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Pete Buttigieg: NRA has Donald Trump 'by the… base' on background checks

Democrat Pete Buttigieg criticized President Donald Trump Wednesday as the president has seemed to change his stance on background checks multiple times since two recent mass shooting.

CNN Pundit’s Bodyguard Charged with Assault after Removing Reporter Covering Her Speech

CNN pundit April Ryan's security guard has been charged with assault after he forcibly removed a local New Jersey reporter from an event at which Ryan was delivering a speech.Charlie Kravotil, editor of New Brunswick Today, claims that Ryan's bodyguard, 30-year-old Joel Morris, approached him during Ryan's speech at The Heldrich Hotel on August 3 and stole his camera after he refused to stop filming.A video of the incident shows Kravotil, who secured press credentials for the event, following Morris into the lobby of the hotel to retrieve his camera. After the local journalist reclaimed his camera, Morris grabbed his arm, placed it behind his back, and shoved him out of the hotel.Morris has been charged with harassment, assault, and theft in connection with the incident.Kravotil says he was invited to the event and was allowed to film for roughly two hours before Ryan took the stage to deliver a speech, at which point Morris stole his camera but allowed other people in the room to continue filming. He called on Ryan to apologize for the incident in a Monday tweet.“She’s been silent about the unacceptable and illegal behavior of her bodyguard, Joel Morris, and we are still waiting for her comment on this unfortunate incident,” Kravotil said in a video posted to Twitter. “Maybe now that there are criminal charges, we might hear something from her. I hope, sincerely, that she does comment and I hope she does condemn this. This is unacceptable. . . . In our country, we have freedom of the press.”Ryan is a vociferous critic of President Trump and routinely disparages him for his rhetorical attacks on the press, even authoring a book on the subject last year entitled Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House.

The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space.

Climate change comes with a higher risk of wildfires. This summer, fires have ravaged the Arctic, and the flames can be seen from space.

Police Arrest Two Louisiana Men in 39-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Teen

Rapides Parish Sheriff's OfficeAfter nearly four decades, Louisiana police have charged two men they believe brutally raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl before disposing of her body in the woods.Leo Laird, 64, and Gary Haymon, 54, were both charged on Monday in the death of 18-year-old Donna Gayle Brazzell, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office. The young woman’s skeletal remains were found near Nichols Cemetery Road in 1980, but authorities were unable to identify them until last month.The Daring DNA Hunt That Cracked France’s Gruesome Cold Case“These cases never, ever leave a policeman’s mind,” Officer William Earl Hilton, who was first assigned the case, told KBLA. “They prey on you all the time. Especially cases like this that you never solve.”Authorities declined to elaborate on what evidence led to Laird and Haymon’s arrest, but said “sufficient probable cause was established.” Both men have been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, and aggravated kidnapping.The mystery began on November 5, 1980, when the sheriff’s office responded to a call about “skeletal remains found in a wooded area” near Nichols Cemetery Road. Working alongside Louisiana State University’s Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons, investigators were able to determine that the remains, which were likely in the woods for at least two months, belonged to a female victim between the ages of 16 and 21.  The lab also created a DNA profile and a facial sketch of the victim but were still unable to make a positive identification. In 2014, the sheriff’s office “received information in reference to the case” that led them to name Laird and Haymon as suspects. It remains unclear what new evidence pointed to the two men.Vatican to Open Tombs in Hunt for Teen Missing for 30 YearsThe sketch of the victim proved key to cracking the case five years later, when a woman contacted authorities claiming the picture resembled her long lost granddaughter. After a DNA comparison last month, authorities confirmed the remains belonged to the woman’s relative, Donna Gayle Brazzell.Laird, who would have been in his 20s at the time of the alleged murder, was arrested on August 14 and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center. He is currently being held on a $1 million bold. Haymon is already serving a 49-year prison sentence for second-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and public bribery, authorities said. While he was originally set for release in 2047, authorities said arrangements “are in place to have Haymon booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center in reference to his new charges.”Quadriplegic Charged in Cold-Case Murder of Bay Area MomRead 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.

Farmer Behind the U.S.'s Largest Organic Food Fraud Scheme Dies by Suicide

A Missouri farmer blamed for running the largest organic food fraud scheme in U.S. history has died by suicide, weeks before he was to report to federal prison to begin serving a 10-year term, a coroner said Tuesday.

Albania bulldozes restaurant after owner attacks tourists

Albanian officials on Wednesday razed a beachfront restaurant whose owner was captured on camera attacking a car rented by Spanish tourists, as the country scrambles to clean up its reputation as a burgeoning holiday destination. The incident, filmed by the victims' tour guide from inside their vehicle, took place at the weekend in Porto-Palermo on the Ionian coast in southern Albania, a popular tourist spot. The restaurant owner, 51-year-old Mihal Kokedhima, was arrested and faces trial for "verbally assaulting a group of Spanish tourists for futile reasons", damaging their car and causing minor injuries, police said.

The Latest: Japan 'deeply concerned' about Hong Kong

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China could ‘render US military bases useless’ within hours of conflict in Asia, report says

China’s military could use missiles to overwhelm American military bases in Asia within hours, a think tank has warned.The US defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific is “in the throes of an unprecedented crisis”, according to a report from the United States Studies Center, at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Trump just looked up to the sky and told reporters 'I am the chosen one'

Donald Trump apparently thinks even more highly of himself than we thought.On Wednesday, he told a group of reporters outside the White House that he is "the chosen one." Not a normal thing that people usually say unless they are Superman or Harry Potter, or like, a complete narcissist, but sure.The context makes the statement only a bit less bizarre. Trump was reportedly talking about the trade war with China and how he is the one tasked with taking on the country's unfair trading practices. But still. Pretty weird.> What a moment. > > President Trump on the WH lawn just looked up to the sky and said, "I am the chosen one." > > He was talking about the trade war with China and repeated his claim that he needs to take on China for unfair trading practice.> > -- Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 21, 2019It wasn't long before people began to mock Trump's "chose one" statement with jokes and Star Wars references. > I'M THE CHOSEN ONE! https://t.co/IQqNegzQzy pic.twitter.com/lpXcFRPYGG> > -- pink nightmare (@Themaplewitch) August 21, 2019> "I am the chosen one" isn't something that a U.S. President should say. It's barely something the villain in a poorly-written movie based on a video game should say.> > -- Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) August 21, 2019> The chosen one pic.twitter.com/bOkE2U8SZP> > -- Mikhara (@mikhara_) August 21, 2019> A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT I AM THE CHOSEN ONE. pic.twitter.com/RER6kpnzpE> > -- Caroline Goldsmith (@GoldCaro) August 21, 2019> If Barack Obama looked to the sky and said 'I'm the chosen one', even as a joke(which this wasn't), everyone at Fox News would look like they just peeked inside the Ark of the Covenant. https://t.co/bfxkxWkL44> > -- Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) August 21, 2019Many also noted the fact that the president keeps relating himself to god-like figures. Earlier today he shared a concerning tweet that claims he is seen as both the "King of Israel" and the "second coming of God." > "King of Israel" and "I am the chosen one" on the same day, huh https://t.co/MfKJKBPVxS> > -- Allahpundit (@allahpundit) August 21, 2019> President Trump today: > > -"I am the chosen one" on his trade war with China. > > -Retweet claiming he is like the King of Israel. > > -Retweet claiming he is like the 2nd coming of god.> > -- Christina Ginn (@NBChristinaGinn) August 21, 2019> Put Trump's "I am the chosen one" in the larger context with the messianic language in his tweets earlier today. > > He quoted a right-wing propagandist as saying he was "King of Israel" and "the second coming of God": pic.twitter.com/0DhKVtUNnP> > -- Leah McElrath ️‍ (@leahmcelrath) August 21, 2019Can you believe there's still so much time in this day for Trump to say and tweet more things? WATCH: Papa Roach scolds Trump with song lyrics on Twitter

Ford's "Mustang-Inspired" Mach E Electric SUV Steps Out in Prototype Form

Said to arrive next year, this new battery-powered crossover promises 300 miles of range and a relatively affordable starting price.

Catholic Priest Abuse Survivors' Group Says It's 'Cowardly' That Convicted Cardinal Has Not Been Defrocked

'I don't know what other proof any organization needs other than a conviction'

Drivers in Idaho keep harassing busloads of immigrants' children on their way to pre-school

One driver reported experiencing threatening incidents with other drivers while she was driving a busload of children under the age of five.

Iran Tanker Helm Makes Distress Call Near Saudi Red Sea Port

(Bloomberg) -- The Iranian oil carrier Helm experienced technical issues in the Red Sea off the Saudi port of Yanbu and the crew is working to resolve them, according to the National Iranian Tanker Co.The vessel, one of the world’s largest crude tankers, signaled distress at 6:30 a.m. Iran time on Tuesday, about 75 miles (about 121 kilometers) off of Yanbu, owner NITC said in a statement. Both the ship and crew are safe and stable, NITC said without saying whether the Helm can continue the voyage.The tanker was showing minimal movement in the immediate area on Wednesday, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg at 2:30 p.m. in London.Iran’s tanker fleet is under global scrutiny amid U.S. sanctions seeking to choke off the country’s crude sales. The U.S. failed in efforts to seize a loaded supertanker allegedly bound for Syria that had been blocked in Gibraltar for more than a month.That vessel, the Adrian Darya 1, is now sailing east in the Mediterranean and signaling Greece, potentially to transfer crude to other ships. Another tanker loaded crude this month in Iran with the aim of delivering oil to Syria, Fox News reported, citing unidentified intelligence officials.Transponder SignalsIranian tankers have turned off their satellite transponders intermittently in an apparent attempt to mask their voyages to supply crude. The Helm appears to have used that strategy since loading some crude in Iran in May.It’s unclear when the Helm entered the Red Sea or what was the ship’s last port of call, based on tanker-tracking data available on Bloomberg. Until this week when the vessel made the distress call, the tanker’s last known position was in the Persian Gulf in May when satellite signals showed the tanker was half full and heading for the Suez canal.The Helm, a Very Large Crude Carrier, capable of carrying about 2 million barrels of crude, is not full, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The tanker last reported its status as “not under command.”Another NITC tanker that encountered trouble off the Saudi coast was kept in the port of Jeddah for more than two months before leaving in July and returning to Iran this month.Separately on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that the country’s government will try to expedite the legal process over its holding of a U.K.-flagged oil tanker so “we can close this ordeal.”Iran seized the ship, the Stena Impero, in July, following the detention of the tanker that was held in Gibraltar. “This is something that we did not start but we want to end,” Zarif said at an event in Stockholm.(Updates with ship position in third paragraph, comment from Iranian foreign minister in last two paragraphs.)\--With assistance from Rafaela Lindeberg.To contact the reporters on this story: Anthony DiPaola in Dubai at adipaola@bloomberg.net;Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net, Brian Wingfield, John DeaneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

The Latest: Philadelphia police commissioner resigning

A Philadelphia official says the resignation of Police Commissioner Richard Ross is related to allegations made by a corporal and a patrol officer against several department employees. Deana Gamble is a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney. Kenney's announcement Tuesday referred to a sexual harassment prevention policy and efforts to prevent discrimination and harassment that were implemented a year ago.

The Trump-Greenland effect: Deplorable policies buried in an avalanche of absurd optics

Trump's reality TV 'rivals' are never climate change, or whatever is causing declining life expectancy, or the country that attacked our elections.

Everest region bans single-use plastic

Single-use plastics have been banned in the Everest region to reduce the vast amounts of waste left by trekkers and mountaineers, Nepali authorities said Thursday. The new ban in Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, home to Mount Everest and several other snow-capped mountains, covers all plastic of less than 30 microns in thickness as well as drinks in plastic bottles, and will be effective from January. "If we start now, it will help keep our region, the Everest and the mountains clean long term," local official Ganesh Ghimire told AFP.

F-35 stealth fighter jets on fast track to receive laser-based offensive and defensive capabilities

The Air Force Research Lab and Office of Naval Research are currently developing fast and precise laser weapons that can “burn holes” through enemy targets at the speed of light. Concurrently, the U.S. Navy is developing a laser-application for its Marine Corps F-35B, intended to effectively maintain the stealth fighter for future decades of war.

Prosecutor: Cannibalism victim was butchered 'like you wouldn't kill a livestock animal'

Joseph Oberhansley, 38, is accused of killing his estranged girlfriend and eating parts of her brain and organs in 2014.

Neo-Nazi arrested over threat to exterminate Hispanics said 'I thank God every day Trump is president'

A man arrested by the FBI on suspicion of threatening to kill Hispanic people in Miami allegedly wrote that he thanked God every day that Donald Trump was president.Eric Lin, 35, made a series of threats against the Hispanic community in the Miami area before being arrested in Seattle.

What Jeffrey Epstein’s Last-Minute Will Means for Accusers Trying to Recover Money From His Estate

"It could take many, many years before anybody gets a penny of this"

A man lost his wife in the El Paso Walmart shooting, then his car was stolen during her funeral. His community came together to replace it.

Antonio Basco's Ford Escape was stolen after a funeral for his wife, Margie Reckard, in El Paso. The community banded together to find him a new one.

Spacewalking astronauts add parking spot to space station

Spacewalking astronauts added another parking spot to the International Space Station on Wednesday. NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan successfully installed a docking port delivered by SpaceX last month. It will be used by SpaceX and Boeing once they start launching astronauts to the orbiting lab late this year or early next year.

The U.S. Must Remain in Africa’s Fight against Boko Haram

On Thursday, August 15, the international terrorist group Boko Haram attacked a military base and community in Nigeria, killing three soldiers. This comes on the heels of an even deadlier attack three weeks ago, when armed members of the group rode motorcycles into a funeral in northern Nigeria and opened fire on the procession, killing 65 mourners.For many, these are just forgettable attacks by Boko Haram. But for me, this story hit close to home. A few years ago, I was an investigative journalist reporting from where the carnage occurred. And years before that, I served as a Navy SEAL in Africa trying to prevent such carnage from taking place at all.In today’s era of trade war with China and potential hot wars with Iran and North Korea, it’s easy to overlook the threat posed by Boko Haram, and conflicts in Africa more broadly. But I believe we ignore the continent and terrorist groups such as Boko Haram at our peril — and we’d better pay attention now before events force us to pay attention later.Boko Haram is most famous, of course, for its 2014 kidnapping of roughly 300 young girls, an event that shocked the world and even led First Lady Michelle Obama to post a photo with the hashtag BringBackOurGirls. I deployed to Africa two years after these kidnappings, and I encountered a Boko Haram emboldened by the success of the kidnapping and the attention it garnered. It was a powerful insurgency, driven by an ideology hostile to all things Western and modern.Today, Boko Haram remains as potent a threat as ever. Though the original group has splintered, the offshoots continue to wreak havoc in Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, and the broader region. Kidnappings are on the rise, and in Chad, Boko Haram is attempting to build its own alternative Islamic state. In spite of a multinational effort to fight the group, it continues to kidnap officials, organize suicide bombings, and terrorize locals.The U.S.’s approach to this conflict — and to the region in general — has been, to paraphrase the famous quip about democracy, the worst policy except for all the others available to us. We are deployed on the ground in almost 50 African countries, taking action against Boko Haram and other terrorist affiliates. In outposts such as Geroua in northern Cameroon, for example, U.S. troops operate drones and train local soldiers. Our strategy is broadly known as “foreign internal defense,” or “FID,” and our soldiers work “through, by, and with” our African partners.Americans would prefer, of course, that no U.S. soldiers be deployed to hostile, faraway places. And as someone who has buried too many of my friends who served, that would be my preference as well. But our limited troop presence in Africa is a check against the need to deploy in much larger numbers — our current African posture is, I would argue, preferable to the expensive, exhausting slogs we’ve endured in Afghanistan and Iraq. If we are able to train, equip, and marshal local governments and resources to the fight, fewer young American men and women will be forced into harm’s way.This isn’t a universal view, and it has its critics. Some argue that we need to pull up the drawbridge, bring our troops home, and stop any kind of engagement with certain African countries. Policymakers have also drawn attention to human-rights abuses by the governments fighting Boko Haram, and rightly criticized African leaders who have been in power far longer than seems appropriate. These are fair concerns, but I believe they are outweighed by our broader strategic interests in Africa. There are three reasons for the U.S. to continue to keep robust ties with leaders in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Chad. and to keep our military presence there strong.First, our military-to-military ties are some of the strongest diplomatic channels we have in places such as Cameroon and Nigeria — and they can help shape what happens on the ground in ways that advance our humanitarian impulses. I saw this firsthand: In addition to tactics and warfighting, some might be surprised to learn that part of my mission as a Navy SEAL was training Liberian, Chadian, Nigerian, and Cameroonian soldiers in what’s known as the LOAC, or “law of armed conflict.” I taught modules about the use of force and about what was and wasn’t justified in warfare.This was the first exposure many of the soldiers I taught had to laws such as the Geneva Conventions and doctrines such as “proportional response.” While we couldn’t always control what took place once these soldiers were in the field, I look back on this work with pride, and I knew that everyone was better off because Americans led the instruction. More military-to-military engagement of this kind is one of the best tools we have for dealing with humanitarian crises around the world.The second reason to keep ties in Africa strong is simple: China. Today, China is the elephant in the room in every conversation about Africa’s future. China’s public and private sectors have poured billions into the continent, the Chinese government has an incredible intelligence apparatus in the region, and the country now maintains a vise-like grip on mining interests, roads, and countless infrastructure projects continent-wide. If the U.S. takes itself out of Africa, the Chinese will fill the vacuum — and they will do so in ways that are harmful to both U.S. strategic interests and Africa’s long-term interests.The final argument in favor of strengthening bonds with African leaders and nations is the obvious one: We simply have no other choice. Take, for example, Nigeria and Cameroon. There are vast, ungovernable stretches of land in those two countries where terrorist cells and violent insurgencies fester. Without active engagement from the U.S., problems that seem small and distant today can create urgent, bold-faced headlines tomorrow. Let’s not forget: Many of the deadliest attacks against U.S. interests worldwide, including the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, were either planned from or staged in Africa.It is tempting to believe that our problems at home are big enough that we ought to put issues abroad to the side for the moment. But America isolates itself at its peril, and we run long-term risks if we disengage from Africa. Now more than ever, we need to strengthen ties to governments on the continent, work with their militaries to keep people safe, and pay close attention to the terrorist threats they face. At a minimum, we need to support the U.S. servicemen and servicewomen already on the ground there, all of whom are doing unglamorous, hard work to help support the global War on Terror. Above all, our citizens and our policymakers cannot forget that the African fight is an American fight as well — and that it’s as important now as it’s ever been.

Trudeau says Canada will push back in China row, urges de-escalation in Hong Kong

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada will stand up to China in a deepening diplomatic and trade spat, while renewing calls for de-escalation of Hong Kong protest tensions. "We must recognize that China is a growing power and increasingly assertive towards its place in the international order. The two nations have been locked in a feud since December 2018 when Canada detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a flight stopover in Vancouver.

U.S. removed almost 2.7 million barrels daily of Iranian oil from market: Pompeo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has removed nearly 2.7 million barrels of Iranian oil from global markets daily as a result of Washington's decision to reimpose sanctions on all purchases of Iran's crude, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday.

We can't trust police to protect us from racist violence. They contribute to it

White nationalists pervade law enforcement. Fighting far right violence means continuing our fight for police accountabilityProtesters shout anti-Nazi chants after chasing alt-right blogger Jason Kessler from a news conference on 13 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesAs mass violence continues, many of us have become rightly afraid for the people we love. We want justice, but we also want protection.So what are the solutions we’re hearing about following this month’s violence? One idea we must reject is the idea of trusting law enforcement to protect us from white nationalist violence, given how much they contribute to it. If people in law enforcement want to be seen as experts on defeating white nationalism, shouldn’t they have to get rid of all the white nationalists in their own ranks first?White nationalists pervade law enforcement. There is a long history of the military, police and other authorities supporting, protecting or even being members of white supremacy groups. But it’s not just history. It was revealed last week that a black man in Michigan came upon KKK materials and Confederate flags in plain view while being shown a home for sale – the home of a police officer on the force for more than 20 years who shot and killed a black man in 2009 without consequence.It’s a widespread pattern. As early as 2006, the FBI flagged it. Another FBI report in 2015, not covered nearly enough, indicated that “domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers”. (And that’s the FBI, which has its own history of white supremacy affinity groups.)White nationalists connect through online networks and offline groups, and openly share tactics for infiltrating and influencing police departments, border patrol, the FBI and the military. That was the case for a Virginia police officer – assigned to a high school – who was revealed to be a longtime white nationalist and served as a recruiter for Identity Evropa, one of the groups behind the Charlottesville hate rallies and violence. He was not shy about his cover. In chat messages, he “discussed ways to downplay appearances of racism, while still promoting white nationalism”.Another thing many of those like him are not shy about: stoking and celebrating violence, and promoting hateful misinformation and rhetoric. The Plain View Project tracked publicly posted social media material from more than 3,500 confirmed current and retired law enforcement officers, and found that “about 1 in 5 of the current officers, and 2 in 5 of the retired officers, made public posts or comments ... displaying bias, applauding violence, scoffing at due process or using dehumanizing language”. The Center for Investigative Reporting was able to identify almost 400 current and retired law enforcement officials who were members of private Facebook “Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia” groups.We have seen racist text messages and emails among active officers revealed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and more, including among those in management with direct authority over law enforcement practices. As the Portland case proved, we must come to terms with the depth of association between senior law enforcement and white nationalist leaders and groups – people they should be investigating and thwarting, not encouraging and helping to evade justice.Neo-Nazis and white supremacists at the University of Virginia after marching through the campus with torches in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. Photograph: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesIt would be naive to look at cases in which agencies have dismissed white nationalists from their ranks as an encouraging sign, whether in police departments, border patrol (an agent with a pattern of racist text messages ran over a Guatemalan migrant with a truck), the coast guard (a white nationalist aimed to “murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country”), military units (more Identity Evropa members in the Marines), or anywhere else.In truth, would the level of violence committed by law enforcement in communities of color, and at the border, even be possible if racial hatred weren’t part and parcel of police culture? White nationalists in law enforcement and in many roles in government, such as prosecutors, are dangerous because they routinely abuse their power to attack and debilitate communities of color, including harassment and coercion, financial exploitation, acts of sexual and racially-targeted violence and mass incarceration – all officially sanctioned, and all celebrated as part of the larger white nationalist agenda.Within the FBI, there has been an active movement among white nationalist sympathizers to protect their own by unfoundedly targeting nonviolent black activists: inventing the idea of a black extremist threat to justify surveillance of nonviolent black activists and divert attention from truly violent white nationalist perpetrators. This policy was codified in an internal “Race Paper” that a federal court allowed to remain secret, despite a move for transparency led by my organization, Color Of Change. (And people who have spoken out about internal racism at the FBI have not been treated well.)Investigations have not yet uncovered the extent to which people in law enforcement at all levels are actually involved in white nationalist violence more directly: training and mentorship, advice and tips, offering the social validation that people of color and others are, in fact, the enemy, or offering the social validation that violence is, in fact, the answer.More stories from those who know what’s happening inside law enforcement officers’ lives would help.But we already know enough. We must change the incentives for law enforcement and their unions – financial, social, cultural and otherwise – that allow the denial of this threat to persist. Instead of allowing news media to praise law enforcement as problem-solvers, we must hold them to account for the harm they enable. Lawmakers across the country must also play their role: investigating the extent of the problem, and forcing a purge of white nationalists and their sympathizers from positions of power and influence – everywhere. Fighting white nationalist violence means doubling down on our fight for police accountability.

Trump’s White House guest list favours smaller European countries over traditional allies

When Klaus Iohannis smiled for cameras alongside Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Romanian president became the 10th European leader to visit the president at the White House this year.But none have come from the large Western European powers that have been cornerstone US allies for decades. Instead, Mr Trump has courted and been courted by Central and Eastern European leaders.

A shark attacked a woman in Hawaii, and authorities are warning it's 'still in the area'

A 27-year-old woman was bitten twice by a shark while swimming on Tuesday. She is reportedly recovering and in "good health."

Newark man faces child sex charges; mummified remains found

Police responding to a call about child sexual abuse said they found mummified remains and an altar to an unknown deity in the home of a man who is now facing multiple charges. Robert Williams is scheduled for an initial court appearance Friday. According to the Essex County prosecutor's office, Newark police investigated after receiving reports that the 53-year-old Williams had been abusing a 13-year-old child for several months.

Here's How Aliens Might See Earth

It looks a bit different from the pale blue dot.

Russia's new high-altitude drone just flew for the first time, and they want to arm it with one ton of bombs

On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense shared video of a test flight for the Altius-U, a major step forward in its drone program.

Minister confirms Canada will not repatriate 'Jihadi Jack'

Canada does not intend to repatriate the Muslim convert dubbed "Jihadi Jack," who is being held in northern Syria after joining the Islamic State group, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed Tuesday. Jack Letts, 24, who was a dual UK-Canadian national, was captured by Kurdish forces in Syria in 2017 and is languishing in jail there. Goodale's statement comes a day after Britain stripped Letts of his citizenship, placing his fate in Canada's hands.

Luntz: ‘I was wrong’ on climate change

Luntz urged Democrats to "personalize, individualize and humanize" the impacts of climate change

Fox News Tried to Get Jill Abramson to Call the New York Times Biased. It Backfired.

During a lengthy Fox News interview on Wednesday morning, former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson repeatedly frustrated America’s Newsroom anchors Sandra Smith and Jon Scott as she rebuffed their attempts to get her to criticize the paper’s coverage of President Trump.In recent days, Fox News has been laser-focused on a transcript of the newspaper’s recent town-hall meeting, claiming it showed current Times executive editor Dean Baquet admitting the paper switched narratives from the Russia investigation to racism in an effort to take out the president. Abramson, who has not been shy in her criticism of the paper she once ran, began the segment by immediately praising Baquet as “really doing a brilliant job” under the circumstances of Trump’s presidency.Noting that Baquet is “criticized all the time by you at Fox News and by conservatives were being way too hard on Trump and being biased” against him, Abramson went on to say how impressed she was with Baquet for explaining to the staff that their job was to be “independent and to hold power accountable.”“Essentially he told reporters and staffers that we started trying to cover the Trump and Russia collusion narrative and that has kind of gone away,” Scott countered. “So now we are going to cover President Trump as a racist. Is that essentially what he says, would you agree with that?”The ex-Times editor did not, in fact, agree with that.“No, I think you mischaracterized what he said,” she replied. “What he was explaining was that the paper had been set up to cover a deep investigative story out of Washington.”Abramson added: “And now they were pivoting to an election where the job of The New York Times is to be in the country figuring out how people feel and what they think. It was not telling people get ready to cover a racist administration. That was a complete mischaracterization of what he was saying. I read that transcript twice.”Smith, meanwhile, tried a different tack, reading a piece of the transcript in which Baquet says they need to “regroup” following their coverage of the Russian investigation while framing it within conservative criticism.“You heard some members of Congress, including Ted Cruz and others, speaking out pretty aggressively about that revealing an intentional shift in coverage from the Russia narrative to now race in covering the president, is that fair?” Smith asked.“I think that’s an overstatement,” Abramson responded. “If you look at the totality of what Dean said it, he was urging his staff to make a pivot to cover out in the country in all America, not just in Washington, but how people are feeling to understand deeply why they elected Donald Trump in 2016 and why they may possibly do so again in 2016.”Eventually, the Fox anchors shifted course and tried to get Abramson to blast the Times for changing a headline earlier this month, once again coming up empty as the former editor said the current editorial staff made the right judgment in making the alteration.As the interview came to an end, Smith threw up one final Hail Mary.“I know your book writes about old-school journalism and the changing media landscape and what’s missing from journalism today,” the anchor said. “I will just ask you, does The New York Times fairly cover the news?Does The New York Times fairly cover President Trump?”“I think it does fairly cover President Trump, who makes it very difficult to cover him,” Abramson answered, adding that it is “extremely difficult” to cover a president who has reportedly said more than 10,000 lies and falsehoods since entering office.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.

VIDEO: Fresno police officer punches teen multiple times

Allegations of excessive force are being aimed at a police officer in Fresno after bodycam video shows a teen being repeatedly punched.

Hong Kong police in standoff with protesters after sit-in

Near the end of the event, the police began what they called a "dispersal operation, using minimum force" after some protesters blocked roads and flashed laser pointers at officers. Police with riot shields faced off at the station entrance against a group of remaining protesters, who sprayed a firehose and spread soap on the floor to slow a police approach, while piling up trash bins, a wheelchair and umbrellas in a makeshift blockade. The station's entrance shutters were lowered, barricading the protesters inside.

Parkland Shooting Survivors Just Proposed Aggressive New Gun Restrictions. Here's What's in Their Plan

March For Our Lives has released an aggressive plan to address gun violence that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Fukushima Radiation Becomes Latest Japan-South Korea Sore Point

(Bloomberg) -- Radiation from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is becoming the latest source of tension between Japan and South Korea, potentially undercutting Tokyo’s effort to promote the 2020 Olympics.In recent days, South Korean officials have summoned a Japanese diplomat to express concern about a planned release of treated radioactive water into the ocean by Tepco, the plant’s owner. They’re also pushing for independent radiation checks at Olympic venues and proposing a separate cafeteria for their athletes, citing concerns about contaminated food.The radiation dispute is threatening to prolong tensions between the two U.S. allies, who have spent much of the summer trading economic sanctions and diplomatic threats in a tit-for-tat dispute. The feud has exposed lingering mistrust and disagreements over Japan’s colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula.South Korea’s radiation concerns contrast with signs of softening attitudes last week on the anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender. Japan has also taken steps to show that its recent export controls won’t prevent legitimate sales to its neighbor. JSR Corp., one of the materials makers subject to the restrictions, received an export permit this week, according to a person familiar with the matter.No Backing Down“It’s gone so far that neither side can back down,” said Hiroyuki Kishi, a former trade official turned professor at Keio University in Yokohama, adding that the dispute would probably continue “or get worse.” “I’m concerned that Japan may respond emotionally, because the Olympics are seen as very important.”South Korea is also mulling whether to maintain an agreement on sharing military information with Japan, and may announce its decision as soon as Thursday, Yonhap News reported. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters in Beijing following a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha that the pact was important and should be maintained.‘Under Control’The issue of radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was damaged in the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, has loomed over Tokyo’s Olympic bid from the start. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe threw his weight behind the campaign, assuring the International Olympic Committee in a 2013 speech that the plant was “under control” and would have no impact on the capital.Now, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. is preparing a release from on-site storage tanks, which are expected to fill up by 2022 with water treated to remove most radioactive elements. An adviser for the company has recommended a controlled release into the Western Pacific -- a common practice at other reactors around the world -- while the environmental group Greenpeace has urged keeping the water in storage.South Korea summoned a Japanese diplomat on Monday, with the Foreign Ministry urging Tokyo to look into international organizations’ views on the matter and be more transparent about its plans.Separately, the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee is set to make an official request that international organizations such as Greenpeace monitor radiation at Tokyo Olympic venues, the committee’s press officer, Lee Mi-jin, said. South Korean officials have also drawn up a plan to run a separate cafeteria exclusively for South Korean athletes, to ensure they don’t eat food from Fukushima, Lee said.The South Korean Food Ministry also announced Wednesday it would step up radiation checks on 17 items imported from Japan, including tea and chocolate.Produce from Fukushima is screened before shipment and is widely available in Japanese supermarkets. Recent data from volunteer organization Safecast shows that radiation levels in Tokyo are somewhat lower than those in Seoul. The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee declined to comment on requests from other countries’ organizing committees.(Updates with comments from Japanese foreign minister in sixth paragraph. A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Hiroyuki Kishi in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Stephen Stapczynski.To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net;Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Peter PaeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Canada accused of unlawfully questioning Huawei's Meng

Lawyers for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou alleged in court documents released Wednesday that she was unlawfully detained and questioned by Canadian border agents in Vancouver last year. Border agents detained her under the pretense of an immigration matter and never alerted her to a US warrant for her arrest, questioning her for hours before eventually handing her over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the lawyers said. "From the outset of the applicant's detention," the RCMP and border agents were acting on behalf of "the FBI for the purpose of obtaining and preserving evidence," Meng's lawyers said.

Farmer's threat prompts U.S. Agriculture Department to pull staff from crop tour

CORALVILLE, Iowa/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and three sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer. U.S. farmers have complained this month that a government crop report did not reflect damage from historic flooding this spring. Lance Honig, crops chief at the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, was among the USDA staffers who had to leave the privately-run Pro Farmer tour, three sources with knowledge of the situation said.