Exclusive: As Amazon fires rage, Brazil tells diplomats to fix image

Stung by a global outcry over deforestation and wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil has launched a diplomatic offensive to persuade the international community of its environmental credentials. President Jair Bolsonaro's administration has distributed a 12-page circular to its foreign embassies, outlining data and statistics that diplomats are meant to cite to defend the government's position on the crisis. The circular, reviewed by Reuters and reported here for the first time, attempts to address 59 areas where Brazil has come under fire, by citing various policies and data.

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Police are trying to arrest their way out of a mass shooting epidemic, and experts warn that law enforcement can't shoulder the entire burden

The arrests won't fully or permanently stop a person determined to inflict mass death — and the US is nowhere near close to tackling the root causes.

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Jeffrey Epstein's death revealed 'inexplicable negligence,' former federal prosecutor says

“How do they not keep an eye on that guy, especially after he tries to kill himself?” says Elie Honig on the latest episode of the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery.”

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China is feeling the pain of U.S. tariffs. Now it's time for negotiators to secure a deal.

China's economy is weaker than it has been in a long time, leaving U.S. negotiators with incredible leverage. Now's the time for them to use it.

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David Koch's Millions Remade the Republican Party. He Didn't Like the Results

David Koch was the most vilified symbol of the billionaires who have turned 21st century politics their playground. He died at 79.

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Tear gas fired as Hong Kong police, protesters clash

Hong Kong riot cops fired tear gas and baton-charged protesters who retaliated with a barrage of stones, bottles and bamboo poles on Saturday, as a standoff in a working-class neighbourhood descended into violence, breaking an uneasy peace that had lasted several days. Earlier thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of riot police with shields and batons outside a police station. Frontline protesters -- known as "braves" -- pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo construction poles.

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North Korea launches short-range missiles complicating US attempts for talks

North Korea fired what appears to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Saturday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of launches in recent weeks. A US official said the two missiles North Korea had fired appeared to be similar to launches in recent weeks. Saturday's launch, the seventh by North Korea since US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met at the inter-Korean border in June, have complicated attempts to restart talks between US and North Korean negotiators over the future of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. The two leaders agreed to restart working-level negotiations in June, but since then the United States has so far been unsuccessful in attempts to get talks going. US envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun was in Seoul this week to discuss ways to get negotiations back on track. "We are prepared to engage as soon as we hear from our counterparts in North Korea," Mr Biegun said on Wednesday. But in recent weeks, North Korea has repeatedly criticised US and South Korean largely computer-simulated joint military drills, South Korea's import of high-tech weapons such as F-35 stealth jets, and US testing of its intermediate-range cruise missile as threatening and hindrances to dialogue. North Korean missile ranges On Friday, North Korea's top diplomat called US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a "diehard toxin," saying: "We are ready for both dialogue and standoff." South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) expressed "strong concern" over North Korea's continued launches despite the fact that the South Korea-US joint military exercises denounced by North Korea had ended. It called for North Korea to stop escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The NSC agreed to make diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table with the United States as soon as possible for the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's presidential office said in a statement. A senior US administration official said: "We are aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea, and continue to monitor the situation. We are consulting closely with our Japanese and South Korean allies." Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya said that North Korea's missile launches were a clear violation of UN resolutions and cannot be ignored. He confirmed that missiles fell outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, and posed no immediate threat to Japan's security. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said North Korea fired what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday at around 6:45 a.m. and 7:02 a.m. KST respectively from around Sondok, South Hamgyong Province. Sondok is the site of a North Korean military airfield. They flew about 236 miles and reached a height of 60 miles, JSC said. Japan's Coast Guard warned shipping not to approach any fallen debris. South Korea officially informed Japan on Friday of its decision to scrap an intelligence-sharing agreement, which Japanese Minister of Defence Takeshi Iwaya said was regrettable and showed that Seoul failed to appreciate the growing security threat posed by North Korea.

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Former police officer charged with murder for botched Houston raid

Prosecutors are reviewing 14,000 criminal cases involving the drug squad that conducted the raid for evidence of improprieties, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told a news conference. In January, then police officer Gerald Goines wrote in an affidavit to obtain a search warrant that an informant had bought heroin at the house, Ogg said. On Jan. 28, Goines and his Houston narcotics squad entered the house without knocking, as allowed under the warrant.



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'King of Israel' and a Trump tower in Greenland: Here's what Trump had to say this week

Donald Trump had a lot to say this week. He tweeted out the claim that he is like "the King of Israel" and called the Danish prime minister "nasty." That was before his Friday comments.

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Prince Andrew Denies Knowing of Sex Trafficking by Epstein

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK from NYT World https://ift.tt/2MzUOUc

Fire Displaces 200 Residents of a Halfway House in Paterson, N.J.

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Iranian oil tanker pursued by US says it is going to Turkey

An Iranian-flagged oil tanker pursued by the U.S. amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington changed its listed destination to a port in Turkey early Saturday after Greece said it wouldn't risk its relations with America by aiding it. The crew of the oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, updated its listed destination in its Automatic Identification System to Mersin, Turkey, a port city in the country's south and home to an oil terminal.

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Who are the Koch brothers and how did David Koch help shape conservatism in America?

The Koch brothers built a massive political empire that has influenced conservative politics for decades.

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US city council candidate says she wants to keep town 'a white community as much as possible'

A city council candidate in Michigan told an audience that she wanted to keep her city “a white community”.Jean Cramer shocked constituents and politicians in Marysville, Michigan when she gave an overtly racist answer to a question about how the town should attract more foreign-born residents in the Great Lakes area.

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Two NYC women plead guilty to plan to build bomb for attack on U.S.

Two women inspired by radical Islam pleaded guilty in New York City on Friday to teaching and distributing information about the manufacture and use of an explosive, destructive device and weapon of mass destruction, federal prosecutors said. Asia Siddiqui and Noelle Velentzas, both U.S. citizens in their 30s from the borough of Queens, face up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced. U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement the defendants studied some of the most deadly attacks in U.S. history as a blueprint for their plans to kill American law enforcement and military personnel.

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North Korea foreign minister calls Pompeo 'poisonous plant'

North Korea's foreign minister on Friday called U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a "poisonous plant of American diplomacy" and vowed to "shutter the absurd dream" that sanctions will force a change in Pyongyang. The North's blistering rhetoric may dim the prospect for an early resumption of nuclear negotiations between the countries. A senior U.S. diplomat said earlier this week that Washington was ready to restart the talks, a day after U.S. and South Korean militaries ended their regular drills that Pyongyang called an invasion rehearsal.

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How Trump Fits Into the Long, Fraught History of the Relationship Between Israel and American Jews

Daniel Gordis, author of 'We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel,' talks to TIME

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The Latest: Hong Kong protest winds down after clashes

A large group of protesters has largely dispersed in Hong Kong after engaging in clashes with police for the first time in nearly two weeks. Riot officers used tear gas and nonlethal rounds Saturday after protesters took over a road in the city's Kowloon Bay area. The protesters regrouped several times to challenge police again before calling it a day as night fell.

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Former police officer charged with murder for botched Houston raid

Prosecutors are reviewing 14,000 criminal cases involving the drug squad that conducted the raid for evidence of improprieties, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told a news conference. In January, then police officer Gerald Goines wrote in an affidavit to obtain a search warrant that an informant had bought heroin at the house, Ogg said. On Jan. 28, Goines and his Houston narcotics squad entered the house without knocking, as allowed under the warrant.



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Britain will withhold $37 billion from EU in no-deal Brexit: Mail on Sunday

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to tell European Union leaders he will withhold 30 billion pounds ($37 billion) from the Brexit divorce bill unless they agree to changes to the deal, the Mail on Sunday reported. If Britain leaves the bloc without a trade deal, lawyers have concluded the government's will only have to pay the EU 9 billion pounds, rather than 39 billion pounds, the newspaper reported.

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Russian doctor has trace of radiation after explosion

More than 100 Russian medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday. It was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, but the authorities insisted it didn't pose any danger. The Arkhangelsk regional administration said Friday that 110 medical workers have undergone checks that one man was found with a low amount of radioactive cesium-137 in his muscle tissue.

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Democrats can’t just unwind Trump’s foreign policy

Through executive orders, regulatory changes, political maneuvers and sometimes mere neglect, the president has overseen major, possibly permanent, shifts in U.S. foreign policy.

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Britain sends another warship to boost presence in the Gulf

Britain is sending another warship to the Gulf to defend freedom of navigation, the defence minister said on Saturday, after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the region. Tensions have risen between Iran and Britain after Iranian commandos seized a British-flagged tanker last month.

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