- NewsUSA TODAY
Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards prepares to sign restrictive abortion bill
"My inclination is to sign it," Gov. John Bel Edwards said when discussing a "heartbeat bill" currently under consideration in the state Legislature.
- PoliticsThe Telegraph
Democrat 2020 hopefuls eye coveted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsement
She is the great young hope of America’s Left-wing, an articulate and impassioned progressive whose policies have gained traction and Twitter feed is followed by four million. Now Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old first-time congressman from New York, is seeing her newfound political clout manifest in a new way – a race for her endorsement. With two dozen Democrats seeking their party’s presidential nomination, the support of Ms Ocasio-Cortez is being seen as a way to win over the young, energised voters who will help shape the race. Chief among the contenders are Bernie Sanders, the independent 77-year-old senator from Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren, the former academic now representing Massachusetts in the Senate. Both have made tacit acknowledgement of Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s influence in public in recent weeks – whether for policy reasons, or for political gain, or both. Earlier this month, Mr Sanders appeared alongside Ms Ocasio-Cortez at an office table where they discussed the importance of reducing credit card interest rates. At the end of the 25-minute video, shared on social media and viewed by more than half a million people, the pair patted each other on the back warmly and smiled. Last month, Mr Warren wrote a 180-word ode to Ms Ocasio-Cortez for Time Magazine when the latter was named in its top 100 most influential people. “A year ago, she was taking orders across a bar. Today, millions are taking cues from her,” Ms Warren wrote of the congresswoman’s remarkable political rise. “And she’s just getting started.” Those two are not the only Democratic hopefuls vying for an endorsement, it appears. Politico reported that both senator Kirsten Gillibrand and former housing and urban development secretary Julian Castro have made “overtures”. There is no reason a person should pay more than 15% interest in the United States. It’s common sense - in fact, we had these Usury laws until the 70s. It’s a debt trap for working people + it has to end.https://t.co/sO0p5NF7WR— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) May 9, 2019 The enthusiasm is understandable. The Democratic Party’s progressive base appears fired up for change and many candidates hoping to win the right to take on Donald Trump are leaning its way. Government-funded health care for all, a $15 minimum wage and bold action on climate change have been widely adopted by the field ahead of the first debate in June and the first primary vote next February. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who last year shocked the political establishment by ousting a 10-term Democrat in her own party to take his seat, has become the progressive movement’s most recognisable star. That was underscored this week as Joe Biden, the former US vice president who is polling top and running on a centrist ticket, was forced to defend his climate change stance after Ms Ocasio-Cortez dismissed it as “middle of the road". Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator for Massachusetts, has developed a reputation for standing up to Wall Street Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall Mr Sanders is best placed to win the endorsement race. Ms Ocasio-Cortez worked on his 2016 presidential campaign, identifies like him as a democratic socialist and shares many of the same policy beliefs. Ms Warren has also laid out a left-wing platform taking on Wall Street and redistributing wealth but makes clear she remains a believer in capitalism. Asked recently about an endorsement by a CNN reporter, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said: “What I would like to see in a presidential candidate is one that has a coherent worldview and logic from which all these policy proposals are coming forward. "I think senator Sanders has that. I also think senator Warren has that.” And, the questioner followed up, would she consider endorsing Mr Biden? Ms Ocasio-Cortez turned and walked away without a definitive answer.
BusinessAFPBoeing acknowledges flaw in 737 MAX simulator software
Boeing acknowledged Saturday it had to correct flaws in its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots, after two deadly crashes involving the aircraft that killed 346 people. "Boeing has made corrections to the 737 MAX simulator software and has provided additional information to device operators to ensure that the simulator experience is representative across different flight conditions," it said in a statement. Its statement marked the first time Boeing acknowledged there was a design flaw in software linked to the 737 MAX, whose MCAS anti-stall software has been blamed in large part for the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy.
WorldBloombergSwiss Set to Back Tax Reform, Gun Control in Sunday Referendums
The new tax regime would replace special tax breaks that multinational companies now enjoy but which Switzerland is forced to do away with to comply with international rules. While Switzerland isn’t a member of the EU, it is in the open-border Schengen area and therefore the law needs to be changed in accordance with stricter rules in the bloc. Both measures are up for a vote because of Switzerland’s system of direct democracy which calls for mandatory referendums if 50,000 votes are collected within 100 days of a law passing.
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 8-Rocket fired into Iraqi capital's "Green Zone," no casualties
A rocket was fired into the Iraqi capital Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, on Sunday but caused no casualties, the Iraqi military said. "A Katyusha rocket fell in the middle of the Green Zone without causing any losses," the military said in a statement, adding it landed near the Monument of the Unknown Soldier. The blast was heard across central Baghdad, according to Reuters witnesses and residents.
- CelebrityThe Guardian
Alex Rodriguez bathroom photo highlights permissive privacy laws
* Former Yankees slugger snapped through apartment window * Lawyers seek photographer but legal recourse uncertainAlex Rodriguez was pictured on the toilet in the Park Avenue apartment he shares with his fiancee Jennifer Lopez in an image being shared on social media. Photograph: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesNew York’s liberal privacy laws are under scrutiny as lawyers for the retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez try to track down the photographer who snapped him sitting on the toilet in the Park Avenue apartment he shares with his fiancee, the actor and singer Jennifer Lopez.A picture making the rounds on social media shows the former New York Yankees slugger, known as “A-Rod”, looking at his phone in a white marble bathroom.The New York Post’s Page Six declined to publish the picture, citing privacy issues. The tabloid quoted an unidentified source who called the picture “a clear breach of privacy” and said: “One of the hedge funds in the building next door will be getting a big lawsuit.” With the continued onslaught of intrusive technologies, it may be time to revisit privacy protections Michael QuinnHowever, successful legal action may be hard to achieve.Six years ago, New York neighbours of the photographer Arne Svenson sought to block the sale of images he exhibited which showed them in unguarded moments.According to the New Yorker, Svenson consulted with a lawyer before peeking into the lives of others. The courts found he had not breached any legal convention.An appellate court decried the “technological home invasion” but ruled that Svenson’s actions were defensible under the first amendment, which guarantees free speech, and that such art needs no consent to be made or sold.On Saturday Michael Quinn, a New York art lawyer, told the Guardian Rodriguez’s options for recourse were limited.“New York state’s laws on rights to privacy are sparse,” Quinn said. “Any redress for this type of invasion – a photograph taken into a subject’s unobstructed window from a distance – would be limited to cases involving commercial exploitation.“With the continued onslaught of intrusive technologies, it may be time for the legislature to revisit privacy protections … of course, it may also be time for interior designers to bring back venetian blinds.”
- WorldThe National Interest
This Missile Might be the U.S. Navy's Important Weapon in Decades
The Tomahawk and its controversies might make headlines, but as the U.S. Navy re-arms for high-tech warfare, the SM-6 is the missile to watch.The U.S. Navy in late January 2019 confirmed the designation of its newest cruise missile, in the process clarifying its long-term plan for arming its growing fleet of warships.The plan heavily leans on one missile, in particular. It's the SM-6, an anti-aircraft weapon that quickly is evolving to perform almost every role the Navy assigns to a missile.(This first appeared earlier in the year.)The Navy dubbed the newest version of the venerable Tomahawk cruise missile the "Block V" model, Jane's reported. There are two separate variants of the Block V missile, one with an anti-ship warhead and another with a warhead the Navy optimized for striking targets on land.Raytheon's Tomahawk has been the subject of controversy in Washington, D.C. In order to save money the Obama administration wanted to pause production of the long-range missile, which since the 1980s has been the Navy's main weapon for striking land targets from the sea.Congress overruled the Obama administration and continued buying Tomahawks for roughly $1 million apiece, adding potentially hundreds of the missiles to the thousands the fleet already possesses.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Football players say Ohio State doc abused them
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Latest on the report detailing abuse of male athletes and students by a now-dead doctor at Ohio State. (all times local):
- BusinessUSA TODAY Opinion
Roe v. Wade gave women a right to choose abortion. But doctors like me have a choice, too.
As a doctor, I'm not there to carry out the will of either the state or the individual, but to do what I see as in keeping with my medical role.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Republican congressman apologises for referring to ‘consensual rape’ in debate over Missouri abortion bill
A Republican Missouri legislator apologised on Friday for saying that some sexual assaults are "consensual rapes" during a debate over a new, restrictive antiabortion bill."I'm not trying to make excuses," said representative Barry Hovis, who represents the city of Jackson in southeastern Missouri. "Sometimes you make a mistake and you own up to it."The lawmaker, who was elected in 2018, made the remark while speaking on the State House floor, arguing that the measure's eight-week window for abortions "gives [rape survivors] ample time" for the procedure.Critics say many women do not know they are pregnant until after eight weeks, and the bill provides no exceptions for rape or incest.The 30-year veteran of the Cape Girardeau Police Department then touched on his experience handling rape cases."Let's just say someone goes out and they're raped or they're sexually assaulted one night after a college party – because most of my rapes were not the gentleman jumping out of the bushes that nobody had ever met," Mr Hovis said."That was one or two times out of a hundred. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes, which were all terrible."Representative Raychel Proudie, a Democrat, quickly rebuked him."There is no such thing, no such thing as consensual rape," she said to applause from the chamber.Mr Hovis later told The Washington Post that he misspoke and said he believes "there was no such thing as consensual rape."He added that, in all his years in law enforcement, he took the testimony of rape victims seriously."When a rape is reported, and I'll speak for myself, you always take the word of the victim," he said.Missouri's GOP-controlled House passed the antiabortion bill on Friday, which prohibits abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy.The bill comes as lawmakers in multiple states have passed restrictive abortion laws that advocates on both sides say are aimed at getting the Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide.Mr Hovis' remarks recalled a controversial comment made in 2012 by Todd Akin, a former Missouri congressman, that "legitimate rape" rarely causes pregnancy.After losing a 2012 race for US Senate, Mr Akin tried to clarify his words, saying he should have said "legitimate case of rape."The Washington Post
LifestyleUSA TODAYVineyard Vines arrives at Target on Saturday. How to shop the limited-edition collaboration
Set your alarm clock if you're interested in shopping Target's latest designer collaboration, Vineyard Vines. The new collection goes on sale May 18.
WorldAFPBlast hits Egypt tourist bus, 17 injured: security, medical sources
An explosion struck a tourist bus on Sunday near Egypt's famed pyramids, injuring 17 people including foreigners, security and medical sources said. South Africans and Egyptians were among those injured when an explosive device went off, hitting the bus in Giza, according to the sources. Sunday's incident comes after three Vietnamese holidaymakers and their Egyptian guide were killed when a roadside bomb hit their bus as it travelled near the pyramids outside Cairo in December.
PoliticsReutersBernie Sanders proposes U.S. education overhaul in appeal to black voters
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders unveiled an education policy proposal on Saturday designed to pump billions of dollars into the public schools system, in a bid to appeal to black voters who shunned the U.S. senator during his previous presidential run. The 10-point plan Sanders detailed in a speech in South Carolina aims to end racial disparities in the public education system. America's education policy debate has long been steeped in discussions of race and racial discrimination.
- WorldThe Guardian
Trump tweets threat: 'If Iran wants to fight, that will be the end of Iran'
* Incendiary message follows disavowals of intent from both sides * Opinion: Trump supporters don’t want war with Iran In a picture released on Friday, the USS Abraham Lincoln sails in the Arabian Sea near the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge. Photograph: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian M Wilbur/APDonald Trump has issued one of his most direct threats yet to Tehran, warning that “if Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran”.The US president emerged from his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, on Sunday to tweet belligerently at around 4.30pm, thereby risking a quickening of tension that is already rising.“Never threaten the United States again!” he wrote.The tweet will do little to assuage jitters in the Middle East and in Washington about aggressive language coming out of the White House. Concern is already running high that Trump’s hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton, who played a key role in instigating the invasion of Iraq under George Bush, might be nudging the administration towards military action.In 2015, Bolton wrote a New York Times op-ed entitled “To stop Iran’s bomb, bomb Iran”. Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal last year.On the other hand, Trump has a way of blowing hot one minute and cold the next. As with so many of his social media missives, the precise import of his Sunday tweet was hard to read. It directly conflicted with reports of just three days ago that the president had been telling the Pentagon he did not want to go to war and wanted to find a way to wind down tensions.Those reports were also subject to qualification. In response to reports about a draft plan for the deployment of 120,000 troops, Trump said that though he did not want war, if it came to it he would send “a hell of a lot” more soldiers than that.Earlier on Sunday, the Utah senator and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had joined the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in dismissing the threat of war.“Going to war with Iran?” Romney asked on CNN’s State of the Union. “Not going to happen.”According to the Fars news agency, Major General Hossein Salami followed foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif by saying Iran was not pursuing war either.But both men offered caveats.Romney, a member of the Senate foreign relations committee, said the threat to US interests was “real” and added: “We’re going to make sure they understand that if they take action against our people, against our allies and against our friends, there will be consequence and it will be far more severe than the initial action taken by Iran.”Salami said Iran was ready to fight, as the difference “between us and them is that they are afraid of war and don’t have the will for it”.The White House has not said what is behind its claim of an increased threat. Romney said the “intelligence community says there’s a great deal of risk” but did not elaborate. It has been reported that US intelligence believes Iranian commercial vessels have carried missiles and ammunition, which some analysts say indicates preparations to defend against a US attack.Saudi Arabia is the major US ally in the region. Four oil tankers, two of them Saudi, were attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Iran-allied rebels in Yemen claimed a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline.Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, told reporters on Sunday his country also “does not want war … but at the same time, if the other side chooses war, the kingdom will fight this with all force and determination”.The US has sent an aircraft carrier strike group and cautionary moves include an evacuation of personnel by the oil firm ExxonMobil and a warning from the US to commercial air traffic of increased risk in the region.The Associated Press reported on Sunday that Democrats in Congress will be briefed by former CIA director John Brennan, a stringent Trump critic, and Wendy Sherman, a former state department official who helped negotiate the Iran deal. Among Democratic presidential hopefuls on Sunday, the presumption was that Trump either wanted war or was behaving irresponsibly.The Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a military veteran, told ABC’s This Week Trump was “leading us down this dangerous path towards a war in Iran”. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, another veteran, said war with Iran would be “exactly what John Bolton wants”.But David Petraeus, a retired general who led US troops in Iraq in 2003 and later led the CIA, told ABC it was “pretty clear” Trump “doesn’t want to go to war with Iran. He’s not after regime change”.Romney agreed.“I don’t believe for a minute,” he said, “that either the president or John Bolton or anyone else in a serious senior position of leadership in the White House has any interest in going to the Middle East and going to war. That’s just not going to happen … barring some kind of attack from Iran or something of that nature which I don’t think anyone anticipates.“Look, the president made it very clear that he thinks the greatest foreign policy mistake probably in the modern age was the decision by President Bush to go into Iraq. The idea that he would follow that by going after Iran, a more difficult enemy if you will, that’s just not going to happen.”Famously, Trump said at the time that he supported George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He has since vehemently denied that he did so.
BusinessReutersModi’s jobs deficit: J&J’s largest India plant idle three years after completion
It was to eventually employ at least 1,500 people and help bring development to a rural area near Hyderabad in southern India. Two sources familiar with J&J's operations in India and one state government official told Reuters production at the plant, at Penjerla in Telangana state, never began because of a slowing in the growth in demand for the products. One of them said that demand didn’t rise as expected because of two shock policy moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi: a late 2016 ban on then circulating high-value currency notes, and the nationwide introduction of a goods and services tax (GST) in 2017.
NewsAssociated PressFemale lawmakers speak about rapes as abortion bills advance
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — For more than two decades, Nancy Mace did not speak publicly about her rape. In April, when she finally broke her silence, she chose the most public of forums — before her colleagues in South Carolina's legislature.
- NewsBGR News
Wild video shows the moment an F-16 fighter jet crashed into a California warehouse
In a wild story that was captured on video, an F-16 fighter jet crashed into a warehouse in Riverside, California shortly after takeoff yesterday afternoon. The pilot managed to safely eject from the plane before the crash and is said to have suffered no injuries, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.A full-on investigation into the cause of the crash will certainly yield more details, but early reports suggest that a hydraulics failure was the reason behind the malfunction and subsequent crash.Video of the impact was captured by a nearby car's dashboard cam. Ty Stanonis was on the freeway when the crash occurred ahead of him, he told FOX11. His vehicle's dashboard camera recorded the moment the jet crashed, showing the plane dropping into the building. "Everybody was slowing down, just trying to figure out what just happened," Stanonis said. The pilot's parachute deployed after he ejected, and he landed in a field inside the base. Stanonis said the pilot was still for a few moments but finally rose to his feet.The moment of impact can be seen in the first few seconds of the video below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j4dzuttA1wFootage captured from within the warehouse can be seen below. It's worth noting that the video contains explicit language.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ho35RgfUfIMiraculously, no one in the warehouse was seriously injured as a result of the crash, though a few individuals were taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation for minor injuries.Further, the F-16 was said to be carrying live ammunition which thankfully -- and remarkably -- did not go off. All in all, what could have been an all-out disaster resulted in no deaths or serious injuries
NewsAssociated PressIllinois not alerted to early clues in womb-cutting case
CHICAGO (AP) — Police and Illinois' child welfare agency say staff at a Chicago-area hospital didn't alert them after determining that a bloodied woman who arrived with a gravely ill newborn had not just given birth to the baby boy, as she claimed.
- WorldThe National Interest
Let Me Tell You About the Worst Submarine of All Time
For the Worst Submarine of All Time, I go further and nominate an entire silent service: the undersea arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).There are many candidates for this dubious honor. After all, submarining has been around for well over a century now. Many ships render honorable but unexceptional service. Standouts emerge, generally in times of strife, as do “floating coffins” and plain old hard-luck ships.And there are some that subtract value from the nation’s effort to reach its strategic and political aims. This is the unpardonable sin.The idea of ships that could submerge has been around since antiquity. Combat submersibles date to the Turtle, a hand-propelled contraption built to smite Royal Navy ships from beneath during the War of American Independence. But subs really became a going concern during the fin de siècle age, when propulsion technologies such as batteries, electric motors, and internal-combustion engines came to maturity around the same time.Combining these technologies yielded the diesel-electric propulsion plant, a hybrid affair that enabled subs to run silent, run deep on quiet electric motors when submerged and run on diesels and recharge batteries while cruising the surface. At the direction of First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher, the Royal Navy ordered five rudimentary boats designed by John Phillip Holland in 1900, and the age of modern undersea warfare was on.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Inspired by a Fighter Jet, the 2JetZ is Both a Car and the Latest Hot Wheels Model
It's like a real-life version of a toy car because that's what it was designed to become-the newest Hot Wheels offering.
WorldAFPAl Jazeera suspends two journalists over Holocaust report
Qatari state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera suspended two journalists on Sunday over a video they produced claiming the extent of the Holocaust was being misrepresented by Jews. The clip, posted by Al Jazeera's online AJ+ Arabic service, claimed "the narrative" that the Nazis killed six million Jews was "adopted by the Zionist movement". The video said that "along with others, the Jews faced a policy of systematic persecution which culminated in the Final Solution".
- WorldBloomberg
U.S.-China Feud Widens, Europe Populists Buoyant
U.S.-China relations hit a new low this week after President Donald Trump’s administration slapped new tariffs on imports from China and targeted its biggest technology company, Huawei Technologies. Elsewhere, residents in the Iranian capital, Tehran, worry more about feeding their families than the rumors of war with the U.S., and populists hoped to score unprecedented gains in next week's elections to the European Parliament.Read about those topics and more in this edition of Weekend Reads, and click here for some of Bloomberg’s most compelling political images from the past seven days. China Vows ‘People’s War’ as Trade Fight Takes Nationalist TurnAs China’s state media ratchets up the rhetoric in the deepening trade dispute with the U.S., Peter Coy reports on how Trump’s tariffs on China will place a heavier burden on America’s poor and working class.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Romney: GOP Rep’s Call to Impeach Trump a ‘Courageous Statement’
Reacting to Republican Congressman Justin Amash’s call for President Trump to face impeachment over the obstruction of justice findings of the Mueller report, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) on Sunday praised the Michigan lawmaker for his “courageous statement” while saying he didn’t personally feel it was a time to call for impeachment.Noting that Romney had said last month that he was “sickened” and “appalled” that the president welcomed help from Russia during the 2016 election, State of the Union anchor Jake Tapper asked Romney if he was surprised that he and Amash are the only two elected Republicans who have condemned the president’s behavior.“My own view is that Justin Amash has reached a different conclusion than I have,” the former Republican presidential nominee replied. “I respect him. I think it’s a courageous statement. But I believe to make a case for obstruction of justice, you just don’t have the elements that are evidenced in this document.”He went on to say that when it comes to impeachment, one has to consider not just the law but politics and practicality, adding that the “jury” in this case is the Senate and they are “certainly not there either.”Asked why he doesn’t believe the obstruction of justice findings rise to the level of impeachment, Romney said he doesn’t “think there is the full element you need to prove an obstruction of justice case.”“I don’t think a prosecutor would actually look at this and say, okay, we have here all the elements that would get this to a conviction,” he continued. “So, you know, everyone reaches their own conclusion. As I read the report, I was troubled by it. Was very disappointing for a number of reasons. But it did not suggest to me this was a time to call for impeachment.”After reiterating that he was distressed by the president’s behavior but didn’t think there was an underlying crime to prosecute Trump, Romney moved on to discuss the rising tension with Iran, including reports that the White House is considering a plan to move 120,000 troops to the Middle East.Insisting that the “threat is real” from Iran, Romney nonetheless said that he believes the Trump administration is not looking to lead America into another war.“I don’t believe for a minute that either the president or [National Security Adviser] John Bolton or, frankly, anyone else in a senior position of leadership in the White House has any interest in going to the Middle East and going to war,” Romney declared. “That’s just not going to happen.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
PoliticsFOX News VideosHow do New Hampshire voters feel about Pete Buttigieg?
Todd Piro has 'Breakfast with Friends' ahead of South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg's town hall.
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