| Heavy rain leaves scores dead in Nepal, India, Bangladesh Posted: 14 Jul 2019 04:35 AM PDT  Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 50 people in Nepal in the past few days, with more deaths reported across the border in India and Bangladesh, officials said Sunday. At least 30 other people were missing in Nepal, either swept away by swollen rivers or buried by mudslides since monsoon rains began pounding the region on Friday, Nepal's National Emergency Operation Center said.
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| U.S. grants visa to Iran's Zarif for U.N. meeting this week: sources Posted: 14 Jul 2019 09:53 AM PDT  The United States has granted a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend a U.N. meeting in New York this week, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday, saying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had approved the decision. Had Pompeo not approved giving a visa to Zarif, Iran's top diplomat and nuclear negotiator, it could have been a signal that the United States was trying to further isolate the Islamic Republic and perhaps closing the door to diplomacy. U.S.-Iranian tensions have worsened since U.S. President Donald Trump decided last year to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curtail its atomic program in return for relief from economic sanctions crippling its economy.
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| Hurricane Barry could breach New Orleans' river levees. Here’s how the levee system works and how much it can withstand. Posted: 13 Jul 2019 08:25 AM PDT  Hurricane Barry could raise the Mississippi River 19 feet in New Orleans. The levee system might not be able to hold it. Here's how it works.
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| Turkey ignores US warnings over Russian S-400 missile deployment Posted: 13 Jul 2019 03:05 AM PDT  Turkey ignored US warnings as it continued Saturday to take delivery of Russia's S-400 missile defence system near Ankara, a defence minstry statement indicated. "Delivery of S-400 Long Range Air and Missile Defence Systems resumed today," the statement said. "The fourth Russian plane carrying S-400 parts landed at Murted Airport outside Ankara," it added.
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| Teen girl bitten by shark while boogie boarding Posted: 14 Jul 2019 01:12 PM PDT  A 16-year-old girl has been bitten by a shark while boogie boarding in Florida, police say.
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| Teacher jailed for 20 years after having sex with 13-year-old boy Posted: 14 Jul 2019 07:40 AM PDT  A teacher has been jailed for 20 years after she admitted having sex with a 13-year-old boy multiple times.But Brittany Zamora, 28, insists she's a "good and genuine person" who is "not a threat to society".Police say she had sex with the boy multiple times, both in her car and her classroom, including one occasion when an 11-year-old pupil was in the room acting as lookout.She admitted 10 counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, two counts of molestation, two of furnishing sexually explicit material to a minor and one of public sexual indecency.She cannot be released early for good behaviour and must serve the entire two-decade term behind bars.The former sixth-grade at Las Brisas Academy in Arizona was caught when the victim's parents noticed he was acting unusually, and installed monitoring software on his phone.The boy's mother told the court: "Before, he was an innocent child, and now she stole his innocence from him. I hate Brittany Zamora for what she did to my son and family."Now you'll spend the rest of your youth and most of your adulthood in jail... I will not allow you to interfere in my son's life further."When she was arrested, Zamora told police she feared she would not survive behind in jail, saying: "I'm little. They're gonna tear me apart."Zamora and her husband Daniel appear to still be on good terms, he told the court: "She is the best person I've ever known."
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| ‘Is Bernie going to come?’ Warren seizes on Sanders' Netroots absence Posted: 13 Jul 2019 10:00 PM PDT  The gathering of political progressives found itself almost spoilt for choice by the Democratic presidential field for 2020Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks at Netroots. Photograph: Elizabeth Robertson/APAmong nearly 4,000 progressive activists and organizers gathered in Philadelphia this week for the 14th and largest Netroots Nation convention, the 2020 presidential race felt like a turning point. Between Elizabeth Warren's policy plans and Bernie Sanders' grassroots energy, progressive ideas are dominating the Democratic primary."We're tired of waiting for change," said Yvette Simpson, chief executive of Democracy for America. "We're tired of talking about compromising with the other side when it always requires us to compromise our values. I do believe we are ready for a bold champion."At panels, breakout sessions and happy hours, attendees marveled at their options: two uncompromising liberal senators in the top tier of a crowded primary, flanked by other candidates who have warmed to progressive ideas. Several attendees said they would be equally pleased if Sanders or Warren were the nominee.But lines were nonetheless being drawn.> Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate I truly support. Wall Street is scared shitless of her> > Arlene Geiger, New YorkArlene Geiger, from New York, said she wanted to elect the "smartest person in the room"."Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate I truly support," she said, adding: "Wall Street is scared shitless of her."Geiger supported Sanders in 2016 but said Warren's journey from midwestern college dropout to Harvard law professor and pre-eminent scholar of bankruptcy law, all before entering politics, showed her grit and intellectual capacity."She cares deeply about the issues from a progressive's point of view that she came to not through ideological conviction but through her own life experiences and her own research," she said.More than two dozen attendees cited Warren as a top choice, though they hadn't made up their minds. As alternatives, they mentioned California Senator Kamala Harris and, occasionally, the former housing secretary Julián Castro.Sola Adenekan, a first-time attendee, said she was impressed by Warren's work on behalf of victims of predatory lending practices, which disproportionately affected people of color."She's had the most thought-out, well-laid-out policies of all the candidates," she said. "And that has forced the other candidates to come to the table with policies of merit."Sanders supporters were harder to find. Several said they would welcome a Warren administration.Mark Schaeffer, an activist in Albany, New York, and a member of Democratic Socialists of America, which has endorsed Sanders, said the Vermont senator has the "clearest analysis of the need to change the system". But he liked Warren too and believed she had adopted Sanders' bold stance on climate issues."I think she has a lot of good immediate proposals but I think she's less oriented toward system change," he said. "And that is what we need to face a threat that is bigger than the current threat to our democracy – which is very, very serious – the threat of catastrophic global overheating." 'He's letting Warren have the conversation to herself'Warren, attending her ninth Netroots, participated in the presidential forum on Saturday. Sanders did not, his absence a source of some tension."Is Bernie going to come here tomorrow to talk to us?" one activist asked Nina Turner, the former Ohio state senator who is a co-chair of Sanders' campaign, during a Friday panel titled Black, Brown and In Charge: New Movement Leaders and the Future of the Left."That's not really the topic of this panel," the moderator said."I'm here," Turner said.> His presence is here. What he's standing for is here. And then I am here> > Sanders co-chair Nina TurnerThe conference's third presidential forum featured only a handful of candidates for the Democratic nomination, New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Castro and Washington governor Jay Inslee joining Warren.Organizers called Sanders' absence a "missed opportunity"."It's 3,500 of the most engaged progressives in politics and he has decided that he is not going to talk to them," said Carolyn Fiddler, spokeswoman for the Daily Kos website, a major sponsor. She added: "He's letting Warren have the conversation to herself … and I don't know why he would do that."In Phoenix in 2015, Sanders and Martin O'Malley – but not Hillary Clinton – participated. Both were interrupted by Black Lives Matter activists. This year, Sanders received a mixed reception at a She the People event in Texas.Markos Moulitsas, the founder of Daily Kos who moderated the presidential panel, has been publicly critical of Sanders. "Bernie Sanders goes on Fox [News], but he's afraid of ME?" he tweeted. "Sheesh."The campaign said Sanders' absence was due to a scheduling conflict. Turner rejected any suggestion the senator was "ceding" ground."His presence is here," she said. "What he's standing for is here. And then I am here. Progressives should feel very confident and assured that the senator is rooted in this movement and that is going to change the dynamics of this country."Warren was welcomed to the forum with deafening applause and the crowd chanting her name – a noticeably more enthusiastic response than the other candidates at the forum. Netroots 2019 began after the first debate reshaped the race. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Warren surged to second behind Joe Biden with the support of 19% of likely voters compared with 26% for the former VP. Sanders tied Harris at 13%. Warren raised $19m in the second quarter. Sanders raised $18.2m.The Sanders campaign has emphasized his role in pushing policy ideas like Medicare for All and free college into the mainstream. Warren has grabbed attention with proposals including an immigration plan. Groans and eye rollsNetroots also provided a pulse check on progressive support for the other presidential hopefuls. Unsurprisingly, there was not much love for Biden. On Friday, dozens of immigration activists held a demonstration at his campaign headquarters in the city with family members of people deported by the Obama administration.Activists protest immigration policy in Philadelphia on Friday. Photograph: Jarrett Renshaw/ReutersOn a wall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, attendees could bet on who will drop out next, an exercise seemingly based more on wishful thinking than reality. As of Saturday morning, Biden and Sanders led the way. No one was betting on Warren or Harris.Any mention of Tom Steyer, the billionaire who jumped in this week, elicited groans and eye rolls. There was little patience for candidates like the Montana governor, Steve Bullock, or former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, moderates who some urged to run for the Senate instead.The conference also took place amid a bitter row between the House Democratic leadership and a group of newly elected members known as "the Squad": Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Netroots welcomed Pressley, Tlaib and Omar with applause and a standing ovation."The women of color who entered Congress – they're more than four votes," said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People and moderator, referring to comments Pelosi made to the New York Times about the political influence of "the Squad"."For millions of us, these women of color in Congress represent generations of blood, sweat and tears and struggle for us to have representation. And yet, if you've read the news, they've faced attacks all year from the right wing and from Democratic party leadership."That prompted boos.Omar referred to "a constant struggle with people who have power about sharing that power" and said: "We are not really in the business of asking for the share of that power. We're in the business of trying to grab that power and return it to the people."In a session titled "Why Biden Is The Least Electable Major Democrat in 2020", one audience member asked: "Would you support Biden if he were the nominee?" All of the panelists emphatically agreed that they would.But they said there was little evidence that nominating an "older white man who appeals to moderates" would help beat Donald Trump."What are we so afraid of?" said Rebecca Katz, a New York-based progressive strategist. "Every time we show someone who is Republican-lite, we lose."
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| 10 deals you don’t want to miss on Sunday: $20 off AirPods 2, SanDisk sale, $60 off Nest, $9 wireless charger, more Posted: 14 Jul 2019 04:29 AM PDT  Prime Day is less than 24 hours away and there are already early Prime Day deals that are live right now! Highlights from today's roundup include $15 off AirPods 2, $20 off AirPods 2 with Wireless Charging Case, $41 off the best-selling Instant Pot on Amazon, SanDisk 128GB microSD cards for $19, a wireless charging pad to charge those new AirPods (or anything else) for just $8.99, multicolor LED smart light bulbs just like $50 Philips Hues for just $9 each when you buy a 4-pack and use the coupon code TPTAYA22 at checkout, the top-selling Wi-Fi range extender on all of Amazon for only $13.99, a $250 Ring Video Doorbell Pro bundled with a $50 Echo Dot for just $169 combined, the lowest price ever for a Nest Learning Thermostat, deep discounts on SanDisk microSD cards like a 128GB card for $19 and change, and more! Check out all of Sunday's top daily deals below.
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| Iranian foreign minister heads to New York for U.N. conference: IRNA Posted: 13 Jul 2019 07:51 AM PDT  Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled to New York on Saturday to a United Nations conference, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported, amid rising tension between Washington and Tehran. The United States and Iran are at loggerheads over Tehran's nuclear program and Washington has blamed Iranian forces for attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf region, a charge Tehran denies.
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| Leave the US, Trump tells liberal Democratic congresswomen Posted: 14 Jul 2019 10:41 AM PDT  Trump was almost certainly referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and her allies in what's become known as "the squad."
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| India calls off Moon mission launch 56 minutes before blast-off Posted: 14 Jul 2019 03:23 PM PDT  India on Monday dramatically scrapped the launch of a rocket that was aiming to land a probe on the Moon less than one hour before blast-off because of a "technical" problem. India wants the Chandrayaan-2 -- or Moon Chariot 2 -- mission to make it only the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to land a craft on the lunar surface. Countdown at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre was halted 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the planned liftoff at 2:51 am (2121 GMT Sunday).
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| Trump Trails Biden, Warren, Sanders in NBC-WSJ Poll Matchups Posted: 14 Jul 2019 07:25 AM PDT ![Trump Trails Biden, Warren, Sanders in NBC-WSJ Poll Matchups]( "Trump Trails Biden, Warren, Sanders in NBC-WSJ Poll Matchups") (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump trails at least three Democratic hopefuls -- Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren -- in theoretical head-to-head matchups for the 2020 general election, a new poll showed.Biden, the former vice president, held the biggest lead among registered voters in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday: 51% to 42%, well outside the survey's margin of error, which was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.Senator Sanders of Vermont led Trump by 50% to 43%, and Senator Warren of Massachusetts was up 48% to 43%. A fourth Democrat, Senator Kamala Harris of California, was up against Trump by a point, 45% to 44%.Biden's larger lead over Trump was largely due to his stronger performance among independent voters, white people and suburban residents than the rest of the Democratic field.Trump's approval rating was at 45% against 52% who disapprove, broadly unchanged from the last few versions of the NBC/WSJ survey. He was at 89% approval among Republicans and had strong support from rural voters, men and older people.The poll was taken July 7-9 of 800 registered voters, more than half of whom were reached by cell phone.To contact the reporter on this story: Ros Krasny in Washington at rkrasny1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Kevin MillerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized for his absence during the city's partial blackout Saturday night: 'You have to be on site' Posted: 14 Jul 2019 12:34 PM PDT  Governor Andrew Cuomo and other New Yorkers were annoyed de Blasio was campaigning for his long-shot presidential campaign, and not in the city.
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| Live videos, webcams show Barry's landfall near New Orleans and the Louisiana coast Posted: 13 Jul 2019 08:15 AM PDT  Live feeds from New Orleans and the Louisiana coast give a glimpse of conditions on the ground as Barry is predicted to make landfall as a hurricane.
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| A US congressman wants better food and drink standards in the Dominican Republic after several US tourist deaths Posted: 13 Jul 2019 09:00 AM PDT  US Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who was born in the Dominican Republic, visited the country from July 1 to July 6 to evaluate its tourism situation.
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| In 1981, A British Submarine Smashed Into a Russian Sub (Armed with Nuclear Weapons) Posted: 13 Jul 2019 08:30 PM PDT ![In 1981, A British Submarine Smashed Into a Russian Sub (Armed with Nuclear Weapons)]( "In 1981, A British Submarine Smashed Into a Russian Sub (Armed with Nuclear Weapons)") On May 23, 1981 the Soviet submarine K-211 Petropavlovsk cruised quietly at nine knots, one hundred and fifty feet below the surface of the Arctic Barents Sea. The huge 155-meter-long Delta III (or Kalmar)-class submarine was distinguished by the large boxy compartment on its spine which accommodated the towering launch tubes for sixteen R-29R ballistic missiles, each carrying three independent nuclear warheads. K-211's mission was hair-raisingly straightforward: to cruise undetected for weeks or months at a time, awaiting only the signal that a nuclear war had broken out to unleash its apocalyptic payload from underwater on Western cities and military bases up to four thousand miles away.British and American nuclear-power attack submarines (SSNs), or "hunter-killers," were routinely dispatched to detect Soviet ballistic missiles subs (SSBNs) leaving from base to discreetly stalk them. The quieter SSNs also awaited only a signal of war, an event in which they would attempt to torpedo the Soviet subs before they could unleash their city-destroying weapons.Mindful of this threat, at half past seven that evening K-211's commander halted his sub and pivoted it around so that its MGK-400 Rubikon bow sonar array could attempt to pick up any submarines sneaking behind it in the 'blind spot' of its wake—a maneuver known as "clearing the baffles." However, the SSBN's hydrophones did not report any contact.
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| Malaysia seizes $240 mln from Chinese state firm's bank account -paper Posted: 14 Jul 2019 12:38 AM PDT ![Malaysia seizes $240 mln from Chinese state firm's bank account -paper]( "Malaysia seizes $240 mln from Chinese state firm's bank account -paper") Malaysia has seized more than 1 billion ringgit ($243.25 million) from a bank account of state-owned China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Ltd (CPP), the Straits Times newspaper said on Saturday. The seizure comes nearly a year after Malaysia suspended two pipeline projects, valued at $2.3 billion, on which CPP was the lead contractor. The Malaysian government this month ordered HSBC to transfer the funds held in the Chinese firm's account to Suria Strategic Energy Resources, which is wholly owned by the Malaysian finance ministry, the Singapore-based newspaper said.
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| Race is 'America's Achilles' heel,' Harris tells African-American group Posted: 13 Jul 2019 03:31 PM PDT  Speaking to an African-American fraternity's annual conference Saturday, Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris warned that Russia is seeking to divide Americans along racial lines.
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| An increasingly public, racially-charged rift in the Democratic party is widening after attacks are lobbed between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's camp and the Democratic establishment Posted: 13 Jul 2019 02:27 PM PDT  The tension escalated after House leadership attacked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff on Twitter in the latest clash of progressives.
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| What Trey Gowdy hopes to learn from Robert Mueller's upcoming testimony Posted: 12 Jul 2019 06:58 PM PDT  Fox News contributor and former Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy weighs in on 'Hannity.'
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| Police: 69-year-old man dies after attacking migrant jail Posted: 13 Jul 2019 09:11 PM PDT  A 69-year-old man armed with a rifle threw incendiary devices at an immigration jail in Washington state early Saturday morning, then was found dead after four police officers arrived and opened fire, authorities said. The Tacoma Police Department said the officers responded about 4 a.m. to the privately run Tacoma Northwest Detention Center, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security detention facility that holds migrants pending deportation proceedings. The detention center has also held immigration-seeking parents separated from their children under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, an effort meant to deter illegal immigration.
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| India says Deloitte misreading law in challenging government's call for ban Posted: 14 Jul 2019 05:39 AM PDT  India has told a tribunal the local auditing affiliate of international accounting group Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is misreading a key law as the firm seeks to avoid a five-year ban on new business, according to legal documents reviewed by Reuters on Sunday. Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP is contesting the government's call for the ban on the auditor for its alleged involvement in a financial fraud. The government has said it detected several violations of auditing standards by Deloitte and a KPMG affiliate while investigating fraud at IFIN, a unit of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, whose debt defaults last year triggered fears of a financial contagion.
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| How the U.S. Navy Took a Battlecruiser and Made It Into an Aircraft Carrier Posted: 13 Jul 2019 06:00 PM PDT  Although the Washington Naval Treaty put a stop to the battlecruiser program, it did permit both Japan and the United States to convert two of their battlecruisers, then under construction, into aircraft carriers. In its more than two-century history, the United States Navy has frequently taken ships designed and built for one purpose and rebuilt and rearmed them for an entirely different mission. A brief historical review of what was done and why leads to a discussion of what repurposing possibilities exist in the 21st century.In 1814, the United States Navy launched Independence, its first ship-of-the-line. A powerful warship, she had three gun decks and carried a heavy armament of eighty-seven cannons, firing 32-pound cannonballs. Unfortunately, Independence had a significant flaw. She rode so deep in the water that the gun ports on her lower gun deck were less than four feet above the waterline. Unless sailing in calm seas, the ship dared not open the gun ports on her lower gun deck for fear of flooding. Consequently, in most sea conditions, Independence could not employ a third of her armament.
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| Police investigate after US flag removed during protest Posted: 14 Jul 2019 02:05 PM PDT ![Police investigate after US flag removed during protest]( "Police investigate after US flag removed during protest") Police say they will be reviewing any available video to help them identify protesters who trespassed and pulled down the American flag in front of an immigration detention center in suburban Denver, tried to burn it and replaced it with a Mexican flag. Friday night's protest in Aurora, one of many coordinated across the country, drew about 2,000 people and was mostly peaceful. Cristian Solano-Cordova, a spokesman for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, told The Denver Post that those who pulled down the flags weren't affiliated with mainstream immigrants' rights groups but had coordinated with them to be there.
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| Billionaire Tom Steyer's entrance into the 2020 Democratic race is the perfect example of the rot at the core of the US political system Posted: 14 Jul 2019 08:32 AM PDT  Tom Steyer's entered the 2020 presidential race with a promise to spend $100 million on his campaign, but he should use that money elsewhere.
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| Police clashes as Hong Kong protest sweeps into neighbourhood popular with Chinese shoppers Posted: 14 Jul 2019 09:23 AM PDT  Riot police and protesters fought running battles in a Hong Kong shopping mall Sunday night as unrest caused by a widely loathed plan to allow extraditions to mainland China showed no sign of abating. Police used pepper spray and batons against small groups of protesters, who responded by hurling bottles and other projectiles, in a night of fresh violence in the international hub. Sunday's clashes took place at the end of another huge rally - this time in Sha Tin a district that lies between the main urban sprawl around the harbour and the Chinese border. Violence broke out briefly in the afternoon after the rally as protesters seized a junction and built barricades, causing an hours-long stand-off with riot police. But the worst clashes happened late evening inside a shopping mall where hundreds of protesters fled after police moved on the barricades and then charged into the shopping complex, AFP reporters on the scene said. Once inside, chaos erupted as police found themselves pelted from above. At least one officer was seen knocked unconscious and there was blood on the floor of the mall. Police with shields and batons charged up to higher floors and made multiple arrests in a building filled with luxury fashion stores. Volunteer medics were also seen to be giving aid to a protester who collapsed. By 10:00 pm (1400 GMT) most protesters had left the area. Hong Kong has been rocked by more than a month of huge largely peaceful protests - as well as a series of separate violent confrontations with police - sparked by a law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China and other countries. Last month, parliament was trashed by hundreds of masked, youth-led protesters in unprecedented scenes. The bill has since been suspended, but that has done little to quell public anger which has evolved into a wider movement calling for democratic reforms, universal suffrage and a halt to sliding freedoms in the semi-autonomous hub. Protesters are also demanding the bill be scrapped entirely, an independent inquiry into police use of tear gas and rubber bullets, an amnesty for those arrested, and for the city's unelected leader Carrie Lam to step down. Tens of thousands marched through Sha Tin on Sunday, the fifth week in a row that Hong Kong has seen such huge rallies. Almost all have ended with violence between police and a minority of hardcore protesters. "We have marched so many times but the government still didn't listen, forcing everyone to take to the street," Tony Wong, a 24-year-old protester on the Sha Tin march, told AFP. Hong Kong protests: riot police baton charge and fire tear gas to clear demonstrations at parliament, in pictures Many protesters see the rallies as part of an existential fight against an increasingly assertive Beijing. "This is a dangerous moment. Hong Kongers can choose to die or they can live. We're on the edge, but fortunately we haven't died-off yet," said JoJo So, a woman in her fifties who was attending the rally. On Saturday there were also violent clashes between police and protesters in a town near the border which is popular with mainland traders who buy Hong Kong goods at duty-free prices. Locals have long complained about over-crowding and spiralling rents caused by the trade. Beijing has thrown its full support behind Lam, calling on Hong Kong police to pursue anyone involved in the parliament storming and other clashes. Hong Kong's government late Sunday said it "strongly condemns these illegal acts" by protesters, saying roads were blocked and officers assaulted. Under the 1997 handover deal with the British, China promised to allow Hong Kong to keep key liberties such as its independent judiciary and rights like freedom of speech. But many say that 50-year deal is already being reneged on, citing the disappearance into mainland custody of dissident booksellers, the disqualification of prominent politicians and the jailing of democracy protest leaders. Authorities have also resisted calls for the city's leader to be directly elected by the people.
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| Puerto Rico governor rejects calls to resign amid scandal Posted: 14 Jul 2019 01:22 PM PDT  Protesters in Puerto Rico gathered outside La Fortaleza governor's residence on Sunday, demanding Gov. Ricardo Rosselló step down for his involvement in a private chat in which he used profanities to describe an ex-New York City councilwoman and a federal control board overseeing the island's finances. Undersecretary of La Fortaleza's press office, Michelle De la Cruz, said she did not know if the governor was home. Some activists say they are ashamed of the language used by Rosselló in the group chat and the ways the reputation of the U.S. territory might be affected.
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| Sprawling storm Barry intensifies into a hurricane Posted: 13 Jul 2019 10:31 AM PDT  UPDATE: July 13, 2019, 3:17 p.m. EDT: The National Hurricane Center advised that after making landfall in Louisiana, Barry weakened to a tropical storm. This doesn't change projections for pummeling rain and the likelihood of extreme flooding. * * *The lopsided storm Barry is now a hurricane. The National Weather Service expects Hurricane Barry, packing 75 mph winds, to pummel portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, other nearby regions with extreme rain and flooding on Saturday and Sunday. Barry might not be a major hurricane, but it has capitalized on exceptionally warm ocean waters to load itself with moisture -- which will soon douse the region."It's going to rain hard," Jeff Weber, a meteorologist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), told Mashable as Barry picked up steam over the Gulf of Mexico."Rainfall is one of the most impactful effects of a tropical storm," National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) hurricane scientist Rosimar Rios-Berrios emphasized Friday evening, as Barry crept toward Louisiana."The rainfall does not depend on how strong the storm is," she added. Indeed, Hurricane Harvey -- the largest rain event in U.S. history -- did its most destruction when it was no longer a hurricane. "...the upgrade to a hurricane means little in terms of the overall impacts from Barry," the National Hurricane Center noted Saturday morning. > Barry is now a hurricane \- the first of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. On average, the first Atlantic hurricane forms on August 10. pic.twitter.com/rQ8gxIle74> > -- Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) July 13, 2019Portions of Louisiana and Mississippi are forecast to receive between 10 and 20 inches of rain. Some models show 18.5 inches in flood-prone Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "A foot of rain in that area can create quite a problem," noted UCAR's Weber.Though rainfall would be imminent regardless, as of Friday afternoon it was still unclear if Barry would develop into a storm with hurricane force winds. The lopsided, unorganized storm system was getting hit by winds, known as wind shear, that made organizing into a more potent storm difficult, noted Rios-Berrios.But Barry overcame those challenges, and as a hurricane will bring surges of ocean water into coastal areas, threaten to overtop levees in the region, and almost certainly bring damaging or catastrophic flooding to certain areas over the next two days. > GOESEast watches as HurricaneBarry, now a Cat. 1 storm, creeps toward southern Louisiana. Dangerous storm surge, heavy rains and high winds are already impacting the north-central Gulf Coast. Latest updates: https://t.co/1L8q1zg4eW pic.twitter.com/wqI2lr8c83> > -- NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) July 13, 2019> VIDEO: Per Plaquemines Parish officials, water has overtopped the back levee at Myrtle Grove and Pointe Celeste. > > One homeowner nearby shared this 10AM view of the rising waters ahead of TropicalStormBarry. NBCNews pic.twitter.com/jNkzMXJrEV> > -- Morgan Chesky (@BreakingChesky) July 13, 2019In much improved news for New Orleans, however, the National Weather Service projects that -- even with Barry's wind-powered storm surge -- the already-swollen Mississippi will reach 17 feet above sea level -- as opposed to 20 feet expected a few days ago. Many of the city's levees protect the vibrant, historic city from up to 20 feet of flooding along the mighty river -- so New Orleans may avoid a worst-case scenario this weekend. Still, coastal flooding and the overtopping of other levees has already begun, and the brunt of rain has yet to come. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| A Texas grandmother fell three years ago. Her daughter let her decay on the floor, police say Posted: 14 Jul 2019 02:40 PM PDT  Delissa Crayton lived with her mother's decaying remains for three years after she fell in their shared residence, police in Seguin, Texas said.
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| Levees overtopped as Tropical Storm Barry soaks Louisiana Posted: 13 Jul 2019 12:50 PM PDT  None of the main levees on the Mississippi River in the state have failed or been breached so far.
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| First Ebola case in Congo city of Goma detected Posted: 14 Jul 2019 01:31 PM PDT ![First Ebola case in Congo city of Goma detected]( "First Ebola case in Congo city of Goma detected") The first case of Ebola in the eastern Congo city of Goma was discovered on Sunday, officials said, raising concerns the virus could spread quicker in a densely populated area close to the Rwandan border. Goma, a lakeside city of 1 million people, is more than 350 km (220 miles) south of where the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record was first detected a year ago. It was not yet clear how much contact the patient had with other people in Goma, or how long the individual was there, officials said.
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| Taiwanese president courts ally Haiti during Caribbean tour Posted: 13 Jul 2019 10:27 PM PDT  Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen made a brief visit to Haiti on Saturday without unveiling new spending commitments, as she courts Taipei's dwindling allies in the Caribbean in a diplomatic struggle with China. Since Tsai became president, Beijing -- which considers Taiwan part of its territory -- has poached five of the island's shrinking roster of allies, including Haiti's neighbor the Dominican Republic. Taipei has allocated $150 million to the country to help electrify its territory but the funds have not been allocated because they have yet to be ratified by the Haitian parliament.
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| This Was Sig Sauer's Plan to Crush Glock's Best Guns Posted: 13 Jul 2019 01:18 AM PDT  As Sig Sauer GmbH in Germany and Sig Sauer, Inc in the United States cleaved themselves from the remnants of the Swiss Schweizer Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) in the 1990s, both firms needed a new pistol to compete with Glock. Glock's polymer frame offerings were beginning to dominate the pistol market, and their frames and striker-fired design made them cheaper to produce than the alloy-framed, hammer-fired P22x series.To counter the Glock, the American and German branches of Sig Sauer would collaborate on a new series of pistols, the Sig Pro. The Sig Pro was to be more affordable, more ergonomic, and cheaper to produce than the P22x series. It would accomplish that through the use of a polymer frame and replaceable polymer grip panels.However, the P22x series would continue to grab sales alongside the Sig Pro, though the Sig Pro would see large adoption by some national police agencies, most notably the Police Nationale of France. The Police Nationale issue a version of the Sig Pro, the SP2022, as their standard issue sidearm.The SP2022 is one of the most common pistols in France, as the order of over 270,000 units was the largest French purchase of a handgun following WWII, dwarfing the French military's order of the PAMAS (a French version of the Beretta 92). Moreover, in police service, the SP2022 replaced the MR 73 revolver, a powerful, yet limited .357 magnum revolver.
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| Struggling in White House bid, Democrat Gillibrand seeks bump in Trump country Posted: 14 Jul 2019 03:23 AM PDT  U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand rolled through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan last week on a bus emblazoned with "He broke it, we'll fix it," as part of a campaign tour highlighting what she called President Donald Trump's "broken promises" to the region. Gillibrand told laid-off auto workers in Youngstown, Ohio, and healthcare workers in Pittsburgh she would repair the damage of Trump's presidency if voters choose her as the Democratic nominee to take him on in November 2020. Posing for selfies with voters after a town hall on gun violence in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on Friday, Gillibrand said she needed thousands more supporters to qualify for the third Democratic primary debate in mid-September.
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| Progressives blame Nancy Pelosi for 'horrendous' migrant aid bill and holding them back on impeachment Posted: 12 Jul 2019 07:20 PM PDT  Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Sen. Jeff Merkley blamed Nancy Pelosi for the $4.6 billion aid package that was opposed by many progressive Democrats.
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| Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch linked to investigation Posted: 13 Jul 2019 05:33 PM PDT  At the center of Jeffrey Epstein's secluded New Mexico ranch sits a sprawling residence the financier built decades ago — complete with plans for a 4,000-square-foot (372-square-meter) courtyard, a living room roughly the size of the average American home and a nearby private airplane runway. Known as the Zorro Ranch, the high-desert property is now tied to an investigation that the state attorney general's office says it has opened into Epstein with plans to forward findings to federal authorities in New York. Epstein, who pleaded not guilty this week to federal sex trafficking charges in New York, has not faced criminal charges in New Mexico.
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| In McConnell’s boyhood town where his family owned slaves, the reparations debate thrives Posted: 14 Jul 2019 03:06 AM PDT  Newly obtained records show that Sen. Mitch McConnell's family benefited from slavery for generations, helping them build lasting wealth.
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| How China's crime crackdown has spooked expats used to wilder living Posted: 14 Jul 2019 06:02 AM PDT  Amid flashing lights and pounding music, foreigners had their pick of drugs – marijuana, cocaine, ketamine, meth, fentanyl. Nightlife ran wild here for years in Xuzhou, a lush pocket of eastern China dotted with lakes and ringed by mountains. "Back then we would go into clubs and just go table to table, drinking for free," said one expat, declining to give a full name. As few foreigners were willing to come for study or employment in this small city – accessible only by rail or road – expats said they were able to get away with this kind of freewheeling behaviour. But a broad crackdown in China against corruption and crime has finally stretched from big cities like Shanghai to smaller locales like Xuzhou. And the authorities are emboldened to nab foreigners at a time of rising tensions between China and Western nations, including the US, UK and Canada. "The ability and desire to catch foreign companies and foreigners operating illegally in China is higher now than it has ever been," said Dan Harris, founder of Harris Bricken, a US-based law firm that specialises in China. Last week, a group of 16 foreigners - thought to include four Britons - were arrested after a drug bust based on what Xuzhou police said was a tip. One is under criminal detention, which is typically followed by formal arrest and conviction – China's murky courts, controlled by the ruling Communist Party, have a 99.9 per cent conviction rate. The remaining foreigners are in administrative detention, and could spend up to 15 days in jail before being deported, though they aren't blocked from future criminal charges. Foreigners in Xuzhou drinking in bars like this one did not want to talk to journalists Credit: Sophia Yan Government officials have clamped down on foreigners working on improper visas, and are conducting raids in office buildings and bars, mandating everyone to submit hair and urine samples. Even if a substance, such as marijuana, was legally consumed outside of China, anyone failing a drug test inside the country could face extreme trouble. Drug offences carry hefty penalties in China, including the death sentence for trafficking. The crackdown in Xuzhou has shaken the small expat community, mostly English teachers and students studying subjects including Mandarin, medicine, and mechanical engineering. Local bars popular with foreigners were empty over the weekend, while social media groups fell silent. Everyone was extremely tight-lipped; almost none were willing to exchange even basic pleasantries with the Telegraph. Two teachers from EF Education First, whose colleagues were among those arrested, dashed for the basement of a bar when the Telegraph approached. Another said he had been instructed not to speak with anyone, including media. An Education First school in Xuzhou Credit: Sophia Yan On Saturday, angry parents poured out of a meeting with management at one EF Xuzhou branch, demanding tuition fees be refunded, and blaming the institute for hiring teachers of poor integrity. Swiss-based EF, which runs a global chain of institutes including 300 branches in China, is the largest English education chain in Xuzhou, and has said it is cooperating with the local authorities. Brunswick, the global public relations firm representing EF, didn't respond to a request for comment for this story at the time of publication. Government propaganda has seized on the incident to promote nationalism and anti-Western sentiment. A state media editorial on Friday headlined "Keep toxic foreign teachers away from kids" blasted institutes like EF for failing to have higher employment standards "instead of blindly seeking profits." While it remains to be seen how the Xuzhou arrests pan out, recent cases in China involving foreigners have been widely seen as politically motivated. Canada was targeted after Beijing made clear it was upset with Ottawa for arresting a Chinese tech executive on a US extradition request. In January, a Canadian arrested in 2014 who had been given a 15-year sentence for alleged drug trafficking was put on a rushed one-day retrial and slapped with the death penalty. The month before, China arbitrarily detained Canadians Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a business consultant, on suspicion of endangering national security. China has also more recently used exit bans to prevent foreigners, including Americans who aren't facing formal charges, from leaving the country. And Beijing has become more vocal against the UK in recent weeks as British officials, including prime minister candidate and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, have blasted China for eroding freedoms in Hong Kong. More than 40 British nationals were detained in China in the first four months of this year, triple the number over the same period in previous years. "China is using these arrests to send a message to unfriendly countries. They are essentially saying, we operate by our own rules so you had better not mess with us," said Mr Harris. They're "killing the chickens to scare the monkeys." One of the anti-crime banners in Xuzhou which reads: "Fight crime and eradicate vice; Stay clear of porn, gambling and drugs" Credit: Sophia Yan For the Xuzhou authorities, the broader crackdown has been touted as a political success. Authorities boasted in May that they had arrested 4,286 suspects, recovered assets worth 3 billion yuan (£347 million), and awarded 16 informants for reporting illegal activity. Community police stations dot street corners and park entrances, and taxis are equipped with cameras – the same ones used in the far western Xinjiang region on lockdown where the United Nations estimates more than one million Muslims are detained in internment camps. And lest anyone venture out for a bit of fun, reminders that the authorities are looking for even the slightest hint of suspicious activity are never far. Signs advertise hotlines encouraging residents to report on each other, and public toilet entrances are equipped with facial recognition cameras. One nightclub, E11, is flanked with giant red anti-crime propaganda banners: "Fight crime and eradicate vice; Stay clear of porn, gambling and drugs." Additional reporting by Yiyin Zhong
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