WorldReutersHalf of American adults expect war with Iran 'within next few years': Reuters/Ipsos poll
While Americans are more concerned about Iran as a security threat to the United States now than they were last year, few would be in favor of a pre-emptive attack on the Iranian military. Historically tense relations between Washington and Tehran worsened in May after U.S. President Donald Trump hardened his anti-Iran stance and restored all sanctions on Iranian oil exports following his decision a year ago to pull the United States out of a 2015 international nuclear accord with Tehran. The United States moved an aircraft carrier and forces to the Gulf region in response to intelligence that Iran may be plotting against U.S. interests, an assertion Iran denies.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Schiff Strikes Deal to See Mueller's Counterintelligence Work
Schiff said in a statement Wednesday that the department has offered to start turning over 12 categories of information that his panel had subpoenaed, and he said the process should be completed by next week. It was a rare instance of cooperation as the Trump administration increasingly stonewalls demands from Democratic-controlled House committees for documents and testimony to follow up on Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
- NewsThe Guardian
Missouri: destructive tornado leaves three people dead and severe damage
The National Weather Service confirmed that the deadly tornado moved over Missouri's capital, Jefferson City, shortly before midnight. Across the state, Missouri's first responders once again responded quickly and with strong coordination as much of the state dealt with extremely dangerous conditions that left people injured, trapped in homes, and tragically led to the death of three people,” Governor Mike Parson said. Authorities said the three were killed in the Golden City area of Barton county, near Missouri's south-west corner, as the severe weather moved in from Oklahoma, where rescuers struggled to pull people from high water.
- NewsAssociated Press
Utah climber dies after climbing up Everest in 7 summit bid
A Utah climber with a long-held dream to climb the highest mountains on the planet's seven continents died on top of Mount Everest after reaching his final summit, one of his daughters said. Don Cash, 55, died "at the peak of Mt. Everest accomplishing his dream of summiting the 7 summits," his daughter Danielle Cook posted on Facebook on Wednesday. Cash said on his LinkedIn page that he left his job as a sales executive to try to join the so-called seven summits club of people who have climbed the highest mountains on each continent.
- WorldThe National Interest
Russia and America Are Taking Turns Probing Each Other’s Air Space
Six Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers and several Russian Su-35 fighters probed U.S. air-defenses on May 20 and May 21, 2019, prolonging a period of aerial tension between the Moscow and Washington.U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighters and supporting aircraft on both days peacefully intercepted the Russian planes. “The Russian bombers and fighters remained in international airspace and at no time did the aircraft enter United States or Canadian sovereign airspace,” North American Aerospace Defense Command reported.“Two pairs of F-22s and an E-3 airborne early warning and control system from North American Aerospace Defense Command positively identified and intercepted a total of four Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on May 20,” noted the command, which also is known by its Cold War acronym “NORAD.”“Specifically, two of the Russian bombers were intercepted by two F-22s, and a second group of bombers with Su-35 fighters was intercepted later by two additional F-22s, while the E-3 provided overall surveillance.”
- LifestyleCar and Driver
14 Garage Organization Ideas That'll Give You Back Your Parking Spot
It's so strangely soothing to see everything this organized in the garage.From Car and Driver
NewsAFPMajor Texas border station closed for flu outbreak after teen death
A major Texas border station has been temporarily closed due to a fever outbreak, officials said, one day after a Guatemalan teenager diagnosed with flu at the facility died in immigration custody. Medical staff imposed the quarantine at the McAllen processing center after a "large number" of detainees were found to have high fevers and symptoms of a flu-related illness. "To avoid the spread of illness, the Rio Grande Valley Sector has temporarily suspended intake operations at the CPC," Customs and Border Protection said in a statement late Tuesday, referring to the Central Processing Center.
- NewsAOL.com
Serial con artist arrested after scamming woman he met on Match.com out of $85,000
A serial con artist was arrested Wednesday after allegedly scamming a Georgiawoman he met on Match
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.
PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden blasts Trump for saying he 'deserted' Pennsylvania: 'I was 10'
The former vice president blasted President Trump for telling the crowd at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this week that he “deserted” them.
- U.S.WTVR - Richmond
Results Released of Months-Long Investigation Into Racist Photo on Virginia Gov. Yearbook Page
A four-month investigation into the racist photo that appeared on Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page could neither confirm nor deny that the governor was one of the people in the photo, nor how it ended up on his page.
NewsReutersRain, flooding expected in U.S. Southern Plains after deadly storms
Weather forecasters on Wednesday expected drenching rains to roll into the storm-ravaged U.S. southern and central states, where thunderstorms and tornadoes killed at least three people and triggered widespread flooding. More than 30 tornadoes struck a swath from Texas to Iowa since Monday, according to the National Weather Service, and residents in at least three Oklahoma riverfront communities were urged to evacuate due to flooding. One person was killed and another was injured when a tornado struck the rural town of Adair, Iowa, about 50 miles (80 km)west of Des Moines, at about 1:30 a.m. local time, the weather service said.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: Iran supreme leader critical of FM in nuke deal
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Latest on increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran (all times local):
- BusinessThe National Interest
Stealth History: The F-35C Is Now Ready For War If the U.S. Navy Needs It
By 2025, the Navy's aircraft carrier-based air wings will consist of a mix of F-35C, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers electronic attack aircraft, E-2D Hawkeye battle management and control aircraft, MH-60R/S helicopters and Carrier Onboard Delivery logistics aircraft such as the Navy Osprey tiltrotor aircraft variant.As the F-35C becomes officially deemed “operational” and “ready for war," the Navy is adding weapons, sensors and software to the aircraft to expand its attack envelope --- and may even increase the F-35s ability to carry up to 6 air-to-air weapons in its internal weapons bay.Such a configuration, which would increase the stealth fighter’s internal weapons load by two missiles, has been designed and implemented by F-35-maker Lockheed Martin -- as an offering for the Air Force and Navy to consider.“Lockheed Martin has matured design concepts to integrate 6 air-to-air missiles within the internal weapons bays of the F-35A and F-35C variants,” Lockheed Martin spokesman Michael Friedman told Warrior in a written statement.While making a point to emphasize that any decision to increase the weapons capacity of the F-35 would of course need to come from the military services themselves, Lockheed engineers say the new “internally carried” firepower would massive increase attack options -- all while preserving the stealth configuration of the aircraft.
SportsUSA TODAY'Jeopardy!' champ James Holzhauer extends amazing streak with his 24th victory
James Holzhauer extended his 'Jeopardy!' winning streak to an even two dozen Tuesday, as he moves ever closer to the $2 million mark.
BusinessAFPFears 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.
- BusinessBGR News
You can get a top-rated 10W fast wireless charger for just $9.99 if you hurry
Whether you have an iPhone that needs 7.5 watt fast wireless charging or you have an Android phone that can utilize 10 watt fast wireless charging, there's a great deal right now on Amazon that you definitely should check out. Seneo is a well-known brand on Amazon, and the Seneo 10W Fast Wireless Charger is among the top-rated fast wireless chargers on the site. It's always a great value even at full retail, but the price just dropped to an all-time low of $9.99 on Amazon. Grab one on sale while you can!Here's more info from the product page: * NOTE: (1) QC2.0 or QC3.0 adapter is needed for Quick Charging, 5W Adapter will not work. (2) Make sure your Cell Phone support Qi Wireless Charging and Quick Charging. (3) Make sure using the supplied USB data cable. (4) Check your Phone case thickness(
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Accused Thief Taunted Disney World With Photo of Stolen Robot’s Mutilated Head
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast/Photos GettyIf you’re accused of stealing an animatronic child from Disney World, maybe don’t make a wildly popular Disney-related Twitter account and post a picture of the stolen robot child with its eyes gouged out.“Buzzy,” an animatronic boy from an abandoned Disney World attraction, has been missing for months. Online, Disney superfans treated the disappearance like a kidnapping. But the investigation into the theft led police to someone in the online Disney fandom: a Disney blogger who taunted Disney about their security, posted conspiracy theories about Buzzy’s disappearance and, in the final days before his arrest, uploaded a picture of the robot’s decapitated and eyeball-less head.Patrick Spikes, 24, was arrested last week. He worked at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, until last year. But Spikes didn’t completely part ways with the theme park after he stopped working there. Instead, he started churning out videos, podcasts, and tweets under the username “BackDoorDisney.” His Twitter account, which amassed more than 17,000 followers before going dark last week, promised to give fans an inside view of Disney World. In its seven months of operation, the account uploaded pictures of Disney control rooms, secret maps, and Disney cast members pretending to have sex while dressed as characters from Toy Story.Soon, Spikes was posting about an even more salacious Disney World story. In August, Disney told police that someone had stolen clothes off Buzzy. The 300-pound animatronic child used to sit inside the “Cranium Command” exhibit, in Epcot’s Wonders of Life Pavilion. But the building, which hosted somewhat dated attractions, had been closed for years. The stolen clothes (including a miniature bomber jacket) were worth nearly $7,000, Disney claimed, according to an affidavit from Florida’s Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Later, the entire robot was stolen, an operation that required the thief to cut through electric cables.Spikes and other Disney bloggers posted about Buzzy’s rumored disappearance. But Spikes and a crowd of Disney fans who broke into the park soon came under suspicion. Spikes routinely boasted of secret trips through Disney World, including with a friend who climbed the park’s Thunder Mountain roller coaster.“Good job filling the holes under the Mk back fence this morning,” Spikes wrote in a January tweet directed at Disney. “I told you guys about this issue 2 months ago but it took somebody going in and climbing one of your coasters for you to care.”On his personal Twitter account, Spikes taunted Disney, advising them to buy a bulk box of security cameras from Best Buy. As the search for Buzzy continued, Disney fans speculated that an urban explorer might have snatched the robot.Eventually, police began narrowing in on Spikes and his scene. Investigators found an October picture of Buzzy on Spikes’ @BackDoorDisney account. The picture does not appear to have been taken inside the Cranium Command exhibit. In texts with investigators, Spikes allegedly let slip that Buzzy’s clothes were sold on the black market for $8,000.Police got a warrant for Spikes’ cellphone and called him in for questioning in December. The meeting went poorly when Spikes tried to cut it short.“The defendant stated he felt sick and felt that he was going to vomit,” police alleged in an affidavit. “A short time later, he began to make strained breathing noises, and stated he couldn’t breath. He requested water, which was given to him, and also was allowed to lay on the floor. The fire department responded and all vitals were normal.” Spikes was taken to a hospital. Police charged him with non-violently resisting arrest. He has pleaded not guilty.Spikes later made a video about a police search on his house, and professed his innocence.“I said ‘really? The entire thing got stolen?’ I didn’t really believe it,” he said in the March video. “It blew my mind. I was like, you can’t be serious right now.”Later in the video, Spikes suggested that Disney had staged Buzzy’s disappearance in order to shut down his BackDoorDisney account.“There’s a theory someone talked about that Imagineering [a Disney team] removed Buzzy and didn’t tell anyone else. So when Operations, the part of the company that runs the Pavillion noticed he was missing, they filed him as ‘stolen,’” he said. “Did Disney willingly file a report, knowing the thing wasn’t stolen, just to run me down? Because obviously I had been posting a lot of backstage photos and stuff, and information … It almost seems like they wanted my phones because they knew I had a lot of backstage photos on them.”But BackDoorDisney kept implying inside knowledge of Buzzy’s disappearance.In a May 12 tweet, he tweeted a picture of Buzzy’s fate. The tweet showed a picture of Buzzy’s decapitated head, with its eyeballs scratched off. The image was included in a screenshot of a text Spikes received, which meant someone else might have stolen the robot.TwitterFive days later, police arrested Spikes. Although Buzzy’s disappearance featured prominently in an arrest affidavit (police appear to have started investigating him over Buzzy’s theft), Spikes was actually charged for a different series of alleged thefts from Disney World. His lawyer did not return The Daily Beast’s request for comment.In July, police alleged, Spikes printed a fake Disney employee card for his cousin and snuck him into the park. The pair allegedly snuck into the Haunted Mansion, a popular ride, and stole a collection of wigs and outfits from backstage. The clothes, which were designed for the ride’s animatronic ghosts, cost between $40 (a tiara) and $1,746 (a robot’s jacket), adding up to more than $7,000.Spikes and his cousin allegedly took pictures throughout the heist, and posed in the wigs at a nearby 7-Eleven. A video from shortly after the theft allegedly shows Spikes’ cousin’s girlfriend wearing a robot’s stolen dress.Disney may have priced the clothes at just over $7,000, but they allegedly went for four times that price on the black market. Days after the alleged burglary, Spikes allegedly received a combined $29,451 payment from two people over Paypal. One of the people, whose name is redacted in the affidavit, told police he paid Spikes $8,890 for 18 items from various Disney heists, including $1,000 for a Haunted Mansion dress.Shortly before his arrest, Spikes teased a forthcoming video about the black market for stolen Disney gear.Police haven’t charged Spikes with Buzzy’s disappearance. But they say his video about the raid on his house raised questions about his involvement. In the video, he showed part of a search warrant for his house. Police say he edited the document to remove references to two pieces of evidence police sought.“The fact that Spikes altered the warrant for his video and only removed these two items indicate that he was aware these items were used in a crime,” the affidavit reads.In that same video, Spikes tells viewers he’ll keep his lips tight about Buzzy’s disappearance until the investigation is over.“If things are still under investigation, I’m not going to get on YouTube and run my mouth about it,” he said. “That would be dumb.”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.
PoliticsYahoo NewsPelosi says Trump 'is engaged in a cover-up' — drawing his fury
The House speaker slammed the president’s efforts to stonewall ongoing congressional investigations amid calls from some members of her party for his impeachment.
- WorldBloomberg
‘India Wins,’ Modi Says as He Surges to Decisive Victory
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surged to a majority on his own in India’s general election, with his Bharatiya Janata Party establishing a commanding lead in vote counting. "India wins yet again," Modi said in a tweet. BJP supporters have begun celebrating in the streets as the party extended its lead in more than 299 seats -- easily ahead of the 272 seats needed to form government and more than the 282 the party won in 2014.
BusinessReutersTaiwan's TSMC says chip shipments to Huawei not affected by U.S. ban
TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, said on Thursday its shipments to China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd are not affected by U.S. action aimed at curbing the telecom equipment maker's access to American technology. The comment was made by spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun at the TSMC 2019 Technology Symposium in Taiwan's tech hub of Hsinchu.
- LifestyleKDVR - Denver
Moose Crashes Wedding at Rocky Mountain National Park
A couple getting married in Rocky Mountain National Park got the best wedding gift they could have hoped for.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Tornadoes move through southwest Missouri towns
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on storm damage in the Southern Plains and Midwest (all times local):
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
The Harriet Tubman $20 bill was supposed to drop in 2020, but Trump's Treasury secretary has delayed it
"The ultimate decision on the redesign will most likely be another secretary's down the road," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Wednesday.
WorldAFPBritish Steel collapses; thousands of jobs could go
British Steel collapsed on Wednesday after the government said last-ditch talks with its owners failed to secure a full financial rescue. The High Court in London ordered British Steel Limited into compulsory liquidation, a statement said. "British Steel Limited was wound-up in the High Court" on Wednesday, meaning its assets would be sold to help pay debts.
