| Trump slams congresswomen; crowd roars, 'Send her back!' Posted: 17 Jul 2019 05:35 PM PDT  A combative President Donald Trump rallied Republican supporters Wednesday in North Carolina, harshly criticizing four fiery, left-wing congresswoman of being un-American and claiming they are the face of the Democratic Party that will ruin the country. "I think in some cases they hate our country," Trump said to the crowd in North Carolina, a swing state he won in 2016 and wants to win again next year. Trump's jabs were aimed at the four freshman Democrats, self-described as "the squad," who have garnered attention since their arrival in January for their outspoken liberal views and distaste for Trump: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
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| What If America Lost a Carrier in a War with Iran? Posted: 16 Jul 2019 02:41 PM PDT  The Navy simply lacks enough ships and aircraft to meet the increasing demands of its global mission. The recent oil tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman reinforce the need to reestablish a highly visible U.S. naval deterrent in the Middle East. For eight months last year, no aircraft carrier strike group plied the region, the longest such interruption this millennium. With the United States needing a more robust posture against Iran and confronting renewed challenges in Asia and Europe, several immediate measures and concerted longer-term efforts are critical to ensure America has the carriers it needs.The requirement to maintain carrier presence in the Middle East is a critical part of a broader national security strategy, in which U.S. global security interests necessitate a worldwide force presence. Indeed, the Navy's mission demands remain as high as those of the Cold War, calling on ships to be everywhere seemingly at once, but today's fleet is less than half the size it was 30 years ago.During the Obama administration, a "rebalance" supposedly allowed the Pentagon to focus on Asia and Europe while washing its hands of the Middle East. In reality, we never effectively rebalanced forces in the Indo-Pacific, and the situation on the ground forced us to remain deeply involved in the Middle East. Now with a growing Iranian threat, it would be imprudent to suddenly abandon the region, even as we face renewed challenges in the Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean.(This first appeared in June 2019.)
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| New York businesswoman and Jamaican immigrant Scherie Murray launches campaign to unseat Ocasio-Cortez Posted: 17 Jul 2019 12:47 PM PDT  "There's a crisis in Queens and it's called AOC," said Scherie Murray, a Republican businesswoman who is challenging Ocasio-Cortez in 2020.
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| Investigators 'discover mysterious 200lb load' on board MH370 after take-off Posted: 16 Jul 2019 09:55 AM PDT  Investigators looking into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have discovered a "mysterious 200lb load" added to the flight list after take-off, according to an engineer whose wife and two children were on board. Ghyslain Wattrelos said the cargo was revealed in a report on the passengers and baggage by French investigators. Mr Wattrelos, who believes the flight was deliberately downed, told Le Parisien newspaper: "It was also learned that a mysterious load of 89 kilos was added to the flight list after take-off. A container was also overloaded, without anyone knowing why. It may be incompetence or manipulation. Everything is possible. This will be part of the questions for the Malaysians." MH370 became one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries when it vanished with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. French investigators who examined flight data at Boeing's headquarters in Seattle believe that the pilot was in control of the airliner "right up to the end". A modern mystery | Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Mr Wattrelos said the investigators told him the data "lends weight" to the theory that the pilot crashed into the sea in a murder-suicide, although they stressed that there was no proof. The investigators expect it to take up to a year to examine the data fully. However, some experts believe a hijack by a stowaway is a possibility and the mysterious load could lend credence to the theory. Tim Termini, an aviation security specialist, told Channel 5 earlier this month: "It's highly likely that a hijack took place and again, there's four options for the hijack. "One is the hijack of the aircraft through a crew member. The second is a hijack coming from a passenger. A third option, which is a fairly unusual one, would be a stowaway. And then of course the fourth option is an electrical takeover of the aircraft from a ground-based station." Mr Wattrelos, 54, who has led a campaign to find out what happened to the flight, acknowledged that "there is a risk that I may never learn the full truth." Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
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| Buzz Aldrin explains why Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon Posted: 16 Jul 2019 06:14 AM PDT  July 20, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing when American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person ever to plant boots on the dusty lunar surface. Buzz Aldrin followed about 20 minutes later.
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| 'You must be stupid': Duterte says he won't be tried by international court Posted: 17 Jul 2019 01:34 AM PDT !['You must be stupid': Duterte says he won't be tried by international court]( "'You must be stupid': Duterte says he won't be tried by international court") Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared he will never be tried by an international court for mass killings in his war on drugs, and vowed no let up in a crackdown that he said he was winning and would see through "to the very end". In a television interview with a celebrity pastor, the firebrand leader said the Philippine justice system was working fine, so it would be "stupid" to imagine he would let an international court put him on trial.
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| UK raises alarm after mother held by Iran is taken to mental ward Posted: 17 Jul 2019 08:38 AM PDT  London demanded the immediate release Wednesday of a jailed British-Iranian aid worker whose husband said she has been transferred to the mental ward of a public hospital in Tehran. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case has roiled Britain's relations with the Islamic republic since her 2016 arrest and conviction on sedition charges over which she has held a series of hunger strikes. "We are extremely concrned about Nazanin's welfare and call for her immediate release," Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.
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| Man arrested in slaying of 75-year-old community activist Posted: 16 Jul 2019 03:22 PM PDT  The suspect in the slaying of a community leader who founded Baton Rouge's African American history museum was a tenant who owed her back rent, authorities said Tuesday. Ronn Jermaine Bell, 38, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of first-degree murder, city Police Chief Murphy J. Paul told news reporters. Bell is being held in the East Baton Rouge Parish jail.
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| Anti-Defamation League blasts Trump for 'invoking support for Israel to defend this racism' Posted: 16 Jul 2019 11:48 AM PDT  The president's attack on Democratic lawmakers is panned by the Jewish civil rights group.
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| An Air Force Pilot Tells Us What Flying a B-2 Stealth Bomber Is Like Posted: 16 Jul 2019 12:02 AM PDT  (Washington, D.C.) When B-2 stealth bombers attacked Serbia on the opening night of Operation Allied Force in 1999, destroyed Iraqi air defenses during 2003's "Shock and Awe" and eliminated the Libyan fighter force in 2011 -- the attacks were all guided by highly-specialized pilots trained in stealth attack tactics.Given the dangers of these kinds of missions, such as flying into heavy enemy ground fire from air defenses, confronting the prospect of air attacks and preparing for electronic warfare over hostile territory, B-2 pilots need to be ready."We prepare and train every single day in case we get called up tomorrow," Lt. Col. Nicola Polidor, Commander of Detachment 5 of the 29th Training Systems Squadron, told Warrior in an interview.While performing missions, B-2 pilots need to maintain the correct flight path, align with specific targeting intelligence and load and prepare weapons, all while manning a digital cockpit to control a wide range of additional variables at one time. Polidor, who trains future B-2 pilots at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, says Air Force pilot trainees have adjusted well to learning a seemingly overwhelming amount of new information."The biggest challenge for pilots is being able to manage flying for long periods of time at the same time as managing a communications suite and robust weapons package," Polidor said.Polidor is only the 10th female B-2 pilot in history.Training is broken down into an academic phase and a flight phase, with classroom training as the first step. Trainees, Polidor explained, typically spend about two months working on a simulator, before taking their first flight.
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| 2-year-old girl who disappeared from Michigan campsite found alive Posted: 16 Jul 2019 11:49 AM PDT  Police have found the 2-year-old who went missing from a campsite in Comins Township, Michigan, on Monday. The search lasted more than 24 hours.
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| North Carolina father of 7 dies trying to save his drowning children at beach Posted: 17 Jul 2019 12:36 PM PDT  A North Carolina father drowned Sunday while rescuing two of his youngchildren who were swept away by a wave while walking on a submerged jetty atWrightsville Beach
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| Teachers union has become an arm of the abortion-rights left. Conservatives should quit. Posted: 17 Jul 2019 04:00 AM PDT  Why would the NEA go out of its way to take extreme stands on hot-button issues so far removed from the real problems facing our nation's schools?
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| Your Kids Won't Have Any Room For Candy After These Halloween Dinner Ideas Posted: 17 Jul 2019 12:46 PM PDT |
| From Iraq to Yemen, drones raise U.S. alarm over Iranian plans Posted: 17 Jul 2019 08:10 AM PDT ![From Iraq to Yemen, drones raise U.S. alarm over Iranian plans]( "From Iraq to Yemen, drones raise U.S. alarm over Iranian plans") GENEVA/WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington. The United States believes that Iran-linked militia in Iraq have recently increased their surveillance of American troops and bases in the country by using off-the-shelf, commercially available drones, U.S. officials say.
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| Australia calls on China to let Uighur mother and son leave Posted: 17 Jul 2019 02:31 AM PDT  Australia's government on Wednesday called on China to allow an Australian child and his Uighur mother to leave the country, days after co-signing a letter denouncing Beijing's treatment of the Muslim minority. China has rounded up an estimated one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minorities into re-education camps in tightly controlled Xinjiang region, in the country's northwest. Sadam Abdusalam has campaigned for months for his Uighur wife, Nadila Wumaier, and their son Lutifeier, whom he has never met, to be allowed to come to Australia.
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| Pakistan arrests US-wanted terror suspect in Mumbai attacks Posted: 17 Jul 2019 08:12 AM PDT  Pakistan on Wednesday arrested a radical cleric and U.S.-wanted terror suspect implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, officials said, just days ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan's trip to Washington. Hafiz Saeed was taken into custody in Punjab province while traveling from the eastern city of Lahore to the city of Gujranwala, according to counterterrorism official Mohammad Shafiq. Saeed founded the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which was blamed for the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
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| Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen says she was removed after 'secret meeting' Posted: 17 Jul 2019 05:36 AM PDT  Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen says she was removed from her role due to "philosophical differences" with the board of the reproductive giant.
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| Boris Johnson rejects EU compromise and pushes Britain towards the no-deal Brexit cliff edge Posted: 16 Jul 2019 01:58 AM PDT  The likely next prime minister said he would not accept a time-limit or exit mechanism on the contentious backstop for Northern Ireland.
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| Trump unveils immigration and border security bill in Cabinet meeting Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:08 AM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump presented a bill to his Cabinet on Tuesday aimed at boosting border security and overhauling the current immigration system to make it more merit-based, a senior administration official said. The president will meet with Republican congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy later on Tuesday to map out a way forward, the official added, requesting anonymity. "The goal of this has been to unify the Republicans as much as possible around a plan," he said, noting that divisions with the GOP over policy issues had hindered immigration reform bids in the past.
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| Couple kiss in photo with lion moments after shooting it dead Posted: 16 Jul 2019 02:16 AM PDT  A couple photographed kissing next to a lion they have just killed while on safari has caused outrage.Darren and Carolyn Carter, from Edmonton in Canada, posed for the camera minutes after shooting dead the animal while trophy hunting in South Africa."Hard work in the hot Kalahari sun," they wrote underneath the picture posted online. "A monster lion."Another image shows the couple in front of a second dead big cat. "There is nothing like hunting the king of the jungle," the photo is captioned.But the pictures were widely condemned after being placed on the website of Legelela Safaris – a tour company which specialises in organising big game hunts.> Darren and Carolyn Carter. I hope this kiss makes you famous. pic.twitter.com/V2QUkZq5NB> > — Danny Clayton (@DannyjClayton) > > July 15, 2019Eduardo Goncalves, the founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: "It looks as though this lion was a tame animal killed in an enclosure, bred for the sole purpose of being the subject of a smug selfie."This couple should be utterly ashamed of themselves, not showing off and snogging for the cameras."Australian TV host Danny Clayton said: "More idiots that get their rocks off by pointing a boomstick at a beautiful animal."But the couple have refused to be drawn on the photos. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Mr Carter, who runs a taxidermy business with his wife, said: "We aren't interested in commenting…it's too political."Legelela Safaris charges up to £2,400 for tours which include giraffe, zebra, leopard, elephant, rhino and lion hunts.
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| Wary US swimmers share waves with deadly sharks off Cape Cod Posted: 17 Jul 2019 01:14 AM PDT  At the entrance to Newcomb Hollow Beach, at the tip of the Cape Cod peninsula, the picture of a great white shark reminds swimmers that the US shores of the Atlantic must be shared with the ocean's most feared predator. The great whites swim to this region in the northeastern United States to hunt for one of their preferred foods -- seals. Since the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed in 1972 the number of seals in Cape Cod has grown to more than 50,000.
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| Hannity: No matter what Pelosi says, the radical Democrats are in charge Posted: 15 Jul 2019 06:40 PM PDT  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal isn't about climate change, it was about control.
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| Man convicted for killing woman in front of her children Posted: 17 Jul 2019 02:22 PM PDT ![Man convicted for killing woman in front of her children]( "Man convicted for killing woman in front of her children") A man who served decades in prison for stabbing his wife 14 times in front of her daughter was convicted Wednesday in a nearly identical crime — stabbing a woman at least 11 times while her twin children watched. Albert Flick, 77, who was previously deemed too old to be a threat by a judge, was convicted in the 2018 death of Kimberly Dobbie. Both the attack, which was in front of a laundromat in broad daylight, and Flick's purchase two days earlier of two knives, were caught on surveillance video.
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| Over-the-Top Ice Cream Sandwich Recipes That Are Worth Every Calorie Posted: 16 Jul 2019 03:07 PM PDT |
| Sen. Rand Paul delays attempt to reauthorize 9/11 first responder bill, cites cost as the reason Posted: 17 Jul 2019 02:00 PM PDT  A bill to reauthorize a fund that compensates victims of 9/11 and their families was delayed on the Senate floor by Sen. Rand Paul.
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| Big Guns: Army Prototypes Range-Doubling New Artillery Weapon to Outgun Russia Posted: 17 Jul 2019 12:02 AM PDT  The Army is building prototypes of a new artillery cannon that can more than double the range of existing weapons and vastly alter the strategic and tactical landscape shaping land war into the future.The Army program, called Extended Range Cannon Artillery, has been developing for several years; it is now entering a new phase through an Army deal with BAE Systems to build "Increment 1" prototypes."This prototype phase will address capability gaps in the Army's indirect fire systems and improve the rate and range of fire with the development of power distribution software and hardware integration solutions," a BAE Systems statement said.During testing thus far, the Army has successfully fired a 155mm artillery round 62 kilometers - marking a technical breakthrough in the realm of land-based weapons and progressing toward its stated goal of being able to outrange and outgun Russian and Chinese weapons.Currently, most land-fired artillery shot from an M777 Towed Howitzer or Self-Propelled Howitzer are able to pinpoint targets out to 30km - so hitting 62km dramatically changes Army offensive attack capability. As part of an effort to ensure the heavy M777 is sufficiently mobile, the Army completed a "mobility" demonstration of ERCA prototypes last year.
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| Unbowed, Trump intensifies attacks on four Democratic congresswomen Posted: 17 Jul 2019 02:52 PM PDT  GREENVILLE, North Carolina/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump intensified his vilification of four liberal lawmakers as un-American at a raucous rally on Wednesday, underscoring that the attacks will be a key part of his strategy for winning re-election in 2020. Despite criticism from Democrats that his comments about the four minority congresswomen are racist, Trump went on a 20-minute diatribe about them, saying they were welcome to leave the country if they do not like his policies on issues such as immigration and defending Israel. "So these congresswomen, their comments are helping to fuel the rise of a dangerous, militant hard left," Trump said to roars from the crowd in North Carolina, a state seen as key to his re-election.
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| US military chiefs ordered to reveal if Pentagon used diseased insects as biological weapon Posted: 16 Jul 2019 04:04 AM PDT  US lawmakers have voted to demand the Pentagon discloses whether it conducted experiments to "weaponise" disease-carrying ticks – and whether any such insects were let loose outside the lab.A bill passed in the House of Representatives requires the Defence Department's inspector general to investigate whether biological warfare tests involving the tiny arachnids took place over a 25-year period.It follows claims that Pentagon researchers implanted diseases into inspects to study the potential of biological weapons in the decades after the Second World War.A tick-related amendment, first reported by Roll Call, was added to the fiscal 2020 defence authorisation bill by Republican congressman Chris Smith prior to its passing in the House.The New Jersey politician said the inspector general's office should "conduct a review of whether the Department of Defence experimented with ticks and other insects regarding use as a biological weapon between the years of 1950 and 1975."If the experiments did take place, the office must provide a report explaining "whether any ticks or insects used in such experiments were released outside of any laboratory by accident or experiment design", the amendment also stated.A book released earlier this year, entitled Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, sets out the case that the Defence Department did conduct research on biological warfare.Author Kris Newby also suggests a possible relationship between the experiments and the spread of Lyme disease – an infectious disease spread by ticks causing fever, headaches and fatigue."We need answers and we need them now," said Mr Smith, a founding co-chairman of the Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus, which advocates for greater understanding of the disease.Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association, said uncovering past experiments might help with current work trying to tackle the illness."We need to find out: is there anything in this research that was supposedly done that can help us to find information that is germane to patient health and combating the spread of the disease," she said.The defence authorisation bill still needs to pass in the Senate before heading to Donald Trump's desk at the White House.
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| How Kim Jong Un Got Mercedes-Benz Pullman Limos Home to North Korea Posted: 16 Jul 2019 03:30 PM PDT  Researchers tracked the luxury cars all the way from the Netherlands, in apparent defiance of sanctions.
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| Woman pleads not guilty in Las Vegas manicurist murder case Posted: 16 Jul 2019 12:12 PM PDT  A woman who authorities say ran down a salon worker trying to stop her from skipping out on a $35 manicure pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges and lost a bid to be freed from jail pending trial. A judge in Las Vegas told Krystal Whipple, standing in shackles, that "proof is evident and the presumption is great" that she was involved in a homicide. Police said Whipple tried to pay for her Dec. 29, 2018, manicure with a fraudulent credit card before telling Ngoc Quynh Nhu Nguyen that she was going to her car to get cash.
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| Teachers were told their student loan debt would be cancelled after 10 years of payments, but that didn't happen. Now they're suing Betsy DeVos. Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:05 AM PDT  Eight public school teachers filed a lawsuit against Betsy DeVos, criticizing the Department of Education for mismanaging their student loan debt.
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| Dilemmas for West as Iran's arrests of dual nationals mount Posted: 17 Jul 2019 09:51 AM PDT  Notorious for its conditions, Tehran's Evin prison is proving to be a headache for Western governments as a rising number of dual nationals are detained in what many see as a ruthless diplomatic strategy. Fariba Adelkhah, a well-known academic with French and Iranian nationality, has been held in the prison in north Tehran since early June on charges that have not been disclosed.
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| What Rare Earths Tell Us about China's Competitive Strategy Posted: 17 Jul 2019 09:27 AM PDT  The recent debate over whether or not China will carry through on its threats to stop exporting rare earth minerals to the United States is an important one. It raises deeply unsettling questions about the strength of America's defense industrial supply chain. But Beijing's monopolization of the global rare earths industry gives it far more than a card to play in an escalating trade war. The game is far bigger and the stakes higher than even many national-security experts seem to realize.In the minds of Chinese strategists, this issue is ultimately about which nation, China or America, wins the central struggle of the twenty-first century, the race for world leadership. Obviously, they intend to win and to win big.The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) considers rare earths to be essential for growing China's power and eclipsing the United States. Official Chinese propaganda outlets recently called rare earths "strategic resources" for the "six new technology groups" that Beijing sees as engines of China's future strength. These include information technology, medical technology, new materials, new energy sources, space technology, and advanced shipbuilding. According to the report, a major breakthrough in the application of rare earths is being made every five years, and one out of every six new inventions involves these minerals.
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| 10 Hyundai Palisade Features Its Rivals Wish They Had Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:03 AM PDT |
| Kellyanne Conway challenges reporter who questioned Trump's tweet: 'What's your ethnicity?' Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:28 AM PDT  The counselor to the president lashed out at a White House reporter who pressed her on President Trump's tweets saying four Democratic congresswomen of color should "go back" to their home countries.
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| Brazil Police Shut Down a Factory Making Fake Ferraris and 'Shamborghinis' Posted: 17 Jul 2019 06:44 AM PDT  Brazilian police say they've shut down a clandestine factory that was producing fake Ferraris and sham Lamborghinis
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| Ukraine says transport organizer of missile that shot down MH-17 plane in jail Posted: 17 Jul 2019 07:25 AM PDT ![Ukraine says transport organizer of missile that shot down MH-17 plane in jail]( "Ukraine says transport organizer of missile that shot down MH-17 plane in jail") Ukraine said on Wednesday a rebel who organized the trailer carrying the missile that shot down a Malaysian airliner in 2014 had been captured two years ago and was now serving a sentence in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the sky over eastern Ukraine during a rebellion by Russian-backed separatists, killing all 298 people on board. A Dutch-led team of investigators has blamed Russia for supplying the surface-to-air missile that shot it down.
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| Arrested reporter slams conditions at US detention centers Posted: 17 Jul 2019 02:24 PM PDT  A Spanish-language reporter who was recently released from immigration custody said Wednesday he was held for 15 months in detention centers that were plagued by insects and he had to bathe with cold water from water hoses. During a news conference, Manuel Duran discussed what he called inhumane conditions at immigration detention facilities in Louisiana and Alabama. Duran was released from an Alabama facility on bail last week as immigration courts consider his request for asylum.
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| Italian, U.S. police make arrests as Mafia clan looks to regroup Posted: 17 Jul 2019 02:06 AM PDT ![Italian, U.S. police make arrests as Mafia clan looks to regroup]( "Italian, U.S. police make arrests as Mafia clan looks to regroup") Italian and U.S. police have launched a coordinated crackdown against major crime families who were looking to rebuild their Mafia powerbase in Sicily, Italian investigators said on Wednesday. More than 200 police, including officers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have been carrying out 19 arrest warrants since dawn targeting the Inzerillo clan in Sicily's capital Palermo and the New York-based Gambino family. Sicily's organised crime group, known as 'Cosa Nostra' (Our Thing), has been in a state of flux since the death of the feared boss of bosses Salvatore "Toto" Riina, who died in prison in 2017 after spending almost a quarter of century behind bars.
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| Afghan colonel killed in 'insider attack' near US forces Posted: 17 Jul 2019 11:40 AM PDT  American troops opened fire after an "enemy insider" shot and killed an Afghan commander in central Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said, in yet another deadly Taliban-claimed infiltration. According to the Afghan defence ministry, Colonel Mateen Mujtaba, who headed the 3rd army division in Ghazni province, was conducting a security assessment in Qarabagh district when an Afghan soldier started shooting. Mateen was "killed by an army soldier who was in fact an enemy insider," the defence ministry said in a statement.
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| 'Dangerous': Air Force responds to plans to 'storm Area 51' and 'see them aliens' Posted: 16 Jul 2019 11:39 AM PDT  As more than a million people on Facebook say they're "going" to a joke event to "storm Area 51," the U.S. military has responded to the plans.
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