| Romney launches blistering attack on Trump's character Posted: 02 Jan 2019 03:20 PM PST  Incoming Senator Mitt Romney said Wednesday he was unsure who to endorse for the White House in 2020, saying he would consider "the alternatives" to Donald Trump, whose presidency he said is falling short. The comments on CNN came hours after the 2012 Republican presidential candidate published a scathing op-ed targeting Trump, saying he "has not risen to the mantle of the office" and his actions have alienated America's allies. As a senator, he vowed to "vote with my conscience," even if it meant going against Trump and his party.
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| Two Migrants Were Discovered Inside Mattresses Trying to Cross the Spanish Border Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:18 PM PST  Police found the two young African men at a border crossing from Morocco to Melilla
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| Violence in India as female worshipers break blockade to secretly enter one of India's holiest temples Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:19 AM PST  Two women made history by sneaking into one of India's holiest Hindu temples before dawn yesterday/WED in defiance of hardline activists blockading the shrine from female worshipers. The Sabarimala temple in southern Kerela has been at the centre of a highly politically charged stand-off after the Supreme court lifted a centuries-old ban on women of menstrual age from praying inside it. Violence erupted as news spread that the two women in their 40s had defied traditionalists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by entering the temple for the first time since the landmark court ruling. Police fired tear gas, stun grenades and used water cannon as clashes between rival groups erupted across the southern state of Kerala, local media reported. Several officers were reportedly injured. The two women entered the temple under police escort around 3.45am local time, and left undetected a short while later after offering prayers inside the shrine. Women on a previous attempt to breach a blockade surrounding a Hindu temple in the Indian state of Kerala, after the country's supreme court lifted a ban on women entering Credit: AFP/Getty "It is a fact that two women entered the shrine" state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed, adding that police are bound to offer protection to anyone wanting to worship inside the temple. Bindu Ammini, 42, and Kanaka Durga, 44, had tried entering Sabarimala last month, but were forcibly turned back by Hindu activists committed to violently enforcing the ban, despite its revocation by India's Supreme Court last September. At the time the court had ruled that banning women of menstrual age-between 10 and 50 years-from entering Sabarimala was unconstitutional and an infringement of human rights and of equality of worship. Immediately after the ruling protesters, with the support of the government, disregarded the court's ruling and begun preventing women devotes from entering Sabarimala, even resorting to force. They maintained that age-old religious sentiments prevailed over judicial rulings and that preventing menstruating women from entering the shrine was essential to appease and protect Ayyappan, the temples deity who is depicted as a celibate yoga-practising god. Police protected the temple again in October, after clashing with devotees and arresting 2,000 people Credit: REUTERS/Sivaram V/File Photo Devotees take a vow of celibacy for 41 days before undertaking the arduous trek to the Sabarimala temple in a bid to earn the deity's blessings. Officials at the temple on Wednesday said the two women had left for 11-mile log uphill trek to Sabarimala around midnight, but instead of ascending the final 18 holy steps to the temple had entered the shrine stealthily through the staff gate. Video images circulating on WhatsApp reveal the two women dressed in black tunics entering the temple with their heads bowed as they rushed inside. "We arrived early in the morning and had a darshan (visitation of the idol) for a few minutes " Ms Ammini told the BBC later. We left before protestors stopped us, she added. After news of the two women entering Sabrimala became public, the temple authorities accused them of 'defiling' the shrine and closed it for an hour to 'purify' it before opening it up to receive male devotees. Protestors block traffic and shout slogans reacting to reports of two women of menstruating age entering the Sabarimala temple Credit: R S Iyer/ AP Local BJP leader Sreedharan Pillai, however, strongly criticised the temple entry by the two women, calling it a 'conspiracy by Kerala's atheist rulers to destroy Hindu temples'. He was referring to Kerala's Marxist government that came to power in 2016. "The BJP will support all struggles against the destruction of (the Hindu) faith by the Communists" Mr Pillai told local television news channels. On New Years Day some five million women formed a 385-mile long 'human chain' across Kerala in support of gender equality and to protest against activists enforcing the ban on females entering Sabarimala despite the Supreme Court having overturned it. Women of all ages and from all wakes of life including lawyers, doctors, actors, authors, teachers, civil servants and even members of the LGBT community stood shoulder to shoulder for 15 minutes late in the afternoon in a show of female solidarity. Their protest ended with a pledge to 'harness the power of enlightenment to insulate society against revanchist forces that sought to push Kerala back to the dark ages of casteism and discriminatory religious practices'. Meanwhile, in many traditional Hindu communities across India, menstruating females are considered unclean and unholy. This, in turn, results in restrictions and, in some cases outright bans, on women of child- bearing age from entering some temples and holy spots.
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| Scientists think they know where the early universe’s dark matter has been hiding Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:54 PM PST ![Scientists think they know where the early universe's dark matter has been hiding]( "Scientists think they know where the early universe's dark matter has been hiding") Most of the mass in the universe is made up of a kind of matter that none of us have ever seen. It's called "dark matter" and, despite being incredibly abundant, it's also extremely difficult to study. Decades-old calculations suggested that there is more dark matter around younger galaxies than the ancient ones from the early days of the universe, but then where did the dark matter we see today come from? A new study offers the answer. Past research suggested that galaxies we see nearby have more dark matter than those that are very distant. The farther away a galaxy is the farther back in time we're effectively looking, and scientists believed that those ancient galaxies didn't have all that much dark matter around them. As it turns out, that isn't the case. After studying some 1,500 galaxies, researchers led by Alfred Tiley of Durham University have determined that the amount of dark matter surrounding these huge collections of stars and planets is about the same as it ever was. Detecting dark matter around a galaxy can be tricky but it's made easier by calculating the gravitation effect that the matter has on its surroundings. We can't see dark matter in space because it doesn't reflect light, but it still exerts a gravitational pull, just like "normal" matter. By accounting for the size of a galaxy and the speed at which stars on its edges are moving, scientists can calculate how much dark matter is lurking on the fringes. This latest round of research, applied that same formula to many hundred galaxies both young and old. The scientists now believe that there's not much of a difference between the amount of dark matter around ancient galaxies when compared to much younger ones. However, as Live Science reports, the astronomy community isn't entirely on board with this new finding. The model that Tiley and his team used has been called into question, especially as it relates to measurements of distant high-mass galaxies which have been studied by others searching for dark matter. We'll have to wait and see how this all pans out but the results are certainly interesting and will no doubt further the conversation about where the universe's dark matter lies.
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| ‘Black Girl Magic’: 17 black female judges elected Texas county swear in, make history Posted: 03 Jan 2019 05:51 AM PST  Officials believe this is the largest group of black female elected at the same time in Texas' largest county.
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| Chuck Grassley: I'm only three heartbeats from the presidency Posted: 03 Jan 2019 12:52 PM PST  Democrats took control of the House of Representatives on Thursday for the 116th Congress of the United States.
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| Pull-out from Syria changes nothing in US support for Israel: Pompeo Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:19 AM PST  Brasília (AFP) - President Donald Trump's decision to pull American troops out of Syria "in no way changes anything" in terms of US support and protection of Israel, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday. Pompeo gave the assurance as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Brasilia on the sidelines of the inauguration of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro. "The decision the president made on Syria in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel," Pompeo said.
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| Abuse victims urge action as bishops meet to pray Posted: 02 Jan 2019 03:37 PM PST  As U.S.-based Roman Catholic bishops are meeting outside Chicago on the church sexual abuse scandal, many are dismayed that it has taken so long for the church leadership to meet and act after so many years. (Jan. 2)
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| The 25 Best-Selling Cars, Trucks, and SUVs of 2018 Posted: 03 Jan 2019 11:43 AM PST |
| Scientists show off space snowman, Ultima Thule, in 3D Posted: 03 Jan 2019 02:36 PM PST  LAUREL, Md. (AP) — The newly visited space snowman — the most distant object ever explored — is now appearing in 3D.
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| Captain & Tennille's Daryl Dragon has died, with Toni Tennille by his side Posted: 02 Jan 2019 10:20 PM PST  Daryl Dragon of Captain& Tennille died of renal failure Wednesday, Jan. 2, at a hospice in Arizona with his former wife, Toni Tennille, by his side.
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| Pelosi Elected Speaker by Democratic Majority: Congress Update Posted: 03 Jan 2019 11:03 AM PST  The Senate also opened its session and remains under Republican control. Nancy Pelosi was elected speaker of the House of Representatives as a Democratic majority took control of the chamber, ending one-party control in Washington. The California Democrat, the only woman to hold the speakership, won the partisan election with 220 Democratic votes as most Republicans backed Representative Kevin McCarthy.
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| A first class gaffe: Cathay to honour cheap ticket error Posted: 03 Jan 2019 01:59 AM PST  Scores of savvy travellers will be sipping heavily discounted champagne in first class recliners on Cathay Pacific flights this year after the airline agreed to honour tickets that were mistakenly sold at a fraction of their value. Airline and travel blogs went into overdrive on New Year's Eve after eagle-eyed shoppers noticed the carrier was offering first and business class tickets on its website from Vietnam to the United States and Canada for as little as $670. It took two days for Cathay to publicly acknowledge the error with the airline on Wednesday saying it would indeed honour the cheap fares.
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| We Don’t Owe Syria’s Kurds Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:16 AM PST  America should not be in the business of creating another de facto Kurdish state.
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| Netflix censorship risks helping Saudi crackdown: Amnesty Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:18 AM PST  Netflix's decision to pull an episode of a show critical of Saudi authorities risks facilitating a crackdown on freedom of expression in the kingdom, Amnesty International said Wednesday. "Saudi Arabia's censorship of Netflix... is further proof of a relentless crackdown on freedom of expression in the kingdom," said Samah Hadid, Amnesty's Middle East campaigns director.
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| US stocks set for another big fall after Apple's warning Posted: 03 Jan 2019 05:44 AM PST  LONDON (AP) — Apple's shock warning that its Chinese sales are weakening ratcheted up concerns about the world's second largest economy and weighed heavily on global stock markets as well as the dollar on Thursday.
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| New to cruising? How to book the right cruise for you in 2019 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:55 AM PST  Between January and March, or what is known as 'Wave Season,' the cruise industry releases its biggest deals and promos in advance of peak cruising season. Large, ocean liners are floating cities, with the most options for dining, activities and entertainment -- best for families with children. River cruises are smaller ships that travel close to the center of cities and towns and emphasize cuisine, history and culture.
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| Florida McDonald's employee punches back in viral fight that started over straw ban Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:14 PM PST ![Florida McDonald's employee punches back in viral fight that started over straw ban]( "Florida McDonald's employee punches back in viral fight that started over straw ban") A man who grabbed a St. Petersburg, Florida, McDonald's employee was arrested, police said. Video of the incident has over 2 million views on Facebook.
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| Pompeo, Brazil's new government target Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:43 AM PST  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed supporting a return to democracy in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua with Brazil's new right-wing government on Wednesday, in a joint effort against what he called authoritarian regimes in Latin America. Pompeo and Brazil's Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo considered deepening cooperation in the region at a meeting in Brasilia following Tuesday's inauguration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
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| Where do the investigations related to Trump stand? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:28 PM PST  A look at where the investigations related to President Donald Trump stand and what may lie ahead for him:
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| Ohio Doctor Fired for Tweeting She'd Give Jewish People 'All the Wrong Meds' Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:20 PM PST  The hospital said that no patients have reported being harmed by her work
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| Death toll rises to eight in Danish train accident Posted: 03 Jan 2019 12:12 AM PST  The death toll from a train accident in Denmark, when a truck trailer appeared to blow off a cargo train in strong winds and hit a passenger train, has risen from six to eight, police said Thursday. Investigators said Wednesday the passenger train appeared to have struck an empty truck trailer that had blown off a cargo train travelling in the opposite direction on a different track. Debris could be seen lying across the front of the passenger train.
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| 11-year-old Brooklyn boy dies from apparent reaction to smell of fish Posted: 03 Jan 2019 07:52 AM PST  An 11-year-old boy died in his Brooklyn home Tuesday after authorities believe he had an allergic reaction to seafood that was being cooked at the time.
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| Dow closes 660 points lower after Apple cuts sales outlook, weak reading on U.S. manufacturing Posted: 03 Jan 2019 01:31 PM PST  The Dow fell 660 points after Apple lowered its quarterly revenue outlook due to slowing iPhone sales in China, spooking stock market investors.
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| Saudi prosecutor seeks death sentences as Khashoggi murder trial opens Posted: 03 Jan 2019 03:32 PM PST  Saudi prosecutors sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday. The prosecution also said it was awaiting a response to two formal letters requesting evidence from Turkey, where Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a case that shocked the world. All 11 accused were present with their lawyers at the first session of the trial, it said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, without revealing their names or their alleged roles in the crime.
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| 'Assad will stay for a while, thanks to Russian support', says Jeremy Hunt Posted: 03 Jan 2019 06:14 AM PST  Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Minister, has conceded that President Bashar al-Assad will remain in place for "a while", reversing Britain's long-held position to reflect the new reality on the ground in Syria. "The British long-standing position is that we won't have lasting peace in Syria with that (Assad-led) regime," Mr Hunt said. "But regretfully we do think he's going to be around for a while and that is because of the support that he's had from Russia. "Russia may think that it's gained a sphere of influence. What we would say to them is: Yes - and you've also gained a responsibility," the Foreign Minister told Sky News. Moscow, which intervened in the war in 2015 on behalf of the Syrian government, helped swing it in Assad's favour. Russian military gives a press tour of destroyed parts of Aleppo, Syria. Credit: Alec Luhn for the Telegraph While Russia's relationship with Damascus, which dates back to the Soviet era, may not be new, its dominance in the civil war helped elevated it to a position of power broker in the region. Britain, the US and its allies meanwhile backed the opposition, though its lack of real commitment allowed President Vladimir Putin to gain the upper hand. The UK broke off diplomatic contact with the regime in 2012 after peaceful protests were met with a brutal crackdown. Its position since has been that Assad must go and there must be a transition of power through a democratic election. This stipulation is also a precondition to the UK providing the country with reconstruction aid, which Damascus greatly needs to rebuild its flattened cities. However, with Assad claiming a victory and showing no signs of any intention to step aside, the UK must decide how it now wishes to engage. Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, meets with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in Damascus, Syria, Credit: Sana "If you're going to be involved in Syria then you need to make sure that there really is peace in Syria," Mr Hunt said. "And that means making sure that President Assad does not use chemical weapons on his own people." The British admission also raises doubt that the Syrian leader and his inner circle will ever face trial for alleged war crimes, including sarin attacks which left more than 1,200 dead. In December, the United Nations acknowledged it had failed to persuade Moscow, a veto-wielding member, to agree to form a sufficiently diverse body to prepare a constitution and elections in Syria. This meant the indefinite delay of any UN-supervised elections. The president had for years been an international pariah, but in recent months relations with the Arab world have begun to thaw. Last week, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus, marking a diplomatic boost for Assad from a US-allied Arab state that once backed rebels fighting him. Egypt and other Arab League members have also hinted that Damascus could soon be invited back into the group it was expelled from in 2011.
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| For Shanahan, a very public debut in Trump's cabinet Posted: 02 Jan 2019 03:56 PM PST  Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, sat silently at Trump's side, often expressionless, as television cameras rolled. Trump suggested that former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis - who abruptly resigned last month over policy differences with Trump - had been essentially fired and that Mattis had failed in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents are becoming increasingly confident of ending the 17-year-old war on terms favorable to them. "I'm not happy with what he's done in Afghanistan and I shouldn't be happy," Trump said.
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| New GOP rivalry? Romney bolts into Washington, blasts Trump Posted: 02 Jan 2019 04:01 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and incoming Utah senator, has quickly set himself apart from other Republicans in the new Congress with a blistering attack on President Donald Trump's leadership and character.
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| Polish Central Bank Chief Is Questioned in Watchdog Scandal Posted: 03 Jan 2019 07:12 AM PST  The latest in a string of central bankers from emerging Europe becoming involved in legal probes, Glapinski has rebuffed calls to step down from opposition parties that are demanding a parliamentary investigation into bribery allegations against the former head of the Financial Supervisory Commission. In November, Latvia's anti-corruption bureau said it was carrying out a criminal probe involving central bank governor Ilmars Rimsevics.
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| PHOTOS: How many animals live at the London Zoo? Posted: 03 Jan 2019 06:28 AM PST  The yearly stock-taking sees staff at the Zoological Society of London facility work through all the herds and packs and flocks, from tigers and penguins to jellyfish.
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| Apple warning pummels markets worried about growth outlook Posted: 03 Jan 2019 02:25 PM PST  Stock markets retreated Thursday as China's slowing economy forced Apple to slash its revenue forecast, wiping around $75 billion from the company's value and denting global investor sentiment.
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| PETA responds to Tiffany Haddish's vow to wear fur till 'police stop killing black people' Posted: 03 Jan 2019 07:01 AM PST  PETA responded to Tiffany Haddish after the comedian said she wold wear animal fur every day until "the police stop killing black people."
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| Husband surprises wife of 67 years with new engagement ring Posted: 03 Jan 2019 09:27 AM PST  After 67 years, it is still nice to know that you can still surprise someone
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| Happy New Year: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardons 22 immigrants facing deportation Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:01 AM PST  In a statement, the governor's office says Cuomo recognizes the immigrants' 'rehabilitative efforts' and is removing the 'barriers that their criminal records present to their immigration status'; reaction from GOP strategist Boyd Matheson.
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| On Day 1 in power, House Democrats challenge Trump on shutdown Posted: 03 Jan 2019 03:12 PM PST  Democrats wasted no time flexing their new power in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday as they maneuvered to pass legislation backed by new Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would end a 13-day partial government shutdown while ignoring President Donald Trump's demand for $5 billion for a border wall. Thursday marked the first day of divided government in Washington since Trump took office in January 2017, as Democrats took control in the House from his fellow Republicans, who remain in charge of the Senate. The 2019-2020 Congress convened with roughly a quarter of the federal government closed, affecting 800,000 employees, in a shutdown triggered by Trump's demand last month for the money for a U.S.-Mexican border wall - opposed by Democrats - as part of any legislation funding government agencies.
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| Mexico urges thorough probe into border tear gas incident Posted: 03 Jan 2019 12:47 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's foreign affairs ministry has formally asked the United States government to conduct a thorough investigation into a Jan. 1 incident in which U.S. agents fired tear gas into Mexico to stop crossing migrants.
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| US military deletes tacky New Year’s Eve tweet about being ‘ready to drop’ a bomb Posted: 01 Jan 2019 08:07 PM PST ![US military deletes tacky New Year's Eve tweet about being 'ready to drop' a bomb]( "US military deletes tacky New Year's Eve tweet about being 'ready to drop' a bomb") It's so easy to party to excess at the end of the year -- to get caught up in the year-end revelry and the excitement of turning a page on the calendar. Some people get so caught up in the fun they go out and get hammered. Others gather in Times Square to watch the ball drop while they try not to freeze to death. Meanwhile, the arm of the US military that oversees the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal decided to get in on the fun in its own way -- by sending out a humorous tweet about how big its bombs are. A tweet that, okay, wasn't actually funny at all. It has since been deleted and the military has also taken the extra step of apologizing for it. Welcome to 2019. It all started when US Strategic Command (@US_Stratcom on Twitter) sent out this admittedly inappropriate New Year's Eve-themed tweet. We're including this shared version of the tweet, since the original has been deleted: https://twitter.com/ChrisMac1270/status/1079889859374768128 "What kind of maniacs are running this country?" Walter M. Shaub Jr. tweeted incredulously in response. He was formerly the head of the US Office of Government Ethics until his resignation in 2017. As part of the since-deleted tweet, US Strategic Command also included a video with it that showed a B-2 stealth bomber dropping two GPS-guided bombs. Words like "Stealth" and "Lethal" popped up on the screen during the clip, which was reportedly viewed more than 120,000 times. According to The New York Times: "The video in the original tweet shows a B-2 stealth bomber dropping a GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The GPS-guided bomb weighs tens of thousands of pounds and is designed specifically to penetrate thick concrete that protects entrenched structures such as underground bunkers and weapon storage sites. "Stratcom is one of the American military's 10 unified commands. While some of those commands oversee operations in a specific region, like the Middle East or Africa, Strategic Command oversees specific capabilities, such as the Air Force's bomber wings that can strike anywhere in the world, encrypted communications or the tracking of global weapons of mass destruction." Which, again, is the kind of military entity you would expect to be judicious in its communications and chest-thumping (of which one would hope there certainly wouldn't be any). So it's probably no surprise that the command deleted the tweet about being "ready to drop" something much bigger than the Times Square ball and quickly sent out this as an apology: https://twitter.com/US_Stratcom/status/1079881433072717824 Happy New Year!
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| The Latest: 3 killed in police car chase identified Posted: 02 Jan 2019 04:22 PM PST ![The Latest: 3 killed in police car chase identified]( "The Latest: 3 killed in police car chase identified") MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Latest on a Milwaukee police pursuit that ended with a vehicle crashing into a river, killing its three occupants (all times local):
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| A real roasting: Coffee startup Luckin set to overtake Starbucks in China Posted: 03 Jan 2019 03:14 AM PST  After only a year in business, startup Luckin Coffee said Thursday it will open 2,500 stores this year to dislodge Starbucks and become China's largest coffee chain. The company said it plans to have more than 4,500 stores in China by the end of 2019, taking it past the US coffee giant, which has over 3,600 stores across the country. China is Starbucks' second biggest market after the United States.
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