant to represent a "statue of liberty", not the U.S. president. Tom Schlegl's 8-metre (26 foot) statue in the village of Sela, north of the capital Ljubljana, depicts a man with blond hair and an angry expression, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie. "I designed the statue because people have forgotten what the Statue of Liberty stands for.




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US police fire pepper spray after pro-Trump 'Straight Pride' parade

US police fire pepper spray after pro-Trump 'Straight Pride' paradeUS police fired pepper spray Saturday after counter-demonstrators accused them of protecting "Straight Pride" advocates who support President Donald Trump, and refused to let officers re-open a road. The unrest came after the counter-protesters and "Straight Pride" group -- considered homophobic extremists by their opponents -- staged dueling rallies in Boston. Officers fired pepper spray and made several arrests.




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President says decision on whether to order evacuations in Florida will be made on Sunday

President says decision on whether to order evacuations in Florida will be made on SundayDonald Trump has said the decision on whether to evacuate residents of Florida to protect them from Hurricane Dorian, would be made on Sunday after meeting with officials.As he left the White House for the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland, he said members of the federal emergency management agency (FEMA) would be joining him to monitor events.




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Hong Kong activists freed on bail, protest march banned

Hong Kong activists freed on bail, protest march bannedHong Kong activist Joshua Wong and another core member of a pro-democracy group were granted bail after being charged with inciting people to join a protest in June, while authorities denied permission for a major march Saturday as they took what appears to be a harder line on this summer's protests. The organizers of the march on the fifth anniversary of a decision by China against allowing fully democratic elections for the leader of Hong Kong said they were calling it off after an appeals board denied permission. The police commander of Hong Kong island, Kwok Pak Chung, appealed to people to stay away from any unauthorized rallies, warning that those caught could face a five-year jail term.




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Iran goes further in breaching nuclear deal, IAEA report shows

Iran goes further in breaching nuclear deal, IAEA report showsIran has gone further in breaching its nuclear deal with world powers, increasing its stock of enriched uranium and refining it to a greater purity than allowed, the U.N. atomic agency report said on Friday. The quarterly report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is policing the 2015 deal, confirms Iran is progressively backing out of the deal in retaliation for Washington's withdrawal form the accord and renewal of sanctions that have hit Iranian oil sales. Iran has said it will breach the deal's limits on its nuclear activities one by one, ratcheting up pressure on parties who still hope to save it.




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2020 Vision: 'Gaffe machine' in high gear, Biden's campaign says it doesn't matter

2020 Vision: 'Gaffe machine' in high gear, Biden's campaign says it doesn't matterA new poll shows Trump trailing the top Democratic contenders in a hypothetical 2020 general election match-up. The next step for Democrats is a strong debate performance on Sept. 12. Also crucial is a campaign’s follow-through.




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Woman tosses Molotov cocktail into Fla. Citizenship office

Woman tosses Molotov cocktail into Fla. Citizenship officeA woman tossed a lit Molotov cocktail into the lobby of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Oakland Park, Florida. No one was reported injured, according to a report of the incident sent to Trump administration officials and viewed by The Associated Press. Law enforcement officials believe the woman intended to cause harm but the incident wasn't related to other ones where Homeland Security agencies were targeted.




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View Photos of the 2020 Ford Explorer ST

View Photos of the 2020 Ford Explorer ST




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Dorian is forecast to become a Category 3 'major' hurricane. What does this mean?

Dorian is forecast to become a Category 3 'major' hurricane. What does this mean?The latest forecast has Dorian strengthening into a major Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph by Sunday off the U.S. East Coast.




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Wreck of paddle steamer throws light on British support for Confederacy slave states during US Civil War

Wreck of paddle steamer throws light on British support for Confederacy slave states during US Civil WarBritain has long been proud of its historically progressive attitude to slavery, frequently pointing to the fact that this country abolished the trade across its territories as early as 1833. But beneath the waters of Liverpool Bay lies something that should dent our complacency about this country’s role in the ending of human bondage. The wreck of the paddle steamer Leila, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1865, sheds new light on the actions of some British businessmen in supporting the southern slave states of the Confederacy during the US Civil War. Now the wreck - described by historians as “one of the most historically-significant in the north west” - is to be granted protected status on the advice of Historic England. The 19th century paddle steamer was on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Bermuda loaded with guns and supplies for Confederate forces when it foundered on 14th January 1865 during stormy weather in Liverpool Bay, with the loss of 47 lives. The wreck on the Leila on the seabed in Liverpool Bay Credit: Historic England Leila was secretly built in Liverpool on behalf of the Confederate Government late in the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 as a purpose-built vessel to run the blockade imposed on the southern states by the Union forces of Abraham Lincoln. She was technically advanced for her day and was designed to evade the northern Union ships enforcing the blockade. Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England said: “The Lelia is one of a small group of British ships involved in British complicity in running guns and munitions to the Confederates. “Though the UK remained officially neutral throughout the American Civil War, the Leila comprises evidence of the British financing of blockade runners that sent munitions and luxuries to Confederate ports in return for cotton and tobacco. As such it is very significant as historical evidence.” Although the British Government’s position on the blockade was officially neutral, opinion in Britain over the issue of the Civil War was split. Many Lancashire cotton workers supported the blockade and the Union’s fight against the slave states, even though it resulted in a downturn in the weaving industry and severe hardship for their families. Such was their support for the abolitionist cause that a statue of Lincoln was erected in their honour in 1919, with a plaque reproducing his letter of 19th January 1863 to the Manchester cotton workers thanking them for their support. Statue of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Square, Manchester, inscribed with his letter of thanks to the city's cotton weavers Credit: Phil Portus / Alamy Stock Photo But there were those in Britain willing to take advantage of the war and help supply the slave states with goods and materials. At the start of the Civil War, the Confederacy lacked the manufacturing capacity to compete with the more industrialised northern states and so relied on importing war supplies, including guns and ammunition, to sustain its war effort. It acquired fast steamships, mainly paddle steamers, from British and other shipbuilders, intended to breach the naval blockade of its main ports imposed by the Union in 1861 in an attempt to strangle the southern war effort.  They hoped a combination of speed and stealth would help them to break the blockade, enabling them to carry cotton and tobacco to Europe and war supplies back to the Confederacy. The Lelia was built in Millers shipyard in Toxteth, Liverpool, where shipbuilders had been experimenting with the early use of steel, which, being lighter than iron, allowed for larger cargo space and greater speed - perfect for blockade runners. The paddle steamer was only identified in 1997 after a bell marked ‘Lelia 1864’ was recovered from close to the wreck beneath Liverpool Bay by a local diver. An infra-red photograph of the wreck of the Leila Credit: Historic England The partially-buried remains of the Leila include one of the paddle wheels, the engine and boiler rooms, less well-preserved cargo areas and a steam winch.  The deck and all structures that were on it have not survived, but as much as 1.9m of its hull remains buried in the seabed, raising the prospect that its cargo of British-manufactured munitions and machinery may have been partially preserved . The Leila is one of three blockade busters to have been discovered in British waters. The other is the paddle steamer Iona II, which sank in 1864 in foggy conditions close to the Isle of Lundy in the Bristol Channel on her first trans-Atlantic voyage. The Iona II’s sister ship Iona I, also a paddle steamer believed to be involved in gun-running, was lost in 1862 in the inner Clyde Estuary, near Greenock, in Scotland. Rebecca Pow, Heritage Minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Protecting sites like the wreck of the Lelia helps us to preserve an important story about Britain’s role in the American Civil War.  “Although the conflict happened over a hundred years ago, it is right that we ensure the protection of this site so we can learn more about one of the most significant shipwrecks off the coast of North West England and broaden our knowledge about our nation's seafaring history." A print depicting the upsetting of the Liverpool lifeboat during its ill fated attempt to rescue the crew of the Leila Credit: Historic England




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October Democratic presidential primary debate to be held in Ohio, state party says

October Democratic presidential primary debate to be held in Ohio, state party saysThe debate could stretch into two nights if more candidates meet the polling and fundraising qualifications before Oct. 1.




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Friday, August 30, 2019

Utah man found guilty of running massive opioid ring

Utah man found guilty of running massive opioid ringA Utah man was convicted Friday of running a multimillion-dollar opioid ring that sent hundreds of thousands of potentially deadly pills across the country in a scheme that authorities said helped fuel the nation's opioid epidemic. A jury reached the verdict after deliberating less than a day in the case against Aaron Shamo. "He's 29 and his life is over," defense attorney Greg Skordas said after the verdict was read.




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Trump faked phone call with China at G-7 summit, White House aides admit

Trump faked phone call with China at G-7 summit, White House aides admitThe mystery behind a confusing phone call Donald Trump claims he had with "China" has been disclosed: The president made it up to try to boost the market.




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The Pentagon was apparently blindsided by a Trump administration move that affects some children of deployed troops

The Pentagon was apparently blindsided by a Trump administration move that affects some children of deployed troopsA new policy affecting the citizenship of children born to some US service members appears to have surprised the Department of Defense.




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Appeals court reinstates lawsuit in SC church shooting case

Appeals court reinstates lawsuit in SC church shooting caseA lawsuit over a faulty background check that allowed a South Carolina man to buy the gun he used to kill nine people in a racist attack at a Charleston church was reinstated Friday by a federal appeals court. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a ruling from a lower court judge who threw out the claims brought by relatives of people killed by Dylann Roof in the 2015 massacre, and by survivors. The FBI has acknowledged that Roof's drug possession arrest in Columbia, South Carolina, weeks before the shooting at AME Emanuel Church should have prevented him from buying a gun.




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Hurricane Dorian: Trump warns Florida of 'one of the biggest' as Category 3 storm barrels towards US mainland

Hurricane Dorian: Trump warns Florida of 'one of the biggest' as Category 3 storm barrels towards US mainlandHurricane Dorian is gaining strength at it approaches Florida, with forecasters warning it could grow into a dangerous storm before it hits the Sunshine State.The storm has moved out into open waters after hitting Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, where it caused power cuts and flooding in places.




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Israel 'plants dummy decoy' soldiers on border with Lebanon after Hizbollah threats

Israel 'plants dummy decoy' soldiers on border with Lebanon after Hizbollah threatsIsrael has positioned dummy decoys dressed as soldiers on the border with Lebanon, according to local reports, as the country prepares for strikes by Hizbollah. Israel and Hizbollah, which last fought a war in 2006, are on high alert after Israel carried out a series of attacks on the group in Lebanon and neighbouring Syria and Hizbollah promised a retaliation. Lebanese journalist Ali Shueib, who works for Hizbollah’s al-Manar TV station, tweeted photos of off-road army vehicles with what appeared to be a mannequin in the front seat. “Stop the jokes,” he tweeted, saying that using these dummies only reveals “‘stupidity and foolishness’ because you have not learned that you are facing men that have the intelligence, professionalism, courage, and faith to defeat.” خلصنا المزح بموضوع الجيب ✋ هذه الفضيحة كفيلة بإسقاط رؤوس كبيرة في جيشكم !! لأنها تدل عن "غباء وحمق" لأنكم لم تتعلموا بعد انكم بمواجة رجال لديهم من الحكمة والحرفية والشجاعة والإيمان مايكفي لهزيمتكم !!انضبوا وضبوا تماثيلكم .. هالحركات حتى الأطفال بلعبة الغميضة ما بيعملوها ✋ pic.twitter.com/0FqVHC0hF9— علي شعيب ���� (@ali_shoeib1) August 29, 2019 Or Heller, an Israeli military correspondent for Channel 10 News, posted a close-up of the dummy taken from the other side of the vehicle, suggesting that Israel had placed it there in anticipation of a Hizbollah assault. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has been known to use mannequins, placing them in bunkers or sniper’s nests in an effort to trick its enemies into thinking they are manned by soldiers and leading them to reveal their position. Hizbollah, which is backed by Iran, have been warning they intend to carry out “calculated strike” against Israel in the coming days, in revenge for an Israeli strike in Syria which killed two Hizbollah fighters and a drone attack which is reported to have targeted precision-missile technology over the weekend. וכך ניראות הבובות בקו, בתמונה שחבר צפוני צילם. ברקע: ההבנה בצהל שנארסראללה סינדל את עצמו לתגובה על תקיפת הרחפנים בדאחייה. בדפוסי הפעולה האפשריים שלו: מטען, ירי צליפה, או ירי טילים נגד טנקים. pic.twitter.com/0jJ3QGc2iB— Or Heller אור הלר (@OrHeller) August 29, 2019 Sources close to the Shia movement had indicated to the Telegraph that the group would look to attack Israeli troops along the border and send drones into the country in a "like-for-like" retaliation for the drone attack. Israel is fighting a shadow war with arch-foe Iran, targeting its proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and attempting to disturb the flow of weapons. On its Twitter account on Thursday, the IDF went public with what it said were details about an extensive Iranian-sponsored project to provide Hizbollah with the means to produce precision-guided missiles. It released the names of four Iranian Quds Forces officers it alleged to be training Hizbollah members in Lebanon. Members of Lebanon's Shia Hizbollah movement carry the coffin of a fighter killed in Israeli strikes in Syria, during the funeral in the Ghobeiry neighbourhood of southern Beirut Credit: AFP Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said Tehran had in recent months increased the pace of the project such that it was "faster in terms of buildings, facilities, locations, conversion and manufacturing facilities, and it means more people, operatives involved in doing so". "It is time for them (the Lebanese government) to understand their responsibility and understand the fact that what they are letting Hizbollah and Iran do on Lebanese soil is their responsibility," Lt Col. Conricus said. Israel has said that it holds the Lebanese state responsible for Hizbollah’s actions since the movement now has MPs in parliament. Lebanon on Wednesday opened fire on Israeli drones operating inside Lebanese airspace, after warning its neighbour it would defend its sovereignty.




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Judge ends case against Epstein, with a nod to the accusers

Judge ends case against Epstein, with a nod to the accusersA judge formally ended the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, but not without a final tribute to the women who spoke out against the financier.




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Omar tweets she received death threat targeting her at the Minnesota State Fair

Omar tweets she received death threat targeting her at the Minnesota State Fair"I hate that we live in a world where you have to be protected from fellow humans," said Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota.




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Why the Resignation of a Key Scottish Leader Is a Sign the U.K. Could Break Apart Over Brexit

Why the Resignation of a Key Scottish Leader Is a Sign the U.K. Could Break Apart Over BrexitThe leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland has quit her post one day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to suspend Parliament ahead of Brexit.




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The Latest: Dorian strengthens as it eyes Southeast US

The Latest: Dorian strengthens as it eyes Southeast USHurricane Dorian is strengthening as it moves toward the U.S. Southeast coast. The National Hurricane Center said Thursday evening that Dorian should move over the Atlantic well east of the southeastern and central Bahamas on Thursday and Friday. The Miami-based hurricane center says the storm could grow into a dangerous Category 3 storm by Labor Day as it pushes northwest in the general direction of Florida.




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HMS Terror shipwreck offers up secrets of lost Arctic expedition

HMS Terror shipwreck offers up secrets of lost Arctic expeditionAlmost two centuries after descending to its watery grave, the HMS Terror could offer up new clues to its demise -- and solve one of the most enduring mysteries in the history of Arctic discovery. The Terror vanished alongside the HMS Erebus during explorer Sir John Franklin's storied Arctic expedition that left Britain in 1845 to discover the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Erebus was found in Victoria Strait in 2014, while the Terror was located under 24 meters (80 feet) of water two years later in what is now known as Terror Bay, off King William Island, Nunavut.




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West Virginia state senator charged with prostitution

West Virginia state senator charged with prostitutionWest Virginia state Sen. Mike Maroney has been charged with soliciting a prostitute. The Republican lawmaker turned himself in and was arraigned Wednesday morning, a Marshall County court clerk said. Maroney exchanged text messages to discuss prices and set up meetings with a woman who has acknowledged being a prostitute, according to a criminal complaint.




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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out. Here are the 3 big winners.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out. Here are the 3 big winners.Insider has been tracking how many candidates' fans like other candidates. Gillibrand's exit could help Sen. Elizabeth Warren consolidate support.




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Trump: US to keep 8,600 troops in Afghanistan after deal with Taliban

Trump: US to keep 8,600 troops in Afghanistan after deal with TalibanPresident Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States will keep a permanent presence in Afghanistan, with 8,600 troops initially, even after a deal is reached with the Taliban. "We're going down to 8,600 and then we make a determination from there," Trump said in an interview with Fox News radio. Despite overwhelming advantages in firepower, the US military has little to show for its efforts and Trump is hoping he can declare the war over in time for his 2020 reelection campaign.




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UPDATE 1-FAA panel reviewing 737 MAX certification will take additional time

UPDATE 1-FAA panel reviewing 737 MAX certification will take additional timeThe Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday a blue-ribbon panel of experts around the world will need a few more weeks to finish its review into the Boeing 737 MAX certification. Boeing Co has said it hopes to receive regulatory approval for updated flight control software at the center of both crashes in October, but it could take a month or two for airlines to train pilots on the new software and prepare the jets for commercial flight after sitting idle for months. In September the NTSB plans to outline airplane design certification procedures, the head of the agency, Robert Sumwalt, told Congress in July.




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Wave of child sex abuse lawsuits threatens Boy Scouts

Wave of child sex abuse lawsuits threatens Boy ScoutsThe Boy Scouts of America is facing a threat from a growing wave of lawsuits over decades-old allegations of sexual abuse. The Scouts have been sued in multiple states in recent months by purported abuse victims, including plaintiffs taking advantage of new state laws or court decisions that are now allowing suits previously barred because of the age of the allegations. A lawyer representing 150 people who say they were abused as Boy Scouts is planning a suit in New Jersey when the state's new civil statute of limitations law takes effect Dec. 1.




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Rep. Omar dismisses questions about alleged affair, campaign funds as 'stupid'

Rep. Omar dismisses questions about alleged affair, campaign funds as 'stupid'Rep. Ilhan Omar under fire from Federal Election Commission; Gillian Turner has the details.




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Alabama Governor Apologizes for Blackface Skit, Refuses to Resign

Alabama Governor Apologizes for Blackface Skit, Refuses to ResignAlabama Governor Kay Ivey apologized Thursday for a blackface skit she participated in while a student at Auburn University during the 1960s.“I offer my heartfelt apologies for the pain and embarrassment this causes, and I will do all I can — going forward — to help show the nation that the Alabama of today is a far cry from the Alabama of the 1960s,” Ivey said in a statement. “We have come a long way, for sure, but we still have a long way to go.”The Republican governor, 74, stopped short of capitulating to calls from Alabama Democrats to resign, however.“While some may attempt to excuse this as acceptable behavior for a college student during the mid-1960s, that is not who I am today, and it is not what my Administration represents all these years later,” Ivey insisted.The governor claimed she cannot recall either the skit or a 1967 interview on a campus radio program with her then-fiancé, who described how Ivey had "had put some black paint all over her face" for the bit. However, she acknowledged she had likely participated in such a skit and said she has "genuine remorse" now for her involvement.Democratic state representative Terri Sewell dismissed Ivey's apology as not reparation enough, saying the governor's actions are "reprehensible and are deeply offensive."Her words of apology ring hollow if not met with real action to bridge the racial divide," Sewell added.




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Trump suggests he should have extra time as president, in rant over ‘dishonest fool’ Comey’s leaks

Trump suggests he should have extra time as president, in rant over ‘dishonest fool’ Comey’s leaksDonald Trump has suggested he should be given “stolen time back” due to “how unfairly” he has been treated by the FBI and its investigations into him.“The disastrous IG Report on James Comey shows, in the strongest of terms, how unfairly I, and tens of millions of great people who support me, were treated,” Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning.




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View Photos of the 2020 Volvo XC60 Polestar

View Photos of the 2020 Volvo XC60 Polestar




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US service member killed in Afghanistan: NATO

US service member killed in Afghanistan: NATOAn American service member was killed in Afghanistan, the US-led NATO mission said Friday, the latest US fatality as talks between the US and the Taliban continue. "A US service member died during combat operations in Afghanistan, August 29, 2019," NATO's Resolute Support mission said in a statement. The death brings to at least 15 the number of members of the US military to be killed in action in Afghanistan this year, just as Washington is seeking a way out of its longest war.




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155 migrants force entry into Spain's Ceuta enclave

155 migrants force entry into Spain's Ceuta enclaveA group of 155 migrants forced their way into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Friday, Spanish authorities said. "They are all from sub-Saharan Africa, the majority from Guinea," a spokesman for the central government's office in Ceuta told AFP.




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Poland still counts losses from WW2 invasion

As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the start of World War Two, Poland has reparations on its mind.

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Thursday, August 29, 2019

Tulsi Gabbard Slams DNC for ‘Lack of Transparency’ after Failing to Qualify for Upcoming Dem Debate

Tulsi Gabbard Slams DNC for ‘Lack of Transparency’ after Failing to Qualify for Upcoming Dem DebateRepresentative Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) denounced the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for its “lack of transparency” Wednesday night after learning that she likely won't qualify for the third Democratic primary debate.“I think the bigger problem is that the whole process really lacks transparency,” Gabbard told Fox News' Tucker Carlson.  “People deserve having that transparency because ultimately it's the people who will decide who our Democratic nominee will be.”“When you see that lack of transparency,” she added, “it creates a lack of faith and trust in the process.”Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran and staunch isolationist, has reached the individual donor threshold to qualify for the upcoming nationally-televised debate next month but, according to the DNC, has fallen two polls short of clearing the public support threshold as of the Wednesday deadline.Asked to explain why the DNC wouldn't recognize a number of polls that would have helped her qualify for the debate, Gabbard suggested the DNC's standards were opaque and helped propagate the notion that national politics are controlled by a cabal of “political elites.”“Really what they see is a small group of of really powerful political elites, the establishment making decisions that serve their interests and maintaining that power while the rest of us are left outside. The American people are left behind,” Gabbard said.The DNC came under fire following the 2016 presidential election after it was revealed that the institution worked to secure the Democratic nomination for Hillary Clinton at the expense of Bernie Sanders.Carlson labeled the DNC's efforts on behalf of Clinton “rigging” during the Wednesday night program and suggested similar machinations may be at work this election cycle.“You got sideways with the political establishment last presidential cycle because you didn't jump aboard the Hillary Clinton express immediately,” Carlson said. “Then we learned that there was activity that looked a lot like rigging . . . in order to steer one candidate towards victory and hamstring another.”




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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologizes for participating in blackface skit in college

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologizes for participating in blackface skit in college"I offer my heartfelt apologies for the pain and embarrassment this causes," Ivey said.




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The Man Trump Wishes He Were


By BY DAVID BROOKS from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2HwhVuK

Trump Authorizes a Space Command. Next, He Wants a Space Force.


By BY KATIE ROGERS AND HELENE COOPER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/327j042

Portuguese national interrupts TV interview, gives moving speech about Brexit's impact

Portuguese national interrupts TV interview, gives moving speech about Brexit's impactAnother spanner has been thrown into the works in the countdown to Brexit. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked the Queen to suspend parliament which will scupper MPs chances to block a no-deal Brexit. On Wednesday, the Queen approved Johnson's request, prompting a national outcry and protests across the country.During a Central London protest against prorogation (the official term for the suspension of parliament), a Portuguese woman, who has lived and worked in the UK for 20 years, interrupted an interview and delivered an impassioned and extremely moving speech about Brexit's impact on her life."I'm Portuguese and I worked here for 20 years and I have no voice and the Settlement Scheme is not working," the woman -- whose name is unknown -- told Sky News. The woman is referring to the EU Settlement Scheme, which allows EU citizens to apply to continue living in the UK once it's no longer part of the European Union. She had been attending the protest, stating her reason for attending as "because I need a voice." "I gave this country my youth, I'm very grateful for what you taught me but you must make me part of all this process," she said. "I can't just be kicked out, I've built things for you, I've looked after your children, I looked after the elderly in this country, now you kick me out with what?"> A Portuguese national interrupted an interview to speak passionately to Sky News during protests against prorogation, saying she had "given her youth" to the UK > > For more on this story, head here: https://t.co/Bw9GJrZl0b pic.twitter.com/sFCZ1cnvrO> > -- Sky News (@SkyNews) August 28, 2019Per BBC News, a no-deal Brexit would result in the UK immediately exiting the EU with no agreement on Oct. 31. "Overnight, the UK would leave the single market and customs union -- arrangements designed to help trade between EU members by eliminating checks and tariffs (taxes on imports)," the BBC explains.The woman said she is "very, very hurt" by what's happening to the country. As she was about to walk away from the interview, the Sky News journalist urged her not to go away, and asked what was happening with her Settlement Status application. She explained that she'd been told her National Insurance number (the UK version of Social Security) didn't "correspond to the right thing" and she's been told she has to restart the whole process. "Oct. 31 is fast approaching, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? How am I going to stay? What are my rights?" she said.  WATCH: Watch Zuckerberg's face freeze after a far-right politician credited Facebook for Trump's win and Brexit




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