Louisville

Trump news: President 'crying out' for impeachment as he insists he is 'stable genius' in White House rant

Pressure is intensifying on Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. An increasing number of Democrats - and even a Republican congressman \- are openly calling for the measure in response to the Mueller report's findings and the Trump administration's refusal to submit documents to congressional investigations.Mr Trump on Wednesday sabotaged a planned White House meeting with Ms Pelosi on infrastructure, and said he would not work with Democrats until all probes into him were closed.Meanwhile, the president announced a massive $16bn (£12.6bn) aid package for farmers on Thursday, amid an intensifying confrontation with China on trade. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that the first of three payments is likely to be made in July or August and suggested that the US and China were unlikely to have settled their differences by then.“The package we’re announcing today ensures that farmers do not bear the brunt of unfair retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners,” Mr Perdue said.The latest bailout comes atop $11bn (£8.7bn) in aid Mr Trump provided farmers last year.“We will ensure our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly,” Mr Trump said in an unwieldy press conference on Thursday in which he insisted is a "very stable genius."Seeking to reduce America’s trade deficit with the rest of the world and with China in particular, the president has imposed import taxes on foreign steel, aluminium, solar panels and dishwashers and on thousands of Chinese products.US trading partners have lashed back with retaliatory tariffs of their own, focusing on U.S. agricultural products in a direct shot at the American heartland, where support for Trump runs high.Financial markets slumped Thursday on heightened tensions between the US and China. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 286 points, or 1 per cent, to 25,490. It had been down 448 points earlier in the day.Additional reporting by AP. Check out live updates as the came in below.Please allow the blog a moment to load.

Ford presents home-delivery robot

The American automaker Ford has unveiled "Digit," a two-legged, almost human-like robot capable of making home deliveries. Designed in collaboration with Agility Robotics, Digit can walk, go up and down stairs, and carry packages of up to 40 pounds (just over 18kg), like a human. Ford's technology, research and development department is full of surprises.

The F-21 Could Be One Tough Fighter (With F-35 DNA). Here's the Problem.

For the purposes of Lockheed's marketing campaign, the F-21 is a new fighter, although it shares many of its major features with the F-16V the company has sold to Bahrain, Greece, Slovakia, South Korea and Taiwan. Lockheed can build new F-16Vs or upgrade older F-16s to the V-standard.Lockheed Martin is developing a new variant of its iconic F-16 single-engine fighter in order to compete in India’s 2019 tender for 110 new warplanes.(This first appeared earlier in the month.)But don’t count on the American firm’s “F-21” to win the contract.According to journalist Angad Singh, the likely winner is French company Dassault’s Rafale twin-engine fighter.Singh explains his rationale in the May 2019 issue of Combat Aircraft magazine. India previously ordered 36 Rafales as part of an earlier fighter tender. “With 36 aircraft already on order and the infrastructure in place for an additional 36, a case could certainly be made that training, basing and sustainment costs for additional aircraft would not be an impossible burden.”Other candidates for the Indian tender are the Saab Gripen from Sweden, the European Eurofighter Typhoon, the MiG-35 from Russia and the Boeing Super Hornet from the United States. Whichever fighter New Delhi selects, it needs the new jets now, according to Singh.

India's Modi begins talks for new cabinet after big election win

Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. After a rancorous and a polarizing election campaign, the focus shifts back to an economy that is slowing, even as the U.S.-China trade war rages and global oil prices tick higher.

The Latest: Runaway barges cause 'minimal' damage to dam

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on severe weather moving across the central United States (all times local):

Britain's May announces resignation in emotional end

Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation in an emotional address on Friday, ending a dramatic three-year tenure of near-constant crisis over Brexit and increasing the likelihood of Britain crashing out of the EU later this year. "It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit," May, her voice breaking and close to tears, said outside her Downing Street office. The 62-year-old leader said she would step down as head of the Conservative Party on June 7.

Tesla may set a quarterly record for deliveries, according to leaked Elon Musk email

It's sometimes hard to make sense of what's going on with Tesla. Is the company on the verge of going bankrupt, or poised to set new records for deliveries? Well, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the answer to both questions could be "yes."A few days ago, an internal email from Musk to Tesla employees claimed that the company was in danger of running out of cash in just 10 months time. As a result, Musk said that the company was going to implement "hardcore" cost-cutting measures, an initiative Musk claims is the only way for the company "to become financially sustainable and succeed in our goal of helping make the world environmentally sustainable."In the following days, a pair of research reports from analysts laid out rather dire bear-case scenarios for Tesla, with Morgan Stanley noting that Tesla, in a worst case scenario, might only be worth $10 a share. As a point of reference, Tesla was trading at $376 less than six months ago.All that said, demand for Tesla vehicles appears to be growing and on the verge of setting new records. According to a new internal email from Musk (via CNBC), the Tesla CEO relayed that the company was on pace to set a new record for deliveries for the June quarter."As of yesterday," Musk said, "we had over 50,000 net new orders for this quarter. Based on current trends, we have a good chance of exceeding the record 90,700 deliveries of Q4 last year and making this the highest deliveries/sales quarter in Tesla history!"Of course, Musk's statement was tempered with the qualification that Model 3 production needs to remain steady at 1,000 units per day, at a minimum."We've averaged about 900/day this week," Musk added, "so we're only about 10% away from 7,000/week. If we rally hard, we can do it."The larger takeaway from all of this Tesla hoopla is that demand, contrary to some analyst opinions, does not appear to be a huge issue for the company. Still, the company is burning through cash at an alarming rate and, as Musk notes, needs to pick up production to meet swelling demand.

Across US, women have unequal access to abortion

While abortion is legal nationwide, Americans have unequal access to the procedure, depending on their location in the United States and how much they are able to spend. The disparities are great indeed, from the more than 150 abortion clinics available in the most populous state of California, to only one in states like Mississippi in the South or Missouri in the Midwest. State laws also vary widely on other matters like speed limits for drivers and marriage age requirements, but the Supreme Court has set a "minimum standard throughout the entire country," noted Meg Penrose, of the Texas A&M School of Law.

McAleenan: We need to address issue of families crossing the border

Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan discusses the ongoing immigration crisis at the border on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

George Conway mocks Trump on ‘cover-ups’ by tweeting Stormy Daniels payment check

The husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway tweeted the image of a check that Michael Cohen says was part of a $130,000 hush-money payment to the porn star.

The U.S. Just Upped the Ante on Julian Assange's Extradition With Espionage Charges

By indicting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 18 charges under the Espionage Act the U.S. has considerably raised the stakes in competing extradition claims.

Modi Strengthens Grip on Power, Pulling India Further to Right

If anyone had any doubts about Narendra Modi’s popularity, India’s masses just put them to rest. A combination of economic populism, Hindu nationalism and air strikes against arch-rival Pakistan earlier this year proved unbeatable. “This is a stunning reaffirmation of Modi and the BJP and, conversely, a sharp rebuke of the opposition,” said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Real Green New Deal Doesn’t Belong to AOC

Climate change has long been a disaster in the making, but until recently the American public tended to treat it as an afterthought. The Green New Deal brought climate change front and center, and made Americans think about big bold solutions instead of technical tweaks and half measures. The think tank Data for Progress has a plan that actually predates Ocasio-Cortez’s, but which goes into much greater detail about how to combat climate change both at home and abroad.

UN agency for Palestinians rejects US call to dismantle it

The head of the United Nations organisation for Palestinian refugees on Thursday rejected a US call to dismantle the agency, saying it cannot be blamed for stalled peace efforts. UNRWA's commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl rebuffed the criticism from US envoy Jason Greenblatt during a visit to the Gaza Strip. "I unreservedly reject the accompanying narrative that suggests that somehow UNRWA is to blame for the continuation of the refugee-hood of Palestine refugees, of their growing numbers and their growing needs," he said in response to a question about Greenblatt's comments.

Amazon is blowing out renewed MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, today only

We wouldn't exactly call the Touch Bar a revolutionary addition to Apple's MacBook Pro line. That said, it actually is pretty awesome to have an OLED strip above your keyboard that constantly morphs to give you access to all the functions you need. If you've got Touch Bars on the brain but you've been unwilling to cough up the extra cash to get one, today is your lucky day. Amazon is running a one-day Gold Box deal on renewed MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, and the prices are crazy. There's obviously limited inventory of each model though, so you'll need to hurry up if you don't want to miss out.Here are the key details from the product page: * This product has been tested and certified to work and look like new, with minimal to no signs of wear, by a manufacturer or specialized third-party seller approved by Amazon. The product is backed by a 1-Year Woot Warranty, and may arrive in a generic brown or white box. * 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors * Quad-Core Intel Core i5-8259U 2.3GHz processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache * 256GB PCI-E based flash memory storage; 8GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory * Integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 processor that shares memory with the system for an amazing experience * Built-in FaceTime HD camera for video chatting; Built-in stereo speakers along with omnidirectional microphone, headphone port * 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking; IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible; Bluetooth 5.0 technology for connecting with peripherals such as keyboards, mice, and cell phones. * Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures

Facebook accused of leaving 'broken children' in wake of its commercial aims, abuse inquiry hears

Facebook has been accused of leaving 'broken children' as collateral damage in the wake of their commercial aims, the child sex abuse inquiry has heard. Barrister William Chapman, representing the victims of abuse at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), said social media companies were not preventing paedophiles reaching children as it was “contrary to their business model” and that their apps needed to be “fundamentally redesigned”. Police also warned that tech firms were going ahead with plans to encrypt more features "in the certain knowledge" it would lead to more children being abused. The warnings came as the inquiry’s hearing into online child abuse drew to a close yesterday. Over the last fortnight IICSA has heard evidence from Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google about their efforts to combat child abuse online. Giving his closing statement, Mr Chapman singled out Facebook as the “unacceptable face of social media”, citing that over half of reported grooming offences in 2017 and 2018 related to the company or its Instagram and WhatsApp apps. William Chapman giving his closing address to the inquiry He said that social networks scanned for evidence of abuse after it happened and that they now needed to change their business model to stop abusers easily contacting children. Mr Chapman said: “What they will not do, because it is contrary to their business model, is to restrict the opportunities for abuse before it takes place.” He added: “They leave behind broken children like so much collateral damage. “Money, they say, is no object but none you heard from has a dedicated budget to tackling this problem.” Among the recommendations being made to the inquiry on behalf of victims are for tech companies pay compensation to those abused via their services and that a new criminal offence be made of posing online as a child online without a reasonable excuse. Mr Chapman also accused tech companies of not giving the inquiry a “straight answer” about the scale of abuse on their sites and selectively releasing figures without context. Earlier in the hearing Microsoft failed to provide figures for how many children had been groomed on its live chat services Xbox Live and Skype and Facebook was similarly unable to say how many registered sex offenders had been caught using its services. “It is not acceptable to hide the extent of the problem on your platform in a black box out of which you prick pinholes for others to see only hints of the full horror within," said Mr Chapman. Later in the hearing, Debra Powell QC, speaking for the National Police Chiefs Council, warned that tech giants' plans to make ever more services encrypted would lead to more children being abused. Last month Facebook announced plans to add end-to-end encryption to its 1.3 billion-user Messenger service, meaning not even it will be able to see the content of messages. Ms Powell said: “Currently many technology companies are building in and offering to their users ever greater privacy protections, including end-to-end encryption, in the certain knowledge that this will make the detection and prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation more difficult. “The inevitable result must be that more children will be abused and exploited and that their ordeals will go on for longer before the perpetrators can be caught, if they are caught at all.”

Trump's private notes on impeachment and Democrat 'achomlishments' caught on camera

Donald Trump’s private notes on how to respond to the escalating threat of impeachment proceedings have been revealed in a photo taken moments before he addressed reporters outside the White House. The image, taken by Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford, shows a list of talking points scrawled in felt tip pen on a sheet of A4 paper. The president apparently used the notes as an aid during a hastily arranged press conference in the Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon in which he railed against the Mueller report and the possibility of impeachment. “They want to impeach me over acts that they did,” the document reads, in reference to Democrats who Mr Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed colluded with Russia. It continues: “Dems have no achomlishments (sic) I’m going to keep working for the American people.” Elsewhere Mr Trump quotes House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim earlier in the day during a discussion with colleagues that the president had “engaged in a cover-up”. The press conference, which amounted to 10-minute diatribe by Mr Trump, came moments after the president stormed out of a bipartisan White House infrastructure meeting with Ms Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.. Mr Trump said he told the Democratic leadership he would no longer work with the party until all investigations against him had been closed. > Trump notes captured by @jabinbotsford: > “They want to impeach me over acts that they did” > “Dems have no achomlishments [sic]”https://t.co/WUGczy4y2c pic.twitter.com/ealXzJEFJM> > — Dan Eggen (@DanEggenWPost) > > May 22, 2019Mr Trump reportedly said in the five-minute meeting he would like to work on infrastructure but would not negotiate with them until the probes had reached their conclusions — before walking out of the room.Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer held a competing press conference of their own on Wednesday, with the latter telling reporters, “What happened in the White House would make your jaw drop”. The Washington Post reported that ahead of the infrastructure meeting Mr Trump and his aides hatched a plan to deliberately sabotage it. White House sources told the newspaper press secretary Sarah Sanders alerted staff minutes before the 11am start time to prepare the Rose Garden for a news conference at 11.20am. Mr Trump then left the Democrats waiting at a conference table for around 15 minutes before “he walks in, goes to the head of the table, not even his assigned seat, doesn’t sit, doesn’t shake anyone’s hand. Stands there and begins a lecture,” an aide said. Moments later he was outside delivering his message to the assembled media.

In new charges against Assange, groups see cause for concern

WASHINGTON (AP) — New charges filed against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange quickly drew alarm Thursday from media organizations and others. The groups are concerned that the Justice Department is charging Assange for actions that ordinary journalists do routinely in their jobs.

China denounces U.S. "rumours" and "lies" about Huawei ties to Beijing

China on Friday denounced U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for fabricating rumours after he said the chief executive of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was lying about his company's ties to the Beijing government. The United States placed Huawei on a trade blacklist last week, effectively banning U.S. firms from doing business with the world's largest telecom network gear maker and escalating a trade battle between the world's two biggest economies. Pompeo, speaking on Thursday, also dismissed Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei's assertions that his company would never share user secrets, and said he believed more American companies would cut ties with the tech giant.

Missouri: destructive tornado leaves three people dead and severe damage

Series of devastating storms led to multiple tornadoes, leaving people injured and trapped in homes as torrid weather pummels parts of midwest A large and violent tornado has left at least three people dead in Missouri as torrid weather continues to pummel parts of America’s midwest. A series of devastating storms hit the area on Wednesday night leading to multiple tornadoes. The region has already endured days of torrential rain and flooding. 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. Kenneth Harris, 86, and his 83-year-old wife, Opal, were found dead about 200 yards from their home, and Betty Berg, 56, was killed and her husband, Mark, seriously injured when their mobile home was destroyed, authorities said. The tornado hit during a week that has seen several days of tornadoes and torrential rains in parts of the southern plains and midwest. No deaths were reported in the capital, but city police officials said about 20 people were rescued by emergency personnel as the tornado caused damage to multiple buildings. Emergency workers reported about two dozen injuries, Williams said, and around 100 people went to shelters. Hospitals reported treating injuries such as cuts and bruises. The weather service reported that a “confirmed, large and destructive tornado” was observed over Jefferson City at 11.43pm local time on Wednesday, moving north-east at 40mph . The capital city has a population of about 40,000 and is located about 130 miles west of St Louis. “It’s a chaotic situation right now,” said Lt David Williams of Jefferson City police. A car is trapped under the fallen metal roof of the Break Time gas station and convenience store in Jefferson City, Missouri. Photograph: David A Lieb/AP The tornado was described as a “wedge”, meaning it was wider than it was tall. According to reports it moved at 40mph at some points, and dispersed debris 13,000ft into the air, including overturning vehicles. The weather service said it had received 22 reports of tornadoes by late Wednesday; some could be duplicate reporting of the same twister. One tornado skirted just a few miles north of Joplin, Missouri, on the eighth anniversary of a catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in the city. The tornado caused some damage in the town of Carl Junction, about four miles north of the Joplin airport, where several injuries were reported. Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Authorities urged residents of several small towns in Oklahoma and Kansas to leave their homes as rivers and streams rose. Deaths from this week’s storms include a 74-year-old woman found early on Wednesday morning in Iowa. Officials there say she was killed by a possible tornado that damaged a farmstead in Adair county. Missouri authorities said heavy rain was a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident on Tuesday near Springfield. A fourth weather-related death may have occurred in Oklahoma, where the highway patrol said a woman apparently drowned after driving around a barricade on Tuesday near Perkins, about 45 miles north-east of Oklahoma City. The unidentified woman’s body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office to confirm the cause of death. Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma department of emergency management, said she was not yet listed as what would be the state’s first storm-related death. Catastrophic flooding in the area even swept some homes into a river. The Associated Press contributed reporting

Georgia police K-9 dies chasing suspect in 90-degree weather

A police K-9 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, died Thursday after chasing a suspect in 90-degree heat.

Five challenges for India's victorious Modi

Last year 19 million applied for 63,000 positions at Indian Railways. Non-farm sectors are hampered by stringent labour laws and insufficient investment in skills, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Many of those looking for work are those escaping from a dire crisis gripping Indian agriculture that has driven thousands of farmers to suicide in recent years.

Almost 40% of Americans Would Struggle to Cover a $400 Emergency

The Fed’s 2018 report on the economic well-being of households, published Thursday, indicated “most measures” of well-being and financial resilience “were similar to, or slightly better than, those in 2017.” The slight improvement coincided with a decline in the average unemployment rate to 3.9% last year, from 4.3% in 2017. The statistic, which was a bit better than in the 2017 report, has become a favorite rejoinder to U.S. President Donald Trump’s boasts about a strong economy among Democratic politicians, including 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the U.S. senator from California. “Relatively small, unexpected expenses, such as a car repair or replacing a broken appliance, can be a hardship for many families without adequate savings,” the report said.

AT&T is the first major US wireless carrier to let you pay via cryptocurrency

If you're an AT&T mobile customer, and you have some extra bitcoin lying around that you're not doing anything with, you can now use it to pay your phone bill.AT&T just became the first big US wireless carrier to announce that its customers can now use cryptocurrency to make payments, as greater acceptance of this digital medium of exchange can be seen at companies ranging from AT&T to cable provider Dish, which also lets its customers pay via cryptocurrency. Likewise, Facebook on Friday garnered headlines over a report that it's set to launch its own cryptocurrency for use on the social network early next year.About AT&T's move, all customers need to do is select the BitPay option at MyAT&T. BitPay is an Atlanta-based bitcoin payment service provider, and it's also worth noting: This is an option that only currently works online and via the myAT&T app, so it's not as yet available for in-store payments."We're always looking for ways to improve and expand our services," said Kevin McDorman, vice president, AT&T Communications Finance Business Operations, in a statement about the new payment option. "We have customers who use cryptocurrency, and we are happy we can offer them a way to pay their bills with the method they prefer."There are of course a slew of different cryptocurrency options out there, and AT&T's announcement doesn't specify a particular kind. BitPay's website, though, notes that currencies it supports include Bitcoin, Gemini USD, and Paxos, to name a few.As of now, it's a safe bet to assume that crypto payments will probably remain a small minority of AT&T's customer payment mix for the near future. That's thanks to everything from the general public's unfamiliarity with the digital asset to obstacles like its fees and high volatility, the latter being two of the most frequent criticisms you hear.Still, expect to keep hearing more announcements like this as companies keep experimenting. Just a few weeks ago, for example, retailers like Whole Foods and GameStop likewise announced they'll be getting in on the act too, accepting cryptocurrency through the Flexa payment network.

Trump deploys 1,500 soldiers to Middle East after insisting more troops were unnecessary

The US will order more troops to the Middle East, Donald Trump has said, despite just a day earlier saying he thought further deployments in the region were unnecessary.Mr Trump said around 1,500 troops would be sent amid rising tensions with Iran. Congressional aides confirmed that Congress was notified of the new plan before it was announced. "We want to have protection. The Middle East, we're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops," Mr Trump told reporters at the White House before boarding a plane for Japan. "Mostly protective. Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now. And we'll see how – we'll see what happens."A defence official later claimed that the actual number of incoming troops was 900, which will be to added to 600 troops whose deployment in the region will be extended.The announcement comes at the end of a week in which several numbers were floated for troop increases in the region.On Thursday, the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, denied reports that between 5,000 to 10,000 US troops could be sent to defend against the potential threat from Iran. "There is no 10,000, there's no 5,000, and that's not accurate," he told reporters.Representative Adam Smith, who serves as the House Armed Services Committee Chairman, issued a statement calling the increase in troops an “unsettling” move."Without a clearly articulated strategy, adding more personnel and mission systems seems unwise, and appears to be a blatant and heavy-handed move to further escalate tensions with Iran," Mr Smith said."I look forward to hearing from Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan how this decision complements a broader strategy in the region, which focuses on de-escalation and diplomacy first,” his statement continued.

The Latest: Police defend Facebook likes deal with fugitive

TORRINGTON, Conn. (AP) — The Latest on the Facebook fugitive (all times local):

China says lodged solemn representations with U.S. over Huawei

China said on Thursday it had lodged solemn representations with the United States after it escalated a trade war between the two countries by placing Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on a blacklist for U.S. suppliers. No further trade talks between top Chinese and U.S. negotiators have been scheduled since the last round ended in a stalemate on May 10, the same day U.S. President Donald Trump sharply increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and took steps to levy duties on all remaining Chinese imports.

Bodies in submerged Missouri vehicle bring storm toll to 9

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The bodies of a man and a woman were discovered Friday in a submerged vehicle near the Mississippi River in Missouri, bringing the death toll to nine from storms that have ravaged the central U.S. this week and threaten major flooding through the holiday weekend.

The 2020 Cadillac CT5-V Officially Debuts May 30

Could the 500-plus-hp Blackwing V-8 make its way under the hood of Cadillac's newest sports sedan?

Modi vows 'inclusive' India after landslide election win

Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed an "inclusive" future for all Indians on Thursday after a landslide election victory that crushed the Gandhi dynasty's comeback hopes once again. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again!," Modi tweeted as delirious supporters of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated nationwide.

Scouted: The 10 Best Memorial Day Mattress Sales, According to Experts

Memorial Day Weekend is famous for the many mattress sales it surfaces — and this year is no exception. To help you sift through all of your options, we teamed up with the expert reviewers over at Mattress Advisor to help us break down each of the best mattress deals around right now. Using a 6-point testing procedure and 8-point evaluation* in their Mattress Lab for every single mattress, they gave us some tips on what Scouted readers should know and keep in mind as they’re shopping this Memorial Day weekend for the greatest savings and highest quality mattress. Below we put together each of the sales with how much you’ll be saving, the codes you need to use for discounts, and insights into the mattresses themselves. Save up to $200 on mattresses at HelixSave up to $200 on mattresses at Helix: Use code MDW100 to get $100 off and two free Dream Pillows with any mattress purchase. Use code MDW150 to get $150 off any order of $1,250 and up (and get the free pillows). Use code MDW200 to get $200 off any order of $1,750 and up (and yes, free pillows). Here’s why the Mattress Advisor reviewers scored the Helix Midnight mattress 8.9 out of 10: “Helix is the perfect solution for couples. If you’re sharing your bed with a sleeping partner, you have the option to choose a dual comfort mattress (which personalizes each side of the bed based on test results). Are you a hot sleeper? If so, you can upgrade the outer cover of your Helix mattress to the Ultra-Cool knit cover to keep you from waking up in those midnight sweats.” Get up to 25% off sitewide at Brooklyn BeddingGet up to 25% off sitewide at Brooklyn Bedding: Use code MEMORIAL25. MA reviewers scored the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Mattress 8.9: “Brooklyn Bedding mattresses are the real deal — they're made with quality materials and built to last. The Aurora is available in three firmness levels to provide a personalized level of comfort and support. This mattress is one of the coolest (temperature wise) mattresses we have ever had in the Mattress Lab. Even weeks after unboxing, it was still cool to the touch. Even though Brooklyn Bedding has retail locations, they still own the manufacturing process from start to finish and sell their mattresses directly to customers.”I’ve Been Sleeping on Brooklyn Bedding’s Hybrid Mattress for a Month. It’s the Best Sleep I’ve Ever Had.Get $125 off mattresses and two free pillows at NectarGet $125 off mattresses and two free pillows at Nectar: “The Nectar is a solid memory foam mattress at an unbeatable price — it's consistently our top recommendation for a best value mattress.” MA reviewers scored Nectar 8.7: “The Nectar mattress has a pretty happy (and well-rested) fan base — they have overwhelmingly positive reviews and fewer than 3% of customers end up returning their Nectar mattress. Nectar’s proprietary cover is specifically designed to keep out dust mites.Nectar is so confident that they make the best mattress for the price that they offer a lifetime warranty and trial period that lasts an entire year.”Save up to $700 on select mattresses and get a $300 gift with any purchase at TEMPUR-PedicSave up to $700 on select mattresses and get a $300 gift with any purchase at TEMPUR-Pedic: “We love the TEMPUR-breeze model — it's a great option for people who sleep hot but still want the contouring support of memory foam.” MA reviewers scored the TEMPUR-breeze  8.2: “The TEMPUR-Flex Supreme Breeze is a slightly plush hybrid mattress made with four layers of foam and coils. It’s designed to offer a cool and breathable sleep surface for people who tend to sleep hot.”Save up to $200 on mattresses at Nest BeddingSave up to $200 on mattresses at Nest Bedding: Use code SUMMERNEST to get $200 off the Alexander Signature Hybrid, the Alexander Signature, and the Hybrid Latex. MA reviewers scored Alexander Signature Hybrid 8.5: “[it’s] made of four premium layers, including foam and pocket coils — which offer great cooling properties, comfort, and edge support.” They add that “another factor to consider is that Nest Bedding offers six different types of mattresses, so if the Alexander Signature Hybrid doesn’t end up working for you, they’ll help you easily exchange it for one of their other mattresses.”Save up to $100 on mattress and get free sheets at PurpleSave up to $100 on mattress and get free sheets at Purple: The MA reviewers told us they have never seen this widespread a sale run at Purple, making it a “rare offer.” MA reviewers scored the Purple Mattress 8.5: “Purple's mattresses are great at cradling pressure points, which is a plus for side sleepers or people who suffer from back and joint pain.” What’s more, they really like that the bed’s “great for pressure relief, motion isolation and natural airflow that keeps you cool.”Scouted readers get $75 off their order at SaatvaScouted readers get $75 off their order at Saatva: “Saatva mattresses are the definition of affordable American luxury. Their beds are handmade with quality, eco-friendly materials.” MA reviewers scored the Saatva Mattress 8.7: “Saatva is one of those mattresses that has all the bells and whistles: It’s customizable, made with quality materials, and it’s eco-friendly (although not 100% green). This mattress is known for having great edge and lumbar support. When you buy a Saatva mattress, you can customize the height, firmness, and size of your mattress, as well as the height of your foundation.”Get 15% off mattresses and two free pillows at LeesaGet 15% off mattresses and two free pillows at Leesa: The Leesa Sapira Hybrid mattress is “great for side sleepers because of its pressure-relieving properties” and is “a luxury mattress made with pocket springs and memory foam. It provides the same great pressure relief as the Leesa with some additional bounce.” MA reviewers scored the Leesa Sapira Hybrid mattress 9.4: “The Leesa Hybrid mattress is known for its responsive surface and pressure relieving abilities making it a great option for combination sleepers or sleepers with back pain given its pressure relieving abilities. Since the Leesa Hybrid mattress is topped with a layer of foam, you’ll get better motion isolation than a traditional innerspring mattress alone.”Save 20% sitewide and get two free pillows at Bear MattressSave 20% sitewide and get two free pillows at Bear Mattress: Use code MD20. MA reviewers scored the Bear Mattress 8.6: “The Bear Hybrid mattress is a good choice for people who want comfort and support in their mattress.  Bear is a great mattress for athletes or people with active lifestyles because of its pressure relieving properties, cooling properties, and muscle recovery technology.”Get 15% off mattresses and 30% off bedding at Allswell: Use code SUMMER.Get 15% off mattresses and 30% off bedding at Allswell: Use code SUMMER. MA reviewers scored the Luxe Hybrid Mattress 8.6: “Allswell’s Luxe Hybrid mattress is a medium-firm hybrid mattress made with three layers of memory foam and hundreds of individually wrapped coils. With Allswell, you can complete your entire bedding look with curated bedding accessories inspired by well-known interior designers. The products needed to recreate each style will be added to your cart with the click of a button.” Additional mattress sales to check out: * Save up to $700 on mattresses at Mattress Firm * Get $200 off mattresses and free in-home delivery (usually $400) at Eight SleepSleep Tech Now Lets You Regulate Body Temperature While You Sleep With The New Eight Sleep Pod*Learn more about the Mattress Advisor review process and the 6-point testing procedure and 8-point evaluation they conduct in their Mattress Lab for every single mattress.Scouted is internet shopping with a pulse. Follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter for even more recommendations and exclusive content. Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts, The Daily Beast may collect a share of salesRead 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.

Score an Apple Watch Series 3 for $80 off From Walmart

Stay connected for less this summer

Surprise: The ‘AI bot’ people talk to on Google Duplex calls is sometimes actually a person

When Google unveiled Google Duplex last year at I/O 2018, the brand new Assistant feature looked terrific. It was the kind of futuristic technology nobody else had. With a simple voice command, you could instruct the Assistant to make restaurant reservations for you by placing a phone call using an AI bot. But soon after that keynote, it became clear that Duplex is somewhat creepy, as Google failed to identify the robocall to the other person. It was also kind of disingenuous, since the entire demo wasn't live.Google dealt with those issues at the time and Google Duplex deployment continued, culminating with this year's I/O announcement that the feature will be available in 44 states. Also, Google said that Duplex is getting similar functionality for booking reservations on the web. But a brand new report reveals additional details that were previously not known about Duplex, which brings the creepy back. It turns out that Google employees are actively involved in making many of these Duplex calls.A report from The New York Times reveals that about 25% of calls placed through Duplex started with a human. Beyond that, 15% of calls that started off with the Duplex AI bot had a human intervene at some point.The whole point of using the Assistant to make restaurant reservation is to eliminate the human side of things. That's why Google Duplex appeared to be so amazing in the first place. Having humans involved in the whole thing is where things get strange. Yes, maybe Duplex needs human oversight and the best way to train AI is by having it work with a lot of examples to learn from. But Google never really mentioned this human aspect of Google Duplex, which sort of ruins the magic of it all. Yet again, it's somewhat disingenuous.Also, there's user privacy to take into account. A human interacting with a restaurant on your behalf is different from a computer doing it, as the human is also let in on the booking information. It may seem trivial, but where does one agree to involve a Googler in setting up one's dinner plans?Google does say on its support pages that Duplex calls are recorded for quality assurance, which means someone may listen to your reservations:> If the customer wants to book an appointment, the Assistant will confirm specific details like the customer's preferred time, type of service, or size of party. Once this information is confirmed, the Assistant will try to book an appointment with your business by using an online booking partner (if available) or by calling your business using the automated voice-calling technology Duplex (calls are recorded for quality assurance).Also, Google has a tiny note that a manual operator might start calls in the frequently asked questions section, although it's hardly enough (emphasis ours):> At the start of the call, you'll hear the reason for the call and that the call is from Google. You can expect the call to come from an automated system or, in some cases, a manual operator.Google Duplex is clearly a far less polished product that Google led us to believe a year ago. Also, considering its renewed interest in protecting the user's privacy, Google should do a much better job explaining what goes on behind the scenes of a Google Duplex call when it comes to your privacy. The full Times report, complete with examples that explain what a human-made Google Duplex call looks like, is available at this link.

Trump calls 'treason' on Comey, McCabe and 'a number of people'

President Trump on Thursday escalated his attacks on those involved in launching the federal investigation into his campaign’s contacts with Russia, saying “a number of people” are guilty of treason.

Group seeks $100M for woman killed by US border agent

HOUSTON (AP) — Advocates demanded $100 million in damages Thursday on behalf of the family of a 20-year-old Guatemalan woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last year.

U.S. judge blocks Mississippi 'heartbeat' abortion ban

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, a Republican, signed the so-called "hearbeat bill" into law in March, and the measure had been due to take effect on July 1. Mississippi is one of several states, including Georgia and Alabama, where Republican-controlled legislatures have enacted strict anti-abortion measures this year in direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. Roe held that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment provides a fundamental right to privacy protecting a woman's right to abortion, though it allows states to restrict the procedure from the time a fetus can viably survive outside the womb, which the opinion placed at 24 to 28 weeks from conception.

Is the stock market closed for Memorial Day?

U.S. stock and bond markets are closed on Monday to observe Memorial Day. Foreign financial markets will be open.

New drone video shows wide scope of Missouri tornado damage

Drone footage paints an eerie picture of the tornado damage in Jefferson City, Missouri.

European pilots 'deeply disturbed' by possible 737 MAX return

European pilots said Thursday they found it "deeply disturbing" that the Boeing 737 MAX was already being considered for a return to service after being grounded worldwide following two deadly crashes. Faulty technology in the 737 MAX was blamed for an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March and an Indonesian Lion Air crash in October, which together claimed 346 lives, and air safety agencies around the world banned it from the skies until a fix could be found. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Wednesday that Boeing has not yet handed over the proposed repair for the faulty automated control system for assessment, but some American carriers appear ready to put the plane back in the air.

Trump Justice Department Crosses New Line, Charges Assange With Publishing U.S. Secrets

Daniel Leal-Olivas/GettyIn a stunning escalation of the Trump administration’s war on the press, the Justice Department has indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for revealing government secrets under the Espionage Act. It’s the first time a publisher has been charged under the World War I-era law.The indictment charges Assange with 16 counts of receiving or disclosing material leaked by then-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2009 and 2010. The charges invoke broad provisions of the Espionage Act that make it a crime to disclose or retain any defense information knowing it “could be used to injure” the U.S. The act has no exception for reporters or publishers, but prior administrations have balked at invoking the law against journalists for fear of colliding with the First Amendment. The Justice Department immediately sought to draw a distinction between Assange and the press in a briefing for reporters announcing the new indictment.“The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it,” said John Demers, head of the department’s National Security Division. “It has not and never has been the department’s policy to target them for reporting. But Julian Assange is no journalist.” Demers cited WikiLeaks’ publication of the names of U.S. government sources, saying it endangered people in China, Iran, and Syria.WikiLeaks on Twitter called the prosecution “the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment.”Assange is currently serving an 11-month sentence in the U.K. for jumping bail in a Swedish rape investigation, while the U.S. pushes its request to extradite him to the United States on computer hacking charges revealed in April. He was kicked out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London that month after taking refuge there from authorities for seven years. The leaked documents comprised 250,000 State Department cables, 90,000 Army field reports from Afghanistan and 400,000 from Iraq, and 800 detainee assessment briefs from Guantanamo Bay. Assange released most of that material without redaction, and the new indictment claims that the U.S. sources identified in the leaks were put in harm’s way as a result. “By publishing these documents without redacting the human sources’ names or other identifying information, Assange created a grave and imminent risk that the innocent people he named would suffer serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention,” the indictment alleges. He is also charged with two counts of conspiracy for allegedly working with Manning to violate the Espionage Act and the anti-hacking Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The FBI and federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, first began investigating Assange in 2010 and amassed a wealth of internal WikiLeaks chats and documents from informants and subpoenas. But the Obama administration was reluctant to indict Assange. A former senior Justice Department official told The Daily Beast last month that the Trump administration saw Assange’s case as a way to pursue its war on leaks. “There was renewed interest under the new administration to revisit issues of what qualifies as the media and to look back at the Assange case,” said Mary McCord, who was acting head of DOJ’s National Security Division. Despite the barrage of leaks in the years following the Manning disclosures, there were signs as early as 2017 that the Justice Department was still focused on the leaks that first put WikiLeaks on the map. A witness at the grand jury proceedings that produced Thursday’s indictment told The Daily Beast that prosecutors were specifically probing Assange’s reluctance to redact his leaks for any reason.“They showed me chat logs in which I was arguing vehemently with him about releasing documents that would leave people vulnerable and put people’s lives at risk,” said David House, a former WikiLeaks volunteer, in an interview last March. “That was the only thing they put in front of my face that made me think, ‘This may be what they’re going after him for.’”No U.S. sources are known to have come to harm as a result of the leaks, likely in part because of a massive remediation effort launched in the weeks before Assange published the material. The indictment takes pains to distinguish WikiLeaks from conventional journalism outfits in other ways as well, quoting Assange’s own description of his site as an “intelligence agency of the people” and lingering on Assange’s chats with Manning in which he encouraged and guided the soldier in the leaking. It also claims Manning deliberately sought out military secrets that were listed on a “most wanted leaks” section on WikiLeaks’ website.None of this is strictly relevant to the Espionage Act. If the Justice Department included these details to make the Assange prosecution more palatable to journalists and free speech advocates, it’s not working.  “Any government use of the Espionage Act to criminalize the receipt and publication of classified information poses a dire threat to journalists,” said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in a statement.  “This is an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on journalism, and a direct assault on the First Amendment,” said the ACLU’s Ben Wizner. “It establishes a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organizations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets.”How Assange Could Beat the U.S. and Stay Out of JailRead 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.

Stunning new video shows off Apple’s leaked iPhone 11 design

There's no such thing as a surprise anymore in the smartphone industry. There are simply too many hands in the pie and too much hype surrounding big smartphone launches. As a result, there's no way that all the people involved with building flagship smartphones can keep things secret. It's just not going to happen. Leaks also tend to follow the same pattern time and time again. When it comes to Apple and its upcoming new iPhone models, the first details always come from plugged-in Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kui, who now works for TF International Securities. He has multiple contacts deep in Apple's supply chain, and the information he gets from them is almost always accurate. Then, a few months later, schematics for the unreleased iPhone models are stolen off of Foxconn's servers in China. Third-party accessory makers use these files to build protective cases that are ready in time for release, and graphic designers use them to mock up accurate renders of upcoming iPhone models. That's the phase we're in right now, and a recently released video gets up close and personal with Apple's new overhauled iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max design. Despite the fact that Apple's upcoming iPhone models will carry a new number in their names, they won't introduce a new design. iPhone users had been trained to expect a new iPhone design every other year, with "S" upgrades in between that introduce new marquee features alongside big performance improvements. But that's not how Apple operates anymore. Beginning in 2016 with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple now uses the same design for three consecutive years instead of two. So in 2019, we're going to get new iPhone 11 models with the same general design as the iPhone XS from last year and the iPhone X from back in 2017. As we've seen in countless leaks at this point, there are a few main design differences that we'll see when Apple announces the iPhone 11 series in September. The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max will both feature a large square camera bump on the back that houses a new triple-lens camera system. The iPhone 11R, or whatever Apple ends up calling it, will sport a dual-lens rear camera that's still contained within a square camera bump. Also new is the mute switch on the side of the phone, which will now be a small round switch like the one on Apple's newest iPad tablets. A new video published recently by a YouTube channel called Techy Paradise does a good job of mocking up the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max design. For example, here's a great shot of the new rear camera array and the updated mute switch design: The video does make a couple of big mistakes, however. First, it suggests that the iPhone 11 series phones might have an in-display fingerprint reader. They definitely will not. On top of that, the video shows a black area surrounding the triple-lens camera on the silver iPhone 11 model, as you can see at the top of this post. According to information from Ming-Chi Kuo, however, the iPhone 11 series will actually have a camera array that's color-matched to the back of the phones. It'll look more like this earlier render: It's still a fantastic video despite those errors, however, and it does a great job of showing us Apple's leaked iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max design from every angle. The video is embedded below, and we definitely recommend watching it while we wait for Apple to unveil its new iPhone 11 series smartphones this coming September. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjYiW8xkXH0

Pelosi urges Trump family or staff to stage ‘intervention for the good of the country’

A day after President Trump threw what she described as a “temper tantrum” in their meeting on infrastructure, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on his aides to step in.

Lawmaker's censure sought after comments about Trump Jr.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers abruptly adjourned after one lawmaker called for the censure of another over comments that included calling the president's son "evidently retarded."