| Black Republican prosecutor appointed to racially charged Ahmaud Arbery case Posted: 14 May 2020 02:12 PM PDT  Joyette M. Holmes was appointed as the fourth prosecutor in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man gunned down in February by two white men while on a jog in Georgia.
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| Some evangelicals fear the 'mark of the beast' from a coronavirus vaccine Posted: 14 May 2020 11:32 AM PDT  Peggy Popham, who described herself as a lifelong Republican, said that while her beliefs about the coronavirus vaccine "have a lot to do with my political views," they also "go along with my faith." "I'm 70 and I've gotten sick before," said Popham. But, she added, "I would not take the vaccine."
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| US election: Biden well ahead of Trump nationally but not in battleground states, new poll shows Posted: 14 May 2020 01:18 AM PDT  A new poll indicates that while Joe Biden holds a reasonably solid national lead over Donald Trump, the former vice president has not yet pulled ahead in the swing states that could decide the election.Conducted by CNN and polling company SSRS, the survey shows Mr Biden with a five-point national lead (51 per cent to 46). He also outpaces Mr Trump on various important factors: he cares more about "people like you" (54-42), is more trusted in a crisis (51-45) and more honest and trustworthy (53-38).
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| Medal of Honor recipient dies; saved lives in Afghanistan Posted: 14 May 2020 05:21 PM PDT  WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, who received the Medal of Honor in 2018 for braving heavy gunfire to save lives in Afghanistan, has died of cancer. Miranda Shurer said her husband died Thursday in Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. She said he was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. Ronald Shurer II received the nation's highest military honor from President Donald Trump in a formal White House ceremony attended by 250 people.
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| U.S. accuses Chinese-born researcher at Cleveland Clinic of ties to Chinese spying Posted: 14 May 2020 01:00 PM PDT |
| GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler just handed over documents to federal authorities investigating alleged insider trading Posted: 14 May 2020 07:32 PM PDT  A spokesperson said the senator had forwarded "documents and information" to federal authorities investigating allegations of insider trading.
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| Photos taken 1 year apart show potentially troubling sign in volcano. Posted: 15 May 2020 12:28 PM PDT  The Halema'uma'u crater on Kilauea, located in Hawaii, has been relatively quiet over the last year after a frenzy of activity in 2018, which all began with an explosive eruption of ash 30,000 feet into the air during May. But, since at least 2019, there has been a change that scientists believe could pose a potential danger to the Big Island. Water has started to collect in the caldera to form a lake.A caldera is a large crater left behind in a volcano after an eruption. From 2010 until 2018, a lava lake had filled the caldera rather than water. That changed in May 2018 when the eruption caused the lava lake to drain, collapsing the caldera floor and causing a hole nearly as deep as the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center. The eruption also created a 459-foot cliff (140 meters) north of the crater.About a year later, a helicopter pilot flying over the volcano noticed a mysterious green pool of water in the Halema'uma'u crater. A second report of the same findings from a helicopter passenger prompted USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory researchers to survey the green pool of water.It was then discovered that water had indeed started to pool into the lowest part of the Halema'uma'u crater, and ever since the water was discovered in 2019, the depth of the lake has been steadily growing. The sequence of satellite images above shows Halema'uma'u crater before the lava lake drained (left), after the caldera floor had collapsed (middle) and after water pooled on the crater floor for nine months (right). (Joshua Stevens / Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey) "We know that the crater floor dropped a little more than 70 meters below the water table in 2018. Any time that you punch a hole below the level of the water table, water is eventually going to come in and fill that hole," explained Don Swanson, a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The pool of water in the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater on Aug. 7, 2019. (USGS / D. Swanson) Currently, the water has an area larger than five football fields combined and is approximately 100 feet (30 meters) deep, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.The water has also changed color from the original chalky green to a rusty brown, due to chemical reactions happening in the water. The pool of water in the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater on April 21, 2020\. Since its discovery in 2019, the pool has slowly been growing. (USGS / M. Patrick) As for how the water could affect a future eruption of the volcano, Swanson said it could contribute to an explosive eruption, since one of the main factors behind a big volcanic explosion is the amount of water and other gases that get caught up inside the magma."In one case, magma could rise quickly up the conduit and intersect with the lake," said Swanson. "In the second, the crater floor could collapse and drop all of the water down to a zone where it would be quickly heated into steam."While an explosive eruption remains possible for Kilauea, Swanson said the next eruption could also happen slowly and all the water could evaporate."We do not want to be alarmist, but we also need to point out to the public that there is an increasing possibility of explosive eruptions at Kilauea," said Swanson.Only time will tell what is in store for Kilauea, but for now, the volcano is being closely researched and monitored by geologists.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| House Democrats float $3 trillion coronavirus bill, Republicans reject it Posted: 14 May 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Democrats in the House of Representatives unveiled on Tuesday a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief package with funding for states, businesses, food support and families, only to see the measure flatly rejected by Senate Republicans.
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| Broward Cop, Fired for Hiding During High School Shooting, Will Be Reinstated with Back Pay Posted: 14 May 2020 08:25 AM PDT  A Broward County police officer who was fired after he hid behind his car at the start of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will be reinstated with full back pay and return to his rank, the Broward Sheriff's Office union said on Wednesday.The officer, Sergeant Brian Miller, was fired for "neglect of duty" along with three other deputies in the wake of the shooting. Officers were criticized for failing to enter the building immediately during the shooting, in which 17 students and faculty were killed and another 17 injured.Miller had challenged his termination with the support of the BSO union, which said an arbitration ruling found that "BSO violated Sgt. Brian Miller's constitutional due process rights and improperly terminated him." Miller's salary for the year 2017 was $138,410.25.An investigation by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission in the wake of the shooting found that Miller was the first officer to arrive at the high school as shots were being fired, but hid behind his car and did not radio in for 10 minutes.Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, in January 2019 suspended Broward County head sheriff Scot Israel, who has been accused of mishandling the BSO's response to the shooting though a lack of coordination. The Florida Senate Rules Committee in October recommended removing Israel from his post entirely, after which DeSantis appointed officer Gregory Tony to head the BSO. Tony is now facing off against Israel in the 2020 election.
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| Five arrested for brazen teen abduction over drug debt Posted: 15 May 2020 09:16 AM PDT  Toronto police say a 14-year-old teenage boy was abducted to settle his stepbrother's drug debt.
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| Joe Biden: People who believe Tara Reade 'probably shouldn't vote for me' Posted: 15 May 2020 10:49 AM PDT  Joe Biden said people who believe Tara Reade's assault allegations "probably shouldn't vote for me. I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade."
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| US accuses Iran of defying UN resolution endorsing nuke deal Posted: 13 May 2020 07:48 PM PDT |
| Brazil coronavirus cases hit daily record as Bolsonaro pressures CEOs Posted: 14 May 2020 03:48 PM PDT  Brazil registered a daily record 13,944 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, as President Jair Bolsonaro urged business leaders to push for lifting lockdown orders in financial center Sao Paulo to help the economy. Brazil is the hardest hit country in Latin America with a tally of 202,918 confirmed cases of the virus and 13,933 deaths, since the outbreak began, according to health ministry data. Bolsonaro has railed against the economic damage caused by state and local government social distancing measures, taking his campaign to reopen the economy to Brazil's business community on Thursday.
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| Americans calling for herd immunity should look at Sweden's coronavirus experiment to see why it won't work Posted: 15 May 2020 01:20 PM PDT  Health officials have called the concept of herd immunity dangerous and said it could take years to reach without a vaccine.
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| Headscarves and bare hands: women deliver baby during Kabul hospital attack Posted: 14 May 2020 05:36 PM PDT  As armed men rampaged through an Afghan hospital, shooting dead mothers and babies, a group of pregnant women hid in a room with one of them about to give birth. "The mother was in pain but was trying not to make any sound," said a midwife who helped deliver the baby girl and sever the umbilical cord with her bare hands. "She even put her finger in the newborn baby's mouth to stop her from crying," the woman told AFP by phone on Friday, her voice still shaking three days after the attack in Kabul.
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| 35 Outdoor Fire Pit Ideas That Are Lit Posted: 15 May 2020 09:39 AM PDT |
| China Threatens to Place Apple, Boeing, and Other U.S. Firms on ‘Unreliable Entities’ List Posted: 15 May 2020 10:11 AM PDT  China is preparing to place U.S. companies including Apple and Boeing on an "unreliable entities list" in response to newly announced sanctions on tech giant Huawei."China will take forceful countermeasures to protect its own legitimate rights," a source told China's government-owned Global Times. The country could cease purchasing planes made by Boeing, and impose restrictions or even launch investigations into Qualcomm, Cisco, or Apple under Chinese anti-monopoly and cybersecurity laws.The threat comes after the U.S. Commerce Department announced sanctions that would prevent companies from selling semiconductor ships to Huawei if the chips are manufactured with American technology. The U.S. considers Huawei a national security threat, alleging that the Chinese government can gain access to data gathered by Huawei networks around the world.Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) welcomed the new sanctions on Friday."Let's cut to the chase: China's main export is espionage, and the distinction between the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese 'private-sector' businesses like Huawei is imaginary," Sasse said in a statement. "Huawei's supply chain depends on contracts with American companies and the Commerce Department ought to take a careful look at how we can effectively disrupt our adversary."The Global Times reported earlier this week that the Chinese government was considering sanctions on U.S. lawmakers who have taken a hawkish line against the country, including Senators Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and Tom Cotton (R., Ark.).
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| Nation's first execution during coronavirus pandemic involves man claiming innocence Posted: 15 May 2020 10:46 AM PDT  Walter Barton, 64, has been on trial five times for a murder he says he didn't commit. Concerns persist over blood spatter evidence.
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| 2020 election: Joe Biden says anyone who believes Tara Reade should not vote for him in November Posted: 15 May 2020 05:42 AM PDT  Joe Biden has said anyone who believes accuser Tara Reade, who's claimed he harassed her while working in the Senate, should not vote for him come November, but confessed he doesn't remember the staffer.The former vice president and assumed Democratic presidential nominee spoke to Lawrence O'Donnell for MSNBC on Thursday to discuss his bid to unseat Donald Trump come November.
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| Israeli troops kill Palestinian driver who hit soldier Posted: 14 May 2020 07:53 AM PDT  Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man who allegedly rammed his car into a soldier in the southern West Bank on Thursday, the army said, the latest in a string of violence in recent days. The military said the Palestinian driver struck an Israeli soldier near the West Bank settlement of Negohot, south of Hebron. Paramedics said the Israeli soldier suffered moderate injuries and was hospitalized.
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| China ready to put U.S. companies on 'unreliable list' Posted: 15 May 2020 10:06 AM PDT  China is ready to put U.S. companies in an "unreliable entity list," as part of countermeasures against Washington's move to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei Technologies, the Global Times reported on Friday.
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| Italy's daily coronavirus death toll and new cases climb Posted: 14 May 2020 09:02 AM PDT  Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 262 on Thursday, against 195 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose to 992 from 888 on Wednesday. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 31,368 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.
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| Gov. Cuomo extends New York's stay-at-home order until June 13 Posted: 14 May 2020 07:50 PM PDT  In an executive order on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the "New York State on PAUSE" policy, put in place in March, would continue.
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| Religious Far Right Mounts Anti-Abortion Attack on COVID-19 Vaccine Posted: 15 May 2020 12:34 AM PDT  As universities and pharmaceutical companies race to put out the first COVID-19 vaccine, some sectors of the religious right are gearing up to fight it, based on tenuous ties to what they call "the abortion industry" and a biblical teaching about "the mark of the beast." LifeSite News, a Catholic, anti-abortion website, has gathered more than 350,000 signatures on a petition protesting mandatory coronavirus vaccination orders—none of which have actually been issued. The petition starts with the kind of big-government concerns that have become a hallmark of anti-shutdown protests, claiming that "fear of a disease" could inadvertently lead to support for "the hidden agenda of governmental as well as non-governmental bodies" with plans to "restrict personal freedoms.""The so-called 'public health experts' have gotten it wrong many times during the current crisis," the petition states. "We should not, therefore, allow their opinions to rush decision-makers into policies regarding vaccination."How the Hunt for a Coronavirus Vaccine Could Go Horribly WrongFurther down, the petition raises the issue of stem cell research used in the production of vaccines. A number of life-saving vaccines—from the chickenpox to measles—are cultured in human stem cells originating from legally aborted fetuses, a process long approved by the Food and Drug Administration. At least one pharmaceutical company is currently using these stem cell lines to test a vaccine, according to a letter sent to the FDA by two dozen religious leaders. The LifeSite petition calls the use of these stem cell lines "a total non-starter," stating that the organization "opposes immorally-produced vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines." (A note at the bottom of the page, seemingly meant to distance the organization from the anti-vaxxer crowd, states that LifeSite has no position on "any particular coronavirus vaccines produced without such moral problems.")The stem cells used in vaccine development come from two fetuses aborted more than 50 years ago and, according to vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit, contain "incredibly small amounts of [their] DNA." The Pontifical Academy for Life, National Catholic Bioethics Center, and former Pope Benedict XVI have all determined that using vaccines cultured in stem cells is acceptable in the interest of public health, not least because they are so far removed from any actual abortion. Just last year, the Pontifical Academy stated that parents could vaccinate their children with a "clear conscience" that the use of most modern vaccines "does not signify some sort of cooperation in voluntary abortion." Still, some religious leaders have gone so far as to declare that they will not accept a COVID-19 vaccine developed with these products—even though experts the world over agree a vaccine is the best chance to stop a pandemic that has already killed some 300,000 people."So sad… even with Covid-19 we are still debating the use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research," Bishop J. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, tweeted in April. "Let me go on record...if a vaccine for this virus is only attainable if we use body parts of aborted children then I will refuse the vaccine...I will not kill children to live."What Are the Most Promising Coronavirus Treatments, Vaccines, and Tests?Deacon Keith Fournier, founder of the Common Good Foundation, tried to convince his Twitter followers this week that some COVID-19 vaccines are being made using "body parts from unborn babies.""I GUARANTEE I, and any other Pro-Life Catholic and any other TRUE Christians will NEVER use such a vaccine. NEVER. NEVER," he wrote.The religious leaders who wrote to the FDA did not go quite as far, instead urging the U.S. government not to fund vaccines developed through stem cell technology. The letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn states that the leaders "strongly support efforts to develop an effective, safe, and widely available vaccine as quickly as possible.""However, we also strongly urge our federal government to ensure that fundamental moral principles are followed in the development of such vaccines, most importantly, the principle that human life is sacred and should never be exploited," the letter says.Others have tried to tie the vaccine to abortion through donations from Bill Gates, who has pledged $300 million to developing and distributing a vaccine. LifeSiteNews has long opposed Gates for his donations to Planned Parenthood and support of contraception and abortion access. Its petition claims the billionaire "should not be permitted to influence policy decisions on a coronavirus vaccination program." "Unwitting citizens must not be used as guinea pigs for New World Order ideologues, or Big Pharma, in pursuit of a vaccine (and, profits) which may not even protect against future mutated strains of the coronavirus," the petition reads.Trumpists Believe Bill Gates Is Using Coronavirus to Implant Brain ChipsOther religious figures have decried Gates' participation because of a popular but ludicrous conspiracy theory that suggests the billionaire will plant a microchip in every injection. Ronnie Hampton, a free Methodist pastor who died of the virus in March, told followers before his death that the vaccines would have "some type of electronic computer device that's gonna put some type of chip in you and maybe even have some mood, mind-altering circumstances.""They're saying that the chip would be the mark of the beast," he added, referring to a belief among some Christians that the anti-Christ will one day return and physically mark his followers.Pastor Curt Landry of Oklahoma, meanwhile, claimed the vaccine would not contain the mark of the beast itself, but a microchip that the government could use to track who was willing to accept it."Do not pray, do not hope, do not think, 'Oh, praise God they are going to have a vaccine,'" he told followers in a YouTube video. "That vaccine is from the pit of Hell. Do not pray for those vaccines, and do not take the vaccine. These vaccines are going to be coming. They are not going to be good. They're not good for you physically, and spiritually, they're a set-up for what shall come later." The conspiracy theory seems to have come from a Reddit AMA in which Gates suggested that countries would eventually have digital certificates to show who has recovered from the virus, who has been tested recently, and who has received the vaccine. He did not say anything about microchips.The "mark of the beast" theory, meanwhile, has been roundly dismissed by religious scholars. Writing for the Logos Academic Blog, minister and theology PhD Matthew Halstead argued that the mark of the beast is something given to people who willingly worship the anti-Christ—not something you accidentally ingest in a Gates-funded vaccine. Christians should not fear the vaccine unless they plan on using it as a symbolic expression of their "willful and public rejection of the Christian faith," he wrote. "If that's you and if that's your plan," he added, "then it's not the vaccine that's the problem."Read 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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| FBI offers $1m reward for captors of Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle Posted: 14 May 2020 09:46 AM PDT  * US-Canadian couple were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 * After release Boyle was cleared of abusing Coleman in CanadaThe FBI has offered a $1m reward for the arrest and prosecution for those responsible for the kidnapping of US citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, eight years ago in Afghanistan.The offer of a reward for their captors is the latest twist in the protracted saga of Coleman and Boyle, who were the subject of intense media scrutiny following their dramatic rescue in 2017 – and a subsequent trial over allegations of abuse by Boyle.Shortly after their wedding in 2012, Boyle and Coleman travelled to Afghanistan, where they were kidnapped by a Taliban-linked group shortly after arriving in the restive country. The couple spent five years as captives of the Haqqani network, during which time Coleman gave birth to three children."At times the [guards] could be very violent, even sometimes with the children," Coleman told ABC News in 2017, shortly after their release. "Some of the guards actually actively hated children and would somewhat target [one of our children], try to come up with reasons to hit him, either with a stick or otherwise, claiming that he was making problems, he was being too loud."The family say they were shuffled between different sites and captors – often kept underground – until they were eventually freed by Pakistani soldiers in October 2017 and returned to Canada.But in late December of that year, Boyle was arrested in Ottawa and charged with 19 offenses – including sexual assault, forcible confinement and uttering a death threat – all of which were alleged to have taken place after the family had arrived in the city. The closely watched trial lasted more than a year, culminating in a judge clearing Boyle of all charges in December 2019.Timothy Slater, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office, told the Canadian Press that agents were still actively working to track down the family's captors but need the public's help. In one proof of life video recorded by the family, Coleman identified her captors – but more information was needed for a breakthrough in the case.
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| Officer who made 'closed casket' remark after police killing is suspended Posted: 15 May 2020 09:45 AM PDT  "I think it's going to be a closed casket, homie," the officer was heard saying in a video of the fatal shooting of Dreasjon Reed by Indianapolis police on May 6.
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| Biden Says if Voters Believe Tara Reade, ‘They Probably Shouldn’t Vote for Me’ Posted: 15 May 2020 05:09 AM PDT  Joe Biden on Thursday again addressed allegations of sexual assault from former staffer Tara Reade, saying that voters should not choose him in the November elections if they believe Reade's claims.Voters "should vote their heart and if they believe Tara Reade, they probably shouldn't vote for me," Biden said on MSNBC's The Last Word. "I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade."When host Lawrence O'Donnell asked whether the former vice president has any recollection of Reade, Biden responded "to be honest with you, I don't.""Look at Tara Reade's story," Biden went on. "It changes considerably. But I don't want to question her motive. I don't want to question anything other than to say the truth matters."Reade alleges that Biden sexually assaulted her in spring 1993, while working as a staffer for the then-senator from Delaware. While accounts from friends and former neighbors as well as a court document from 1996 confirm that Reade had discussed an alleged incident that occurred in Biden's offices, no evidence has been found that would conclusively prove Biden guilty. Biden has categorically denied Reade's claims, pointing out that her story has changed over time.Biden has received support from numerous Democratic politicians, including presumptive choices to be his running-mate in the November elections. Senators Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) have both backed Biden. The former vice president has also received endorsements from Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.).
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| Walter Barton: New blood stain evidence suggests man may be innocent days before execution Posted: 14 May 2020 05:45 AM PDT  Newly released blood spatter evidence has cast doubt on a murder conviction for an inmate who is scheduled to be executed in three days.Three jurors who convicted the man said that new blood spatter evidence has raised doubt about his guilt.
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| Trevor Noah tries to explain Trump's 'ObamaGate' conspiracy. Desi Lydic 'FOXsplains' it. Posted: 14 May 2020 10:43 PM PDT  "For months now, everyone has been asking: When will things just get back to normal?" Trevor Noah said on Thursday's Daily Show. "Well, President Trump hasn't been great at doing the things that could help make that happen -- you know, like expanding testing," he said, "but there is one part of getting back to normal that Trump is definitely an expert in, and that's conspiracy theories." For anyone missing the wondrous days when news cycles were routinely hijacked by "some far-out conspiracy theory that Trump had dreamed up about his enemies," Noah said, "well, good news, those happy days are here again with a brand-new conspiracy Trump and Fox News are calling 'ObamaGate.'""Fox News hasn't been this excited since the last time Colin Kaepernick bent down to tie his shoes, but here's the basic idea of what this is about," Noah said: After the 2016 election, the intelligence community discovered that Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, "was having secret conversations with foreign powers. And now, you might be wondering why those shady conversations were happening in the first place, but that's not important! Keep up! The important part is that they investigated it, and that's what has everyone in Trumpworld so excited right now, because there's new documents that shed light on what happened during that investigation."What do they show? Well, "basically, what the Obama administration did was a standard government procedure that happens thousands of times a year," Noah said. "But that isn't stopping Donald Trump from proposing his favorite solution to any problem: Lock them up." Trump defenders also claim someone illegally leaked Flynn's name and argue Flynn did nothing materially wrong, but "you know what? The full conspiracy theory's actually pretty complicated. I mean, it's too much for my little brain. But luckily, our very own Desi Lydic volunteered to watch Fox News nonstop so that she could help break this ObamaGate scandal down." Watch her "FOXplain" the "scandal" below. More stories from theweek.com The next phase of America's coronavirus problem is a massive housing crisis 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern
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| US pilot jailed in Singapore for breaking quarantine order Posted: 15 May 2020 12:51 AM PDT  An American cargo pilot who admitted to "poor judgment" in breaking a quarantine order to buy medical supplies became the first foreigner imprisoned in Singapore for breaching its restrictions meant to curb the coronavirus, his lawyer said Friday. FedEx pilot Brian Dugan Yeargan, 44, of Alaska, was sentenced to four weeks Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to leaving his hotel room for three hours to buy masks and a thermometer, defense lawyer Ronnie Tan said. Singapore has one of the largest outbreaks in Asia, with 26,000 cases.
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| Afghan accused of mutilating wife after she asks for divorce Posted: 15 May 2020 03:53 AM PDT |
| Al-Qaeda and Islamic State cross swords in Sahel Posted: 15 May 2020 04:15 AM PDT  Al-Qaeda and the Islamic state group have turned their guns on each other in the Sahel, according to experts, fracturing a period of cooperation that has held for years. The semi-desert African region has seen years of conflict with Islamic militants, who first emerged in northern Mali in 2012 before sweeping into the centre of the country, and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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| A US Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter crashed just outside Eglin Air Force Base in Florida Posted: 15 May 2020 09:47 AM PDT  The stealth fighter crashed during a training flight, but pilot ejected safely and is being taken care of by base medical personnel.
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| As unemployment continues to rise, the US could face another crisis: Homelessness across the country could increase by 45% Posted: 14 May 2020 09:06 PM PDT  "This is unprecedented," Dan O'Flaherty said, according to the study. "No one living has seen an increase of 10% of unemployment in a month."
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| Murder of holocaust survivor in Paris should be treated as anti-Semitic, say prosecutors Posted: 15 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT  French prosecutors have called for two men accused of murdering a Holocaust survivor in her eastern Paris council flat to be tried for killing her on anti-Semitic grounds. Mireille Knoll, 85, was stabbed 11 times in March 2018 and burned in a frenzied onslaught, which shocked the nation and outraged political leaders. President Emmanuel Macron, who attended her funeral at the time amid widespread public mourning, said: "She was killed simply because she was Jewish." Her neighbour, Yacine Mihoub, 30 is now in custody along with another suspect, 24-year old Alex Carrimbacus with mental health issues. On Thursday night, Paris prosecutors called for the pair to be tried for "murder of a vulnerable person due to the victim's real or supposed affiliation to a religion". It is now up to the investigating magistrates conducting the investigation to decide whether to retain the motive of anti-Semitism. Prosecutors pointed out that Yacine Mihoub had scrawled graffiti in praise of the Paris terror attacks in his cell and had conducted internet searches on the liberation of Palestine, Salafist Islam and the Muslim brotherhood. Carrimbacus is thought to have asked whether the victim was rich. "This evidence legitimately raises the question over Yacine Mihoub and Alex Carrimbacus's state of mind and the deep reason for the murder," the prosecution was cited as arguing in Le Parisien.
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| Make Your At-Home Dining Experience Fit for a Five-Star Restaurant Posted: 15 May 2020 10:52 AM PDT |
| Man blocks black delivery driver in Oklahoma neighborhood Posted: 15 May 2020 11:14 AM PDT  "My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."
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| House to vote on additional $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Posted: 15 May 2020 05:51 AM PDT  The House of Representatives is pushing forward with a vote on an additional $3 trillion coronavirus response bill that has been met with skepticism from Republicans.
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| Does the justice department work for the Trump campaign now? Barr thinks so Posted: 15 May 2020 06:33 AM PDT  The US attorney general seems determined to turn the DoJ into a fully fledged arm of the Trump re-election teamIt was enough that last week, the US Department of Justice did something completely unheard of: it moved to dismiss the guilty plea of a cabinet level officer, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, for lying to the FBI. The department's argument was so preposterous that within days, nearly 2,000 former department officials signed a letter in protest of William Barr's "assault on the rule of law".A week before the motion to dismiss in the Flynn case, Trump had tweeted that a prosecution like Flynn's "should never be allowed to happen … again". The day that the motion was filed, Trump told reporters that the Obama administration officials had targeted Flynn to try to "take down a president". In co-ordination, Trump campaign manager BradParscale issued a statement saying: "[T]he Obama-Biden officials responsible for these misdeeds must be held accountable."Immediately after the filing in the Flynn case, Barr went on national television and attacked the FBI, pointedly disparaging its 2016 investigation into Russian interference and letting it be known that FBI officials or ex-officials were under examination for prosecution: "[J]ust because something may even stink to high heaven and … appear to everyone to be bad we still have to apply the right standard and be convinced that there's a violation of a criminal statute."Then on Wednesday, Barr's press spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, upped the ante in the high-stakes effort to lend political support to Gen Flynn and to Trump's partisan political interests. Kupec complained about an allegedly nefarious effort involving Joe Biden to "unmask" Flynn's identity during the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.She said this to the Fox news correspondent Martha MacCallum: "Martha, what happened to candidate Trump and then President Trump was one of the greatest political injustices in American history and should never happen again."It is remarkable how quickly Flynn's fate is put aside and the focus shifted to the president.When has a justice department press person ever issued so nakedly political a statement?Biden was among several people who asked that the intelligence committee to identify the unnamed American who had been recorded in a conversation with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, about Obama's newly imposed sanctions in December 2016. It apparently doesn't matter to the Barr justice department that the rules were scrupulously adhered to in this "unmasking". It also doesn't matter that such requests are permitted if the identity unmasked is necessary to understand the information, and that such requests are hardly unusual. The National Security Agency handles such unmasking requests in thousands of cases: 10,000 in 2019 and nearly 17,000 in 2018.> Using the department in this way undermines the integrity of the lawyers and prosecutors who work thereKupec's statement tracks perfectly with Mr Trump's partisan campaign messaging and with the president's efforts to present himself and his most loyal followers as victims of a conspiracy. The DoJ has now been let loose in search of nefarious activity by Biden, and in the hope it can cast his way a McCarthyite shadow of suspicion.Barr, the attorney general, is by no means the first occupant of that office to do political work for or serve as a political ally of the president who appointed him. Indeed, Edmund Randolph, the first attorney general of the United States, was a close ally of George Washington, having served as the general's chief of staff and personal secretary. During Randolph's term, Washington relied on him for support on matters that went well beyond the formal duties of his office.Other attorneys general have followed in Randolph's footsteps, serving as close political allies of the president. Examples from the early years of the country include Andrew Jackson's attorney general, Roger Taney, who worked hand-in-hand with Jackson to end funding for the Bank of the United States.In the 20th century, Franklin Roosevelt's attorneys general regularly helped him in political battles. Some of those battles involved the justice department and some did not. Other close political allies of the president who appointed them include Robert Kennedy, who was appointed at 35 by his brother John, and widely criticized as unqualified for the job. President Reagan's second attorney general, Edwin Meese, was a longtime friend of, and political operative for, Reagan.But throughout American history, when presidents have appointed political cronies to be attorney general, they were looking for people only to help them pursue a policy agenda.Nixon's efforts to enlist John Mitchell in the Watergate cover-up and get one of Mitchell's successors, Elliot Richardson, to fire the Watergate special prosecutor stand out as important, but rare, exceptions.Other presidents have neither expected nor asked their attorneys general to use the vast investigatory and prosecutorial power of the justice department itself to intervene in criminal cases to help cronies, to buy the silence of those who might threaten him, or to discredit political adversaries. That is a new and dangerous ballgame.Using the justice department in this way undermines the integrity and professionalism of the lawyers and prosecutors who work there. It turns law into an arena for gaining partisan advantage and settling political grudges.Having gotten away with doing the same in his dealings with Ukraine, the president has an attorney general who is only too happy to go beyond merely politicizing the DoJ. He seems determined to turn it into a full-fledged arm of the Trump campaign.
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| Brazil's health minister resigns after one month on the job Posted: 15 May 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Brazil's health minister resigned Friday after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. Dr. Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health care consultant, took the job April 17 faced with the task of aligning the ministry's actions with the president's view that Brazil's economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus. Teich's predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also had rejected the use of chloroquine, which also had been touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment.
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| BAT says potential COVID-19 vaccine using tobacco leaves ready for human trials Posted: 15 May 2020 05:02 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Three children orphaned, after both parents die within weeks Posted: 15 May 2020 10:27 AM PDT  The mother and father of three children who fled Isis, both died within a few weeks of each other, after contracting coronavirus.Nada Ayram, who was 46 years old, died 21 April and her husband, 52-year-old Nameer, passed away from coronavirus earlier this week.
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| The next phase of America's coronavirus problem is a massive housing crisis Posted: 15 May 2020 02:50 AM PDT  Thursday brought yet more grim economic numbers, with 2.98 million Americans filing for unemployment over the last week. That makes for 36.5 million claims since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis (though millions no doubt have not managed to make it onto the program rolls, or are not receiving benefits even if they have). A recent Federal Reserve study found that nearly 40 percent of households making $40,000 per year or less lost a job in March.Millions of people are already unable to afford their rent or mortgage payments, and tens of millions more will be unable to in a few months if nothing changes. America is facing a major housing crisis if it doesn't get its act together. Either the economic rescue programs need to be strengthened and extended, or we need some kind of cancellation of rent and mortgage payments until things return to normal, or both.There have been several programs and rules passed already intended to help homeowners and renters. But, as usual in American policymaking, these policies are haphazard, over-complicated, and incomplete. For renters, evictions have been temporarily banned in many cities and states, and some places like Philadelphia have begun to extend rental payment assistance for lower-income people. But rent payments have only been paused in most places, not canceled, and there hasn't been any nationwide policy. Landlords are already champing at the bit to evict people.For homeowners, mortgage holders or servicers have been banned from foreclosing on people for 60 days starting March 18. Homeowners whose loans are backed by the government (which is most of them) can apply for forbearance, which puts their payments on hold for up to a year. However, the stipulations are complicated and unclear. Mortgage servicers (businesses that collect the loan payments and administer paperwork for the true loan owner) are reportedly misleading homeowners by telling them all missed payments will be due at the end of the forbearance period, when in fact there are several repayment options, including paying them at the end of the loan term.These are the same servicers who were major villains in the foreclosure crisis a decade ago. The Obama administration deliberately enabled this between 2009-11 by running its homeowner "assistance" program through servicers, who have a financial incentive to foreclose and routinely tricked people into it, often with forged documents. The effect was to push the losses from the housing bubble from banks to individuals. (As an aside, it is preposterous for the government to use servicers for the loans it owns. It could easily do the job itself for cheaper.)So far the number of people failing to pay rents or mortgages has not increased that much, probably because of the one-off rescue payment of $1,200 and the temporary increase in unemployment benefits. But that won't last forever. Many have already spent their payment, and super-unemployment expires at the end of July. Analysts are predicting a big surge in rent and mortgage nonpayment if nothing changes.A tidy solution here would be to simply pause all rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the crisis, and restart afterwards without any repayment. Homeowners and renters would be secure, and landlords would be mostly fine as well since mortgages are typically by far their largest expense — plus it would be much easier to administer without any complicated means test. Joe Biden actually suggested something along these lines recently.The overall effect would probably be somewhat regressive on net. Many more people live in owner-occupied homes than rent them, and higher-income people tend to live in more expensive homes with bigger mortgage payments. But now is hardly the time to worry about that. The Federal Reserve is blasting rich investors with a money cannon, and even Democrats are trying to sneak through a tax cut in which 56 percent of the benefit would flow to the top one percent. (Loudly protesting about the rich being included in welfare systems while quietly shoveling money out the back door to plutocrats is a long bipartisan American tradition.)Alternatively, we could simply flood the population with enough income that everyone can pay all their bills. If Congress keeps universal stimulus payments flowing monthly (which will be easier logistically now that the first one has been done), and preserves super-unemployment as long as the crisis lasts, then just about everyone should have enough money to cover their bills indefinitely.Over the medium term, we should also consider homeowner relief along the lines of Franklin Roosevelt's Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Millions of homeowners will no doubt be underwater on their mortgages soon if they aren't already (that is, their mortgage debt is greater than the value of the home). This will be a big economic drag in the future — people with negative net worth tend to drastically cut their spending to repair their balance sheet, and many will likely opt to just walk away from their homes, which badly harms neighborhoods. We should allow underwater homeowners to write down their principal to the value of the property, and refinance to take advantage of the cheap credit the Federal Reserve is flooding into the economy.That's a lesser priority, but America needs to do something to stave off a housing disaster. Children are already going hungry. Without swift action many will end up on the street.More stories from theweek.com 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern Oprah Winfrey calls on class of 2020 to help 'heal our afflictions' in virtual commencement address
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| Pope joins inter-faith prayers against coronavirus, irks ultra-conservatives Posted: 14 May 2020 08:19 AM PDT  Pope Francis joined an inter-faith day of prayer on Thursday to call on God to end the coronavirus pandemic, brushing aside criticism from ultra-conservative Catholic groups, with one accusing him of associating with "infidels". A multi-faith committee formed after the pope's historic visit to the Arabian Peninsula last year came up with the proposal that Christians, Muslims and Jews pray, fast and perform charitable works on Thursday. "Maybe there will be someone who will say 'This is religious relativism and it cannot be done," Francis said in the homily of his morning Mass at the Vatican on Thursday.
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| China plans landing drill for Pratas Islands as US ramps up military activity in sensitive Taiwan Strait Posted: 14 May 2020 06:12 AM PDT  The Chinese military is planning to conduct a large-scale landing drill in August to simulate the possible future seizure of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands amid rising tensions between China and the United States in the South China Sea, according to Japanese media reports. Both Beijing and Washington have ramped up military activities near Taiwan in recent months, including regular Chinese air force drills near the island and several US sailings through the sensitive Taiwan Strait. The US navy said on Thursday that the USS McCampbell, a guided-missile destroyer, had transited the narrow waterway on Wednesday, just one week before Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's inauguration for a second term in office. Japan's Kyodo News reported earlier this week that the Chinese People's Liberation Army intended to hold a beach landing simulation off Hainan Island, China's southernmost province, which would mobilise marines, landing ships, hovercrafts and helicopters.
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| Ethiopian migrants head home after brush with death in Mozambique Posted: 15 May 2020 04:10 AM PDT  As the truck travelled south, Yosef Moliso and the other Ethiopian migrants trapped inside its sealed cargo container pounded on the walls for help while struggling to breathe. "It was very hot inside, like a fire burning," recalled Yosef, one of just 14 survivors of the ill-fated attempt to reach South Africa, where the migrants hoped to earn enough money to lift their families back in Ethiopia out of poverty. Ethiopia is one of the top five source countries for the more than four million migrants in South Africa, the continent's most industrialised economy, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
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| Leaked email reveals Carnival CEO's message to employees after the company announced mass layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts Posted: 14 May 2020 02:41 PM PDT  Carnival Corp. is laying off workers and cutting pay in response to the impact of COVID-19, which has shut down the cruise industry since March.
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