| Donald Trump 'approved strikes on Iran over downing of drone before aborting plan' Posted: 20 Jun 2019 09:42 PM PDT  Donald Trump reportedly approved but then aborted strikes against Iranian targets on Thursday, after Iran shot down a US drone in what the president labelled a "big mistake." The US was planning to hit "a handful of Iranian targets, like radar and missile batteries" on Thursday evening, the New York Times said, citing senior administration officials, but the plan was suddenly called off in its early stages. White House and Pentagon officials declined to comment, the newspaper said, and it was unclear whether there were plans for such strikes to go forward in the future. The report will fuel fears of a looming conflict in the region, where US airlines have been banned from flying through parts of Tehran-controlled airspace. The United States confirmed that an RQ-4a surveillance drone had been shot down over the Gulf of Hormuz, but said it was over international waters when it was hit. "Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false," the Pentagon said in a statement. "This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace." Mr Trump earlier declined to say how the United States would respond, telling reporters in Washington: "You will find out." But he also played down Iranian government responsibility for the incident, saying he had a "big, big feeling" that the shoot down was a "mistake". Gulf of Oman, US responds Speaking outside the White House, he said: "We didn't have a man or woman in the drone. It would have made a big, big difference." He added that it was probably someone "loose and stupid who did it." With tensions rising, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order prohibiting US operators from flying in an overwater area of Tehran-controlled airspace over the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman. In a separate advisory to operators, FAA said according to flight tracking applications, the nearest civil aircraft was operating within around 45 nautical miles of the drone when it was shot down. "There were numerous civil aviation aircraft operating in the area at the time of the intercept," FAA said. Iran claims to have shot down a RQ-4 Global Hawk Credit: EPA The agency said it remained concerned about the escalation of tension and military activity within close proximity to high volume civil aircraft routes as well as Iran's willingness to use long-range missiles in international airspace with little or no warning. United Airlines had already decided to suspend flights between New Jersey's Newark airport and the Indian financial capital of Mumbai following a safety review. Earlier General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the shoot down was intended as "a clear message" his country will defend itself. Iran will "respond to all foreign aggression and our reaction is, and will be, categorical and absolute" he told the Tasnim news agency, which is controlled by the IRGC. "We declare that we are not looking for war but we are ready to respond to any declaration of war," he added. An oil tanker is seen after it was attacked at the Gulf of Oman Credit: Reuters Last week two oil tankers were struck by mysterious explosions in the Gulf of Oman. The United States accused Iran of using limpet mines to attack the ships on June 13. Iran has denied involvement, suggesting instead that regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates carried out the attack to lure Donald Trump into a war with Iran. Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, called the accusation "absurd" and warned that America's Gulf allies were "determined to push back against Iran's aggressive behaviour." "The idea of closing the Strait of Hormuz would generate a very strong reaction," he told journalists in London. It was the second attack on tankers in the area in a month. In May four vessels suffered mysterious "sabotage" attacks that left them holed at the waterline. The United States has also blamed Iranian-backed groups for a string of mortar and rocket attacks on US assets in Iraq. Saudi Arabia said Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had fired a missile into the Kingdom overnight but caused no damage. The United States military claims this Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy cutter was seen removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the tankers Credit: US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX Military tensions have risen amid a diplomatic stand-off over the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, the United States, and the European Union, which saw Iran curtail its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Mr Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018, saying it did not adequately restrict Iran's nuclear activities and failed to address concerns about its ballistic missile program and backing of proxy militias in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. In the year since, his administration has pursued a strategy of "maximum pressure" on the Iranian economy, including by trying to prevent third countries from buying Iranian oil. Iran has said it will violate the agreement by producing more enriched uranium than the deal allows if the European signatories do not find a way for it to access oil revenues by June 27. Iran's ambassador to London on Thursday said the Islamic Republic has so far seen "no concrete action" from European powers to meet that deadline. Hamid Baeidinejad said Iran will not accept US demands to re-write the nuclear deal does not believe an offer by Donald Trump for direct talks is "sincere."
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| Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher Is on Trial Over the Murder of an ISIS Fighter. Another Soldier Just Confessed to the Crime Posted: 20 Jun 2019 03:59 PM PDT  Gallagher faces counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder, among other charges. If convicted, he could spent the rest of his life in prison
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| Car and Driver Contributor Davey G. Johnson Found in Northern California Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:49 AM PDT  C/D contributor David Gordon Johnson's body has been found after he went missing on a motorcycle trip through Calaveras County on June 5. We have updated this story with the latest information.
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| Biden not apologizing for remarks on segregationist senators Posted: 19 Jun 2019 06:25 PM PDT  Joe Biden refused calls to apologize Wednesday for saying that the Senate "got things done" with "civility" even when the body included segregationists. The former vice president was particularly defiant in rejecting criticism from Sen. Cory Booker, one of two major black candidates seeking the Democratic nomination. The New Jersey Democrat had called on Biden to apologize for his comments.
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| Merkel cautions EU leaders over choice of EU Commission chief Posted: 20 Jun 2019 05:28 PM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that EU leaders could provoke a crisis if they did not take into account the views of the European Parliament when choosing the next head of the EU executive. This wouldn't be good for the work of the Commission in the next five years," she told reporters after leaders failed to settle on a name during their summit. Merkel also said an agreement on top jobs should be reached before the new European Parliament meets for a first time on July 2.
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| Surveillance drone may have tracked Japanese tanker: experts Posted: 21 Jun 2019 06:32 AM PDT  A "flying object" which flew over a Japanese tanker before it was rocked by a blast in strategic Gulf waters last week could have been a reconnaissance drone, experts have told AFP. The owner of the Kokuka Courageous said the tanker's Japanese and Filipino crew saw a "flying object", just before a blast that caused a fire on board the vessel, sparking a crisis between Washington and Iran. "The crew members are saying that they were hit by a flying object.
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| If PG&E Wants Newsom's Fire Aid, Here's What It Has to Do Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:24 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- It's no secret that California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to create a fund that the state's electric utilities can tap to cover the costs of catastrophic wildfires.Now, the utilities know what he wants in return.Based on a proposal released by Newsom's office Friday, PG&E Corp., Edison International and Sempra Energy would have to spend $3 billion on safety measures; earn an annual certificate by tying executive compensation to safety performance; and pass a "safety culture assessment," among other things. On top of that, PG&E -- which filed for Chapter 11 in January amid an estimated $30 billion in damages from blazes that its equipment caused -- would have to emerge from bankruptcy by June 30, 2020, and resolve all existing fire claims to tap the fund.The idea of a fund has been floated for months as the solution to utilities' mounting wildfire liabilities in California -- liabilities that have already taken down the state's largest electric company and threaten the credit ratings of two others, Edison International's Southern California Edison and Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric. The plan the Newsom Administration laid out Friday is the first to detail the size of a fund, how it would be financed and what power companies would have to do to tap it.The governor is proposing two possible models for a fund: a $10.5 billion liquidity fund that would serve as a line of credit for utilities. The state would fund it by extending a charge on utility bills and securitizing the revenue through state-issued bonds, aides to the governor said in a phone briefing. The other option is a $21 billion fund where utilities could kick in $10.5 billion more of their own money to form an even bigger insurance-like pool, they said. PG&E would would have to shell out the most because of its higher fire risk.Edison and Sempra get to decide which option they would prefer and PG&E would be bound by the decision.'Mandates' SafetyThe proposal "maximizes shareholder contributions to a solution, minimizes ratepayer exposure to sticker shock rate increases, and mandates a culture of safety in our utilities to prevent wildfires," Newsom said in a statement.Less than an hour before Newsom released his proposal, PG&E was said to be floating a restructuring plan that would have the company emerge from bankruptcy in March. The utility is recommending a fund similar to the one the governor outlined, but it's counting on about $14 billion from Department of Water Resources bonds and $3 billion from other utilities, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. PG&E itself would contribute only $3 billion, it shows.The governor has been pressing lawmakers to act since PG&E collapsed under the weight of crippling wildfire liabilities. Its equipment sparked the deadliest fire in state history in November, killing 85 people and destroying the Northern California town of Paradise. Newsom said he'll work with lawmakers to turn his plan into a package of bills with a goal of passing them by July 12. His administration said it expects legislation to be introduced next week.Newsom's plan also calls for changing the standard that regulators use to decide whether a power company should charge customers for its wildfire liabilities. Utilities would be assumed to have acted prudently, unless proven otherwise, if they complied with new safety requirements. That would make it easier for them to recover expenses, raise capital and reduce ratepayers' financing costs, according to a report from the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, which advises the legislature. The report didn't review Newsom's proposal.Here are the other key takeaways from Newsom's proposal:The state's share would come from Department of Water Resources bonds and would be backed by a charge that utility customers have been paying since the 2000-2001 energy crisis.Edison's Southern California Edison and Sempra's San Diego Gas & Electric utility would have 15 days after the legislation takes effect to decide whether they want to contribute to a larger insurance fund.PG&E wouldn't be allowed to access the fund until it resolves wildfire claims from the past two years and exits bankruptcy within 18 months of its January filing with a plan that's "neutral" to ratepayers to access the wildfire fund, according to the administration.Utilities would have to spend $3 billion on fire safety measures -- investments that they wouldn't be allowed to recover from ratepayers, the administration said. PG&E would have to spend the most.A state agency would serve as a backstop to utilities in signing power purchase contracts.(Updates with findings from state report in tenth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Romy Varghese.To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Will WadeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez refusing to apologize for comparing migrant detention centers to concentration camps Posted: 20 Jun 2019 03:23 AM PDT  AOC comments spark outrage for both Republicans and Democrats; Aishah Hasnie reports.
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| Trump says Iran's 'unprovoked attack' on U.S. drone was likely not intentional Posted: 20 Jun 2019 07:55 AM PDT  Iran's latest shootdown of a U.S. military drone appears to fit exactly the scenario that a senior U.S. general warned earlier this week would trigger an American military response, dragging the United States into a military conflict the Trump administration has said it does not want.
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| Georgia puts inmate to death for man's 1996 shotgun slaying Posted: 20 Jun 2019 07:59 PM PDT  Warden Benjamin Ford pronounced Marion Wilson Jr. dead at 9:52 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson. Wilson, 42, and Robert Earl Butts Jr. were convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the shotgun slaying of 24-year-old Donovan Corey Parks in Milledgeville, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta. "I ain't never took a life in my life," Wilson said as part of a final statement before receiving a deadly injection of pentobarbital.
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| Poll finds Americans are worried about asteroids, don’t care about the Moon Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:23 AM PDT  As we creep closer to the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, NASA is doing its best to drum up support for a return mission that would see its astronauts once again roaming the lunar surface. With such an exciting mission on the horizon, you'd think that public interest in a Moon return would be pretty high. It isn't.In fact, a new poll by the Associated Press in partnership with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests that Americans are much more interested in things that could possibly kill them -- like asteroids or comets -- than another crewed visit to the Moon.The poll reveals that a full 68 percent of respondents see the monitoring of asteroids, comets, and "other events in space that could impact Earth" as being either "very important" or "extremely important." This stands in stark contrast to the mere 23 percent of people who believe heading back to the Moon is highly important.This public opinion data is interesting for a number of reasons, not least of which is that the current administration has made a return to the Moon a top priority. That sentiment, it would seem, is not shared by the vast majority of the general public.Being lukewarm over a return mission to the Moon is understandable, but what might be even more surprising is that many people have little or no interest in seeing a crewed mission to Mars become a top priority either:> Thirty-seven percent say sending astronauts to Mars should take precedence over going back to the moon, while 18% would rather have NASA send more astronauts to the moon. But 43% do not think either action should be a priority for the country.Well, like it or not, NASA is indeed headed back to the Moon either in 2024 (maybe) or a bit later, and a mission to Mars is almost certainly going to be a top priority for the space administration once all of the supporting technology has reached maturity. But don't worry, NASA is still watching for asteroids in the meantime.
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| Joe Biden Keeps Stumbling. The Democratic Pile-On Is Just Getting Started. Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:00 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden faces a tough few days as he heads into the first Democratic primary debates.
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| UPDATE 6-Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; judge keeps it open for now Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:18 AM PDT ![UPDATE 6-Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; judge keeps it open for now]( "UPDATE 6-Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; judge keeps it open for now") Missouri health officials on Friday refused to renew the license of the state's only abortion clinic, but the facility will remain open for now as a judge left in place an injunction blocking its closure. At a brief state circuit court hearing on Friday, Judge Michael Stelzer said it might be days before the court would come to a decision on whether the state could shut its only abortion clinic, which is operated by women's healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood. If the clinic were to close, Missouri would become the only U.S. state without a legal abortion clinic.
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| 9/11 first responder pleads for victims fund from his hospice bed Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:19 AM PDT  Luis Alvarez, who testified with Jon Stewart, asked Congress to 'do the right thing' in what he expects to be his last interviewAn emergency first responder who was diagnosed with cancer following his work at Ground Zero in New York has spoken from his hospice bed just days after he testified alongside comedian and activist Jon Stewart about funding for those sickened by their work after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Retired New York police department (NYPD) detective Luis Alvarez used what he expects to be his final interview to give a last impassioned plea to Congress to renew the 9/11 victims fund and deal with an "epidemic" of Ground Zero-related illnesses.Alvarez said on Thursday that after nearly 70 rounds of chemotherapy, doctors had told him there was nothing more they could do. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2016 that has spread to his liver."It's an epidemic. There's going to be more and more first responders getting sick. And our government has to take care of them. It's just a matter of decency, a matter of doing the right thing. We did the right thing when we went down there. Now it's the government's turn to do the right thing by us," Alvarez, 53, told Fox News.> UPDATE: 9/11 first responder Luis Alvarez does an interview with @FoxNews as his liver is failing after breathing in toxic dust after the Twin Towers fell https://t.co/cIUomvx6OJ> > — Nikki Schwab (@NikkiSchwab) June 20, 2019Alvarez said going through cancer has been stressful for his whole family. "We need to ease the stress on the first responders," he added. "And let them know that they're not alone. That the government is here to back them up, to give them the support they need, the financial support that they're going to need when they get sick. It's just a matter of time. You know, most of us that were down there – it's just a matter of time before we get sick."It came just nine days after he received a standing ovation in Washington DC, where Stewart and other first responders addressed the House judiciary committee, to speak out against plans to cut 9/11 compensation by up to 70%."You made me come down here the day before my 69th round of chemo, and I'm going to make sure that you never forget to take care of the 9/11 responders," he said at the hearing. But the following day his health took a downturn and doctors concluded that his liver had shut down.Speaking with his son David by his side from a hospice in Long Island, near New York City, Alavarez said to Fox News host Shepard Smith on Thursday: "We need this bill passed, Shep. It's got to be passed quickly and efficiently so we never have to come down to Washington again and lobby."He said he was comfortable and "at peace" surrounded by his family and that he had "no regrets whatsoever".He insisted that he was just doing what any fire, police or emergency worker would have done when he spent three months at the site of the 9/11 attacks, searching for remains and clearing up in a smoldering, toxic pile after terrorists flew hijacked passenger jets into the World Trade Center. He added: "I'm nobody special. I did what all the other guys did. And now we're paying the price for it."He said he is leaving his sons David, 29, Tyler, 19, and Ben, 14, "without a father".While he said he was "lucky" to have had the heath care that he has, there are people in his position who do not.He said it was time for the government to act: "We just want the money to be there for our families so that God forbid they do get sick, they're covered."He said they were told the air was safe – which it was not – but even if they had known it was unsafe they would have gone in regardless, "because that's what we do".He said the problem is a US-wide issue among first responders who travelled to New York after the 9/11 attacks to help and warned others to be vigilant."I just want them to know, hey if you were down at Ground Zero … get yourself checked out. Because you could be sick from ground zero," he added.
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| Jessa Duggar had an unexpected home birth on her couch Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:12 PM PDT  Jessa (Duggar) and Ben Seewald revealed on TLC's "Counting On" that the birth of their baby girl Ivy Jane didn't go exactly according to plan.
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| View Photos of our New Long-Term 2019 Honda Civic Type R Posted: 20 Jun 2019 12:00 PM PDT |
| UPDATE 4-Airbus demands chance to bid for IAG's surprise Boeing 737 MAX order Posted: 20 Jun 2019 01:51 AM PDT ![UPDATE 4-Airbus demands chance to bid for IAG's surprise Boeing 737 MAX order]( "UPDATE 4-Airbus demands chance to bid for IAG's surprise Boeing 737 MAX order") Airbus called on Thursday for a chance to compete for a blockbuster plane order by British Airways owner IAG, which stunned industry executives at this week's Paris Airshow by ordering 200 of Boeing's grounded 737 MAX. Airbus announced a new version of its best-selling A321 with close to 240 orders and commitments in Paris, only to see its grip on IAG's European short-haul networks damaged by the Boeing deal which analysts said shores up the embattled 737 MAX. Boeing's top-selling aircraft has been taken out of service worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed in March, five months after a Lion Air 737 MAX plunged into the sea off Indonesia.
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| Spain's top court convicts 5 men in gang rape case Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:13 PM PDT  Spain's Supreme Court on Friday overruled two lower courts and sentenced five men to 15 years in prison for raping an 18-year-old woman. The case had triggered an outcry because the lower courts last year convicted the men of the lesser crime of sexual abuse and handed down nine-year sentences. Women's rights advocates had expressed anger about what they saw as the lower court's leniency and the confirmation of that sentence by a second court.
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| Elizabeth Warren is running the year's most substantive campaign. What does that say about everyone else? Posted: 20 Jun 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Warren is just doing what a presidential candidate is supposed to do — offer some larger argument for what government ought to look like. What makes her so notable is how little any of the other candidates seem to have thought about this at all.
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| Stonehenge Has Attracted Summer Solstice Visitors for Centuries, But Some Historians Worry About Its Future Posted: 20 Jun 2019 08:31 AM PDT  Plans to build a tunnel in the area have proved divisive
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| The Weird and Wonderful Hats of Royal Ascot 2019 Posted: 20 Jun 2019 01:09 PM PDT  Toby Melville/ReutersWho's paying attention to horses with fabulous hats like these?A guest on day three, Ladies Day, of Royal Ascot at the Ascot Racecourse on June 20, 2019 in Ascot, England. Royals and horse lovers alike gather for the annual horse racing event, donning the most fashionable—and bizarre—hats.Chris Jackson/GettyAction Images via ReutersBryn Lennon/GettyBryn Lennon/GettyChris Jackson/GettyAction Images via ReutersAction Images via ReutersJonathan Brady/ReutersReutersReutersReutersReutersAction Images via ReutersRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| NRA sues ex-president Oliver North, saying he harmed the NRA Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:19 AM PDT  The National Rifle Association has sued its former president, Oliver North, for what it called "conduct harmful to the NRA" as turmoil that was exposed publicly when North resigned two months ago continued Thursday when the organization also turned against its longtime chief lobbyist. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York sought a judge's declaration that the NRA isn't required to pay North's legal bills. North stepped down from the post in April after serving for a year.
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| Tel Aviv Journal Posted: 20 Jun 2019 03:30 AM PDT  When we land in Tel Aviv from Bucharest, some people on the plane -- women! -- are very, very rude: pushing, shoving, and yelling. I'm about to put my dukes up and the F-word hangs on my lips -- and then I remember: "Ah, right: They're Israelis. They're supposed to be this way."And the same women who are trying to run you over to get to the overhead bins they want would probably cook you a meal and tuck you in at night.And take up arms to defend you.Culture, culture …• Inside the airport, there is a sign -- a tourism poster: Follow Your Sunshine, Visit Florida. Huh. Yet there's plenty of sunshine here, isn't there? Regardless, I should not overthink a tourism poster …• The immigration official looks at my passport very, very skeptically. There is a sour look on his face. "What do you do?" he asks. I say that I'm a journalist. If possible, his expression gets more sour. "Do you have a journalist's ID card?" he asks. No. I'm not from a Communist country."Where do you work?" he asks. "National Review magazine in New York," I answer. "What kind of magazine is that?" he asks. I say that it's a magazine of politics and culture.With an air of both annoyance and boredom, he turns to his smartphone and fiddles with it for a while. Suddenly, his face is wreathed in smiles. He grins at me almost goofily, like a girl. I have never seen such a sudden change of countenance. He immediately hands me back my passport and sends me on my way.Did he Google me? Had he received a billet doux from his girlfriend? I don't know …• Israeli cabbies are legendary -- legendary for trying to rip you off. There is a reason for the legend; it is grounded in fact -- and really too bad. Because a cabbie is often a person's introduction to Israel. What a first impression, you know?This is a matter of national honor …• All the clichés about Tel Aviv are true: young, vibrant, hip, sensual. I am reminded of Miami. The beachtown sensuousness of Miami and the hipster vibe of Brooklyn (certain neighborhoods of).It is humid as hell, by the way. The temperature is not high -- only about 80 -- but the humidity is very high.Is it worth mentioning that the girls and women are beautiful, and often exotically so? That's a little like mentioning that the bread in France is good, I know. But it's still true.Of course, the climate and the general beachtownness helps. Sundresses and all that.A middle-aged Israeli man tells me, "The nation got seriously prettier once the Russians started coming."As the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, so is Israel. It is a Jewish state, yes -- but a nation of immigrants at the same time. There are so many skin tones, so many hair types. Years ago, I had a visit here, and a colleague -- a young Jewish American -- said, "My Jewdar is all screwed up here."It ain't Scarsdale.• I am happy to see young mothers (and fathers, I guess) -- young people with children. Sign of hope, some people think. Sign of a willingness to press onward.Once, I asked Charles Krauthammer whether he thought Israel would survive. He said, "It depends on two things: the willingness of Israelis themselves to survive and the support of the United States."• Given the general looseness of Tel Aviv, I'm surprised to see pedestrians waiting for the light to change at intersections -- even when there are no cars coming. Where are we, Salzburg? My Ann Arbor feet want to get moving …• At a restaurant, a waitress approaches a table and talks to the couple seated at it. She says, "Are you from South Africa?" Yes, they are. "I'm from South Africa," she says. Then they talk about places, etc., they know in common.This is very Israel.• Needless to say, one should go to various restaurants and order various dishes. Personally, I can't stop returning to one restaurant, for one dish: spicy ground lamb on Yemeni bread (with a fresh salad, of course).• Here is a Vietnamese joint -- and I got a kick out of the sign, somehow:• A jaunt to Jerusalem with friends, to see the Sharanskys -- Natan and Avital. To read a little about it, go here. I did an article.(After this article appeared, more than one person said, "He [Sharansky] is the greatest Jew alive." And one of the greatest people, no question.)• Bad news, and common news: There has been a stabbing this morning. More than one stabbing, by one terrorist, a young Palestinian. He carried out his attacks at the Damascus Gate, which is a main entrance to the Old City (Jerusalem).Let me quote from a news report, published later on:> An Israeli man who sustained life-threatening stab wounds … was released from a Jerusalem hospital on Wednesday, vowing to reporters, "We will not be afraid."> > Gavriel Lavi, 47, said he struggled to remember the details of the stabbing attack … but believed he had been saved from death by prayers and charity given by fellow students at his yeshiva, or Jewish religious seminary.• I attend a wedding, outside Tel Aviv. It's a lovely evening, but not un-humid. Many of the men are in jackets and ties; many of them are not. One in the latter category tells me, "You can tell who was born here and who wasn't. We sabras don't wear jackets and ties to weddings."Happily, I shed my jacket, though keep the tie in place.• Have I mentioned that the wedding is outdoors? Let me offer a quick shot of the scene:• The father of the bride gives a warm, elegant toast. He is from Iraq. (What a story the Iraqi Jews have.) In his toast, he quotes a Turkish saying, and a Persian one. He is a worldly man, a worldly Middle Easterner -- cosmopolitan, you might say. This is a bad word in some quarters, but not to me, it isn't. The father of the bride is an Israeli patriot. He has also had a broad, rich experience of life.So, sue 'im …• It's not like me to shoot food porn, but get a load of this spaghetti:Where's the beef? (Remember that slogan? It made its way into the 1984 presidential campaign.)Put it on simmer, baby:I could go on …• At my table, there is a man named Moishe. "Oh, like 'Moses,'" I say. "No," he replies. "'Moses' is like 'Moishe.'"That is one of the greatest replies I have ever heard …• In Tel Aviv, Ben-Gurion Boulevard is a major thoroughfare. Well, it should be. So is Begin Road. Ditto. ("Begin" as in "Menachem," by the way, not as in "commence.") I also see Levi Eshkol Street. Do you know about him? The third prime minister of Israel, serving from 1963 until his death in 1969.(By the way, if you have any interest in Israeli politics at all, you will love -- devour -- Yehuda Avner's memoirs, The Prime Ministers. The book is like candy.)There is also Rabin Square -- where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered in 1995. The square used to be called "Kings of Israel Square." (Some people still call it that.)• Ah, the beach, the Med -- which makes me think of another late prime minister, Shimon Peres. He met with a group of us journalists in 2005. The location was Davos. Let me fish out, and quote from, my journal:> The Labor head speaks first about the need for the economic betterment of the PA [Palestinian Authority]: Europeans, and others, should invest there. In Gaza, for example, unemployment is over 45 percent. Someone asks, "What kinds of business would you like to see in the PA?" He answers -- I like this phrase -- "Everything that life calls for." He then elaborates: "high tech, low tech, no tech." He points out that Gaza, someday, should be ripe for tourism: It has "43 kilometers of the most beautiful beaches in the Mediterranean." He wonders whether (abandoned) settlements can be converted to resorts.Yeah, well …• Tel Aviv's waterfront is very, very friendly to people who want to walk. You can walk alongside the beach forever (though the surfaces change, not unpleasantly).Care for a quick shot?• One of the sequence of beaches here is (officially) "dog-friendly" -- meaning that Fido can frolic unleashed, as his owners look on, grinning.• Speaking of animals: I see five horses -- beautiful thoroughbreds (I believe) -- being walked by handlers on grassy areas (not knolls) just beyond a beach. Where are we, Kentucky?• On the beach, a mother in a bikini throws a football to her two young receiver sons. She has a good arm. A native Israeli, too (as her Hebrew indicates). I'm impressed. I wonder if the boys appreciate that this is not entirely normal.• Want to get some reading done?And the other side:• You can hear cries of muezzins all over the world, including here in Tel Aviv. One rises from the Great Mahmoudiya Mosque, near the beach …• Speaking of religion: I see some Jehovah's Witnesses, and their booth. I'm reminded that these people are banned and persecuted in Putin's Russia, which burns me.• Amid the buildings in Tel Aviv, the Trade Tower gleams, which makes me think, contentedly, "Up from the socialist past?"• Have another beach scene:And spot the cat? On the rocks, at about 5 o'clock?• I appreciate a blunt sign. Hard to get blunter than "Danger of Death!"• In my experience -- limited, to be sure -- Israelis are not great standers in line …• You know where they learn to stand in line? The Zarkor School. It is my favorite school in Israel, and possibly in the world. It has just three grades, so far: pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade. I bet it will grow. Zarkor was founded by my friend Michael Friedman, and it is a pioneering effort. Learn about it here.Michael -- who is a phenomenal story all by himself -- is married to another phenom, Rachel Zabarkes Friedman, a scholar who has three degrees from Harvard, but the pinnacle of whose life, surely, was her internship at National Review …(When I interviewed her, on the phone, I sat up a little straighter, because she was so authoritative, interesting, and compelling. She was just in college, mind you.)• You are familiar with the pop song "Saturday in the Park": "People dancing, people laughing, a man selling ice cream, singing Italian songs." Well, Saturday, it seems to me, is a deader, or emptier, or quieter day in Tel Aviv -- yes, even in Tel Aviv, to say nothing of Jerusalem and elsewhere. (Tel Aviv is regarded as a secular city.) Friday is probably more like "Saturday in the Park."• See the British embassy, here in Tel Aviv?It reminds me that ours is now in Jerusalem. I wrote about this issue for years and years: from the point of view of U.S. foreign policy; from the point of view of the Arab–Israeli conflict; and from the point of view of U.S. politics. I should not repeat myself, as I'm trying to breeze through a journal. Maybe I could provide a link.Hmmm -- here's a dollop.• I meet a woman who has a daughter in the third grade. She sings in a chorus (the daughter). One of the songs they sing is a patriotic one, saying that, surely, some of the little boys in their midst will grow up to die in Israeli wars.This is not a country bereft of realism, you might say (putting it mildly).• It is also not a country bereft of stress. The difficulty of life in Israel is famous, or infamous. I meet a man who is hoping to emigrate to Canada. He is native-born (in Israel, I mean). After his military service, he went to Japan, where he worked for seven years. It is not uncommon for Israelis to do this kind of thing, he says. He loved Japan: its orderliness, its peacefulness. When he returned to Israel, he found the stress -- the noise, the pressure, the tumult -- almost unbearable.Look, this is just one testimony, one story, one guy. But no Israeli would be surprised to hear him.• I have not said anything about Prime Minister Netanyahu -- and there is a lot of talk about him, among the people I meet. There was an election in April; there will be another in September. I'm just breezin' along here, coming to a close. But let me say: Netanyahu is an interesting, impressive, and historic figure, with legions of admirers (including me). But even some of them say, or fear, that he has stayed too long.This is an age-old problem. Leaders begin to equate their personal interests or desires with the national interest, you know? L'état, c'est eux.Anyway, a big, big subject. (I used to call Netanyahu "the Leader of the West." I also applied the phrase to Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada.)• You want to see a funny sign? I don't have a picture, but I can quote it for you: Please Avoid Unpleasantness Involved in Towing Vehicles.Amen.• An Israeli tells me that shalom is used for goodbye in only one, special instance: when you are going away for a long, long time. Then it's an adieu (rather than au revoir); an addio (rather than arrivederci).• It still amazes me, after all these years, that people -- modern people -- call their dad "Abba," just as in the Bible …• One last shot of funkilicious Tel Aviv?• When I get back to New York, an airport official is jawing at a man who is hawking a car service, and he responds, "I know my rights!"Ah, America. See you, dear ones, and thanks for going to Israel with me.One more thing, maybe. Four years ago, I wrote an essay called "Hung Up on Israel": here. It answered the question, "Why do you care about Israel so much?" At least, it answered it as well as I can.Thanks again, and see you.
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| Putin says use of US force against Iran would be 'disaster' Posted: 20 Jun 2019 06:06 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said any use of force by the US against Iran would lead to disaster as tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran. "The US says it does not rule out the use of force... This would be a disaster for the region," Putin said during an annual televised phone-in with screened questions posed by Russian viewers. Moscow has backed Tehran in its stand off with the United States since Washington pulled out of an international 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran last year.
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| Witness in Navy SEAL trial takes blame for killing Posted: 20 Jun 2019 09:08 PM PDT  When the prosecution called a special forces medic to testify, they expected him to bolster their murder case against a decorated Navy SEAL accused of stabbing an Islamic State fighter in his care. Corey Scott delivered on that count, saying Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher had unexpectedly plunged a knife into the adolescent detainee after treating his wounds in 2017 in Iraq. Scott called the asphyxiation an act of mercy.
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| Roy Moore announces new Senate campaign Posted: 20 Jun 2019 12:57 PM PDT  Roy Moore's announcement that he would once again run for the U.S. Senate in Alabama sent a shudder through the Republican Party and raised a question: Could the GOP have avoided this scenario by uniting early around a credible consensus candidate?
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| Choose your future Greenland, Earthlings Posted: 21 Jun 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Like Beyonce, Greenland is constantly making news. And for good reason. The Arctic landmass holds an ice sheet that's two and a half times the size of sprawling Texas -- and it's melting at rates that are unprecedented in at least centuries, if not thousands of years. "I can tell you the retreat is eye-popping," said Twila Moon, an Arctic researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center who has traveled along the vastly diminished ice. For humanity, the particularly salient question now is how quickly these massive stores of ice will melt into the sea.Greenland's future, of course, depends on the most uncertain, chaotic, and emotionally volatile portion of the climate science equation: humans, specifically how much heat-trapping carbon we decide to pump into the atmosphere. "The biggest uncertainty in climate science is human behavior," NASA scientist Kate Marvel told Mashable after the Trump administration recently said they will no longer consider many climate projections beyond 20 years from now. But regardless of the federal government's self-imposed limitations, new research, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, lays out three clear, potential futures for Greenland: 1. Really bad: A future wherein carbon emissions continue rising as they are now, called the "business as usual" scenario (known as RCP 8.5).2. Pretty bad: A future wherein emissions moderately rise until around 2050, and then drop substantially -- but not completely -- by century's end (known as RCP 4.5).3. Not as bad: A future wherein humanity rapidly and immediately slashes carbon emissions today, bringing emissions to zero well before 2100 (known as RCP 2.5). * This last ambitious future, in line with the historic Paris climate agreement, is now nearly impossible to achieve. As you might suspect, the new research -- enhanced by NASA's recent aircraft observations of Greenland -- found that the melting land mass (in a rapidly melting Arctic realm) is expected to incur profound ice losses this century and beyond, should carbon emissions continue to saturate the skies (options 1 and 2). For reference, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are currently increasing at rates that are unprecedented in both the historic and geologic record. Yet, humanity has an immediate say in the matter."We can actually choose how it's going to look," said Andy Aschwanden, the study's lead author and researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute. "The next couple decades are quite important to the future.""It's going to be worse if we burn more fossil fuels," added NASA's Josh Willis, an oceanographer who leads the science agency's Oceans Melting Greenland mission. "This has been clear for decades," said Willis, who had no role in the research. "The more CO2 you put into the atmosphere, the more you change the climate." The choiceIf emissions continue as they are, by century's end Greenland alone will lose enough ice to boost sea levels by between 5.5 and 13 inches, the research found. But matters get substantially worse as the centuries progress, adding as much as 12.5 feet by 2300. Eventually, all the ice would disappear. "We found that the Greenland ice sheet could melt within 1,000 years if we keep adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere," said Aschwanden. That would raise sea levels by some 23 feet.> Drastically reducing emissions could limit ice loss to under a quarter of the ice sheet. That scenario would produce up to 6 feet of sea level rise by 3000. pic.twitter.com/c7PM4itnis> > -- NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) June 19, 2019Even if unprecedented steps are taken to curb Earth's warming this century (option 3), Greenland will still experience some melting (adding between 2 and 7 inches of sea level rise this century). That's because there's already substantial warming baked into the absorbent oceans, and the elevated carbon levels already saturating the skies will take hundreds to thousands of years to naturally get soaked into the seas."A lot of ice loss has already been baked into the system because of human actions in the past," said Moon. But that's still a future humanity can adapt to, more so than runaway glacial melting, anyway. "All the effects are worse if we do nothing," noted Willis. "And they're all better if we avoid burning so much fossil fuel."This study's projections were enhanced by new observational data from NASA's IceBridge missions, which involves swooping over the Greenland ice sheet to capture detailed measurements of the ice. The airborne NASA mission proved particularly valuable in measuring the conditions of Greenland's exit glaciers -- the rivers of ice that pour into the ocean -- said Aschwanden. With this new information, the research team could simulate how much ice was likely to drain into the sea as glaciers experience an accelerating rise in air temperatures. "This is really nice work," said Moon, noting that the new incorporation of ice loss around Greenland's edges produced a quality, advanced simulation.> From Tuesday's IceBridge flight, a close-up of a supraglacial lake above Eqip Sermia, with a thin skin of refrozen ice floating on top pic.twitter.com/YGW9kTxPSA> > -- NASA ICE (@NASA_ICE) May 15, 2019For all the grim observations from this study, it's crucial to note that things could actually be significantly worse. Yes, worse. That's because these projections may underestimate the powerful influence the warming oceans have on glaciers."The oceans have the potential to make this more extreme," said NASA's Willis. "There's still room for [the projections] to get worse."Arctic waters meet Greenland's colossal exit glaciers, some which are walls of submarine ice around 2,600 feet tall. And recent research, performed by NASA, found these glaciers are extremely sensitive to ocean temperatures. The ocean has the power to accelerate melt, or even stoke the glaciers to start growing again during cooler shifts in ocean circulation.SEE ALSO: The Green New Deal: Historians weigh in on the immense scale required to pull it offAs airborne scientists, on-the-ground ice-gathering researchers, and satellites scouring from space continue to probe the region, Greenland's future will grow increasingly clear. "The work is ongoing," said Willis.But the bigger picture is already evident. There are distinct futures ahead for Greenland. Which one will our descendants experience, even beyond this century?"Two-hundred or 300 years really aren't many human generations," noted Moon. "It will be here in a blink of an eye."* * *P.S. A succinct note to those contending, incredibly, that Greenland is not experiencing drastic melt: One big glacier (Jakobshavn) recently stopped shrinking, but that doesn't mean the entire landmass is miraculously on an epic rebound. "Just because Jakobshavn stopped growing does not mean there's no global warming and we're not changing the planet -- we are radically changing the planet," explained NASA oceanographer Josh Willis, who annually flies over Greenland. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| U.S. cannot unilaterally remove Turkey from F-35 program: Turkish defense official Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:15 AM PDT  The United States cannot unilaterally remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program as the partnership agreement does not allow it, Turkey's head of Defense Industries Directorate said on Friday. "No single country can say they don't want you and then remove you from the program," Ismail Demir told reporters. Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads for months over Turkey's planned purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense system.
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| Russia and China Go War Against America. Here's What Could Happen Next. Posted: 20 Jun 2019 05:25 AM PDT  Could Beijing and Moscow coordinate a pair of crises that would drive two separate U.S. military responses?The United States discarded its oft-misunderstood "two war" doctrine, intended as a template for providing the means to fight two regional wars simultaneously, late last decade. Designed to deter North Korea from launching a war while the United States was involved in fighting against Iran or Iraq (or vice versa,) the idea helped give form to the Department of Defense's procurement, logistical and basing strategies in the post–Cold War, when the United States no longer needed to face down the Soviet threat. The United States backed away from the doctrine because of changes in the international system, including the rising power of China and the proliferation of highly effective terrorist networks.But what if the United States had to fight two wars today, and not against states like North Korea and Iran? What if China and Russia sufficiently coordinated with one another to engage in simultaneous hostilities in the Pacific and in Europe?This first appeared in August 2017.Political Coordination
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| 2 killed when semitrailers explode on Wisconsin interstate Posted: 20 Jun 2019 12:16 PM PDT  Two semitrailers exploded into flames Wednesday on an interstate in southeastern Wisconsin, killing both drivers and setting other vehicles on fire, authorities said.
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| Photos of the 2020 Peugeot 2008 SUV Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:46 AM PDT |
| A 12-foot alligator was found on a Florida highway: 'He wasn't happy' Posted: 20 Jun 2019 07:47 AM PDT  The 463-pound alligator was suffering from injuries after being hit in the head by a semi-truck on Interstate 10. It was later euthanized.
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| Xi visits North Korea's Kim ahead of Trump talks Posted: 19 Jun 2019 05:47 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pyongyang on Thursday on a historic visit to burnish an uneasy alliance, with the two men each facing challenges of their own with US President Donald Trump. Xi is the first Chinese president to visit North Korea in 14 years, after relations between the Cold War era allies deteriorated over Pyongyang's nuclear provocations and Beijing's subsequent backing of UN sanctions. The North Korean leader has now visited his older ally four times in China and Pyongyang has been increasingly keen for Xi to reciprocate, while according to diplomats Beijing has been biding its time to see how nuclear talks between Kim and Trump play out.
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| Plot that wounded Ortiz unraveled because of many mistakes Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:15 PM PDT  Alberto Rodríguez Mota had one job: taking a photo of the man that his crew of hired killers was supposed to fatally shoot at an outdoor cafe, according to Dominican authorities. In the photo sent to the hit man, he looked like a dark, blurry figure in white pants, the Dominican police chief and attorney-general said. Hours later, on the evening of June 9, the hitman approached a hulking figure in a dark top and white pants and fired a single shot into his back.
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| Pelosi slams Trump administration for delaying Harriet Tubman on $20 bill: 'An insult to the hopes of millions' Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:47 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called out the Trump administration's decision to delay putting former slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, calling it "an insult to the hopes of millions."
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| Why You Should Skip Target-Date Funds in Your Portfolio Posted: 21 Jun 2019 01:07 PM PDT ![Why You Should Skip Target-Date Funds in Your Portfolio]( "Why You Should Skip Target-Date Funds in Your Portfolio") While there's no such thing as a perfect retirement investment, some experts might argue that target funds come close. "Target-date funds have become popular because they offer an all in one solution," says Denny Baish, a senior investment analyst and portfolio manager at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. Baish says these funds are common in retirement plans for participants who don't want to bother, don't have the time or simply don't know how to build out a proper allocation.
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| Oklahoma Teens Fall Ill After Graduation Trip to Dominican Republic Posted: 20 Jun 2019 05:15 PM PDT  A group of high school graduates from Oklahoma fell victim to a string of mysterious illnesses in the Dominican Republic.
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| Foxconn picks chip-unit head for chairman, as Gou seeks Taiwan presidency Posted: 20 Jun 2019 06:25 PM PDT  Apple Inc supplier Foxconn chose chip-unit boss Liu Young-way as chairman on Friday to succeed Terry Gou, who is preparing to contest Taiwan's presidential elections next year. Liu was tipped to take over from Gou, who told Reuters in April that he planned to step down to pave the way for younger talent to move up the ranks of the world's biggest electronics contract manufacturer. Earlier on Friday, Gou told the company's annual general meeting (AGM) in Taipei he will hand over the running of the company to a newly formed nine-member operations committee.
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| Tucker Carlson Slams Republicans for Ignoring Voters in Favor of Koch Brothers’ Priorities Posted: 20 Jun 2019 05:19 AM PDT  Fox News host Tucker Carlson lashed out at Republican lawmakers on his television show on Wednesday night, claiming that they've ignored the priorities of their voters in order to appeal to the influential Koch brothers' preference for free-market economic policy.Carlson, who has leveraged his primetime perch to disrupt the GOP's Reagan-era free-market economic consensus, claimed that the Koch political network wields its substantial wealth to guide Republican politicians away from restrictionist immigration policy and trade protectionism — which Carlson claims voters prefer, as evidenced by their support for President Trump — and toward a more libertarian worldview."They have a sincere desire to change the world," Carlson said of the billionaires Charles and David Koch, during a Wednesday night monologue on "Tucker Carlson Tonight.""So for years, the brothers have been the single most important funders of Republican politics in Washington," the host added.Conservatives, Carlson argued, are naturally inclined to view the Kochs favorably, because the wealthy brothers are constantly maligned by the mainstream press, as well as liberal activists and politicians. But that calculation is misguided in the case of the Kochs, according to Carlson."But in the case of the Kochs, conservatives might want to pause and rethink the relationship," he said. "As it turns out, the Kochs don't have much in common with conservatives. They are in fact totally opposed to most conservative policy goals. The Kochs are libertarian ideologues. They are passionate and inflexible about what they believe.""The overwhelming majority of Republicans want a secure border and less immigration," he continued. "That's why they voted for Donald Trump. Two-and-a-half years later though, the border is more porous than ever. A tide of humanity is flooding in illegally. Republicans in Congress have done almost nothing to help with the situation. Why? You can thank the Kochs for that."The disparity between the preferences of Republican voters and those of the Koch brothers doesn't end at immigration, Carlson argued: Sentencing reform for drug dealers, cuts to entitlement programs, and corporate tax cuts all rank high on the Koch brothers' priority list, while undermining Republican lawmakers' credibility with their base.Carlson also suggested that the Koch brothers' libertarian orthodoxy makes them overly deferential to big-tech firms that he claims pose a significant threat to ordinary Americans."Big tech has become a far greater threat to your freedom than government is," he said at the end of the segment. "The Kochs don't care. Nothing Google does violates libertarian orthodoxy. More to the point, the Kochs don't care about Republican voters or what happens to them. Okay, that's fine. No law requiring them to care, but then why are they running the Republican Party? That's a question Republicans should start asking themselves."
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| Dad of Maleah Davis, slain 4-year-old, shares photos of her 'My Little Pony'-themed casket Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:13 AM PDT  The father of Maleah Davis, the 4-year-old whose remains were found in Arkansas earlier this month, posted photos of 'My Little Pony'-themed casket.
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| Trump news – live: Pentagon condemns 'unprovoked attack' after Iran raises stakes in Middle East stand-off by shooting down US drone Posted: 20 Jun 2019 04:33 AM PDT  Iran's Revolutionary Guard has shot down a US drone to send a "clear message" to the Trump administration after US secretary of state Mike Pompeo blamed the regime for an attack on two foreign oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz last week.Donald Trump has yet to address the incident but did give in an interview to Sean Hannity of Fox News on Wednesday night in which he urged the host not to "worry about a thing" regarding tensions on the world stage with Iran, China and Russia.The Pentagon has called the downing of the drone an "unprovoked attack" by Tehran in international airspace. Iran says the drone crossed its border.In Capitol Hill, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee were left frustrated by White House stonewalling after their eight-hour, behind-closed-doors interview with ex-Trump aide Hope Hicks was thwarted by lawyers claiming "absolute immunity" on behalf of the executive, preventing the witness from answering questions about her tenure as a spokesperson for the Oval Office.Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
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| Citing bias, US Supreme Court tosses murder conviction of black man Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:16 AM PDT  The US Supreme Court on Friday threw out the conviction of an African-American man who was tried six times for a quadruple murder, saying the exclusion of black jurors was unconstitutional. Curtis Flowers, 49, was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to death for the July 1996 murders of four people in a furniture store in Winona, Mississippi, where he had briefly worked until being fired. The nation's highest court did not examine the guilt or innocence of Flowers but whether the district attorney deliberately sought to keep black people off the jury in his most recent trial.
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| Death of Egypt's Morsi comes amid Brotherhood struggles Posted: 21 Jun 2019 05:47 AM PDT  The sudden collapse and death of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in a Cairo courtroom this week was a brief rallying point for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that has seen its influence steadily wane across the Mideast since Egypt's military ousted Morsi in 2013. Seven years ago, in the still hopeful aftermath of the Arab Spring, Morsi took the podium in front of hundreds of thousands in Cairo in 2012 as the first freely elected president of Egypt, and opened his jacket to show he wore no bulletproof vest. At that moment, the Brotherhood leader embodied the rise of the Islamists in the Middle East.
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| China's Economic Expansion is a Shot Across the Bow at Russia Posted: 20 Jun 2019 06:44 AM PDT  In Ancient Rome, the arrival of a conquering general from the front meant either a rapid change of political scenery or as much pomp and circumstance as could be drawn from its seven hills. With the lengths to which the Italian government went through to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping last March to inaugurate Italy's joining of China's Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, Romans may very well have asked themselves if both outcomes were taking place simultaneously. Outside of Italy, however, enthusiasm for the visit was more restrained. Even some of Italy's closest European Union partners saw Italy as a modern-day Trojan Horse, betraying trans-Atlantic ideals for Chinese patronage.Whatever their views on the visit, both Western press and policy circles overwhelmingly focused on what the trip meant for the EU rather than assessing Beijing's motives. The Chinese angle went beyond co-opting a G7 member into its belt and road initiative. Beijing's first successful foray into securing an EU investor partner for its BRI is not just an economic victory for Beijing, but a powerful warning shot to the Kremlin that China will not allow Russia to envelop parts of Europe spinning off the illiberal axis all on its own.
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| The 2020 Explorer ST Is Ford's Most Legit Performance SUV Yet Posted: 20 Jun 2019 03:00 AM PDT  The hi-po version of the newly redesigned Explorer comes much closer to earning its badge than the Edge ST does.
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