| South Carolina: a case study in how Trump is being driven crazy Posted: 13 Apr 2016 01:13 PM PDT  Donald Trump continued this week to lose ground to Sen. Ted Cruz in the race for second-ballot delegates, whose votes will matter in a contested convention. In the latest setback, a caucus in one of the seven congressional districts in South Carolina picked delegates who are likely to support Cruz if the national convention goes to multiple ballots. The process illustrates the complex system by which delegates are actually chosen in many states, which Trump, a political novice without a strong national organization, has been denouncing as rigged against him.
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| US health authorities confirm Zika causes birth defects Posted: 13 Apr 2016 02:50 PM PDT  The mosquito-borne Zika virus causes birth defects, including a syndrome in which babies are born with unusually small heads, US health authorities confirmed Wednesday after months of debate and uncertainty. "Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concluded, after careful review of existing evidence, that Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects," said a statement from the federal agency. The decision was based in part on a series of studies in Brazil, where thousands of babies were born last year with birth defects, coinciding with a spike in Zika virus infections among the general public.
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| Louisiana governor signs order protecting LGBT rights Posted: 13 Apr 2016 03:11 PM PDT  The Democrat's executive order also protects state employees against discrimination based on other criteria including race, religion, disability or age. It bans state agencies from discrimination, while offering an exemption for churches and religious organizations. Edwards followed previous Democratic Louisiana Governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco in signing such an order as there is no state law protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people from employment discrimination, the governor's office said in a statement.
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| Politics reporter quits newspaper owned by Ivanka Trump’s husband after it endorses Donald Trump Posted: 13 Apr 2016 10:55 AM PDT  New York Observer national political reporter Ross Barkan is resigning after the paper endorsed Donald Trump, whose son-in-law, Jared Kushner, owns the paper.
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| Russian Fighters Buzz US Navy Destroyer at Close Range in Baltic Sea, US Says Posted: 13 Apr 2016 04:30 PM PDT  Russian fighter jets overflew a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea more than 30 times earlier this week, with one pass at 30 feet from the ship causing a wake in the waters nearby, a U.S. Defense Department official said today. On Monday and Tuesday, pairs of Russian SU-24 fighters overflew the destroyer USS Donald Cook at close range while it was in international waters in the Baltic Sea, 70 nautical miles off of Kaliningrad, Russia, a U.S. Defense official confirmed.
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| 'Affluenza' Texas teen sentenced to about two years in jail Posted: 13 Apr 2016 02:59 PM PDT  A Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense after killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving crash was sentenced in an adult court on Wednesday to four consecutive 180-day terms in jail following a suspected parole violation. Ethan Couch, 19, has been incarcerated in Tarrant County since January after being deported from Mexico, where he had fled with his mother. In his first appearance in adult court, he was sentenced by county Judge Wayne Salvant.
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| Donald Trump says he won’t attend White House Correspondents’ Dinner Posted: 13 Apr 2016 08:42 AM PDT  Despite receiving invitations from "every single group of media available to mankind," the Republican frontrunner is skipping the annual black tie gala because of the the "dishonest" press.
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| Hillary Clinton blames NYC mayor for racially charged sketch Posted: 13 Apr 2016 06:47 AM PDT  Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton sidesteps the controversy over a comedy skit she performed with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio over the weekend.
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| Unions endorse Sanders, Clinton for president as NY race nears Posted: 13 Apr 2016 08:56 AM PDT  By Megan Cassella WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won his first endorsement from a fellow U.S. senator on Wednesday, and he and rival Hillary Clinton both announced backing from New York City labor unions as they battled to win next week's state primary. The Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing 42,000 workers in the New York region, backed Sanders as he struggled to dent Clinton's lead in a state each has called home. Deriding "fierce attacks" against unions over the last several decades, Sanders called organized labor the last line of defense against corporate greed in America.
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| Strong quake hits Myanmar, felt in India; no major damage Posted: 13 Apr 2016 11:05 AM PDT  YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A strong earthquake struck Myanmar on Wednesday night and was felt in parts of eastern India and Bangladesh, causing residents to rush out of their homes in panic. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage.
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| 'Mars Matters' for the Future of Space Exploration, NASA Chief Says Posted: 13 Apr 2016 04:35 AM PDT  "Mars matters," was the central theme of a speech by NASA administrator and former astronaut Charles Bolden today (April 12) at the National Space Symposium, perhaps the largest international spaceflight meeting in the world. Bolden noted that almost six years ago today, President Obama announced at the Kennedy Space Center that NASA should pursue a human mission to Mars. "Even though we here recognize why Mars matters, it's important every now and again to remind ourselves, so that we'll be more effective in reminding our friends and neighbors," Bolden said, before listing various reasons why a mission to Mars could help humanity.
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| National Labor Relations Board declines VW's union challenge Posted: 13 Apr 2016 10:25 AM PDT The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday declined to take up Volkswagen's challenge of a union vote at its lone U.S. assembly plant in Tennessee. In a 2-1 decision, the panel refused to consider ... |
| Prep school abuse case makes its way into US Senate race Posted: 13 Apr 2016 05:59 AM PDT  CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Investigations into sexual misconduct by faculty at a renowned New Hampshire prep school have found their way into the state's high-profile U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Kelly Ayotte and Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, whose husband is a former principal of the school.
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| Donald Trump Mocked by RNC Head: ‘Give Us All a Break’ Posted: 13 Apr 2016 08:18 AM PDT  The tweet came in response to comments by Trump following the Colorado primary, which saw Ted Cruz take all of the state's 34 delegates after the Colorado GOP voted last year that the party's closed caucus would decide who gets the delegates rather than a statewide vote. "I know the rules very well, but I know it's stacked against me by the establishment," Trump told CNN. "They changed the rules a number of months ago. Despite losing in Colorado and Wisconsin in recent weeks, Trump still leads Cruz in the delegate count 743 to 545.
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| Trump’s daughters and wife defend his treatment of women Posted: 12 Apr 2016 08:25 PM PDT Throughout the Republican presidential primaries, Donald Trump has had a strained relationship with female voters — thanks in part to his derogatory comments about women. Asked by an audience member what they think about the media's portrayal of Trump as insensitive to women, his daughters Ivanka and Tiffany and wife, Melania, came to his defense. "I've witnessed these incredible female role models that he's employed in the highest executive positions at the Trump organization my entire life. |
| Kobe Bryant says farewell after 20 years with the LA Lakers Posted: 13 Apr 2016 11:22 AM PDT  Kobe Bryant is down to one last shot, and everybody knows he's going to take it. After two decades spent dazzling the world, Bryant will end his basketball career at home with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Nobody ever got to spend 20 seasons with one NBA team before the 37-year-old Bryant, and he intends to thank Los Angeles with one last display of his transcendent talent.
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| Taxpayers pick up bulk of rehab bill for 'affluenza' Texan: newspaper Posted: 12 Apr 2016 05:12 PM PDT  Texas taxpayers picked up most of the $200,000 bill for the so-called affluenza teen's court-ordered rehabilitation in a probation deal that kept him out of prison for killing four while driving drunk, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Ethan Couch, who turned 19 this week and was 16 at the time of the incident, will be in a Tarrant County adult court on Wednesday for a likely determination of how much time behind bars he must spend for violating the probation deal. Taxpayers paid more than $150,000 of the bill for his year-long rehabilitation because his parents were unable to pay for all of the treatment, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said, citing court documents.
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