| Rivers Rise, Rescues Continue As Florence Rain Pounds North Carolina Posted: 16 Sep 2018 10:52 PM PDT  LUMBERTON, N.C. -- The roar of a fan boat echoed through a flooded
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| How to help Florence victims Posted: 17 Sep 2018 09:00 AM PDT  Five ways you can contribute to storm relief efforts right now.
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| Hong Kong, southern China clean up after super typhoon Posted: 17 Sep 2018 03:13 AM PDT  The financial hub of Hong Kong began clearing up on Monday after being battered by one of the strongest typhoons in recent years, with financial markets and offices operating as normal. Super typhoon Mangkhut, with hurricane-force winds well over 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles/h), had barreled past the northern tip of the Philippines, killing at least 50 people. It then skirted south of Hong Kong and the neighboring gambling hub of Macau, before making landfall in China.
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| Roads shut after 2 fall ill in UK city where ex-spy poisoned Posted: 16 Sep 2018 05:51 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Police closed roads and called a hazardous response team Sunday night after two people became ill at a restaurant in the English city where a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with a chemical nerve agent.
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| Elon Musk tweets new images of SpaceX's forthcoming BFR spacecraft Posted: 16 Sep 2018 11:28 PM PDT  That's one big effing rocket. With the imminent reveal of the mystery passenger who will be flying around the moon in SpaceX's forthcoming BFR, Elon Musk tweeted two new renders of the spacecraft. SEE ALSO: SpaceX books its first passenger to fly around the moon The 106 metre (347 feet) long ship was first announced last year, and Musk said the ship will contain up to 40 cabins which will have enough space for 100 people. BFR's booster will be powered by 31 Raptor engines, while the ship itself will have 7 Raptor engines, which appear to be arranged like a honeycomb. pic.twitter.com/dUpiavvM1Z — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2018 pic.twitter.com/d1KEp44zjm — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2018 In another tweet, Musk confirmed a forward-moving wing near the nose that appears to retract or expand when required. Forward moving wing — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2018 You might've already spotted SpaceX's new render of the BFR ship, when the company announced that it had signed a passenger to fly around the moon on Thursday. Musk hinted it might be a Japanese passenger, prompting Twitter to throw out names of very rich people like entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa and legendary video game designer Hideo Kojima. SpaceX has signed the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle—an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space. Find out who's flying and why on Monday, September 17. pic.twitter.com/64z4rygYhk — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2018 SpaceX will reveal the identity of the passenger on Monday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. PT via webcast. Is it you? WATCH: Someone designed a toiletry kit you actually will want to use
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| Kings Plaza fire: At least 21 injured as firefighters tackle blaze at Brooklyn shopping centre parking lot Posted: 17 Sep 2018 11:54 AM PDT  Firefighters are tackling a massive fire that spread through a parking garage in Brooklyn, New York. The fire began before 9:00 a.m. local time near the Kings Plaza shopping centre in Brooklyn, erupting from a two-alarm to a seven-alarm emergency within an hour. Police and fire department officials did not respond to enquiries, and it was not immediately clear whether police suspected criminal intent or wrongdoing.
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| Erdogan says luxury jumbo is 'gift' from Qatar emir Posted: 16 Sep 2018 05:55 PM PDT  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the emir of Qatar gave a luxury jumbo jet as a "gift" to Turkey, rejecting opposition claims the plane had been bought in a costly purchase for the presidency. In comments published Monday, Erdogan said Turkey had shown interest in buying the on-sale Boeing 747-8 plane -- reportedly worth around $400 million -- but Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani insisted on offering the plane as a gift. When the Qatar emir was informed of this he gave it as a gift, saying 'I won't take money from Turkey.
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| Rare triple whale breach close to boat stuns onlookers Posted: 17 Sep 2018 03:14 AM PDT  Whale watchers squeal with delight as three surfacing humpbacks leap out of the water almost simultaneously in rare triple breach right next to their boat.
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| South Korean president jets to Pyongyang for 'heart-to-heart' nuclear talks with Kim Jong-un Posted: 17 Sep 2018 09:38 AM PDT  Moon Jae-in, South Korea's president, will seek to revive stalled talks on nuclear disarmament between the US and North Korea when he jets into Pyongyang on Tuesday morning for a three-day summit with Kim Jong-un. Mr Moon will be the first South Korean leader to visit North Korea's capital in 11 years and he will be accompanied by an entourage of senior business executives and K-pop stars as he attempts to bolster economic, cultural and security ties. He is expected to land at 10am (2am BST), and may be greeted personally by Kim at the airport before proceeding to the negotiating table and a banquet in the evening. On the eve of his departure for his third direct meeting with Kim this year, Mr Moon pledged to hold "heart-to-heart talks" to push for better ties between Pyongyang and Washington. "What I want to achieve is peace. I mean irreversible, permanent peace that is not shaken by international politics," Mr Moon said during a meeting with top advisers, according to his office. But Im Jong-seok, his chief-of-staff, played down expectations that the summit will produce a major breakthrough on the process of denuclearisation, which has plunged into a deadlock since the historic meeting between Kim and Donald Trump, the US president, in Singapore in June. Mr Moon will push for a second summit between Kim and Mr Trump, where he believes progress can be made on disarmament. His aides revealed that he wants to find "a middle ground" between the US position on denuclearisation and the North's request for assurances over security and ending hostilities. In a press briefing, Mr Im predicted that the summit would take "meaningful" steps to "fundamentally remove the danger of armed clashes and ease fears of war" between the two Koreas, moving them closer to formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace treaty. Proposals could include the disarmament of sections of the jointly controlled border area or the removal of front-line guard posts. Trump-Kim summit in pictures: Best photos from Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un's meeting in Singapore While the moves would be significantly more modest than Kim giving up his nukes, analysts say they are key to building an atmosphere of trust that will avoid future military escalations on the Korean Peninsula. "Most of the crises around North Korea have been started by some kind of small-scale military exchange on the border that has threatened a larger war," said Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation. "Anything you can do to decrease that possibility – moving artillery pieces and physical forces back - would be good for decreasing tensions," he told The Telegraph. "Are we getting closer to our goal of denuclearising the Korean Peninsula? No. But we have a dramatically reduced risk of war on the Korean Peninsula compared to this time last year."
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| Boeing 787 plant in South Carolina to reopen Sunday after storm-related closure Posted: 16 Sep 2018 03:29 PM PDT ![Boeing 787 plant in South Carolina to reopen Sunday after storm-related closure]( "Boeing 787 plant in South Carolina to reopen Sunday after storm-related closure") Boeing Co's South Carolina plant, where it assembles 787 wide-body jetliners, was set to reopen operations on Sunday night following a lifting of evacuation orders for coastal areas threatened by deadly storm Florence, a Boeing spokesperson said on Sunday. Boeing had suspended operations at the North Charleston plant on Tuesday and flown several 787 Dreamliners from the South Carolina factory across the country to an airport near Boeing's wide-body plant in Everett, Washington, north of Seattle.
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| Time Magazine To Be Sold To Billionaire Couple For $190 Million Posted: 16 Sep 2018 09:20 PM PDT  Billionaire Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, are buying Time magazine from
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| Prosecutor: Border Patrol agent charged with murdering 4 Posted: 15 Sep 2018 08:21 PM PDT  A Border Patrol supervisor was charged with murder in the deaths of four female sex workers.
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| Good Samaritans Work to Rescue Animals From Hurricane Florence: 'They Can't Save Themselves' Posted: 17 Sep 2018 08:27 AM PDT  As Hurricane Florence ravaged the East Coast, brave emergency responders and good Samaritans put their own lives on the line to rescue animals in the path of the deadly storm.
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| Trump's Supreme Court pick ready to testify over sex assault allegation Posted: 17 Sep 2018 07:52 AM PDT  US President Donald Trump's conservative Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, struck back Monday at an allegation that he committed sexual assault as a teenager, saying he was ready to defend his "integrity" before the Senate. "I have never done anything like what the accuser describes -- to her or to anyone," Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House in response to the accusation made by a California college professor.
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| Rising floodwaters, potential dam failures threaten North Carolina communities in Florence's wake Posted: 17 Sep 2018 09:16 AM PDT  Some communities in North Carolina are now faced with rising floodwaters and potential dam failures in Florence's wake.
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| Lula’s guy: Brazilian Left’s new candidate Haddad rallies voters who barely recognise him Posted: 16 Sep 2018 09:35 AM PDT  As the new favourite to face far-Right candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian election race, there is only one question on the lips of Fernando Haddad's supporter base: who is he? Last week, jailed former president Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva - the firm frontrunner - officially stepped down as the candidate for the centre-left Workers' Party, calling in running mate Mr Haddad as his replacement. Now, the Workers' Party's strategy is to transfer as much of these votes as possible to Lula's understudy Mr Haddad, the former education minister and São Paulo mayor. Besides Mr Haddad's professorial, technocratic demeanour – a far cry from Mr da Silva's passionate fist-shaking and rabble-rousing – the stand-in candidate is virtually unknown outside of the large urban centres of Brazil's southeast. Nevertheless, early indications show that Mr Haddad, who has seen his voting intentions triple in the last three weeks, is hotly tipped to challenge Mr Bolsonaro in a second-round runoff. Supporters of Brazilian former president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva holds a mask of his face Credit: NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP This week, Mr Haddad beings his campaign in the northeast of Brazil, the least developed region of the country and a traditional Workers' Party stronghold. During his last visit, Mr Haddad was a stranger to the local electorate, referred to mostly as "Lula's guy", or mistakenly as Fernando "Andrade". This time, he will need to make a much greater impact. Brazil goes to the polls on October 7, leaving Mr Haddad little time to win over Mr da Silva's impressive support base. Polls released last week gave Mr Haddad 13 per cent of the vote, up from 4 per cent three weeks ago and tied in second place alongside fellow centre-Left candidate Ciro Gomes. Supporter of Brazil's Workers Party gather for a rally Credit: DANIEL RAMALHO/AFP/Getty Images In contrast, before bowing out of the race, Mr da Silva was polling at 39 per cent. Had he not been barred from running, there is a considerable chance he would have been elected with an overall majority, despite the fact he is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption and money laundering. "Haddad is trying his best to present himself as Lula's candidate, and this is why he has been growing in opinion polls", said José Alvaro Moisés, political scientist and one of the founders of the Workers' Party. "After two days' campaigning, we're already in second place", joked Mr Haddad at a press conference with foreign correspondents last week. "There are still 20 more days to go."
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| Turkey's Erdogan defends gift of luxury plane from Emir of Qatar Posted: 17 Sep 2018 02:55 AM PDT  President Tayyip Erdogan has defended his decision to accept a luxury plane from Qatar at a time of economic hardship, saying it was a gift, not a purchase, and that it had been donated to the Turkish state, not to him personally. State broadcaster TRT Haber said last week the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani had given Erdogan the aircraft, which Turkish media said was a Boeing 747, sparking criticism from Turkey's opposition. A lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Sezgin Tanrikulu, had expressed concern that the aircraft had been bought rather than donated, noting that Turkey was in an economic crisis, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
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| The 67 Most Delish Fall Soups Posted: 17 Sep 2018 03:27 PM PDT |
| A Palestinian Has Fatally Stabbed an American-Israeli Activist in the West Bank Posted: 16 Sep 2018 08:20 PM PDT  The victim was identified as Ari Fuld, an outspoken Israel advocate on social media platforms
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| 14th Suspect Arrested in Murder of NYC Teen at Bodega Posted: 17 Sep 2018 08:10 AM PDT  Police have made another arrest in the brutal, machete slaying of a New York City teen, officials said.
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| Volvo asks US government for tariff exemption for China-built XC60 crossover SUV Posted: 17 Sep 2018 06:34 AM PDT  Volvo is the latest automaker to ask the U.S. government for an exemption from steep tariffs on Chinese-made SUVs, Reuters reported Friday. Buick asked trade officials in July for an exemption from a 25-percent tariff on its China-made Envision SUV earlier this year, although Volvo's interest in seeking relief from the measure is far greater. In August, the XC60 accounted for more than 31 percent of overall sales for Volvo, according to the automaker. Since May, the U.S. has imported most of its Volvo XC60 models from China, although the automaker originally imported them from its factory in Sweden when the car was launched. Unlike Buick, which petitioned for an exemption for 40,000 of its China-built Envision crossover, Volvo is seeking an unlimited exemption for XC60 crossovers built in China, according to Reuters. Earlier this year, Volvo opened its first North American production facility near Charleston, S.C., where it builds the S60 sedan and eventually the XC90 full-size crossover. DON'T MISS: Global trade war prompts Volvo to put brakes on its IPO In its letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, Volvo said it could eventually build the XC60 crossover in America, but said that a proposed 25-percent tariff would be unfairly passed to consumers. When Volvo opened its North American plant in June, CEO Hakan Samuelsson said that steep tariffs could threaten jobs at that plant and that eliminating global trade restrictions was the "right way" for the auto industry. "We will export as many cars from this factory as we will import in the U.S...That is a good example of how trade with cars should work in an open and free economy," he said in June.
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| Alumnae Of Christine Blasey Ford's High School Circulate Letter Of Support Posted: 17 Sep 2018 07:39 AM PDT  A group of women who went to Christine Blasey Ford's high school are
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| North Carolina Hurricane Shelter Residents Break Into Spontaneous Song Posted: 16 Sep 2018 08:53 AM PDT  Something uplifting out of disaster.
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| US swimmer dies from suspected shark attack: police Posted: 16 Sep 2018 01:56 AM PDT  A swimmer has died from an apparent shark bite off the coast of Massachusetts in the northeastern United States, a police report on the rare incident said. The victim, in his mid-20s, "was bitten by what is believed to be a shark" while he swam at Newcomb Hollow Beach in the Cape Cod area, Wellfleet Police said in a statement Saturday. "The town beaches are closed to swimming for the next 24 hours," the police said.
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| Last stand: Syria's rebel Idlib prepares for a losing battle Posted: 16 Sep 2018 12:47 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — They dug trenches around towns, reinforced caves for cover and put up sand bags around their positions. They issued calls to arms, urging young men to join in the defense of Idlib, the Syrian province where opposition fighters expect to make their last stand against Russian- and Iranian-backed government troops they have fought for years.
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| Organizations around the country flock to the rescue of animals amid Florence Posted: 17 Sep 2018 05:39 AM PDT  Dozens of organizations, teams and families from around the country came to the rescue throughout the weekend, providing temporary homes and transportation to safer shelters.
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| Doomed Palestinian village turns to Europe as last hope Posted: 16 Sep 2018 09:49 AM PDT  KHAN AL-AHMAR, West Bank (AP) — For the anxious Palestinian residents of Khan al-Ahmar, there's little left to do but wait.
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| Five baby squirrels rescued after being found tied together by their tails Posted: 17 Sep 2018 05:16 AM PDT  Five infant squirrels have been rescued after being found tied together by their tails. The entanglement is thought to have happened by chance with the giant knot forming as the young greys moved about their nest and each other. Grass, twigs and bits of plastic had also become interwoven into the entanglement.
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| Navya already sells fully self-driving cars, including in US Posted: 17 Sep 2018 03:00 AM PDT  Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car Project, plans to launch its first commercial service for self-driving cars later this year, essentially a fully automated ride-hailing service covering about 100 square miles in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is called Navya, and its two self-driving cars currently on sale include the Autonom Shuttle and the smaller Autonom Cab. Navya says its vehicles have been designed for "last mile" travel, i.e.
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| US to slash refugee admissions to historic low of 30,000, Pompeo confirms Posted: 17 Sep 2018 03:02 PM PDT  The US will allow no more than 30,000 refugees into the country in the coming year, down by a third from last year's cap, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has announced. The latest cut reflects a victory by White House hardliners on immigration over both the state department and the Pentagon. When Donald Trump took office the ceiling on refugees the US was prepared to welcome each year was 110,000.
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| Lisa Page: Collusion unproven at time of Mueller appointment Posted: 16 Sep 2018 12:53 PM PDT  According to a transcript reviewed by Fox News, Lisa Page testified that evidence of collusion had not been found at the time of the Mueller appointment; former federal prosecutor Steven Mulroy reacts.
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| Facing hurricane floodwaters, US town takes lessons from the past Posted: 16 Sep 2018 06:33 PM PDT  Grifton (Etats-Unis) (AFP) - Hidden in North Carolina's coastal plain, Contentnea Creek is a local treasure, a place to fish, paddle and birdwatch -- but after Hurricane Florence's torrential rains, the stream has morphed into a menace. Waters in this tributary of the Neuse River are now dangerously close to the small bridge providing access to the tranquil, rural village of Grifton, population 2,500. Deadly Hurricane Florence has weakened.
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| Serena Williams Addresses U.S. Open Controversy In New Interview Posted: 16 Sep 2018 07:24 PM PDT  SYDNEY, Australia ― Serena Williams is standing by her assertion that she did
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| U.S. pushes back national wireless alert test to Oct. 3 Posted: 17 Sep 2018 08:40 AM PDT ![U.S. pushes back national wireless alert test to Oct. 3]( "U.S. pushes back national wireless alert test to Oct. 3") The test message was originally scheduled for 2:18 p.m. EDT (1818 GMT)on Thursday but is being pushed back to the same time on Oct. 3 because of response efforts to Tropical Depression Florence, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said in a statement. FEMA, which will send the alert, said last week that the messages would bear the headline "Presidential Alert," and that phones will make a loud tone and have a special vibration. The test has been scheduled to ensure that the alert system would work in the event of a national emergency, and U.S. cellphone users will not be able to opt out.
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| Hurricane Florence: The Dramatic Rescues in the Wake of Devastating Storm Posted: 17 Sep 2018 10:17 AM PDT  The U.S. Coast Guard has made dozens of rescues as floodwaters continue to rise.
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| Kurds opt out of first local elections in Syria since 2011 Posted: 16 Sep 2018 09:18 AM PDT  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria held its first municipal elections since 2011 on Sunday, amid tensions with the country's self-administered Kurdish region, which refused to allow polls.
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| Macron under fire after telling young jobseeker to 'find work by crossing the road' Posted: 16 Sep 2018 10:02 AM PDT ![Macron under fire after telling young jobseeker to 'find work by crossing the road']( "Macron under fire after telling young jobseeker to 'find work by crossing the road'") Emmanuel Macron has provoked ridicule and anger by telling an unemployed man that he could find him work "just by crossing the road". The 25-year-old aspiring gardener complained of being unable to find a job when he spoke to the French president during a public open day at the Elysée Palace on Saturday. Mr Macron advised him to change his line of work, saying jobs were readily available in catering or construction. "Hotels, cafés, restaurants, I can find you [work] by crossing the road. They just want people who are ready to work," he said. There's not a single place I go to where they don't say they're looking for people." Industry officials say about 100,000 vacancies in hotel and restaurants need filling in France. They have urged Mr Macron to allow immigrants to take the jobs. But the off-the-cuff remark by Mr Macron, often derided by critics as the "president of the rich", was immediately mocked on social media. Fort de Brégançon: Emmanuel Macron's 'Riviera Camp David' with view of Mediterranean A video of the exchange went viral, prompting a torrent of posts saying that Mr Macron, 40, a former Rothschild banker married to a chocolate heiress, was out of touch. "Completely disconnected from the reality of French people," one post read. "How can someone show that much contempt, lack of empathy and ignorance in just 30 seconds?" said another. The exchange drew furious criticism from opposition parliamentarians. Laurence Rossignol, a Socialist senator and former minister for families, deplored the president's "unfortunate remarks" three days after he announced a plan to wean the French off welfare. Mr Macron's €8 billion "anti-poverty" proposals aim to end the French practice of lavish benefits payments for the poor. Instead, they are to be offered a way out of penury by finding jobs. Mr Macron, who has so far failed to fulfil election pledges to slash unemployment and revive economic growth, is struggling to restore his image after a summer of political scandals and plunging approval ratings. The president came under fire from Left and Right last month for describing the French last month as "Gauls who are resistant to change". The head of Mr Macron's party rejected accusations that his latest remarks showed contempt for the poor. "Is what the president said false? If you go to the Montparnasse area, you won't find that they need workers?" Christophe Castaner said in a TV interview yesterday. "Would you prefer empty words? I prefer a president who speaks the truth."
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| TripAdvisor unveils major overhaul that aims to make it the Facebook and Instagram of travel Posted: 17 Sep 2018 08:42 AM PDT  TripAdvisor is undergoing a major update that borrows from the pillars of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and FourSquare to create a social media platform for travel and makes restaurant critics, travel experts and influencers of every user.
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| Trump on Twitter (Sept. 17) - Tariffs, Steel Industry, Gag Clauses Posted: 17 Sep 2018 12:55 PM PDT  The following statements were posted to the verified personal Twitter account of U.S. President Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - "A lot of small & medium size enterprises are registering very good profit, sometimes record profits-there stocks are doing very well, low income workers are getting big raises. Obama's Watch." Peter Morici [0601 EDT] - Tariffs have put the U.S. in a very strong bargaining position, with Billions of Dollars, and Jobs, flowing into our Country - and yet cost increases have thus far been almost unnoticeable.
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| Diver Who Helped With Thai Cave Rescue Sues Elon Musk for Calling Him a 'Pedo' Posted: 17 Sep 2018 11:15 AM PDT  "Mr. Unsworth is not a pedophile. Mr. Unsworth has never engaged in an act of pedophilia"
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| Flooding threatens the Carolinas as Florence is downgraded to a tropical depression Posted: 16 Sep 2018 06:47 AM PDT ![Flooding threatens the Carolinas as Florence is downgraded to a tropical depression]( "Flooding threatens the Carolinas as Florence is downgraded to a tropical depression") A killer storm that left up to 13 people dead weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but authorities warned the devastation it caused -- including catastrophic flooding -- is far from over.
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| Are we there yet? No bottom in sight for China stocks Posted: 15 Sep 2018 09:34 PM PDT  Shanghai is the world's worst-performing major stock market this year despite respectable corporate earnings, a disconnect which is feeding growing talk that Chinese equities are now a screaming buy. Not so fast, say brokers and analysts, who warn shares have further to fall due to US-China trade squabbling, slowing Chinese economic growth, and a government crackdown on debt that is drying up liquidity. Despite China's still enviable economic growth of over six percent, the Shanghai Composite Index is down 19 percent this year and flirting with levels not seen since late 2014.
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| Texas set to eliminate Hillary Clinton from required state curriculum Posted: 16 Sep 2018 08:57 AM PDT  The Texas Board of Education has voted to eliminate Hillary Clinton and other historical figures from the required curriculum in an effort to "streamline" lessons. The vote does not prevent educators from teaching about Ms Clinton, deaf-blind activist Helen Keller, and Republican Barry Goldwater who was the first Jewish presidential candidate, but it is no longer compulsory for the state's 5.4 million public school students to learn about them. The final vote on the matter is set to take place in November after a period of public consultation.
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| Frantic dig for Philippine victims of typhoon landslide Posted: 16 Sep 2018 05:14 PM PDT  Philippine rescuers used shovels and bare hands to claw through mounds of rocky soil on Monday in a desperate search for dozens feared buried under a landslide unleashed by Typhoon Mangkhut. Searchers have already pulled 11 bodies from the vast debris field in Itogon in the disaster-prone nation's north.
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