- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump disowns Obamacare again as GOP repeal plan effectively collapses
President Trump had a creative new spin as Senate Republicans faltered in their latest attempt to alter the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The president was referring to the four Republicans who opposed the Senate’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, effectively rendering it dead Monday against united Democratic opposition.
NewsAssociated PressMinneapolis police officer has yet to talk to investigators
Four days after a Minneapolis police officer fatally shot a woman who had called 911 to report a possible rape, the officer has yet to talk with investigators, and his attorney has given no indication he ever will. Details that have emerged raised new questions Wednesday about whether proper police procedures were followed. According to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Noor's partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, told investigators he was driving in the alley with all of the vehicle's lights off when he was startled by a loud noise, which authorities did not describe.
- NewsTime
California Governor Declares Emergency as Wildfires Threaten Hundreds of Homes
Yosemite remains open to visitors, but flames threaten more than 300 homes and buildings in mountain communities southwest of the park, clearing out the small town of Mariposa. Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday declared an emergency, bolstering the state’s resources to battle the fire that he said has forced thousands of residents to flee and is expected to continue burning. Record rain and snowfall in the mountains this winter was celebrated for bringing California’s five-year drought to its knees, but it has turned into a challenge for firefighters battling flames feeding on dense vegetation, officials said.
- NewsYahoo News
News of John McCain’s illness broke during meeting to save GOP health care plan
Republican senators attempting to save their stalled effort to repeal and replace Obamacare in a late-night meeting Wednesday were interrupted with news of Sen. John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters that the senators learned of McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis during the meeting and asked Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., to say a prayer for McCain. “It was very emotional, almost kind of stunned disbelief for a minute, then we asked James Lankford to lead us in prayer,” Hoeven said.
- ScienceInternational Business Times
Tomb Of King Tutankhamun’s Wife’s Likely Discovered, Archaeologists Say
History buffs may have a reason to rejoice after a team of archeologists found evidence of a tomb, which they believe to be that of King Tutankhamun’s wife Ankhesenamun. "We are sure there is a tomb there, but we do not know for sure to whom it belongs," Hawass told Live Science in an email.
NewsReutersMinnesota mystery: Why were cameras off during police shooting?
Amid public outrage over the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by Minneapolis police, the most persistent question was why officers did not turn on body cameras that could have captured what happened. The American Civil Liberties Union said the case showed a need for better compliance and training. Justine Damond, who was originally from Sydney, was shot around midnight on Saturday by an officer responding to an emergency call she had placed about a possible assault behind her house in a quiet residential neighborhood.
WorldAFPIran's president threatens response to new US sanctions
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Tehran would "respond appropriately" to new US sanctions but that Iran remained committed to its nuclear deal with world powers. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will always stick to its international commitments," Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting.
NewsAssociated PressUS senator criticizes Pruitt in Oklahoma ethics probe
A Democratic member of the U.S. Senate committee that conducted confirmation hearings for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a letter Tuesday that Oklahoma's former attorney general presented "inconsistent and contradictory statements" to the panel. Pruitt's "misleading answers, evasiveness, and stonewalling" had stymied the committee's ability to provide oversight of the agency, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote in a letter containing information about an ethics complaint against Pruitt being investigated by the Oklahoma Bar Association. "This conduct is unbecoming of an attorney who is also a public official and who, under law, is required to testify truthfully to Congress," Whitehouse said.
- WorldForeign Policy Magazine
America’s Not First. It’s Third.
The “Soft Power 30″ report, released Tuesday by Portland Communications, in partnership with the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, combines data and international polling to measure governmental commitment to issues such as freedom and global cultural reach, among other areas. France has been in fourth and fifth place the last two years, but leapfrogged ahead this year. The United States’ fall to third place, behind the United Kingdom, is due to its promotion of nationalist rhetoric rather than international alliances, according to the report.
- ScienceYahoo News
GOP Rep. Rohrabacher gets to the bottom of Martian civilization: There wasn’t any
“You have indicated that Mars had — was totally different thousands of years ago,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., asked during a hearing of the space subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The congressman’s question followed earlier testimony by NASA scientist Kenneth Farley about plans for the Mars 2020 mission, which involves looking for evidence of life on the red planet from the first billion years of the solar system. “Prior to about 3.6 billion years ago, Mars had rivers, lakes and possibly a vast northern ocean,” Farley said earlier in the hearing.
- WorldYahoo News Photo Staff
Tourists train at Israeli 'counter-terrorism boot camp'
Taking in the scene of a simulated fruit market in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, a group of tourists ponders whether a poster-size figure of an Arab man holding a cellphone is a threat and should be shot. It is part of a counter-terrorism “boot camp” organized by Caliber 3, a company set up by a colonel in the Israeli army reserves. Admission includes watching former Israeli commandos take down an “attacker” and other means to thwart assaults, including the use of an attack dog.
- U.S.ABC News Videos
Small plane makes emergency landing on Long Island highway
A Cessna plane pilot is being praised for his successful emergency landing on a Long Island highway that included flying under an overpass.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Donald Trump concedes healthcare defeat but still refuses to take any responsibility
In a rare move, Donald Trump has conceded defeat – admitting that Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, one of his key campaign promises, have been unsuccessful. In the days marking the end of his first six months as President, competing interests of Senate Republicans on healthcare came to a head, with multiple legislators announcing that they could not support the healthcare overhaul proposed by the Republican leadership. Along with Mr Trump, several Republicans had ran on campaign platforms that called for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare – a pillar of former President Barack Obama’s legacy.
- WorldInternational Business Times
Transitional Justice Working Group Maps North Korea's Mass Killings
A human rights group has prepared a preliminary map of execution sites and burial grounds in North Korea, in the first coordinated efforts by activists and researchers to unveil the level of Pyongyang's brutality. The report by Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) uncovered more than 300 execution sites and 47 burial grounds in the country. The study, conducted over a period of two years, mapped the sites through the testimonies of North Korean defectors.
- NewsInside Edition
Fugitive on the Lam for 4 Years Gets Arrested After Flagging Down Cop for a Ride
A Louisiana man, who cops say has managed to avoid arrest in a 2013 assault case since 2013, was arrested over the weekend after flagging down a police cruiser. Fugitive Jansen Simon was walking along LA Highway 182 in Raceland when he flagged down a deputy early Sunday, according to Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. Simon, 30, was transported to the Lafourche Parish Detention Center in Thibodaux where he was booked for aggravated second-degree battery, as well as two counts of contempt of court.
BusinessAFPMH370 search reveals hidden undersea world
The painstaking search for missing flight MH370 has uncovered a previously unknown undersea world of volcanoes, deep valleys and soaring ridges, according to detailed maps released by Australia. Although no trace of the Malaysia Airlines plane was found during the search in the southern Indian Ocean -- the most expensive ever of its kind -- large volumes of data showing a detailed picture of the sea floor had to be collected to guide the probe. "It is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of the world's oceans have been surveyed with the kind of technology used in the search for MH370," Geoscience Australia's environmental geoscience chief Stuart Minchin said late Wednesday.
- BusinessAssociated Press
The Latest: British American Tobacco buying Reynolds OKd
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on London-based British American Tobacco's purchase of Reynolds American Inc., the second-largest U.S. cigarette company (all times local):12:10 p.m.Shareholders of British American Tobacco and Reynolds American Inc. support
WorldReutersPhilippine police arrest 43 foreigners for kidnap of Singapore woman
By Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine police said on Thursday they had arrested 43 foreigners for kidnapping a Singaporean woman at a casino resort in the capital, highlighting security concerns that have scared high-stakes gamblers away from Manila. Police said the gang, including people from China and Southeast Asia, was believed to be a loan-shark syndicate targeting foreign high-rollers, with 11 similar cases reported since 2015. The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing casino hubs in Asia, after Macau and Singapore, with the opening of several resorts over the past two years.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Charlie Gard doctors remain 'unconvinced' after flying visit by US neurosurgeon who said he could treat him
The British doctors caring for Charlie Gard are understood to remain unconvinced by an American neurosurgeon who claimed he could treat the little boy. Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) staff spent five and half hours on Tuesday locked in discussions with Dr Michio Hirano, a US specialist who flew back to the US on Tuesday night. Charlie’s mother Connie Yates was also present at the meeting to determine the best course of action for her 11-month-old son.
- PoliticsTime
'Hang in There.' Muslim Senate Candidate Gets Support From Republican Incumbent
Like many political figures, Deedra Abboud is no stranger to online abuse. “It’s unfortunate that this is the type of discourse that has become acceptable in America,” says Abboud, who’s running to challenge Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. Abboud, who wears a hijab, converted to Islam in 1998 (she was previously a Southern Baptist.) Abboud started and served as president of the Arizona chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations, and was the director of the Muslim American Society’s Freedom Foundation.
WorldAFP Relax NewsIndia's ageing trains get green makeover with solar panels
India has added solar panels to the roof of a train in a national first as it tries to reduce its massive carbon footprint and modernise its vast colonial-era rail network. The lighting, fans and information displays inside the train -- once powered by diesel -- will run off the sun's energy after the panels were fitted to the carriage. The train has begun journeys around the capital New Delhi, helping move just some of the 23 million passengers who use India's rail network every day.
- WorldYahoo News Photo Staff
Putin shows off Russian advances at MAKS-2017 Aviation and Space Salon
MAKS-2017 Salon, one of the world’s largest aviation forums, kicks off in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, at the airfield of the Gromov Flight Research Institute. MAKS provides a comprehensive insight into the priorities and achievements of the Russian aerospace industry. Some prototypes of aircraft and combat systems, as well as experimental units, are demonstrated exclusively at MAKS. During MAKS, top Russian officials are available for business communication.
- PoliticsYahoo News
The Senate GOP’s new Obamacare repeal plan is effectively dead
A plan to cleanly repeal the Affordable Care Act appears to have failed in the Senate after three GOP lawmakers said they would not vote to proceed with the latest attempt to reform the health care system. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Monday night they would not even vote to allow the original repeal-and-replace proposal to come to the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he would scrap that plan and move forward with repealing former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation.
- NewsThe Independent
Police body cam footage 'shows officer planting drugs'
Video from Baltimore Police Department body cameras shows an officer tampering with evidence in a case that sent a man to jail for more than five months, reports have claimed. The Baltimore Sun’s Justin Fenton recently shared a 90-second video showing what appears to be three Baltimore Police officers standing on a street corner. Baltimore Police Department body cameras record and preserve footage from the last 30 seconds before they are activated, according to the department's body-worn camera policy.
- BusinessInternational Business Times
All You Need To Know About USS Gerald Ford
The commissioning of the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier — USS Gerald R. Ford is set to take place in a ceremony presided over by President Donald Trump later this week. Designated CVN-78, it is the lead ship of the U.S. Navy’s supercarriers ( the unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier —typically those that displace 64,000 metric tons). Costing about $12.9 billion, it has been built to replace the U.S. Navy's existing Nimitz-class carriers which are a class of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
