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(CNN)A 36-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of impregnating woman in a vegetative state who gave birth last month at a Phoenix health care facility, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said Wednesday.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/23/health/arizona-woman-birth-vegetative-state/index.html

The two were photographed together there in the 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Trump always in a tie, Mr. Epstein always without. And in Manhattan, they attended many of the same dinner parties, like the one that Mr. Epstein hosted for Prince Andrew, where the guest list also included Ron Perelman and Mort Zuckerman, among others.

But longtime Trump associates played down their closeness, saying that was simply how Mr. Trump treated any guest at his club — checking on their steaks, bragging about his meatloaf, scanning the room for a better table so guests felt like they were getting special treatment.

Since Mr. Trump’s decision to enter the presidential race in 2015, his aides and allies have been eager to minimize any connection to Mr. Epstein, knowing that Mr. Epstein’s relationship with Mr. Clinton would be investigated at a time Hillary Clinton was likely to be his opponent.

Roger J. Stone Jr., the former Trump adviser, wrote in his book “The Clintons’ War on Women,” which was published during the campaign, that Mr. Trump “turned down many invitations to Epstein’s hedonistic private island and his Palm Beach home.” Once when Mr. Trump visited Mr. Epstein at his Palm Beach home, Mr. Stone wrote, he later seemed to joke about the scene of underage girls he witnessed there.

“The swimming pool was filled with beautiful young girls,” Mr. Trump later told a Mar-a-Lago member, according to Mr. Stone. “‘How nice,’ I thought, ‘he let the neighborhood kids use his pool.’”

Sam Nunberg, a former campaign aide to Mr. Trump, said he raised concerns about the candidate’s involvement with Mr. Epstein before Mr. Trump officially began his presidential campaign. But Mr. Trump assured Mr. Nunberg that he had barred Mr. Epstein from entering his clubs after Mr. Epstein had tried to recruit a woman who worked at Mar-a-Lago.

“Trump said, ‘I kicked him out of the clubs when this stuff became public, and I made sure NBC knew,’” Mr. Nunberg recalled.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/trump-epstein.html

Prince Harry and Meghan have welcomed a baby boy.

“As every father and parent would ever say, you know, your baby is absolutely amazing,” Harry said Monday in announcing the birth of his first child. “But this little thing is absolutely to die for, so I’m just over the moon.”

The newborn weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. The baby was born at 5:26 a.m. local time, according to Buckingham Palace.

Both mom and baby are “doing incredibly well,” Prince Harry said in his brief remarks outside Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor home where he and Meghan will raise their son.

Steve Parsons/AP
Prince Harry speaks at Windsor Castle in England, May 6, 2019, after his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex gave birth to a baby boy.

The public will get their first glimpse of the family of three — Meghan, Harry and the baby — later this week, according to Harry.

In the meantime, he and Meghan will spend time bonding with their baby.

When asked about a name, Harry said he and Meghan are “still thinking” about it, adding, “That’s the next bit.”

Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, is with the couple at Frogmore Cottage, according to Buckingham Palace. The Los Angeles-based Ragland is “overjoyed by the arrival of her first grandchild,” the palace said.

Harry’s royal family members — including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Kate — and relatives of Princess Diana, Harry and William’s late mother, were informed of the baby’s birth and are “delighted with the news,” according to Buckingham Palace.

Meghan, 37, went into labor in her 41st week of pregnancy, one week past her due date.

“I’m so incredibly proud of my wife,” said Harry, 34, who called the birth of his son “amazing” and “absolutely incredible.”

Following royal tradition, a framed notice of birth for Harry and Meghan’s son went on display on a ceremonial easel at the gates of Buckingham Palace Monday.

Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
Members of staff set up an official notice on an easel at the gates of Buckingham Palace in London on May 6, 2019 announcing the birth of a son to Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Baby Sussex’s place in the royal family

The baby is seventh in line to the British throne, falling behind Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince Harry.

Baby Sussex will not automatically be a prince, unlike his cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who were designated as his or her royal highness and given the title of prince or princess.

The baby’s great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, can step in to give him that title, however.

He is the fourth grandchild for Prince Charles and the eighth great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth. Meghan and Harry’s son will share a close birthday to his cousin, Princess Charlotte, who turned 4 on May 2.

Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images, FILE
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, March 11, 2019, in London.

Baby Sussex appears to be the first mixed-race child born into the royal family. Meghan was born to a white father and a black mother and grew up as a biracial child in Los Angeles.

Some royal historians have pointed out though that when Queen Charlotte married King George III in the 1700s, he was believed to have descended from the black branch of the Portuguese royal family. The couple had 15 children, according to the British royal family’s website.

The son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, could hold dual American and British nationality, a first for a royal baby.

Meghan, a California native, is reportedly still waiting for her British citizenship application to be approved.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images, FILE
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex watch a musical performance as they attend a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House, March 11, 2019, in London, England.

“From what I understand, Harry and Meghan will have to acquire documentation for their child to prove U.S. citizenship and it’s not clear if they will do that but of course the option is there,” said ABC News royal contributor Victoria Murphy.

Harry and Meghan as parents

Prince Harry married Meghan last May. Five months later, they announced the pregnancy as they embarked on their 16-day tour of Australia, New Zealand Fiji and Tonga.

In candid moments interacting with children during that tour and in the months since, Harry and Meghan have given a glimpse into the kind of hands-on parents they are expected to be.

Harry spoke about his love for little ones in a 2016 interview with “GMA” co-anchor Robin Roberts, saying he “can’t wait for the day” he has children. At the time, he said he tries to be the “fun uncle” for Prince William and Kate’s children.

“I’ve got a kid inside of me, I want to keep that, I adore kids,” he added. “I enjoy everything that they bring to the party, and they just say what they think.”

Meghan’s friends have also described her as someone with a maternal instinct who is genuine in her interactions, particularly with kids.

“When you see her at walkabouts, when she crouches down to talk to the kids and genuinely has real conversations with people, that’s Meg,” a former costar of Meghan’s told People magazine in February. “That’s how she crouches down with our kids at home. That’s how she plays with them. That’s how she engages with people and how she always has.”

Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/culture/story/duchess-meghan-labor-1st-child-palace-announces-62376637

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has overhauled its sex education guidance for public school teachers, encouraging them to talk about gender identity with kindergarteners and giving advice to help LGBT teenagers navigate relationships and practice safe sex.

LGBT advocates praised the new recommendations for giving such attention to a community that often is left out of sex education policies. But some parents and conservative groups assailed the more than 700-page document as an assault on parental rights, arguing those issues should be taught by parents in the home.

The guidance approved by the California State Board of Education on Wednesday does not require teachers to teach anything. But it is designed to expose them to the latest research and help them make sure students are meeting state standards. It’s also influenced by a 2015 state law that made California one of the first states to address LGBT issues as part of sex education.

Much of the pushback has focused not on the framework itself, but on the books it recommends students read. One suggested book for high schoolers is “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties.” It includes descriptions of anal sex, bondage and other sexual activity. Several parents read from the book and held it up so board members could see the pictures, which many described as “obscene.”

But Wednesday, the State Board of Education removed that book, and a few others, from the guidance. State Board of Education member Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon said the books had “created panic” and distracted from the framework’s goals, including teaching students about consent and sex trafficking.

“It’s important to know the board is not trying to ban books. We’re not staying that the books are bad,” she said. “But the removal will help avoid the misunderstanding that California is mandating the use of these books.”

More than 200 people signed up to speak during a public hearing on Wednesday that lasted for several hours. Supporters and opponents mingled together in the lobby of the California Department of Education, where parents handed out snacks to appease their young children while waiting for their number to appear on dry-erase board telling them it was their turn to get one minute of time at the microphone.

Speakers included 16-year-old Phoenix Ali Rajah, a transgender boy who said he is rarely taught information for people like him during sex education classes at his Los Angeles area high school.

“I’m never taught about how to be in a relationship with gay men,” he said, adding that the “conversation with sex starts from a different place.”

Patricia Reyes traveled more than 400 miles from her home in Southern California to bring her six children to the hearing, all of whom attend or have attended public schools. They included her 4-year-old daughter, Angeline, who held a sign that read: “Protect my innocence and childhood.”

“It’s just scary what they are going to be teaching. It’s pornography,” she said. “If this continues, I’m not sending them to school.”

The framework tells teachers that students in kindergarten can identify as transgender and offers tips for how to talk about that, adding “the goal is not to cause confusion about the gender of the child but to develop an awareness that other expressions exist.”

It gives tips for discussing masturbation with middle-schoolers, including telling them it is not physically harmful, and for discussing puberty with transgender teens that creates “an environment that is inclusive and challenges binary concepts about gender.”

Tatyana Dzyubak, an elementary school teacher in the Sacramento area, said she would have a hard time teaching the material. “I shouldn’t be teaching that stuff. That’s for parents to do,” she said.

California’s education standards tell school districts what students should know about a particular subject at the end of every grade level. The state’s curriculum framework gives teachers ideas on how to do that. The state updated its health education standards in 2008. But because of a budget crisis, state officials delayed giving schools a framework for how to teach them. That changed Wednesday.

“As a mom myself, whether you are ready for your kid to have those questions or not, they have them. And they need medically accurate information,” said Cheri Greven, public affairs director with Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte. “Otherwise, who knows what they will find on their own.”

Source Article from https://www.snopes.com/ap/2019/05/08/california-overhauls-sex-education-guidance-for-teachers/

UPLAND, Ind. (AP) — Dozens of graduates and faculty have protested the selection of Vice President Mike Pence as the commencement speaker at Taylor University in Indiana by walking out moments before his introduction.

The Indianapolis Star reports the protesters in caps and gowns rose and quietly walked down the aisle and out of the auditorium in the Kesler Student Activities Center at the university in Upland, Indiana.

The protest was planned and discussed prior to Saturday’s ceremony. Some faculty and students at the nondenominational Christian liberal arts school debated the appropriateness of the former Indiana governor at the commencement ceremony.

Most of Taylor’s graduating class did not leave. Pence received a standing ovation.

Graduate Laura Rathburn said Pence’s “presence makes it difficult for everyone at Taylor to feel welcomed.”




Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/05/18/dozens-protest-pence-at-taylor-university-commencement/23729580/

Derechos de autor de la imagen
AFP

Image caption

El Mausoleo al Che Guevara es uno de los sitios turísticos más visitados de Santa Clara, una provincia en el centro de Cuba

-¿Dónde tú vives? -le dijo el policía.

-Allá abajo -respondió Raudel, un joven de 19 años, señalando con el dedo índice de su mano derecha hacia las casuchas que se levantan del matorral.

-Pero tú sabes que no puedes estar aquí arriba, que hay turistas a esta hora -dijo el otro policía.

-Pero yo vivo aquí -volvió a responder Raudel, que antes se había levantado de una piedra ovalada y alta, y había soltado el palito de madera con el que dibujaba círculos en la tierra húmeda.

-¡Enséñame tu carnet de identidad! -ordenó el primer policía.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
Getty Images

Image caption

La policía suele pedir identificaciones a cubanos cuando se acercan a sitios turísticos

-No lo tengo aquí, pero además mi barrio no tiene calles ni nombre. Nosotros le decimos “el hueco”, pero así le decimos nada más la gente de aquí.

-Bueno, es la segunda vez que te decimos que no puedes estar aquí, tendrás que acompañarnos a la estación.

El sol radiante pegó en el techo blanquísimo de la patrulla policial. Algunas nubes dejaron de moverse y se quedaron tranquilas en el cielorraso. El carro arrancó.

Raudel, solo en el asiento trasero, volteó la cabeza y por las ventanillas lo único que encontró fue la enorme figura de bronce de 21 pies del Che Guevara con su brazo enyesado atravesando la alfombra azul que se acuesta allá arriba.

Debajo de su efigie, la expresión más enigmática de Fidel Castro y la revolución cubana: “Hasta la victoria siempre”.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
Getty Images

Image caption

Monumento al Che Guevara, con la frase de Fidel Castro.

“El hueco” es “el hueco” solo para los que viven en “el hueco”.

Para el resto de las personas no tiene nombre, no existe. En el mapa de la Asamblea Provincial del Poder Popular de Villa Clara, que muestra todo el territorio dividido en municipios, no sale, no lo contempla.

El barrio es un caserío pobre e indigente que está a solo unos metros de la Plaza de la Revolución de Santa Clara.

Una manzana, no más, envuelta en un arrabal de matas y árboles que crecen en un fango escamoso. No hay calles, solo un trillo de tierra que se desmarca de la hierba alta y va de puerta en puerta, de casa en casa, de choza en choza.

Los carteros no van a entregar los correos postales porque no hay direcciones.

La empresa de comunales no pasa a recoger la basura ni poda los árboles y por eso los pocos cables que hay en el barrio viven enredándose con las ramas y haciendo cortes eléctricos. Cortes que dejan sin electricidad, días y días, a las pocas casuchas que gozan del privilegio de oír la radio o ver la televisión.

La empresa eléctrica no puede ir a un lugar que no existe -legalmente-. Y como no existen -legalmente-, las personas del barrio sin nombre tampoco pueden levantar casas o hacerlas de mamposterías.

La ley les impide, incluso, asomarse en la Plaza de la Revolución, porque las “conductas de asedio al turismo” son penadas.

Por eso, a unos metros de su casa, la policía se llevó a Raudel bajo ese supuesto cargo.

1987 fue el año de la desgracia para el barrio. Año en el que se construyó la Plaza de la Revolución de Santa Clara y en el que el gobierno provincial declaró los alrededores del sitio como “zona vedada”.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
AFP

Image caption

“El hueco” se encuentra a unos metros del lugar donde están los restos del Che Guevara

La mayoría de las más de 300 personas que viven aquí lo hacen de manera ilegal.

Los únicos hogares que están autorizados a permanecer son los que estaban construidos antes de que se levantara la Plaza de la Revolución. Que son tres casas, las únicas de mampostería, el resto, las ilegales, son de madera y cartón mojado.

Según Remberto Suárez del Ministerio de la Construcción, el estado cubano considera un hecho fuera de la ley “el asentamiento, la estancia y la convivencia de ciudadanos en las zonas declaradas inhabitables y vedadas”.

Según la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, en el último censo de población y vivienda publicado en 2012, los habitantes de este barrio quedaron fuera del conteo final que declaró que en Villa Clara residían 833.424 personas y de ellas 210.220 ciudadanos en Santa Clara, la capital provincial.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
Abraham Jiménez

Image caption

Carlos tiene un puesto de viandas (en Cuba vegetales, legumbres y hortalizas) y eso le ha ganado el reconocimiento en el barrio

“Nosotros estamos incomunicados. Del camino de la Plaza hacia dentro no hay teléfonos. Aquí la gente vive a timbales”, dice el gordo Carlos desde un taburete viejo.

La casa de Carlos es la de mejores condiciones en todo el barrio. Es de ladrillos y eso ya es un lujo, es grande y tiene varias habitaciones.

Cuando hay mal tiempo y la lluvia arrecia y las casas de madera o cartón se hunden en el fango tragón, cuando hay ciclones y huracanes, Carlos le abre la puerta de su casa a todos los del vecindario y allí se amontonan hasta que pase la tempestad.

Carlos es como el patrón de la zona. Tiene un puesto de hortalizas. Eso aquí basta para que todos lo vean como un rey.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
Abraham Jiménez

Image caption

Teresa tiene un riñón enfermo.

En tiempo de huracanes, los primeros que siempre llegan a casa de Carlos son Teresa -60 años- y su hijo -29 años-. Teresa, postrada en su sillón de ruedas. El hijo, con los ojos idos, balbuceando algo, algo que no se entiende.

Llegan de primeros porque no tienen agua en la casa, porque no confían en los pedazos de madera podrida que tienen de techo y porque se han quedados solos en la vida.

A Teresa le falta un riñón y tiene el otro enfermo, una insuficiencia renal la tiene cada vez más disminuida, más ausente, más hablando bajito.

El hijo nació con alguna malformación congénita por la que no he querido preguntar, a su edad apenas puede encadenar tres palabras con esfuerzo, pero cruza todos los días la ciudad para ir a la escuela donde trabajaba su padre como custodio y buscarle la comida a su madre.

También atraviesa toda la ciudad empujando la silla de ruedas donde va Teresa cuando ella se pone mal o cuando tiene algún turno médico de rigor.

Hay unos dos kilómetros entre el barrio sin nombre y el hospital, dos kilómetros que el hijo de Teresa tendrá que empujarla a todo gas.

Su tratamiento médico al igual que la educación de los que viven en el hueco sí son gratuitas y están garantizadas, como para el resto de los cubanos.

Antes de caerse de la mata de coco y fallecer, el esposo de Teresa le pidió al estado un subsidio para construir una casa en mejores condiciones. El estado los atendió pero aún no le han dado respuesta a la familia. Solo les han mandado un trabajador social que los visita dos veces al mes.

“Yo no soy maga, yo hago lo que pueda según los recursos del estado. Ellos están en una situación crítica pero recuerda que son ilegales”, dice Yusmary Alcántara, la trabajadora social que atiende a Teresa y su hijo.

Teresa y su hijo viven con los 242 pesos cubanos -casi 11 dólares- que les dejo la pensión del fallecido.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
Abraham Jiménez

Image caption

En el techo de la casa de “El negro” hay un palomar

“El negro” no quiere decir su nombre porque estuvo preso y dice que eso lo puede complicar de nuevo. “El negro” me dice que pase y adentro tiene nylon por todas partes para cuando llueva no llueva adentro también.

De sus 49 años, lleva 40 en el barrio. “Esto era un monte y tuve chapearlo para levantar la casa para mi mujer y mi hijo. Pero así y todo se me ha caído dos veces”, dice.

Hace unos días, al negro, como le llaman los vecinos, le dieron la buena noticia de que el estado le iba a otorgar un terreno y un subsidio para que pudiera levantar otra casa. El préstamo es de 1.875 pesos cubanos -78 dólares- a pagarlo en 60 días y el terreno de 8×20 metros.

Como están ilegales, la mujer del negro no tiene trabajo y él lo único que ha podido encontrar, tras salir de prisión, es una brigada de chapeadores. Ahí le pagan poco, no me dice cuánto. El tiempo pasa y es su mayor enemigo.

Afuera de su casa hay dos perras recién paridas. Tiene palomares en el techo

Derechos de autor de la imagen
Abraham Jiménez

Image caption

Ramón cree que la situación de su barrio se debe a la construcción del Mausoleo Che Guevara

“Por culpa de ese señor que está ahí parado, a todas estas casas que están a su alrededor las han querido tumbar”, dice Ramón mirando al Che y sacando un clavo de una madera en la entrada de tierra de su casa.

Ramón vive en la casa de su mujer Gladys. Desde la puerta se puede ver la efigie de bronce del Che Guevara.

Ramón -55 años- lleva un reloj Seiko en su mano izquierda, a la derecha, le faltan los dedos índice y anular. Gladys -41 años-, de arriba abajo está llena de bisuterías baratas.

A parte de los jarrones de hervir agua y los sartenes para cocinar, en casa de Ramón y Gladys lo único de valor que hay es una vieja grabadora Sharp y un televisor chino Atec-Panda que tiene de antena un palo de caña brava.

“Ya no voy a las reuniones. Allá arriba lo que hay es mucha mentira” dice Ramón refiriéndose a su antigua militancia del partido comunista. “Pero mis ideas nadie me las quita, no me voy a meter en esa mierda de la disidencia”, agrega.

Ramón es granitero de profesión. Ha trabajado toda su vida puliendo losas y mosaicos de pisos. Cuando en la década de los 80 comenzó la construcción de la Plaza de la Revolución de Santa Clara, Ramón fue uno de sus obreros.

Derechos de autor de la imagen
AFP

Image caption

Raúl Castro es el primer secretario del Partido Comunista de Cuba

Hoy dice: “¿Quién nos iba a decir que esa plaza nos iba a poner en esta situación? Aquí no llega el agua del acueducto, nos enfermamos y los carros no entran, no hay comunicación, no nos dejan pararnos en la plaza por asedio al turismo y además el gobierno dice que no puede invertir porque es una zona de afectación”.

Ramón canta una canción mexicana: “tenía un chorro de voz y ahora queda solo un hilito”.

Source Article from http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-40524306

Before their 2017 changes, the U.S. had the highest corporate rate among developed countries, and many companies were stockpiling profits overseas to avoid the tax. A growing number of companies were moving their headquarters abroad in so-called inversions to escape the IRS.

But that argument fell flat with many voters, and Democrats handily won the public relations battle pointing to things like a wave of stock buybacks on Wall Street.

Biden wants to increase the corporate rate to 28 percent, which is actually what the Obama administration had proposed when he was vice president. That would raise about $700 billion.

He would generate even more savings with a flurry of other, more arcane, tax increases with acronyms like QBAI and FDII, that won’t mean much to average voters but will set off alarm bells in corporate tax departments.

Many of those provisions focus on toughening a minimum tax known among experts as “GILTI” that Republicans imposed as part of their 2017 law on U.S. companies operating overseas.

Biden would double its tax rate, eliminate a special deduction against the levy and change how companies go about calculating the tax, among other things.

Democrats contend the targeted provisions encourage companies to move their operations overseas, though the evidence is hardly clear on that score.

Investment and jobs in the U.S. increased in 2018, the first year the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was in effect, according to JCT.

Republicans say Democrats’ plans will recreate a lot of the problems they were trying to solve because it would leave the U.S. once again with a high corporate tax rate compared to other developed countries.

Under Biden’s plan, businesses would face a combined 32.3 percent corporate tax, including state levies, which would be the highest among developed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Excluding the US, the average corporate tax among OECD countries is 23.4 percent).

“Hastily changing the tax system purely for purposes of raising revenues will bring back inversions and foreign takeovers of U.S. companies,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Finance committee.

The administration acknowledges the risk of more inversions but says it can address the issue through regulations while also pressing other countries to adopt similar approaches to taxing corporations.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/31/biden-infrastructure-plan-stimmy-tax-478791

“He says, ‘That’s OK with me,'” O’Rourke said of Trump’s response to his supporter’s violent remark. “He’s not the source of racism in this country. This country has been racist as long as it’s been a country, but he’s certainly fanning the flames. He’s certainly making violence like this more possible and more real.”

Other Democratic presidential candidates have also denounced Trump in recent days, but none have gone so far as to directly describe the White House occupant as a white supremacist.

Former Vice Joe Biden argued Wednesday that Trump had “fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation.”

“Trump readily, eagerly attacks Islamic terrorism but can barely bring himself to use the words ‘white supremacy,'” Biden said at a campaign stop in Iowa. “And even when he says it, he doesn’t appear to believe it. He seems more concerned about losing their votes than beating back this hateful ideology.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also blamed Trump for inciting violence. During a visit Wednesday to South Carolina’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where a white supremacist shooter killed nine black worshipers in 2015, Booker said this weekend’s violence was “sowed by those who spoke the same words the El Paso murderer did, warning of an ‘invasion.'”

Trump, for his part, has denied responsibility for emboldening violence by racists in the past, and he publicly condemned white supremacy Monday during a televised address to the nation.

“In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy,” he said. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America.  Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”

But just two days later, Trump refused to point out the role ideology played in the El Paso massacre, arguing that he is concerned about “the rise of any group of hate.”

He also accused his opponents of “looking for political gain” by linking his comments to the El Paso shooting. He claimed he would like to “stay out of the political fray,” even though he attempted to tie the Dayton shooter to Democrats.

“That was a person that supported, I guess you could say Bernie Sanders, I understood. Antifa, I understood. Elizabeth Warren, I understood. It had nothing to do with President Trump,” he said. “I don’t blame Elizabeth Warren. I don’t blame Bernie Sanders. These are sick people.”

Trump claimed his rhetoric “brings people together,” although he then called illegal immigration a “terrible thing for our country” and claimed he has “toned down” his rhetoric.

Source Article from https://www.salon.com/2019/08/08/beto-orourke-and-elizabeth-warren-call-president-trump-a-white-supremacist/

Top White House advisers notified President Trump earlier this month that some internal forecasts showed that the economy could slow markedly over the next year, stopping short of a recession but complicating his path to reelection in 2020.

The private forecast, one of several delivered to Trump and described by three people familiar with the briefing, contrasts sharply with the triumphant rhetoric the president and his surrogates have repeatedly used to describe the economy.

Even as his aides warn of a business climate at risk of faltering, the president has been portraying the economy to the public as “phenomenal” and “incredible.” He has told aides that he thinks he can convince Americans that the economy is vibrant and unrattled through a public messaging campaign. But the internal and external warnings that the economy could slip have contributed to a muddled and often contradictory message.

Administration officials have scrambled this week to assemble a menu of actions Trump could take to avert an economic downturn. Few aides have a firm sense of what steps he would seriously consider, in part because he keeps changing his mind.

Ideas that have been discussed include imposing a currency transaction tax that could weaken the dollar and make U.S. exports more competitive; creating a rotation among the Federal Reserve governors that would make it easier to check the power of Chair Jerome H. Powell, whom Trump has blamed for not doing all he can to increase growth; and pushing to lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent in an effort to spur more investment. Some, if not all, of these steps would require congressional approval.

“Everyone is nervous — everyone,” said a Republican with close ties to the White House and congressional GOP leaders. “It’s not a panic, but they are nervous.”

This article is based on interviews with more than 25 current and former administration officials, lawmakers, and external advisers who have been in contact with Trump and his team throughout August. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House has been requesting that allies and aides keep its economic message intact.

Compounding Trump’s situation, some of the economy’s strains appear to be of his own making, as uncertainty surrounding his trade war with China has frozen much investment nationwide.

“The China trade war is causing most of this,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who is close to Trump. “It’s just the world economy is affected when China has a problem.”

Trump has publicly gloated about economic problems in China and Europe — even declaring last Sunday that “the world is in a recession right now” — but those strains appear to be holding back U.S. growth as well.

The economic message emanating from the White House is a product of tensions and debates about how to handle that bracing reality — and Trump’s own stubbornness on trade strategy and his anger about news coverage of the economy.

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That has led to a month of tense economic policymaking and markets. On Aug. 1, Trump announced new tariffs against Chinese imports. On Aug. 13, he delayed most of them, worried about the impact on the U.S. economy. On Aug. 20, he said he was considering new tax cuts. The next day, he said he had changed his mind.

Amid it all, stocks proved highly volatile and the U.S. and global bond markets rang numerous alarm bells, a far cry from the era of synchronized global growth that had marked Trump’s first two years in office. Other economic soft spots also have emerged, particularly in U.S. manufacturing, a sector Trump had promised to revive.

Although Trump sold himself to voters in 2016 as a master businessman who knew just what to do to rev up the economy, his stewardship could now have major implications for his reelection chances, especially if the more pessimistic forecasts prove prescient.

But beyond the political impact, Trump’s handling of the economic slowdown has opened up the White House to scathing criticism from members of past economic teams, who have contended that the flailing process and lack of traditionally credentialed economists at the helm could exacerbate a downturn.

“The irony here is that Trump’s erratic, chaotic approach to the economy is probably the most significant economic risk factor in the world right now,” said Gene Sperling, who served in top economic roles during the Clinton and Obama administrations. “Their response is just to show even more erratic behavior. It’s economic narcissism. It’s economic policy by whim, pride, ego and tantrum.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere defended the administration’s approach and said officials remain very optimistic about the economy’s performance.

“The White House does not think we are imminently headed for” a downturn, he said. “The fundamentals of the economy are strong because of this president’s pro-growth policies.”

Trump has lauded the economy as the best in U.S. history, while some of his Democratic rivals have said it is barreling toward a recession.

Neither of those descriptions is quite accurate, most economists say. Parts of the economy, particularly consumer spending and the labor market, remain robust. Retail sales are strong, and wages are rising. But business investment, the ballooning federal deficit and trade concerns are creating pressure that White House officials have struggled to explain away. And some of these problems are worsening.

“This administration has not done itself a whole lot of favors in talking about the economy,” said Tony Fratto, who served in senior roles during the George W. Bush administration at the White House and the Treasury Department. “They have done a lot of communicating that is verifiably false on the economy.”

Trump has a lean and increasingly combative economic team, whose members often are at odds with one another on trade and tax policy. Almost all are deferential to the president, but they habitually jostle to advance their causes with him, sometimes maneuvering behind one another’s backs.

White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have fought for months over Kudlow’s push to index capital gains taxes to inflation, for example, with Trump caught in the middle. The proposal would reduce taxes on investment income, primarily benefiting people with higher incomes, but most economists think that would do little to spur immediate economic growth.

White House economic team meetings are less structured than when Trump’s aides collectively pushed a giant corporate and individual income tax cut into law two years ago. Sometimes aides walk out unsure of what was agreed on. Sometimes nothing was agreed on.

But that format drew little scrutiny when advisers were used to primarily boast about the economy’s strength to the news media in the past year. Now, these aides have come under extreme pressure this month as Trump has gyrated in his economic approach and vented his frustration inside the West Wing.

Mnuchin has privately disagreed with key aspects of Trump’s approach to the economy, according to people familiar with the matter. But he has largely disappeared from public view during the turbulent month. Kevin Hassett, a former Council of Economic Advisers chairman and a frequent media commentator, has left the administration.

Stepping into their void is Kudlow, a Reagan administration official and longtime television commentator; senior trade adviser Peter Navarro, an academic with a long history of anti-China positions; and Trump himself, who often undercuts or contradicts his aides, only to reverse himself the next day.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have sensed the White House’s stress and said the goal is to beat back negative public opinion.

“It’s not economic data that’s driving the concern as much as headlines and the stock market having a big drop,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.), a close Trump ally. “It becomes a headline, then it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that is not based on any underlying economic fundamentals. There’s a real proactive effort by the White House to try and make sure the economy continues in a robust manner.”

The current economic drama began on the first day of this month, when over the objection of some senior advisers, Trump announced that he would impose tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. Just days earlier, the president had signaled that he was ready to back down from his fight with the Chinese, speculating that Beijing wanted to wait until after the 2020 election to negotiate a trade deal.

But a fruitless visit Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer made to Shanghai infuriated Trump, several people briefed on his reaction said, and he announced the tariffs in a Twitter post shortly after they returned. At the time, Navarro was the only aide who supported the move.

That announcement began a chaotic chain of economic and political events that White House aides have struggled to control ever since.

The following weekend, China’s currency weakened, a move that would make its exports more competitive, and Chinese officials signaled that they would not be increasing purchases of U.S. farm products, as Trump had demanded.

So on Monday, amid fears that the trade war would spiral out of control, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 767 points. Trump strongly urged Mnuchin to label China a currency manipulator, a symbolic yet harmless shaming that the secretary had resisted because the Treasury Department’s indicators didn’t show that China qualified for such a label. But under pressure, the treasury chief did so shortly after the stock market closed.

Meanwhile, U.S. business executives panicked about the scope of Trump’s new tariffs, and White House officials were bombarded with complaints. So Trump began drawing up plans to delay the tariffs on products such as laptop computers, shoes and clothing. This posed a problem, though.

Trump had insisted for more than a year, without evidence, that China was paying all of the tariffs. This was false, because tariffs are paid by U.S. importers and collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. For the first time in months, Trump’s economic message showed signs of cracking. He would soon admit that his economic approach could harm consumers.

On Aug. 13, Lighthizer’s office issued a news release with little fanfare announcing that tariffs on nearly $160 billion in Chinese imports had been delayed until Dec. 15. Trump would later tell reporters that the intent was to ensure that Americans didn’t pay higher costs during the holidays, one of the first times he had acknowledged that the tariffs raised costs.

“What we’ve done is we’ve delayed it so they won’t be relevant in the Christmas shopping season,” he said at the time.

The stock market rallied amid a sense that Trump was preparing to back down, but economic fears grew deeper the next day.

On Aug. 14, key parts of the U.S. bond market tipped over, creating an “inverted yield curve,” an unusual condition in which investors are rushing to buy ultrasafe long-term assets and that often precedes a recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 800 points.

In the middle of the day, Trump tried to spin the inversion as a positive thing, saying it was a reflection of how attractive U.S. debt was to consumers. But after the stock market closed, his Twitter feed took on a more furious tone.

He cited the “CRAZY INVERTED YIELD CURVE” and blamed a “clueless” Powell from the Fed.

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Through the week, White House officials became increasingly agitated that the public sentiment about the economy seemed to be tipping. Trump, aides said, is obsessed with media coverage of the economy, and thinks Americans will believe negative news and stop spending money. This exasperation began several months earlier.

“In the last couple of weeks, when the market dipped down, it did strike an amount of fear within the White House,” a White House official said. “There’s been a sense going into 2020 that we can bounce back from virtually everything if the economy stays strong.”

The day after the yield curve inverted, Kudlow said in an interview with The Washington Post that the economy was much stronger and more resilient than people were making it out to be.

“What I see is a pretty good second half coming up,” he said.

Trump, however, kept talking with advisers inside and outside the White House and was getting a mixed picture. Still, White House officials complained that news outlets were elevating negative economic news in a way that discounted the progress the White House had made.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said the media coverage of any economic downturn is “way overblown.”

“If it’s not Russia, it’s racism. If it’s not racism, it’s a recession,” she said.

Kudlow took a lead role in the White House’s pushback on Aug. 18, appearing on two television programs to try to quell fears of a recession.

“I don’t see a recession at all,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he urged Americans, “Let’s not be afraid of optimism.”

A few hours later, though, Trump stepped on that message. Speaking to reporters in New Jersey before returning to Washington, he said, “The world is in a recession right now,” attempting to draw a contrast with the United States, which is not.

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By the time Kudlow and Trump made their comments, a freewheeling policy process had taken hold. Some White House officials had begun discussing whether to slash payroll tax rates, although a number of senior officials were never told this was under consideration. Americans pay 6.2 percent of their paychecks to fund Social Security, but in the past Congress has temporarily reduced this payment as a way to spur more spending and help the economy in a downturn.

When The Post reported that the idea was being discussed on Monday afternoon, the White House issued an anonymous statement saying the idea wasn’t “under consideration at this time.” The reason for trying to shoot down the news, two people briefed on the planning said, was a sense that the public would think the White House was panicking if it was revealed that it was contemplating what could be a $100 billion tax cut.

Bad economic news continued. On Monday night, news outlets reported that U.S. Steel could be temporarily laying off up to 200 workers at a Michigan facility. Trump had claimed that his trade policies had revived U.S. Steel around the country, but the company was confronted with lower steel prices and weaker demand than expected.

By Tuesday, Trump was under growing pressure to explain how he was preparing for a possible slowdown.

He said that he was considering a payroll tax cut, as well as the capital gains change for which Kudlow had long advocated. His comments stunned some aides but others shrugged them off, aware that it is nearly impossible to be up to speed on what Trump is thinking at any given moment, even on particular issues such as tax policy.

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When Trump made the comments, his economic team was scattered. Mnuchin was on vacation, and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was 2,000 miles away at a donor event in Jackson, Wyo.

Mulvaney struck an upbeat but realistic tone about the economy, according to one attendee who was not authorized to speak publicly.

He noted that there were signs of an economic slowdown but argued at length that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. He said if there was a recession, it would be “moderate and short,” according to an attendee who wasn’t authorized to disclose the comments.

When aides presented Trump with the news that the economy could weaken in the next year, it was just one scenario.

White House officials stressed that they still expect the economy to perform very strongly this year, with the gross domestic product growing 3 percent from 2018. Few others are as optimistic. The Fed estimates that GDP will grow just 2.1 percent.

By Wednesday, Trump had reversed himself again. He told reporters before boarding a helicopter that he had decided to rule out any new tax cuts after all.

“We don’t need it,” he said. “We have a strong economy.”

Illustrations by Aaron Steckelberg. Design and development by Lucio Villa.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/22/trump-economy-month-chaotic-response/

A website apparently belonging to Sol Pais, the Florida woman whose alleged threats shut down schools in the Denver area, is filled with references to depression, isolation, suicide and guns. It also includes veiled references to her “plans” and to the Columbine High School shooting, which authorities say Pais was “infatuated” with. Officials said Pais, 18, was found dead in Colorado Wednesday amid a massive manhunt.

The webpage includes scanned pages from a journal that has the name “Sol Pais” on its final page. Authorities have not confirmed that the site belonged to Pais.

The homepage for the site, which is under the name “Dissolved Girl,” says, “I want to leave a record of myself before I, well…”. The site includes a scanned journal, blog entires and a page of music recommendations. The pages are dated between May 2018 and March 30, 2019. 

On page after page, entries describe self-loathing and a hatred of humanity. 

“Being alive is f—ing overrated,” it says on the first page, above a sketch of a handgun being fired.

“its become a fight to the death, fighting for my sanity, for my morals, for everything I’ve ever wanted,” an entry dated Feb. 1 says; “the last few days have been especially painful and tumultuous, which kickstarted me again to start revising my plans and getting on with them…so i basically spent the first few hours of my birthday cleaning through my belongings in preparation of my death. huh. gotta do what you gotta do.”

One entry details a dream “about the future” where the author has a “shotgun.” Another says, “I wish I could get a gun by the end of the summer.”

The pages are littered with drawings of guns, a knife, the world on fire and a man in a trench coat holding a firearm.

There are some entries about reuniting with an apparent love interest who is never named. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind that soon i will be back where i need to be…back home…back with you [E],” one says. 

The website also includes blog entries dated between Aug. 11, 2018 and Jan. 15, 2019, which include dark and disturbing material. “i feel like a pot of scolding water on the verge of boiling over… so dangerously close to spilling over.. and what that may cause is yet to be seen and most likely a hazard, to myself and others,” the final entry says.

The site’s “About Me” page has a picture of a frowning young girl: “i am the face of loneliness and misery, of isolation and misery, of exhaustion and anxiety, of anguish and grace,” it says.

The music page has songs and lyrics from bands including Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and KMFDM. 

The bottom of every page on the site says “1999 – the nobodies.” The Columbine shooting happened in 1999, and Marilyn Manson has a song called “The Nobodies” that references the Columbine attack.

Pais also appeared to have an account on the website Listography, which links to the Dissolved Girl site. “be the best killer you can be,” it says. The page includes a “to do” list with five items: self destruct,” “burn out,” “walk away,” “reject apologies” and “fade.” The background of the page is an image from the film “Zero Day,” which depicts a fictional school shooting inspired by Columbine.*

Authorities said Pais traveled from Miami to Denver on Monday night and bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition. Denver-area schools, including Columbine, closed Wednesday after police said Pais had made a “credible threat.” 

Investigators closed in on Pais Wednesday near the Echo Lake Lodge at the base of Mount Evans in Clear Creek County, CBS Denver reported. Officials said she was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The threats and manhunt came just days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, which left 13 people dead and ended when the two attackers killed themselves. 

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sol-pais-columbine-threat-apparent-website-is-filled-with-entries-about-death-suicide-and-plans/

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo had the night off Friday as the growing sexual misconduct scandal surrounding his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has led to widespread calls for the Democrat’s resignation. 

The pro-Cuomo network had announced on Wednesday that it would be airing a coronavirus special anchored by Jake Tapper called, “Back to School: Kids, COVID and the Fight to Reopen” in place of “Cuomo Prime Time.”

Earlier Friday, a seventh accuser came forward with sexual harassment allegations against the governor.

Former Albany reporter Jessica Bakeman alleged in an essay published in New York magazine that the governor touched her inappropriately and made her feel uncomfortable in an attempt to impose his power on the young journalist.

FROM PROP COMEDY TO PRESIDENTIAL HYPE, THESE ARE CHRIS CUOMO’S BIGGEST BLUNDERS WITH ‘LUV GUV’ BROTHER

“I never thought the governor wanted to have sex with me. It wasn’t about sex. It was about power,” Bakeman wrote. “He uses touching and sexual innuendo to stoke fear in us. That is the textbook definition of sexual harassment.”

Bakeman’s claims followed those of a sixth accuser, an unnamed staffer who alleged to the Albany Times Union that Cuomo groped her in the governor’s mansion late last year.

Cuomo denied the allegations but called the reported details “gut-wrenching.”

A report about the alleged groping has since been made to Albany Police by the New York State Executive Chamber.

CHRIS CUOMO BLASTED AFTER TELLING CNN VIEWERS HE CAN’T COVER BROTHER ANDREW’S HARASSMENT SCANDALS

Nearly every prominent New York Democrat has called on Cuomo to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. Jerry Nadler. 

The embattled governor has remained defiant by refusing to resign, suggesting such demands are the result of “cancel culture.”

CNN’S BRIAN STELTER GUSHED OVER CUOMO’S COVID ‘LEADERSHIP’: ‘HE’S PROVIDING HOPE, BUT NOT FALSE HOPE’

The mainstream media previously hailed Cuomo’s “leadership” in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, even as a scandal brewed over coronavirus deaths in nursing homes.

The controversies have put CNN and star anchor Chris Cuomo in an awkward position.

Rather than cover the Democratic governor objectively, CNN allowed the “Cuomo Prime Time” host to welcome the governor for a series of chummy interviews that lacked substance but were heavy on fanfare.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While Gov. Cuomo’s controversial nursing home policy went virtually unmentioned, the CNN anchor made plenty of time for brotherly banter, hyping his sibling’s presidential prospects, and even employing prop comedy. 

Now, as his brother faces multiple investigations, as well as calls for his resignation and impeachment, Chris Cuomo has said he “obviously” cannot cover the embattled governor despite previously starring in what critics dubbed CNN’s “Cuomo-Cuomo variety hour.” 

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/chris-cuomo-bumped-cnn-friday-lineup

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/08/31/trump-capitol-riot-insurrection-mccarthy-threat-apple-verizon/5674059001/

El presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, denunció este domingo que medios privados de ese país y los internacionales invisibilizan las actividades de la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, desde donde se atienden las dificultades sociales, culturales, económicas y educativas. 
 
“La oligarquía mediática del país ha decretado una censura, un silencio sobre la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente para tratar de asfixiarla, apagarla. No informan sobre el trabajo que se está haciendo, lo callan”, aseveró el mandatario en su programa Los domingos con Maduro.

 

“Las televisoras nacionales, privadas, regionales y los medios impresos silencian a la Constituyente. Quieren dividirla desde adentro para que salgan noticias negativas”, agregó. 

La Asamblea Nacional Constituyente tiene entre sus objetivos lograr la paz y la justicia, establecer la seguridad jurídica y social para el pueblo, así como perfeccionar y ampliar la Constitución pionera de 1999, tal y como explicó el mandatario venezolano.

Source Article from https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Presidente-Maduro-Medios-privados-e-internacionales-silencian-labor-de-la-ANC-20171001-0038.html

President Trump’s Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said he was fired in the controversy over a Navy SEAL because the president gave him an order he couldn’t, “in good conscience,” carry out.

Secretary Spencer’s removal follows a dispute that began when the president reversed the Navy’s demotion of Edward Gallagher, who was convicted of posing for a photo with a dead ISIS fighter in Iraq. Gallagher was also accused of murdering a prisoner of war, but was acquitted of that charge.

In a statement, Spencer’s boss, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, said he fired Spencer “after losing trust and confidence in him regarding his lack of candor.”

Either way, the case of the Navy vs. Edward Gallagher has now turned into a full-scale fiasco, complete with conflicting accounts of why the Navy secretary had to go, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

Spencer was fired a day after denying reports he might resign over the Gallagher affair. “I have not threatened to resign. I am here, I work at the pleasure of the president,” he said in Nova Scotia during the Halifax International Security Forum.

Esper said that while Spencer had been publicly pushing for Gallagher’s removal from the Navy, privately he had gone behind Esper’s back to negotiate with the White House on ways to short-circuit disciplinary hearings against Gallagher.

Last week, the president tweeted that “The Navy will not be taking Gallagher’s Trident pin” – the symbol of his status as an elite Navy SEAL.

Spencer said he needed to see an order in writing from the president before stopping Gallagher’s appearance before a review board that could have kicked him out of the elite unit. “If the president requests to stop the process, the process stops,” Spencer said.

But Spencer’s resignation letter made it sound like he was fired before he could embarrass the president by resigning on principle. He wrote: “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took.”

For his part, President Trump tweeted he was “not pleased” with the way the Navy handled the Gallagher case, and with Spencer’s inability to manage cost overruns on big ticket items like a new aircraft carrier.

That capped a day in which Gallagher appeared on Fox News and made openly insubordinate statements about his superior officers: “This is all about ego and retaliation. This has nothing to do with good order and discipline,” he said.

It didn’t end well for Spencer, but it did for Gallagher. Secretary Esper has directed that Gallagher be allowed to keep his Trident. And in a statement to Fox News last night, Gallagher thanked the president for stepping in multiple times and “correcting all the wrongs” done to him.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/edward-gallagher-controversy-navy-secretary-richard-spencer-fired-says-he-was-ordered-to-violate-sacred-oath/

CLOSE

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area Monday evening rattled residents, mere days before the 30th anniversary of one of the most dangerous earthquakes in the area’s history.

The quake occurred at 10:33 p.m., with the epicenter in Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek, just over 25 miles from San Francisco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Weak shaking was felt in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, per the USGS. A 2.5 magnitude foreshock also took place 10 minutes earlier near Pleasant Hill.

Scientists don’t anticipate major structural damage, but people who reside by the epicenter reported minor damage.

USGS geologist Keith Knudsen, who serves as the deputy director of the agency’s Earthquake Science Center said that the earthquake had a preliminary depth of about 9 miles underneath the surface, which he says is fairly deep for this area. The more shallow the earthquake, the more damaging they tend to be, according to the USGS. 

Mark Ulicki, a Walnut Creek resident, tweeted that there was a “big shaking” that caused broken glass and “lots of car and business alarms going off.” 

The quake took place three days before the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The 6.9 magnitude earthquake killed 63 people and injured thousands.

Many locals took to Twitter to share their unease at Monday’s earthquake taking place almost exactly three decades after the deadly shock. 

Consider this: California power lines spark wildfires and prompt blackouts. Why not just bury them?

Assistant Chief Chris Bachman of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said that there were no reports of injuries or property damage caused by Monday’s earthquake as of 11 p.m. that day.

In early October, a magnitude 3.5 earthquake shook the Bay Area in the town of Colma, located just south of San Francisco.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/15/earthquake-shakes-san-francisco-bay-area/3983253002/

Sanctions on Myanmar’s military need to get tougher as the regime escalates violence on the ground, the country’s special envoy to the United Nations told CNBC this week.

“We need immediately international targeted, coordinated, tougher sanctions, both economically and diplomatically,” said Dr. Sasa.

Beyond punishing sanctions, the UN Security Council also needs to send a “unified and strong message” to stop this “crime against humanity” in Myanmar, he said.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military seized power from a democratically elected government on Feb. 1. Thousands have taken to the streets to protest against the coup for weeks, and more than 500 have died, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Countries around the world have condemned the violence, while the U.S. and Europe have sanctioned individuals or companies related to the military.

‘Shame’ on the international community

Sasa also called on Russia and China to halt arms sales to Myanmar’s army.

“It’s very clear they should stop selling the weapons to Burmese military generals,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday.

“What they are doing is terrorizing 54 million … people of Myanmar every day, every moment, every second,” he said.

He said Moscow and Beijing, which have close ties with the junta, have the power to stop the violence.

“It’s for them to decide right now,” Sasa said. Otherwise, it is a “shame” for the two countries, the international community and the UN Security Council, he said.

China and Russia, along with India and Vietnam, have helped to soften the UNSC’s criticism of the military regime. They requested that a UNSC statement remove references to a coup and the threat of further action.

“History will judge us harshly, there’s no doubt,” he added. “They have to make decisions. They will have to live with the decision that they make.”

The council is meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

Economic pressure

Asked why he believes the military would cave to pressure, Sasa said international sanctions would help cut off income.

He said the military is taking money from national companies to buy bullets and weapons, and economic restrictions would mean less money, fewer weapons and fewer deaths of civilians.

Sasa also said a national unity government will be formed in the coming days and “will not rest” until democracy and freedom is restored in Myanmar.

“We will work hard bilaterally. We will be working very closely with our friends and our (allies) around the world,” he said, adding that there will be “no future” for the military generals when the country achieves democracy.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/31/history-will-judge-us-harshly-myanmar-special-envoy-to-the-un.html

New Zealand’s prime minister vowed Monday to unveil gun law changes within a week and called on gun owners to surrender their firearms to police after last week’s shooting rampage that left 50 people dead.

“Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism, we will have announced reforms, which I believe will make our community safer,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Ardern promised a review into security agencies after the mosque shootings, the New Zealand Herald reported.

New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said his officers would willingly accept guns from anyone who wanted to get rid of them. He suggested that people alert police ahead of time “given the current situation.”

Ardern said she “applauded” people who handed in weapons and encouraged more to do so. Some gun owners took to social media to share stories of giving up their semiautomatic rifles. John Hart, a farmer and Green Party member from the Wairarapa, said on Twitter he had owned a gun for 31 years.

“On the farm they are a useful tool in some circumstances, but my convenience doesn’t outweigh the risk of misuse,” Hart tweeted. “We don’t need these in our country.”

The New Zealand auction website Trade Me said it was pulling semiautomatic weapons from its sites. Trade Me CEO John Macdonald had previously argued that his site was a better venue for dealing in weapons that more nefarious alternatives.

“But it is clear public sentiment has changed in relation to semiautomatic weapons, and we acknowledge that, which is why we’re putting this ban in place,” MacDonald said.

Gun City, a Christchurch gun shop, said Monday that it sold four guns to the accused shooter online since November 2017. “We detected nothing extraordinary about the license holder,” store owner David Tipple said. Two of the guns used were semiautomatic weapons that had been modified.

Monday, the man accused in the shooting, Brenton Tarrant, fired his lawyer and wants to represent himself at trial, the court-appointed lawyer said.

Richard Peters said the accused killer expressed no condolences or regret in the brief time they spent together.

“What did seem apparent to me is he seemed quite clear and lucid, whereas this may seem like very irrational behavior,” Peters told the Herald. “He didn’t appear to me to be facing any challenges or mental impairment, other than holding fairly extreme views.”

 

 

 

 

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/03/18/new-zealand-shooter-suspect-fires-lawyer-wants-represent-himself/3199924002/

Law enforcement agencies supporting the Watauga County Sheriff’s Department at the scene included: Appalachian State University’s Police, Avery County Sheriff’s Office, Beech Mountain Police, Blowing Rock Police, Boone Police, Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, Hickory Police, Morganton Public Safety, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office, West Jefferson Police and Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office.

Source Article from https://www.wistv.com/2021/04/29/officials-man-killed-his-mother-stepfather-deputies-watauga-county-nc-mass-shooting/

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Lunes, 02 de Febrero 2015  |  5:48 am



Créditos: Andina

El ministro admitió que la Procuraduría sí solicitó esa investigación, pero subrayó que la orden de detención contra el mencionado empresario fue emitida y estuvo vigente en el momento debido.







En respuesta a un informe periodístico, el ministro del Interior, Daniel Urresti, negó irregularidades en la orden de detención dictada contra el empresario Martín Belaunde Lossio, actualmente en Bolivia con arresto domiciliario.

Según la investigación periodística de un programa dominical, el 27 de noviembre del 2014 la Procuraduría Anticorrupción solicitó al Ministerio Público investigar presuntas irregularidades en este tema en la División de Requisitorias de la Policía Nacional, pues la orden de detención contra Belaunde no habría sido activada cuando se solicitó, sino recién el 5 de enero, lo cual habría permitido fugar hacia Bolivia.

Al respecto, el ministro Urreti admitió a través de la red social Twitter que la Procuraduría sí solicitó esa investigación, pero subrayó que la orden de detención contra el mencionado empresario fue emitida y estuvo vigente en el momento debido.

Por ello, consideró que el informe periodístico debió verificar si la investigación pedida por la Procuraduría se realizó, o los resultados de la misma.

Con la finalidad de probar sus afirmaciones, informó que ha ordenado presentar mañana todos los documentos probatorios a la fiscalía y a la Procuraduría Anticorrupción para demostrar la verdad.

No obstante, adelantó que la orden de captura internacional de Interpol es solicitada por el Perú, pero emitida por la secretaría general de esta entidad, ubicada en la ciudad de Lyon, Francia.

Por otro lado, Urresti informó que como resultado de un largo trabajo de inteligencia, la Policía Nacional ha detenido a los integrantes de una importante banda de narcotraficantes que operaba en Puno.

Añadió que el cabecilla de esta banda es un colombiano y que seis son policías de la sección antidrogas de la ciudad de Ilave en actividad.

ANDINA







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Source Article from http://www.rpp.com.pe/2015-02-02-urresti-niega-irregularidades-en-orden-de-captura-contra-belaunde-lossio-noticia_765347.html

Melania Trump made a surprise trip to Iraq on Wednesday with her husband President Donald Trump to meet with American troops stationed at Al Asad Air Base.

For the visit, which was unscheduled, Melania broke first lady precedent by traveling to an active combat zone. To take selfies with soldiers and speak military members, FLOTUS wore a suede mustard belted blouse with dark green pants.

See the Trumps in Iraq:

President Donald Trump, accompanied by National Security Adviser John Bolton, third from left, first lady Melania Trump, fourth from right, US Ambassador to Iraq Doug Silliman, third from right, and senior military leadership, speaks to members of the media at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)




It’s Melania’s shoe choice that really stood out though. The Timberland boots are being called an “out of touch” style selection by some on Twitter.

One person even suggested that putting on Timberlands was a last-ditch effort by FLOTUS after getting critiqued for her other shoe choices — including the infamous “storm stilettos.”

However, it wouldn’t be the first time that Melania wore a pair of the brand’s boots, and similarly got mocked for them.

RELATED: See FLOTUS’ most divisive looks

As part of her first solo international trip as first lady, Melania visited Nairobi National Park in a white pith helmet, which drew criticism for its colonial-era past. 

Read more here

Melania Trump attended the General Debate of the 73rd session of the General Assembly at the United Nations alongside her husband. Her black dress was thought to be a slight towards President Trump as many people on the internet saw her outfit as a gesture of support for sexual assault survivors.

Read more here.

The Trumps welcomed Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda to the White House in September. The problem? Melania was wearing a wool coat while it was still 80 degrees outside. Furthermore, she didn’t remove her coat while dining inside with the Polish first lady, which Twitter deemed not the best hostess tactic. 

Read more here

Melania Trump tried her hand at gardening for the second time to plant an Eisenhower Oak at the White House in August. The $4000 skirt and sky-high Louboutin heels she wore to dig soil sent the internet aflame. 

“Melania is launching her new line of Gardening Attire, accompanied by the standard 4-inch heels,” joked one Twitter user. 

Read more here

FLOTUS stepped out on August 20th in Maryland to promote her Be Best initiative and discuss cyberbullying. To the event, she wore the once-controversial pussy-bow blouse — the same style she sported during the 2016 presidential debate after the Access Hollywood leak. 

Read more here.

Arguably her most controversial outfit yet, Melania sported a jacket emblazoned with the words “I Really Don’t Care Do You” to visit migrant children separated from their parents in Texas. The Zara jacket retails for $39.

Read more here.  

Melania arrived at POTUS’ State of the Union at the start of the new year in a white Dior pantsuit. Many members of Congress chose to wear black in solidarity with sexual assault survivors and in protest of the Trump administration: Melania stood out in all white. 

Read more here

Following Ivana Trump’s controversial interview in October, Melania donned an emerald green shirtdress from British brand Cefinn to an official visit to Lily’s Place to visit with families affected by addiction. It’s the first non-profit infant recovery center in the world. 

The dress was designed by former first lady of Britain Samantha Cameron. Is she reminding everyone of her status? 

Read more here

Alongside President Trump, FLOTUS arrived in Vegas in October to pay their respects to the 50 victims of the Las Vegas shooting. Her all-black, closed-off look drew some major criticism on Twitter. 

“I’m making a public plea to Melania Trump: stop with the sunglasses (and the heels at disaster areas),” one Twitter user wrote.

Read more here

Twitter had a lot to say about this picture of FLOTUS getting down and dirty in the garden established by former first lady Michelle Obama. 

Her $1380 Balmain shirt wasn’t the most appropriate choice for the event.

Read more here

Though this photo was taken at the White House Congressional Picnic in June, the Trumps tweeted a photo from the event to wish the country a happy Labor Day the following September. 

“We are building our future with American hands, American labor, American iron, aluminum and steel,” POTUS wrote. Ironically, Melania’s dress was designed by Mary Katrantzou, a Greek-born British designer. Twitter had *a lot* to say. 

Read more here.

Off to help Hurricane Harvey victims, Melania made headlines when she boarded Air Force One in sky-high stilettos.

“God grant me the serenity not to comment on the shoes,” wrote one Twitter user.

Read more here

FLOTUS turned heads in a $51,500 floral jacket by Dolce & Gabbana for the G7 summit in Italy. 

Read more here

While visiting Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial, Melania sported a white sleeveless dress. Twitter wasn’t happy with her sporting bare shoulders at the memorial.

Wrote one user, “Melania cover your arms up, show some respect.”

“Geez. The lambasted Michelle Obama for baring her arms and her is Melania Trump in conservative Israel with a sleeveless dress,” said another. 

Read more here

Just days after President Trump landed in hot water following the leaked Access Hollywood recordings, Melania sported a pussy bow shirt to the second presidential debates.

Read more here.




Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Melania Trump’s spokeswoman claims ‘absurdity abounds’ in media coverage of first lady
See the top 10 fashion controversies of 2018, from Melania Trump’s jacket to D&G’s runway fiasco
Fox News host: ‘No other modern first lady has been treated’ as badly as Melania Trump. The internet begs to differ.

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Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2018/12/27/melania-trump-gets-mocked-for-wearing-timberland-boots-while-visiting-the-troops/23627920/