| Kellyanne Conway on Kushner outreach to Russia: ‘Back channels like this are the regular course of business’ Posted: 30 May 2017 06:35 AM PDT  The White House counselor dismissed concerns over reports that President Trump's son-in-law had proposed a secret back channel between Russia and the Trump transition team during a December meeting with the Russian ambassador.
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| US Fires Missile to Test System Designed to Intercept Missile Attack Posted: 30 May 2017 08:31 AM PDT  Just two days after North Korea's latest missile launch, the US military fired a missile from the California coast in a test designed to defend against an attack from the rogue country.
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| Portland mayor calls on alt-right groups to postpone rallies as new details about stabbing attack emerge Posted: 30 May 2017 08:58 AM PDT  Ted Wheeler is calling on the federal government to help him stop what he describes as two upcoming "alt-right" demonstrations as his city continues to reel from last week's deadly train stabbings.
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| Woman Killed by Tiger in England Zoo Identified, Mom Says She Loved Her Job Posted: 30 May 2017 01:44 PM PDT  The zoo has called her death a "freak accident."
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| Michael McCarthy On Trial Charged With Killing 'Demon' Child Bella Bond Posted: 31 May 2017 04:27 AM PDT  Michael McCarthy, who allegedly killed 2-year-old toddler Bella Bond was the boyfriend of the child's mother, Rachelle, but not the biological father of Bella.
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| Rescued Chibok girls won't be going back to home town for school Posted: 30 May 2017 07:53 AM PDT  The rescued Chibok girls will not be going back to their rural home town to complete their schooling, Nigeria's minister for women said on Tuesday. Speaking at a ceremony welcoming 82 newly rescued girls to a government rehabilitation facility in Abuja, Aisha Alhassan said all the girls will be heading back to class in September, without specifying where. There are a total of 106 rescued Chibok girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists in 2014 who are receiving medical and psycho-social treatment at the Women Affairs Centre, located on the outskirts of the capital.
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| This creepy ‘faceless fish’ species was just discovered in the depths of the ocean Posted: 31 May 2017 09:03 AM PDT 
Despite ever increasing numbers of deep-sea expeditions, scientists continue to maintain that humanity has only a very cursory knowledge of the kinds of creatures that live in the depths of Earth's oceans. A month-long voyage off the coast of Australia has just discovered plenty of evidence to support that fact, including a fish with absolutely no face. Easily the most interesting revelation from the scientists' journey, the faceless fish measures roughly 22 inches in length, and looks like a slimy torpedo. The creature is officially known as a "Faceless Cusk," and it certainly lives up to its name. With no visible eyes and a totally featureless head with the exception of two nostrils, its mouth is situated on the bottom of its body, giving it a very odd appearance. 
The creature has only been observed once before, and that was way back in 1873, when a ship snagged one off the coast of Papua New Guinea. This most recent expedition, which was led by Dr. Tim O'Hara of the Australia's Museums Victory, used nets to trawl at depths of 2.5 miles beneath the surface. The group also used sonar and camera rigs to make additional observations, and the team says that of the species they were able to catalog, roughly one-third are completely new to science. "This little fish looks amazing because the mouth is actually situated at the bottom of the animal so, when you look side-on, you can't see any eyes, you can't see any nose or gills or mouth," O'Hara remarked, via satellite. "It looks like two rear-ends on a fish, really."
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| A future American president's deadly duel Posted: 30 May 2017 02:55 AM PDT  On this day in 1806, future President Andrew Jackson nearly died in a duel when he killed his opponent, a fellow plantation owner.
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| Leaked birth control rule would broaden religious exemption Posted: 31 May 2017 02:58 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Women's groups are threatening to take the Trump administration to court after a leaked, draft regulation revealed a plan to let employers opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women for religious and moral reasons.
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| Trump goes after ‘negative press covfefe’ in botched midnight tweet Posted: 31 May 2017 03:15 AM PDT  "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," President Trump wrote shortly after midnight. It's unclear what he meant by the tweet.
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| Pulse Nightclub Survivor, 20, Killed In Car Crash Posted: 31 May 2017 06:29 AM PDT  Jahqui Sevilla, 20, was killed Monday morning along with a 53-year-old mother.
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| Tamir Rice: Police officer who shot 12-year-old boy dead fired Posted: 30 May 2017 10:11 AM PDT  Cleveland Police announced they have fired police officer Timothy Loehmann for the 2014 shooting death of 12 year old Tamir Rice. Mr Loehmann was not fired for the shooting. Cleveland Director of Public Safety Michael McGrath confirmed it was due to inaccuracies on his job application.
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| Bigelow Aerospace, Time To Put Up Or Shut Up About UFOs Posted: 30 May 2017 04:56 PM PDT  Bigelow Aerospace founder and president Robert Bigelow recently spoke with '60 Minutes' and discussed his long-held belief that alien UFOs have and are visiting Earth. But he's not just another UFO enthusiast, Bigelow has privatized piles of relevant evidence. Whatever he knows, he should tell us.
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| China is behaving like a 'bully' in South China Sea: McCain Posted: 30 May 2017 04:58 AM PDT  By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - China is behaving like a "bully" with its militarization of islands in the South China Sea, Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said on Tuesday, activity Washington must confront with its allies to find a peaceful solution. In a speech in Sydney, McCain said China was asserting itself globally, best illustrated by militarizing artificial islands in the South China Sea, a claim repeatedly rejected by Beijing. McCain's comments are set to escalate tensions between the United States and China just days before delegates from both countries are scheduled to attend a regional security conference in Singapore.
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| Robert De Niro: U.S. has fallen from ‘uplifting drama’ to ‘tragic, dumba** comedy’ Posted: 30 May 2017 09:09 AM PDT  Robert De Niro told Brown University's graduating class that the United States has fallen from "an inspiring, uplifting drama" to a "tragic, dumba** comedy."
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| Elon Musk to Donald Trump: If you leave the Paris Climate Agreement, I'm out Posted: 31 May 2017 07:37 AM PDT  Elon Musk takes on some of the biggest challenges in the world. But President Donald Trump might be too much for him. Don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2017 Musk's tweet on Wednesday added a tone of rueful resignation to the news that Trump is planning to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. SEE ALSO: U.S. could be 'left behind' if Trump exits the Paris Climate Agreement Musk also said that if the U.S. does pull out, he will step down from the White House business advisory council, where he had an opportunity to bend Trump's ear on issues like climate change. Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2017 At least so far, however, even Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who has been pushing the world toward a future of renewable energy, has not been able to sway the Trump administration. This is based on multiple news reports on Wednesday stating the administration is about to withdraw from the landmark agreement. Apple CEO Tim Cook called the White House Wednesday in an effort to change the president's mind, Bloomberg reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter. The U.S. government's decision to pull out comes even after Musk last week tweeted his optimism: @BigDAK54 I spoke directly with The President three weeks ago about Paris. Many others have too. Cautiously optimistic of a positive decision. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 22, 2017 It wasn't just Musk pushing the U.S. government to remain in the pact. Thirty CEOs of some of the world's largest companies co-signed an open letter to Trump earlier this month. Names included Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Marc Benioff of Salesforce, Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric, and Robert Iger of The Walt Disney Company. "We are committed to working with you to create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness, and we believe this can be best achieved by remaining in the Paris Agreement," read the letter. Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft were among the 24 companies who ran a similar letter as a full-page ad in the D.C. editions of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. This letter argued that the Paris Agreement helps America create jobs and reduces business risks related to global warming. New full-page @nytimes ad w/ major companies explains how #ParisAgreement expands markets & helps the economy. https://t.co/MXHZxboEz6 pic.twitter.com/zyfSkxGdhc — C2ES (@C2ES_org) May 9, 2017 The Paris agreement is considered to be the world's most comprehensive plan to fight climate change. Former President Barack Obama was a driving force behind negotiating the accord, which went into force in 2016. The treaty is viewed by many government and corporate leaders as positive for businesses. "If President Trump does pull out of the Paris climate agreement, I suspect he will be surprised how unpopular this decision will be with business," said Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, chair of the Business and Sustainable Development Commission and former deputy U.N. secretary-general, said prior to Wednesday's decision. "This tilts things back in a way that is not just disruptive for business but potentially highly dangerous for all of us as citizens. Therefore he may be even more surprised to find how few take the chance to march backwards with him," he continued. The fight isn't over. Twenty-five companies, including Intel and Microsoft, have signed on to another letter arguing for the administration to remain in the pact. It will run as a full-page ad in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. The Trump administration's move is yet another blow to Silicon Valley. The government has worked to limit and further dismantle the H-1B visa program, which companies like Facebook rely on to recruit foreign workers. The travel ban also spurred fierce opposition from tech giants. Despite Trump inviting top tech leaders for a roundtable in December, he has done little to prove that he actually has the executives' best interests for a more sustainable future in mind. It doesn't help that Peter Thiel, another tech whisperer in Trump's ear, holds climate views that are out of step with mainstream climate scientists. WATCH: Beachgoers should be wary of this deadly sea creature
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| Girl, 7, found critically injured after domestic incident in Olney section of Philadelphia Posted: 31 May 2017 04:05 AM PDT  Philadelphia Police are investigating how a 7-year-old girl who is hospitalized in extremely critical condition became unresponsive in her home.
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| Death toll climbs from mudslides and floods in Sri Lanka Posted: 31 May 2017 10:08 AM PDT ![Death toll climbs from mudslides and floods in Sri Lanka]( "Death toll climbs from mudslides and floods in Sri Lanka") The death toll from mudslides and floods in Sri Lanka has climbed past 200, with 96 others missing, the government said Wednesday. The Disaster Management Center said 203 people were confirmed dead. More than 77,000 have been displaced and over 1,500 homes destroyed since rains began inundating the southern and western areas of the Indian Ocean island nation last Friday.
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| Taiwan backlash over Emirates flag ban Posted: 31 May 2017 02:45 AM PDT  Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, faced fierce criticism in Taiwan Wednesday after it reportedly banned cabin crew from wearing the island's flag on their uniforms due to pressure from China. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had lodged protests with Emirates in both Dubai and Taipei. The airline's cabin crew traditionally wear the flag pin of their own country on their uniforms.
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| Turkey condemns US for arming Kurds with weapons ahead of Raqqa assault Posted: 31 May 2017 09:38 AM PDT  The Pentagon has confirmed the first new shipment of arms to Kurdish fighters closing in on Isis in the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa is on its way to Syria. Small arms including AK-47s and small-calibre machine guns as well as vehicles were being transferred to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mainly Kurdish alliance of fighters, spokesperson Eric Pahon told reporters on Tuesday. The news was met with consternation in Ankara, where Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the decision a "mistake".
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| Correction: Mississippi Shooting-The Latest story Posted: 31 May 2017 03:20 PM PDT  BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — In a story May 29 about a series of shootings in Mississippi, The Associated Press reported erroneously, based on incorrect information from authorities, the middle name of the man charged in the shootings. His name is Willie Cory Godbolt, not Corey.
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| China says Philippines' 600-kg drug seizure was largest in shared crackdown Posted: 29 May 2017 07:19 PM PDT  Philippine authorities last week seized more than 600 kg of methamphetamines in the largest such bust since China launched a crackdown on drug-smuggling in cooperation with the Southeast Asian nation, Chinese customs said on Monday. China is the main source of methamphetamine consumed in the Philippines, which is caught in the throes of a brutal war on drugs waged by President Rodrigo Duterte. Two people arrested in a May 12 raid on suspected smugglers told Chinese authorities they hid the drugs in five printing machines to smuggle them into the Philippines, customs officials in the coastal city of Xiamen said.
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| Paris climate deal: exasperated world leaders prepare to move on without US Posted: 31 May 2017 05:04 AM PDT  Donald Trump's Twitter pledge to make a decision on whether to remain in the Paris climate agreement this week promises resolution to months of fevered lobbying over US involvement in the global accord.
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| Ryan Edwards’ Fiancée Mackenzie Standifer Seemingly Confirms Drug Rumors Posted: 31 May 2017 11:33 AM PDT  "Here's a thought… maybe instead of making assumptions and tearing people down, you could spend that time praying for us instead," she tweeted
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| Boy, 10, Flies Off Waterslide at Opening Day of New Amusement Park Posted: 30 May 2017 08:49 AM PDT  The Wave in California remains closed as the investigation continues.
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| Google points out everyone's terrible spelling, and then misspells a word Posted: 30 May 2017 04:03 PM PDT  While Scripps National Spelling Bee this week tries to convince us that America can spell, Google has the state-by-state breakdown to prove otherwise. SEE ALSO: California State University's grad stole features a pretty brutal spelling error The search engine revealed Tuesday which word comes up the most when people type in, "How to spell..." and the results are something else. America's most misspelled words - it's #spellingbee week and we mapped top "how to spell" searches by state#dataviz pic.twitter.com/oHkRHj8Eku — GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017 The results are telling — Wisconsin looks up how to spell their own state name the most, while New Hampshire is worried about diarrhea and getting that right. @GoogleTrends "Wisconsin" being the most misspelled word in Wisconsin is perfect. — Jamison Stoltz (@EditorStoltz) May 30, 2017 @GoogleTrends Diorrh... diahrr... dioeri... never mind... — davepaisley (@davepaisley) May 30, 2017 Google itself has some of its own spelling problems to sort out. Its original map spelled Washington D.C.'s most searched word as "nintey," which is definitely not how you spell out the number 90. It was corrected later, along with some incorrect letter counting, with a new map and legend marked as the "one to use." We've made a few corrections to the legend. This is the one to use pic.twitter.com/0Z8fUlzmHc — GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017 Helpfully, or embarrassingly, Google broke down the searches by letter-length. Most searches are for six to 10 letter words, like California, New York, Minnesota, Kentucky and Ohio's "beautiful" or Illinois' "appreciate." Good old Pennsylvania really pulled through with "sauerkraut." Some concernedly short search queries were "liar" in Rhode Island and "nanny" in Mississippi. The two longest words hailed from West Virginia and Connecticut (way harder to spell than Wisconsin) and were the same: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. But the best finding was "tomorrow" topping searches in both Arizona and Colorado — but with different letter lengths. In Arizona, searches for the word were six to 10 letters, while in Colorado they were 11 to 19 letters — that's a lot of extra Ms and Rs. @GoogleTrends Interesting how "tomorrow" has eight letters in Arizona and eleven letters in Colorado — ᵖᵉᵗᵉ (@petecasellini) May 30, 2017 Catch the spelling bee finals on Thursday — they'll be on ESPN. Maybe "chihuahua" or "banana" will be the ultimate stumper. But probably not, considering last year's winning words were "gesellschaft" and "Feldenkrais." WATCH: The adaptation differences in the Harry Potter series are wickedly permissible
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| Shutdown for 50th anniversary of Biafra declaration Posted: 30 May 2017 06:10 AM PDT  Shops, schools and businesses were shut in southeast Nigeria on Tuesday, 50 years to the day since the declaration of an independent republic of Biafra sparked a brutal civil war. In Onitsha, the economic hub of Anambra state on the banks of the River Niger, most markets were closed and the streets were largely empty of people and traffic. Separatist sentiment persists in the region, which is dominated by the Igbo people, and the main pro-Biafran independence group has called on supporters to stay at home.
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| Senior US official reduced to very awkward silence when asked about Saudi Arabia's attitude to democracy Posted: 31 May 2017 05:00 AM PDT  A senior US foreign affairs official gave one of the most awkward press conference responses ever witnessed in response to a question about Saudi Arabia's attitude to democracy. Having served as US Ambassador to Jordan and Iraq – and been in Al Anbar Province in 2004, as it became the deadliest region for US forces in Iraq – Stuart Jones might have been considered more than able to fend off questions about Saudi Arabia's apparent lack of enthusiasm for elections. Instead the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Affairs Bureau, freshly returned from accompanying President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Saudi Arabia, seemed completely stumped by the relatively straightforward reporter's question.
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| 1st prison sentence given in Bundy armed standoff in Nevada Posted: 31 May 2017 03:45 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge called a New Hampshire man a "bully vigilante" and sentenced him Wednesday to more than seven years in prison for his role organizing armed backers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy after a standoff with U.S. agents in 2014.
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| Ramadan celebrations around the world Posted: 30 May 2017 11:13 AM PDT ![Ramadan celebrations around the world]( "Ramadan celebrations around the world") The holy month of Ramadan started on Saturday, May 27, as Muslims all over the world began their monthlong daytime religious fast.
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| Merkel, minister stress U.S. ties after critical Trump tweet Posted: 30 May 2017 10:06 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt and Matthias Sobolewski BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called Germany's trade and spending policies "very bad" on Tuesday, intensifying a row between the longtime allies and immediately earning himself the moniker "destroyer of Western values" from a leading German politician. As the war of words threatened to spin out of control, Merkel and other senior German politicians stressed the importance of Germany's Atlantic ties, with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggesting the spat was just a rough patch. Trump took to Twitter early in the day in the United States to attack Germany, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel ramped up her doubts about the reliability of Washington as an ally.
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| Macron vows to renegotiate sale of French shipyard Posted: 31 May 2017 12:29 PM PDT  Saint-Nazaire (France) (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that his government would seek to renegotiate the sale of the STX France shipyard to Italy's Fincantieri, in order to "guarantee job preservation" at the site. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire will negotiate "a new shareholding structure" for the sale "in the coming weeks", Macron said during a visit to the Saint-Nazaire shipyard, the last gem in France's once-thriving shipbuilding industry.
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| Principal's Suicide in School Parking Lot Came Amid Adultery Allegations, Officials Say Posted: 31 May 2017 10:59 AM PDT  Dennis Reeves was allegedly having an affair with his secretary.
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| Did Aliens Ever Live On Mars? Posted: 30 May 2017 09:00 AM PDT  We can't say yes or no with certainty, but new findings made by NASA's Curiosity rover extend the time frame in which life as we know it could have existed on the red planet.
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| Allegations of abuse, mismanagement shadow gains against IS Posted: 30 May 2017 04:36 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — As the U.S.-led coalition ratchets up operations in Syria, there are concerns that it will result in a rerun of what happened in Iraq, where $1 billion in weapons supplied to local fighters is unaccounted for.
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| Chelsea Clinton weighs in on Kathy Griffin debate Posted: 31 May 2017 12:07 PM PDT  Clinton said, "I hope we can all least agree that it's never funny to joke about violence toward anyone, and particularly in this political climate, toward our president."
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| 16-year-old girl accused of hacking Uber driver to death Posted: 31 May 2017 02:33 PM PDT ![16-year-old girl accused of hacking Uber driver to death]( "16-year-old girl accused of hacking Uber driver to death") LINCOLNWOOD, Ill. (AP) — A 16-year-old girl walked out of a suburban Chicago Walmart holding a machete and knife she'd stolen, climbed into an Uber car and began hacking at the driver, prosecutors said at a hearing on Wednesday. The driver died of his wounds Tuesday after giving police a description of the attacker that led to her arrest.
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| Donald Trump's 'drunken tourist' trip: US President's biggest gaffes and oddest moments on foreign tour Posted: 30 May 2017 03:37 AM PDT  Donald Trump may have declared his Europe trip a "great success for America" but European leaders and Democrat politicians were distinctly less effusive in their assessment. A US State Department official was among those who criticised the American President and even suggested he acted like a "drunk tourist" on his first trip abroad. "When it comes to diplomacy, President Trump is a drunk tourist," the unnamed official told The Daily Beast.
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| Nest has a new security camera and it’s smarter than ever Posted: 31 May 2017 12:01 AM PDT 
Nest exists in a strange place in the smart home. While every other company is rushing to be the whole-home smart assistant that you've never needed (see: Amazon Alexa), Nest has tried to identify a few key niches and make its products around those. It successfully made its name in thermostats; now, smart cameras are the new big thing. Nest has a new one, and it's riding the AI trend to a creepier stop than ever.
The new camera is called Nest Cam IQ, and on the surface, it isn't all that different to the Nest Indoor or Outdoor Camera that came before it. Fundamentally, it's still an internet-connected camera that live-streams video from your house to an app. If you never had any use for a home camera before, it's still going to be pointless. But for people who are interested in tracking the comings and goings in a house, Nest's new camera will be invaluable. Out of the box, it will ship with a feature that can identify humans (rather than cats or shadows) and alert you to the presence of a person in the house. With a Nest subscription, you can even had the app identify people using facial recognition, and then alert you when certain people show up. The Nest Cam IQ costs $299, and is available for pre-order right now on the website. Delivery should be expected sometime in June.
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| U.S. coal stocks fall; exit from climate deal may hurt, not help Posted: 31 May 2017 03:08 PM PDT  By Rodrigo Campos and Nichola Groom NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. coal company shares dipped alongside renewable energy stocks on Wednesday after reports that President Donald Trump plans to pull the United States from a global accord on fighting climate change. The market reaction reflects concerns, raised by some coal companies in recent months, that a U.S. exit from the Paris Climate Agreement could unleash a global backlash against coal interests outside the United States.
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