Netflix Nears Deal With Warner Bros. TV For ‘Sandman’ Series

It’s not a dream — Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is finally coming to television. After being stuck in development limbo for decades, Netflix is nearing a deal with Warner Bros. TV for a series order of an adaptation of the popular comic book series from DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint. Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Grey’s Anatomy) is slated […]

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Booker: Biden is 'causing a lot of frustration and even pain with his words'

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., criticized 2020 presidential rival Joe Biden on Sunday, saying the former vice president was doing a poor job of healing racial divisions in the country.

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UPDATE 1-Putin says Britain's May tough on Skripal poisoning case

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he wanted to improve ties with Britain after they were strained by the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil, but said Prime Minister Theresa May was taking a tough line on the issue. Putin met May at the G20 summit in Osaka on Friday. May's office said she asked Moscow to hand over the Russian suspects Britain blames for poisoning a former double agent and his daughter with a nerve agent in Salisbury, England last year.

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The new and improved Gay Street sign is all over NYC Pride Twitter

This year the New York City Pride March marks 50 years since the Stonewall Riot, and the parade is  bigger and more colorful than ever. As the march makes its way to Greenwich Village, one street sign in particular is popping up on social media as a symbol of 2019's much-needed focus on inclusion in the queer community. It's pure coincidence that Gay Street intersects with Christopher Street right near the Stonewall Inn -- the "Gay" of Gay Street is a family name -- but its location on the parade route makes it prime real estate for a statement on what pride means in 2019. Take a look:> The famous Gay Street sign, representing a wide spectrum of gender expression. Near Christopher Park in Greenwich Village, NYCPride pic.twitter.com/8vTUJKsr50> > -- ken ┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴ (@kensadahiro) June 29, 2019The sign was one of many changes made around the city to celebrate Pride Month. > For the LGBT folks in the city today, I hope you all know that New York City will always stand with you. Enjoy PrideNYC today!!!! pic.twitter.com/FKpz1tEXQx> > -- Craig Anderson (@canderson1989) June 30, 2019The temporary changes to the Gay Street sign were part of an "Acceptance Matters" campaign by MasterCard, which raises questions about the place of corporations in New York's Pride Month celebrations. This particular installation seems to be popular on social media, however, for its reminder that every element of the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to feel proud of their identity.  WATCH: 'History repeats itself': LGBTQ elders discuss how Stonewall impacted their organizing during the AIDS crisis

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Undocumented immigrants should get health care, Julián Castro affirms

“We're not going to let people living in this country die because they can't see a doctor.“

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Governor Cuomo signs legislation banning 'gay and trans panic' legal defense

The defense had been used to justify violent reaction to finding out the person someone is with is gay or transgender.

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Biden scrambles after slipping in Democrats' debate

A wounded Joe Biden scrambled to defend his frontrunner status Friday after getting pummeled over his record on race relations at a Democratic election debate, throwing the battle for the party's nomination to challenge President Donald Trump wide open. Watching from Japan, where he was attending the G20 summit, Trump licked his chops as the 10 Democrats at the Thursday night debate in Miami veered sharply to the left on immigration, health care, taxes and the ever-emotional subject of gun ownership. Biden, vice president under still highly popular ex-president Barack Obama, came in as the favorite, polling well ahead of Trump and all Democratic rivals.

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GOP senators set to return to Oregon Capitol after prolonged walkout over cap-and-trade bill

Oregon's 11 Republican senators are ending a walkout protest over climate legislation that lasted more than a week and garnered national attention.

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'Back on track': Trump, Xi seal trade war truce

US President Donald Trump on Sunday hailed trade talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as "far better than expected" and vowed to hold off on further tariffs as negotiations continue. The ceasefire that halts damaging trade frictions came after a hotly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world's top two economies on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

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UPDATE 2-Fighting rages across Afghanistan as peace talks continue

Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 19 people in an attack on a government office on Saturday night, officials said, in the latest episode of violence in Afghanistan as peace talks continue to end the war. The Taliban, which rejects the election process, claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the group's fighters also killed 57 members of the Afghan security forces in the attack and captured 11 others, but Afghan officials disputed the account.

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Newark Airport reopens after being shut down due to 'airport emergency'

Newark Airport has reopened after it was shut down Saturday morning due to an "airport emergency."

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Your iPhone will charge from 0% to 80% in under an hour with these two accessories

Here's the good news: all of Apple's iPhones from 2017 and later support 18W fast charging that can charge your phone from 0% all the way up to 80% in about 55 minutes! And now for the bad news: Apple's cheaped out and didn't include a fast charger in the box with any of its iPhone models. Seriously, you can buy a $1,500 iPhone XS Max and Apple still doesn't include a fast charger in the box. Ugh. Getting the charger and cable you need from Apple to fast charge your iPhone costs about $50, which is obscene. Instead, pick up an AUKEY USB C Charger with 18W Power Delivery for $19.99 and an Anker USB C to Lightning Cable for $15.99. AUKEY USB C Charger * High-Speed Charging: Fast charge your iPhone XS/XS Max/XR, Google Pixel 2 / 2 XL, or other compatible USB-C devices that support USB Power Delivery * USB Power Delivery: Next-generation, future-proof fast charging technology that charges your USB Type-C phone or tablet at up to 18W * Compact & Portable: Extremely compact form factor and foldable plug ensure maximum portability wherever you go. Handy for home, office, and vacations * Safe & Reliable: Built-in safeguards protect your devices against excessive current, overheating, and overcharging * Package Contents: AUKEY PA-Y18 18W Power Delivery Wall Charger, User Manual, 45-Day Money Back Guarantee and 24-Month Product Replacement Warranty Card Anker USB C to Lightning Cable * Power Delivery: Use this cable with your USB-C Power Delivery charger (including Apple 18W 29W, 30W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapter) to charge your iOS device, and access fast-charging for iPhone 8, 8 Plus, X, XS, XR, XS Max, and later models. * Charge and Sync: Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector to your USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) enabled Mac and iPad Pro to seamlessly sync And charge. * Ultimate Durability: Lasts 12× longer than other cables and proven to withstand over 12000 bends in strict laboratory tests. * MI: MI certification and strict quality testing ensure your Apple devices are charged safely, at their fastest possible speed. . * A Cable for Life: We're so confident about Power line II's long-lasting performance that we gave it a hassle-free, lifetime .

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Trump: If There Was a Wall, Immigrant Dad and Daughter Who Drowned ‘Would Be Saved’

Kevin Lamarque/ReutersPresident Donald Trump said that if the wall along the southern border with Mexico had been built, the migrant dad and daughter who drowned this week “would be saved.”Speaking at a press conference in Osaka, Japan, where world leaders are gathered at the G20 summit, Trump took a moment to offer his take on the global shock in response to the photo of Salvadorian man Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter, Valeria, who were found face down and clinging to each other in the Rio Grande river. The two were attempting to make it across the river after failing to gain asylum from U.S. authorities.“The father and the beautiful daughter who drowned... if they thought it was hard to get in, they wouldn’t be coming up,” Trump said.Trump then called for tougher border patrol policies, adding that illegal immigration is “very unfair.”“You have millions of people on line for years to get into a country. They take tests, they study... and these people have worked hard, they’ve been on line for seven, eight, nine years, then someone walks in. Honestly it’s very unfair,” he said.Trump’s comments came hours after a U.S. judge’s ruling that blocks his administration from using $2.5 billion in funds intended to be used for anti-drug activities to instead build a wall along the border with Mexico. Trump said that he is planning to immediately appeal the ruling.In February, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to use $6.7 billion in funds that Congress had allocated for other purposes to instead be used for constructing the wall. U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California said in a pair of court decisions Friday that the Trump administration’s proposal to transfer the funds was unlawful.“We think we’ll win the appeal,” Trump said during another press conference at the G20 summit. “There was no reason that that should’ve happened.”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.

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GOP senator: ‘Underestimate Joe Biden at your own peril’

Lindsey Graham also says of Kamala Harris: “She’s got game.”

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O'Rourke visits Mexico, meets turned away US asylum seekers

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke visited Mexico on Sunday and listened to tearful immigrants say they fled Central American violence and turmoil to seek asylum in the U.S., but were turned away at the border. A fluent Spanish speaker, O'Rourke met around a table at a shelter with immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, some of whom wept as they told of being denied entry into the U.S. while their asylum claims are processed. "We hope, by sharing these stories, that the conscience of our country is awoken right now, and the need to change the policies that we have in place" becomes apparent, O'Rourke said via a livestream on his Facebook page.

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Pandemonium in Panmunjom: Kim and Trump's hasty DMZ date

Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's first two summits were highly choreographed affairs but their third date was an unscripted event seemingly arranged on a social media whim -- and threatened at times to descend into chaos. Trump admitted he did not know whether Kim would spurn his advances, delivered via Twitter. "When I put out the social media notification, if he didn't show up, the press was going to make me look very bad," the US president said.

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What's happening in the news this week?

This week, Bonnie Tyler makes an appearance, alongside some reconstituted meat products.

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Tunisia - the birthplace of the Arab Spring which lost its hope

Tunisia is seen as one of the few success stories of the Arab Spring so have so many of its people lost hope?

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Medicinal cannabis: The family that changed Australia's debate

Their heartrending story shifted perceptions on medical cannabis - but, they argue, not far enough.

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Greek election: Why frustrated young voters are turning conservative

As Greece goes to the polls on 7 July, many young Greeks are turning from the left-wing Syriza.

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Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ Lands Huge Series Deal Between Netflix and Warner Bros. TV

Studios have been trying to turn Neil Gaiman‘s acclaimed Vertigo comic book Sandman into a feature film for a long time. The earliest attempts stretch back all the way to the 1990s while the most recent try from New Line Cinema just happened a few years ago. Now, in the wake of the shuttering of the Vertigo arm at DC Comics, a new deal has sprouted to create a Sandman TV series between Netflix and Warner Bros. Television.

The Hollywood Reporter has word of the Sandman TV series in the works. An episode count hasn’t been determined, but apparently the deal for the series comes with a hefty, unknown pricetag that makes it the most expensive TV series DC Entertainment has ever produced.

Wonder Woman scribe Allen Heinberg will be writing and working as showrunner while author Neil Gaiman will executive produce along with David Goyer. The latter two had recently been part of New Line’s attempts to turn the comic into a movie.

If you’ve never encountered Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic book series before, here’s what it’s about:

The Sandman is the universally lauded masterwork following Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming—a vast hallucinatory landscape housing all the dreams of any and everyone who’s ever existed. Regardless of cultures or historical eras, all dreamers visit Morpheus’ realm—be they gods, demons, muses, mythical creatures, or simply humans who teach Morpheus some surprising lessons.”

That’s the most basic and vague description of the story of a comic series that spans fantasy, horror, and mythology, following the entities of Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium, as well as Dream.

If that sounds like an epic undertaking, that’s exactly why Warner Bros. struggled for years to get a film adaptation off the ground. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was even trying for a few years as producer, star and director, but ended up bailing on the project after creative differences. The last screenwriter to attempt a draft of the script for a feature adaptation at Warner Bros. was Eric Heisserer in 2016. It was just before Gordon-Levitt walked away from the project, and coincidentally enough, this was the last thing he had to say about it to io9:

“I … came to the conclusion that the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy. The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. This isn’t where it should be. It needs to go to TV.”

So here we are, and Sandman is getting the series adaptation many fans and creatives have always felt it deserved.

Apparently Warner Bros. took the pitch to several outlets, including HBO (which is part of WarnerMedia). However, the cable network wasn’t interested because of how much it would have cost to make. That was the perfect opportunity for Netflix to pick up a potentially huge property that already has a well-established fanbase, and it could easily become one of the streamer’s biggest shows. Of course, it actually needs to get off the ground first. And considering how long Warner Bros. was trying before this, we won’t hold our breath until it’s actually in front of a camera. Stay tuned.

The post Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ Lands Huge Series Deal Between Netflix and Warner Bros. TV appeared first on /Film.

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Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ Lands Huge Series Deal Between Netflix and Warner Bros. TV

Studios have been trying to turn Neil Gaiman‘s acclaimed Vertigo comic book Sandman into a feature film for a long time. The earliest attempts stretch back all the way to the 1990s while the most recent try from New Line Cinema just happened a few years ago. Now, in the wake of the shuttering of the Vertigo arm at DC Comics, a new deal has sprouted to create a Sandman TV series between Netflix and Warner Bros. Television.

The Hollywood Reporter has word of the Sandman TV series in the works. An episode count hasn’t been determined, but apparently the deal for the series comes with a hefty, unknown pricetag that makes it the most expensive TV series DC Entertainment has ever produced.

Wonder Woman scribe Allen Heinberg will be writing and working as showrunner while author Neil Gaiman will executive produce along with David Goyer. The latter two had recently been part of New Line’s attempts to turn the comic into a movie.

If you’ve never encountered Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic book series before, here’s what it’s about:

The Sandman is the universally lauded masterwork following Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming—a vast hallucinatory landscape housing all the dreams of any and everyone who’s ever existed. Regardless of cultures or historical eras, all dreamers visit Morpheus’ realm—be they gods, demons, muses, mythical creatures, or simply humans who teach Morpheus some surprising lessons.”

That’s the most basic and vague description of the story of a comic series that spans fantasy, horror, and mythology, following the entities of Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium, as well as Dream.

If that sounds like an epic undertaking, that’s exactly why Warner Bros. struggled for years to get a film adaptation off the ground. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was even trying for a few years as producer, star and director, but ended up bailing on the project after creative differences. The last screenwriter to attempt a draft of the script for a feature adaptation at Warner Bros. was Eric Heisserer in 2016. It was just before Gordon-Levitt walked away from the project, and coincidentally enough, this was the last thing he had to say about it to io9:

“I … came to the conclusion that the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy. The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. This isn’t where it should be. It needs to go to TV.”

So here we are, and Sandman is getting the series adaptation many fans and creatives have always felt it deserved.

Apparently Warner Bros. took the pitch to several outlets, including HBO (which is part of WarnerMedia). However, the cable network wasn’t interested because of how much it would have cost to make. That was the perfect opportunity for Netflix to pick up a potentially huge property that already has a well-established fanbase, and it could easily become one of the streamer’s biggest shows. Of course, it actually needs to get off the ground first. And considering how long Warner Bros. was trying before this, we won’t hold our breath until it’s actually in front of a camera. Stay tuned.

The post Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ Lands Huge Series Deal Between Netflix and Warner Bros. TV appeared first on /Film.

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Halo: Reach PC Beta Begins, Immediately Gets "Illegally Distributed"

Mika Brzezinski on the success of ‘Morning Joe’: ‘I’m the reason it’s still going’

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski says “Morning Joe” was her husband’s idea, but she’s “the reason it’s still going.” Brzezinski explains that when the show first started, she was booking the guests and managing the show. “I did everything from the get-go, tried to make a space for [Joe Scarborough]’s incredible voice.”

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UK PM May tells Putin to stop destabilizing activities: spokeswoman

Prime Minister Theresa May told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that their countries can only have a different relationship if Russia stops the behavior that threatens to undermine international security, her spokeswoman said. May also Putin to hand over the Russia suspects Britain blames for poisoning a former double agent and his daughter with a nerve agent in Salisbury, southern England last year. "She told the president that there cannot be a normalization of our bilateral relationship until Russia stops the irresponsible and destabilizing activity that threatens the UK and its allies," the spokeswoman said.

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Bernie Sanders claims 'ageism' after Eric Swalwell attacked him and Joe Biden in Democratic debate

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77, was responding to attacks from Rep. Eric Swalwell, 38. "Judge people on the totality of who they are," he said.

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Boeing shares hit as FAA finds new 737 MAX issue

Shares of Boeing tumbled Thursday, a day after US regulators identified a new issue in the Boeing 737 MAX that will likely slow the plane's return to service following two deadly crashes. The issue -- described by one aviation expert as "another black eye" for the 737 MAX -- came as a major US airline again pushed back the timeframe for returning the planes to service and as Boeing faced fresh questions over its compliance with a 2015 US regulatory settlement intended to improve plane airworthiness. Boeing dropped 2.9 percent to $364.02, pushing the Dow into negative territory.

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Israel and Hamas Reach Truce to Restore Quiet, Army Radio Says

(Bloomberg) -- Israel and Hamas reached a truce on Friday that would halt attacks against Israeli farmland in return for measures to ease the economic blockade on Gaza, according to a report by Israeli Army Radio.Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, would stop launching incendiary balloons that for the past year have torched thousands of acres of forest and agricultural land, and in exchange Israel would expand the enclave’s fishing zone, and return 60 confiscated boats and diesel supplies for the area’s main power plant, according to the radio station.Though the concessions made by Israel are small, they would provide some relief for Gaza and its roughly 2 million residents, who are cut off from other economies by their immediate neighbors, Israel and Egypt.To contact the reporter on this story: Yaacov Benmeleh in Tel Aviv at ybenmeleh@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Constantine Courcoulas, Taylan BilgicFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Trump reveals US companies will be allowed to sell to Huawei as China trade talks get ‘back on track’

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have agreed to a new ceasefire in a yearlong trade war between the US and China during their meeting on Saturday at the G20 conference in Japan.Mr Trump said he had agreed with the Chinese president the US would refrain from raising tariffs on China’s imports for now while Beijing would buy more US agricultural products.“We’re holding back on tariffs and they’re going to buy farm products,” Mr Trump told a news conference at the end of a two-day summit in Osaka, claiming relations were “right back on track”.Mr Trump also said US companies can again sell products to the Chinese technology giant Huawei after an effective ban introduced in May. “We send and we sell to Huawei a tremendous amount of product that goes into the various things they make,” he said.“I said, ‘That’s OK that we will keep selling that product.’ I’ve agreed to allow them to continue to sell that product so American companies will continue.”When asked whether Huawei would be formally removed from a US Commerce Department list of companies considered to undermines US national security, Mr Trump said that it would be discussed at “the very end” of trade talks. “We’re not discussing that with President Xi yet,” he said.Xinhua, the Chinese state-run news agency, confirmed the leaders had agreed that stalled trade talks would resume and that the US would hold off on threatened additional tariffs on Chinese goods.After posing for photographs with his counterpart at the sidelines of the G20, Mr Xi recounted the era of “ping-pong diplomacy” that helped jump-start US-China relations two generations ago.Since then, he said, “one basic fact remains unchanged: China and the United States both benefit from cooperation and lose in confrontation ... Cooperation and dialogue are better than friction and confrontation.”The US president had recently threatened to impose tariffs on an additional $300bn (£236bn) in Chinese imports – on top of the $250bn in goods he has already taxed – extending his import taxes to virtually everything China ships to the US.He has said the new tariffs, which are paid by US importers and usually passed onto consumers, might start at 10 per cent. Earlier, the administration had said additional tariffs might reach 25 per cent.The two countries have been sparring over the Trump administration’s allegations that Beijing steals technology and coerces foreign companies into handing over trade secrets. China denies it engages in such practices.The US has also tried to rally other nations to block Huawei from their upcoming 5G systems, branding the company a national security threat and barring it from buying US technology until Mr Trump’s announcement on Saturday.Under the newly agreed ceasefire scenario, existing tariffs and counter-tariffs on many of each other’s goods would remain in place. But no additional import taxes would take effect. This would buy time for US and Chinese officials to restart talks that stalled last month.Mr Trump said talks with Mr Xi went “probably even better than expected” and claimed the leaders enjoyed “an excellent relationship”.Additional reporting by agencies

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This Is the Battle That Decided World War II (Not What You Think)

While the tactical result of the battle was stunning – the U.S. sunk four Japanese fleet carriers Hiryu, Soryu, Kaga and Akagi, a heavy cruiser and destroyed 248 enemy aircraft – it is the perilous backdrop of America’s war fortunes in 1942 that make Midway’s tide-turning outcomes all the more significant.  Thursday, June 6th saw the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy, the amphibious assault phase of Operation Neptune, or what we commonly remember as D-Day.  U.S. troops who landed at Normandy – particularly at Omaha Beach – waded ashore amidst a storm of chaos, a blizzard of machine gun fire, and a hail of plunging mortars.  Despite great confusion and casualties, at the squad level and below, the men at Omaha rallied and pressed forth with tenacity and nerve to breach sand-berms and barricades, neutralize enemy positions, and salvage their sectors.  Losses at Omaha were immense – but American resolve helped establish a foothold on the coast of France – and “the rest,” they say, “is history.”(This appeared earlier in June 2019.)Without doubt, the enormous importance of D-Day as a logistical and operational undertaking – and the gallantry of Allied forces that June morning is unquestioned.  It rightfully exemplifies American character, courage, and commitment. However, it is important to note that as far as the battle’s strategic significance is concerned, a strong case can be made that other battles of World War II are more critical than D-Day.The Battle of Midway in 1942 is one.

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Biden's image as the inevitable nominee, the one to beat Trump, was dinged Thursday

Analysis: The problem for Joe Biden at the Democratic debate, Day 2, wasn't that he was so bad. It was that Kamala Harris was so good.

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Western liberalism is obsolete, warns Putin, ahead of May meeting

Russian president says the Salisbury poisonings are not worth ‘all this fuss’ and that liberals can no longer ‘dictate’ to anyone‘The average person listens and says “who are these Skripals?”’ Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Financial Times. Photograph: SPUTNIK/ReutersVladimir Putin has said ahead of his meeting with Theresa May at the G20 summit in Japan that relations between Britain and Russia should not suffer because of last year’s nerve agent attack on the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.The Russian president also used the interview with the Financial Times to claim that the election of Donald Trump as US president and the rise of nationalist-populist movements in Europe signaled the death of liberal policies in the west.“[Liberals] cannot simply dictate anything to anyone just like they have been attempting to do over the recent decades,” he said. “The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population.”The claims brought a short response from European council president Donald Tusk at the G20 summit in Osaka on Friday.“I strongly disagree with the main argument that liberalism is obsolete. Whoever claims that liberal democracy is obsolete, also claims that freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete,” he said. “For us in Europe, these are and will remain essential and vibrant values. What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective.”On the Skripals, Putin told the FT in an interview at the Kremlin that: “All this fuss about spies and counterspies is not worth interstate relations. This spy story, as we say here, is not worth 5 kopecks.“I think Russia and UK are both interested in fully restoring our relations – at least I hope a few preliminary steps will be taken.”Bilateral ties between Britain and Russia plummeted to a post-Cold War low last year when London accused Moscow of the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury.The Kremlin denies sending GRU military intelligence agents to Britain to carry out the attack, which triggered scores of diplomatic expulsions between Moscow and western countries.“The average person listens and says ‘who are these Skripals?’” Putin said. “Treason is the gravest crime possible and traitors must be punished. I am not saying that the Salisbury incident is the way to do it … but traitors must be punished.” Putin has previously called Skripal a “scumbag.”The G20 summit takes place in Osaka on Friday and Saturday. May’s spokesman has said she will use the meeting with Putin to ensure that Britain’s stance on “Russia’s wider pattern of malign behaviour” has been fully grasped by the Kremlin.Putin described German chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow more than a million refugees – most of whom were fleeing the war in Syria – into Germany as a “cardinal mistake”.In contrast, he was full of praise for Trump’s attempts to prevent migrants from entering the US from Mexico. “This liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected.”Putin also tried to defend Russia’s record on LGBT+ rights. “I am not trying to insult anyone because we have been condemned for our alleged homophobia. But we have no problem with LGBT persons. God forbid, let them live as they wish,” Putin said. “But some things do appear excessive to us. They claim now that children can play five or six gender roles.”Moscow has been criticised internationally for its so-called anti-gay propaganda law, which bars the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” to children. Human rights groups say the law, which Putin approved in 2013, has sparked a spike in homophobic violence. A UN panel ruled last year that the law was in violation of a legally binding international treaty on human rights.

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18 kidnapping victims found 'enslaved' in Houston home: Police

Authorities arrested and charged five people who allegedly kidnapped, smuggled and sexually assaulted multiple people in Houston.

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Sunny tomorrow!

With a high of 105F and a low of 81F.
https://ift.tt/2DM2Od3, google3c, hot news, today news, today headlines, today current news, today what hot

Sudan: Dying for the revolution

Meet the young protesters in Sudan prepared to die to keep the country's revolution alive.

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With Little to Celebrate, Mets Honor a Title-Winning Team

By TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2XdK8vi

'Madrid Central' protest: Thousands oppose suspension of anti-pollution plan

Protesters are calling on Madrid’s conservative mayor to reimpose strict car pollution restrictions.

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Biden responds to attack on his age: 'I'm still holding on to that torch'

Rep. Eric Swalwell went after former Vice President Joe Biden in the second Democratic presidential primary debate. Swalwell said Biden, who is 76 years old, should “pass the torch.” Biden rejected the California lawmaker’s critique.

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Iraqi general, U.S. Marine dispute murder charge against Navy SEAL

An Iraqi general and a U.S. Marine testifying in the murder trial of a U.S. Navy SEAL said on Thursday they never saw the platoon leader stab a wounded detainee in the neck, disputing the central allegation in the prosecution's war crimes case. A sworn deposition of Major General Abbas al-Jubouri, videotaped in San Diego earlier this month, was played for the seven-member jury on the second day of defense testimony in the court-martial of Navy Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher. Contrary to prior testimony that Gallagher, or a medic on his team, had acted deliberately to cause the death of a helpless Islamic State fighter in their custody, Jubouri said the Navy SEALs did all they could to save the teenager's life.

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Kamala Harris Is Surging and Birtherism Is Back

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyKamala Harris broke out from the other nine Democrats onstage during the second Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday, calling on her personal experiences of racial injustice as a black woman.“As the only black person on this stage, I would like to speak on the issue of race,” Harris said.That’s when she was attacked on Twitter by a conservative provocateur for not being an “American black.” It’s a play straight out of the racist birther playbook used against Barack Obama when he ran for president a decade earlier. This time, though, those kinds of allegations don’t have to circulate for years on obscure right-wing forums before they reach a mainstream audience. On Thursday night, spammers and even one of President Trump’s sons spread the attack to millions of people within hours. Kamala Harris Shows She’s Here to Capture the CrownHarris, 54, was born in Oakland, California to a father from Jamaica and a mother from India. She spoke of her experience growing up black in the debate, recalling a story about neighbors who wouldn’t let their children play with Harris and her sister because of the color of their skin.The attacks on Harris’s background started Thursday when Ali Alexander tweeted she is not an “American black.” “She is half Indian and half Jamaican,” Alexander wrote. “I'm so sick of people robbing American Blacks (like myself) of our history. It's disgusting. Now using it for debate time at DemDebate2? These are my people not her people. Freaking disgusting.”Alexander’s claim was picked up by Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted it to his nearly 3.6 million followers. “Is this true?” Trump Jr. wrote. “Wow.”Trump Jr., who later deleted his tweet, wasn’t the only one using Alexander’s tweet to question Harris’s ethnicity. Harris’s team denounced the comment as racist. “This is the same type of racist attacks his father used to attack Barack Obama. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now,” a Harris spokesperson told The Daily Beast.More Twitter users copied and pasted Alexander’s message verbatim and tweeted it as their own, according to screenshots posted by writer Caroline Orr. Some of those accounts, like “@prebs_73,” have copy-pasted other popular right-wing tweets verbatim. Other accounts with right-wing references in their usernames and biographies piled on, accusing Harris of not being black.“Ummmmm @KamalaHarris you are NOT BLACK. you are Indian and Jamaican,” wrote a Twitter user with a cross emoji, the word “CONSERVATIVE,” a red “X” emoji (a right-wing Twitter trope), and three stars (a QAnon symbol) in their username.At least one known network of bot accounts was found spreading Alexander’s original tweet, BuzzFeed reported.Shireen Mitchell, a technologist and founder of the group Stop Online Violence Against Women, said the accusation against Harris plays into a long-running debate that has been used to drive a white nationalist wedge through black communities.“We are and have always been, for centuries in this country, having this little fight about who gets opportunities as black people and who doesn’t,” Mitchell said. “That includes colorism; that includes distinctions of where the ship actually landed; it includes if you are (and I am) a descendant of a slave who was born here versus a descendant of slavery from another country. Those distinctions, from my perspective, make no sense ever. But what it does is allow for white nationalist and nativist conversations to be planted in my community.”A spokesman for Trump Jr. said Trump sent the tweet originally because he had not known that Harris’s mother was Indian. “Don’s tweet was simply him asking if it’s true that Kamala Harris was half-Indian because it’s not something he had ever heard before and once he saw that folks were misconstruing the intent of his tweet he quickly deleted it,” the spokesman said. Alexander, who describes himself as black and Arab, said that Harris has a “nasty, lying history with Black people.” “Me pointing out that Kamala Harris has a mother from India and a father from Jamaica went viral last night because many people assume she descends from Black American Slaves,” he said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “She does not. I corrected Kamala Harris last night because she stole debate time under the premise that she is an African-American when she is in fact a biracial Indian-Jamaican who is a first generation American.”This isn’t the first time pro-Trump activists have tried to undermine Harris and her authority to speak on issues of race based on her parents. In January, right-wing operative Jacob Wohl, an associate of Alexander, argued on Twitter that Harris was ineligible to be president because her parents weren’t from the United States, even though she was born in California. Wohl’s claims were circulated by other right-wing figures online, in an attempt to create a birther-style question about whether Harris could legally run for president.Mitchell, who has monitored harassment campaigns against black women since 2013, said Harris is facing a new, digital permutation of the birther conspiracy theory attacks President Trump levied against Obama.“It’s a different iteration of birtherism: ‘where were you born?’ She was born in Oakland!” Mitchell said, referring to the conspiracy theory that falsely accused Obama of being born outside the U.S. “The conversation is, no matter who we are, our blackness should be challenged because what we look like is not ‘American enough.’”Mitchell draws a distinction between two kinds of fraudulent accounts that try to discredit black people online. Botnets, an automated network of fake accounts, often tweet the same message. The technique allows a message to spread far and fast, with little effort. Some of the copy-paste accounts sharing Alexander’s message appear to be operated by real people. Mitchell also monitors a trend called “marionetting,” in which someone will falsely pose as a black person online to push ideas that many black people might otherwise find objectionable. Recent examples of marionetting include a troll who stole a black transgender activist’s picture to pose as a Trump supporter, and Russian-run accounts like “Blacktivist” that impersonated black Americans to sway black voters away from Hillary Clinton in 2016.“I actually thought the botnet was going to die, because I felt like more marionetting was happening ... After this debate, I saw more botnets responding again, versus just marionetting.”Fraudulent accounts often rely on stereotypes that trolls hope to apply to a collection of fake accounts, Mitchell said.“The ‘black enough’ line has been a stereotypical frame,” she said. “It has always been a systemic narrative. It’s just being expanded in this national debate”‘Digital Blackface’: Pro-Trump Trolls Are Impersonating Black People on TwitterRead 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.

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Landfill Investigated Amid Search for Missing Virginia 2-Year-Old

The search is still on for a Hampton toddler who went missing Monday morning. Hampton Police focused on the city landfill on Thursday four days days after 2-year-old Noah Tomlin went missing.

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Biden wounded as Democratic tensions boil over at debate

For months, the 2020 Democratic campaign seemed mostly placid, even cordial. At Thursday’s presidential debate, those frictions came to the fore – and Joe Biden bore the brunt. The former vice president, 76, entered the debate as the front-runner, having led the pack of more than 20 Democratic candidates since he joined the race in April.

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Senate fails to limit Trump war powers amid Iran tensions

Political unease over the White House's tough talk against Iran is reviving questions about President Donald Trump's ability to order military strikes without approval from Congress. The Senate fell short Friday, in a 50-40 vote, on an amendment to a sweeping Defense bill that would require congressional support before Trump acts.

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5 takeaways from Thursday night’s Democratic debate

A tense exchange between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden highlighted the 2020 cycle's second Democratic primary debate.

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US deploys F-22 stealth fighters to Qatar amid Iran tensions

The US has deployed F-22 stealth fighters to Qatar for the first time, its military said Friday, adding to a buildup of US forces in the Gulf amid tensions with Iran. The Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighters have been deployed "to defend American forces and interests," the US Air Forces Central Military Command said in a statement that did not specify how many of the hi-tech planes had been sent. A photo handout showed five of the jets flying above the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

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MacKenzie Lueck case: Utah police arrest man on suspicion of kidnapping, murder of SoCal college student

Police took a person into custody as the search continues for missing Southern California college student MacKenzie Lueck, authorities said.

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Supreme Court Backs Partisan Voting Maps, Opening Path for More

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it has no constitutional authority to throw out voting maps for being too partisan, effectively giving parties that control state legislatures license to redraw districts to cement their political advantages.The justices’ 5-4 decision Thursday -- divided along ideological lines -- upholds disputed congressional maps drawn by Maryland Democrats and North Carolina Republicans, while dooming similar challenges being pressed against Republican-made maps in Ohio and Michigan, boosting that party’s prospects in the 2020 elections.Writing for a majority comprised of Republican-appointed judges, Chief Justice John Roberts said, “partisan gerrymandering is nothing new. Nor is frustration with it.” But he said courts can’t fashion a remedy because the problem requires a political solution, not a judicial one.“We have no commission to allocate political power and influence in the absence of a constitutional directive or legal standards to guide us in the exercise of such authority,” he said. Siding with the chief justice were Trump appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, along with justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.The decision reverses lower court rulings that invalidated the Maryland and North Carolina redistricting efforts. In addition, lower courts had deemed the Ohio and Michigan maps as too partisan and ordered them redrawn for 2020. The high court put those cases on hold pending Thursday’s ruling.Republicans are currently the more frequent beneficiaries of gerrymanders because their electoral success in 2010 let them draw many of the current maps. The ruling will shape the next round of map-drawing, which will take place around the country after the 2020 census. Those lines will apply starting in 2022.Dissenting Justice Elena Kagan briefly choked up as she read her opinion from the bench. She called the majority ruling “tragically wrong” and said it was “with respect but deep sadness,” that she and justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor disagreed. Each of them were nominated by Democratic presidents.Kagan said it was the first time the court was refusing to remedy a constitutional violation “because it thinks the task beyond judicial capabilities.” She added that partisan gerrymanders “debased and dishonored our democracy, turning upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people.”Independent CommissionsThe decision could spur efforts to establish independent redistricting commissions in states where those are permissible. The Supreme Court in 2016 upheld a commission in Arizona, one of about a dozen states where commissions now have primary responsibility for drawing district lines. Some of those states let politicians serve on the commissions, limiting their independence.Critics say gerrymandered districts undermine democracy, letting representatives choose their voters, rather than the other way around. Freda Levenson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union chapter that challenged the Ohio map, assailed the high court ruling in an emailed statement.“The court’s decision to allow the practice of gerrymandering to continue, to flourish, and to evade review by the judicial system, leaves it in the hands of those who will continue to abuse their awesome power whenever they can to defeat the will of the voters,” Levenson said.Those on the other side say no principled way exists to distinguish legitimate political considerations from unconstitutional gerrymandering.Opponents say the North Carolina map was explicitly crafted to have 10 generally safe Republican seats out of 13 overall. In November’s election, Democrats won 48% of the state’s overall House vote but could end up with only three districts. A fourth will be decided in a special election in September, after an earlier Republican nominee’s campaign was tainted by allegations of ballot fraud.North Carolina State Representative David Lewis, a Republican who helped lead the redistricting effort, said in 2016 that he supported drawing the map with 10 Republican-heavy districts “because I do not believe it’s possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats.”A three-judge panel said the North Carolina map violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause and First Amendment. The panel also said the North Carolina map runs afoul of the Constitution’s elections clause, which guarantees “the people” the right to select their representatives.In the other case, a three-judge panel had ordered Maryland to redraw the boundaries of a congressional district in the western part of the state, saying Democrats improperly drew it to squeeze out an incumbent Republican.“The fight is far from over,” said Paul Smith, vice president of the Campaign Legal Center, which pressed the North Carolina fight. “We must redouble our efforts outside the courtroom to keep advancing efforts that put the voices of voters first.”The North Carolina case is Rucho v. Common Cause, 18-422. The Maryland case is Lamone v. Benisek, 18-726.(Updates with reactions from gerrymandering opponents.)\--With assistance from Kimberly Robinson.To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net;Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Joe Biden Has Been in High-Pressure Debates Before. But Never Like This

Joe Biden has never been in such a strong position to capture the Democratic nomination. But will his debate performance help or hurt him?

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