President Donald Trump said Monday he would be willing to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani without preconditions to discuss how to improve ties after he pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying, “If they want to meet, we’ll meet.” Trump’s remarks represented a marked softening in rhetoric from a week ago, when he lashed out at Rouhani in a tweet, saying “Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.” But when asked at a White House news conference whether he was willing to meet with President Rouhani, Trump said: “I’d meet with anybody. I believe in meetings,” especially in cases where war is at stake. Trump added that he had “no preconditions” for a meeting with the Iranians.... [Read Full Story]
Two armed individuals walked up to a crowd gathered Saturday evening outside a strip mall in New Orleans and opened fire, killing three people and wounding seven more, the police chief said. The shooting happened on a busy thoroughfare about 3 miles from the French Quarter. Police chief Michael Harrison, said the two suspects believed to be wearing hoodies had a rifle and a handgun. He said they appeared to have fired indiscriminately into the crowd, striking ten people. Police responding to the shooting found three victims – two men and one woman – who were pronounced dead at the scene. Seven other victims – five men and two women – were taken to two separate hospitals. “This was an extremely tragic incident. A lot of people were out here tonight. A lot of people, we know, saw what happened, heard what happened. And we need more than anything for people to come forward to help the NOPD right now solve this case,” Harrison said. Police do not know whether it was gang-related.... [Read Full Story]
Fire crews facing several weather uncertainties Sunday struggled to corral Northern California’s Carr Fire, a blaze that has left thousands evacuated. At least six people were killed by the fire, authorities said. Officials say there are more than 150 more engines on the way from out of state to help. Firefighters endured hot temperatures worried about gusty winds, said Anthony Romero, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The National Weather Service forecast hot and dry conditions in the area Sunday, with wind gusts expected late in the afternoon. The blaze grew slightly Sunday to 139 square miles, and is the largest fire burning in California. More than 5,000 structures were threatened, and the fire was just 5 percent contained. The latest tally showed 517 destroyed structures and another 135 damaged... [Read Full Story]
Jimmy Eat World fans received a history lesson on Friday night (July 27) when drummer Zach Lind offered some insight into how the band came up with their name. In a series of tweets, Lind recalled how he and his bandmates settled on Jimmy Eat World, and how they definitely didn’t consider its acronym for merchandise and visuals at the time. Lind revisited how the band started playing under the moniker in the first place. You can see the humorous series of tweets in the linked article below.... [Read Full Story]
Facebook lost about $119 billion of its value on Thursday, marking the biggest one-day loss in U.S. market history. The company’s shares plunged $41.24, or almost 19 percent, to $176.26 a day after the social media giant reported disappointing results. The slide is the largest decline in market capitalization in history, exceeding Intel’s $91 billion single-day loss in September 2000. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his fortune drop by $15.9 billion to roughly $71 billion. Investors were influenced by Facebook’s forecast showing that its number of active users is growing less quickly than expected. The report, which marked Facebook’s first full quarter since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, startled investors with a bevy of red flags about setbacks to its revenue and user growth. The share collapse merely returned Facebook shares to a level last seen in early May. At that time, the stock was still recovering from an earlier battering over a major privacy scandal. ... [Read Full Story]
The White House took issue with reports that they banned CNN’s Kaitlan Collins from covering a White House event Wednesday after the White House informed her that she was not welcome to attend. White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine challenged reporters on Thursday over the word “ban.” On Wednesday, Collins was representing the television networks in an Oval Office event where she shouted several questions to the president related to his former lawyer Michael Cohen and about a White House invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shine refuted that Collins was banned, but repeatedly declined to tell reporters what word he would use to characterize the White House’s decision to block her from attending the event. The White House Correspondents’ Association issued a statement condemning the White House’s decision.... [Read Full Story]
Republican House members introduced articles of impeachment Wednesday evening against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, accusing him of trying to stymie congressional oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. The resolution alleges that Rosenstein has withheld documents from and made misleading statements to Congress. Conservative lawmakers have accused the Justice Department of trying both to tar President Donald Trump with the Russia investigation and to downplay the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.... [Read Full Story]
A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment guarantees a right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense. The ruling on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, makes the San Francisco-based court the sixth U.S. circuit court to interpret the Second Amendment that way and could set the issue on a path toward the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 2-1 decision on Tuesday, the panel found Hawaii infringed on the rights of plaintiff George Young when it twice denied him a permit the state requires to openly carry a gun in public. ... [Read Full Story]
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will provide $12 billion in emergency relief to ease the pain of American farmers affected by President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China and other countries. The Agriculture Department said it would tap an existing program to provide billions in direct payments to farmers and ranchers hurt by foreign retaliation to Trump’s tariffs. The administration said the program was just temporary. “This is a short-term solution that will give President Trump and his administration the time to work on long-term trade deals,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as administration officials argued that the plan was not a “bailout” of the nation’s farmers.... [Read Full Story]
The federal judge in the upcoming federal court trial for President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, released on Monday the names of five witnesses being granted immunity to testify, as he granted the defense’s request to delay the start of the trial. Those witnesses are James Brennan, Donna Duggan, Conor O’Brien, Cindy Laporta and Dennis Raico. All are believed to work for financial institutions. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III released those names as he granted the request of Manafort’s attorneys to delay the start of the trial; Ellis agreed to delay it until July 31. Manafort, facing charges of bank and tax fraud related to his work in Ukraine, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump is examining whether to revoke the security clearances of former intelligence officials who have criticized him, his spokeswoman said Monday. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James B. Comey, former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden, former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice, former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Sanders accused those former officials of having “politicized and in some cases monetized their public service.” She added that they have made “baseless claims” about the president’s relationship and contacts with the Russian government.... [Read Full Story]
A gunman who got into a deadly shootout with police and took dozens of people hostage at a Trader Joe’s supermarket in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake has been arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities said Sunday. Gene Evin Atkins, 28, was being held Sunday morning on $2 million bail. A woman was shot and killed when Atkins ran into the supermarket on Saturday, but no hostages were seriously hurt before Atkins surrendered about three hours later. The victim of the shooting was identified on Sunday as 27-year-old Melyda Corado. Authorities said Atkins shot his grandmother seven times and wounded another woman, whom he forced into a car, at a South Los Angeles home around 1:30 p.m., police said. Atkins’ grandmother was hospitalized in critical condition after the shooting and police had no update on her condition Sunday. ... [Read Full Story]
Officials say they’re searching for a University of Iowa student who went missing after she went jogging. Mollie Tibbetts went missing on July 19 and was last seen in Brookyln, Iowa, according to The Poweshiek County Emergency Management Agency. Family members say that Tibbetts was dog-sitting at another home when she went running. However, she didn’t show up for work the next day. Her boyfriend, Dalton Jack, said she went jogging at around 10 p.m. local time. Tibbets, 20, is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and around 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing gym shorts, running shoes, and a black sports bra, the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office stated. Anyone with any information about her whereabouts is urged to call 641-623-5679.... [Read Full Story]
State officials are reporting 13 people dead and four still missing after a duck boat capsized and sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson Missouri. President of Ripley Entertainment said the boat “shouldn’t have been in the water” due to the weather conditions. ... [Read Full Story]
Viacom’s Paramount has fired executive Amy Powell. Chairman Jim Gianopulos broke the news in a memo stating Powell made comments that were “inconsistent with company values”. ... [Read Full Story]
William Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American citizen that was arrested by law enforcement groups during a peaceful protest in Hanoi, will be facing trial on Thursday. Nguyen was charged with disturbing the public order. ... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump said in an interview with CBS that the next generation of Air Force One planes will display a brand new red, white and blue color scheme. The White House confirmed a $3.9 billion contract with Boeing. ... [Read Full Story]
Recent reports show that the State Department awarded Desbuild Limak D&K a contract for $21.2 million to develop an “addition and compound security upgrades” at the embassy. These adjustments will be made to the former consular building in Jerusalem. ... [Read Full Story]
A 20-year-old Alabama student made a good first impression on his first day at a new job. Walter Carr’s 2003 Nissan Altima stopped working just before his first day at Bellhops moving company. Not wanting to call out, Carr left his home and started walking around midnight. ... [Read Full Story]
23 tourists suffered significant injuries in a sightseeing boat after a lava bomb crashed into them creating a loud explosion. One nearby passenger said, “the explosion looked like a gigantic firework, right off the side of the boat”. ... [Read Full Story]
After talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump stated there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the election process. Mr. Trump blamed the FBI and said that he had “confidence” in both parties — referring to the intelligence community and Russia. ... [Read Full Story]
U.S President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had a “good start” to their high-stakes summit in Helsinki Finland. ... [Read Full Story]
A jaguar escaped from its habitat at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, causing the death of eight animals. The animal had killed four alpacas, one emu, one fox Saturday morning. No people were hurt while the incident occurred. ... [Read Full Story]
The Trump Administration accused North Korea on Thursday of breaching a U.N. sanctions cap on refined petroleum by making illicit transfers between ships at sea, and demanded an immediate end to all sales of the fuel. The United States submitted the complaint to the U.N. Security Council North Korea sanctions committee. The North Korea U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. accusation. The charge of a sanctions breach comes as Washington engages North Korea in a bid to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.... [Read Full Story]
According to a court filing, the Justice Department filed an appeal challenging its loss in the AT&T-Time Warner antitrust trial on Thursday, July 12. AT&T completed its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner a few weeks ago after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s argument that the deal would be anti-competitive. AT&T is one of the country’s biggest telecom providers and its purchase of Time Warner allowed it to pick up some of the biggest media brands in the U.S., including HBO and CNN. AT&T said in a statement Thursday that the U.S. District Judge Richard Leon correctly decided the case.... [Read Full Story]
The bidding war for Sky TV, the European pay-TV service, heated up Wednesday when Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox upped it’s offer, but then later in the day Comcast Corp. countered with an even higher offer. Independent directors of the London company initially approved Fox’s $32.5-billion bid, but they withdrew their support and accepted Comcast’s offer, which valued Sky at $34 billion. Martin Gilbert, Sky’s deputy chairman, said in a statement, “The Independent Committee welcomes this increased offer which presents an attractive premium for Sky shareholders. We have long recognized the unique position that Sky occupies in the European direct-to-consumer landscape and unanimously recommend this offer by Comcast.” It was unclear late Wednesday whether Fox would bid again. ... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump launched a sharp public attack on Germany on Wednesday for supporting a Baltic Sea gas pipeline deal with Russia, saying Berlin had become “a captive to Russia” and he criticized it for failing to raise defense spending more. Trump met reporters with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, before a NATO summit in Brussels, said it was “very inappropriate” that the United States was paying for European defense against Russia while Germany, the biggest European economy, was supporting gas deals with Moscow.... [Read Full Story]
A federal judge on Tuesday told the Trump administration to adhere to the deadline for reuniting children separated from their parents under the “zero tolerance” policy, even as officials have said they’ll be unable to meet it. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw stuck to his Tuesday deadline for the youngest children to be returned to their parents, despite government officials indicating they’d be unable to meet the target. “These are firm deadlines; they are not aspirational goals,” Sabraw said. “I would like the process to continue as expeditiously as it has been with paramount focus on the children’s welfare.” The judge additionally asked for an update from the government on the reunification process by Thursday. Governmentlawyers saidthat U.S. officials will only be able to reunite 75 of 102 children under the age of 5 in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services. The others are not eligible to be reunited because their parents have criminal records, haven’t been verified or have been otherwise ruled unfit.... [Read Full Story]
On Tuesday, Facebook was hit with its first fine related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which involved the data firm obtaining personal information on tens of millions of Facebook users without their consent. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a privacy and data watchdog office in the United Kingdom, announced Tuesday that it would fine Facebook the maximum allowed penalty of $664,000 for what it said was improperly overlooked warning signs and for lacking overall privacy protections that could have prevented Cambridge Analytica from obtaining the sensitive data. In a statement, Facebook responded to the findings by acknowledging it “should have done more to investigate claims about Cambridge Analytica and take action in 2015.” Facebook admitted back in April that as many as 87 million people could have had their data shared with Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica has maintained that none of the data obtained without the knowledge of Facebook users was shared with or used for the purposes of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. ... [Read Full Story]
