News Daypop Archives

Oliver North, Key Player In Iran-Contra Scandal, Named NRA President

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Retired lieutenant colonel Oliver North, the ex-Marine convicted and eventually exonerated in the Iran-Contra scandal, will become the next president of the National Rifle Association, the gun lobby’s top executive announced Monday. “This is the most exciting news for our members since Charlton Heston became President of our Association,” NRA executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre said in a statement. “Oliver North is a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader. In these times, I can think of no one better suited to serve as our president.” North, 74, will also immediately stop appearing as a commentator on Fox News, LaPierre said. He’s expected to officially come on board as president of the country’s largest gun lobby in “a few weeks,” according to LaPierre.... [Read Full Story]

North Korea Criticizes U.S. Claims About Upcoming Summit

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On Sunday, North Korea criticized what it called “misleading” claims that President Trump’s policy of maximum political pressure and sanctions are what drove Pyongyang to the negotiating table. The new comments come just weeks before Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to hold their first-ever summit. A Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman is quoted as saying that the claims are a “dangerous attempt” to ruin a budding detente on the Korean Peninsula after Kim’s summit late last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  At the summit, Kim agreed to a number of measures aimed at improving North-South ties and indicated he is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the peninsula. Mr. Trump and senior U.S. officials have suggested that Washington’s tough policy toward North Korea has played a decisive role in turning around what had been a tense situation. Kim and Mr. Trump are expected to meet later this month or in early June.... [Read Full Story]

Hawaii Officials Say Lava From Kilauea Volcano Has Destroyed 21 Homes

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The number of homes destroyed by Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano jumped to 21 Sunday as scientists reported lava spewing more than 200 feet into the air. Some of the more than 1,700 people who evacuated were prepared for the possibility they may not return for quite some time. Hawaii officials said the decimated homes were in the Leilani Estates subdivision, where molten rock, toxic gas and steam have been bursting through openings in the ground created by the volcano. Officials updated the number of lost homes after an aerial survey of the subdivision, though also said the number could increase.... [Read Full Story]

Cambridge Analytica, Data Firm At Center Of Facebook Privacy Scandal, Will Close

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Cambridge Analytica and its parent company SCL are shutting down, citing a “siege of media coverage” that drove away its customers. The data gathering firm at the center of Facebook’s controversy over user privacy has been under intense scrutiny from both the U.S. and U.K. governments for pushing advertisements to potential voters on the social network using improperly obtained profile data. “The company is immediately ceasing all operations,” the data firm announced in a surprise statement, noting that “parallel bankruptcy proceedings will soon be commenced.” The company said that the deluge of media reports on its data acquisition were “unfounded accusations,” and claimed it was being “vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising.”... [Read Full Story]

Rudy Giuliani Claims President Trump Repaid Lawyer $130K Payment To Porn Star

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President Donald Trump reimbursed his personal lawyer for $130,000 in hush money paid to a porn actress days before the 2016 presidential election, Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys, said Wednesday, appearing to contradict the president’s past claims that he didn’t know the source of the money. During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Giuliani said the money to repay Michael Cohen had been “funneled … through the law firm and the president repaid it.” Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: “He didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know.”... [Read Full Story]

Ty Cobb, Key Trump Lawyer Handling Russian Investigation, Retiring

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Ty Cobb, who had served as the president’s lead White House attorney for the investigation, is retiring. President Donald Trump has tapped Emmett Flood, who advised Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings, to assist in the Russia investigation after Cobb announced plans to retire, the White House said Wednesday. Cobb said in a statement, “I believe the White House is in good hands with Emmett Flood, who is a highly regarded and very talented attorney.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Cobb had been discussing his plans to retire with Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly for the last several weeks. ... [Read Full Story]

C-130 Military Cargo Plane Crashes In Georgia, 5 Dead

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An Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane on a training mission crashed Wednesday along a road near a Georgia airport, killing at least five National Guard members from Puerto Rico, authorities said. The plane appeared to have crashed into a median on the road, where firefighters later put out the blaze. Capt. Jeff Bezore, a spokesman for the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th Air Wing, said the crash killed at least five people. The Air Force said the plane belonged to the 156th Air Wing out of Puerto Rico. The Savannah Air National Guard says the plane was doing a training mission when it crashed near the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.... [Read Full Story]

List Of Robert Mueller’s Proposed Questions For President Revealed

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After a leak of nearly 50 questions Special Counsel Robert Mueller would like to ask the President as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and the possibility of officials in Donald Trump’s campaign colluding with the Russians, it’s now clear that the scope of Mueller’s investigation widened significantly. The language of the leaked questions was written by Trump’s legal team, written off a list of detailed topics Mueller’s team said they would like to ask about. After the questions were leaked, the nature of the questions that Mueller is seeking to ask Trump is thought to perhaps change the President’s mind about sitting for an interview with the special counsel.... [Read Full Story]

17 U.S. States To Challenge Trump Administration Over Vehicle Emissions

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California and a group of 16 other states on Tuesday challenged the Trump administration’s decision to revise strict U.S. vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency rules put in place under former President Barack Obama. The 17 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision in April to declare U.S. vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency rules through 2025 “not appropriate.” The legal challenge comes as Democrats and environmental advocates vowed to challenge the Trump administration’s plans to weaken vehicle rules.... [Read Full Story]

Arizona Teachers Continue Strike And Gather In The Thousands For Increased School Funding

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In the third day of a statewide teacher walkout, Arizona educators gathered in the hundreds at the state’s capital and in other cities around the state to demand teacher raises and more school funding. Hundreds of schools have announced they will close, and the state legislature is expected to introduce a budget proposal soon to try to satisfy the teachers’ demands. The walkout has carried momentum of a national movement of teacher demonstrations, starting with a successful West Virginia teacher strike that began in February and continuing to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, and Colorado. On Thursday and Friday, the teachers and their supporters rallied in the thousands in temperatures over 90 degrees at the capitol to demand increased funding. More than 1,000 schools in the state closed for the walkout. ... [Read Full Story]

Stormy Daniels Files Defamation Lawsuit Against President Trump

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On Monday, adult film star Stormy Daniels filed another lawsuit against President Trump, accusing him of defaming her by dismissing as a “con job” her claim that she was threatened in 2011 after giving an interview about their alleged affair. Daniels, who says she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, said in a televised interview that she was with her infant daughter when a man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot, told her to “leave Trump alone.” Daniels never reported the incident to police, but after she talked about the parking lot encounter she released a sketch of the man two weeks ago.  Trump responded on Twitter: “A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”  Daniels filed a new lawsuit on Monday in the federal court in the Southern District of New York, saying Trump’s tweet is “false and defamatory.” Charles Harder, an attorney representing Trump, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.... [Read Full Story]

T-Mobile And Sprint Announce A Plan For Merger

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T-Mobile and Sprint announced Sunday (April 29) that they will merge the two wireless companies, bringing the number of major cellphone companies to three. The combined company will be named T-Mobile. In a joint statement, the wireless carries said the combined company will have lower costs and better quality, that could essentially help them compete with AT&T and Verizon.... [Read Full Story]

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Says He’ll Give Up Nukes If US Vows Not To Attack

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told his South Korean counterpart at their historic summit that he would be willing to give up his nuclear weapons if the U.S. commits to a formal end to the Korean War and a pledge not to attack the North, Seoul officials said Sunday. Kim also vowed during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday to shut down the North’s nuclear test site in May and disclose the process to experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States, Seoul’s presidential office said. Whether North Korea will ever decide to fully relinquish its nukes as it heads into negotiations with the U.S., Kim’s comments amount to the North’s most specific acknowledgement yet that “denuclearization” would constitute surrendering its weapons.... [Read Full Story]

White House Doctor Ronny Jackson Withdraws As VA Nominee After Controversy

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s physician Ronny Jackson on Thursday withdrew from consideration to head the Veterans Affairs department after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. Jackson, 50, was a surprising pick for the job, and even Trump acknowledged he lacked experience running large organizations. Jackson has denied the allegations as false, but it had prompted the Senate to put a hold on his hearing for the job of leading the federal government’s second largest department. During his campaign, President Trump had pledged to clean up the VA, which oversees healthcare and benefits for about 20 million military veterans. Trump fired his first secretary, David Shulkin, in March after concerns about unauthorized travel expenses.... [Read Full Story]

U.S. Senate Confirms Mike Pompeo As Secretary Of State

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The U.S. Senate confirmed CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be President Donald Trump’s secretary of state on Thursday. As senators continued to vote, the tally was 54-41 in favor of the Republican former member of the House of Representatives, meaning he was confirmed in the post. Pompeo had faced stiff resistance from Democrats worried about his reputation for hawkishness and past harsh statements about homosexuality and Islam.... [Read Full Story]

Former Police Officer Is Arrested As Suspect In Decades-Old ‘Golden State Killer’ Case

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According to multiple sources, police have arrested a former police officer who is suspected of being the “Golden State Killer,” one of California’s most famous serial killers and rapists. Local and federal task force apprehended the suspect late Tuesday evening. The “Golden State Killer” is believed to have killed at least 12 people, raped at least 45 people and committed multiple home burglaries in the 1970s and 1980s in crime sprees throughout California. The terror started with burglaries and rapes in the Sacramento suburbs in summer 1976. 72-year-old Citrus Heights resident, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held without bail, according to Sacramento County jail records.... [Read Full Story]

Man Arrested In Dallas Home Depot Shooting That Injured Two Police Officers And One Civilian

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Two officers from the Dallas police department and a civilian were injured in a shooting near a local Home Depot on Tuesday, according to reports. The shooting occurred about 4:15 p.m. as officers were escorting a man from the Home Depot in northern Dallas. The two officers and the store loss-prevention officer underwent surgery for their injuries, Police Chief U. Renee Hall said late Tuesday night.  Police arrested Armando Luis Juarez, 29, on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and felony theft. He was taken into custody shortly before 10 p.m. after a lengthy car chase involving officers of various law enforcement agencies. The two police officers were called to the store to help an off-duty officer with removing the man from the store.... [Read Full Story]

President Trump Plans To Nominate Admiral Harry Harris As Ambassador To South Korea Ahead Of North Korea Summit

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According to sources, President Donald Trump plans to nominate Admiral Harry Harris, commander of Pacific Command, to be the ambassador to South Korea.  Harris had originally been the president’s pick for ambassador to Australia. His confirmation hearing for that post was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but it was postponed. He was widely expected to be confirmed. The news comes after the Senate Foreign Relations committee on Monday endorsed Mike Pompeo for secretary of State. The role of ambassador to South Korea was one of many vacancies in the State Department  amid negotiations for a summit between Trump and Kim.... [Read Full Story]

10 Dead, 15 Injured After Van Strikes Multiple Pedestrians In Toronto; Driver In Custody

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Ten people were killed and 15 others injured after a white van collided with a crowd of pedestrians on a busy street north of downtown Toronto, Canada, on Monday,  The suspect was identified as Alex Minassian, 25, according to Toronto Police media representative Gary Long. Stephen Powell, district chief for Toronto Fire, confirmed that there had been multiple fatalities. The incident occurred in the North York area at the intersection of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue; Yonge Street is one of the main thoroughfares in Toronto. Ralph Goodale, the country’s minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, called the incident an attack but said he didn’t want to speculate when asked if the terrorism was to blame. “We cannot come to any firm conclusions at this stage,” he said.... [Read Full Story]

Four Presidents Come Together To Pay Tribute At The Funeral Of Former First Lady Barbara Bush

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A photograph featuring four presidents paying tribute to the late Barbara Bush is being widely circulated on social media. The photo features four former presidents – Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush – along with First Lady Melania Trump and former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. Taken this past Saturday by Paul Morse, the former White House photographer for George W. Bush, the photo was initially tweeted by Jim McGrath, a spokesperson for George H. W. Bush. President Donald Trump is absent from the photo, as he did not attend the funeral in Houston on Saturday. The president tweeted about Barbara Bush along with a photo of her White House portrait, saying “today, my thoughts and prayers are with the entire Bush family,” he wrote. “In memory of First Lady Barbara Bush, there is a remembrance display located at her portrait in the Center Hall of the @WhiteHouse.... [Read Full Story]

Shooting At Waffle House Leaves 4 Dead, 4 Injured in Tennessee

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Four people were killed and four others were injured in a shooting at a Waffle House in Tennessee early Sunday, authorities said. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said they were drafting an arrest warrant for Travis Reinking, 29, of Morton, Illinois, who was still at large. The shooting took place at the Waffle House located at 3571 Murfreesboro Pike in Antioch. Metro Nashville Police Department said witnesses told them that Reinking drove his pickup truck into the Waffle House parking lot around 3 a.m. local time. They said Reinking exited his truck and began firing AR-15 at two people outside the restaurant. He then went inside the restaurant and opened fire. Of the four people who were injured, two of them were shot, accoridng to police. ... [Read Full Story]

Scorpions To Tour This Summer With Queensryche In The U.S.

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The Scorpions are bringing their Crazy World tour to the U.S. After canceling four shows last year, the band has announced five dates for this summer, with Queensryche serving as the opening act. In October 2017 following a show at the Forum in Los Angeles, Scorpions were forced off the road due to their singer suffering from a case of severe laryngitis. The tour will begin at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena in Stateline, Nev., on Aug. 31 and conclude at the Amalie Arena in Tampa on Sept. 14. You can see the tour itinerary below and get full details on tickets and VIP packages at the band’s website.... [Read Full Story]

Department Of Justice Inspector General Sends McCabe Case To Prosecutors For Possible Charges

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The Justice Department’s inspector general has asked Federal Prosecutors in Washington to determine whether the FBI’s former deputy director, Andrew McCabe, should be charged for allegedly “lacking candor” on multiple occasions with internal investigators, and with then-FBI director James Comey.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded that McCabe repeatedly misled investigators looking into how sensitive investigative information ended up on in a national newspaper in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Horowitz’s office then referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, indicating Horowitz believes McCabe committed a federal crime with his actions. ... [Read Full Story]

Miguel Díaz-Canel Replaces Raul Castro As Cuba’s President

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57-year-old bureaucrat Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel replaced Raul Castro as the president of Cuba on Thursday, launching a new political era. The National Assembly announced that Diaz-Canel had been approved as the sole candidate for president. However, the 86-year-old Castro will remain head of the Communist Party, which is designated by the constitution as “the superior guiding force of society and the state.” As a result, he will still be the most powerful person in Cuba for the time being. ... [Read Full Story]

Excavator Blamed For Island-Wide Blackout In Puerto Rico

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An island-wide blackout hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the island struggles to repair an increasingly unstable power grid, just seven months after Hurricane Maria. Officials said an excavator accidentally downed a transmission line. Officials said it could take 24 to 36 hours to fully restore power to more than 1.4 million customers as outrage grew across the island about the state of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority. It is the second major outage in less than a week, with the previous one affecting some 840,000 customers. Several large power outages have hit Puerto Rico in recent months, but Wednesday was the first time since the Category 4 storm struck on Sept. 20 that the U.S. territory has experienced a full island-wide blackout.  Officials reported no cancellations or delays at major airports due to the use of generators. They said restoring power to hospitals, airports, banking centers and water pumping systems was the priority, following that would be businesses and then homes.... [Read Full Story]

Former Navy Pilot, Tammie Jo Shults, Named As Hero Who Landed Damaged Southwest Flight

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The Southwest Airlines pilot who made an emergency landing Tuesday after the jet blew an engine and lost a window at 32,000 feet was one of the first female pilots to fly with the U.S. Navy. Tammie Jo Shults, 56, was calm as she navigated the damaged Dallas-bound jet, Flight 1380, to an emergency landing in Philadelphia. The twin-engine Boeing 737 that left New York’s LaGuardia Airport had 143 customers and five crew on board. One passenger died and 7 others were injured. Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was identified as the woman who died. Riordan was the mother of two and a Wells Fargo bank executive. Shults took the plane into a rapid descent as passengers employed oxygen masks and braced for impact. The veteran pilot managed to safely land the plane at Philadelphia International at 11:30 a.m.  ... [Read Full Story]

Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dies At Age 92

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Former first lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday at her home in Houston, Texas. She was 92. Mrs. Bush served as the country’s first lady from 1989 to 1993. She passed away shortly after deciding to forgo further medical treatments for her failing health. A statement from the office of former President George H.W. Bush read, “a former first lady of the United States of America and relentless proponent of family literacy, Barbara Pierce Bush passed away Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at the age of 92.”  Mr. and Mrs. Bush celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary on Jan. 6. Mrs. Bush was one of only two first ladies in the history of the country who was also the mother of a president; George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. ... [Read Full Story]