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Showing posts from September 1, 2019

Iran's Rouhani warns Macron of looming nuclear step

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President Hassan Rouhani spoke with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, warning him Iran would take the next step in reducing its nuclear commitments unless Europe lives up to its own undertakings. Tensions have spiked in the Gulf since May last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers -- known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The escalation has seen ships attacked, drones downed and tankers seized in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for around a third of the world's sea-borne oil. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2PxJ3A7 via Latest News

Where's the pope? Stuck in Vatican elevator until rescue

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Thousands of people who were gathered in St. Peter's Square for the traditional Sunday on-the-dot-of-noon appearance by Pope Francis were watching for the window of the Apostolic Palace to be thrown open so they could listen to the pope's remarks and receive his blessing. Then Francis popped out and answered their question: "First of all I must excuse myself for being late. Apparently referring to electrical power, Francis explained that there was a "drop in tension," causing the elevator to get stuck. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2zItcDU via Latest News

Hong Kong Masses Defy Police, Show China They’re Ready to Fight

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(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s masses swarmed downtown areas in defiance of a police ban on Saturday, showing they’re ready to resist harsher measures by local authorities and Beijing to quash pro-democracy protests that have raged for almost three months.Demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails and bricks, and set aflame a massive road block in the city center after tens of thousands marched and vowed to drag out disruptive anti-China protests until their demands were met. Some train stations were shuttered and subway services interrupted, while police warned the public to stay indoors and keep their windows shut in some areas as they use “appropriate force” to disperse demonstrators. Two warning shots were fired by police officers.It’s the 13th straight weekend of historic political unrest in the Asian financial center as rallies over a now-suspended bill to allow extraditions to China widened into a push for greater democracy. The violence came after police denied permission for the mass r

US blacklists Iran oil tanker in Mediterranean

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The United States on Friday blacklisted the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya following repeated warnings over its valuable oil cargo. The US Department of Treasury on Friday said the vessel is "blocked property" under an anti-terrorist order, and "anyone providing support to the Adrian Darya 1 risks being sanctioned". Lebanon had earlier dismissed Turkish claims that it would receive the ship, which has a cargo of 2.1 million barrels worth around $140 million. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HAxkdv via Latest News

Texas governor says 'mistakes were made' in a fundraising mailer that contained anti-illegal immigration rhetoric

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Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott said this week "mistakes were made" regarding a fundraising letter that contained anti-illegal immigration rhetoric and which was sent out a day before the mass shooting in El Paso earlier this month. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Pu7Yog via Latest News

Dorian to hit Bahamas as 'devastating' hurricane, then menace Georgia and Carolinas

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Hurricane Dorian punched northwest on Saturday to threaten Georgia and the Carolinas, possibly sparing Florida a direct hit, as the Bahamas braced for catastrophic waves and wind from the muscular category 4 storm. Florida towns told residents to remain vigilant despite forecasts they might dodge a Dorian landfall, as a tropical storm watch was issued for the state's south Atlantic coast. Communities in northeast Florida, Georgia and South Carolina raised alert levels, with residents filling sandbags as authorities tested infrastructure and hurricane drills. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34iAf4v via Latest News

Valerie Harper's death reminded me of my rant about 'Rhoda' and the great response I got

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A pioneering writer's answer to my frustrated letter about a TV sitcom crystallizes a key moment in feminist history. We were on the cusp of change. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/32jgAPR via Latest News

FARC rebels are calling for a new war. Does this spell the end of Colombia’s peace process?

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Colombians awoke to two familiar faces on their TV screens on Thursday morning as breaking news bulletins broadcast images of two men - Ivan Marquez and Jesus Santrich - former senior leaders of the now-demobilised guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).But this time it was in different. They were calling for a new war in Colombia. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Pv2Rnt via Latest News

How Gothic cathedrals can inspire modern architecture

Floors with arched designs can be thinner and lighter than conventional slabs. from BBC News - Technology https://ift.tt/34l0hUO via Online Shopping in Pakistan

Business News Update BBC

After a decade as a Buddhist monk, Andy Puddicombe set up Headspace with one of his clients. from BBC News - Business https://ift.tt/2Um6GdA via Online Shopping

Iranian oil tanker pursued by US off the coast of Syria

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An Iranian oil tanker pursued by the U.S. across the Mediterranean Sea slowed to a near-stop Sunday off the coast of Syria, where America's top diplomat alleges it will be unloaded despite denials from Tehran. The ongoing saga of the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, comes as tensions remain high between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran is set to send a deputy foreign minister and a team of economists to Paris on Monday for talks over ways to salvage the accord after a call between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and French President Emmanuel Macron. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZxC2Df via Latest News

Hong Kong protesters target airport but planes keep flying

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Thousands of protesters blocked roads and public transport links to Hong Kong airport on Sunday in a bid to draw world attention to their fight for democracy for the Chinese-ruled city which is facing its biggest political crisis in decades. Planes were taking off and landing, with delays, but trains were suspended and approach roads to the airport impassable as protesters erected barricades and overturned trolleys at the airport and in the nearby new town of Tung Chung. Some passengers were forced to walk the last bit of their journey to the airport by foot, dragging luggage behind them. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZFpZDU via Latest News

Hurricane Dorian: ‘Huge damage' in Bahamas as storm becomes joint strongest ever with 220mph gusts

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Hurricane Dorian has caused major damage in the Bahamas – destroying homes and ripping roofs from buildings – as it made landfall as the joint-strongest ever Atlantic storm. There were no immediate reports of deaths.Residents in places such as the Abaco Islands and Marsh Harbour took shelter in schools and churches when Dorian made landfall as a category 5 storm with gusts of up to 220mph and a sustained speed of 185mph. When it struck land twice on Sunday afternoon – first in the Abaco Islands at then close to Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island – it equalled a record set by a Labour Day storm from 1935. That storm, which occurred before hurricanes were given names, ultimately left major damage in its wake in the Florida Keys. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34resHU via Latest News

ICE says it will not conduct immigration enforcement operations in affected areas during Hurricane Dorian

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A spokesman for the federal agency said in a statement Friday that "we must stand as one community to focus on aiding the victims." from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZGS21J via Latest News

US blacklists Iranian tanker in Mediterranean

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The United States has blacklisted the Iranian tanker Adrian Darya, saying it had "reliable information" it was transporting oil to Syria in defiance of wide-ranging sanctions on the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Previously known as Grace 1, the vessel was seized in July by British Royal Marines and held in Gibraltar for six weeks on suspicion it was delivering oil for Tehran's ally Damascus. The British territory released the ship -- despite US protests -- after it said it had received written assurances from Iran that the vessel would not head for countries under European Union sanctions. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/32ghe0z via Latest News

Seth Ator Identified as Odessa Gunman

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Texas Department of Public SafetyODESSA, Texas—The gunman who killed seven people and injured roughly 20 others during a 20-mile trail of carnage across West Texas was identified by law enforcement on Sunday as 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator. Odessa Police refused to publicly identify Ator during a press conference on Sunday, stating that they were not going to give the gunman any notoriety for “what he did.” Police Chief Michael Gerke said the gunman’s name would be officially provided, just not in a public forum. The department instead chose to simply release his name and age, and confirm that he was an Odessa resident, in an update on the police department’s Facebook page later in the afternoon.Authorities were working to determine a motive for the Saturday shooting that took place in broad daylight and resulted in more than a dozen crime scenes across a stretch from Odessa to Midland. It claimed the lives of a high-school student and a U.S. Postal Service employee, among others.Odessa

West Texas gunman killed seven and wounded 22, including toddler

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Police said the second mass shooting in Texas in four weeks began on Saturday afternoon with a routine traffic stop and ended when the suspect, a white male in his 30s, was cornered by officers in the parking lot of a cinema complex. Police, motorists and shoppers were all caught up in the chaos that unfolded between the cities of Odessa and Midland during a busy Labor Day holiday weekend. "There are no definitive answers as to motive or reasons at this point, but we are fairly certain that the subject did act alone," Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said at a news conference. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Lf9p5R via Latest News

British police urged to assist New York investigators with Epstein case

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British police should assist the New York investigators with their inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network, a source close to one of his victims has said. New York authorities have repeatedly said that they will continue investigating whether he had co-conspirators, and will not let the case die with the disgraced financier. Epstein, 66, died on August 10 from what a coroner ruled was suicide, while awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail. New York prosecutors are now turning their attention to any co-conspirators – among them Ghislaine Maxwell, the British heiress, and Sarah Kellen, another Epstein employee. Two sources close to the investigation told The New York Times on Friday they were looking into the activities of Haley Robson, now 33, who told police in a 2009 deposition how she was paid to bring young girls to Epstein in Florida. Haley Robson, now 33, said in a 2009 deposition that she had been paid to recruit girls for Epstein Asked if the British police should assi

Hurricane Dorian strengthens to category 4 as Florida braces for landfall

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Storm anticipated to hit state’s east coast early Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 140mphRich DiGiulio removes an awning from the Mulligans Beach House Bar & Grill in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, Friday, 30 August 2019, in Vero Beach, Florida. Photograph: Lynne Sladky/APResidents of Florida braced for what could be a historically damaging storm on Friday as Hurricane Dorian lingered in the western Atlantic, building strength in advance of its anticipated landfall early on Tuesday on the state’s east coast.The storm strengthened into an “extremely dangerous” category 4 hurricane on Friday evening, amid fears it could prove to be the most powerful hurricane to hit Florida’s east coast in nearly 30 years. Forecasters warned that Dorian could wallop the state with “extremely dangerous” 140mph (225 kph) winds.> NHC: Dorian is now a category 4 pic.twitter.com/gqZn7FDjC1> > — Brandon Wall (@Walldo) August 31, 2019“It could be an absolute monster,” President Trump said

We Need to Talk about Joe Biden

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There are two possible explanations of Joe Biden’s inability to tell the truth about things: One is that his mind is failing him, the other is that his honor is. In neither case is Biden fit to hold the office of president of the United States of America, and Democrats would discredit themselves and endanger the nation to nominate him.Yes, yes, go ahead — “But, Trump!” etc. — and continue when you’ve completed the ritual of equivocation, and don’t think too hard about how far and in what direction that line of moral self-justification has carried the Republican party.Joe Biden is a plagiarist and a liar, among other things. In the most recent example, detailed by the Washington Post, Biden made up a story in which he as vice president displayed personal courage and heroism in traveling to a dangerous war zone in order to recognize the service of an American soldier who had distinguished himself in a particularly dramatic way. It was a moving story. “This is the God’s truth,” he conclud

Opposition supporters defy ban, march on Moscow

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Chanting "This is our city", Russian opposition supporters marched in central Moscow Saturday in defiance of a protest ban, just a week before controversial elections in the capital. Under the watchful eye of police, hundreds participated in the so-called "March against political repressions", shouting out demands including: "Freedom to political prisoners!". Moscow police said turnout was about 750, while Russian media gave a figure of several thousand people. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MJVKWp via Latest News

Travelers Left Stranded After Airport Protest: Hong Kong Update

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(Bloomberg) -- Travelers were left stranded at Hong Kong’s international airport after protesters disrupted transport to and from the facility, blocked roads and vandalized train stations.Queues of people sat on their suitcases in the airport terminal building and others walked down the highway pushing luggage, with no buses or taxis to be seen. Riot police dispersed the crowds of protesters, some of whom had earlier damaged offices and equipment at train stations on the airport route.The demonstration followed a night of violence in the city after tens of thousands joined an unauthorized march, which led to running battles with police who fired warning gunshots, tear gas and water cannons. The protests began in June over a bill allowing extraditions to mainland China before morphing into a wider push against Beijing’s grip on the city.Embattled leader Carrie Lam last week called for talks with the opposition while refusing to rule out invoking a sweeping colonial-era law that allows f

Preparing for Hurricane Dorian: Hurricanes are hard to predict. Human nature isn't.

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Do some media hype tropical weather just to attract readers and viewers? Maybe. But they err on the side of caution when it comes to warning readers. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HB8L08 via Latest News