Wednesday, July 29, 2020

The ultimate high ground: Russia and US try to set rules for space weapons

The ultimate high ground: Russia and US try to set rules for space weaponsRussia, the U.S., and other space-going nations are trying to establish a military presence in space around Earth – and defend themselves from rivals.




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Iran's navy shoots missile at mock-up of US aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran's navy shoots missile at mock-up of US aircraft carrier in the Strait of HormuzFootage on Iranian state TV showed the replica being struck as part of an exercise Iran called "Great Prophet 14."




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Former 49ers player Dana Stubblefield convicted of raping disabled woman

Former 49ers player Dana Stubblefield convicted of raping disabled woman After a nine-month trial, Stubblefield was found guilty of rape by force, oral copulation by force and false imprisonment. The jury also found that he used a gun in the assault.




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Tennessee state senator charged with stealing federal funds

Tennessee state senator charged with stealing federal fundsA Tennessee state senator has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 in federal funds received by a health care company she directed and using the money to pay for her wedding and other personal expenses, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. A criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday charges state Sen. Katrina Robinson with theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said in a news release. Robinson, a Democrat elected to the General Assembly in 2018 from a Memphis district, is also the director of The Healthcare Institute, which provides training for jobs in the health care field, prosecutors said.




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Ashleigh Barty Will Skip U.S. Open


By BY CHRISTOPHER CLAREY from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3jSMNaA

The Tanned Man Has a Green Monster


By BY CHARLES M. BLOW from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/3168Wts

Ashley Judd Can Sue Harvey Weinstein for Sexual Harassment, Court Rules


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One in Three Children Have Unacceptably High Lead Levels, Study Says


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Lawmakers, United in Their Ire, Lash Out at Big Tech’s Leaders


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As Trump Undercuts Aid Talks, White House Says Extra Jobless Benefits Will Lapse


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William Barr testimony: AG slams 'demonization of police' and insists Trump ‘has not attempted to interfere’ in criminal cases

William Barr testimony: AG slams 'demonization of police' and insists Trump ‘has not attempted to interfere’ in criminal casesAttorney General William Barr testified in a congressional hearing today, titled the “Oversight of the Department of Justice”, in front of the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee. The hearing started off rocky, though, after Chairman Jerry Nadler was involved in a car crash on the way to the hearing.Mr Barr's appearance on Capitol Hill was in first in front of the House Judiciary Committee despite multiple attempts by the Democrats to get the attorney general to testify before them.




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Outrage after NYPD hustles protester into unmarked van

Outrage after NYPD hustles protester into unmarked vanThe New York Police Department’s use of plainclothes officers and an unmarked minivan to haul away a vandalism suspect during a protest Tuesday created confusion and drew outrage from people who compared it to covert tactics used recently by federal agents in Portland, Oregon. Bystander videos of 18-year-old Nikki Stone's arrest spread quickly on social media, along with comments such as “nypd is out here KIDNAPPING protesters off of the street."




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Trump Jr suspended by Twitter for posting 'misleading and potentially harmful information' about coronavirus

Trump Jr suspended by Twitter for posting 'misleading and potentially harmful information' about coronavirusDonald Trump Jr has been suspended by Twitter for posting "misleading and potentially harmful information" about coronavirus.The president also shared the same tweet. On his account, the post no longer appears, and has been replaced with a message indicating that it is "no longer available", but he still appears to be able to tweet.




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AG Barr Calls Black Lives Matter Protests in Portland ‘an Assault’ on U.S. Government in Testy Hearing

AG Barr Calls Black Lives Matter Protests in Portland ‘an Assault’ on U.S. Government in Testy HearingIn his first appearance ever before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr declined to say that political concerns weren’t animating the Trump administration’s use of federal troops to crack down on Black Lives Matter demonstrators.Asked by Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) if he’d discussed the politics of the crackdown with Trump or anyone in his inner circle, Barr didn’t specifically mention the Department of Justice operations but confirmed that the election “comes up” in his conversations with the president. “I’m a member of the Cabinet,” said Barr, “and there’s an election going on.”Pressed further by Nadler on the topic, Barr demurred: “I’m not going to get into my discussions with the president.” Bully Boy Bill Barr is America’s Ultimate Chaos AgentAs well, Barr indicated he views protesters in Portland, Oregon, not as demonstrators demanding Black liberation or defending themselves from an unwanted federal intrusion but as insurrectionists.“What unfolds nightly around the courthouse cannot reasonably be called a protest,” Barr said in his highly anticipated testimony. “It is, by any objective measure, an assault on the government of the United States.”Later, in response to GOP questioning, Barr thundered “is that OK?” in outlining demonstrators’ alleged offenses against federal officers. “I reject the idea that the Department has flooded anywhere and attempted to suppress demonstrators… We are at the courthouse defending the courthouse, we’re not out there looking for trouble.” Barr’s rhetoric represented the latest escalation by the Trump administration in demonizing the protests, which are part of what has become the largest sustained movement in American history. A Monday statement from the U.S. Marshals, a component of the Justice Department, called elements within the protesters “violent extremists,” a term typically used by the U.S. government to describe domestic terrorists, though a Marshals spokesperson said the reference was unintentional. “In the wake of George Floyd’s death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak senseless havoc and destruction on innocent victims,” Barr contended. Democrats fumed through the hearing on what they saw as Barr’s hypocrisy on that count. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) asked Barr whether he was aware of the pro-Trump protests in Michigan targeting Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which featured heavily armed demonstrators. Barr said no. “You are aware of certain kinds of protesters, but in Michigan when protesters carried guns and Confederate flags and called for the governor of Michigan to be shot and lynched, somehow you are not aware of that, somehow you didn’t know about it, so you didn’t send federal agents in to do to the president’s supporters what you did to the president’s protesters,” charged Jayapal. The testimony from Barr, which has been more than a year in the making, has been hotly anticipated by Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill as an opportunity to litigate a number of his actions as Trump’s attorney general. Over the past year, Barr has overseen a reduction in the desired sentence and then the commutation of Trump ally Roger Stone’s conviction; the withdrawal of the criminal case against another Trump ally, Michael Flynn; the tear-gassing of Black Lives Matter protesters in D.C.’s Lafayette Park; an effort to oust the New York federal attorney handling sensitive investigations into Trumpworld; the transference of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort from prison to home confinement; and the deployment of armed, militarized federal agents against protesters in Portland over the objections of local and state elected officials. The growing portfolio of outrages that Barr has assembled has been overwhelming for House Democrats, some of whom have embraced the idea that the only remaining avenue for holding the attorney general—who has already been held in contempt of Congress—to account is to impeach him. But getting Barr on the House Judiciary witness stand, which was originally set for March and then later postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, is widely seen as the first step in whatever House Democrats decide to do next.In his opening statement, Nadler previewed the crux of Democrats’ case by arguing that Barr has been Trump’s fixer. “Your tenure,” Nadler told Barr, “is marked by a persistent war against the department’s professional core in an apparent effort to secure favors for the president.”Barr shot back that he was trying “to reestablish the rule of law.”Trump Administration Plots Crackdown by Feds in Cities NationwideThe attorney general’s handling of nationwide protests proved the focus of the hearing from the beginning. Federal agents, including the Marshals and others from the Department of Homeland Security, cited vandalism against the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland as a justification for their persistent presence. Barr, in his opening statement, called such vandalism the work of “hundreds of rioters.” Yet the federal response has generated the majority of the violence at the protests, which has included shooting protesters in the head with rubber bullets; breaking the hand of an unarmed Navy veteran; frequent pepper-spray dousings and tear-gassings; and street arrests without probable cause by minimally identified federal agents driving unmarked vans. Barr equivocated on whether federal agents can arrest protesters without probable cause, saying they could “not strictly” arrest someone because they were proximate to someone they believed was violent. But he demurred about whether such a thing represented an actual arrest, saying “that would require an intensive review” into each circumstance. It remains unknown exactly how many people in Portland have been arrested by federal agents during the July deployments. At one point, late in the hearing, Barr called pepper spray a “very important nonlethal tool” against “rioters” and added, “When people resist law enforcement, they’re not peaceful.”“There is no precedent for the Department of Justice actively seeking out conflict with American citizens, under such flimsy pretext, or for such petty purposes,” said Nadler. He said Barr “aided and abetted the worst failings of the president.”Elected officials, from Oregon’s governor to both its U.S. senators to the Portland mayor, have denounced the federal presence as a provocative escalation of violence. Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf have vowed to remain until the protests are quelled. ‘Shaking in Their Boots’: Trump Wanted a Portland-Style Offensive in ChicagoLast week, Barr justified a coming “surge” in federal law enforcement to Chicago, Albuquerque, and other cities—expected to last through the November election—by citing the Black Lives Matter protests as a source of public disrespect toward police. Black Lives Matter activists and their allies in Chicago are seeking an injunction against the use of Portland-style federal violence. After acknowledging “it is understandable” for Black Americans to distrust police, Barr said it was “an oversimplification” to view “some deep-seated racism generally infecting our police departments.” Defunding police is “grossly irresponsible,” he said, portraying crime as a “massively greater” threat to Black lives than police. Nadler countercharged: “At your direction, Department officials have downplayed the effects of systemic racism and abandoned the victims of police brutality; refused to hold abusive police departments accountable for their actions; and expressed open hostility to the Black Lives Matter movement.”But later in the hearing, Democrats also pressed Barr over his handling of criminal prosecutions stemming from Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) repeatedly asked Barr why Stone appeared to get special exceptions for leniency based on his age and conduct. “Can you think of any other cases where the defendant threatened to kill a witness, threatened a judge... where the DOJ claimed those were mere technicalities?” asked Deutch. “Can you think of even one?” Barr raised his voice in response, asserting the judge agreed with his analysis, though the witness in question, Randy Credico, did say he felt threatened by Stone. Democrats also tried to nail down definitive answers from Barr on a number of other subjects, such as whether he believed increased voting-by-mail increased the risk of voter fraud as Trump has alleged. Barr said it did. Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) also raised concerns Trump would move the date of the election or even reject the results, given Trump’s arguments about absentee voting and the possibility that final results won’t be known for some time after Election Day. Barr tersely responded, “if the results are clear, I would leave office.” GOP Senators Will Say This Much: Trump Photo Op Wasn’t a Good LookBarr also seemed to dismiss the convictions and guilty pleas reached by Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, saying that the Justice Department would not prosecute “some esoteric, made-up crime, but [rather] a meat-and-potatoes crime.”On Tuesday, Barr—who wrote in his prepared opening statement that he is not “the President’s factotum”—received a warm reception from Republicans, for whom the attorney general has become a hero. The top House Judiciary Republican, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), said last month the attorney general was doing “the Lord’s work.” “Spying. That’s why they’re after you, Mr. Attorney General,” Jordan said on Tuesday, before proceeding to portray the Black Lives Matter protests as violent through an extensive video that showed no police-induced violence.   A day before Barr’s hearing, a D.C. National Guard officer present at the Lafayette Park protest on June 1 told a different House committee that “the use of force against demonstrators in the clearing operation was an unnecessary escalation of the use of force.” Barr has denied accounts placing him in command responsibility for suppressing the protest. But the officer, West Point graduate and Iraq veteran Adam DeMarco, recounted Barr conferring with the Park Police shortly before they advanced to clear protesters from the square for Trump’s photo op. “From my observation, those demonstrators—our fellow American citizens—were engaged in the peaceful expression of their First Amendment rights,” DeMarco told the House natural-resources committee on Monday. “Yet they were subjected to an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force.”Barr, questioned by Jayapal, dismissed his comments. “I don’t remember DeMarco as being involved in any decision-making,” he said, implying DeMarco was not credible since he “ran as a Democratic candidate in Maryland.” 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.




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Prosecutors: 'Alarming' that Maxwell may publicize victims

Prosecutors: 'Alarming' that Maxwell may publicize victimsSome witnesses in the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend may face harassment and intimidation and could be reluctant to cooperate with the government if defense attorneys are allowed to discuss them publicly, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors asked a Manhattan federal court judge to block lawyers for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell from publicly identifying women who have already spoken about the financier or Maxwell on a public forum. “The victims of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein have suffered enough," prosecutors said, urging privacy for accusers except for anyone who acknowledges publicly they are part of the criminal case against Maxwell.




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Great white shark kills woman in rare attack in Maine, authorities say

Great white shark kills woman in rare attack in Maine, authorities sayMaine has recorded only one shark attack since 1837, researchers say.




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Australia's fires 'killed or harmed three billion animals'

Australia's fires 'killed or harmed three billion animals'The recent bushfires were "one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history", conservationists say.




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My wife was detained, released, and disappeared again in China. Here's my message on behalf of my people, the Uighurs.

My wife was detained, released, and disappeared again in China. Here's my message on behalf of my people, the Uighurs.The author, Mamutjan Abdurehim, is a Uighur father from Xinjiang — the Chinese region synonymous with surveillance, detentions, and forced labor.




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Factbox: Biden will soon pick a running mate. Here are the front-runners

Factbox: Biden will soon pick a running mate. Here are the front-runnersBiden has vowed to choose a woman as his potential vice president. Following widespread protests over racial injustice and police brutality, pressure increased on Biden to choose a woman of color. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian parents, fits the bill.




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Man interviews Bernell Tremell on his support for Trump hours before he was killed

Man interviews Bernell Tremell on his support for Trump hours before he was killedOn July 23, Adebisi Agoso was one of the last people to speak with Milwaukee community fixture and Trump supporter, Bernell Trammell, before he was senselessly killed.




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U.S. Warns Russia on Bounties While Trump Cries ‘Fake News’

U.S. Warns Russia on Bounties While Trump Cries ‘Fake News’The U.S. State Department has issued warnings to Russia that there will be repercussions if Moscow pays bounties to the Taliban for successfully killing American soldiers, according to two senior American officials and another individual with knowledge of the matter.The warnings were issued through the department’s diplomatic channels after public news reports in June that the U.S. had gathered intelligence about the Russian bounties, those officials said. One official described the communications as “serious.” Another said that Moscow responded by denying the reports it had set up or funded a bounty program to kill U.S. troops.These secret warnings stand in contrast to what President Trump has said about the intelligence in question. In an interview earlier this week, Trump said he did not believe the bounties were worth raising in a recent conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news,” Trump said in a recent interview.Trump Gives Putin a Pass on Bounties So He Can Target Leakers Instead The New York Times reported June 26 that Russia had covertly offered the Taliban cash in exchange for killing U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan and that the intelligence had been included in a presidential daily briefing packet in February. White House officials have consistently said that the bounty intelligence has not been “verified.” Officials previously told The Daily Beast that there was disagreement in the intelligence and national security communities over the intelligence and the methods used to gather it. Multiple U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, have publicly disputed the reports. In a July 9 congressional hearing, Esper said the U.S. did not have any evidence that suggested there were direct linkages between the Russian bounties and Americans getting killed in the field.The warnings to the Russians highlight the seriousness with which officials in the Trump administration have responded to reports of the bounties. They also raise questions about the extent to which officials’ understanding of the validity of the bounty intelligence diverges from that of President Donald Trump.It is unclear to what extent, if at all, the president has been briefed on these warnings. The White House and National Security Council did not immediately provide comment to The Daily Beast. The State Department did not respond on the record to a request for comment. Pompeo recently said during a Fox News interview that the U.S. would “respond to any threat, whether that’s Iranians using the Taliban or the Russians,” he said. “We’ll make sure they know.”  In his interview with Axios this week, Trump insisted that the intelligence “never reached my desk,” though it has been widely reported that the intel had been included in the President's Daily Brief.During that interview, when Trump was asked about Russia’s years-long efforts to provide weapons to Taliban forces, the president responded, “Well, we supplied weapons when they were fighting Russia, too. The Taliban, in Afghanistan…I’m just saying, we did that, too.”Russian Bounties for Killing Americans Go Back Five Years, Ex-Taliban ClaimsIn Moscow’s Afghan Bazaar, Searching for a Bagman Who Pays Bounties for Dead AmericansU.S. representatives are currently in Vienna, Austria meeting with the Russians on arms control—an area national security officials say could be a path toward cooperation, though Russia recently launched an anti-satellite weapon into space. According to interviews with three former officials, past efforts at cooperating with Russia have failed, including the sharing of counterterrorism intelligence, and engaging in talks on space could be beneficial for safeguarding American interests there. But multiple current and former senior officials say they are unsure if there’s any issue on which the U.S. can cooperate with Russia given recent attempts by a Moscow-linked group to hack U.S. coronavirus vaccine research and the country disseminating disinformation on the coronaivurs.In a hearing last week in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, State Department Deputy Secretary Biegun said years of malign actions by the Russians “have made it virtually impossible to make progress …  in any way, shape or form.” Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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.




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'Put your mask on!': Lawmakers erupt after Jim Jordan throws a temper tantrum during the big tech hearing

'Put your mask on!': Lawmakers erupt after Jim Jordan throws a temper tantrum during the big tech hearingLawmakers slammed Rep. Jim Jordan at the antitrust hearing after he interrupted a colleague accusing him of raising "fringe conspiracy theories."




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Federal officers pulling out of Portland: U.S. Homeland Security, Oregon governor

Federal officers pulling out of Portland: U.S. Homeland Security, Oregon governorFederal troops will begin a phased withdrawal from downtown Portland, ceding some security functions to Oregon state troopers and local law enforcement after two months of protests, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Oregon Governor Kate Brown said on Wednesday. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said he and Brown agreed to a plan after talks over the last 24 hours.




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Guardian identified for small child found wandering Sunday morning by Fort Myers police

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