2020 Marianne Williamson pledges that she will make America a better place to grow up than New Zealand

Ed presses Marianne Williamson on her odd pledge about New Zealand.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2X9XWH9

Trump Holds DMZ Summit, Pauses China Trade War

(Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, a day after he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pushed the pause button on their trade war. Joe Biden, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, got a reality check from his rivals in the party’s first debate, and the flight of millions of people from the collapsing economy in Venezuela reverberated across South America.Read about those topics and more in this edition of Weekend Reads, and click here for more of Bloomberg’s best political photos from the past week.Global Headlines Trump’s DMZ Summit Shows How Little Kim Has Conceded on NukesTrump met Kim for the third time today after a last-minute Twitter invitation that even surprised the North Korean leader. Yet as Margaret Talev and Jon Herskovitz, explain, Trump had something on his mind: critics who say his overtures to Kim haven’t led to any meaningful moves toward ending North Korea’s nuclear program.Huawei Lifeline Shows Trump Prefers Business Deals Over Cold WarIn recent weeks, Trump has drawn the ire of security hawks in Congress for suggesting he could ease his blacklisting of Huawei Technologies Co. to secure a trade deal with China. Shawn Donnan reports that on Saturday he took a big step toward doing just that, signaling that he cares more about selling U.S. products to China than embarking on a clash of civilizations. The Issues Dominating the 2020 Democratic Presidential CampaignFor most of the two dozen Democratic presidential candidates, social media has been the preferred platform for announcing policy proposals and clarifying positions. Allison McCartney reports on a Bloomberg analysis that shows since the beginning of 2019, the candidates who qualified for the first debate sent about 24,000 tweets—and about half of them mentioned at least one major campaign issue.Embattled NRA Loses Its Political Power Broker on Eve of 2020As the National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist, Chris Cox pumped more money into Trump’s unlikely election than anyone. As Polly Mosendz, Neil Weinberg and David Voreacos explain, Cox’s resignation on Wednesday comes as the NRA is entering the 2020 race with the president lagging in polls and without the marketing or lobbying power that made it such an effective force for Trump in 2016.May Is Resigning as U.K. Premier, and She’s Not Going QuietlyTheresa May will stand down as Britain’s prime minister next month but she is not giving up. With three weeks left before she hands over to someone else, the premier is busier than ever trying to build an ambitious legacy. Tim Ross reports. Endorsed by Trump, Saudi Prince Steps Back Out on World StageSeven months ago Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman cut an isolated figure, caught in a firestorm over the murder of columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi. But at this year’s G-20 summit he met with leaders including Putin, May, and India’s Narendra Modi, and, as Cagan Koc writes, had a chummy breakfast meeting with Trump, who called him a friend.Amsterdam’s Hire-a-Refugee Program Takes On Tight Labor MarketWhen Rasha Mostafa fled war-torn Syria with her husband and daughter 4 1/2 years ago, little did she know she was going to help Amsterdam with a key economic problem. Yet in many large European cities, migrants are quietly filling gaping holes in the labor market, doing jobs locals just don’t want to do. Ruben Munsterman reports.Add a Million Venezuelans and Your Economy Looks Very DifferentMarkets were shocked when Chile cut interest rates this month, but the central bank had a simple explanation: The economy suddenly had a lot more people in it. As Daniela Guzman and John Quigley report, that’s because of the exodus from Venezuela, where about 4 million people fleeing financial and social collapse are showing up across South America.Billionaire General Bets on Property With Fortune Forged in OilBen Stupples reports on Theophilus Danjuma, the 80-year-old former Nigerian general who’s worth $1.2 billion and whose investment in the Kings Arms Hotel in London is part of a network for holdings spanning at least three continents. And finally… For the government of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, the reintroduction of the national currency a decade after its demise marks a return to “normalcy.” Yet for most of the country’s citizens, Antony Sguazzin explains, it’s a bitter reminder of the years of hyperinflation that destroyed their savings and left them bartering for basics. \--With assistance from Gordon Bell.To contact the author of this story: Karl Maier in Abuja at kmaier2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Kathleen Hunter at khunter9@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2J8s5Sc

Joe Biden and the Great Awokening

Joe Biden has led the national polls in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination since last year. He’s ahead in the first three contests, also, with leads ranging from seven points (Iowa) to 13 points (New Hampshire) to 28 points (South Carolina). He’s first in fivethirtyeight.com’s endorsement primary. And though he didn’t launch his campaign until the second quarter of 2019, at which point Bernie Sanders had raised the most money, his nonstop fundraising schedule, and great first-24-hours number, suggests that his second-quarter haul will be impressive. Going into tonight’s Democratic debate, there was no reason to doubt Biden’s status as the Democratic frontrunner. Indeed, while head-to-head matchups 16 months before an election are worthless, one might as well have considered him the frontrunner to become the 46th president of the United States, too.And yet there is an air of unreality surrounding the Biden campaign, a widespread expectation that the former vice president just can’t last. He’s run twice before, with terrible results. He’s old. He has a tendency to let his mouth take him places his political advisers would rather not have him go. And he has baggage. Lots of baggage, from his creepy-uncle vibe to his votes for NAFTA, the Iraq war, and the 1994 crime bill, to his devotion to the principles of bipartisanship and civility, including with the segregationist and racist senators with whom he has served. He’s about as Washington as you can get. There might not be an Acela corridor without him. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for one, is not impressed. “He’s not a pragmatic choice,” she says.One of the questions the 2020 Democratic primary will answer, then, is whether the party is more like Biden or AOC. Is a long career, devoted service to Barack Obama, and the purported ability to win the support of working-class whites enough to win the party’s nomination? Or have the Democrats moved so far left in recent years that Biden’s experience is actually a weakness, his geniality a liability, his folksiness a handicap?The evidence is mixed. Biden’s sustained poll position has led some analysts to conclude that, MSNBC and CNN to the contrary notwithstanding, the Democratic party is older and more moderate than people think. Biden doesn’t need to capitulate to Sanders to win the nomination, he doesn’t need to apologize to AOC or to Cory Booker. And Biden hasn’t apologized, not for his sniffing hair or for his remarks about working with segregationists. And his lead remains significant. Maybe the audience for identity politics and far-left social liberalism is small.On the other hand, Biden has had to reverse himself on taxpayer funding for abortion, signaling just how essential unrestricted abortion rights have become to the Democratic electorate. And he’s wishy-washy on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which his former boss, the biggest name in Democratic politics, negotiated. Biden’s performing a high-wire act, in other words. He has to navigate the shoals of the Great Awokening that has turned the Democratic base, white progressives especially, into zealots for social justice. Up until Thursday, his strategy has been to lay low. Focus on donors. Avoid interviews. Wrestle with Trump, not with the other Democrats.No longer. He had to stand on stage with nine of his competitors Thursday, and answer questions from Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, and Chuck Todd. Next to him was Bernie Sanders, whose “democratic socialism” has determined the contours of intra-Democratic debate since 2016. And next to Bernie was Kamala Harris, the freshman senator from California, who basically defines the idea of “woke capitalism.” And next to Harris was Kirsten Gillibrand, who’s executed one of the most remarkable political transformations in American history, from middle-of-the-road congresswoman to feminist warrior in a little more than a decade. Also, there was Andrew Yang, who wants to give every American a universal basic income. And Pete Buttigieg, the trendy multilingual mayor of South Bend, Ind. And a bunch of other people, including Marianne Williamson, who was visiting from the Age of Aquarius.And this debate took place a day after Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio called for eliminating private insurance, Julián Castro called for abortion rights for trans men, and Cory Booker and Beto O’Rourke spoke in garbled Spanish. The trend of the Democratic party is to the left. And it’s a trend Biden doesn’t seem all that interested in resisting, as evidenced by his joining all of the candidates on stage in calling for health insurance for illegal immigrants while also saying deportation of illegal immigrants wouldn’t be a priority for his administration.Biden has encountered the Great Awokening, and he doesn’t know what to make of it. His instinct seems to be to go with the flow. Maybe you noticed the weird way he responded to questions where the moderators asked the candidates to raise their hands. In each case Biden was tentative, uncertain, looking at the competition. At one point he asked the moderator to repeat a question, highlighting his age.If you had been dropped into this debate from Mars, you would have thought Kamala “for the people” Harris was the Democratic frontrunner. She brought down the house several times. She got Biden tangled up on the issue of busing. She clearly represents the future of the Democratic party. She’s fourth in the national polls, stuck in single digits. But she went toe to toe with the frontrunner -- something that was studiously avoided for most of the two nights of debates. And she won.Something is happening to the Democratic party. It’s been moving left for years. Since Howard Dean’s insurgency in the 2004 campaign, the number of Democrats who have embraced liberalism, progressivism, and now socialism has been steadily increasing. The reason is partly generational. My cohort, the Millennials, embraced the left position on the issues of Iraq and gay marriage, and if anything, Generation Z seems to be more left-wing still. The number of liberals is not an overwhelming majority of the party -- not according to polls -- but it is a majority. And the number of lefties is so great that it determines the nature of the interest groups that dictate the party’s agenda and talking points. It might even determine the nominee.And if that’s the case, simply judging by his performance on Thursday night, Joe Biden has got to be awfully worried.This piece was originally published in the Washington Free Beacon.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Xy9s3y

Ball in Europe's court on nuclear deal's future - Iranian state TV

The ball is in Europe's court to shield Iran from U.S. sanctions and prevent it from further scaling back compliance with its nuclear agreement with world powers, Iranian state TV said on Saturday, with days remaining on Tehran's ultimatum. Iran's envoy to a meeting of the remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear accord said on Friday that European countries had offered too little at last-ditch talks to persuade Tehran to back off from its plans to breach limits imposed by the deal.

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

Trump announces negotiations with China are ‘back on track’

The president said no new tariffs would be imposed and China would be purchasing more goods.

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

10 dead in plane crash in Texas - NBC News

10 dead in plane crash in Texas  NBC News

A small airplane crashed in Texas on Sunday, killing all 10 people on board, officials said. The Beechcraft BE-350 King Air crashed into a hangar while it was ...

View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2XzFXOT

2019 Home Run Derby field tracker: Christian Yelich, Ronald Acuna, Pete Alonso among confirmed hitters - CBS Sports

2019 Home Run Derby field tracker: Christian Yelich, Ronald Acuna, Pete Alonso among confirmed hitters  CBS Sports

On July 8, the 2019 Home Run Derby will be held at Cleveland's Progressive Field. The Home Run Derby is, basically, a meaningless spectacle, but gosh, it is ...

View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2YtOL6c

Syrian state media: Israeli missile strike kills four civilians

Israeli warplanes fired missiles targeting Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts in an attack that killed at least four civilians and wounded another 21, Syrian state media said.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2YnSTVb

DMZ diplomacy: Kim accepts Trump invite to meet at border

President Donald Trump will meet Sunday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the North and South, a day after he issued an unprecedented invitation and expressed willingness to cross the border for what would be a history-making photo op. South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that Kim accepted Trump's invitation to meet when the U.S. president visits the heavily fortified site at the Korean border village of Panmunjom. Trump said he looked forward to meeting with Kim, but sought to tamp down expectations, predicting it would be "very short," he said.

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

Beto O'Rourke visits children at migrant housing facility downtown

During his visit to Southwest Key's Casa Sunzal, O'Rourke said the children's situation is like the U.S. turning away Jewish refugees during World War II.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/300WkRQ

UPDATE 4-Syrian state media: Israeli missile strike kills four civilians

CAIRO/BEIRUT, June 30 (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes fired missiles targeting Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts in an attack that killed at least four civilians and wounded another 21, Syrian state media said. The Syrian military said Syrian air defences had confronted the attack, which was launched from Lebanese airspace. SANA also reported that Syrian air defences had brought down a number of the missiles.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/302Gh6h

UPDATE 1-Ball in Europe's court on nuclear deal's future - Iranian state TV

It is up to Europe to shield Iran from U.S. sanctions and prevent it from further scaling back its compliance with its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, Iranian state TV said on Saturday, with only days left on Tehran's ultimatum. Iran's envoy to a meeting of the remaining signatories to the nuclear accord said on Friday that European countries had offered too little at last-ditch talks to persuade Tehran to drop its plan to breach limits imposed by the deal. The United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and has re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2KLN40v

US Democrats skeptical on Trump-Kim meeting in Korea

Democratic White House contenders gave a guarded welcome to Donald Trump's meeting Sunday with Kim Jong Un, with several warning the US president was granting him "legitimacy" despite the lack of progress on curbing North Korea's nuclear arsenal. Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading candidate in the race to face off against Trump in 2020, said he had "no problem" with Trump's decision to meet with Kim, in a moment of high diplomatic drama in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.

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

10 deals you don’t want to miss on Sunday: $30 true wireless earbuds, $25 Wi-Fi extender, $20 LED strip, more

June is almost over, but we're just getting started when it comes to killer daily deals. Highlights from Sunday's roundup include awesome new true wireless earbuds with touch control for $29.99 instead of $40 when you use the coupon code I7QWMF5M at checkout, a multi-color LED light strip that does everything the $70 Philips Hue model can do for just $19.99, the faster version of the best-selling Wi-Fi range extender on Amazon for $24.99 when you clip the on-site coupon, super popular Alexa and Google compatible Wi-Fi smart plugs for only $6.75 a piece when you buy a 4-pack and clip the $6 coupon, silicone AirPods covers that fit in the charging case so you don't have to take them off when it's time to recharge, a $15 power scrubber that makes hand washing pots and pans a breeze, SanDisk 400GB microSD cards at their lowest price yet, a crazy expandable portable Bluetooth speaker at its lowest price ever for one day only, massive discounts on the Apple Watch Series 3 starting at just $199 (and all-time low!), almost $100 off the insanely good Sony wireless noise cancelling headphones when you buy renewed, and more. Check out all of today's top deals below.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Nkpj1J

Trump: If There Was a Wall, Immigrant Dad and Daughter Who Drowned ‘Would Be Saved’

Kevin Lamarque/ReutersPresident Donald Trump said that if the wall along the southern border with Mexico had been built, the migrant dad and daughter who drowned this week “would be saved.”Speaking at a press conference in Osaka, Japan, where world leaders are gathered at the G20 summit, Trump took a moment to offer his take on the global shock in response to the photo of Salvadorian man Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter, Valeria, who were found face down and clinging to each other in the Rio Grande river. The two were attempting to make it across the river after failing to gain asylum from U.S. authorities.“The father and the beautiful daughter who drowned... if they thought it was hard to get in, they wouldn’t be coming up,” Trump said.Trump then called for tougher border patrol policies, adding that illegal immigration is “very unfair.”“You have millions of people on line for years to get into a country. They take tests, they study... and these people have worked hard, they’ve been on line for seven, eight, nine years, then someone walks in. Honestly it’s very unfair,” he said.Trump’s comments came hours after a U.S. judge’s ruling that blocks his administration from using $2.5 billion in funds intended to be used for anti-drug activities to instead build a wall along the border with Mexico. Trump said that he is planning to immediately appeal the ruling.In February, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to use $6.7 billion in funds that Congress had allocated for other purposes to instead be used for constructing the wall. U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California said in a pair of court decisions Friday that the Trump administration’s proposal to transfer the funds was unlawful.“We think we’ll win the appeal,” Trump said during another press conference at the G20 summit. “There was no reason that that should’ve happened.”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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/320pdj1

Booker: Biden is 'causing a lot of frustration and even pain with his words'

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., criticized 2020 presidential rival Joe Biden on Sunday, saying the former vice president was doing a poor job of healing racial divisions in the country.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2xnzub2

Newark Airport reopens after being shut down due to 'airport emergency'

Newark Airport has reopened after it was shut down Saturday morning due to an "airport emergency."

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Xjjm9Z

The new and improved Gay Street sign is all over NYC Pride Twitter

This year the New York City Pride March marks 50 years since the Stonewall Riot, and the parade is  bigger and more colorful than ever. As the march makes its way to Greenwich Village, one street sign in particular is popping up on social media as a symbol of 2019's much-needed focus on inclusion in the queer community. It's pure coincidence that Gay Street intersects with Christopher Street right near the Stonewall Inn -- the "Gay" of Gay Street is a family name -- but its location on the parade route makes it prime real estate for a statement on what pride means in 2019. Take a look:> The famous Gay Street sign, representing a wide spectrum of gender expression. Near Christopher Park in Greenwich Village, NYCPride pic.twitter.com/8vTUJKsr50> > -- ken ┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴ (@kensadahiro) June 29, 2019The sign was one of many changes made around the city to celebrate Pride Month. > For the LGBT folks in the city today, I hope you all know that New York City will always stand with you. Enjoy PrideNYC today!!!! pic.twitter.com/FKpz1tEXQx> > -- Craig Anderson (@canderson1989) June 30, 2019The temporary changes to the Gay Street sign were part of an "Acceptance Matters" campaign by MasterCard, which raises questions about the place of corporations in New York's Pride Month celebrations. This particular installation seems to be popular on social media, however, for its reminder that every element of the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to feel proud of their identity.  WATCH: 'History repeats itself': LGBTQ elders discuss how Stonewall impacted their organizing during the AIDS crisis

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/322WkCH

Undocumented immigrants should get health care, Julián Castro affirms

“We're not going to let people living in this country die because they can't see a doctor.“

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2XcgfM3

Governor Cuomo signs legislation banning 'gay and trans panic' legal defense

The defense had been used to justify violent reaction to finding out the person someone is with is gay or transgender.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FJA7QR

'Back on track': Trump, Xi seal trade war truce

US President Donald Trump on Sunday hailed trade talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as "far better than expected" and vowed to hold off on further tariffs as negotiations continue. The ceasefire that halts damaging trade frictions came after a hotly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world's top two economies on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

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

Ukraine Role Focuses New Attention on Giuliani’s Foreign Work

By KENNETH P. VOGEL from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2J0hVnV

Trump says Obama fumbling pushed Turks to buy Russian missile system | TheHill - The Hill

1. Trump says Obama fumbling pushed Turks to buy Russian missile system | TheHill  The Hill
2. Turkey's Erdogan says U.S. will not impose sanctions over Russian missile deal  Reuters
3. Turkey's Erdogan says no setback in missile deal with Russia; Trump voices sympathy  CNBC
4. Erdoğan says Trump will not impose sanctions over Russian missile deal | TheHill  The Hill
5. Trump Says Obama Treated Erdogan Unfairly on Patriot Missile  Bloomberg
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2NnuVIH

Texas woman banned from Walmart after eating half a cake, demanding to pay half-price - Fox News

Texas woman banned from Walmart after eating half a cake, demanding to pay half-price  Fox News

A Texas woman was banned from her area Walmart after police say she ate half a cake and refused to pay for the missing portion.

View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2XHtad2

FDA warns certain dry dog foods may be linked to canine heart disease - WTOP

FDA warns certain dry dog foods may be linked to canine heart disease  WTOP

(NEW YORK) — Dog owners are getting a new warning about concerns over pet food that may be linked to deadly congestive heart failure. The Food and Drug ...

View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2LqDfoh

Apple Identifies Logic Board Issue With 'Very Small Number' of 2018 MacBook Airs, Will Fix Free of Charge - Mac Rumors

1. Apple Identifies Logic Board Issue With 'Very Small Number' of 2018 MacBook Airs, Will Fix Free of Charge  Mac Rumors
2. Apple Highlights 2018 MacBook Air Logic Board Issue and Offers Repairs to Customers, Free of Charge  Wccftech
3. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2XdjCSM

Lisa Vanderpump makes it to Kentucky for Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's wedding - Page Six

Lisa Vanderpump makes it to Kentucky for Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's wedding  Page Six

Pump mastermind and Bravo star, Lisa Vanderpump has made her way to Kentucky to celebrate the wedding of Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright despite the ...

View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2xiCoxB

How Much Money Endgame, Yesterday, And Annabelle Comes Home Should Make This Weekend - Cinema Blend

1. How Much Money Endgame, Yesterday, And Annabelle Comes Home Should Make This Weekend  Cinema Blend
2. We love Pizza Guy from 'Annabelle Comes Home' (even if he should've been sliced)  USA TODAY
3. Friday Box Office: 'Annabelle' Sequel Disappoints As 'Yesterday' Overperforms  Forbes
4. The Conjuring has artfully brought a cinematic universe to the horror genre  The Week Magazine
5. All The Horror Movies Heading Our Way In Summer 2019  Cinema Blend
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2RJPYnl

Who won the Democrats' second debate? Our panelists' verdicts

A combative Democratic debate saw clashes on race and healthcare policy – and many more attacks on Trump. Our experts weigh in Kate Aronoff: Democrats – and America – need better than BidenJoe Biden has been running for president on the idea that he’s the best equipped to beat Donald Trump. Tonight’s debate shed considerable doubt on that premise. If this is how he performs against his opponents on the same side of the aisle – clinging desperately to the legacy of an administration he didn’t lead – then how do we think he’ll fare against the most talented bully in American politics?Other candidates performed impressively. Bernie Sanders had the clearest ideas on how to improve the lives of people in this country and take on vested interests hoarding wealth and power. But Kamala Harris delivered the night’s and possibly the cycle’s most powerful moment when she challenged Biden on his history of supporting racist policies and politicians. In response, he got as defensive as a grandfather going up against his kids at a Thanksgiving table, taking pains to clarify precisely which type of desegregation he opposed in the 1970s. America deserves better. * Kate Aronoff is a writing fellow at In These Times. She covers elections and the politics of climate change Art Cullen: One of the real winners was actually Elizabeth WarrenKamala Harris wowed early when, during shouting chaos among the 10 candidates, she reminded the other candidates that Americans “don’t want a food fight; they want to know how to put food on the table”. She was powerful, precise and put her formidable legal skills to work on camera attacking Joe Biden’s record on race and bussing.Biden worked hard to tie himself to President Obama and aggressively defend his civil rights record, but he struggled under Harris’s withering prosecutor-style cross-examination.One of the debate’s other winners wasn’t even present: Elizabeth Warren – who, along with Harris, has clearly taken Bernie Sanders’ mantle as flag-bearer for the progressive base. Sanders started the revolution, but Warren and Harris seem poised to execute it. * Art Cullen is editor of the Storm Lake Times in Iowa and won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. He is the author of Storm Lake: A Chronicle of Change, Resilience, and Hope Moira Donegan: Harris was the only real standoutAt once more scripted, less policy-oriented, and more emptily contentious than Wednesday’s debate, the second Democratic presidential debate was mostly a competition to outshine the current frontrunner, Joe Biden.Kamala Harris succeeded; few of the other candidates managed to convey their message as effectively. Harris emphasized economic justice and conveyed her policy agenda through a series of morally charged anecdotes about struggling families, including her own: she adeptly attacked Biden’s record on race by invoking her own childhood as a beneficiary of school bussing. She also had one of the best sound bites of the night, when the debate devolved into one of several shouting matches: “America does not want to witness a food fight; they want to know how we’re going to put food on the table.”Biden tried to continue coasting on leftover goodwill from his time in the Obama administration, delivering answers thin on details and thick with platitudes. His vague and non-committal description of the country he would build as president seemed to accomplish little aside from reifying the message he gave rich donors at a recent fundraiser: “Nothing would fundamentally change.” * Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Malaika Jabali: No one really wonIn a Democratic debate that was obnoxious, contentious, and spent the first 30 minutes largely setting up socialism and progressive policies – like free healthcare, free education, and taxing the wealthy – as impracticable and not the popular positions that they are, no one really won.Nevertheless, within these confines Kamala Harris succeeded. She was assertive but composed, she forcefully addressed racism, and she pushed Biden on his anti-bussing record. Her prosecutorial record will be scrutinized as the race draws on, but tonight she has much to celebrate. * Malaika Jabali is a public policy attorney, writer, and activist whose writing has appeared in Essence, Jacobin, the Intercept, Glamour and elsewhere Geoffrey Kabaservice: Biden was out of step with his own partyKamala Harris was the standout in tonight’s debate, bringing a force, focus, and fire that had been missing since her campaign rollout.Her gains came directly at Joe Biden’s expense and punctured the image he’d cultivated of an above-the-fray front runner. Their viral clash on bussing as a means of achieving racial balance in schools hammered home not only how out of step Biden is with the Democratic left’s evolving stance on identity issues but also his age – since Harris was a schoolchild when Biden was cutting deals with former segregationists.Harris’s victory may be pyrrhic, however, since bussing is an unpopular subject with a long history of widening divisions between Democrats. * Geoffrey Kabaservice is the director of political studies at the Niskanen Center in Washington DC as well as the author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party Doug Pagitt: Harris won the roomThree candidates clearly had the energy in the room tonight: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Kamala Harris. While the other candidates had their moments, there was no doubt that the applause and focused interest in the room was behind those three.As someone who organizes religious people to vote for Democratic candidates, I found it interesting to hear the enthusiastic and prolonged applause for Pete Buttigieg when he said that the Christian faith calls us to care for kids and not put them in cages and he called out the hypocrisy of the Trump administration. It seemed like an indicator that there is interest and enthusiasm for Democratic candidates who talk about faith.Of all the candidates, Biden issued the most forceful denunciations of Trump, and the crowd ate it up. But by the end of the debate it became clear how much passion there is for Harris. I’m not sure how it came across on television, but to those of us inside the room she projected powerful charisma and confidence. * Doug Pagitt is the founding pastor of Solomon’s Porch, a holistic missional Christian community in Minneapolis, Minnesota

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

Planned Parenthood Can Keep Performing Abortions in Missouri, For Now

A hearing commission granted an emergency stay

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

Wide-eyed Joe Biden dodges Bernie Sanders' hand in viral debate moment

In a brief, yet viral, moment during the Democratic debates Thursday, Joe Biden had a wide-eyed response and a slight dodge from Bernie Sanders' hand.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/300p7Gt

U.S. Supreme Court declines Alabama bid to revive abortion restriction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday sidestepped a major new challenge to abortion rights by declining to hear Alabama's bid to revive a Republican-backed state law that would have effectively banned the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

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

Israel and Hamas Reach Truce to Restore Quiet, Army Radio Says

(Bloomberg) -- Israel and Hamas reached a truce on Friday that would halt attacks against Israeli farmland in return for measures to ease the economic blockade on Gaza, according to a report by Israeli Army Radio.Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, would stop launching incendiary balloons that for the past year have torched thousands of acres of forest and agricultural land, and in exchange Israel would expand the enclave’s fishing zone, and return 60 confiscated boats and diesel supplies for the area’s main power plant, according to the radio station.Though the concessions made by Israel are small, they would provide some relief for Gaza and its roughly 2 million residents, who are cut off from other economies by their immediate neighbors, Israel and Egypt.To contact the reporter on this story: Yaacov Benmeleh in Tel Aviv at ybenmeleh@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Constantine Courcoulas, Taylan BilgicFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Je7j3A

Bernie Sanders claims 'ageism' after Eric Swalwell attacked him and Joe Biden in Democratic debate

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77, was responding to attacks from Rep. Eric Swalwell, 38. "Judge people on the totality of who they are," he said.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2X3Vp1i

This Is the Battle That Decided World War II (Not What You Think)

While the tactical result of the battle was stunning – the U.S. sunk four Japanese fleet carriers Hiryu, Soryu, Kaga and Akagi, a heavy cruiser and destroyed 248 enemy aircraft – it is the perilous backdrop of America’s war fortunes in 1942 that make Midway’s tide-turning outcomes all the more significant.  Thursday, June 6th saw the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy, the amphibious assault phase of Operation Neptune, or what we commonly remember as D-Day.  U.S. troops who landed at Normandy – particularly at Omaha Beach – waded ashore amidst a storm of chaos, a blizzard of machine gun fire, and a hail of plunging mortars.  Despite great confusion and casualties, at the squad level and below, the men at Omaha rallied and pressed forth with tenacity and nerve to breach sand-berms and barricades, neutralize enemy positions, and salvage their sectors.  Losses at Omaha were immense – but American resolve helped establish a foothold on the coast of France – and “the rest,” they say, “is history.”(This appeared earlier in June 2019.)Without doubt, the enormous importance of D-Day as a logistical and operational undertaking – and the gallantry of Allied forces that June morning is unquestioned.  It rightfully exemplifies American character, courage, and commitment. However, it is important to note that as far as the battle’s strategic significance is concerned, a strong case can be made that other battles of World War II are more critical than D-Day.The Battle of Midway in 1942 is one.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2RJd7WU

Pelosi's Aura of Democratic Unity Burst by Border Bill Drama

(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is known as a master legislator for her ability to hold House Democrats together in even the toughest negotiations. Yet she came up short on a crucial border funding bill this week, forced to back down amid bitter caucus infighting.The episode exposed rifts between the party’s moderate and liberal wings, denting the veneer of unity Pelosi largely maintained for the first six months of the Democratic House majority and her second speakership.While she held different Democratic factions together to negotiate an end to January’s government shutdown and tamped down calls to impeach President Donald Trump, the details of a $4.5 billion funding measure sparked bitter House floor confrontations, hallway blame-shifting and angry tweets among Democrats who felt betrayed by their colleagues.The contentious end to weeks of emotion-filled debate over the best way to help migrants housed in unsafe and in some cases deadly conditions also raises questions about the leverage Democrats will wield in upcoming talks on the debt ceiling, spending limits and Trump’s revised North American trade agreement.Without unified negotiating positions, the party will have a tougher time confronting the Republican Senate and White House.Progressive DemandsAs lawmakers were anxious to catch flights for next week’s recess, the House was stuck with the bipartisan Senate bill that passed 84-8 on Wednesday. Pelosi on Thursday initially backed demands from her progressive members aimed at increasing transparency at migrant holding facilities and eliminating extra funds for the Pentagon and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, rejected those demands, and moderate Democrats, who will face tough re-election campaigns next year, joined House Republicans to demand a simple vote on the Senate’s bipartisan bill. Pelosi ultimately relented, put the Senate bill on the House floor, and it passed 305-102.More Republicans than Democrats voted for the measure -- a rare occurrence in the Democratic-led House.The bill did get support from more than half of Pelosi’s caucus, but most of the speaker’s own leadership team, including Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Vice Chairman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts voted against it.Republicans said Pelosi lost control of the House floor, similar to former Republican Speaker John Boehner facing the House Freedom Caucus rebellion that eventually led him to step down.“I don’t believe I revolted against leadership, I revolted against the fact we were passing a bill that wasn’t going to get to the finish line,” said New Jersey moderate Jeff Van Drew.Democrats maintained that Pelosi’s hold on power remains strong, accusing Senate Democrats of undercutting her by voting for the Senate bill.Pence Promises“Pelosi has a strong grip on the caucus, the Senate abandoned this effort,” said Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, a close Pelosi ally.Pelosi loyalists said the speaker had tried weeks ago to rally her caucus around a proposal before the Senate effort, but progressives resisted every version of the bill that leadership presented. That meant that the Senate committee acted first, on a bipartisan bill, giving McConnell the upper hand.Pelosi made a last-ditch effort to secure some concessions from the White House, reaching out to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday. He agreed to a 90-day limit for holding children in “influx” facilities and promised to notify Congress within 24 hours after the death of a child in U.S. custody, according to a person familiar with the conversation.Even with these promises, some progressive Democrats were furious with the reversal and blamed moderates.Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan, one of the leaders of the Progressive Caucus, likened a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including 23 Democrats, that pressured Pelosi to vote on the Senate bill, to a “Child Abuse Caucus” for giving in on the party’s demands. He told reporters the group was protecting companies running migrant shelters.Pocan was later confronted on the House floor by angry moderates over the tweet.“Child abuse is backing a bill that won’t get the kids the help that they need,” Van Drew said, describing the progressive position.Fellow progressive Pramila Jayapal of Washington State lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his caucus.“Senate Democrats have to wake up and stop voting with Mitch McConnell and allow us to have some leverage so we can actually use our leverage in the House,” she said.Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Rules Committee, said he hopes Democrats learn the lesson that they need to work with Republicans and stop catering to the left.“It depends on what lessons the Democrats draw out of it,” Cole said in an interview. “When it comes time to actually legislating, you are not going to be able to jam the Republican Senate and Republican White House. This is the first recognition of political reality, and it took a national emergency to get us there.”To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Anna Edgerton, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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

Indian women's heads shaved for 'resisting' rape

An Indian mother and her daughter had their heads shaved and were paraded through their village after resisting an attempted rape by men including a local official, police said Friday. The world's largest democracy has an abysmal record on sexual crime against women, particularly in rural areas where the majority of the 1.3-billion population lives. Ward councillor Mohommad Khurshid forcibly entered the women's home in the eastern state of Bihar on Wednesday with other men and allegedly attempted to rape the newly married 19-year-old daughter, police told AFP.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2YnVj62

Atlanta airport to expand security checkpoint

The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport plans to expand a security checkpoint within the next year to help alleviate a crowded waiting area, officials said. Officials expect to open five additional lanes at the South Security Checkpoint within the next year, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . This would provide nine lanes for TSA screening near Delta Air Lines' check-in counters.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/31Xfb2a

Biden responds to attack on his age: 'I'm still holding on to that torch'

Rep. Eric Swalwell went after former Vice President Joe Biden in the second Democratic presidential primary debate. Swalwell said Biden, who is 76 years old, should “pass the torch.” Biden rejected the California lawmaker’s critique.

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

Iraqi general, U.S. Marine dispute murder charge against Navy SEAL

An Iraqi general and a U.S. Marine testifying in the murder trial of a U.S. Navy SEAL said on Thursday they never saw the platoon leader stab a wounded detainee in the neck, disputing the central allegation in the prosecution's war crimes case. A sworn deposition of Major General Abbas al-Jubouri, videotaped in San Diego earlier this month, was played for the seven-member jury on the second day of defense testimony in the court-martial of Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher. Contrary to prior testimony that Gallagher, or a medic on his team, had acted deliberately to cause the death of a helpless Islamic State fighter in their custody, Jubouri said the Navy SEALs did all they could to save the teenager's life.

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

It took two minutes for Taco Bell to sell out its new hotel, because people are weird

Taco Bell fans are apparently so addicted to the brand of the Mexican fast food chain, that not only do they patronize its locations on the regular for artery-clogging tacos and nachos. The company also felt that the brand has enough of a following that it decided to open a Taco Bell Hotel this August in Palm Spring, Calif. It will be a very real hotel and resort that's infused with the brand via everything from a gift shop that sells Taco Bell-themed clothes to Taco Bell-inspired rooms and even a salon that offers Taco Bell-inspired art.Most improbable of all, reservations for the new hotel opened today. And sold out in just two minutes.If you head to the new hotel's website, you'll be greeted with the following message: "You just missed it! All of our rooms are SOLD OUT. But you can still be a part of the experience from home." And fans are then encouraged to sign up to stay on top of hotel-related updates, exclusive merchandise and more from The Bell Hotel.Again, all that for a Taco Bell-themed hotel. What is the world coming to?There was, in fact, so much demand when reservations opened on Thursday that problems started showing up less than a minute into the process. Per CNBC, the hotel's website quickly got overwhelmed by the demand, with some users being greeted by a message apologizing for "higher than normal traffic" and telling them to "keep your crossed fingers on that refresh button."Making this even more extraordinary, Taco Bell's hotel will have a very short existence. It's really just taking over the V Palm Springs hotel and will only be open from August 8 through August 12. The nightly price of its rooms starts at $169.In a statement about the overwhelming fan reaction to the idea of a Taco Bell hotel, the chain's chief global brand officer Marisa Thalberg had this to say: "Taco Bell fans are truly one of a kind and today was one of the best expressions of that fandom yet."

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2J6avhG

Conservative organization using claims of 'secret list' of liberal judges to rally Republican base

The Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative organization instrumental in the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation fight, is calling on 2020 Democratic candidates to release what it says is a secret list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Xce7no

Indian mother, daughter have heads shaved after resisting gang rape

An Indian mother and her daughter were beaten and had their heads shaved by a group of men after they resisted a gang rape attempt, police said on Friday, in the latest attack to highlight the dangers facing women in the country. Seven men, including a local government official, barged into the women's home late on Wednesday in northeastern Bihar with the intent of raping the teenage daughter, senior police officer Sanjay Kumar said. "When the mother and daughter protested, the men got angry and called a local barber, who shaved their heads," Kumar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2LoM2ak

Pilot, resident dead when plane crashes into home in North Carolina

The pilot and one occupant of the house died on the scene, while the injured person was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with serious injuries. Their identities weren't immediately released.

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

Trump Supreme Court pick Kavanaugh delivered the goods for conservatives

President Donald Trump's appointee Brett Kavanaugh consistently delivered during his first term as a justice for conservatives who had hoped he would move the U.S. Supreme Court further to the right while still managing to keep a low profile following his acrimonious Senate confirmation process. As the top U.S. judicial body wrapped up nine months of work on Thursday, Kavanaugh's record showed he was in lockstep with the court's four other conservative members. At least based on his first term, Kavanaugh showed himself to be more reliably conservative than the justice who Trump appointed him to replace, Anthony Kennedy, who sometimes sided with the court's liberal bloc on issues including abortion and gay rights.

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

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker's Spanish is 'humorous'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the Spanish being spoken on stage by presidential candidates including Cory Brooker and Beto O’Rourke at the first Democratic primary debate as “humorous”.The youngest ever congresswoman said there was “a lot of Spanglish in the building” as 10 presidential hopefuls sparred on policies and Donald Trump at the debate in Miami on Wednesday night.Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after the debate, Ms Ocasio-Cortez, said:“I loved it, because, I represent the Bronx and there was a lot of Spanglish in the building.”“I thought it was humorous sometimes, at times. Especially because, sometimes, of the content of the question.”The Democratic congresswoman, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, added that she thought the candidates might start saying “I will not give you an answer to your question” in Spanish."But it was good,” she added. “I thought it was a good gesture to the fact that we are a diverse country.” Ms Ocasio-Cortez also compared the candidates to unprepared "high school students". "I think sometimes with the debate stage this big, it can kind of seem like a high school classroom, and so there are some folks that, like, didn’t seem like they read the book, and then they got called on," she said.Asked who she think will make the next debate, Ms Ocasio-Cortez first praised Elizabeth Warren’s performance.“I think Elizabeth Warren really distinguished herself, I think Julian Castro really distinguished himself,” she said. “I think Cory Booker did a great job in talking about criminal justice. ”Looking ahead to the next debate on Thursday, the Democratic congresswoman warned that Joe Biden was not a “safe choice”.“I think it’s dangerous to assume that any candidate is a quote-unquote ‘safe choice,’” she said. “That you pick one candidate and that’s just going to deliver an election for you. But with respect to vice president Biden, it’s more about an overall electoral strategy.”I think there’s this idea that we have to sacrifice everything,” she continued. “That we can’t talk about working class issues, that we can’t talk about criminal justice issues, that we can’t talk about immigration because it isolates this very small sliver of Obama-to-Trump voters."Ms Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted concerns she had over the way climate change is being disused during the debates.The Bronx congresswoman, who introduced Green New Deal proposal supported by a number of Democratic presidential candidates, said: “‘Is Miami going to exist in 50 years?’ we need to say, ‘What are you going to do about this?’”

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

Senate backs massive defense bill, targets China, sets Iran vote

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a $750-billion defense policy bill with provisions that target China on issues from technology transfers to the sale of synthetic opioids, pushing to counter growing Chinese influence around the world. Among other provisions, the Senate NDAA requires detailed reporting from the Department of Defense to prevent transfers of sensitive technology to China or Russia, as well as reports on access to the Arctic.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/320fvgv

In Surprise Census Decision, Supreme Court Finally Calls BS on the Trump Administration

Win McNamee/GettyThe Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census—which it estimated would decrease Hispanic participation in the census by five percent—has been temporarily shelved by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision.The reason? The administration lied.“Reasoned decisionmaking under the Administrative Procedure Act calls for an explanation for agency action,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the opinion for the Court. “What was provided here was more of a distraction.”That is music to the ears of Trump’s critics. Finally, there is a limit to how much this administration can lie and get away with it.Notably, the case was not a complete victory for opponents of the question. The Court held that a citizenship question is constitutional, and that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who is responsible for the census, was within his authority to set aside the dire warnings from the Census Bureau that the question would depress participation. Wilbur Ross Lied to Congress About the GOP’s Plot to Rig the Census. This Should Be a National Scandal.But it is a major victory nonetheless, for two reasons.First, the citizenship question is unlikely to be on the 2020 census. The Court’s decision kicks the case back to the district court to continue investigations into the real reasons for the question—including deposing Secretary Ross himself. That will take a while. In addition to the material already in the record—including numerous emails and memos clearly showing that Secretary Ross misrepresented the timeline and rationale for the question—still more material was recently unearthed on the hard drives of a deceased Republican operative, Thomas Hofeller, suggesting that citizenship data could be used to draw election districts to advantage “non-Hispanic whites.”Evaluating all that information will take a long time.Moreover, the ACLU and the New York Immigration Coalition had asked the district court to sanction government officials for lying in their statements to the court. That investigation, too, will now proceed.It’s unclear exactly how long it takes to print 350 million census forms: at first the government said they’d have to start in June, then later they said October. The Census Bureau has said that they intend to start printing the forms next week. (The president said shortly after the court’s decision that he has asked lawyers to delay the census.) In any case, it is highly likely that this dispute will not be resolved in time for the citizenship question to be added.The consequences are huge. Had the question been included, it would have intimidated some Hispanics from filling out the census for fear the information would be used by law enforcement for deportation.That undercounting, in turn, would lead to fewer Democratic-leaning congressional districts; to under-apportioning money for areas with uncounted residents; and even to decreasing the electoral college representation of Hispanic-heavy states like Texas, California, and New York. It would make presidential elections like 2016—where Trump won the most electoral votes despite losing the popular vote—more likely.And the data, we now know, would have been used to redraw congressional districts based on their number of citizens, rather than their total population, thus weakening the representation of areas with large numbers of immigrants and people of color.All that is on hold for now, and probably off the table for 2020.The second reason today’s decision is a victory has to do with the Court’s reasoning: that, in Roberts’s words, “we are presented…with an explanation for agency action that is incongruent with what the record reveals about the agency’s priorities and decisionmaking process.”“Incongruent” is legalese for “lied.” The Trump administration said one thing, but the evidence showed another. Specifically, wrote Roberts, “that evidence showed that the Secretary was determined to reinstate a citizenship question from the time he entered office…and adopted the Voting Rights Act rationale late in the process.”This “reveal[s] a significant mismatch between the decision the Secretary made and the rationale he provided.”“This is a victory for the rule of law,” said Dale Ho, the ACLU lawyer who argued the case at the Supreme Court.  “You can’t have government accountability unless government agencies are open and honest about their reasons for taking the actions they take.”Revealed: Memo Shows Trump Officials Trying to Rig Elections for WhitesThere was good reason to doubt that Roberts, in particular, would decide the case this way. Just last year, he took the Trump administration at its word that the so-called “Travel Ban,” which began, obviously, as a ban against Muslims entering the United States, was in fact a religion-neutral travel ban put in place for national-security reasons.There, too, the government came up with a bunch of evidence supporting their decision. There, too, they asked the Court to ignore the mountain of evidence that the rationale was pretext. But there, Roberts went along with it. And indeed, in today’s decision, Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh note that the Court seems to be contradicting itself. Sometimes it takes the government at its word, sometimes it says that word is pretext. Admittedly, they have a point.But, Roberts seemed to say, there is a limit to how much BS the Court will take. When there are email chains, memos, and meeting notes that directly contradict what government officials are saying, then at the very least, courts will fully inquire into the administrative record.Or, in his more delicate words:“Agencies [must] offer genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public. Accepting contrived reasons would defeat the purpose of the enterprise. If judicial review is to be more than an empty ritual, it must demand something better than the explanation offered for the action taken in this case.”At last, truth has had its day in court.John Roberts Isn’t the Conservative You Thought He WasRead 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/2FCdA8z

Apple's star designer Jony Ive to set up own firm

Apple's longtime design chief Jony Ive, who played a key role in the development of the iPhone and other iconic products, is leaving the tech giant to set up his own firm, Apple said Thursday. Ive will depart later this year "to form an independent design company which will count Apple among its primary clients," Apple said in a statement. Ive will pursue "personal projects" but also continue to work closely "on a range of projects with Apple," the California tech company said.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2XdRP9U

Kamala Harris Has Been Gearing Up for a Biden Showdown

By ASTEAD W. HERNDON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2FFgA3Y

DeVos Repeals Obama-Era Rule Cracking Down on For-Profit Colleges

By ERICA L. GREEN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Xh7oxy

Trump tweets Kim Jong Un an invitation to 'shake his hand' at DMZ - CNN

1. Trump tweets Kim Jong Un an invitation to 'shake his hand' at DMZ  CNN
2. Trump proposes meeting with Kim Jong-un after G-20 summit – live  The Guardian
3. Trump offers to meet Kim Jong Un at demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea  CNBC
4. Trump offers to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in DMZ | TheHill  The Hill
5. In a tweet, Trump appears to invite Kim Jong Un to meet him at the Korean demilitarized zone  The Washington Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2YjNGO1

Google Will Not Remove Games From Your Stadia Library if They Are Removed From Sale - IGN

1. Google Will Not Remove Games From Your Stadia Library if They Are Removed From Sale  IGN
2. Google’s Phil Harrison isn’t worried about ISP data caps for Stadia  The Verge
3. Google Stadia games reportedly won't be cheaper than PS4, Xbox One versions  CNET
4. Google: ISP Data Caps Not Seen as Challenge for Stadia  Droid Life
5. Google doesn't expect games on Stadia to be cheaper than consoles  Destructoid
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2ZSAQ9R

ASN: USWNT down France 2-1 in a hard-fought match to advance to the semifinals - AmericanSoccerNow.com

1. ASN: USWNT down France 2-1 in a hard-fought match to advance to the semifinals  AmericanSoccerNow.com
2. American Original: How Megan Rapinoe stole the show at the World Cup  Yahoo Sports
3. Megan Rapinoe Cannot Make This Any Clearer  Deadspin
4. U.S. beats France 2-1 to set up semifinal date with England  New York Daily News
5. The Infectious Idealism of the U.S. Women’s National Team  The Atlantic
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2Xat4X0

Nike Official Unveils Giannis Antetokounmpo's Zoom Freak 1 - HYPEBEAST

1. Nike Official Unveils Giannis Antetokounmpo's Zoom Freak 1  HYPEBEAST
2. Pass or fail? Giannis Antetokounmpo unveils new Nike signature sneakers  Yahoo Sports
3. Antetokounmpo to play for Greece at World Cup  ESPN
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo's Top 10 Defensive Plays of the Regular Season  NBA
5. NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Nike Zoom Freak 1 Debuts In Three Colorways  Sneaker News
6. View full coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2XGMp6w

Trump arrives at G20 complaining about allies Germany, India and his host, Japan

Trump criticized India for imposing tariffs on U.S. products, and again complained that Japan and Germany were not contributing enough to mutual defense treaties.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2YgF5vt

Did Biden’s debate performance help narrow polling gap between front-runner and the rest of 2020 Democratic field?

Reaction and analysis from Republican strategist Ned Ryun and University of Maryland lecturer Jason Nichols.

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

Sparks fly as Kamala Harris challenges Joe Biden's record on race

The California senator sharply criticized the former vice president for his fond recollection of serving with two segregationist senators, and for opposing integration through busing in the 1970s.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FDzQ1z

Witness could face perjury charge in Navy SEAL court-martial

A witness who dropped stunning testimony at the war crimes trial of a decorated Navy SEAL by telling the court he had killed an Islamic State captive in Iraq in 2017 — not his accused platoon chief — could now face charges of perjury, according to the Navy. The Navy's legal adviser to the commander overseeing the court-martial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher notified the witness's lawyer, Brian Ferguson, in an email late Tuesday that the testimony Corey Scott gave last week could be used against him if he lied on the stand or gave a false statement. Cmdr. Tam Lawrence, Naval Special Warfare spokesperson, said Scott was granted immunity in exchange for the promise of truthful testimony.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2WZHrO4

Senate defeats measure to restrain Trump on Iran

The U.S. Senate on Friday defeated legislation that would have barred President Donald Trump from launching an attack on Iran without first obtaining the approval of Congress, except in self-defense. The measure was defeated 50 to 40, ensuring that the measure would not get the 60 needed to pass the Republican-majority Senate as an amendment to an annual defense policy bill. Ten senators did not vote.

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