| At Senate trial, chief justice again tosses out Rand Paul's whistleblower question Posted: 30 Jan 2020 11:31 AM PST  For the second time in as many days, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected a question submitted by Sen. Rand Paul during the impeachment trial of President Trump.
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| Mom fails to meet deadline to bring missing kids to Idaho Posted: 30 Jan 2020 02:57 PM PST  The mom of two children missing since September failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to bring the kids to authorities in Idaho on Thursday. "The only word coming to mind right now is 'monster,'" Kay Woodcock, JJ's grandmother, said during a press conference Thursday evening. Police have said Lori Vallow and her new husband Chad Daybell have lied about the children's whereabouts and even their very existence, with Chad Daybell allegedly telling one person that Lori Vallow had no kids, and Lori Vallow allegedly telling another person that her daughter had died more than a year earlier.
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| Sarcophagus dedicated to sky god among latest ancient Egypt trove Posted: 30 Jan 2020 10:45 AM PST  Egypt's antiquities ministry on Thursday unveiled the tombs of ancient high priests and a sarcophagus dedicated to the sky god Horus at an archaeological site in Minya governorate. The mission found 16 tombs containing 20 sarcophagi, some engraved with hieroglyphics, at the Al-Ghoreifa site, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of Cairo. One of the stone sarcophagi was dedicated to the god Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, and features a depiction of the goddess Nut spreading her wings.
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| 'Unbelievable': Giant sinkhole threatens to swallow two homes in Florida Posted: 30 Jan 2020 02:10 PM PST  Anwar El Khouri's Tallahassee mobile home hangs off the edge of the crater, which also swallowed a pine tree.
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| Boeing's enormous new 777X jet just took its first flight — take a look back at the history of the company's largest twin-jet airplanes Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:07 AM PST  The Boeing 777 is the best-selling wide-body airliner in the company's history. The gigantic new 777X will chart a new course after a tough year.
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| U.S. envoy warns Palestinians against raising opposition to U.S. peace plan at U.N. Posted: 31 Jan 2020 12:38 PM PST  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will speak in the U.N. Security Council in the next two weeks about the plan, Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said on Wednesday, adding that he hoped the 15-member council would also vote on a draft resolution on the issue.
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| Warren Gets Endorsement From Prominent Iowa Political Couple Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Friday locked in a major endorsement from an influential couple in Iowa politics three days before the caucuses.Former Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky and her husband, former state Senator Bob Dvorsky, announced they were endorsing Warren for president in a statement to the Des Moines Register."This woman has integrity. She has grit. And she has a plan," Sue Dvorsky said in the statement. "And she's solutions-oriented."The Dvorskys had previously endorsed Senator Kamala Harris, who dropped out of the race in December. The couple decided to publicly back Warren after a month of discussions. They received a personal call from Warren on Thursday during a break in the impeachment trial, the Des Moines Register reported.The endorsement helps Warren's pitch as the unity candidate. The couple join a list of about 22 Iowans who had formally endorsed other presidential candidates but then backed Warren after their initial picks dropped out.Endorsements can carry more weight in Iowa than in other states because the caucus system gives an edge to the candidate with the strongest local connections. The Dvorskys were early backers of Barack Obama in 2007, and Sue Dvorsky served as Hillary Clinton's women's engagement director for Iowa in 2016.Warren, who was the front-runner in Iowa in the fall, is now locked in a tight race with other top-tier candidates for the winning ticket out of Iowa. In a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday, Warren was fourth with support from 15% of Democrats, trailing Sanders who had 23%, Joe Biden with 21% and Pete Buttigieg with 15%.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Des Moines at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, Magan CraneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kellyanne Grilled on Bolton Bombshells During Rare Press Briefing Posted: 30 Jan 2020 09:11 AM PST  It was a rare sight on Thursday morning when a Trump administration official stood behind a podium and took questions from reporters. In the seven months since she succeeded Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham hasn't done it once.But there was Kellyanne Conway delivering a briefing that was intended to be primarily focused on the CDC's recent report on a life expectancy increase in the U.S. and the administration's preparations to combat the coronavirus and the opioid crisis.After dubiously giving the president and First Lady Melania Trump credit for extending the average lifespan of Americans, Conway started to get testy when PBS NewsHour host Yamiche Alcindor asked her to comment on former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly saying he "believes" claims by former National Security Adviser John Bolton that President Donald Trump personally directed his quid pro quo with Ukraine. "Well, I respect General Kelly enormously and like him personally," Conway replied. "I don't know what he was referring to so I can't answer." She explained that because she has not personally seen a copy of Bolton's unpublished manuscript she could not verify that he made those allegations against Trump in his new book. Stephen Colbert Grills CNN's Chris Cuomo on His 'Friend' Kellyanne ConwayThe two women continued to spar for several more minutes, with Conway asking, "Are you talking about a leak of an unpublished manuscript reported by The New York Times? Because I don't know that to be true and neither do you." "You want me to answer a hypothetical wrapped up in a conundrum," Conway added, saying she "doesn't make anything of" Kelly's belief in Bolton. She then proceeded to attack Alcindor's other employer NBC News for prematurely reporting Kelly's departure from the White House. "I am not going to comment, particularly from the podium in the press briefing room on a leaked, unpublished manuscript that I haven't seen," Conway said. "I hope it doesn't include classified information.""And I know there's always this rush to imbue credibility on whomever you think is against the president at that moment," she continued before seeming to equate Bolton with figures like Michael Cohen, Michael Avenatti, and Lev Parnas—all three charged with federal crimes. Kellyanne Conway Melts Down Under Grilling by Fox NewsWhen another reporter followed up by asking why the White House is dragging its feet on reviewing the chapter in Bolton's book on Ukraine, Conway said "it has nothing to do with me" before deflecting the question by listing off unrelated accomplishment by the administration and boasting about Trump's approval ratings. "The idea that we should stop what we're doing to review somebody's book strikes me as not a big priority, in my view, for the president," Conway said. When that reporter noted that the contents of the book could become quite important "if witnesses are called" in Trump's impeachment trial, Conway shot back, "You would hope so, wouldn't you?" "I'm always happen to answer all of your questions, as you full well know," Conway added. "But I gotta stick to reality, not hypotheticals. And frankly, wishful thinking." How Comedian Fortune Feimster Became the Gay Representation She Needed in the WorldRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Why The Navy Risked Everything To Assassinate The Admiral Who Planned Pearl Harbor Posted: 30 Jan 2020 02:00 AM PST  There was no escape for Admiral Yamamoto.
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| Parents charged after Chicago boy shot in struggle over gun Posted: 29 Jan 2020 07:41 PM PST  The parents of a 1-year-old boy who was shot in the head as his parents struggled over a gun inside a Chicago home were each ordered held on Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond. Travis McCoy, 26, is charged with felony false alarm to 911 and misdemeanor child endangerment. Adriana Smith, 28, is charged with felony obstruction of justice and misdemeanor child endangerment.
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| Hangings of Delhi bus gang-rapists postponed Posted: 31 Jan 2020 05:24 AM PST  The hanging of four men scheduled for Saturday for a notorious gang-rape and murder on a Delhi bus in 2012 has been postponed "until further orders," a court ruled Friday. The brutal attack on Jyoti Singh sparked weeks of demonstrations and shone a spotlight on the alarming rates of sexual violence and the plight of women in India. Four men were convicted in 2013 and were due to be hanged simultaneously on Saturday at 6:00 am in India's first execution since 2015.
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| How $98 trillion of household wealth in America is distributed Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:53 AM PST  If a pie represented the wealth in the United States, nine pieces, or 90% of the pie, would go to the wealthiest 20% in the country.
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| The Best Headlight Restoration Kits Posted: 31 Jan 2020 12:40 PM PST |
| Bloomberg glides past Warren to No. 3 in Democratic race — Reuters/Ipsos poll Posted: 30 Jan 2020 03:02 PM PST  After steadily rising in popularity over the last several weeks, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg appears to have surpassed Sen. Elizabeth Warren among registered voters for the 2020 Democratic nomination, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national public opinion poll released Thursday.
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| Bernie Sanders told Ninth Graders the U.S. Committed Acts in Vietnam ‘Almost as Bad as what Hitler Did’ Posted: 31 Jan 2020 06:27 AM PST  During his 1972 gubernatorial run, Senator Bernie Sanders told high-school students that the U.S. had committed acts in its war with Vietnam that were "almost as bad as what Hitler did."An article in the Rutland, Vermont, newspaper, The Rutland Herald, reported on the comments, made while Sanders was campaigning for governor as a member of the Liberty Union party. The article was first unearthed by the Washington Free Beacon.The North Vietnamese "are not my enemy," Sanders told a class of ninth graders in Rutland while on the campaign trail. "They're a very, very poor people. Some of them don't have shoes. They eat rice when they can get it. And they have been fighting for the freedom of their country for 25 years. They can hardly fight back."The American death toll from the Vietnam War was over 58,000. The Herald reported that students pushed back against Sanders's support for amnesty for draft evaders, saying it wouldn't be fair to the parents of soldiers killed in the fighting.Sanders also outlined other positions that may sound familiar to today's voters, including increasing the minimum wage and availability of low-income housing, as well as increased access to dental care. He also charged that the Democratic Party was too beholden to large corporations.The Vermont senator received around one percent of the vote in that election. Sanders is currently the strongest presidential candidate from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and has polled ahead of moderate Joe Biden in various Iowa and New Hampshire surveys.Establishment Democrats have been worried by Sanders's rise and durability throughout the primary. The senator has relied on an enthusiastic base of younger progressive voters, and has received strong grassroots financial support.
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| A Costco sample-stand worker turned away a kid wearing a face mask because she thought he was from China and could give her the coronavirus Posted: 29 Jan 2020 09:41 PM PST  "One thing that is in the back of my mind is that someone Asian is being judged in public right now," Cabanilla said.
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| Trump got the number of US coronavirus patients wrong in a tweet about how he's on top of the outbreak Posted: 30 Jan 2020 06:21 PM PST  Trump described himself as a 'germaphobe' but called in the small number of cases in the U.S. a "very little problem," the AP reported.
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| Record $4 billion Airbus fine draws line under 'pervasive' bribery Posted: 31 Jan 2020 05:51 AM PST  PARIS/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Airbus bribed public officials and hid the payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption, prosecutors said on Friday as the European planemaker agreed a record $4 billion settlement with France, Britain and the United States. "It was a pervasive and pernicious bribery scheme in various divisions of Airbus SE that went on for a number of years," U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said. The deal, effectively a corporate plea bargain, means Airbus has avoided criminal prosecution that would have risked it being barred from public contracts in the United States and European Union - a massive blow for a major defense and space supplier.
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| Estranged Husband Charged With Jennifer Dulos’ Murder Declared Dead: Lawyer Posted: 30 Jan 2020 11:39 AM PST  Fotis Dulos, the luxury developer charged with murdering his estranged wife, has died two days after attempting suicide at his Connecticut home, his lawyer said Thursday.Dulos, 52, was hospitalized in critical condition on Tuesday after authorities found him unresponsive and "sitting in his vehicle" in the garage of his Farmington home with "obvious signs of medical distress." He was initially transported to UConn Health before he was flown to Jacobi Medical Center in New York City to receive oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber. The father of five was arrested and charged this month with capital murder, murder, and kidnapping, seven months after Jennifer Dulos disappeared after dropping their five children off at school. His attorney, Norm Pattis, confirmed to reporters Thursday his client "was declared dead tonight at 5:32.""It's been a truly horrific day for the family filled with difficult decisions, medical tests and meeting the requirements to determine death," Pattis said. "As to those who contend that Mr. Dulos' death reflects a consciousness of guilt, we say no. We say it was more a conscience overborne with the weight of a world that was too busy to listen and wanted a story more than it wanted the truth."Estranged Husband Charged in Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos' Murder Attempted Suicide: ReportThe Connecticut State Police confirmed to The Daily Beast that a search warrant was executed Wednesday at Dulos' home relating "to the ongoing murder investigation of Jennifer Farber Dulos." The warrant has been sealed due to a court-issued gag order.In a new motion filed Thursday, Pattis stated that investigators found a note in Dulos' car, in which he claimed his innocence and suggested that his lawyers have information proving he did not murder his wife. Pattis argued that the note should be preserved. "In the course of executing a search of Fotis Dulos' car, law enforcement officials recovered a note in which Mr. Dulos declared...his innocence of the infamous and heinous crimes that the State has accused him of and claimed his lawyers have the evidence to prove it," the motion states. Pattis said Thursday his team has filed an "unusual motion" to have Dulos' estate replace the 52-year-old as a defendant in his wife's murder case in order to force the state to turn over what evidence they have collected in the case. "It'll be a difficult challenge," Pattis said of the motion he plans to file. "We intend to proceed on as if he were alive to vindicate him. The family is adamant that his name is cleared." Investigators reportedly did not find any evidence that could help lead them to the body of Jennifer Dulos, who has been missing since May 24. Dulos reportedly attempted suicide after receiving a call that authorities were taking steps to revoke his bond, which was secured by overvalued real estate. "The potential for a bond revocation was devastating news to him," Pattis said.Husband of Missing Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos Takes Stand in Civil Lawsuit Brought by Mother-in-LawDuring a Wednesday hearing, a Stamford Superior Court judge raised Dulos' bond to $6.5 million from $6 million and ordered three re-arrest warrants because he missed his initial court hearing. The hearing also addressed the questionable collateral Dulos used to post his bond this month.According to court records obtained by The Hartford Courant, Dulos was able to post bail for his Jan. 7 arrest with the help of Anna Curry, a 42-year-old North Carolina woman who was allegedly present at Dulos' home just before and after he attempted suicide.Curry, who was reportedly at Dulos' side at the New York hospital where he was being treated, was described as his "best friend" in bond documents,. She reportedly contributed $147,000 in cash to pay the bail-bondsman fee on Jan. 9 and had promised to pay an additional $272,000 in 15 installments until April 2022. Once Dulos' co-worker at a New York financial firm, Curry also signed a $3 million promissory note to the Palmetto Surety Corporation, the company that also initially insured the bond with six pieces of real estate. Husband of Missing Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos Arrested on Murder Charge"It is my understanding and belief these were old friends who developed a friendship years ago at work and out of loyalty to that friendship, she has assisted Mr. Dulos," Pattis said. "We should all be lucky enough to have such a loyal friend."The bail bondsman later raised concerns over "imperfections in the collateral" after discovering that at least one of the properties had been foreclosed on in December and another was significantly overvalued, according to court documents. On Tuesday, emergency vehicles swarmed Dulos' home around 12:45 p.m., just as he was supposed to head into court for an emergency bond hearing. Authorities went to the house to perform a welfare check when Dulos failed to show up in court and found him in "medical distress," according to Farmington Police Lt. Timothy McKenzie."Officers forced entry and immediately began to perform life-saving measures," McKenzie said. "Typically, CPR will be performed for a period of time. If there is any sign of life present, the patient would be transported to the hospital. And that's what happened today."On May 24, 2018, Jennifer Dulos, 50, was last seen dropping off her five kids at school. Authorities later found her car abandoned on a New Canaan road "in reverse" with its "lights on," according to the arrest warrant. Blood was also found on the passenger side of the car.Estranged Husband Charged in Connecticut Mom Jennifer Dulos' Murder Attempted Suicide: ReportAuthorities have alleged Dulos was "lying in wait" near his estranged wife's New Canaan home the day she vanished—and enlisted the help of a new girlfriend to dump evidence of her killing.Dulos' former live-in girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, was also charged on Jan. 7 with conspiracy to commit murder. An attorney who previously represented Dulos, Kent Mahwinney, has also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, authorities said at a Tuesday press conference. Dulos has repeatedly denied the allegations and maintained his innocence.If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| This Picture Might Be How China Starts World War III Posted: 30 Jan 2020 07:51 AM PST  A barrage of anti-ship missiles moving at Mach 20?
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| U.S. Rejects Obamacare Work-Around Sought by Republican States Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:12 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- A health insurance venture that threatened to erode Obamacare and had the backing of seven Republican state attorneys general has been rejected by the U.S. Labor Department.The proposal, from an obscure company in Georgia that was the subject of a Bloomberg News article last month, won the support of states including Georgia and Louisiana, whose attorney general personally pitched it last year to senior White House officials. Among those pushing for the plan was a Washington lobbying firm whose senior adviser is Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump's onetime campaign manager.The initiative would allow LP Management Services to create a data-sharing partnership that small firms could join; after agreeing to provide online user data, those in the network could then pay full premiums to buy into LP Management's health insurance.Read More: Manafort Mystery Lender's Next Act Is an Obamacare End RunBut in a highly technical advisory ruling, the Labor Department said on Jan. 24 that those joining the venture wouldn't be "bona fide partners" and "do not work for or through the partnership.""The DOL is turning LP Management down," said Timothy Jost, a health-law expert at Washington and Lee University.Several health policy specialists who reviewed the plan for Bloomberg News said LP Management's plan, if approved, could undermine the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, by allowing insurers to cherry-pick their policyholders. The plan's supporters deny that.The ruling could scuttle the venture because potential partners won't join a health-insurance program that lacks the Labor Department's blessing, experts said. A lawyer behind the plan, Alexander Renfro, said LP Management would seek approval through a pending lawsuit."We are disappointed that after 14 months of ignoring our request, and four days before they were required to respond to our lawsuit, the DOL has rushed out an opinion that violates its own rules, ignores the facts presented, and rewrites existing statutes and regulations without a legal basis to do so," he said in an email.One executive involved in the health initiative is Arjan "Ari" Zieger, a California man who made a mysterious $1 million loan in 2017 to Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Zieger's lawyer has said the loan had nothing to do with the insurance venture.Companies Zieger helps run have spent about $400,000 to lobby the Trump administration on behalf of the plan.Emails to the attorneys general of Georgia and Louisiana weren't immediately returned.To contact the reporter on this story: David Glovin in New York at dglovin@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey D Grocott at jgrocott2@bloomberg.net, David S. Joachim, Joe SchneiderFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| In Egypt, 12-year-old girl dies after genital mutilation Posted: 31 Jan 2020 04:58 AM PST ![In Egypt, 12-year-old girl dies after genital mutilation]( "In Egypt, 12-year-old girl dies after genital mutilation") A 12-year-old girl died this week in southern Egypt after her parents brought her to a doctor who performed female genital mutilation, a criminal practice that remains widespread in the region, according to a judicial statement. The girl's death in the province of Assiut prompted Egypt's public prosecutor to order the arrests of her parents and the physician who preformed the procedure, also known as female circumcision, said the statement released late Thursday by the prosecutor's office. Since the mid-1990s, Egypt has been battling the centuries-old practice, which is misguidedly believed to control women's sexuality.
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| Rubio Explains ‘Political Judgment’ in Impeachment Vote: ‘Voters Themselves Can Hold the President Accountable’ Posted: 31 Jan 2020 11:52 AM PST  Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fl.) released a statement ahead of the Senate's Friday vote on calling impeachment witnesses, explaining that he opposed both new witnesses and voting to remove the president based on a "political judgment — one that takes into account both the severity of the wrongdoing alleged but also the impact removal would have on the nation."Rubio, who said in November that a decision on impeachment "should be made on what is in the best interest of our country," echoed his previous comments in arguing a distinction between presidential misconduct and removable offenses."The two are not the same. Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a President from office," Rubio stated. ". . . Can anyone doubt that at least half of the country would view his removal as illegitimate — as nothing short of a coup d'état? It is difficult to conceive of any scheme Putin could undertake that would undermine confidence in our democracy more than removal would."> pic.twitter.com/oyMXo0SV0R> > -- Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 31, 2020The Florida Republican also called impeachment an "extraordinary power" and "a last-resort remedy to protect the country." He signaled that the upcoming 2020 election played a factor in his determination, saying that "voters themselves can hold the President accountable in an election, including the one just nine months from now.""That is why Hamilton wrote that in these trials our decisions should be pursuing 'the public good,'" Rubio added. He pointed to resisting calls to impeach President Obama in 2014 as proof of his commitment to "this high bar.""I will not vote to remove the President because doing so would inflict extraordinary and potentially irreparable damage to our already divided nation," Rubio concluded.Rubio's statement accompanied a number of other Republican senators making their intentions on the vote public ahead of Friday's hearing. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) became the second Republican swing vote to publicly oppose additional witnesses, likely ensuring that the trial will not include further witnesses.
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| American Airlines agent said Orthodox Jews only bathe once a week, lawsuit claims Posted: 30 Jan 2020 05:43 PM PST ![American Airlines agent said Orthodox Jews only bathe once a week, lawsuit claims]( "American Airlines agent said Orthodox Jews only bathe once a week, lawsuit claims") A Michigan couple say they've been defamed by American Airlines' continued statements that they were removed from a flight because of their smell.
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| Photos of stores in Wuhan show what life is like under the coronavirus lockdown Posted: 31 Jan 2020 12:02 PM PST  The quarantine and fears of coronavirus have made Wuhan a ghost city. Residents only occasionally go out to stock up on supplies.
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| Trump impeachment: President's acquittal almost certain as Senate votes not to call witnesses Posted: 31 Jan 2020 09:43 AM PST  Senators have voted not to hear witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, meaning his acquittal on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress is now almost certain.A motion that would allow members of the upper chamber to subpoena witness testimony and additional documents was defeated 51 votes to 49.
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| U.S. declares coronavirus public health emergency after imposing quarantines Posted: 31 Jan 2020 10:16 AM PST  The Trump administration, while insisting the risk to Americans from coronavirus is low, nevertheless declared a public health emergency on Friday and announced the extraordinary step of barring entry to the United States of foreign nationals who have recently visited China. In addition, U.S. citizens who have traveled within the past two weeks to China's Hubei Province - epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic - will be subject to a mandatory quarantine of 14 days, the incubation period of the virus, officials said. Americans who visited other parts of mainland China will undergo special health screening upon their return, followed by up to 14 days of "monitored self-quarantine," under the temporary restrictions.
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| So Long, Spitzer, You Were a Good Telescope and Friend Posted: 30 Jan 2020 07:41 AM PST |
| More than 6,000 people are trapped on a cruise ship in Italy after a woman was suspected of having the coronavirus Posted: 30 Jan 2020 06:18 AM PST  Passengers of a Costa Cruises cruise ship can't disembark. Two passengers, one of whom was experiencing coronavirus symptoms, were quarantined.
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| Man exonerated of rape after 25 years in prison. Now what? Posted: 30 Jan 2020 03:25 PM PST  A New York man who spent 25 years in prison for a violent rape he did not commit said he lost his youth and now, at 60, does not know what kind of a future lies ahead. "I am free, but I am broke and I can't get a job," Rafael Ruiz said during an interview with The Associated Press. Ruiz was exonerated Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan of sexual assault charges after he was accused of taking part in the violent gang rape of an 18-year-old woman in 1984.
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| Democratic Debate Rule Change Could Open Stage to Bloomberg Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:47 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Party has changed requirements for candidates to earn a spot on the presidential debate stage, a move that could mean Michael Bloomberg will face his rivals for the nomination for the first time. The changes could also knock some other candidates off.The change will eliminate the current fund-raising requirement, which has kept the former New York mayor out of the debates to date, but also raises the polling threshold to 10% in four approved polls. Bloomberg has yet to meet that mark in a single approved poll. He is now at 8.2% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls.Bloomberg has not met the fund-raising requirement because he's self-funding his campaign."We are thrilled that voters could soon have the chance to see Mike Bloomberg on the debate stage, hear his vision for the country, and see why he is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump and bring our country together," said Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey.Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg, LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. The rule change was first reported by Politico and confirmed by a party official speaking on condition of anonymity.The increased polling threshold could push some lower-polling candidates like Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer off the stage. Steyer has met the fund-raising requirements but has not yet qualified for the Nevada debate based on polls alone."Let's make one thing clear: changing the rules now to accommodate Mike Bloomberg and not changing them in the past to ensure a more diverse debate stage is just plain wrong," Steyer said in a statement.The new rules will take effect after next week's debate in New Hampshire, starting with the Feb. 19 Nevada debate and continuing with at least three more debates after that.Because he has not been on the debate stage, few Americans have seen Bloomberg unscripted as a candidate. His introduction to the country in the few months he has been running is through nearly $300 million in television ads.Both Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren had complained that Bloomberg has largely avoided tough questions by failing to subject himself to the give-and-take of debates and grassroots campaigning. In a tweet Friday, Warren noted that the DNC did not change the rules to keep diverse candidates in the field and said Bloomberg should not get special treatment. "The DNC didn't change the rules to ensure good, diverse candidates could remain on the debate stage," she said. "They shouldn't change the rules to let a billionaire on. Billionaires shouldn't be allowed to play by different rules -- on the debate stage, in our democracy, or in our government."Pete Buttigieg said Friday that he will live with the new rules and hopes to qualify for future debates. "I think it is important that we have that process where folks have to stand with their competitors and explain why each of us is the best," he said.Bernie Sanders was less welcoming. Campaign manager Faiz Shakir suggested in a tweet that the change in rules would allow Bloomberg to buy his way onto the debate stage."DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire. I much prefer Democrats being a grassroots party. And under Bernie Sanders, that's the way it will be," he said.The party has also added another way to qualify for all future debates: Win at least one delegate to the national convention. Bloomberg can't meet that criteria for the Nevada or South Carolina debates because he's not competing in the first four states.Bloomberg entered the race on Nov. 24, after the party had already sanctioned five debates featuring as many as 20 candidates at a time.(Adds reaction from Warren in paragraphs ten and eleven)\--With assistance from Tyler Pager and Mark Niquette.To contact the reporters on this story: Gregory Korte in Des Moines at gkorte@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Epstein in Des Moines at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Crane, Craig GordonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Brexit Britain Fails at First Step: Its Farewell Party Posted: 31 Jan 2020 05:51 AM PST  LONDON—So, this is it. After 47 years of membership, Britain is finally leaving the European Union on Friday. It may have taken 1,316 days of screaming at each other since the referendum, and claimed the careers of two prime ministers, but at 11 p.m. the 17 million people who voted for Brexit three years ago will, for better or worse, get what they asked for.Now, given that all through the 2016 campaign, pro-Brexit campaigners spent their time casting the EU as a sinister, overreaching superstate that had shackled Britain's potential for decades, you might assume that tonight's historic strike of the clock would spark wild celebrations. Millions draped in Union Jacks, screaming Rule Britannia, and weeping warm, joyous tears into their even warmer pints of thick beige ale.But, despite the best efforts of some of the most wild-eyed foot-soldiers of the Brexit campaign, tonight's landmark will pass without any great fanfare. If you voted to remain, there's obviously nothing to celebrate. If you voted to leave, the vast majority had their moment of jubilation on the night of the referendum three-and-a-half years ago, but their enthusiasm has since suffered death by a thousand BBC News push alerts.There have been attempts to create a national moment—but they have, without fail, been totally crap. Take Nigel Farage's exit from the European Parliament earlier this week, which is a moment he's dreamed of throughout his entire political career. His grand gesture was to make a speech while his Brexit Party colleagues waved tiny plastic Union flags around him. The parliament's speaker simply cut off his mic, leaving him voiceless, in a perfect metaphor for Britain's future in Europe.A day later, in his continuing quest to give Brexit week some form of gravitas, the modest Farage attended the unveiling of a portrait of himself which was entitled "Mr. Brexit." The unveiling was hosted by former game-show host Jim Davidson, who hasn't been allowed to appear on mainstream television for decades due to his propensity for making extremely terrible jokes about women, ethnic minorities, and disabled people.The official government-backed attempts to mark Brexit have fallen similarly flat. Firstly, a commemorative 50 pence coin was minted with the slogan, written in the kind of font that might be used for a menu of homeopathic treatments: "Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations."Philip Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials, led calls for a boycott of the coin for failing to include an Oxford comma, while others said they would refuse to accept it in their change or deface it with pro-EU messages. If this was the government's big gesture to bring the bitterly divided country back together, it would have been just as effective to throw an existing 50p coin into a wishing well.There was also an extremely embarrassing campaign, announced and then disowned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to crowdfund for Big Ben—the bell in parliament's famous clock tower—to be temporarily restored to action during a refurbishment to bong loudly for the Brexit moment. More than £250,000 was raised to fund the effort, but that was only half of what was needed to get the bell working by Friday, so the idea was abandoned.(Incidentally, if you're wondering why Britain is leaving the EU at 11 p.m. local time rather than midnight, it's because that is midnight in Brussels, the de facto capital of the EU, and it gets to decide these kind of things now.)There will, however, be a light show in Westminster to mark Brexit, and Johnson is reportedly due to give what has been billed as a "special" address to the nation on Friday evening. The government has also announced that "in response to public calls, the Union Jack will be flown on all of the flag poles in Parliament Square," which is sure to be spectacular.Unofficial celebrations will, of course, take place in some parts of the country where the vote to leave was at its strongest in 2016. A photograph circulated on Twitter this week that purported to show a pub notice for a "Brexit Party" on Friday night, where only British food be served and British music played, which sounds good if you like the sound of "Wonderwall" being sung by men chewing gray meat.A nationwide chain of cheap-and-cheerful pubs, Wetherspoons, is marking the day by slashing the prices of drinks made in European countries, which the company's pro-Brexit CEO claims is his gesture to show that he wants Britain to remain friends with the EU after Friday night.On Saturday, Britain will wake up, for the first time in nearly five decades, outside a European group of nations. Once the hangovers clear, and the people responsible for Brexit stop congratulating themselves for vaulting the first and smallest hurdle, the actual work begins to prove that leaving the EU was something worth celebrating.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| Don Lemon Did Trump a Huge Favor Posted: 29 Jan 2020 08:25 PM PST  A video of CNN news anchor Don Lemon laughing hysterically as his guests mocked Donald Trump's supporters went viral this week -- and it couldn't have been a more effective campaign ad for the president.In the video, which was clipped from a live broadcast that aired on Saturday night, Lemon can be seen crying tears of laughter, and at one point even slamming his head on his desk, because he's apparently so overwhelmed with joy and amusement.It all started after one guest, ex-GOP strategist Rick Wilson, joked that Trump would be too stupid to find Ukraine on a map, before calling Trump's supporters the "credulous boomer rube demo."Lemon laughed heartily, and so Wilson continued his mocking:"'Donald Trump's the smart one — and y'all elitists are dumb!'" Wilson said in a heavy, stereotypical southern accent.Then, the other guest (CNN contributor Wajahat Ali) chimed in, saying: "'You elitists with your geography and your maps -- and your spelling!'""'Your math and your reading!'" Wilson added. "'All those lines on the map!'"By Tuesday night, Lemon was receiving considerable backlash over the clip -- prompting him to address the controversy on his show:> Ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you -- I don't believe in belittling people, belittling anyone for who they are, what they believe. During an interview on Saturday night, one of my guests said something that made me laugh. And while in the moment, I found that joke humorous. And I didn't catch everything that was said."Just to make it perfectly clear," he added. "I was laughing at the joke and not at any group of people."(Notice that Lemon stopped short of actually apologizing for his behavior.)First of all, it seems pretty clear to me that Lemon's defense (that he simply "didn't catch" everything the panelists were saying) is a blatant lie. He is laughing, consistently, while the guests are making their jokes, and then continuing to laugh after the guests make them. You don't need to be a human-behavior expert to understand that, when someone is laughing during and after a joke, then the laughter is because of that joke.Lemon knew exactly what he was laughing at -- and, by refusing to apologize, he has made it clear that he doesn't see anything wrong with that, either.The thing is, though, he should regret it -- for his own sake. After all, it's clear that Lemon hates Trump, and his performance in that segment is going to be a way bigger help to the incumbent president than anything that Trump could ever do for himself.Make no mistake: Clips like this embolden Trump's supporters. They don't see this sort of mockery and start to question their beliefs -- rather, it just strengthens their view that it is them (and Trump) against the world. It makes them more loyal to the president, not less.If you don't understand what I mean, just think about what happened after Hillary Clinton's "deplorables" comment. Did that turn people away from Trump? Far from it. In fact, it prompted countless Trump supporters to use the word in their names or handles on Twitter. It prompted the Trump campaign to sell "deplorable" T-shirts. It prompted Trump to use the comments for his own campaign's fundraising, and to bring his supporters closer to him, as well as to present himself as the foil who would never demean them in that way. ("While my opponent slanders you as deplorable and irredeemable, I call you hardworking American patriots who love your country and want a better future for all of our people," Trump said during a rally in Iowa shortly afterwards.)In other words? Rather than question their choice of alliance because of Clinton's insult, Trump's supporters embraced it -- clearly seeing it as evidence that the people who disagree with them, in fact, don't just disagree with them; they hate them, too. They think that they're stupid. Nobody wants to listen to anyone who just got done calling them dumb, and all Lemon did here was further solidify the narrative that "liberal media elites" like him think Trump supporters are fools, which, in turn, only makes them hate Trump's opposition more.What's more, in Lemon's instance, his guests' usage of stereotypical Southern accents -- clearly intended to signify "stupidity" -- could extend the consequences of this particular blunder to include turning off those voters in rural areas who are on the fence politically. Trump can point directly to this segment as evidence whenever he makes one of his favorite claims: that his opponents don't respect his supporters or rural Americans.In fact, this clip actually also provides ammunition for another one of Trump's favorite claims: the idea that CNN is "Fake News." Looking at this clip -- and seeing a CNN news anchor laughing at Trump supporters this way -- makes it easier for Trump to tell his supporters that all the news coming from CNN is tainted with this same bias, and therefore not reliable. It makes it more likely that they will blindly believe Trump, who hasn't insulted them, and less likely that they will believe that anyone affiliated with CNN could ever have a legitimate criticism.Lemon, I'm guessing, didn't expect that any Trump supporters would ever see this clip of him laughing at them -- but, unfortunately for him, millions of them did. If he doesn't want to apologize to the people he insulted, then that is perfectly fine. He might, however, want to consider apologizing to the people who are going to actually be hurt by it the most: the people who want Trump out of office, and the network he represents.
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| Firefights, blocked roads in Mexican city after senior cartel leader detained Posted: 31 Jan 2020 01:36 PM PST ![Firefights, blocked roads in Mexican city after senior cartel leader detained]( "Firefights, blocked roads in Mexican city after senior cartel leader detained") Armed men blocked roads, burned cars and there were reports of shootouts in the city of Uruapan in western Mexico after a senior leader of the Los Viagras cartel was detained, local media and a source from the prosecutor's office said. Luis Felipe, also known as "El Vocho", was captured earlier in the day in the western state of Michoacan, which has long been convulsed by turf wars between drug gangs and where unrest is not uncommon after the detention of senior cartel figures. Michoacan's state security services, without giving names, said on Twitter that three people have been detained.
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| First case of coronavirus in US: Patient got pneumonia, but now only has cough, study says Posted: 31 Jan 2020 11:55 AM PST  The Snohomish County, Washington man remained in the hospital on Thursday. He has no symptoms other than a cough after treatment with antiviral meds.
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| Why Did the Coast Guard Sail Right by Taiwan and China in 2019? Posted: 31 Jan 2020 06:20 AM PST  A good idea?
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| 13 Dallas officers disciplined for social media "misconduct" Posted: 31 Jan 2020 04:02 AM PST  DPD was one of eight police departments across the country reviewed by Plain View Project, a watchdog group that compiled 5,000 posts by 3,500 police officers it found concerning.
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| In former Syria rebel stronghold, nothing was spared Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:28 AM PST  Maaret al-Numan (Syria) (AFP) - Once the throbbing heart of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Maaret al-Numan is an eerie ghost town where few buildings have been spared by nine years of war. Following a major ground offensive, the Syrian army captured the town in the northwestern province of Idlib on Wednesday, a key prize in its push to reconquer the country's last rebel enclave. Majed Marahesh, 27, remembers the day he first visited Maaret al-Numan 13 years ago with his classmates and teacher.
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| After crackdown, Mexico president sees caravans as waning Posted: 31 Jan 2020 10:35 AM PST  President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that he expects more caravans of Central American migrants and asylum seekers to emerge, but he sees the phenomenon which became a political football in the United States in recent years as waning. A week after armored National Guard troops and immigration agents broke up what was left of the most recent caravan in southern Mexico, loading men, women and children onto buses for likely deportation, López Obrador suggested that fewer will come in future groups.
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| American trapped in Wuhan: Despite coronavirus, I won't evacuate without my wife and son Posted: 31 Jan 2020 11:17 AM PST  Because of the coronavirus outbreak, my newborn son can't get his citizenship paperwork. The U.S. government's response disappoints expats like me.
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| The operator of the downed helicopter that Kobe Bryant and 8 others died in is suspending operations for an undisclosed amount of time Posted: 30 Jan 2020 05:47 PM PST  An employee of Island Express told Business Insider that the company will not fly on Jan. 30 or 31. It may cancel additional flights.
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| The Republican Impeachment Failure Isn’t About Witnesses Posted: 31 Jan 2020 04:28 AM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Get Jonathan Bernstein's newsletter every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe.With Senator Lamar Alexander's announcement Thursday night that he would vote against calling witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, it appears that the Senate will wrap things up quickly. The last remaining question seems to be whether the final votes to acquit will come Friday evening or later in the night. Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah say they are planning to vote for witnesses, and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska remains undecided as I write this. But without Tennessee's Alexander there aren't enough votes to force the trial to continue.Alexander said he accepted that Trump was guilty of what he considered "inappropriate" actions, but that they didn't rise to the level of removal and therefore there was no need to gather additional evidence. As such statements go, it could be worse. Alexander neither defied the obvious facts nor embraced some of the more extreme theories that the president's lawyers embraced, theories that would in effect write impeachment and removal out of the U.S. Constitution. And his basic argument, that further evidence is unnecessary if he accepts the facts as laid out by the House managers prosecuting the case, is rational.His statement wasn't exactly consistent throughout. In particular, there's no logic to his rejection of conviction on the grounds that it is backed only by one political party, since Alexander himself could make support for removal at least a little bipartisan. More to the point, there's never any possibility of anything but a broad (and almost certainly bipartisan) majority for removing a president, since 67 votes would be required in the Senate. It would make some sense for a House majority to back away from an impeachment because it only has partisan support; it makes no sense for a senator from the president's party to vote against removing that president if it's otherwise merited on the grounds that it's just a partisan effort.That said, both the focus on witnesses and the focus on the four senators who have been the most likely to support calling them is misplaced. The real question is how senators will vote on removing the president from office, and the key senators haven't been Alexander, Collins, Romney and Murkowski, or even the next-most-likely group of 10 or so. The key senators are the ones squarely in the middle of the Republican majority. They're the ones who could have made removal a real possibility, and if some of them had taken Trump's actions seriously then there's little doubt that Alexander and the others would have joined them.At the end, Alexander and the others were casting symbolic votes only. That's not to say that those who believe removal was fully justified should excuse Alexander's choice, and yes, there could be some effects from somewhat different totals on the final votes to acquit. But it's the other Republicans, especially those who have made it clear over the last few years that they consider Trump to be unfit for the office he holds, who are the real failures here.1\. Brendan Nyhan on Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and the general election. 2\. David B. Roberts at the Monkey Cage on the importance of the September attack on Saudi oil facilities. 3\. Fernando Tormos-Aponte on presidential primaries in Puerto Rico.4\. James Wallner on the history of impeachment and witnesses in Senate trials.5\. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Noah Feldman on the preposterous claim that abuse of power is not legitimate grounds for impeachment: "The worst possible outcome for this impeachment process would be for Republicans to coalesce around the idea that Trump did everything he's been accused of in the articles of impeachment, but had every right to do so under the Constitution."6\. Errin Haines on California Senator Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.7\. And Lisa Desjardins with all the questions asked by all the senators.Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe. Also subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You'll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close.To contact the author of this story: Jonathan Bernstein at jbernstein62@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Landman at jlandman4@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Egypt's population nears 100 million, putting pressure on resources and jobs Posted: 31 Jan 2020 06:02 AM PST  Sitting in her sister's apartment on a noisy Cairo street, Rania Sayed one day hopes to leave a city that is becoming more congested as Egypt's population ticks up to 100 million, a milestone it will pass next month. Like many others, she wants to move to one of the new satellite settlements being built for a booming population whose rapid growth President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has identified as one of Egypt's biggest challenges alongside terrorism. Egypt's 100 millionth person is expected to be clocked up on the official statistics agency's digital counter in central Cairo in February.
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| Why Coronavirus Seems to Be Striking More Adults Than Kids Posted: 31 Jan 2020 04:00 AM PST  Expert theories on why the coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV seems to be infecting more kids than adults, according to early data out of Wuhan.
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| Crude oil tanker in the Persian Gulf caught fire Wednesday night Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:58 AM PST  A crude oil tanker in the Persian Gulf caught fire Wednesday night, prompting a warning from British naval officials to "exercise extreme caution."
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