WorldAssociated PressRussian-North Korean relations since the Korean War
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin gives an intriguing twist to the global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with North Korea, which appeared to hit a wall after a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump collapsed in February. It also adds a chapter to the storied but often-strained friendship between Pyongyang and Moscow, which was forged in war and weathered by the Soviet collapse and tensions surrounding the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Militia group 'commander' Larry Mitchell Hopkins attacked in New Mexico jail
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The "commander" of a militia group that patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border was attacked in a New Mexico jail, officials said Wednesday. Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, who also goes by the name Johnny Horton Jr., leads the United Constitutional Patriots from his home in northern New Mexico. The FBI arrested Hopkins on Saturday in Sunland Park on a federal charge that he is a convicted felon in possession of guns.
NewsYahoo NewsElizabeth Warren assures She the People forum that America is ready for woman president
Elizabeth Warren had a singular moment at Wednesday's She the People forum that helped her stand out from the other the other Democrats seeking the support of an audience made up mostly of women of color activists. After answering a series of questions on topics ranging from maternal mortality, affordable housing and criminal justice to bank reform and Native American tribal sovereignty, Sen. Warren, D-Mass., was asked by co-moderator Joy Reid whether voters should feel confident that America was ready for a woman to serve as commander in chief. “We are at She the People, this wonderful organization that is empowering women and women of color, but when I talk with women of color in my own life they'll say, Wow, that Elizabeth Warren has great plans.
WorldReutersSri Lanka's crisis of leadership opens space for nationalist Rajapaksas
Elections to pick a new president are due between October and December and Mahinda Rajapaksa is already targeting President Maithripala Sirisena and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for failing to preserve the hard fought peace. Rajapaksa cannot contest for president again, but his brother Gotabaya is ready to make a bid, his aide has said. "Rajapaksas' will take the easy benefit and be able to claim with some credibility that if they come back to power, they will adopt the same strong security policy that allowed them to free the country from terrorism," said a Western diplomat.
BusinessAFPAir Canada says its 737 MAX jets grounded until at least August
Air Canada said Thursday that its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX jets will remain grounded until at least August 1, pushing back a previous estimate for their return to service. Two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft -- one operated by Ethiopian Airlines and another by Lion Air -- have crashed in recent months, killing nearly 350 people. Air Canada's 24 MAX jetliners were grounded in March following the second crash.
- WorldThe National Interest
Kill a 'Raptor': How to Shoot Down an F-22 Stealth Fighter
Of those 186 remaining Raptors, only 123 are “combat-coded” aircraft with another twenty that are classified as backup aircraft inventory machines. The rest are test and training assets. But even if 186 aircraft remain in the Air Force's inventory—not all of those fighters are operational.
CelebrityUSA TODAYJenna Bush Hager reveals she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy: It was 'very isolating'
Jenna Bush Hager is overjoyed to be expecting her third child, but says she's all too familiar with the "pain" that comes with pregnancy complications and fertility struggles. The "Today" show co-host, 37, opened up about an unsuccessful pregnancy before her first child. Hager revealed that she learned something was wrong shortly after finding out she was expecting.
- NewsAOL.com
13-year-old Houston girl dies after fight at middle school
A 13-year-old girl who was placed on life support after being attacked by three other girls has died, according to ABC 13. Kashala Francis, a student at Attucks Middle School, died Wednesday morning at Texas Children's Hospital, six days after being beaten up after class last week, police and her mother Mamie Jackson said. Doctors discovered a tumor in the back of Francis' head while she was on life support and believed the fight may have worsened her condition.
U.S.FOX News VideosTexts between the FBI's Strzok and Page draw investigator focus
Nine days after the presidential election, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page exchanged texts that Fox News has learned are under new scrutiny by congressional investigators reviewing the genesis of the Russia probe; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Trevor Noah Wants Biden to Be Trump's 2020 Rival So We Can All See 'Old Man Fights'
Now that former Vice President Joe Biden has officially tossed his hat into the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah revealed that he's partially hoping Biden snags the nomination just so we can see “the most entertaining debates of all time” as he and President Trump get into an “old man fight. Explaining Thursday night that the former veep comes into the race with a “whole lot of baggage,” Noah highlighted Biden's tendency to stick his foot in his mouth, showing clips of Biden asking a man in a wheelchair to stand and casually tossing out racial stereotypes.
- EntertainmentNational Review
Judge Slams Kim Foxx For Double Standard in Smollett Case: 'Your Office Created This Mess'
A Cook County judge recently castigated State's Attorney Kim Foxx for upholding a double standard by prosecuting an anonymous woman for filing a false police report after dropping all charges against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who was indicted for the same offense. Foxx's office then dropped all charges without requiring that Smollett admit guilt, despite the strenuous objections of the Chicago Police Department and the mayor's office. Cook County judge Marc Martin, while presiding over an unrelated case, chastised Foxx and her office for creating an untenable situation in which anyone charged with filing a false police report should expect to be granted the leniency afforded to Smollett.
PoliticsAssociated PressO'Rourke might halt new oil and gas drilling on federal land
Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke said Thursday he's willing to consider a moratorium on new leases to drill for oil and gas on federal lands as a way to help combat climate change. The Democratic presidential hopeful told reporters while campaigning in Nevada on Thursday the nation needs to rethink how it protects its public lands and "keep them from being diminished in size as has happened under" the Trump administration. O'Rourke said that concern, combined with the need to reduce total greenhouse emissions, makes it especially important that U.S. taxpayers don't allow oil and gas companies "to contribute more to the problem."
BusinessReutersIran's Zarif warns U.S. of 'consequences' over oil sanctions, offer prisoner swap
The United States must be prepared for consequences if it tries to stop Iran from selling oil and using the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned on Wednesday, while also offering to negotiate prisoner swaps with Washington. The United States on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran's eight biggest buyers, most of them in Asia, to continue importing limited volumes. quot;We believe that Iran will continue to sell its oil.
WorldAFPPutin says ready to 'fully restore' ties with Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia was ready to restore full relations with Kiev, after a political novice won the Ukraine presidential election. "We want and we are ready to fully restore relations with Ukraine. But we cannot do this unilaterally," he told journalists following his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'I smiled in the face of bigotry': A woman's response to anti-Islam protesters goes viral
A Muslim woman's response to protesters at a conference in Washington, D.C., has gone viral. Shaymaa Ismaa'eel, 24, was attending a conference for the nonprofit group Islamic Circle of North America when she spotted a group of Islamophobic protesters, reports CNN. "On April 21st I smiled in the face of bigotry and walked away feeling the greatest form of accomplishment," she wrote in a tweet on April 23 accompanying the images, which has drawn more than 292,000 likes.
- BusinessCar and Driver
In-Depth Photos of Our Long-Term 2019 Mazda CX-5 Turbo
We got the expensive one, too, because that's what you're buying. From Car and Driver
- WorldThe National Interest
Russian DNA: How the F-35 Was Partly Inspired By This Old Russian Fighter
Task and Purpose Security, Europe Meet the YAK-141. For all the yelling and shouting over the Department of Defense's much-maligned F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, there's an unusual, often overlooked footnote in the trillion-dollar project's history: its origins as an experimental Soviet fighter that only fell into Lockheed Martin's lap because a desperate Russian aerospace company needed some cold, hard cash. Before the F-35, there was the Yak-141 'Freestyle' multi-role vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fighter born during a tumultuous period in Russian military history.
- BusinessReuters
U.S. adds another Chinese e-commerce site to 'notorious' list for IP protection
The U.S. Trade Representative said on Thursday it has added Pinduoduo.com, China's third-largest e-commerce platform, to its "notorious markets" list for a proliferation of counterfeit products, as the agency also called out China as a priority to watch for intellectual property rights concerns. In its annual review of trading partners' protection of intellectual properties rights and so-called "notorious markets," the U.S. Trade Representative said 36 countries warranted additional bilateral engagement over these issues. The agency kept China on the list and lifted Saudi Arabia up as a priority.
PoliticsFOX News VideosCould the inspector general's FISA probe derail Democrats' impeachment plans?
Former Whitewater Independent Counsel Sol Wisenberg expects a hard-hitting report from Michael Horowitz.
- LifestyleDelish
Don't Throw A Memorial Day BBQ Without These Recipes
Kick-off the summer with these perfect Memorial Day food ideas. From Delish
PoliticsAssociated PressTrump forms battle plan for post-Mueller probes: Just say no
As House Democrats ramp up their post-Mueller investigations into President Donald Trump, his strategy for responding is simple: Resist on every legal front. The administration is straining to hold off congressional investigators, including their efforts to obtain the president's tax returns, his business' financial records and testimony from former senior aides. Portraying himself as unjustly persecuted in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, Trump said his White House would refuse to cooperate with further congressional investigation.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
'I am a gaffe machine': a history of Joe Biden's biggest blunders
Here are some other memorable moments: Biden 'being Biden' Biden's awkward behavior over the years is not limited to what he has said, but also how he acts. Several women have recently come forward to say he has made inappropriate physical contact with them, leaving them feel uncomfortable. Infamously in 2015, while Ashton Carter was being sworn in as the secretary of defense, Biden put his hands on his wife Stephanie's shoulders, rubbing them and appearing to whisper in her ear.
WorldAFPSri Lanka toll revision grim sign of bombings force
The dramatic revision of the death toll in Sri Lanka's Easter bombings, which has been cut by more than 100, is a grim indicator of the power of the deadly blasts. The force of the explosions so badly mutilated bodies that parts of victims were wrongly collated and identified in the initial confusion, officials said. "Many of the victims were badly mutilated... There was double counting," the health ministry said in explaining the new death toll of 253, down from 359 announced on Wednesday.
- NewsUSA TODAY
#FeelingCute challenge: Texas prison guards fired after probe into 'inappropriate' posts
The investigation was tied to the "#FeelingCute" challenge, the department said last week. The Houston Chronicle — which reported earlier this month that officers were apparently linked to posts with captions such as "Feeling cute, might just gas some inmates today, IDK" — reported on Tuesday that four officers have been fired and two resigned because of the investigation. Texas Department of Criminal Justice statements to the Chronicle and the Associated Press did not provide details on the social media content involved in the firings.
PoliticsYahoo NewsAOC joins Bernie in backing voting rights for prisoners
When asked during a CNN town hall Monday night if incarcerated felons like the Boston Marathon bomber or those convicted of sexual assault should be eligible to vote while serving their sentences, Sanders firmly replied, “The right to vote is inherent to our democracy — yes, even for terrible people. As it happens, in my own state of Vermont, from the very first days of our state's history, what our Constitution says is that everybody can vote,” he said. So people in jail can vote.
