- 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.
NewsAFP'Loud sound' preceded US police shooting Australian woman
Police in the US state of Minnesota were startled by a loud sound prior to shooting an Australian woman who had called them to report a possible assault, investigators revealed on Tuesday. The state agency probing the fatal police shooting of Justine Damond, also known by her maiden name Justine Ruszczyk, interviewed one of the two officers who responded to her emergency call on Saturday night in Minneapolis. It was the first time since the shooting that authorities offered more information about the circumstances, as community leaders and Damond's family complained they had received few details.
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.
- 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.
NewsReutersCalifornia wildfire explodes in size as blazes scorch U.S. West
By Stephen Lam MARIPOSA, Calif. (Reuters) - A wildfire that has forced thousands of Californians to flee their homes exploded in size on Wednesday, threatening a picturesque gold rush town outside Yosemite National Park as dozens of blazes scorched the U.S. West. More than 2,000 firefighters have contained just 7 percent of the Detwiler Fire, which is approaching the town of Mariposa and tiny communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Cal Fire state agency said on its website. The blaze has mushroomed to 46,000 acres (18,000 hectares), an increase of about 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) compared with the day before, and is threatening some 1,500 structures.
WorldAFPSouth Korea probes N. Korean celebrity who 'returned home'
South Korea is investigating the case of a North Korean defector who became a celebrity refugee in Seoul, but recently appeared on Pyongyang television to claim she had returned home from the "hell" of the capitalist South. Lim Ji-Hyun, a female defector in her 20s, arrived in Seoul in 2014 and soon became a public figure after starring in several South Korean TV shows featuring escapees from the North. In the video, posted on the North's Uriminzokkiri website, Lim says she had "returned home" last month and was now living with her family in the western city of Anju.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- PoliticsYahoo News
The White House and Mitch McConnell’s office tell very different stories about the failure of the health care bill
As the dust settled following Monday night’s collapse of the Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, a flurry of finger-pointing and competing narratives emerged with both the White House and the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell trying to minimize their own roles in the debacle. Some White House staffers threw McConnell under the proverbial bus, suggesting that the majority leader rushed the vote and limited President Trump’s involvement. McConnell’s allies denied he sought to dictate the process or have the president take a back seat.
- 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.
- NewsAssociated Press
Brothers, 5 and 2, crash mom's car on way to see grandfather
Authorities in West Virginia say a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old who wanted to visit their grandfather took their mother's car for a 3-mile (5 kilometers) ride on a curvy, winding road before crashing it and escaping unharmed. Putnam County Sheriff Steve Deweese said officials think the brothers worked together to steer the vehicle, but aren't sure because they haven't confessed details about their Monday ride. The car crashed into a ditch, and a neighbor found them and called authorities.
- 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.
NewsReutersAustralian prime minister demands answers on Minneapolis police shooting
A Minneapolis police officer shot Justine Damond, who was originally from Sydney, around midnight Saturday while responding to an emergency call she had placed about a possible assault behind her house in a quiet residential neighborhood. Turnbull said he and the Australian consul-general in Chicago were "seeking answers," in a television interview on Wednesday morning in Australia (Tuesday evening in the U.S.). "It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family." The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving the police in Minneapolis, is seeking any civilian video of the incident and said the officer who shot Damond, who has been identified in local media as Mohamed Noor, and another officer who was in the patrol car with him have been placed on administrative leave.
WorldAFPWilliam, Kate take Brexit 'charm offensive' to Germany
Prince William and his wife Kate began Wednesday a three-day visit to Germany billed as a "charm offensive" by local media as Britain begins thorny Brexit talks in earnest. Under brilliant summer sunshine, William, who is second in line to the British throne, and Kate touched down in Berlin from Poland accompanied by their young children George and Charlotte. The first stop for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was a lunch of cod, tuna and salmon at the giant modern office complex of Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely considered the European Union's most powerful leader.
- U.S.Yahoo News Video
Saudi woman in miniskirt video arrested after public outcry
A Saudi woman has been arrested for defying the kingdom's strict dress code by walking around in a miniskirt and crop top in a video that sparked public outrage.
- WorldInternational Business Times
Senior Official Weighs In On North Korea's Nuclear Weapons' Reach
Despite ramping up its nuclear weapons program, North Korea likely does not have the capability to effectively target the United States, according to at least one senior government official. The nation doesn’t have the capacity to hit the U.S. with “any degree of accuracy,” according to Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva. Selva appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday to discuss North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
HealthAFP Relax NewsNew research reveals some of the best diets for health brain ageing
Four studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2017 suggest that sticking to certain diets can help to reduce the risk of dementia. Previous studies have already indicated that certain diets and foods can have a beneficial effect on cognitive function, helping to support healthy brain aging and to reduce dementia risk.
- NewsYahoo News
Kamala Harris: The Democratic message is ‘telling the American public we see them’
“The issues are not simple, so the message is not going not be simple,” Harris told Yahoo News in a small gaggle of reporters after she gave a speech at the “Women Unshackled” criminal justice conference Tuesday morning. Harris said Democrats should not have a “monosyllabic” simple slogan, but instead focus on issues that matter to Americans, like jobs, the economy, health care, climate change and criminal justice reform.
- NewsInside Edition
Boy, 10, Who Died After Trip to Neighborhood Pool Had Fentanyl in His System
A 10-year-old boy who collapsed at his Florida home last month and later died had the lethal painkiller fentanyl in his system, making him one of the state’s — and perhaps the country’s — youngest victims of the opioid crisis, officials said. Preliminary toxicology tests showed Alton had fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told the Miami Herald. Read: Opioid Epidemic Series: What is Fentanyl?
- NewsAssociated Press
Remains found likely is 10th victim of Arizona flash flood
Remains found Wednesday in a water- and debris-filled canyon in central Arizona are believed to be those of a missing 27-year-old man who's the 10th and final victim of last weekend's flash flood, authorities said. Gila County Sheriff's officials said at a hastily called news conference that identification of the body will be subject to DNA analysis by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Last Saturday's flash flood at a popular swimming hole along the river in the Tonto National Forest killed nine of Garnica's extended family including his wife and three young children.
- PoliticsTime
House Republicans Have a New Budget. Here Are 3 Ways it Could Affect You
As Senate Republicans’ health care reform package appeared doomed to disaster on Tuesday, their counterparts in the House looked to reset matters with a fresh budget proposal. The House Republicans’ spending plan aims to balance the federal budget within a decade, reducing the deficit by $6.5 trillion, partially by cutting billions of dollars from entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Like the proposal the White House released in May, the House proposal is a blueprint, not a bill set in stone.
NewsAssociated PressOfficials: Australian woman shot after cops heard loud sound
An Australian woman who called 911 to report a possible assault was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer after the officer's partner was startled by a loud sound near their squad car, the partner told investigators Tuesday. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Justine Damond, 40, approached the driver's side window of the squad car immediately after the driver had been startled by the sound. The officer in the passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, fired his weapon, hitting Damond through the open driver's side window, the BCA said.
WorldAFPSold by IS in Raqa, Yazidi female fighters back for revenge
She was trafficked into Raqa as a sex slave by the Islamic State group but managed to escape. Now Yazidi fighter Heza is back to avenge the horrors she and thousands of others suffered. "When I started fighting, I lifted some of the worries from my heart," she says, surrounded by fellow Yazidi militia women in Raqa's eastern Al-Meshleb district.
