Walmart’s C.E.O. Steps Into the Gun Debate. Other C.E.O.s Should Follow.

By BY ANDREW ROSS SORKIN from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2UsYmZq

North Carolina’s Legislative Maps Are Thrown Out by State Court Panel

By BY MICHAEL WINES AND RICHARD FAUSSET from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2HKB24n

Gunman in Texas shooting previously failed background check: Here's what we know

Police have not released information on how the gunman in the Texas shooting in Odessa on Saturday obtained the firearm he used.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZJSksw

Hurricane Dorian is slowly inching from the Bahamas toward the US, leaving devastation in its wake

Hurricane Dorian pulled away from the Bahamas as a Category 2 storm on Tuesday morning. Its effects could reach Florida by Tuesday evening.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2KWiLD5

Hurricane Dorian: ‘It’s Going to be Extremely Close’ Says Hurricane Specialist

Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters> Hurricane Dorian’s winds have howled with gusts of up to 220 mph across the Caribbean, with sustained winds at 185 mph, making it the strongest storm to ever hover east of Florida, or that far north in the Atlantic Ocean, and tying it in second for highest winds ever recorded in the Atlantic. The merciless storm hit the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas with that force on Sunday, leaving total devastation. The landfall officially tied Dorian with the decades-old record held by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest winds of any storm to hit land. The slowly encroaching Hurricane was moved to Category 5 on Sunday—the highest category on the Saffir–Simpson scale, which classifies hurricanes based off of sustained wind speed.With just 205 miles between Dorian and the Florida coastline, President Trump made the declaration on Twitter on Sunday that 2019’s Labor Day storm “is looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever.” Later in the day, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R) ordered a mandatory evacuation of the state’s entire coastline in the possibility that Dorian sweeps northward on Wednesday.Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science specializing in Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecasts, talked to The Daily Beast about the likelihood that Dorian’s wrath could reach the United States, and the devastation it could cause.What are the chances that Dorian will hit the United States at the 185 mph speed it is sustaining right now? As it approaches the United States, it should encounter some stronger vertical wind shear which should begin to weaken the storm somewhat. It’s still forecast to turn north just before it gets to Florida. It’s going to be extremely close, but at this point, an actual landfall seems relatively low. If it tracks close enough to the coast though, there could still be very substantial impacts including high winds and some storm surge. There could still be a landfall further up the coast in either Georgia or the Carolinas.What does a Category 5 storm entail?That generally means pretty much complete destruction for everything in its path.  If Dorian does make landfall on the U.S., what kind of impact could it have on affected states?It all depends on how close the storm gets. It is going to be tracking perpendicular to the coastline when it approaches, so small angle of approach changes could make huge differences in impacts. The Slower Hurricane Dorian Moves, the More Dangerous It IsWhat makes Dorian different from other recent storms?Dorian is an extremely powerful hurricane. It has maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. In the Atlantic basin, there’s only been one hurricane with stronger winds: Hurricane Allen in 1980.  How does climate change, the warming ocean, affect hurricanes or specifically this one?In the area where Dorian underwent its strongest intensification, water temperatures were near average. It’s just that waters near the Bahamas are super hot on average. Currently they’re 85-88°F. Hurricanes live off of warm ocean hot water, and those kinds of temperatures are like jet fuel for hurricanes. Sea level rise is likely to exacerbate storm surge, since the background sea level will be higher. A warmer atmosphere means more rainfall, since a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor. Hurricanes may get a bit stronger (e.g., higher winds) in the future too, although there is a lot of uncertainty there.  Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2liFoY8

Hurricane Dorian news – live: Mass evacuations underway in Florida and Georgia as deadly storm approaches US coast

Hurricane Dorian is continuing to pound the northwestern Bahamas following a catastrophic day-long halt over the island that left five dead and 21 injured and saw the flooding of Abaco and Grand Bahama with walls of water that lapped into the second floors of buildings and left an airport under six feet of water.“We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said. “The devastation is unprecedented and extensive.”

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34mMrRs

UPDATE 2-Tesla Autopilot engaged in 2018 California crash; driver's hands off wheel -NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday that a Tesla Model S was in Autopilot mode and the driver's hands were off the wheel when it struck a fire truck in Culver City, California, one of a series of crashes the board is investigating involving Tesla's driver assistance system. The 2014 Model S Autopilot system was engaged continuously for the final 13 minutes 48 seconds of the trip before the vehicle struck a fire truck parked on Interstate-405 in January 2018, the NTSB safety board said in documents posted on Tuesday.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34mPQjx

Biden taps influence industry despite pledge on lobbyists

Joe Biden entered the Democratic primary promising "from day one" to reject campaign cash from lobbyists. "I work for you — not any industry," he tweeted. It's difficult to quantify how much Biden has raised from the multibillion-dollar influence industry, but the roughly $200,000 he accepted from employees of major lobbying firms is far more than any of his rivals has received, according to a review of campaign finance data by The Associated Press.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MRdU8r

Floridians hope Dorian's economic impact will be temporary

Hurricane Dorian is losing strength as it churns closer to the Florida coast, and that's bringing some cautious relief to the state's big tourism industry. Parts of the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida, closed early on Tuesday. Airports in Orlando, Palm Beach and several smaller cities remained closed, and most flights in Fort Lauderdale were scrubbed too.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2N0nh67

Trump's new Mexico envoy stirs hornet's nest with Frida Kahlo jab

The new U.S. ambassador to Mexico has taken aim at Mexican icon Frida Kahlo for her support of Marxism, stirring up a fierce social media debate with a tweet asking if the painter had not been aware of atrocities committed in the name of that ideology. Few Mexicans have enjoyed greater global recognition than Kahlo, who spent long periods bedridden after a traffic accident in her youth, attained international fame following her death in 1954 and became a feminist symbol in the 1970s. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Landau, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and sworn in last month, must navigate a volatile bilateral relationship.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2LfE5nb

Trump administration U-turns on decision to deport migrants with life-threatening health issues

The Trump administration announced on Monday it would reconsider its controversial decision to force immigrants facing life-threatening health crises to return to their home countries, an abrupt move last month that generated public outrage and was roundly condemned by the medical establishment.On 7 August, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, without public notice, eliminated a “deferred action” program that had allowed immigrants to avoid deportation while they or their relatives were undergoing lifesaving medical treatment.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZvJhfv

‘We are one’: Community vows to heal as police investigate motive for West Texas shootings

The West Texas rampage left seven people dead and 25 people injured, including a 17-month-old girl who suffered major facial injuries but survived.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/32jRCQv

Devastation in Bahamas as Hurricane Dorian crawls along US coast

Weakening slightly but still packing a powerful punch, Hurricane Dorian churned along the southeastern coast of the United States on Tuesday after delivering a devastating blow to the Bahamas. Bahamas National Security Minister Marvin Dames said several children were among the five deaths reported in the Atlantic archipelago from the monster storm and predicted more fatalities. Aerial footage of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas broadcast by CNN showed scenes of catastrophic damage, with hundreds of homes missing roofs, overturned cars, widespread flooding and debris strewn all over.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HxOBnH

Brother of British woman killed by expat husband pleads with UAE judge for murder sentence

The family of a murdered British woman has said Dubai will set a "dangerous" precedent if it releases her husband from prison this week, two years after he bludgeoned her to death with a hammer.  Francis Matthew, 62, will fight his murder conviction on Wednesday on the grounds that his wife, Jane, provoked him during an argument at their Dubai family home. Two years into a potential 15 year sentence, his lawyers will claim she called him a “loser”, which provoked the attack.   Mrs Matthew’s family criticised the proceedings, describing Dubai's legal system as “biased” and saying the defence was trying to “blame Jane for her own death”.   “The Dubai system is truly biased against Jane,” said Peter Manning, brother of Mrs Matthew. In a letter seen by The Telegraph and sent to Dubai’s Court of Cassation, the emirate’s highest judicial body, Mr Manning said releasing Mr Matthew early would deny his sister justice. Francis was editor-at-large of Gulf News when he killed his wife, Jane, following an argument Credit: Telegraph “To excuse this crime in some way as being Jane’s fault sends a clear message to husbands across the United Arab Emirates: you can kill your wife, even with a hammer, and all you have to do to escape justice is claim she ‘demeaned you’,” wrote Mr Manning. “This denies Jane her human right to life.”  He added, “It is very dangerous and completely opposite to the UAE’s aim of being a modern, gender equal nation.”  Mr Matthew, a former Economist journalist and editor of Gulf News, hit his wife with a hammer in the early hours of the morning in June 2017 following an argument. Mr Matthew's original conviction of assault that led to death in March 2018 was upgraded to murder on appeal and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Court of Cassation overturned the conviction and a panel of judges will review the case this week.  His defence will argue that he is guilty of “physical assault that led to death”. If the court agrees, he could walk free with time served. Francis is appealing for a lighter conviction, arguing that Jane provoked him by calling him a 'loser' Credit: Telegraph Mrs Matthew's family said her husband picked up a hammer in his kitchen and walked to the bedroom, where Mrs Matthew was lying in bed before attacking her with intent. After killing her, he showered and went to work as editor before staging a break-in on his return that evening.   “As Jane’s brother I am in no doubt that this was pre-meditated murder and I confirm that I wish to see Mr Matthew convicted of pre-meditated murder and jailed appropriately,” said Mr Manning. “My father and I have been frustrated with the way the Court of First Instance allowed the defence to blame Jane for her own death.”  It is not clear what impact the letter will have and Dubai is yet to acknowledge it.“If the court was open to justice they should be less willing to erect barriers to my letter,” said Mr Manning. The Foreign Office said it is supporting Mrs Matthew’s family and is in touch with the relevant local authorities.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZLWiwK

Hurricane Dorian edges 'dangerously close' to Florida after battering Bahamas

* Five dead as island nation suffers ‘historic tragedy’ * Follow the latest live updates on Hurricane DorianRain brought on by Hurricane Dorian continues to pour in Freeport, Bahamas, on Tuesday. Photograph: Tim Aylen/APHurricane Dorian was edging “dangerously close” to the US mainland on Tuesday, after its catastrophic two-day stall over the Bahamas destroyed thousands of homes and left at least five people dead.Despite weakening to a category 2 storm with sustained winds of 110mph, Dorian remained powerful, experts warned, with the potential to deliver “life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds” from central Florida to the Carolinas.The storm’s slow north-westerly crawl towards Florida finally began on Tuesday morning after a relentless 48-hour battering of the Abaco islands and Grand Bahama, causing massive destruction that the Bahamas prime minister, Hubert Minnis, said was an “historic tragedy”.“The Bahamas is presently at war and being attacked by Hurricane Dorian,” he told the Nassau Guardian. “And yet it has no weapon at its disposal to defend itself during such an assault by this enemy.”Rescue workers, including some from the US coast guard, worked to lift stranded residents from the roofs of flooded homes. More than 20 people were airlifted to safety in New Providence island, some with serious injuries.Large areas of Grand Bahama, including the popular tourist resort of Freeport, remained under water.“The reality of it all is, unfortunately, we will see more deaths. I can’t see any way out of it,” Marvin Dames, the Bahamas minister of national security, told reporters. He added that several of the confirmed dead were children.Millions in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina evacuated inland as Dorian, the most powerful Atlantic hurricane of modern times, began to menace the American mainland.The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said in its 11am advisory winds had dropped to almost half the speed of the 200mph gusts that pounded Abaco island at landfall on Sunday.But the size of the storm was increasing, senior hurricane specialist Dan Brown reported, with hurricane-force winds stretching 60 miles from its core and tropical storm-force winds up to 175mph.While Dorian’s center is no longer predicted to make a Florida landfall, according to the NHC, the storm is still expected to deliver a powerful blow.“The increasing size of Dorian’s windfield along with any deviation to the left of the forecast track will bring hurricane-force winds onshore along portions of the Florida east coast,” Brown said.Dorian’s projected path saw it hugging the Florida coastline for the next 24 to 36 hours, close to the Florida-Georgia border by Wednesday evening and grazing the Carolinas through Thursday and Friday.The storm has been difficult to predict because of constant atmospheric changes in the Atlantic and Caribbean which left Dorian parked over Grand Bahama for so long.“Somebody once told me a hurricane is like an elephant on roller-skates,” severe weather expert Jim Lushine, a retired NHC forecaster, told the Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper. “It doesn’t make a very sharp turn. It has to slow down tremendously before it can turn.”In Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday the scene was eerily quiet, 36 hours ahead of the expected arrival of tropical storm force winds. The city, with a group of other Georgian coastal counties, was placed under an evacuation order on Monday by Governor Brian Kemp.Matthew Aylen wades through waist deep water as he is rescued during Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Bahamas, on Tuesday. Photograph: Tim Aylen/APThe latest National Weather Service rainfall forecast indicated that the flash flood threat would increase into Wednesday along the Florida peninsula, then spread up the south-eastern and mid-Atlantic coast.In Miami, which has a large Bahamian community, volunteers and aid agencies were beginning to assemble relief supplies to send to the islands once the storm moved on.In a tweet using the hashtag bahamasstrong, Senator Marco Rubio said the government was ready to provide aid and assistance.As many as 13,000 homes in the Bahamas may have been destroyed or severely damaged, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.“It looks like they’re boats on top of the water,” said Rosa Knowles-Bain, 61, a resident who fled two days ago to an emergency shelter.At the White House, staff members reviewed hurricane planning with state and local officials. Donald Trump was being briefed hourly, the White House spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said.After cancelling a visit to Poland to stay in the US and “monitor” the storm, Trump played golf at his course in Virginia on Saturday and Sunday, before receiving hurricane briefings.Nine counties in Florida issued mandatory evacuations. They included parts of Duval county, home to Jacksonville, one of the two biggest cities in the state, and some areas in Palm Beach county, home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.Orlando international airport, one of the largest in Florida, ceased commercial operations at 2am on Tuesday because of the storm, it said in a statement. The airport in Fort Lauderdale planned to resume operations later on Tuesday, officials said.More than 2,300 flights were cancelled in the US as well as to and from the country. Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando was planning to close at 3pm on Tuesday. * The Associated Press contributed to this report.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Zu5yKE

Cancer overtakes heart disease as biggest rich-world killer

Cancer has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in wealthy countries and could become the world's biggest killer within just a few decades if current trends persist, researchers said on Tuesday. Publishing the findings of two large studies in The Lancet medical journal, the scientists said they showed evidence of a new global "epidemiologic transition" between different types of chronic disease. While cardiovascular disease remains, for now, the leading cause of mortality worldwide among middle-aged adults - accounting for 40% of all deaths - that is no longer the case in high-income countries, where cancer now kills twice as many people as heart disease, the findings showed.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HAQoIL

Photos show the destruction Hurricane Dorian has caused in the Bahamas from a punishing storm surge, up to 30 inches of rain, and 185 mph winds

Hurricane Dorian stalled over the Bahamas on Tuesday morning. Photos show the damage and flooding it's caused the islands.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/32ncark

Hong Kong Businesses Are Reeling Amid the Protests, But Their Workers Say 'Freedom' Is More Important

The trade war was already hitting Hong Kong's economy when protests broke out

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZxZ25N

UPDATE 2-Tesla Autopilot engaged in 2018 California crash; driver's hands off wheel -NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday that a Tesla Model S was in Autopilot mode and the driver's hands were off the wheel when it struck a fire truck in Culver City, California, one of a series of crashes the board is investigating involving Tesla's driver assistance system. The 2014 Model S Autopilot system was engaged continuously for the final 13 minutes 48 seconds of the trip before the vehicle struck a fire truck parked on Interstate-405 in January 2018, the NTSB safety board said in documents posted on Tuesday.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34mPQjx

Hurricane Dorian has struck the Bahamas, with Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas in its path. Here is where and when it's due to strike next.

Hurricane Dorian's path is nearing Florida, where it is no longer projected to make landfall, but still cause 'devastating hurricane-force winds.'

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2NM7iYH

Tropical Depression No. 7 forms in Gulf as it moves toward Mexico

The low spinning in the Gulf near Mexico has intensified into a depression and could be a tropical storm before moving into Mexico Wednesday evening.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2LrLT46

Desperate calls for help from flooded Bahamas islands

Port Saint Lucie (United States) (AFP) - The message was desperate, despondent and urgent.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MQMjo6

MH17 investigators want to speak to Ukrainian prisoner

Dutch prosecutors investigating the downing five years ago of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine want to speak to a man being held by Ukrainian authorities, calling him a "person of interest" in their probe, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. The fate of Volodymyr Tsemakh could be a factor in the stalled prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine as Dutch prosecutors want him to remain in Ukraine.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MRNm7g