PoliticsAssociated PressTrump officials to Congress: Goal is deterring Iran, not war
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tamping down talk of war, top Trump administration officials told Congress on Tuesday that recent actions by the U.S. deterred attacks on American forces. But some lawmakers remained deeply skeptical of the White House approach in the Middle East.
- ScienceBGR News
Researchers say a tiny planet slammed into the Moon a long time ago
Earth's Moon only ever shows us one face. It's locked into its current orientation, with a permanent nearside and farside, but it wasn't until the Apollo missions that scientists were able to see just how different the two sides really are. The nearside, with its sea of dark gray basins standing in contrast to the brilliant white powder that covers the rest of its face, varies dramatically from the farside, which is marked with countless smaller craters in a more uniform distribution.The debate over how the Moon's split personalities developed has raged for decades, but new research seems to indicate that one of the possible explanations does indeed hold water. The theory, that Earth's Moon was struck by a tiny dwarf planet long ago, is the subject of a new research paper published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.Using computer models to simulate what may have happened to the Moon's surface long ago, researchers suggest the most likely scenario seems to be the collision between the Moon and a very large body. The impact of a dwarf planet as large as 480 miles across would have struck what we see today as the Moon's nearside at a speed of 14,000 miles per hour.This theory stands in contrast to other proposed explanations, including the theory that Earth may have once had not one Moon, but two. The two-moon theory suggests that Earth's moon duo may have at one point collided and merged, leaving the Moon as we see it today looking oddly unsymmetrical.The dwarf planet collision scenario assumes that whatever the body that struck the Moon was, it was in its own path around the Sun and just happened to be in the right place at the right time to strike Earth's natural satellite. This, the researchers say, would also explain why the crust on the farside of the Moon is different than that of its nearside."We demonstrate that a large body slowly impacting the nearside of the Moon can reproduce the observed crustal thickness asymmetry and form both the farside highlands and the nearside lowlands," the paper explains. "Additionally, the model shows that the resulting impact ejecta would cover the primordial anorthositic crust to form a two‐layer crust on the farside, as observed."
- WorldBloomberg
Ukraine's New Leader Sets Snap Parliamentary Election for July
(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine’s new leader started a two-month countdown to snap parliamentary elections as the TV comedian-turned-politician tries to consolidate power after his rapid rise to power.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Ben Carson Blames Democrats’ ‘Alinsky’ Tactics for His ‘Oreo’ Moment
The morning after Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson embarrassingly confused a basic real-estate term with a famous cookie during a contentious House hearing, the former neurosurgeon claimed the Democratic lawmakers who grilled him were taking their cues from community activist Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals.Carson made national headlines Tuesday when he, the secretary of housing, appeared confused by various real-estate terms. At several points, he asked Democratic congresswomen to explain fundamental terminology for him.During an unsurprisingly sympathetic interview with Fox Business Network’s Stuart Varney on Wednesday morning, the Trump official complained that news networks only picked “sound bites that they can use to ridicule” before blaming his highly mocked “Oreo” moment on his “difficulty hearing” Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA).After insisting he was “very familiar” with the term “REO” (an acronym for “real estate holding,” which Carson appeared entirely unfamiliar with) and foreclosed properties, Carson criticized Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for taking him to task over a HUD plan that could result in thousands of immigrant children becoming homeless.“These are the same people who are for late-term abortions,” he declared. “Who take a child who is viable outside of the womb and willing to slaughter them. Now tell me how is that consistent?”My Hunt for Hillary’s ‘Radical’ ThesisVarney, meanwhile, said he was “appalled” at the Democrats’ attempts to “talk down to a man of such accomplishment,” adding that he was glad Carson came to Fox to “refute that rudeness.”This prompted Carson to insist that the House Financial Committee Democrats were using the tactics of one of the right’s most-invoked bogeyman.“If you read Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, that is exactly what they’re doing,” he said. “Look at rule 5 and rule 13. They don’t even know they’re being used.”Those rules, for the record, are “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon” and “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."“Fascinating, Mr. Secretary,” Varney concluded, adding that the way Carson was treated made it “hard to contain” himself.Carson has long accused Democrats of adhering to “Alinsky tactics” and was particularly obsessed with that talking point during the 2016 Republican primaries. During his speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, for example, he noted that Hillary Clinton wrote her college thesis on Alinsky while linking the community organizer and Clinton to the devil.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.
BusinessReutersAfter Huawei, U.S. could blacklist Chinese surveillance tech firm - media
The U.S. administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision, media reports show, deepening worries that trade friction between the world's top two economies could be further inflamed. The restrictions would limit Hikvision's ability to buy U.S. technology and American companies may have to obtain government approval to supply components to the Chinese firm, the New York Times reported https://nyti.ms/2MfgBS3 on Tuesday. The United States stuck Huawei Technologies on a trade blacklist last week, effectively banning U.S. firms from doing business with the world's largest telecom network gear maker, in a major escalation in the trade war.
NewsAssociated PressAbducted Idaho girl found safe in Arizona, suspect jailed
SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — A 17-year-old girl abducted from an Idaho fast-food restaurant where she worked was found safe in Arizona on Tuesday and the man accused of taking her was jailed on a $1 million bond, authorities said.
WorldAFPFears rise China could weaponise rare earths in US tech war
The US has hit China where it hurts by going after its telecom champion Huawei, but Beijing's control of the global supply of rare earths used in smartphones and electric cars gives it a powerful weapon in their escalating tech war. A seemingly routine visit by President Xi Jinping to a Chinese rare earths company this week is being widely read as an obvious threat that Beijing is standing ready for action. Xi's inspection tour "is no accident, this didn't happen by chance," said Li Mingjiang, China programme coordinator at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Could One of America's Allies Take Down the F-35 Program?
What does America need to save its troubled F-35 stealth fighter?Turkey, that’s what.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan recently warned that the multinational F-35 program, of which Turkey is a member, would fail if Turkey were excluded. Turkey is facing sanctions, including being dropped from the F-35 program if it goes ahead with purchasing Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, which has raised Washington’s fears that F-35 secrets might be leaked to Russia. The U.S. has stopped shipping equipment to Turkey for that nation’s planned purchase of 100 F-35s, while the first two aircraft officially delivered to Turkey are still in the United States.For its part, Ankara is adamant that it has a right to purchase both American stealth fighters and Russian anti-aircraft missiles, despite the fact that the S-400 is one of the most likely Russian weapons to be used against the F-35. “We were surely not going to remain silent against our right to self-defense being disregarded and attempts to hit us where it hurts,” Erdogan said at a Turkish defense trade show. “This is the kind of process that is behind the S-400 agreement we reached with Russia.”“Nowadays, we are being subject to a similar injustice - or rather an imposition - on the F-35s ... Let me be frank: An F-35 project from which Turkey is excluded is bound to collapse completely.”
- BusinessUSA TODAY
American Airlines blames mechanics for 2,200 flight delays, cancellations, warns of summer travel trouble
American Airlines says a slowdown by mechanics led to nearly 2,200 flight cancellations, delays since February and has intensified.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Don't Just Vacation in Any Old Airbnb When You Can Choose One on Wheels
Get a taste of #VanLife without the full-time commitment.From Car and Driver
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
I'm the same age as Elizabeth Warren. We 70-somethings have no business being president.
I have nothing against old people — I'm one of them. But maybe it's time to add a maximum age limit to our minimum age requirement for our presidents.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoDog sitter caught walking around naked in customer's home
A dog sitter has been caught on camera walking around her client’s house naked. Rosie Brown hired Casey Brengle to look after her two dogs, Penny and Daisy, while she went to a wedding for four days.
- WorldBloomberg
Brexit Bulletin: May’s Final Gamble Backfires
As Theresa May made a last-ditch plea to save her Brexit deal yesterday, she tried to present enough improvements to win over opponents on all sides. Instead, it looks like she’s ended up pleasing no one. In a speech yesterday, the embattled prime minister unveiled a 10-point plan she said was the “one last chance” to salvage Brexit, including a promise to give members of Parliament a vote on whether to call another referendum to ratify Britain’s exit. Pro-Brexit Conservative MPs, including Boris Johnson, joined Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and May’s Northern Irish allies in condemning her proposals.
- WorldReuters
Iran's reach puts U.S. forces, allies in striking range
BAGHDAD/DUBAI/KABUL (Reuters) - Threats of conflict between the United States and Iran have highlighted the places and ways their forces, proxies or allies could clash. Iran backs militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are also based, and in Lebanon and Yemen, located next to Washington's closest regional allies Israel and Saudi Arabia. It is situated opposite Saudi Arabia on the Gulf, and along the Strait of Hormuz, passageway for almost a fifth of the world's daily crude oil consumption.
NewsAssociated PressHospital that treated baby cut from womb investigated
CHICAGO (AP) — The agency that licenses and inspects health care facilities in Illinois has started an investigation of a suburban Chicago hospital where doctors treated a baby brought in by a woman claiming to be his mother, a spokeswoman for the agency said Tuesday. The woman was charged weeks later with killing the actual mother and cutting the child from her womb.
BusinessAFPUS stocks rally on Huawei reprieve as pound gyrates on Brexit news
Global stocks rallied Tuesday as the United States took a step away from imposing crushing restrictions on Chinese telecom company Huawei, while the pound gyrated on fresh Brexit drama.
- WorldThe National Interest
China's Navy Is Growing So Fast Its Running Out of Names For Its Warships
China’s navy has a new problem: not enough names for its rapidly growing fleet of warships.“China is running out of provincial capitals to name new destroyers, and it might have to turn to other big domestic cities, which reflects the country's rapid naval development in recent years,” according to Chinese newspaper Global Times.The People’s Liberation Army Navy recently named its first Type 055 destroyer the Nanchang, which is the capital city of East China's Jiangxi Province.One of the three other Type 055 destroyers will be named Lhasa, the capital of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, according to Chinese media. That just leaves Nanning and Taipei as the names of provincial capitals for destroyers (Taipei is Taiwan’s capital, though Taiwan has not yet declared independence as a separate nation from China).Which means non-capital cities will have to bequeath their names to Chinese destroyers. The latest destroyer is named Qiqihar, which is a non-capital city in in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. A few ships have been named after major cities, such as the Shenzen, a Type 051 destroyer.“Chinese destroyers and frigates should be named after big and medium Chinese cities, according to the naval vessels naming regulation,” Global Times said. “This means naming of destroyers does not necessarily have to use provincial capitals, as it was a non-binding tradition.”
BusinessUSA TODAYFord cutting 7,000 salaried jobs under pressure to boost profits, reduce bureaucracy
Ford workers opened their email Monday to find a letter from CEO Jim Hackett with details on how many salaried workers would be leaving the automaker.
- EntertainmentTime
All the Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Game of Thrones
Why does the Night's Watch still exist? Can Bran see the future? Who was Azor Ahai? What happens in Essos? Where is the White Walker baby?
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Mid-Engined Corvette Spied without Rear Wing
Caught high-speed testing at GM's proving grounds, this car looks like it could be a base model due to its lack of a rear wing.From Car and Driver
PoliticsYahoo NewsMore House Dems come out for impeachment as McGahn defies subpoena
The drumbeat among Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump got a little louder Tuesday, when former White House counsel Don McGahn failed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee after Trump instructed him to defy a subpoena.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Secret Service Officers Are Being Sent to the Border
Jose Luiz Gonzalez/ReutersThe U.S. Secret Service is now participating in a not-so-secret undertaking: dealing with the influx of migrants at America’s southern border. According to a communication from the Department of Homeland Security’s headquarters reviewed by The Daily Beast, the small law enforcement agency has sent personnel to the border already and is looking to send more in the coming weeks. The move came in response to a directive then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen sent out earlier this spring asking each component of the department to find volunteers and dispatch them to the border. Even though it’s most closely associated with the White House, the Secret Service—along with a host of other entities and agencies—is a component of DHS. And as a result, it’s shipping people south. A DHS spokesperson did not dispute this reporting. “As we have consistently said, the Department is considering all options to address the humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border,” said the spokesperson. “We will continue to work with our workforce to find dynamic solutions and funding to address this very serious problem. As part of this effort, it is our responsibility to explore fiscal mechanisms that will ensure the safety and welfare of both our workforce and the migrant population, which is also reflected in the supplemental request submitted to Congress.”The Daily Beast reported last week that the arm of DHS that handles threats to America’s cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has struggled to find enough volunteers to head to the border and fulfill DHS headquarters’ request. The agency works to secure election systems, schools, and places of worship—all of which face acute threats. Besides protecting the president, the first family, and other prominent government figures, the Secret Service also conducts criminal investigations. Its focuses include financial crimes and cybersecurity threats. The diversion of law enforcement and national security personnel to the border has concerned some congressional Democrats, who say it may be a misuse of limited government resources. But pushing back against the dramatic increase in people trying to enter the U.S. through the southern border has become has become a singular priority of President Trump. In both March and April, law enforcement officials apprehended more than 100,000 people trying to enter the U.S., according to DHS statistics. During the Obama administration, the agency was beset by scandal: Washington socialites slipped past agents and crashed the president’s first state dinner; a Secret Service agent told his counterparts to stand down after a man fired a gun at the White House, thinking the sound came from a car backfiring; an agent who traveled to Amsterdam with the president to protect him got drunk and passed out in a hallway; and more, as NBC News has detailed. 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.
WorldReutersIndia's Modi shows confidence as opposition dismisses ominous exit polls
Exit polls have predicted a clear win for Modi in the election that ended on Sunday, but such polls in India have proved misleading before, and counting of votes cast in the seven-phase contest will take place on Thursday. The ruling coalition, led by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is projected to win between 339 and 365 seats in the 545-member lower house of parliament with a Congress-led opposition alliance getting only 77 to 108, an exit poll from India Today Axis showed. Flanked by BJP president Amit Shah, Modi met cabinet ministers, party colleagues and dozens of the leaders from regional blocs that are part of the alliance.
- U.S.WPVI – Philadelphia
Tornado touched down in Lancaster County, officials confirm
Officials have confirmed that a tornado touched down in Lancaster County as severe storms hit the region.
WorldAFPEiffel Tower climber 'admitted to psychiatric unit'
A man, believed to be Russian, who sparked a mass evacuation of the Eiffel Tower by scaling the iconic Paris landmark has been admitted to a psychiatric unit, legal sources said Tuesday. The man caused chaos Monday and the closure of the monument to tourists by spending six hours clinging to the outer metal framework of the Eiffel Tower. An investigation has been opened for unauthorised entry into a cultural monument, a judicial source said.
