Monday, September 30, 2019

Alberto Salazar: Mo Farah's former coach banned from athletics for four years after doping violations

  September 30, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
https://ift.tt/2k8lUzU Salazar, Mo Farah's former athletics coach, has been banned from the sport for four years after being found guilty of doping violations.

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Tennessee teen dies by suicide after being outed online

  September 30, 2019      No comments   Edit
Classmates shared sexually explicit messages sent by the victim and he killed himself shortly after, according to his brother.

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Daughter still searching for New Mexico mother who vanished four months ago

  September 30, 2019      No comments   Edit
Jean Johnson, 70, was last heard from on May 26, 2019, at her home in Capitan, New Mexico. Her door was found ajar and her purse and phone were found locked inside her car. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department is investigating.

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Why Trump is increasingly desperate to avoid an impeachment conviction and win in 2020

  September 30, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Why Trump is increasingly desperate to avoid an impeachment conviction and win in 2020Trump needs the protection that comes with staying president. But Ukraine has accomplished what Robert Mueller could not: America is paying attention.




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Sunday, September 29, 2019

Trump impeachment T-shirts? Grow up, Rep. Tlaib. Removing a president is serious business.

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Trump impeachment T-shirts? Grow up, Rep. Tlaib. Removing a president is serious business.If Donald Trump is her tutor on tactics, Rashida Tlaib is doing it wrong. Neither of them serve Americans well by appealing to their coarser appetites.




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How Ukraine envoy's resignation could affect his possible congressional testimony

  September 29, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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How Ukraine envoy's resignation could affect his possible congressional testimonyKurt Volker, the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine, resigned Friday amid a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump and his communications with the Ukrainian government, including the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Volker did not provide a public explanation for leaving his post, but a source familiar with his decision said Volker concluded he could not perform the job effectively as a result of the recent developments.One person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Volker's resignation will likely enable him to be much freer in what he can say about his time at his post if he is called at some point to testify before Congress.The whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry alleges that Volker went to Kiev to help guide Ukrainian officials on how to handle Trump's alleged demands that the government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter. He also reportedly spoke with Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in an attempt to "contain the damage" to U.S. national security.Giuliani has said Volker encouraged him to meet with Ukrainian officials regarding the Biden family. That indeed appears to be the case, but The New York Times reports Volker was acting at the request of the Ukrainians, who were reportedly concerned about how Giuliani's attempts to procure information about the Bidens and other Democrats might affect their relationship with the U.S. Read more at NBC News and The New York Times.




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China ‘poised to unveil new nuclear missile’ at military parade in warning to Trump

  September 29, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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China ‘poised to unveil new nuclear missile’ at military parade in warning to TrumpA parade by China’s secretive military will offer a rare look at its rapidly developing arsenal, including possibly a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the United States in 30 minutes, as Beijing gets closer to matching Washington and other powers in weapons technology.The Dongfeng 41 is one of a series of new weapons Chinese media say might be unveiled during the parade marking the ruling Communist Party’s 70th anniversary in power.




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Ukraine must investigate Joe Biden's son, says ex-Ukrainian PM

  September 29, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Ukraine must investigate Joe Biden's son, says ex-Ukrainian PMMOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine must investigate the activities of U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden's son to establish whether his role in a Ukrainian gas company complied with the country's laws, Mykola Azarov, Ukraine's former prime minister, said in an interview. Azarov did not specify to which Ukrainian laws he was referring. Hunter Biden's role in the company, Burisma Holdings Limited, is in focus after the White House released a memo showing U.S. President Donald Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a July phone call to get prosecutors to look into his activities.




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Trailblazing Texas deputy who was first local Sikh officer 'ruthlessly' killed during traffic stop

  September 29, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Trailblazing Texas deputy who was first local Sikh officer 'ruthlessly' killed during traffic stopDeputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, the county's first Sikh officer, was killed Friday during a traffic stop near Houston. Police have arrested Robert Solis.




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Bochy loses to Dodgers 9-0 in final game as Giants manager

  September 29, 2019      No comments   Edit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Bruce Bochy bid an emotional farewell following 2 1/2 decades in what is certainly Hall of Fame managerial career, finishing with a 9-0 defeat to the mighty Dodgers on his last day as fans remained in their seats long after the game ended to celebrate a ...

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Saturday, September 28, 2019

Haiti Gripped by Violent Protests Amid Calls for President’s Ouster

  September 28, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
https://ift.tt/2LnJA3U, schools and banks were closed throughout the country, bringing the economy to a standstill. “President Jovenel Moise is not doing anything for us, just killing us,” said a protester.

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Friday, September 27, 2019

Judge blocks Trump administration from indefinitely detaining migrant children

  September 27, 2019      No comments   Edit
The judge found the regulations violated the terms of a 1997 settlement that set standards for the treatment of migrant children, including that they must be released from nonlicensed facilities within 20 days.

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Judge blocks Trump administration from indefinitely detaining migrant children

  September 27, 2019      No comments   Edit
The judge found the regulations violated the terms of a 1997 settlement that set standards for the treatment of migrant children, including that they must be released from nonlicensed facilities within 20 days.

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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Investigator says cop didn't commit crime; jury not present

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Investigator says cop didn't commit crime; jury not presentThe judge in the murder trial of a white Dallas police officer who fatally shot her black neighbor in his apartment blocked the lead investigator from telling jurors Wednesday that he didn't think the shooting was a crime. David Armstrong of the Texas Department of Public Safety testified for a second day in Amber Guyger's murder trial , but jurors weren't present when he shared his opinion that her actions were reasonable. Guyger has said she mistook Botham Jean's apartment for her own.




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'Just a second, please': El Salvador president's U.N. selfie eclipses speech

  September 26, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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'Just a second, please': El Salvador president's U.N. selfie eclipses speechBefore starting his first address before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, 38-year-old El Salvador President Nayib Bukele asked the audience to hold on a second, took out his phone, and snapped a selfie. "Believe me, many more people will see this selfie than will hear this speech," Bukele quipped before delivering his address calling on the United Nations to change with the times and for world leaders to do more to connect with their countries' youth. The former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, who took office in June, is a prolific user of social media.




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Texas executes man for murdering family

  September 26, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Texas executes man for murdering familyTexas on Wednesday executed a man who murdered three family members, following a trial in which a bailiff wore a tie depicting a syringe in an apparent reference to the lethal injection procedure. Robert Sparks, 45, was pronounced dead at 6:39 pm local time (2339 GMT).




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Run by California GOP stalwart pressures indicted incumbent

  September 26, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Run by California GOP stalwart pressures indicted incumbentWealthy former congressman Darrell Issa says he retired from the U.S. House of Representatives because the Southern California district he served for 18 years had grown too moderate and no longer fit him. With his name recognition and wealth, Issa's entry Thursday into the race in the 50th District increases the pressure on six-term Rep. Duncan Hunter to step aside, analysts say. Hunter was one of the first to endorse candidate Donald Trump before the 2016 election, but political analyst Carl Luna said Issa's bid sends the message to voters that the Republican party does not want to take a risk.




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Climate Scientists May Not Be the Best Communicators of Climate Threats

  September 26, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Climate Scientists May Not Be the Best Communicators of Climate ThreatsMany climate controversies today are not about whether the climate is changing, but how should people change their behavior and the causes of climate change itself.




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All agreements off if Israel annexes territory, Abbas warns at UN

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All agreements off if Israel annexes territory, Abbas warns at UNPalestinian president Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations Thursday he would terminate all signed agreements with Israel if it moved forward with plans announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a key part of the West Bank. Netanyahu, who is trying to form a new government following a deadlocked election, pledged before the vote to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea which account for one-third of the West Bank.




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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The US's top spy agency referred the Trump whistleblower complaint to the DOJ for criminal investigation. The DOJ decided not to investigate.

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The US's top spy agency referred the Trump whistleblower complaint to the DOJ for criminal investigation. The DOJ decided not to investigate.There was concern that a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could amount to a campaign finance violation.




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US patience with Iran not inexhaustible, warns Saudi Arabia

  September 25, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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US patience with Iran not inexhaustible, warns Saudi ArabiaSaudi minister says military response to attack on oil facilities still being considered ‘When push comes to shove there comes a point when even America’s patience runs out,’ said the Saudi foreign affairs minister, Adel al-Jubeir. Photograph: Amr Nabil/APSaudi Arabia has said that US patience with Iran is not inexhaustible and warned military options are still being considered following the attack on the Aramco oil facilities earlier this month.The Saudi foreign affairs minister, Adel al-Jubeir, also said the UN-commissioned report into the origins of the attack will be available fairly soon, and described the EU’s Monday statement ascribing responsibility to Iran as “very significant”.His remarks suggest Saudi Arabia is still putting private pressure on Donald Trump’s administration not to limit his response to the 14 September attack to further sanctions and the deployment of additional troops to defend the oil facilities.Jubeir said: “We want to mobilise international support, and we want to look at a whole list of options – diplomatic options, economic options and military options – and then make the decision.”Speaking on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, he said: “This action will have consequences and Iran must know this.”He added: “When push comes to shove there comes a point when even America’s patience runs out – and Iran must be aware of that.”The attacks temporarily knocked out over 5 per cent of global oil production and caused petroleum prices to rise.Also at the UN, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was hoping for a breakthrough with Iran over the possibility of reopening talks in the coming hours, but the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, denied he was willing to drop his demand that US sanctions are lifted before talks can begin.Macron told the general assembly: “I am not naive at all and I don’t believe in miracles. I believe it takes courage to build peace and that is why it is important for the United States, Iran and the signatories of the agreement to show this courage.”But Jubeir set out a series of tough conditions for renegotiating the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, including fresh restrictions on its nuclear program after 2025, a 24/7 inspection regime all over the country and restrictions on its ballistic missile program.The demand, he said was “no nukes, no missiles and no terrorism”, adding: “The Europeans were coming round to this being the objective. We believe appeasement does not work with Iran. We believe that when Europeans did not take a strong position after the attacks on the pipelines and oil field in Shaybah (in August), this emboldened and encouraged Iran.”Although Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities, Riyadh, Washington and the EU have laid the blame on Iran.The US said it had expected Monday’s statement by the UK, France and Germany, stating that Iran was behind the attack, because European and US investigators are examining weapons fragments together in Saudi Arabia.“I really appreciate that our allies … have come forward and recognised publicly the truth,” the US assistant secretary of state for the near east, David Schenker, told journalists.“This did not come as a major surprise. The Brits and the French are on the ground with us with the Saudis and the UN, part of the investigative team in Saudi Arabia,” Schenker said. “We have been transparent in terms of chain of custody … of all the equipment that we now have from the attack. And we’re exploiting it together.“Even before we have finished this investigation, the evidence that is emerging is incontrovertible.”The US has been insistent that it would not carry out a retaliatory strike, but would beef up Saudi defences and increase other forms of pressure on Iran.Trump on Tuesday called on other nations to join the US in pressuring Iran after the attacks, but said there was still a path to peace.




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Dershowitz: Epstein Victim Accused Billionaire Les Wexner of Sex Abuse ‘to Obtain Money’

  September 25, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Dershowitz: Epstein Victim Accused Billionaire Les Wexner of Sex Abuse ‘to Obtain Money’Jefferson Siegel/ReutersAlan Dershowitz is dragging Victoria’s Secret mogul Les Wexner into his legal battle with Virginia Roberts Giuffre—a victim of Jeffrey Epstein who claims she was coerced into sex with Dershowitz and is suing him for defamation. (He denies the accusation.)In Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, counsel for Giuffre and Dershowitz argued over whether the defamation suit should be dismissed—despite Dershowitz’s previous claims to the press that he welcomed such litigation to prove his innocence—and whether Giuffre’s lawyers should be disqualified from the case.Dershowitz argues Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies and his firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, should be booted from the case because the defense will call them as witnesses. Dershowitz claims a member of Boies’ firm consulted with Dershowitz and nearly represented him in 2015 over Giuffre’s allegations. He also claims to have a secret phone recording where Boies allegedly questions his own client’s credibility. Send The Daily Beast a TipEpstein Accuser Sues Alan Dershowitz Over Alleged Sex RingBoies’ firm has denied Dershowitz’s interpretation of events, saying that Boies has no doubts Giuffre is telling the truth, and that he was speaking hypothetically with Dershowitz, who, he says, is taking the recording out of context.Imran Ansari, a lawyer for Dershowitz, told Judge Loretta Preska that he plans to file a transcript of the recording under seal. Ansari also referred to a separate conversation relating to Wexner, prompting Judge Preska to say Wexner was “irrelevant” to the arguments.But Howard Cooper, another lawyer for Dershowitz, replied that Giuffre’s complaint accuses Dershowitz of making defamatory statements relating to Wexner, and that one of Dershowitz’s defenses in court will be proving his claims are true. (“Roberts made up the accusations out of whole cloth in order to obtain millions of dollars from Leslie Wexner,” Dershowitz declared in December 2018, according to Giuffre’s lawsuit.)Wexner’s name also came up while Dershowitz’s team tried arguing that he couldn’t be sued for repeating in 2018 and 2019 “virtually the same statements” he made in 2015.Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Giuffre, disagreed and told the court that Dershowitz hasn’t merely been recycling his 2015 statements. Instead, she said he’s elaborated on his old claims and referred to other individuals including Wexner. “These statements go well beyond his statements in 2015,” she said.McCawley argued that the law doesn’t allow someone to become a “serial defamer” and avoid legal accountability after they’ve said one bad thing about someone in the past. Every new publication of defamatory statements triggers a new statute of limitations, she said.McCawley argued Giuffre has an actual malice claim against Dershowitz because he “went to the media and said he wanted to be sued” by Giuffre. Dershowitz “knew he had abused my client, then went before the public and called her a liar,” she said.But Cooper said Dershowitz has continued to call Giuffre a “liar” in order to defend his reputation—referring to the constant stream of news relating to Dershowitz’s friend and former client, wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “What would someone in Professor Dershowitz’s position do?” Cooper asked Judge Preska.After the proceeding, Dershowitz and his team addressed reporters outside the courthouse, where the Harvard academic claimed he was “defending not only my right but the rights of everyone who’s ever been falsely accused.”Asked for proof that Giuffre’s claims were false, Dershowitz said, “I am standing here in front of you the media and I am stating unequivocally without the protection of defamation privilege, subject to being sued for defamation, I am saying to you I never met Virginia Giuffre. I never had sex with her. And the reason I’m saying it is because it’s true. She on the other had… has never and will never stand in front of any media and repeat her lie saying that she did have sex with me.”“We don’t believe you. We don’t believe you. Go back to your office!” a woman in the crowd yelled over Dershowitz, but he was undeterred.When a reporter asked about the Victoria’s Secret mogul, Epstein’s only known client, Dershowitz replied, “Les Wexner will be a major witness.”“And we will prove that [Giuffre’s attorneys] Sigrid McCawley and David Boies went to Les Wexner’s lawyers and said that Les Wexner had sex with Virginia Giuffre between five and 10 times and that Les Wexner insisted that she wear Victoria’s Secret-type lingerie. And I can’t imagine any reason for having that conversation unless it was part of an effort to obtain money. So we will call Les Wexner as a witness, we will call Sigrid McCawley as a witness, we will call David Boies, we will call Les Wexner’s lawyer. “And our goal is simply to have the entire whole truth come out.”A spokesman for Wexner declined to comment.Those close to Wexner, however, appear to have denied Dershowitz's claims since 2015, when one insider told the New York Times that Wexner had never met Giuffre and that no extortion attempt was made.Brad Edwards, a longtime lawyer for victims of Epstein, recently told reporters that he did not believe Wexner had knowledge of Epstein's abuse of underage girls.“I believe, based on the information that we have accumulated over 11 years, that the statements that he [Wexner] gave yesterday in the press that he did not know about the sexual proclivities of Mr. Epstein, are very highly likely to be true,” Edwards said in July.“We have not seen where he is in the company of Jeffrey Epstein at the time when he was engaging in these things,” Edwards added. “In fact, it’s very seldom that many of the victims actually even met him or saw him. I do know that there’s a lot of business ties to him, but other than receiving information about their business connection, I don’t have any information to believe otherwise.”In affidavits filed as exhibits in the defamation suit, McCawley and Boies denied Dershowitz’s extortion claims.“Mr. Dershowitz asserts that I participated in an attempt and a conspiracy to extort Leslie Wexner,” McCawley stated. “Again, Dershowitz cites no evidence to support his assertions, and they are false.”For his part, Boies stated that “no settlement demand was ever made of, or even discussed with, Mr. Wexner or his counsel.”Dershowitz also claimed on Tuesday that Giuffre and her lawyers have “done a terrible disservice” to the MeToo movement. When Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown asked Dershowitz why he goaded Giuffre to sue him and is now trying to dismiss her case, Cooper jumped in, “There’s a competing balance between inviting a lawsuit and putting forth First Amendment defenses.”“You cannot be faced with this situation and let the First Amendment die on the vine,” Cooper added.Brown countered that Dershowitz could vindicate himself by going through with the trial as he said he wanted to do.“He could vindicate himself by talking as he is now,” Cooper replied. “Denying the allegations and making clear that he’s telling the truth.”Dershowitz intoned a now-familiar line, “I predict that if this case goes to trial, perjury will be committed in this courtroom. Because I will swear unequivocally I never met this woman, and if she says that she ever met me or had sex with me, she will be committing perury.”Dershowitz said he invited the FBI to attend the trial, which he now wants dismissed, to determine who is committing perjury.“It’s not me,” he declared.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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Meghan Markle shares 'Cinderella moment' with teenager in South Africa: Watch!

  September 25, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Meghan Markle shares 'Cinderella moment' with teenager in South Africa: Watch!Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle made light of a potentially awkward situation during an engagement in Cape Town.




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Beijing opens glitzy airport ahead of China's 70th anniversary

  September 25, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Beijing opens glitzy airport ahead of China's 70th anniversaryA futuristic airport that resembles a giant starfish opened in Beijing Wednesday, as China unveils another massive infrastructure project just days before it celebrates 70 years of Communist Party rule. Located 46 kilometres (29 miles) south of Tiananmen Square, Beijing Daxing International Airport will operate at full capacity in 2040, with eight runways and the potential to receive 100 million passengers per year. The airport was opened by President Xi Jinping, but had an immediate hitch when its maiden commercial flight -- an A380 superjumbo heading to the southern city of Guangzhou -- was delayed by nearly 30 minutes.




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'I would like you to do us a favour though': The one sentence that could bring Trump down

  September 25, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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'I would like you to do us a favour though': The one sentence that could bring Trump downThe memorandum of the phone call between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 25 July that triggered an impeachment investigation into the incumbent of the White House has only served to convince his opponents they were right to do so.Mr Trump is adamant that he has done no wrong and there is no explicit quid pro quo in the document released of the call, but Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has called it a “smoking gun”.




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Tuesday, September 24, 2019

EPA targets California over poor air quality

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EPA targets California over poor air qualityThe Trump administration on Tuesday blamed California's worst-in-the nation air quality on shoddy paperwork, calling on the state to overhaul its plans for cleaning up toxic smog or risk losing billions in federal road dollars. The government's warning is the latest battle between the Trump administration and California. It comes days after the Trump administration moved to block the state's emission standards for cars and trucks, a move that would eliminate California's most important weapon for combating its biggest source of pollution.




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UPDATE 1-Attacks on Iran will bring captivity and defeat, senior military official says

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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UPDATE 1-Attacks on Iran will bring captivity and defeat, senior military official saysEnemies who try to attack Iran will face captivity and defeat, a senior Iranian military official said on Tuesday, a day after President Hassan Rouhani said Iran’s message to the world was "peace and stability". Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group, which has been fighting a Saudi-led military coalition since 2015, has claimed responsibility. Iran denies involvement.




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Delta defiant about not letting pit bulls on board planes

  September 24, 2019      No comments   Edit

Pit bulls still aren't welcome on Delta Air Lines.

Delta says it hasn't figured out how to ensure passengers' safety around pits bulls, so it's continuing a ban it imposed last year.

The decision seems contrary to recent guidance from the federal government. The Transportation Department said in August that ...

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New Mexico professor traces chocolate's ancient path

  September 24, 2019      No comments   Edit

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Life without chocolate? Never.

Not even 1,000 years ago at Chaco Canyon.

A world heritage site, the massive stone structures left by Chaco's early inhabitants have fueled scientific curiosity for more than a century, with each discovery made there spurring more questions about the people who ...

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Rangers open ballpark's last homestand vs. Red Sox

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The Texas Rangers kick off their final homestand at Globe Life Park when they welcome the Boston Red Sox for the start of a three-game series Tuesday night. The Rangers (75-81) will conclude their season with three games against the New York Yankees over the weekend before moving across the street to a new facility next year, Globe Life Field. The change marks the end of an era for Texas, which has played at its current ballpark since 1994.



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The Supreme Court is about to hear 3 cases that could decide if people can be fired for being LGBTQ. Here's everything you need to know.

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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The Supreme Court is about to hear 3 cases that could decide if people can be fired for being LGBTQ. Here's everything you need to know.Here's a breakdown of the 3 court cases being heard, the civil rights law in question, and what outcomes could mean for LGBTQ people in the US.




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Giuliani Says He Can’t Guarantee That Trump Didn’t Threaten Ukraine Aid

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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Giuliani Says He Can’t Guarantee That Trump Didn’t Threaten Ukraine Aid(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani didn’t rule out the possibility that the president threatened to cut off aid to Ukraine over calls for an investigation into largely discredited allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.Giuliani first said in response to a question on Fox Business Monday that Trump didn’t threaten Ukraine aid, but then added he “can’t say for 100%.”Trump appeared to acknowledge on Sunday that he had discussed Biden -- the 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner -- in a July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that is the subject of a congressional investigation.The episode is a preview of the kind of 2020 campaign the country will face if Biden becomes the Democratic nominee.It’s also an effort by Trump to brush Biden with scandal and damage him as a potential general-election opponent. While Biden’s lead in Democratic primary polls has shrunk, he still leads on the question of which candidate could beat Trump next fall.Partial TranscriptTrump, speaking to reporters Sunday near Houston, said he’d consider releasing a partial transcript of the call with Zelenskiy, though he added he didn’t like the idea because U.S. presidents and foreign counterparts should be free to have candid confidential conversations.Asked on Monday at the United Nations General Assembly what he said in the Zelenskiy call, Trump told reporters: “You’re going to see,” according to ABC News. He didn’t elaborate.“We’re supporting a country, we’re going to make sure that country is honest,” he said. “One of the reasons the new president got elected is he’s going to stop corruption.”White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said Monday on Fox News that releasing a transcript of Trump’s conversation with a foreign leader could set a bad precedent.Giuliani said Trump shouldn’t give Congress a transcript, even though the call reportedly factors into a complaint by an intelligence community whistle-blower.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer demanded on Monday that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “take immediate action” to keep Trump from withholding the complaint, which Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to provide to Congress. Democrats say federal law requires Maguire to transmit the complaint to Congress, but Maguire and Attorney General William Barr claim that the complaint doesn’t concern intelligence matters and thus isn’t covered by the law.The intelligence community’s inspector general has said the complaint is “credible” and a matter of “urgent” concern.“Yet in the face of this dire warning and the Trump administration’s effort to cover it up, the Republican-led Senate has remained silent and submissive, shying away from this institution’s constitutional obligation to conduct oversight,” Schumer wrote in a letter to McConnell. He also asked the GOP majority to investigate the administration’s handling of security aid to Ukraine.In a pair of tweets issued just before he was scheduled to address a UN conference on religious persecution, Trump demanded to know the identify of the whistle-blower.House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff has called for a report stemming from the complaint to be released to his panel and suggested Trump’s actions “may very well have crossed the Rubicon,” warranting a further look at impeachment.QuickTake: Why Talk of Impeaching Trump Is Getting Louder Again“I wouldn’t give Adam Schiff anything,” Giuliani said Monday, alleging without evidence that Schiff is “fixed” and “completely dishonest.”Pelosi ResponseHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi also signaled her readiness to take stronger action against Trump. “If the administration persists in blocking this whistle-blower from disclosing to Congress a serious possible breach of constitutional duties by the president, they will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation,” Pelosi said Sunday in a letter to colleagues.The Ukraine controversy involves two parallel, partisan narratives:For Biden and the Democrats, the story is Trump’s repeated solicitation of foreign help to discredit his rivals -- and his obstruction of any efforts to hold him accountable. The Ukraine story is a red herring, they say, nothing more than a debunked conspiracy theory meant to distract from Trump’s own corruption.For Trump and the Republicans, Democratic corruption is the story. The intelligence agency whistle-blower who reported Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate Biden must be a deep-state partisan, they say, part of a never-ending effort by Democrats to undermine a duly-elected president.The Ukrainian intrigue has echoes of 2016, with Trump accused of courting foreign help to discredit his rivals with real or perceived scandals. Then, it was Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails and the Trump campaign’s attempts to solicit Russia’s help in leaking them -- which became the focus of a two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.This time, Trump is accused of pressuring Ukraine into investigating an unsubstantiated assertion that Biden tried to interfere in a Ukrainian corruption investigation involving a company connected to his son, Hunter Biden.Fired ProsecutorFormer President Barack Obama’s administration, led by Biden -- along with other Western nations -- pressured Ukraine in 2016 to fire then-prosecutor general Viktor Shokin on grounds of corruption. The country’s parliament voted to remove Shokin from office.In May, Ukraine’s new prosecutor-general said he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or Hunter Biden, who once sat on the board of one of the country’s biggest gas companies. Vitaliy Kasko, a prosecutor who pursued a case against the gas company’s owner, told Bloomberg in May that there had been no U.S. pressure to close that case.But the Biden family’s account hasn’t been entirely consistent.“I have never talked to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Joe Biden said in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday.Hunter Biden told the New Yorker in July that they did speak about the issue one time. “Dad said, ‘I hope you know what you are doing,’ and I said, ‘I do,’” the younger Biden said.Trump seized on that discrepancy Sunday.“He made a lie when he said he never spoke to his son,” he told reporters before leaving the White House. “Who wouldn’t speak to your son? Of course you spoke to your son.”(Updates with Trump tweet in 10th paragraph.)\--With assistance from Gregory Korte, Tyler Pager and Josh Wingrove.To contact the reporter on this story: Caitlin Webber in Washington at cwebber4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Kasia Klimasinska at kklimasinska@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Alex WayneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.




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FAA inspectors weren't qualified to certify Boeing 737 Max pilots, investigation finds

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
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FAA inspectors weren't qualified to certify Boeing 737 Max pilots, investigation findsAnother problem surfaces with the Boeing 737 Max: FAA inspectors weren't qualified to certify pilots, a whistleblower says, backed by an investigation




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Donald Trump in awe of PM Modi after Howdy, Modi! event, compares him to Elvis Presley

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J "There was a tremendous spirit in that room and they love this gentleman to my right. They went crazy. It was like Elvis, he's like an American version of Elvis. It was like... Elvis Presley came back. That was quite something. They love your Prime Minister," Donald Trump said.  

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Vedanta plans Rs 2,500 crore plant for flat rolled products

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
MUMBAI: India’s largest aluminium maker Vedanta is expanding its portfolio of value-added products and is planning to set up an aluminium flat rolled products plant with an estimated capital expenditure of Rs 2,500 crore, a senior Vedanta official said.Flat rolled products, or FRPs, comprise foils, sheets and plates and are used in the automobile, aerospace, consumer durables sectors, among others. This capex will be part of the Rs 15,000 crore investment plan by Vedanta to take its aluminium capacity from the current 2 million to 3 million tonnes in the next 3-4 years."We are looking at producing rolled products and entering the sheets market. For this, we are currently talking to Chinese players to see if we can bring a plant here," Ajay Kapur, CEO at Vedanta Aluminium and Power, told ETin an interaction. "This project needs some capex. It also gives you high margins and therefore we are investing in R&D to move ahead in that direction," said Kapur.The company will be housing the plant in either of its two aluminium facilities in Chhattisgarh or Odisha, Kapur said. Vedanta's rival — Aditya Birla Group's flagship Hindalco — also produces FRPs through various facilities in India as well as through its wholly-owned US subsidiary Novelis, that is world's largest aluminium rolling company.

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25% earnings upgrades likely if cos retain tax savings: Praveen

  September 24, 2019   ,   No comments   Edit
India's move to cut corporate tax rate is likely to give a boost to sentiment and earnings expectations, and help the Indian stock market post further gains over the rest of the year, said John Praveen, portfolio manager at QMA, part of US-based PGIM. With the likely improvement in sentiment and earnings expectations, Praveen is also considering increasing allocations to India in his fund’s global equity portfolios. Unlike in the US, the current tax cuts in India are unlikely to result in a big increase in stock buybacks, said Praveen in an interview with Sanam Mirchandani. Edited exerpts:Will Indian government's move to cut corporate tax rate lead to any material change in outlook for Indian equity market?Indian stocks have been under downward pressure in 2019 year to date due to a combination of domestic and global factors. Domestically, growth has been slowing down well below 6% and reached 5% in Q2 which is the slowest in more than five years. Globally, stock markets have been hit by the sharp increase in US-China trade tensions which has depressed business confidence, especially manufacturing confidence and raised growth risks.Year-to-date, the Sensex has lagged both developed markets and emerging markets, which suggests there is room for further market gains to catch up with other markets.The tax cut announcements is likely to result in upward revisions to corporate earnings expectations. Previously, expectations for FY2019-20 earnings growth were around 15%. The earnings expectations could be revised sharply higher to as much as 25% if companies retain the bulk of the tax cuts.Thus, the extent of positive earnings revisions will depend on how much the companies pass on their tax windfall to consumers. The Indian corporate tax cut is a fiscal stimulus which should complement the RBI’s monetary easing. This is in line with developments globally. With policy rates already at or near zero in many countries and negative interest rates having adverse unintended consequences for bank balances sheets, there have been calls for fiscal stimulus to boost growth, especially in Europe. The Indian tax cut announcement is a welcome move and likely to give a boost to sentiment and earnings expectations, and help the Indian stock market post further gains over the rest of the year, and catch up with the developed markets and other emerging markets.India's fiscal deficit target is likely to be breached due to the tax cut. Are you concerned about the fiscal impact?The tax cut is likely to provide a fiscal boost to investment spending and thereby to GDP growth at a time when RBI rate cuts have not been successful in preventing the Indian growth deceleration with GDP to a low of 5%. So while the tax cut is likely to increase the fiscal deficit in the short-run, it is a good policy move for the economy and markets given the depressed business and consumer sentiment in an environment of slower global growth.The finance minister has noted that that the revenue loss to the exchequer will be ?1.45 trillion in FY20. While the government had slashed its fiscal deficit to 3.3% of GDP in its July budget, the current set of tax cuts are expected to push back the fiscal deficit back to around 4%.Policymakers face the dilemma of slowing growth while keeping fiscal deficits under control. The OECD recently released its latest forecast update and they revised down India’s GDP growth estimate for FY2019 to 5.9% from 7.2% and for FY 2020 to 6.3% from 7.4%. While there is a risk that deficit targets could be breached in the near term, the risk of not implementing significant fiscal measures along with the monetary easing measures is that the economy could further decelerate to under 5%.Will the move lead to foreign investors' flows into India reviving? Would you look at increasing allocation?These are positives for the Indian market and likely to improve foreign investor sentiment towards India and result in increased inflows. With the likely improvement in sentiment and earnings expectations, we are also considering increasing the allocations to India in our global equity portfolios.In the US when tax rates were cut, companies resorted to buybacks. Is the same likely in India?There are some similarities in the situation in the US and India. However, the business environment and the state of corporates are different between the US and India. The US is a mature economy and market and India is an emerging economy where the need for business investment spending is significantly higher in the case of India whereas the US already has a high level of capital stock given it is a developed economy.Further, the private sector still has some slack with capacity utilisation around 78% compared with a historical average of around 80%. There has been pressure on corporates from activists to return capital to shareholders rather than indulge in expensive M&A or other wasteful activities. Hence, the bulk of the tax cuts in the US were used to return capital in form of buybacks and dividends.In India, business investment spending has averaged 6.2% in the past ten years and comprise just around 32% of the economy. In comparison, the business spending in China accounts for around 42% of GDP and has averaged 12% growth annually over the past 10 years.There is a dearth of infrastructure investment in India and with the economy posting solid growth despite slowing in past several quarters, companies are still likely to find several opportunities to invest to reap the benefits of faster economic growth.Indian companies are still trading at a premium to their own historical averages and not at a discount which would make them attractive for buybacks. There is no valuation case for buybacks despite the modest gains posted by Indian stocks yearto-date. There is no significant need for companies to goose up their earnings. Earnings expectations are in the double digits now and the tax cuts will push earnings even higher.A significant factor in case of Indian companies compared to US companies is the predominance of owner operated companies in India. Companies with significant family control usually opt for buybacks when their stock valuations are very cheap which is not the case is now. Unlike in the US, the current tax cuts in India are unlikely to result in an big increase in stock buy-backs.

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